Facing Challenges with Strategic Management

Facing Challenges with Strategic Management 1.0 Introduction Poh Kong, is a jewelry company founded by Cheong Teck Chong and Choon Yee Seiong which established first outlet in year 1976 located in Petaling Jaya. Besides, since 2004, Poh Kong has been listed in Bursa Malaysia, yet they owned a manufacturing plant in Shah Alam KL (PohKong, n.d.). Nowadays, Poh Kong was the leader of jewelry industry because of its tremendous growth and their core business philosophies, which are Quality, Value, Trust, and Choice. Furthermore, in targeting different customers range, they had several in house brands such as Anggun, Tranz, Happy Love, and The Art of Auspicious. Besides, Poh Kong was the licensee for Disney Collection and sole distributor for famous brand such as Luca Carati, Schoeffel, Hemera Diamond and Angel Diamond (Gal, 2016). In 2011, Poh Kong reached its 100th outlet in Peninsula Malaysia. Poh Kong reaffirmed by RAM Ratings Services Berhad as largest jewellery retail chain store in Malaysia in 2014. Other than that, it also awarded the Malaysias Top 10 Retailers in the Asia, Putra Brand Award and Creative ASEAN Jewellery Design Award (Cleffairy, 2015). Besides, Poh Kong truly understands their business is strongly reliance on brand name and brand reputation, therefore, Corporate Social Responsibility also a main concern of Poh Kong. For instance, national cancer survivals day, charity golf, water vending machine, Malaysia AEON Foundation (MAF) fund raising and etc. are parts of the CSR from Poh Kong (TheStar, 2013). According to annual report of year 2015, we observed that Poh Kong has a big drop in earnings before tax since year 2012, but it has successfully recover after year 2014. Besides, the executive chairman and group managing director, Datuk Choon Yee Seiong has claimed that year 2016 is challenging for gold jewelry industry due to the fluctuation of dropping of global gold price (Toh, 2016) and reduced demand for jewellery and gold related investment products (Poh Kong, 2016). In this study, we are aiming to have more understanding on how a company could deal with the challenge faced by using strategic management, how strategic management could actually help to analyze issues more comprehensively and conducting various analyses and formulation of strategic plans. 2.0 SWOT Analysis 2.1 (S)trengths Poh Kong Holdings Berhad was the largest of gold jewelleries retailer in Malaysia. As market leader, Poh Kong has a strong reputation, market position and advantage in expanding their business as stated in annual report, Poh Kong has total of 106 outlets across 9 states in year 2014 (PohKong, n.d.). Poh Kongs outlet showroom are much higher than its competitor, for instance, Tomei (52 retail outlets), Wah Chan (42 outlets), and Habib (more than 30 outlets). Partnership with Moraglione, a well-known jewellery brand from Italy has increased Poh Kongs product variety and jewellery types. Besides, they able to compete with other international brands and has the opportunity to expand its business to abroad (Najumudeen, 2012). Furthermore, Poh Kong has a strong financial position. Poh Kong group revenue and pre-tax profit in year 2015 are higher than 2014 while margins have been improved by cost control initiatives (Poh Kong, 2015). They have the flexibility in financial and lower interest rate and liquidity risk as result from fail to loan repayment. Large cash reserves make them have advantage in long term investments. 2.2 (W)eaknesses Poh Kong only covers Malaysia regions, they didnt export their products as a way to expand their business (Bernama, 2013). Besides, all of the 106 outlets are located at 10 states from peninsular Malaysia. Consumers from East Malaysia unable to purchase any jewellery from Poh Kong due to theres yet to be any outlets in Sabah and Sarawak, expansion of Poh Kong outlets in East Malaysia was planned and estimated to be happen in 2017. Poh Kong are selling their products through online platform like Lazada and 11Street however they will be a limited selection for consumer from East Malaysia (Poh Kong, 2017). Low customer satisfaction is one of the weaknesses. Poh Kong has differentiated their outlet into Diamond Gold outlets and retail concept stores, for instance, Diamond Boutique, Gold Boutique, Jade Gallery and Oro Bianco. These stores are used to meet the needs of different targets markets (PressReader, 2016). However, it was a challenge and tough for Poh Kong to maintain each branch in similar environment and caused low customer satisfaction. Besides, internal competition was caused by the reason of selling similar products in the market. 2.3 (O)pportunity Malaysia enjoying a zero duty for exporting jewellery product under China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), in addition, China currently glittering demand of jewellery market and import permit has been carried out for foreign importers who wish to import jewellery products into China (Miti, n.d.). Hence, it becomes the opportunity for Poh Kong to expand its business to China market. Poh Kong can grow demand of gold bar in market. Due to poor economy and fluctuation on Malaysia Ringgit, investment in gold is better than invest in stocks. According to Nwazor (2016), gold is a safe investment. Besides, investment in gold can remain constant for few years as judged from history. Due to its recognized value by worldwide, gold was used as the world reserve currency until recently (Smith, n.d). Fluctuation of gold price not guaranteed increase sales of jewellers, however it could benefits company in terms of cost of production. Gold price in 2013 was at a historical high of US$1900 an ounce, dropped to US$1150 per ounce in 2014, increased to US$1364 per ounce in July 2016 and slightly dropped to US$1234 per ounce in early March 2017. It has utilized the cost saving and used it for marketing purposes to boost sales (VnBusinessreg, n.d.). 2.4 (T)hreat Competition is one of the threats for Poh Kong. As results, consumer can choose for other alternatives from different jewellers since Poh Kong is not the only player (Euromonitor, 2015). Mainly jewellery products are differentiated based on their design. If Poh Kong offers less variety of design, consumer will choose their preferred design from their competitor. Besides, mostly jewellery outlets operates near to competitors, under those circumstances, consumer will compare price and design easily. Slowdown of economy will cause a reduction on consumers spending (Fmt, 2015). Obviously, the poor economic condition had caused increase of price of electricity and other costs which could affect Poh Kong to increase their price of goods. The growing in price of jewellery and gold from time to time has caused a drop in demand for jewellery. Moreover, jewellery is luxury goods, people will only consider to purchase jewellery when there is surplus after consume on daily necessities. Goods and Service Tax (GST) in Malaysia. A study by Nielsen, a global information and measurement company had proved that four in five Malaysian consumers are cutting back on shopping expenditure to increase household savings after the adoption of GST. It has affected Malaysian spending behaviour (Ida, 2015). 