Office Depot

â€Å"Office Depot† The First Office Depot opened in 1986 in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida. The Office Depot is a global supplier of office products and services and has experienced a dramatic growth process over the past twenty-five years. In 1990 the Office Depot Companies bought â€Å"The Office Club Inc. †, and immediately became the largest office retailer in North America. Having built its business within the United States and having secured a firm business foundation, Office Depot expanded internationally in 1992. In 1996, Office Depot took its’ catalog and delivery service(s) online.Office Depot opened about 125 stores between the years 2000-2004. With the economic downturn of 2007, new strategies had to be put in place, and by 2009, 125 stores in international markets were closed. Office Depot exited the Japanese market entirely. Today, Office Depot provides office supplies and services through 1,678 retail stores worldwide, a dedicated sales force, top-rate d catalogs, and global e-commerce operations. Office Depot has annual sales of $11. 5 billion, employs roughly 39,000 employees, and serves customers in 61 countries.Their distribution channels include stores, direct mail, contract delivery, the internet, and B2B e-commerce. Viking Office Products, their wholly owned subsidiary, currently operates one of the industry’s leading direct mail marketers of office products worldwide. The competitive strategy that the Office Depot will approach is a â€Å" best-cost provider strategy† to become #1 in the office supply business. For online purchases, customers will be offered free shipping on any purchase over $25. 00. A promotional discount will be applied for 20% off, on the next purchase for every $100. 00 spent by the customer.There will be a rewards program for customers and businesses that continue to shop with Office Depot. Based on the number of office supply items purchased, the next item will be free and additional d iscounts will be applied to future purchases. After the retail store(s), prices will be lowered on items bought primarily by back-to-school customers and also year-round casual shoppers items. The retail stores will monitor active inventory for excess quantities and slow moving items and record adjustments as necessary to lower the price(s) if the anticipated realizable amount is below cost.Also, estimate and determine what items to stock and at what level, and what items to discontinue and how to value them prior to sale. The large-format retail stores will be reduced to half of the current square-footage, and staff will focus only on supplying consistently purchased merchandise. Items that tend to sit dormant at retail will be provided online only. If a retail store cannot maintain projected sales quotas, the store will be closed in that market area. New government contracts will be provided at 20% discount based on the number of office supplies purchased.Office Depot will retain business with local, state, and federal governments’ and non-profit organizations contracts by offering a lower cost than other competitors. Office Depots long term strategic direction is to be consumer focused in terms of product assortment, store layouts, new service offerings, and compelling pricing that sends a positive value message to its’ customers. This falls in line with the â€Å"best cost provider strategy† giving customers more value for the money while satisfying buyers’ expectations on key quality/features/performance/service attributes beating their price expectations.One of the main ways that Office Depot has responded was with its’ Magellan innovation, a three-year program which significantly enhanced IT capabilities. The new system will provide such benefits as improved forecasting, better support for planning, and improved profitability. This can be achieved through better utilization of store space, better pricing and data integ rity, better stocking, and reduced inventory with the end results benefiting the customer.In 2011 Office Depot announced that it is boosting their capital expenditure budget for 2012 to approximately $160 million, with a heavy emphasis on e-commerce and other IT investments. The retailers’ digital investments will be particularly important given its plans to shrink both the average size of its brick-and-mortar stores and its product assortments. Office Depots’ e-commerce sales have become an integral part of the company. Office Depot is the number (2) U. S. e-commerce retailer, second only to Amazon. com Inc.Office Depots’ aggressive Internet strategy has also generated twice the e-commerce sales of its’ rival Staples Inc. Office Depot SWOT Analysis Strengths: * Strong private label product line increases sales nationally and internationally. * Large, diverse customer base (individuals, small business, and large businesses) both nationally and overseas. * Company transitioning to smaller store format will increase presence in high growth markets. * As a direct result of negative economy, company has shuttered underperforming stores. * Cash liquid business with total assets of over four- billion dollars U.S. Weaknesses: * Little opportunity for real growth in U. S. market due to over-saturation. * Increases in competition in U. S. products market, combined with a reliance on low profit- margin electronics. * Due to the downturn of the economy coupled with continued nationally high unemployment rates†¦ sales, profits, and some business markets have diminished. * Accusations of overcharging Government Contract customers have been made public. Opportunities: * Money spent on office equipment and related items increasing among small and medium businesses. Increased ability to enter into more densely populated areas, while also reducing costs. * Increased opportunities of acquisitions due to strong cash reserves. * Increasing line of private label products geared towards â€Å"green† technology. Threats: * The global financial downturn. * High unemployment, coupled with an increase in office vacancies, compounded by low consumer confidence results in decreased spending. * Low cost/low quality imported equipment and products can lead to quality related issues. * Low switching costs increases competition and can lead to â€Å"price wars†.