3.0 Industry Analysis Porter five forces 3.1 Threat of New Entrants Threat of new entrants for jewelry industry is low. There is low in threat of new entrants for jewelry industry due to it requires high capital start up (Din, 2015). A company must spend high figure in money in order to compete in the market and high capital requirements positively affect the Jewelry industry because it will lead to an increase in profits for the entity. According to Bhobe (2014) several of the existing firms have contracts with well-known jewelry distributing companies. New entrants may face difficulty to contract with these companies due to lack of financial status. Brand recognition also is an important competitive advantage and requires high investment costs and time in order to build strong brand name (WikiWealth, 2014). Therefore, new entrants that without a reputable name which may cause doubt from a diamond distributing company therefore no contract will be created. In addition, existing firms has experience economies of scale from large investments in research and development or brand advertising. As result, the entry into the market is getting increasingly difficult due to the growth of companies already established in the industry. 3.2 Threat of Substitute Products The threat of substitution is high in jewelry industry. It based on the relative price and performance of the competitors products and on customers willingness to consider the substitutes. They could potentially attract a significant proportion of market volume and reduce the potential sales volume for existing players. This category also relates to complementary products. For example, Poh Kong facing competition from substitutes jewelry which made of silver, platinum, diamonds and pearls. Costume or imitation jewelry also provided consumers with an alternative to look good but at a cheaper cost. Safiyuddin (2015) indicates that the price elasticity is affected by substitute products. When high substitutes available it causes the demand become more elastic since consumers have more alternative selection. Thus, a close substitute product constrains the ability of firms in the industry to increase   prices. 3.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers Bargaining power of suppliers for jewelry industry is moderate. According to Durant (2014) indicates that there is low bargaining power of suppliers when they are reliant on high volumes because of producer can threaten to cut volumes and affect the profits of the supplier. Besides, there are many gold jewelry suppliers in Malaysia such as Tomei Group, Niche Capital Emas Holding, DeGem or Habib Jewels (Mehta, 2016). Therefore, the switching cost to other supplier will be lower. On the other hand, for certain high quality diamonds and some precious gems are rare sources thus is little surplus of the capacity which allows for prices relatively high. Since these precious gems and diamond can bring great value to the firms, therefore the power of supplier will be slightly increased (Thompson, 2008). 3.4 Bargaining Power of Buyers The bargaining power of buyers in this industry is high. In this industry, buyers have high bargaining power because there are many competing and viable sources to purchase jewelry from. According to Safiyuddin (2014), there are 3000 local gold jewelry retail outlets in Malaysia. Thus, customers bargaining power increased since there is a lot of selection of the jewelry stores. In Malaysia, the number of internet user is increasing from year to year and customer can easily get the product information from the internet. Due to the high information availability, customer can make comparison on the design and services between the jewelry stores. In addition, customers are free to shift to any other jeweler and the switching costs for customer are low. 3.5 Rivalry among Present Competitors The rivalry among competing sellers in this industry is high. There are large numbers of jewelry stores that are currently operating in Malaysia including local and foreign jewelry store (Din, 2015). They are competing to attract the same number of resources and customer. They also compete to boost their brand recognition and improve their quality of services in order to gain market shares. Poh Kong and other jewelry store like Habib Jewel struggle for market leadership. Moreover, jewelry industry companies are considered mass merchandisers or limited line jewelers generally compete on the basis of price. The companies have created a stagnant industry that now competes by taking market share away from the other players yet creates price wars among most of the firms in the industry. Besides, the major players such as Habib, Degem and other competitors are trying to lobby for competitive advantage in these areas. 3.6 Conclusion based on the Porters Five Forces Based on the industry analysis, this jewelry industry is quite attractive because the large economies of scale make it very hard for new entrants to compete in this industry. The more assets the firm has, the greater the firm ability to take advantage of economies of scale. Besides, the threat of substitutes is reducing because gold has inherent investment value which is further reinforced by industry buy-back policy (Bharl, 2016). In other words, gold jewelry retail outlets would purchase old jewelry at prevailing gold prices and provides an avenue for consumers to upgrade or change their existing jewelry sets. This is one of the ways to increase sales volume and also build up customer loyalty. 4.0 Competitive Analysis The size of circle for each competitor is based on the annual revenue in 2015 as Tomeis annual report will only announce on April every year. The revenue for Pandora is RM 16.7 billion (Annual Report, n.d.); Poh Kong is RM 0.8 billion (Poh Kong, 2015 ­); Tomei and Wah Chan and almost the same revenue which is RM 0.5 billion (Annual Report, n.d.); and Sk Jewelry is RM 0.1 billion (Sookee, n.d.). There are a lot of competitors have been entered and also established in the jewelry industry. Although there are a lot competitors in the jewelry marketplace but they are offering different design of the product with different brand and price. Besides, they also were using different promotion strategies to promote their product in order to boost their sales. From the group mapping, we can know that Poh Kong is the one who offered the wide product line breath as compare to other competitors such as Pandora, Tomei, Wah Chan, and Sk Jewelry. Besides from offering yellow gold and silver jewelry, Poh Kong also has offered pearl, jade and diamond jewelry to customer. In order to meet the customer needs and requirements, Poh Kong has their own manufacturer in Shah Alam, so they able to manufacture and design the jewelries that customer preferred and requested (Poh Kong, n.d.). Therefore, by satisfying the customers need and want, Poh Kong able to compete with other competitors and survive in the marketplace. Moreover, as we know that gold bar and gold coin is an investment product in long term. Poh Kong not only offered and provided a gold bar and gold coin but they also offered wide range of gold jewelry with different design such as Tranz, Anggun, Auspicious, Bombay Collection, Disney, and Happy Love (Poh Kong, n.d.). Other competitors just offered few design of gold jewelries as compare to Poh Kong. Thus, the variety products that offered by Poh Kong is able to serve for more customer types and able to attract more customer to buy. It will increase the sale and profit of the company in short term. 4.1 Price Based on the strategy group mapping, it shown that the price of diamond ring that offered by Poh Kong is slightly higher than Wah Chan but lower than Sk Jewelry. The reason that we compare to the price of the diamond ring is because different jewelry retailers may offer different price for the carat of the diamond ring. The strategy group mapping has shown that the price of the diamond ring from Sk Jewelry is slightly higher than Poh Kong and it cost RM 4888 for 0.15 carat of the diamond ring (Sk Jewelry, n.d.). Wah Chan has offered 0.25 carat of diamond ring and it cost RM 3888, it is slightly cheaper than Poh Kong (Wah Chan, n.d.). For competitor Tomei, the overall product price that offered by Tomei is lower than Poh Kong, Sk Jewelry and Wah Chan. While for another competitor Pandora, the price of the product that they offered is the lowest among the four jewelry retailers (Pandora, n.d.). From the group mapping, the product price of the Poh Kong is consider high as compare to other jewelry industry. However, Poh Kong has provided the good quality and variety of design and option in order to meet more customer types. Besides, for quality assurance, Poh Kongensures that stringent measures are constantly undertaken without compromising design excellence. Poh Kong jewelry has been created with superior quality and meticulous craftsmanship. Thus, the customer market share will increase and result in sale and profit of the company increase as well. 4.2 Competitive position and performance Today, Poh Kong has own manufacturing facility which located in Shah Alam and has reached 100th outlet thus Poh Kong has earned it position as Malaysias fastest growing and largest jewelry retail chain store (Poh Kong, 2016.). This indicates that Poh Kong has the capacity to increase their profit and open more outlets to attract more customers to purchase their product. It is very convenience for customer to visit and purchase the jewelry in their retail outlets. Therefore, Poh Kong able to gain competitive advantage and position in Malaysia as compare to other competitors. Moreover, Poh Kong was listed in The Malaysia Book of Records as the Largest Jewellery Retail Chain in 1998.The Ministry of Domestic Trade Consumer Affairs has awarded several Poh Kong subsidiaries the Fair Prize Shop Awards from 2007 till 2010 in the Jewellery Category in recognition of the Companys good business ethics, quality goods and excellent after sales service (Poh Kong, n.d.). In addition, Poh Kong has been ranked 9th position and 10th position in Malaysia, and it listed in 2004 and 2006 Retail Asia-Pacific Top 50 respectively. Poh Kong has continued to be listed in 2009 and 2010 Retail Asia-Pacific Top 500. Besides, Poh Kong has been listed as Malaysia Top 1000 in 2011 and it also awarded as Malaysia top 10 in 2014. For 2016 Retail Asia-Pacific Top 500, Poh Kong was listed and has been ranked 8th position among Malaysias Top 10 retailers. The award is given out annually to the top performing companies and leaders in various industries as the recognition of their contribution to the country (Poh Kong, n.d.). Based on these awards, we can know that Poh Kong has a good performance in managing the company operation as compare to other competitors. Therefore, Poh Kong has the capacity to become top 10 in Malaysia. It indicates that Poh Kong is a well-known brand of jewelry in Malaysia. Furthermore, Poh Kong endeavors to carry out an action in a sustainable manner and promote responsible practices among its shareholders, suppliers and customers in the marketplace. Poh Kong has owned over 100 outlets provides convenience and accessibility to customers, offering wide range of quality products for customers choices. Poh Kong has provided recycled bag as a gift to the customer to carry their product after made purchase (Poh Kong, n.d.). The group supports nickel safe jewelry products for the protection of consumers health and safety. Therefore, Poh Kong able to reduce the cost in producing packaging items for their products. 5.0 Strategy Formulation Strength-opportunities (SO) strategies use a companys internal strengths to take advantage of external opportunities. The first SO strategy is the largest number of retail shops take advantage on the increasing of demand in the market. Poh Kong has the opportunity to capture most of the market shares since it acts as the largest gold jewelry retailer in Malaysia. It can be explained by Poh Kong uses its advantage of large number of retail outlets and well established brand to target wisely in Malaysia. The next SO strategy is the partnership with Moraglione enables Poh Kong to compete with the global brands, by enjoying the zero tax and taking advantage on the brand name of Moraglione. It also provides an opportunity for Poh Kong to expand its business to abroad. Besides, due to the world-renowned international brand of Moraglione, the cost saving from zero tax and advertisement spending can be utilized for future RD. Weaknesses-opportunities (WO) strategies improve internal weaknesses by taking advantage of external opportunities. First of the WO strategy is the zero duty for exporting jewelry product can enlarge the target market of Poh Kong, which only target in Malaysia currently. It can exports the jewelries to other countries and enjoys the tax