Technology and Organizational Structure

Technology and Organizational Structure Wanda Armour University of Phoenix Technology and Organizational Structure This paper represents the research on how technology interacts with organizational structure. Two companies will be identified to compare and contrast their organizational structures. A matrix will be included to summarize the findings. Introduction Organizational structure in today’s complex multi-dimensional organizations is the connection that holds the infrastructure together to achieve the organizations goals.It is the patterns or arrangement of groups of jobs within an organization. It is also a process that requires organizational re-structuring as the company grows. Historically industry has shifted from the job-shop manufacturing to mass production, with innovative pioneers such as Frederick Taylor, Henri Fayol, and Max Weber ((Dristelzweig & Droege, n. d. ). These early pioneers were very different thinkers in terms of their principles to determine how t o structure organizations for maximum productivity.However, they all had a common view that it was like a machine and that power was in the position, not in the individual holding the position; clearly a vertical bureaucratic structural hierarchy ((Dristelzweig & Droege, n. d. ). This ‘one best way’ mindset gradually disappeared as concerns that the traditional organizational structure may hinder, rather than help promote creativity and innovation (Dristelzweig & Droege, n. d. ). Today, pressures in U. S. business structures to compete globally calls for a variety of organization structures.There is no ‘one fit all’ organizational structure that has proven effective in contributing to business success. Organizations operate in different environments with different opportunities, products, tasks, risks, strategies, constraints, strengths and weakness, and different organizational structures to meet those challenges (Reference for Business, n. d. ). There are two types of organizational structures found in business environments; centralized and decentralized. Centralized organizational structures rely on one individual to make decisions and provide direction or the company; decentralized organizations rely on a team environment at different levels of the business (Vitez, n. d. ). Organizational Structure Overview of Two Company’s Two very successful companies have been identified with different organizational structures; Toyota Motor Corporation and The Watson’s Creative Company. These two companies are on the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of organizational structure. Toyota, a Japanese, multinational corporation, has a centralized matrix organizational structure (the combination of two or more different structures-organic/mechanistic) with a bureaucratic infrastructure.The Watson’s Creative Company, a New York based adverting agency, has a small-decentralized organic organizational structure (organizations that are flexible and effectively adapt to change) (Dorf & Byers, 2008). Toyota is considered by some as the world’s largest maker of automobiles, trucks, buses, and robots. Toyota has factories all around the world, that manufacture and assemble vehicles for local markets (Taneja, Pryer, & Sewell, 2012). Toyota has an interesting blend of mechanistic, organic and bureaucracy in a centralized organizational structure, which allows them to accommodate their versatile product line.This structure develops a workforce who believes in the company’s products, image, and vision; along with placing a high value on the welfare of its employees (Taneja et al. , 2012). A recent SWOT analysis shows that intense competition could pose a threat resulting in lower price pressures. A recent massive product recall (10 million worldwide) which could hurt the company’s brand image and sales ((Toyota, 2012). Toyota is a company that has a reputation for reliability; the challenge n ow is rebuilding the emotional ties of customers.A bureaucratic organizational structure could be the flaw as hindered information sharing, miscommunication; along with delayed response time to quality and safety issues have been sighted as the root cause of the recall (Taneja et al. , 2012). One of the disadvantages to a matrix organizational structure is keeping communication channels clear so that potential conflicts do not arise and hinder organizational functioning (Reference for Business, n. d. ). As corporations become worldwide the process of restructuring is inevitable, as they must respond to challenges on a global level.The foundation of Toyota is respect of its people and continuous improvement through the ‘Toyota Way’ which is summarized by five keywords; â€Å"Challenge,† â€Å"Kaizen,† â€Å"Genchi Genbutsu,† â€Å"Respect† and â€Å"Teamwork† (â€Å"The Toyota Way,† n. d). The Watson’s a Creative Company, is an ad agency. They have a decentralized organic organizational structure that is simple and low in formalization. All parts of the organization need each other as an interdependence relationship improves functioning.As an organic organization they need to stay flexible in dealing with customers and in creating concepts for television commercials and print advertisement (Field, n. d. ). I recently visited the Watson’s ad agency and I found a confortable informal environment with a small staff and their dogs. It seemed quite remarkable that a company with such clients as ‘Whole Foods’, ‘Metropolitan Home Magazine’ and many others could work as a community. However it is in line with their mission statement of building lasting relationships between great companies and the audiences they benefit (â€Å"The Watson’s,† n. . ). Their core competency is in their knowledge management and creativity. An organic organization such as The Watsonà ¢â‚¬â„¢s is a knowledge-based organization. Tacit knowledge is exchanged through interaction with other knowledge workers. This interaction facilitates the development of a knowledge culture within the organization, supporting decision making of various knowledge workers through collaboration (Hosnavi & Ramezan, 2011). How Structure Affects the use of Technology and Technology Decisions Technology plays a crucial role in today’s organizational structure.Toyota understood that the traditional understanding of centralization in organizational structure would fail to capture its vision of technological development, and value in the employee in the face of new challenges and demands. Toyota adopted a matrix organizational structure to facilitate technology decisions ((Hosnavi & Ramezan, 2011). The Watson’s on the other hand believe that technology decisions are based the decentralization of power and control and a higher level of informality and a organic organizational st ructure was the best fit for their company.Toyota’s superior technology was not enough in light of the recent recalls. As a result they had to reduce their organizational structure, which is no easy task. My observation is that Toyota could have closed a blind eye but instead decided to restructure and fix the problem without deviating from their core competency and mission. The Watson’s interaction with technology is equally exciting as visual displays of artistic genius are created and displayed through a variety of avenues. Technology gives expression to the endless possibilities of the mind and allows them to make decisions based on whatever idea they can dream of.Working on something they believe in helps them to focus on the effectiveness of their products and services. TECHNOLOGY AND ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE| Inquiry| Toyota Motor Corporation| The Watson’s a Creative Company| Organizational Structure| Centralized Matrix Organizational Structure| Decentraliz ed Organic Organizational Structure| Environment| Stable, highly efficient and orderly. | Constant change, simple, low formalization. | Control| Hierarchic| Network community. | Internal Communication| Vertical, between superior and subordinates. Lateral between people. | Core Competency| Lean Manufacturing Tools, Supply Chain Management, Product Development Technology, Branding| Creative Advertising /Knowledge worker| Core Technology| Conventional and Hybrid Vehicles, Hybrid Systems, Safety and Environmental Technologies. | Web based advertising systems, HTML, XML, SVG and Flash, Communications protocols, Video and audio technology. | Enabling Technologies| Toyota Technology Institute, Toyota InfoTechnology Center, Home Living Assistant Robotics, Personal Mobility. R&D product portfolio. iAd mobile app, Ad tracking, Banner Ads, Rich Media Ads, Tradeshows, Commercial Emails, Poster Ads, Social Media| Organizational Members| Task Oriented| People Oriented| Control-Stability and predi ctability. | High| Low| Flexibility-Quick response to changing conditions| High| High| Knowledge Management| Reinforcement of hierarchy| Anywhere in the company| Technology Interaction with Organizational Structure Based on these comparisons I believe that the interaction of technology must be accompanied with the right fit of the organizations structure to achieve sustainability.Toyota works on a technological scale far beyond that of the Watson’s. It uses manufacturing technology that is the cutting edge of science (Taneja et al. , 2012). It is doing an amazing work with its robotic technology that will help the handicapped, as well as the individual. Taneia et al. , (2012 believes that Toyota’s research and development accomplishments are making groundbreaking strides in the area of defense against energy starvation. The Watson’s Creative Company is using the Internet to extend their market reach far beyond what was once thought possible through conventional channels.According to Behboudi, Hanzaee, Koshksaray, Khirkhani Tabar, & Taheri (2012), â€Å"Creative advertising can provide a competitive edge for a brand, add to its value, and give it an advantage over its rivals in terms of more positive market response†(p. 140). The Watson’s advertising agency has achieved sustainability with their creative and innovative ads through the technology of the Internet. In comparison mechanistic and organic organizational structures are like two musicians, one who plays’ by ear and the other who has to read music; both however deliver a beautiful arrangement of music.Toyota is continuously focused on increasing its technological capabilities, while The Watson’s are continuously looking for more ways to use technology to create ads that are an experience for the consumer. Both are making contributions that will add value to organizational learning, and technological capabilities. References Behboudi, M. , Hanzaee, K. , Ko shksaray, A. , Khirkhani Tabar, M. , & Taheri, Z. (2012). A Review of the Activities of Advertsing Agencies in Online World []. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 4(1), 138-149. Retrieved from Ebscohost Dorf, R.C. , & Byers, T. H. (2008). Technology Ventures (2nd ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Dristelzweig, H. , & Droege, S. B. (n. d. ). Organizational Structure. Retrieved from http://law-journals-books. vlex. com/vid/organizational-structure-51758780 Field, R. (n. d. ). Organizational Effectiveness, Structure and Technology. Retrieved from http://apps. business. ualberta. ca/rfield/Organizational%20Effectiveness,%20Structure,%20and%20Technology. h Hosnavi, R. , & Ramezan, M. (2011). Intellectual Capital and Organizational Organic Structure How are these

Conflicts of Interest Essay

There are many different definitions for Conflict of Interest, but most all mean the same or point to the same direction. When gifts, outside activities such as consulting, or financial and fiduciary interest have potential to create a certain decision or commitment with a business it is considered conflict of interest. Although there are numerous definitions the one adopted by the Institute of Medicine is helpful. It states, â€Å"A conflict of interest is a set of circumstances that creates a risk that professional judgment or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by a secondary interest.† A conflict of interest usually occurs in a few common ways. One may be when an individual has the opportunity to use his/her partners’ position for personal financial gain or benefit a company in which the individual has a financial interest. Another way is when outside financial inappropriately influence the way in which an individual carries out his/her partners’ responsibilities. The last most common way of conflict of interest is when an individual’s outside interests otherwise may cause harm to partners’ reputation, staff, or patients. Conflicts of interest are often unavoidable and in many cases can be appropriately managed or reduced to an acceptable level. The people in the business should notice outside activity, interest, or interaction that has potential to create conflict. A few conflict of interest examples that are not acceptable are: Receiving a gift from a vendor. For example, Aaron works for a consulting firm. He accepts a large gift from a client in exchange for a discount on the services his employer provides. Being related to workers and giving them different treatment than the standard employee. For example, John works for a company that is managed by Uncle Steve. John reports to Uncle Steve to receive pay raises, promotions and other benefits that others in his same position do not receive. Doing freelance work for a competing company on the side. For example, Melissa works full time for Canon as a marketing director. In her spare time, she does freelance work for Nikon, helping to market their company with the skills she has learned from Canon. Richard Parsons is a part of two different businesses. â€Å"Because Parsons has a clear-cut fiduciary  duty to Citibank’s shareholders and must put their interest ahead of his or anyone else’s, his financial stake in Providence looks like a paradigm of a conflict of interest – not to mention the fact that Citibank, with all its problems, probably needs the full-time attention of the chairman of its board.† As stated in the text it is believed to be conflict of interest since Mr. Parsons is involved in both companies. Citibank however does not see it being a conflict of interest, and in fact says they would not allow â€Å"even the appearance† of conflict of interest. At times Providence needs financing and Citibank often lend them money. It is beli eved the two companies have such great relation because of Richard Parsons. Both businesses accept a deal they will benefit from, but is it the best deal Citi can have? Although Citibank believes there is no conflict of interest there may be. Both businesses can benefit from one deal, but Citi bank can negotiate a deal that they can benefit from more. Why don’t they negotiate a better deal though? If they do receive a better deal it will have the possibility of hurting Providence. Richard Parsons may not be a part of the deal, but the negotiators know who their boss is and do not want to make his business look bad. Because Richard Parsons is in both business it creates conflict of interest he does not intend for. It also creates unethical actions occur. Although they aren’t intentional they still happen. It is unethical for one person to affect both businesses, their deals, and their success. Keyon Communications is a broadband provider that is worth about only four cents. In 2009 the companies stocked climbed from four cents to two dollars and ten cents. The big question is how? Investors bid up the company’s stock and hope for it to take off. Of course the company believed it was a billion dollar company, but the truth is the stocked was fueled up by Joe Noel. Joe Noel was an analyst for Emerging Growth Research. He keeps a secret that Keyon awarded him seventy five thousand shares before he even began covering the company. The company’s stock eventually went down and showed that the company’s stock was truly only ninety five cents. The texts states that it is less certain whether there is conflict of interest or not, but it believe it is easier to determine in the case with Joe Noel and Keyon Communication. Joe Noel accepted a great amount of shares before he boosted their sock. Giving Joe Noel such shares moved him to invest in their company. One of the easiest conflict of interest to see is when a gift or  something is accepted from a vendor, and the vendor knows it will eventually benefit them. It was unethical for Joe Noel to boost their stock so much. It mislead others in thinking the company was better and worth more than it truly was. I believe people do not go around discussing or recommending specific stocks unless they are asked. It can be considered to be conflict of interest to discuss investments because someone can invest in a certain company to benefit someone or a busine ss. Friends may discuss stocks and investments and can create conflict of interest or can just simply recommend certain investments and discuss what may be best. If someone ask about your investments it is okay to discuss, but not to create deals that will be considered conflict of interest. Every company should have a policy to avoid conflict of interest. The policy must included many things but some main ones are: The employee owes a duty of loyalty to the company. At all times when on duty, without regard to time or place, employees should devote their full attention to the company’s business and their duties. An employee must avoid any activity that conflicts with their interest of the company. An employee must disclose a potential conflict in advance. Outside employment is prohibited unless approved by the employer in advance. The company will deny permission for such outside employment if at any point it adversely affects the employee’s ability, fitness, or readiness to work.