advantage directly. Besides, it also can expand their business opportunities to abroad, test the market before it conducts a direct investment at there, and yet increase its profitability. The second WO strategy is the increase demand in the market able to resolve the problem of internal competition. According to research, customers demands are increased and their wants are difficult to be fulfilled. Customers always expect special and differentiate gold jewelries, hence the various brands of Poh Kong able to satisfy their needs and wants. Strength-threats (ST) strategies use a companys strengths to avoid or reduce the impact of external threats. First ST strategy is Poh Kong should uses remain strategy to deal with the high competition in local market. Since it has become the largest jewelry retailers in Malaysia, it will not affect its market leader position in the industry even it remains its business strategy, indeed, it also can avoid from the wasting of capitals in expanding the business. The next ST strategy is company bears the GST by itself. Due to the strong financial position and cash flows, it able to bear the extra charges by maintaining the selling price of gold jewelries. Thus, it can delight and satisfy the customers directly. Weaknesses-threat (WT) strategies defensive tactics aimed at reducing internal weakness and avoiding external threats. The first WT strategy is Poh Kong can launch into abroad and new market in order to avoid from the internal competition and high competitive local market situation. There is less opportunities in local market for Poh Kong to expand its business, thus it should expand its business to abroad, identify new opportunities, and target new markets. The next WT strategy is the company should enhance promotion strategies to tackle the problems of low customer satisfaction, high competition in local market, and slowdown of economy. It can provide price discount, conducts advertisements, and improves customer services to customers, so the customers can be delighted and their needs and wants could be satisfied. 6.0 Conclusion The competitiveness of the Poh Kong Holdings Berhad is the company acts as a leader in terms of innovation in Malaysias jewelry industry. It was one of the first chained jewelry retailers which operating in Malaysia. Its strongly established brand provides it a great competitive advantage over the less well-established competitors, such as Tomei Consolidated Bhd. Furthermore, Poh Kong also has strong reputation and strong market position in global market. It is because the company always involve in Corporate Social Responsibility and creates value for their company, shareholders, employees, customers, community and environment. To the employees, they will receive training and development programs to enhance their skills. Besides, the employees are encouraged to volunteer their time for the needed group while Poh Kong will donates daily essentials, foods and cash to charity home in Klang Valley. Moreover, there are some expectations about the future of the Poh Kong. Nowadays, e-commerce play most important role in the business operation. In order to compete with competitors, it should also focus online trading to its potential customers by providing variety selection of products and accept customized design order from consumer. Next, due to the global economic slowdown, Poh Kong should establish in those countries which do not adversely affect by economic slowdown, such as Indonesia. It is because Indonesia has a good fundamental economic condition amid the global economic uncertainty. In addition, Poh Kong should adopts appropriate financial controlling tools which can assist the company in well controlling on cost and operation management, in order to minimize the financial risk. To avoid the company from carrying many liabilities, it should wisely control budget as well. Besides, it also can make a future contract with the materials suppliers. It can fix the price of the materials with suppliers for future purpose due to the unexpected economic fluctuation. 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A Media Specialist’s Role in the Research Process :: Librarians Library Media Specialist Role Essays

A Media Specialist’s Role in the Research Process When settlers from the East planned to â€Å"go West,† they faced many challenges. Becoming hopelessly lost was likely. Starvation was a possibility. Floods threatened total destruction. Settlers needed an experienced guide to lead them to their destination. When students begin research projects, they face similar challenges—although the challenges are intellectual rather than physical. They can become hopelessly lost as they try to follow Internet links from one site to another. They can be starved for good information. They can be flooded with note cards that contain bland and useless facts. Students need a guide. They need a school librarian who can lead them along the trail of solid, meaningful research. The librarian must understand the student’s assignment, assist with locating helpful resources, and know the basic processes for writing a research paper. Understanding the student’s research project assignment requires conducting a reference interview. In the Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz, a reference interview is defined as â€Å"the interpersonal communication that occurs between a reference librarian and a library user to determine the person’s specific information need(s), which may turn out to be different than the reference question as initially posed.† The key to this interview is good communication initiated by the librarian. Before any exchange of information takes place, an â€Å"attitude† exists. â€Å"How the student perceives his or her question will be received† (Riedling) contributes to the overall tone of the interview. The librarian must provide an atmosphere that is comfortable for the student to seek information. In addition to the physical surroundings, the librarian must use both verbal and nonverbal skills to encourage the student. According to Riedling, nonverbal strategies include â€Å"physical gestures, posture, facial expressions, tone of voice, and eye contact.† The media specialist must ask open questions and practice active listening, while utilizing other verbal skills including â€Å"remembering, restating, paraphrasing, closure, and inclusion.†(Underdown) The librarian must determine just what sort of information is needed and the depth that is required. The process is accurately summed up by Riedling’s statement â€Å"that a successful reference interview is one in which the student feels satisfied that you have given personal attention and accurate information.

Changes in Rita and Frank in Acts One and Two Essay -- Educating Rita

Changes in Rita and Frank in Acts One and Two Nicola White The ways in which Russell portrays the changes and developments in the characters of Rita and Frank in Act 1 scene 1 and Act 2 scene 1 of Educating Rita The play ‘Educating Rita’ written by Willy Russell explores the life of Rita, a twenty-six year old woman from a working class background, who is trying to find a new identity by becoming more independent, educated and cultured. Rita goes to the Open University and meets her tutor Frank. She is determined to learn from him and will not let anything step in her way. On closer analysis of Act 1 scene 1 and Act 2 scene 2 of this play and the changes in the relationship between Frank and Rita in these two scenes. When Rita enters Frank’s office at the beginning of Act 1 she is very talkative and excited. Frank is having problems with his life but he makes an obvious connection with Rita. In Act 2 scene 1 Rita returns from her holiday she is more mature and also widely educated and does not have to completely rely on Frank anymore. He does not approve of this and tries to become very controlling over Rita. In ‘Educating Rita’ there are two acts. In the first act there are eight scenes and there are seven scenes in the second, fifteen altogether. This whole book is over a one year period and Frank and Rita are the only two spoken characters in the play. The scene is set at the Open University inside Frank’s office in England. This is effective because it shows you how the characters change but the setting will always stay the same. It shows the change more effectively. Frank’s office is very dark, there are a lot of books against the wall, a large bay window and a large painting Rita describes a... ...en in a dark office for so long. â€Å"It hasn’t been opened for generations,† Frank explains to Rita. At the end of Act 2 scene 1 Rita uses higher vocabulary words and recites a poem by William Blake. She explains the Frank how they covered Blake at summer school and Frank is a bit shocked but also disappointed that he cannot teach her Blake. Frank thinks more of Rita than just her tutor and friend, he has stronger feelings for Rita but she does not notice at all. Rita and Frank have become closer; the audience knows Frank has feelings for Rita although she does not. Rita’s change in Character makes her more exciting and willing, but Frank seemed to like her better in Act 1 scene 1. Rita sees Frank as someone she an share things with in Act 1 but in Act 2 scene 1 she does not tell him she has a new flat mate or some other new things happening in her life.

The Proper Golf Stance :: Expository Process Essays

The Proper Golf Stance While there are many factors in determining the outcome of a golf shot, setting up the proper golf stance is the foundation from which all other aspects essential to hitting a perfect shot are judged as success or failure. Proper stance is made up of proper implementation of multiple factors. The entire outcome (shot) depends on setting up properly. There are three elements that comprise the proper golf stance: grip, stance, and body placement. Your grip must be firm with hands in their proper places. The stance is crucial to making your weight shift correctly. The golfers' body placement must be comfortable, with all elements in their proper places. The proper golf starting position allows for the perfect golf shot. NOTE: The stance detailed below is for a right-handed person. Your hands must be placed in on the end of the club creating a grip. The backside of the left hand should be placed even with the end of the club. The right hand should be directly below the left with both thumbs pointing down the shaft (body of the club). Next lock the right pinky finger with the left index finger, turning you hands into a single unit. The left wrist should be bowed (curved outward) and never cupped (curved inward). The golfer should squeeze the club lightly. A common analogy is to hold the club like you would a bird, tight enough so it couldn't fly away but not so tight that you could kill it. The next crucial element is the stance. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart and parallel with the ground. To line up your feet, draw an imaginary line from your back (right) foot toe to your front (left) foot toe. Notice where this imaginary line points and you have a good indication of how you are lined up and where you are aiming your shot. The players weight should be on the inside of the right foot and knee. Hold the club with the proper grip next to the left leg. The club head should rest gently on the ground, centered approximately 18 inches in front of your toes. Allow the club head to lay centered behind the golf ball so it dose not touch or move it.