MAI Systems Corporation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

MAI Systems Corporation - Case Study Example Recently, Softbrands purchased the Company back in August 2006. Since its inception in 1957, the Company has gone through significant changes. Being an opportunist and thanks to IBM and the Justice Department in 1956 when the entire computer industry was under the monopoly of IBM, Walter R. Oreamuno and his associate came up with an idea of re-purchasing the computer equipment from IBM customers and leasing it back to the customers at a lower rate than what was being offered by IBM. This idea was a great boast to the MAI's growth but did not last that long. During this time, the Company opted for an IPO with an Not realizing IBM's strategy of depreciating its punch card equipment and the innovation of 360 third generation computer, MAI invested substantially in the older equipment that resulted in MAI's growth to stall. During 1967, a major setback on merger plans with Transamerica, Oreamuno stepped down as the CEO and was replaced by Luther Schwalm an ex-IBM veteran. With a shift in strategy, the earlier investment in the older IBM equipment did not prove to be fertile, Schwalm decided to write-off the outdated older equipment. MAI's cash flow was impacted so substantially that its net worth in 1970 was negative $ 28 million. Oreamuno's decision proved out to be so wrong that even Schwalm was unable to bring the Company out of trouble. It was that when in 1971 MAI's CFO took over as the President. With a new strategy, Kurshan reorganized MAI into a holding company with various subsidiaries. Basic/Four and Sorbus subsidiaries of MAI did well in bringing MAI back to life. Sorbus took advantage of MAI's existing 1,200-person maintenance staff as its core, and expanding from there. Basic/Four was a major success instantaneously. In 1972, Basic/Four introduced the first multi-user transaction-processing mini-computer to use the Business Basic language. Basic/Four's revenue grew up to $43 million, and it was contributing around two-thirds of MAI's tot al earnings. Focused on software products, MAI in 1977 took over acquired Word stream Corporation. This company was producing word processing systems and IBM-compatible CRT terminals. MAI shipped its 10,000th computer system in the year 1980. The market for these computers began to shift drastically at this time, and small companies were turning to cheaper, newly available personal computers instead of the mini-computers that had been Basic/Four's forte. In 1983, the company introduced its MAI 8000, a super-minicomputer nearly as powerful as a mainframe computer, which was proficient enough of servicing up to 96 users at one time. In 1984, a New York-based investor Asher Edelman purchased 12 percent of MAI's stock. Edelman by means of a proxy war for control of the company won four seats on MAI's ten-member board of directors. In the course of the proxy battle, Edelman received a settlement in the $1 million range following a libel suit filed against MAI concerning company advertisements. During April 1984, MAI International Corporation, the company's worldwide marketing arm, was folded into

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

DIABETES - Essay Example Conversely, it is reported that by the end of this decade, diabetes will likely to affect 30% of the Americans adult, which is around 40 million people. This will cause the human cost as well as, economic consequences to be substantial. Diabetes is a chronic condition, which is associated with unusually high levels of sugar in the blood (Braithwaite & Taylor, 2001). Research has shown that among the United States residents aged between 65 years and older have diabetes whereas 220,000 people aged 20 years are also affected by the disease. Today, Florida ranks in top 10 of states with high diabetes rates. Most health experts reported that the United States is facing an increase in the number of people with diabetes. In 1996, the 1.4 million to 4 million of people were diagnosed with diabetes in states such as Florida and Miami. Today, the figure is increasing at an alarming rate, and it confirms that diabetes has become one of the challenges facing the U.S today. High diabetes rates in Florida have become one of the disturbing issues among most communities (Silink, Kida & Rosenbloom, 2003). The study shows that the Florida’s rate of diabetes is currently outpacing its fat score as a result of increase in its population and it is more culturally diverse as compared to other states in the U.S. These factors on the other hand have doubled the state’s rate of diabetes taking it to about 9.9 percent. The experts argue that the older a person gets, the more likely the person is to develop diabetes. Compared with other states such as West Virginia, Maine, New Hampshire and many others, Miami, Florida and Westchester are reported to have more blacks and Hispanics, both the groups having higher rates of diabetes as opposed to the whites. However the main reason as to why the blacks and Hispanics have more diabetes was partly understood. Studies also shows that lower income as well as, education levels are some of the factors associated with higher rates of d iabetes. In summary, this paper will discuss on diabetes based on the communities in Miami, Florida and Westchester (Braithwaite & Taylor, 2001). In this research, the specific populations addressed are women. It is evident that women are greatly affected by diabetes in the United States as opposed to men. Of the 26 million adult with diabetes, about 13 million of the populations are women affected by diabetes. This is because research shows that risks of heart diseases are common complications of diabetes, thus this is more serious in women as opposed to men (Silink, Kida & Rosenbloom, 2003). Today, there are various complications that have been reported to have come as a result of Diabetes. These include heart disease and stroke, kidney disease, hypertension, amputations, and many other diseases. For instance, in 2004 the heart diseases were noted on 70% in Florida and Miami states. Conversely, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported that the demographic factors only explai n the 10% of the rise of Obesity in Miami, 16% in Westchester, and 35% in Florida states. However, it is evident that lifestyle changes as well as, drug treatment can help in the reduction of diabetes in these states (Holt, 2009). For many years, the federal along with the government of the United States had been very active in the diabetes field to ensure that the people who were affected get good medication (Holt, 2009). As a result, the Federal Nation Diabetes Education programs (NDEP) were implemented in

China's growth contradicts the links between democracy and growth Essay

China's growth contradicts the links between democracy and growth. Discuss - Essay Example Alongside democracy, capital and labor are some of the critical factors considered to have a significant effect on economic growth in the long run. There have been misconceptions that China’s economic growth is linked to the fact that China is a one-party state that upholds the authoritarian form of government. These mistaken views have influenced other countries to believe that authoritarian rule contributes hugely to economic growth, although China’s growth is tied to liberalization of political and economic reforms, which have led to reduced authoritarianism. China’s growth contradicts the links between democracy and growth China’s growth contradiction with democracy has brought about complication in the fact that the world’s richest countries attribute their success and growth to existence of democracy in their systems. The belief that economic development are linked to democracy is getting weaker as authoritarian regimes like China are proving that they have the capability of achieving economic growth without putting any efforts on political democracies. However, it remains a fact that high per capita income in democratic states has a significant effect in achieving stable and increasing economic growth. Over the last twenty-five years, China's has maintained tremendous economic growth with rigid political aspects that have remained closely tied to authoritarian form of governance. This stagnation in political reforms has negated the concept of economic growth, resulting in educated citizens who later pressure the most authoritarian governments to allow for democracies in which they themselves can exercise control over political situations for the benefit of the entire country. Claims that democracy does not contribute to economic development arise with respect to government’s function of representing the common needs of all the citizens. Different requirements, views, and opinions of different citizens necessitate the government to function independently and represent the collective views of all citizens other than needs of a few individuals. Democracy existence is said to be a hindrance to the independence a government in fostering economic growth and effective citizen representation. The government is given the responsibility of collecting taxes and putting the revenue into productive use with respect to aggregate preferences of citizens. Therefore, democracies may become obstacles for government’s rational functionality; however, multiparty systems in voting in governments may represent rational preferences that meet a variety of conditions to a limited proportion. Moreover, democracy may reflect a system of governance that meets requirements of citizens but does not foster aggregate preferences such as economic prosperity. However, autonomy of the government in countries like China only infringes on political freedom and not economic freedom. Lack of political freedom is depicted by the single party governance where the government places independent emphasis on liberalization of foreign and private investment. Usually, authoritarian governments that have liberalized their economies are statistically proved to economically