Contrast Between High School and College Essay

A good education is an important part of one’s life. In order for one to accomplish his or her goals and have a good education, this individual need to attend both high school and college. I find both high school and college to be very different although some people think high school has a lot in common with college. My first year of enrollment into college, I notice that there are many differences between them. These differences include responsibilities, atmosphere, and freedom. To begin with, there are many ways in which the responsibilities of both teachers and students in high school differ from teachers and students in college. It’s been cleared to me that high school teachers are much stricter and they provide more rules for the students to follow. Teachers are responsible for making sure each student obeys these rules and carry out disciplinary actions for those who did not obey them. One example in which a teacher has taken on a disciplinary action was when a student was tardy or skipped their scheduled and they end up doing extra class work and homework or getting detention. I always felt like I was getting pushed to accomplish things in high school. I also remember having rules like no eating or drinking class. Chewing of gum in class was never allowed. Meanwhile in college, teachers are different. You are treated like an adult. The instructors in college expect you to do the work and aren’t constantly pushing you to do assignments. They expect you to have assignments done; you either do it or fail. Another difference between high school and college would be the atmosphere. Even though high school teachers are strict, this doesn’t seem to change how seriously some of the high school students take their studies. The high school students do behave sometimes as elementary school children. They mostly argue and fight among themselves in the cafeteria, hallways, and even outside the school building. However, students are more mature in college, and take their studies seriously. Each student in college knows why there are in school and so they do not pay any attention to others business or getting involved. Sometimes if you get into a fight in college, you can easily loss your scholarship or financial aid. In high school, there was less freedom. You would have to attend class early in the morning each day. You can’t change your schedule. Students in high school are obligated to attend. In contrast, student must attend through ambition and hard work. College also offers a lot of freedom. College students could easily change their classes depending on their schedule.

Negotiation personal reflection Essay

The negotiation exercise practice assignment was most definitely an interesting one and it was an assignment I learned a lot from. This negotiation practice was all about a 4 bedroom home with two bathrooms and two kitchens, which was advertised for $385,000. While some parts of the negotiation were very interesting, other parts were very frustrating, but this was to be expected. For me, some my biggest frustration was dealing with miscommunication. In the scheme of a negotiation, miscommunication is bound to happen, and for that reason, I feel like in some ways this negotiation was very realistic. For example, at the time of negotiation, Seller made the first call of 3,85,000$. However, the Buyer already knew that seller bought this property two months before. So, buyer asked seller why he wanted to sell the home, seller totally ignored the question and started telling the features of the home. Buyer again asked the same question and I noticed that seller got nervous, maybe he did not know what to say, whatever finally, seller told that he has another house and he was selling this home because his wife thought that this property is too big. I experienced some miscommunication at that moment maybe seller was not prepared. After that buyer made the first call of 3,55,000 and mentioned everything about taxes he had to pay and other expenses and explained that he cannot pay that much. So seller lowered the price to 3,80,000. After some arguments buyer offered to pay 3,70,000 only if seller will give him 3 months to sell his old house. I think it was a trick of buyer, whatever after that seller agreed upon 3,77,000 only if buyer will sign the document of lease and all paper work and suddenly seller’s colleague wanted to talk with him so they went to talk on side and came back and said the cannot give the house for 3,77,000 so they again increased the price to 3,80,000. This was very strange and difficult, because once they offered 3,77,000 and after sometime again increased the price, there was obvious confusion and frustration on their part, which did make discussion difficult. Buyer said to seller that he wanted to seal this deal as soon as possible and it would also be good for seller as well because as soon as seller would sell this property he could save money for mortgage and other property taxes for next month. After that buyer mentioned about location of house that it was near the river and there can be mosquitos and insects in summer and it will be difficult to rent the house. Buyer tried to convince seller that there can  be threat of insects but it did not work and seller was keep offering him 377,000. So buyer asked seller if he can give him better offer than 377000 then he can pay him right away. So seller offered him 3,76,000 and then 3,75,800 after some arguments. Buyer asked seller if he can pay the property inspection fee of 400 and will give him all the appliances as well. So seller agreed upon paying half of the property inspection fee and all the appliances and the deal sealed on 3,75,600. I think in the end, work as a team helped contribute to our success in the negotiation. The objective of the practice was to simply demonstrate that negotiation is a kind of settlement process in which the parties to the negotiation try to achieve their respective goals by various means of effective communication and strategy. Negotiation personal reflection

Mattel and Toy Safty Essay