Corporations Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Corporations Law - Essay Example Although the venture is doing well, there are some matters that are starting to concern them. One of their good friends who had also created an application similar to ChitChat was sued by an employee for negligence and a footballer for defamation. The court’s decision favored both the employee and the footballer and the application creator ended up losing the application as well as her house and cars. The three friends, Lauryn, Nicole and Elizabeth, are scared that the same might occur to them, and they may lose the application as well as their personal property. The three friends are also unsure on how to sign contracts with suppliers and especially if they will all be liable for a contract entered into by one of them. Additionally, they have heard that other developers are raising money to fund other ventures, and they would also like to be able to raise funds to finance other applications they are working on. The three are unsure of the most appropriate business structure t hey should adopt. Issue The three friends would like to enter into a formal business organization that would allow them to manage and operate the activities of ChiChat effectively. The three friends are concerned about the legal liability of the undertaking particularly the extent of their individual liability in the venture and as such would like a business structure that will address this issue. ... A partnership agreement can be written or oral; however, if the partners wish to make their arrangement positively clear and enforceable it is prudent to draw up Articles of Partnership. Formally partnered entities can easily be made public through press releases, advertisements or public records. There are several types of partnerships, and they include general partnerships, limited liability partnerships and limited partnerships. In a general partnership arrangement, all partners manage the company and are personally accountable for its liabilities (Mayson, French, & Ryan, 1989 p. 19). In a limited partnership, some limited partners relinquish their management role in the partnership, in substitute for limited liability for the partnerships liabilities. The other type of partnership is the limited liability partnership where all the partners have some degree of limited liability for the liabilities of the partnership (Sealy, & Worthington2007 p.115). Liability Every individual in t he partnership undertaking are both an agent and a principal of the partnership and may, therefore, bind the other partners and the firm. This implies that each partner is jointly and severally accountable for the debts of the partnership, which include the share of the partner’s risks as well as being liable for the risks of the partnership in its general course of business. The liability of a partner to a business is, therefore, unlimited in respect to a general partnership. In limited partnerships, the liability of a partner is limited to some degree (Morse, 2010 p. 24). It is also noteworthy that, in limited partnerships, the limited partners cannot take part in the operations of the partnership for their liability to remain limited. Lauryn, Nicole and Elizabeth’s

Genre Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Genre - Assignment Example In some instance, however, as in the case of the recent Lindsay Lohan court proceedings, the events surrounding Michael Jackson’s death (TMZ is even reputed as breaking this story), and the O.J. Simpson trial are deemed appropriate for both gossip and reputable news outlets. The content that is included within the gossip blogs follows a somewhat fluid structure. One can consider the concept of A, B, and C list celebrities in this regard. For instance, a celebrity such as Kim Kardashian or Lady Gaga, who are of significant public interest, will often be featured within the blogs for simply attending a restaurant or swimming on the beach. Celebrities who are of only moderate importance are featured within the blogs on a scale that is proportionate to the outlandishness of the actions they have been caught or rumored to have participated in. For instance, Oksana Grigorieva, a not regularly publicized celebrity, is regularly featured as a result of her being involved in the sensationalistic Mel Gibson recordings. Similarly, comedian Greg Giraldo is featured as he recently died of an overdose. While these are the general rules for content inclusion, events of absurd or comedic value will also be featured within this genre. For instance, Nadya Suleman (Ã¢â‚¬Ë œoctomom’) is featured in one blog because she is humorously promoting a beer

Mohammed Ali Clay Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Mohammed Ali Clay - Essay Example He was raised in a middle class black household in the poorer district of the city. When he was 12, his new bicycle was stolen. When he went to the local police station to complain, the local policeman, Joe Martin, suggested to him to learn boxing. Young Cassius started training under Martin .who was also a boxing coach, in Louisville's Columbia Gym. Although Martin gave him the idea and inspiration to become a boxer, it was the black trainer, Fred Stone, who taught Clay the finer intricacies of the science of boxing. Boxing as a sport was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "Boxing is a sport contested at the amateur and professional levels , which involves attack and defense with the fist. (Encyclopedia p. 177) Boxing had become a popular sport in the U.S, with the Irish immigrants, and later, the African Americans from early twentieth century. There were amateur and professional contests. Boxing was also a part of the Olympic Games. According to the Encyclopedia, "Boxing first appeared as a formal Olympic event in the twenty third Olympiad in 688 B.C."(Encyclopedia 178) In the 1960 Olympiad, eighteen year old Cassius Clay won the gold medal, which brought him fame. But he knew the big money was in professional boxing. "Ali signed the most lucrative contract- a 50-50 split -negotiated by a beginning professional in the history of boxing, with a 12 member group of millionaires called the Louisville Sponsoring Group."(Gale Cengage Learning) He has a great media personality- his boasts and sayings created public interest in him. Unlike the other heavyweight boxers, who were usually quiet and retiring, he was fond of publicity. His wit also helped to make him well known. He is reported to have told Gilbert Rogin of Sports Illustrated, "Boxing is dying because everybody is so quiet..What boxing needs is..more Clays" (Gale) In February 1954, he boasted to the readers of the same magazine, "Cassius Clay is a boxer who can throw the jive better than anybody." More money started to pour into the sport of boxing because of Ali's flamboyant personality and his witty boasts. In 1964, Ali fought Sonny Liston for the World Heavyweight Championship. Ali was only 22 at the time. Liston was a powerful fighter, but Muhammad Ali had science to his aid. Ali's war cry had been, "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee", which he did in the match in Miami. By using intelligence and science, young Ali won the championship. "He beat Liston in a display of beautiful, controlled boxing." (Gale) Although Liston was very powerful, he went down to Ali, who used his skills with good planning and great courage and confidence. An interesting anecdote about Liston is popular. According to Hauser, "Liston picks up the dice and throws craps and there is a big silence. Then a voice comes, "Look at that big ugly bear, he can't even shoot."(Hauser p. 50) Clay had made his announcement to everyone present. Confidence was the hallmark of Ali. Boxers without confidence are doomed. David Remnick writes about the fight on September 25, 1962. "On the morning of the fight, the heavyweight champion of the world packed a loser's suitcase. Floyd Patterson, for all his hand speed, for all the hours he put in the gym, was the most doubt-addled titleholder in the history of the division."(Remnick 1) But Ali was never doubt riddled, he was

Fossil Essay Example for Free

Fossil Essay Kosta had noted the recent success of Swatch fashion watches and was aware that watches and other goods could be imported from the Far East at very low cost. On a visit to Hong Kong, Tom studied a number of potential products for import including toys and stuffed animals before following Kosta’s advice and returned to the U. S. to develop a watch import business. Enlisting the aid of two friends, Lynne Stafford for her sense of design and Alan Moore who had a master’s degree in accounting, he invested his savings of $200,000 to found Fossil as a Texas corporation in 1984. Fossil’s initial purchase of watches from a Hong Kong manufacturer included some retro and jumbo designs that Macy’s thought were â€Å"hot,† and significant orders followed. A design staff was developed that included watch buyers from retail chains. Inspiration came from many sources. , however: the strongest was â€Å"retro† themes from the 1940’s and 50’s. Designers paged through magazines from this era, including Life, Look, and Time, and visited flea markets searching for old watches. Between 1987 and 1989 sales grew from $2 million to $20 million, assisted by liberal credit from the Hong Kong manufacturers of Fossil watches. One sector included conservatively styled time pieces including brands such as Citizen and Seiko. The second sector included products designed to reflect emerging fashion trends and included Swatch, Guess? , Anne Klein and Anne Klein II, and Fossil. This segment was fueled by fashion-conscious consumers who considered watches as fashion accessories and often owned multiple watches. Branded fashion watch sales were estimated to represent approximately $400 million in retail sales in 1990. Major Competitors Fossil’s major competitors were Swatch and Guess?. Although market share data were difficult to obtain, it was generally believed that Fossil and Guess? had nearly equal market shares and that Swatch had slipped to third in recent months. Numerous other considerably smaller competitors existed including Anne Klein, Anne Klein II, and Gucci. Swatch Although quartz watch technology had been developed in Switzerland, by the late 1970’s the Japanese companies’ Seiko, Citizen, and Casio and the United States’ firm Texas Instruments exploited production improvements and economies of scale to drive prices down. Strategic use of the manufacturing experience curve led to an oversupply of quartz watch movements and a severe price war. Many competitors were driven out of business with Casio, Hong Kong producers, and a few other firms surviving in mass market watches, and Seiko and Citizen in the moderately priced segment. The Swiss watch industry was under severe attack at the low and mid price points, and both unemployment and losses on bank loans were increasing. In 1978, the Swiss government agreed to provide up to one-third of the costs or a maximum of Sfr. 5 million for a venture of the leading watch manufacturers to develop a Swiss electronic watch program. Additional financing was supplied by banks, who wrote off existing loans and provided hundreds of millions of francs of new capital, and a group of investors who paid $100 million (Sfr 151 at the time) for a 51 percent share. The consulting firm of Hayek Engineering was hired to lead the effort to revive the lower-priced segment. This venture produced a number of new patents and developed both new watch and watch manufacturing technologies, along with the ability to design and manufacture watches efficiently at low cost. The resulting firm, Swiss Corporation for Microelectronics and Watchmaking (SMH) included the existing brands Omega, Longines, Tissot, and Rado in the moderate and fine watch segments. N. Hayek and E. Thomke led efforts in the low priced segments that resulted in the Swatch manufactured by SMH’s ETA division. Development of the Swatch began in 1980, resulting in a product launch in 1983. The manufacturing process was highly automated using robots and computers in the manufacturing and assembly processes. The watch had been designed with only 51 parts, instead of the usual 90 to 150 parts in other watches, had an ex-factory price of Sfr15. Parts were injected directly into the plastic case which was sealed by ultrasonic welding. This process was highly capital intensive, leading to direct labor costs of less than ten percent of total costs. The manufacturing process permitted a wide variety of dials, cases, and straps: however, variations in the shape and size of the watch case were quite difficult. One plant could produce up to 35,000 watches a day. Swatch was test marketed in the United States in December 1982 at 100 Sanger Harris department stores in Dallas, Salt Lake City, and San Diego without any advertising or public relations. Although consumer reactions were mixed, Swatch was officially launched in Switzerland in March 1983, followed by a gradual worldwide release. A second U. S. test market in December 1983 through the Zale jewelry chain and Macy’s was not successful. Swatch made extensive adjustments throughout their marketing program, and by 1985, U. S. sales accelerated. In 1986, a worldwide single price of $30 for most models was set and sales accumulated to over 50 million units worldwide by 1988. The 100 millionth Swatch was sold in 1993, when the price of a basic Swatch was $40. In 1992, SMH had combined sales for all brands of $2. 1 billion, producing $286 million in profits and a market equity value exceeding $3. 5 billion. Banks had encouraged Nicholas Hayek to assume a 20 percent equity ownership in the mid-80’s, a successful arrangement for both. Fifteen thousand employees worked in plants in Switzerland and Thailand producing semi-conductors, watches, movements, batteries, and straps. Guess? In 1983, Philip â€Å"Mickey† Callanen acquired the worldwide license to manufacture and market watches with the Guess? name. Investing $40,000 of his personal funds, he opened business in his garage, sourced watches from Hong Kong, and shipped for the 1983 Christmas season. Growth continued through the 1980’s at over 20 percent annually. In 1991, Callanen Company was acquired by Timex, expanding distribution to Japan, Australia, France, England, Germany and Canada and providing Callanen an additional source of watch technologies such as Indiglo dial illumination. In 1993 Callanen marketed both Guess? watches for men and women and Monet watches for women. Guess? represented 85 percent of the $80 million shipments (3 million watches) in 1992. The Guess? product line included 250 to 300 styles including classic, fashion, sporty, multi-function, chronograph, novelty, and metal bracelet watches. About 20 percent of the product line was revised seasonally four times a year. Guess? watches had a suggested retail price between $42 and $115, using department stores as the major retail outlet. Fifteen percent of Guess? sales were in international markets. Additional products included watch bands and private label watches for Disney, Hard Rock Cafe, Limited Express, Macy’s, and others. Virtually all Guess? watches were designed and manufactured at Guess? ’s partly owned manufacturing facility in Hong Kong. The 270 employees included a design staff of 19. Callanen’s business offices, warehouse, and watch repair facility were located in Norwalk, Connecticut, and they had a showroom in New York City. Manufacturing and Sourcing About two million, or eighty-five percent of fine watches sold worldwide, were manufactured in Switzerland in 1988, making Switzerland the largest value producer with sales of $4. 9 billion (96 million watches) in 1990. Most other watches were manufactured in the Far East, with the major exception of Swatch, which was manufactured in a highly automated factory in Switzerland. The development of the Swatch and its robotic factory was credited with saving the Swiss watch industry. Japan was the world’s largest producer in terms of units, with 325 million units, representing 44 percent of the world’s production in 1990. Hong Kong, relying on assembly by hand, produced 175 million watches in 1990, and was expected to produce 340 million, or one-third of the world’s watches in 1993 (Table 6). Due to Hong Kong’s focus on low-priced watches, this represented only nine percent of the total value of watches produced. Fossil chose to assemble watches in Hong Kong, using components from Japan, China, Taiwan, Italy, and Korea. FOSSIL IN 1993 Business Strategy Fossil’s initial public offering prospectus defined their business strategy as: â€Å"Brand Development. The Company has established the FOSSIL brand name and image to reflect a theme of fun, fashion, and humor, and believes that the FOSSIL brand name has achieved growing acceptance among fashion-conscious consumers in its target markets. Product Value. The Company’s products provide value by offering quality components and features at moderate prices. For example, the Company’s FOSSIL watches, which offer features such as raised indexes, enamel, textured, shell or semi-precious stone dials, gold electroplating, and fine leather straps, are sold at an average retail price of $63. Likewise, the Company’s RELIC watches, which incorporate a number of features offered in FOSSIL watches, are sold at an average retail price of $42. Fashion Orientation. The Company ifferentiates its products from those of its competitors principally through innovations in fashion details, including variations in the treatment of watch dials, crystals, cases, and straps for the Company’s watches and trimming, lining, and straps for its handbags. Expansion of International Business. The Company is seeking to achieve further growth in its international business through the establishment of a joint venture to operate a European distribution center, the establishment of a branch office in Canada, and the recruitment of new distributors in selected international markets. Introduction of New Product Categories. The Company may leverage its design and marketing expertise to expand the scope of its product offerings through the introduction of new categories of fashion accessories that would complement its