In 2007, the Mattel toy company recalled around 20 million of its toy products do to contamination of lead in the paint and safety issues dealing with parts of its products (magnets) that was manufactured in China. The Mattel Company is considered the â€Å"global leader’ in toy manufacturing with over 30,000 people employed in over 40 countries and operates in more than 150 countries. The Mattel Company faces the dilemma a lot of companies face when using overseas manufacturing. If not closely monitored, they can and will cut corners which could put the company at risk. Who is responsible for the safety of children’s toy and who should be held accountable? An Analysis of the Mattel case study should reveal who is and who isn’t. 1. Do you believe that Mattel acted in a socially responsible and ethical manner with regards to the safety of its toys? Why or why not? What should or could Mattel have done differently? The study case of the Mattel Toy Company’s toy recall is a difficult one to call. The company went over and beyond to make sure that its products where safe for the public. The case study states that in 1997, the Mattel Company developed a â€Å"code of conduct† which included a wide range of ethical issue such as child safety laws, safety and health regulations. Mattel went as for to hire Professor S. Prakash Sethi, who is the head of a non-profit organization by the name of the International Center for Corporate Accountability which conducted audits on Mattel facilities. Mattel was also recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of the most trustworthy U.S. companies and was also recognized by CRO Magazine as one of the best corporate citizens out of 100, so they had built a reputation for being a solid socially responsible and ethical company. Ethics can be defined as moral principles that guides the way a person or a business behaves. Social responsibility is an ethical theory, that a person  or a business has an obligation to benefit society as a whole. Basically the products or actions of a person or a business should be a benefit to society and The Mattel Company took pride in being just that. Even though Mattel had to recall a lot of its products, I do believe they acted socially responsible and ethically. Mattel tested its products in their own testing facilities and in other special test labs to ensure the safety and quality of its products, and had specifically targeted lead based paint. Once Mattel found out that some of its products contained harmful lead based paint and the magnets in some of its products could be a safety concern, the company had an immediate recall of the products contaminated. Mattel used several outlets such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission, regulating agencies from all over the world and newspapers to address the issue of the lead based paint in its products and the magnet problem. Mattel also made it possible for consumers of their products to have access to outlets in which they can return the contaminated products for a refund or a safer replacement product. Mattel did do a lot to ensure the safety and quality of their products, but, they could have taken even further steps to avoid this situation. For one, Mattel should has done research on the on the Chinese firms outside contractors. Even though some of these contractors had been audited, they replaced the approved paint for the lead based paint. So Mattel should have kept a closer eye on these subcontractors in order to maintain their good image with society. Mattel cannot be solely at fought for this recall; the Mattel Company was also a victim in this situation. 2. Who or what do you believe was responsible for the fact that children where exposed to potentially dangerous toys? Why do you think so? This is a hard question because there are several entities that can be blamed for this recall. Number one is those that are responsible for consumer product safety. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is an independent federal regulating agency who assumes the responsibility of protecting the public from dangerous products. This agency was created in 1972 with the Consumer Product Safety Act. This Act gives the CPSC the authority to develop standards and bans on products. It is the job of this regulating agency to make sure that products are safe for public use, but it seems the dropped the ball on the Mattel toy recall. The case study states that the CPSC was severely underfunded and understaffed. The case study also states  that in 2007 the CPSC only had about 400 employees in which only 15 of them were investigators with the job of investigating products that come through the ports. Needless to say with the amount of product that come through the ports and the number of ports used in the U.S. to import and export product is too much for only 15 people to handle, also the CPSC only had 100 employees monitoring products on store shelves and only had a budget of 62 million. Another player that has responsibility in exposing children to potentially harmful products (toys) is the Chinese government. The enforcement of lead standards in China was not enforced, so the companies did as they wanted when it came to lead based paint. The magnet situation of more of a product design malfunction, according to the case study, so that can be easily taken care of, however, the lead base paint issue is one of enforcement. If the Chinese government had adequate enforcement of lead paint regulations, which is better than that of the U.S. at one point, this would have never been a problem for the Mattel toy company. The most responsible for this recall is the Mattel Company. Regardless of regulation inspectors and audits, they owe it to the stakeholders of the company to ensure that the products that they are manufacturing are safe. That is what social responsibility and ethics are based upon. 3. What is the best way to ensure the safety of children’s toys? There is no way to fully ensure the safety of children’s toys, but the best way is to enforce federal legislation on toy manufactures. This is a challenge because the majority toys in this country are manufactured in other countries such as China and Asia . Federal regulation can ensure that there are uniform standards for toy manufacturing. As of June 12, 2012, all manufactures and importers of children’s toy must comply with federal regulation. These toys must be tested for compliance of regulation and the testing must be done by the CPSC. It is also in the best interest of other countries to enforce regulation on toy manufactures. Since toys are a big export for other countries such as China and Asia, they would want to be in good standing with the U.S. by setting some standards on toy manufacturing. Consumer’s advocates groups need to stay involved in toy safety issues and provide input that can help set guidelines for federal legislation. The consumer advocates can influence regulation and keep the public informed on issues of child toy safety. In 2008, consumer groups such as the Consumers  Union, Consumer Federation of America, and Kids in Danger attended House and Senate conferences to push for a well-funded Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). As a response to the demand of the consumer advocate groups, Congress acted by banning lead based products in children’s toys. This act of the consumer advocate groups is a perfect example of the interactive social system between corporations and society, the fact that they are so interdependent on one another that if action is taken by one it will affect the other (Lawrence & Webber, 2011, p.21). These stakeholders can have a profound effect on regulation of a company. The toy industry can also play a large role to ensure the safety of children’s toys. They can listen to input form stakeholders on issues that could make their products safer. They also can follow the requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Commission closely or even go a step beyond the CPSC regulations to ensure that their toys are safe for kids. The toy industry could also be shown as a leader in toy safety by collaborating with foreign manufactures to push their toy safety regulation to coincide