existing products. Active Management of Retail Sales. The Company manages the retail sales process by carefully monitoring its customers’ sales and inventories by product category and style and by assisting in the conception, development, and implementation of their marketing program. As a result, the Company believes it enjoys close relationships with its principal customers, often allowing it to influence the mix, quality, and timing of their purchasing decisions. Close Relationships with Manufacturing Sources. The Company has established and maintains close relationships with a number of watch manufacturers located in Hong Kong. The Company believes that these relationships allow it to quickly and efficiently introduce innovative product designs and alter production in response to the retail performance of its products. Coordinated Product Promotion. The Company coordinates product design, packaging, and advertising functions in order to communicate in a cohesive manner to its target markets the themes and images it associates with its products. Personnel Development. The Company actively seeks to recruit and train its design, advertising, sales, and marketing personnel to assist it in achieving further growth in its existing businesses and in expanding the scope of its product offerings. Cost Advantages. Because the Company does not pay royalties on products sold under the FOSSIL and RELIC brand names and because of cost savings associated with the location of its headquarters and warehousing and distribution center in Dallas, Texas, the Company believes that it enjoys certain cost advantages which enhance its ability to achieve attractive profit margins. Centralized Distribution. Substantially all of the Company’s products are distributed from its warehousing and distribution center located in Dallas. The Company believes that its distribution capabilities enable it to reduce inventory risk and increase its flexibility in meeting the delivery requirement of its customers. (Fossil, 1993, 23-24) Manufacturing Fossil East, a 35 employee subsidiary of Fossil (owning 20 percent interest), acted as Fossil’s exclusive agent, buying all of Fossil’s watches from approximately 20 factories located in Hong Kong. In 1992, about 21 percent of these watches were purchased from Pulse Time, a Hong Kong corporation in which Fossil held a minority interest. Three other factories each accounted for more than 10 percent of Fossil’s watches. The company felt that developing long-term relations with suppliers was essential to its success. While the loss of any single manufacturer could disrupt shipments of certain watch styles, it would not impact their overall marketing program. Leather goods were manufactured in 12 factories located in Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, and Uruguay. Fossil believed â€Å"that its policy of outsourcing products allows it to achieve increased production flexibility while avoiding significant capital expenditures, build-ups of work-in-process inventory, and the costs of managing a substantial production work force† (Fossil, 1993, 27). Products Fossil’s flagship products were the Fossil watches introduced as a brand in 1986. Handbags were introduced in 1991 as the first entry into the leather goods market. Watch Products Watches represented 98. 1, 96. 4, and 92. 5 percent of sales in the years 1990, 1991, and 1992 respectively. Following the Fossil brand, Fossil introduced the Relic brand, Fossil watch straps, and private label products. FOSSIL Watches: Fossil states its â€Å"watches are targeted at middle and upper income consumers between the ages of 16 and 40 and are sold at retail prices generally ranging from $45 to $110, with an average price of $63† (Fossil, 1993, 25). RELIC Watches: The Relic brand shared many of the features found in Fossil watches but in a format suitable for lower priced fashion watches. Relic watches â€Å"are targeted at lower and middle income consumers and are sold at retail prices generally ranging from $40 to $50, with an average price of $42. † Fossil Watch Straps: Watch straps were targeted at customers who bought Fossil watches; however, they could be used with a wide variety of watches. They were priced from $13 to $15. Private Label Products: Fossil provided private label watches for retailers and other customers. Leather Goods Following the introduction of Fossil handbags in 1991, small leather goods such as coin purses, key chains, personal organizers, wallets, and belts for women were introduced in 1992, accounting for about five percent of sales in 1992. The handbags emphasized classic styles and creative designs, including a tan and black binocular bag, a green and tan drawstring sac, and a natural color military ammunition pouch retailing from $48 to $130, with an average price of $87. Fossil felt that since women’s leather goods tended to be located near women’s watches in department and specialty stores, purchase of one Fossil product might lead to another. They also felt that they were price competitive. Design and Development The design staff sought to â€Å"differentiate its products from those of its competition principally by incorporating innovations in fashion details into its product designs. † These included variations in the treatment of dials, crystals, cases, and straps for the company’s watches and trimming, lining, and straps for handbags (Fossil 1993, 26). Fossil’s watch lines included Airmaster, Casual, Chronograph, Dress, Limited Edition, Pyramid, Crystal, Skeleton, and Vintage watches. About 500 different styles were available at any given time, with new designs offered five times a year. Over 1,000 models were available in 1992. Design prototypes of watches were created in Hong Kong in as little as a week, and lead-time from committing orders to shipment ranged from two to three months. Fossil believed that its close relationships with manufacturers gave it a competitive advantage in quickly introducing innovative product designs. Promotion Fossil made use of an in-house advertising department for design and execution of packaging, advertising, and sales promotions. Company executives felt that extensive use of computer-aided design reduced time and encouraged greater creativity in developing these programs. The company’s stated advertising themes â€Å"aim at evoking nostalgia for the simpler values and more optimistic outlook of the 1950’s through the use of images of cars, trains, airliners, and consumer products that reflect the classic American tastes of the period. These images are carefully coordinated in order to convey the flair for fun, fashion, and humor which the Company associates with its products† (Fossil, 1993, 28). A sundial watch sold over 250,000 pieces at a retail price of $16. Fossil developed cooperative advertising programs with major retail customers and developed in-store visual support through its packaging, signs, and fixtures. Consumers were offered promotional items, including unique tin boxes as watch packaging, T-shirts, caps, and pens. In ten locations, Fossil opened a â€Å"shop-in-shop† format including a wide variety of Fossil products and promotional materials. With greater emphasis on product design, retailer relations, and promotion, Fossil conducted advertising limited to spot television in local markets since 1989, national spots since 1991, outdoor advertising in four markets, and occasional ads in Elle, Mademoiselle, Vogue, and Seventeen. Distribution and Sales Force The majority of Fossil’s products were shipped to its warehouse and distribution center in Dallas. A significant number were bar coded prior to shipment for entry into a computerized inventory control system, which enabled Fossil to track each item from receipt to its ultimate sale. Products were distributed to approximately 12,000 retail locations in the United States including department stores and specialty retail stores. In 1991 and 1992, department stores accounted for about 67 percent of net sales. (Table 8 provides data on watch distribution by price and retail channel. ) Fossil’s ten largest customers accounted for 40 percent of sales. The largest customers were Dillard’s and the May Company, each accounting for from ten to thirteen percent of sales. Other principal customers included Carter Hawley Hale Stores, Dayton Hudson, Federated Department Stores, JCPenney, Macy’s, Nordstrom, and Service Merchandise. Although the industry typically used independent sales representatives, Fossil made use of 25 in-house sales and customer service employees and 12 independent sales representatives. In-house personnel received a salary while independent sales reps worked on a commission basis and did not represent competing product lines. International sales in 1990, 1991, and 1992 were 5. 6, 7. 2, and 8. 1 percent of net sales, respectively. Sixteen independent distributors operated in Europe, South and Central America, Africa, and Australia. These distributors resold watches to department stores and specialty retail stores. Fossil received payment in U. S. dollars based on a uniform price schedule. Financial Strategy Fossil had started out as a â€Å"bootstrap† financed firm. Personal income and savings from Tom Kartsotis’ ticket-brokering business had provided the initial capital for the operation, and the company had further financed operations by the creative use of trade credit and bank loans. With sales growing rapidly, Fossil’s expansion needs exceeded what it could raise internally. To sustain sales growth, Fossil needed a substantial increase in working capital. Fossil’s ability to continue to fund itself with debt capital, given their exposure to volatility in the fashion product market, was questionable. An initial public stock offering (IPO) which would provide access to capital needed to expand Fossil’s working capital base and fund additional sales growth, was managed by Montgomery Securities of San Francisco. While not uncommon, IPO’s of less than $20 MM involved transaction costs that many viewed as being too high to justify the offering. A critical decision that needed to be made was what proportion of the ownership should be issued.

The Relationship Between Fashion and Personality

The Relationship Between Fashion and Personality Fashion is related historically to an individuals personality since it gives a general idea of what the person is thinking of and minimizes his personality as well. Personalities have a big and great responsibility; they represent the individual himself. Clothes help in expressing the innermost thoughts, kindness, and feelings. This is enough to know what kind of clothes and what way to wear appropriately. Sometimes we feel uncomfortable for being in a place that obliges us to be with a certain dress while we have a different life style. Fashion simply is our appearance, manners and characteristics. Fashion and personality are related and each one completes the other. When looking at a well-dressed person you probably ask yourself does this person create the clothes or just those fit him exactly? Colors most of the time give the mood of the person; choosing the color while dressing is done according to the mood of the person, no one can dress red, green, or yellow if he is in a certa in situation and not happy, while dark colors are relaxed colors worn by the stressed and sad people. Attraction for woman is just as visual as it is for man. They think what she might be from the way she dress and walk and vice versa. Selection of the clothes according to the occasion, time or mood reflects the taste of a person. The way of choosing the dress comes without planning and it cant be realized by the person himself unless someone points and asks about sadness and gloominess. Fashion does not necessarily means that one has to wear what is common to all but it relates to a person own thinking and perception. Everyone likes to be special and unique where as in some situation being unique is as being lonely and far from the world, for this purpose there are different trends, and designers that make a person dress the way he likes and the way it fits his personality otherwise fashion and style will be a ridiculous job. Moreover there is a story behind what people wear. It is not as simple as we can conclude from the first look; time is needed to adopt fashion. Thus taking time in choosing clothes and coming up with a style is an essential issue to take into consideration since it became a way of judging a ones personality and mood. A persons personality is shown through his fashion style whether it is: casual, classic, romantic and trendy style. Most of the time fashion personality fits a persons lifestyle. Classic Fashion Personality Classic fashion describes the style exactly. The person wearing classic has neutral look such as gray, navy blue, beige and black which is the key in color choice among those colors. This gentle clothes and accessories style is more likely for the people above the age of forty since if a woman under 25 years old dresses this style then people around will probably ask why she is looking older and over 40 years. People of this style do not ignore their traditional lifestyles but they try to show their personalities whether the clothes are very expensive or not where the aim is to look chic and elegant. Most women choose this style of fashion for a reason that wearing classical clothes makes them look thinner and thus taller. Women prefer to wear this style for the purpose of simplicity, chicness, and highlighting their personality. These classical women have a linear approach to fashion where they choose durable fabrics such as tweed, wool blends, cashmere, silk and good quality of cotton. They go for the timeless wardrobe and this includes their fashion accessories. Being elegant and tailored in the classical fashion personality is the desired purpose that wearer look for while choosing this style. This style differs from another since its the only style which by looking at, the wearer can recognize directly that it is suitable to his personality. This style shapes the way of moving and walking around with a sense of elegance and softness without even feeling if touching the ground or not. Classic fashion always starts with the simplest ideas. Silhouettes are sleek and concepts are unpolluted. It is this clean thinking that allows a classic fashion to melt into any current theme or style. The biggest benefit of this style is that classic styles as a little black dress are different from the trendy ones. According to men simple jacket, pant and bow-tie is most preferable in classic style. Classic fashions tend to stick with classic colors as well as classic lines. Black, blue, white and brown are much more common than bright yellow, hot pink and neon orange. Natural materials, such as cotton, silk and leather, are much more common than synthetics, such as polyester, rayon and pl eat her. In addition to the tailored and elegant style, sustainable style is also one of the classical fashions. However it is a smart investment in which the purchasers spend more on a single quality item of clothing than spend loads on throw away fashion accessories. Furthermore, they on their neutral colors and dark suits for years to come. Thus, classical style is related and almost has a peace of mind personality, means no confusion of what dressing since this style is very simple, and by giving a special touch of your lifestyle gives a great classical look. The person carrying this fashion style is a very simply person by which he/she looks at the clothes and buy without caring about the price, it is enough that this is appropriate to his/her personality. This personality is often tends to take the shots and being famous people. Minimalism and Preppy fashion are also a variation of this style. Thus who feels his style fits the classical one then do not hesitate in being a classical fashion style (refer to App. I, Fig. 1 2). Romantic Fashion Personality Fashion is also a factor that cultivates love and romance. It attracts a person towards others and this attraction may lead finally to a strong bond of love. Prolific fashion designer, Coco Chanel says, Fashion is in the sky, in the street; fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening. Fashion is therefore the power which actually metamorphoses an image. To some fashion is a typical form of art again to others fashion is verve, a sensation, a feeling. That is with respect to romantic fashion that has a unique way of dressing. The romantic dresser sticks to the pastel colors and loves paisley prints, florals, gingham and polka dots. It is described by the long skirts, hats, gloves and deep cut blouses or dresses with plunging necklines such as a sweetheart neckline or V neckline. And sometimes searching and looking for special antiques which are not found in the usual places, maybe visiting certain countries for getting ones wants. Such people and especially women love girly, whimsical detailing such as tiered frill skirts, patchwork and overlays of lace, bouncy tiers and upstanding frills. This look is sometimes outdated. The love of the past is applied in present with this way of styling. This style refers to the Victorian period where a woman dresses according to that style known in the past. Whatever it is to most people, fashion is a process, rather a significant method of utilizing accessories and clothing to bring out the best of them. Therefore hiding or showing fashion is actually a method of expression, and a mode to express their personality. Romantic fashion personality is soft, thin and lovely personality. This fashion loves people and goes with all the ages by differentiating each one from another, dealing smoothly without hurting or causing any harmful thing to people even by words and dialogs. This personality is often and mostly found in Europe due to their different nationalities and cultural variety of people. This personality is the most feminine personality among the others. It gives a soft and sweet taste for the wearer, and it helps the individual to form a picture for himself/herself as the heroine in a historical romance. Being feminine is the aim of most ladies; smooth soft and kind look is also available for those who have this style of fashion (re fer to App. I, Fig. 3). Trendy Fashion Personality: A trendy fashion style is an up to date style where modern fashion exists which is related to the technological phenomena nowadays. This type of style includes young people from age eighteen to twenty-four years who follow fashion trends, are technology-savvy, up on the latest modern music, and in general are part of a group of people who all follow these same trends thus they can be known directly from the first sight. In addition there is difference between trendy women and men. Trendy girls are easily recognized. They are shopaholics, and therefore wear the latest top fashion clothes. They are notoriously known for tight-fitting jeans and belly buttons are exposed (usually pierced) by their wearing of small tops. Moreover they wear ripped jeans, flannel and converse shoes. Whereas typical trendy guys commonly wear tight jeans and are usually long with fancy new belts. They may also wear short sleeve t-shirts of top names such as FCUK, and may wear a jacket. People of trendy fashion style appreciate a good sale, dont especially look for value in their wardrobe and investment dressing is not their thing. Also they limit their budget but spend more time on fashion than others. Although they own some clothing in neutral colors, the idea of wearing an item of classic tailored clothing purchased several years ago is foreign to their fashion sensibility. Trendy fashion is not suitable for workplace. In contrary it is a perfect style for fun and entertainment places dressing the latest designer jeans, or six-inch high heels, and trendy wardrobe which makes the wearer stand out from the crowd, showoff and also fit in well with an active lifestyle. In conclusion, trendy fashion starts out being weird until it is picked up by a fashionable source consisting of models, stars and fashion labels further endorsing the product that is trend into the mainstream (refer to App. II). Casual Fashion Personality: Casual usually is the style where probably jeans, t-shirt, sweats, and pants are preferable. This style is a relaxing and comfortable one and trumps style. This style comes when no shots is coming at the near and no lights would take place in the individuals life. For this purpose this style does not look through the new fashion features. A casual person is much comfortable in ones decisions especially in choosing the clothes and colors and it is suitable more for the casual lifestyle, since it doesnt fit the workplace and official places too. People around this stylist feel stressed and tired from seeing the person with the same style always. Women and men dress randomly and they dont intend to wear something special or think hardly of the items even in buying it. They focus on accessories and hand bags more than any other alternatives. Casual style is totally away from the red carpets. This fad is just a casual one far from the famous life. The wardrobe of this style is free from special and chic items. This fashion style has a very strange personality; it is often a confusing one. The person having this style is a comfortable person focusing on other issues than on clothes, however the look through each item in the store whether they want to buy or not just for entertainment and being up to the latest fashion. An accessory attracts this person style since it is luxury according to them and it can complete their personality. This personality goes easily in wearing but confusing in mental thinking. Thus, casual fashion style is good in some places and inappropriate in other cases. Being a casual fashion style is very simple and easy (refer to App. III). Fashion is an essential and primary issue to be realized especially when an individual recognizes his/her personality and what fits it. Dealing and cooperating with fashion and styles is not an easy method, since not everything can be suitable and appropriate . In additional to that having a unique fashion style is not preferable since it makes a sense of loneliness and far from the usual styles found around. It minimizes the individuals personality as well. It is a way of showing thought, kindness, and feelings. A person must ask himself directly when looking at the mirror what clothes fits him/her exactly? Choosing the colors is one of the most important manners to care about and take into consideration. Choosing those modes reflects ones attitude through life and his/her taste in fashion. It is all related to ones perceptions. Furthermore, differentiating among: classic, trendy, romantic and casual style is a bit hard on those that have no definite type of dressing and for those who dont care for being a tidy and a good person. Choosing shoes, bags and accessories goes also for the rule of choosing those items and related them to clothes. In conclusion, by looking at a person we can know and realize what hes thinking of and his feelings by just looking at their way of dressing. This is a very simple way in knowing personalities rather than keep noticing each single movement of talking. Without regarding the emotions that also can be a big and important factor for distinguishing personalities.