with that of the U.S. standard. They could hold international regulation meetings and have input on the regulation of toy safety that can have influence on policy. These kinds of actions from the toy industry could give them a good standing with stakeholders and regulators both if they are viewed as being actively involved in the safety of the children’s toys that they are making. After all these are their customers and in business you are trying to acquire more customers not lose them, so these type of actions by the toy industry would only benefit them and the customers that helps make them the business’s that they are today. Since the increase of imported toys, the rate of injury to kids playing with toys has increased. Accountability of the toy industry is a must to bring toy safety to a minimum. Corporate negligence of the sub-contractors of toy manufactures need to be recognized and investigated thoroughly to insure toy safety. An article be the American Association for Justice (Playing with Safety: Dangerous toys and the Role of Americas Civil Justice System) states that â€Å"A Public Citizens analysis of consumer recalls found that companies waited an average of 993 days to inform the CPSC of defects, and the agency (CPSC) waited another 209 days before informing the public (American Association for Justice) of the dangerous toys. This is a little more than 3 years before the public is  informed of a toy health hazard by the toy industry and CPSC. The CPSC and the toy industry should be held responsible and held accountable for those that are put in danger by these toys. If both the CPSC and the toy industry are held accountable for the time laps of getting the information to the public it would improve toy safety. 4. What do you think is to best way for society to pr otect children from harmful toys? Specifically, what are the appropriate roles various stakeholders in this process? The best way to protect children from harmful toys has to be a collective effort between stakeholders, the toy industry, and government regulators. This collective effort can be beneficial to all. First, the federal government must fund the CPSC properly in order for it to function at a level in which it can handle the bulk of toys coming through our ports. I can see how the CPSC was overwhelmed with the task of making sure all toy products are safe before and after they hit the shelves. The CPSC was too understaffed and underfunded to be affective. At the time of the recalls, the CPSC’s power was limited to ensure the safety of children’s toys. According to an article written by Jo Hartely of the National News (Protecting Our Children from Toxic Toys), â€Å"The CPSC cannot legally test children’s products before sale and do not have the funds or capacity to do so if desired† (Hartley, 2008). This at the time really made it hard to ensure toy safety. Also, according to the article, another way to ensure toy safety is to revise the U.S chemical regulatory system. The article states that around 80,000 chemicals are cleared for use in everyday products and 2,500 are introduced every year. Most of these chemical have not been tested for potential health impacts on children or fetuses (Hartley, 2008). This is another flaw in the regulatory system that needs to be addressed to ensure toy safety and it will take a collaborative effort to make this happen. The appropriate role for the non-market stakeholder in this toy safety issue is to use the non-market stakeholder’s power to use resources to influence regulatory policy on toy safety. Stakeholder power is founded in the power that they have to vote for those that support regulations that they want to see enacted on toy safety. The can also utilize economic power in order to get there point across to the toy industry on toy safety. They also have the power to use civil suits against negligent toy manufactures that are selling harmful toys. Consumer advocate groups are also categorized as  non-market stakeholders. These groups can pull resources and get the word out about the negligence of a toy manufacture which could also persuade government entities to act. Groups such as the Consumer Federation of America, kids in danger and the Consumer Union have already influenced stricter regulation of the toy industry with success. The categorization of the federal government as a non-market stakeholder is still up in the air for most, but, the impact and role that the government has in the issue of toy safety is huge. The government can and has the power to regulate the toy industry to ensure toy safety. Regulating toy safety is not an easy task for the government and will not ensure that all toys will be safe, but, they can minimize the problem. One way they government can minimize harmful toys that may get in the possession of children is by funding the CPSC properly so that they can enforce the regulatory laws on toys safety. Between 2008 and 2011 the federal government passed regulations that give the CPSC more power to hold the toy industry accountable for toy safety. In 2008, the Consumer product Safety Act was amended in 2011 which gave the CPSC new found power to enforce regulation laws on the toy industry which included civil and criminal penalties for those that broke the laws of toy safety. It also included third party testing of toy products so that testing of the products was not left solely to the toy industry which could be manipulated as so the case of Mattel toys. The federal government also passed the Child Protection Safety Act, which protects children from choking hazards. This legislation requires warning labels on products that may present a choking hazard for kids and also mandates that manufactures, importers, distributors, and retailers to report certain choking incidents. Even though the Mattel toy company and CPSC regulatory agency made adjustments necessary to minimize children’s toy hazards. It was their duty and obligation toy insure that the products that they sold were safe for children to play with in the beginning. All though Mattel had an outstanding ethical and social responsible reputation, the ball was dropped on this issue in 2007. One reason was the expansion of manufacturing and production of their products to foreign countries that they could no keep a close eye on. All in all it is up to us all to ensure the safety of our children when purchasing toys for our kids to play with. We cannot solely leave it up to r egulatory  systems and toy manufacture; we also have to play our role in this issue. Reference American Association for Justice (2010). Playing with Safety: Dangerous Toys and the Role of America’s Civil System. http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/xbcr/justice/PlayingWithSafety.pdf Lawrence, A. T., & Weber, J. (2011). Business and Society: Stakeholder, ethics, public policy (13 Ed). New York. McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Hartley, J. (2008). Natural News, Protecting Our Children from Toxic Toys. http://www.naturalnews.com/022991_toys_children_chemicals.html# U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. https://www.cpsc.gov/en/Regulations-Laws–Standards/Statutes/