Case Study Monsantos Repatriation Program

Case Study Monsantos Repatriation Program Monsanto is a global provider of agricultural products with revenues in excess of $4 billion and 10,000 employees. At any one time, the company will have 100 mid and higher-level managers on extended postings abroad. Two thirds of these are Americans who are being posted overseas, while the remainder are foreign nationals being employed in the United States. At Monsanto, managing expatriates and their repatriation begins with a rigorous selection process and intensive cross-cultural training, both for the managers and for their families. As at many other global companies, the idea is to build an internationally minded cadre of highly capable managers who will lead the organization in the future. One of the strongest features of this program is that employees and their sending and receiving managers, or sponsors, develop an agreement about how this assignment will fit into the firms business objectives. The focus is on why employees are going abroad to do the job, and what their contribution to Monsanto will be when they return. Sponsoring managers are expected to be explicit about the kind of job opportunities the expatriates will have once they return home. Once they arrive back in their home country, expatriate managers meet with cross-cultural trainers during debriefing sessions. They are also given the opportunity to showcase their experiences to their peers, subordinates, and superiors in special information exchanges. However Monsantos repatriation program focuses on more than just business; it also attends to the familys reentry. Monsanto has found that difficulties with repatriation often have more to do with personal and family-related issues than with work-related issues. But the personal matters obviously affect an employees on-the-job performance, so it is important for the company to pay attention to such issues. This is why Monsanto offers returning employees an opportunity to work through personal difficulties. About three months after they return home, expatriates meet for three hours at work with several colleagues of their choice. The debriefing session is a conversation aided by a trained facilitator who has an outline to help the expatriate cover all the important aspects of the repatriation. The debriefing allows the employee to share important experiences and to enlighten managers, colleagues and friends about his or her expertise so others within the organization can use some of the global knowledge. According to one participant, It sounds silly, but its such a hectic time in the familys life , you dont have time to sit down and take stock of whats happening. Youre going through the move, transitioning to a new job, a new house, the children may be going to a new school. This is a kind of oasis; a time to talk and put your feelings on the table. Apparently, it works; since the progr am was introduced in the early 1990s, the attrition rate among returning expatriates has dropped sharply. Questions: a. Why does Monsanto need to recruit expatriates for their US Operations? b. Why How does the repatriation programme of Monsanto is helping reduce attrition rates? a. Why does Monsanto need to recruit expatriates for their US Operations? INTRODUCTION The world economy is moving away from the traditional economic system, where national markets were considered as distinct entities which were isolated from each other by trade barriers, barriers of distance, time and culture towards a modern economic system, where the national markets are merging into one huge global market. In many industries it is no longer meaningful to talk about the American market, the German Market or the Japanese market. Therefore, as the development in the international business environment are forcing companies to think of the world as one vast market, the companies are being forced to set up their manufacturing and marketing facilities in different foreign countries in order to do business globally. Ford Motors, for instance, has production plants in 38 countries and sales outlets in over 200 countries (Ford 1997 Annual report, www.ford.com). In this regard, there are in todays world a still increasing number of people, who are sent by companies on forei gn assignments for a longer or shorter period of time and it is those people that we in this paper will refer to as expatriates Expatriates play a key role in the globalization of many companies. The parent company often depends on expatriates to transmit the core values to employees in the overseas location besides of course putting in place systems and processes. In short, expatriates assume a significant responsibility for culture building. Black and Gregersen, have given an excellent account of the issues involved in the management of expatriates. Most companies struggle with their expatriate programmes. Some expatriates return early because of job dissatisfaction; others fail to live upto expectations and a few leave after completing an overseas assignment to join competitors. Successful companies seem to follow three practices religiously. While managing international assignments, they focus on knowledge creation and global leadership development. Other considerations are given less importance. While assigning people for overseas postings, they look for people whose technical skills are matched or exceeded by their cross cultural abilities. Finally, companies with a successful expatriate programme know how to end an assignment and put the experience of the executives to good use, when they return after an overseas stint. Global companies after selecting the candidates place them on the jobs in various countries, including the home country of the employees. But, the employees of the global companies are also placed in foreign countries. Even those employees who are placed initially in their home countries are sometimes transferred to various foreign countries. Thus, the employees of global companies mostly work and live in foreign countries and their family members also live in foreign countries. Employees and their family members working and/or living in foreign countries, are called expatriates in the foreign country. Expatriates are those living or working in a foreign country. The parent country nationals working in foreign subsidiary and third country nationals are expatriates. Large no of expatriates normally have adjustment problems with the working culture of the company, countrys culture, laws, etc. some expatriates adjust themselves easily, while some others face severe problems of adjusting. Such employees about their assignments and return to home country by terminating their work contracts. Thus, the major problem with expatriates is adjustment in the new international environment. Expatriate is a person who leaves his country to work and live in a foreign country. Generally, expatriates are the nationals from the other countries than the host and the MNCs parent country, i.e. expatriates are the third country nationals. The unavailability of the required skills and talents takes the organisation to source talent from other countries. The procedures and processes of recruiting and selecting the human resources are never uniform even within a single organisation. The procedures vary according to the post, the skill set required, the nature of work etc. More of it is seen in the case of recruitment of expatriates. The recruitment and selection procedures and considerations are drastically different for expatriates than that of the domestic employees. Recruitment of expatriates involves greater time, monetary resources and other indirect costs. Improper recruitment and selection can cause the expatriates to return hastily or a decline in their performance. A mismatch between job (its requirements) and people can reduce the effectiveness of other human resource activities and can affect the performance of the employees as well as the organisation. Recruiting expatriates require special considerations and skills to select the best person for the job. Except for a few expatriate selection policies, the expatriate selection criterion is generally organisation and nation specific. The recruiters for recruiting the expatriates should be carefully selected and trained. The recruitment strategies for expatriates should be aligned with requirements of the job. The interviews of expatriates are designed in a manner to judge their: Adaptability to the new culture Intercultural interaction Flexibility Professional expertise Past international work experience Tolerance and open-mindedness Family situation Language ability Attitude and motivation Empathy towards local culture A few researches in this field also suggest that women are morale likely to be successful in certain positions as expatriates as they are more sensitive towards new culture and people. Recruitment of expatriates should be followed by cultural and sensitivity training, and language training. Allegiance to parent firm Low Free agents Natives High Hearts at home Dual citizens Low High Allegiance to local operation Monsanto, the US chemicals manufacturer, starts work on suitable assignments for returning expatriates well in advance. The company not only arranges for debriefing on their return, but also identifies suitable jobs based on the expatriates skills and organizational needs. To sum up, the challenge for global companies is to develop a cadre of expatriates who will function as dual citizens, with a balanced allegiance to the headquarters and the country subsidiary. Creating such a cadre would involve careful selection processes, cross cultural training before and after overseas assignments, well planned career systems that lead to clearly defined job expectations and well conceived repatriation programmes. NEED OF EXPATRIATES FOR MONSANTO Expatriate is a person who leaves his country to work and live in a foreign country. Generally, expatriates are the nationals from the other countries than the host and the MNCs parent country, i.e. expatriates are the third country nationals. From the HR-literature we know that expatriates are divided into three types: PCNs (Parent Country Nationals); HCNs (Host Country Nationals); and TCNs (Third Country Nationals)., we will focus on the different roles of these expatriates by point of departure in the following four general approaches to international staffing: Ethnocentric Approach: Because of a lack of qualified HCNs, PCNs occupy all key positions in the foreign operation, which means that the subsidiary is highly dependent on the headquarters decisions. Some drawbacks from this approach could be limited promotion opportunities for HCNs, income gaps between PCNs and HCNs, and that PCNs cannot be involved in local matters. Polycentric Approach: In this approach HCNs occupy positions in the foreign subsidiary. Some transfers of HCNs to headquarters also take place. The approach eliminates the language barriers, and typically HCNs are less expensive. Some drawbacks from this approach could be communication problems between headquarter and subsidiary and limited career opportunities for HCNs as they cannot be promoted to headquarter. Geocentric Approach: In this approach the best people are selected for key positions regardless of their nationality. Nationality is not taken into account and a worldwide integration of employees takes place. In this approach an international team of managers is developed. Some drawbacks from this approach may be related to situations, where host governments prefer employment of locals because of i.e. labor issues. Regiocentric Approach: Here a companys international business is divided into international geographic regions (i.e. the European Union). The staff can only transfer within these regions. MONSANTO needs expatriates because of the following reasons:- Expatriates first enter the picture when corporations have strong incentives to internalize activities. Typical, enterprises will engage in the type of internalization most suitable for the factor combination, market situations and government policies which they face: When it is more profitable for this company to exploit its ownership advantages in another country itself rather than to sell or license them. When a firm desires to extinguish bilateral monopoly because of market imperfections: that is, when some markets incurs lower cost through hierarchical co-ordination (FDI) than through co-ordination by market prices then the need to use expatriates becomes evident. When an enterprise has location and ownership specific resource endowments and finds the need to internalize these because of market imperfections then the expatriate is born. The expatriate will likely be used to take out the imperfections of the market by being the liaison for the organization to that market. Having a manger that knows and understands headquarters desires and wants is therefore of great importance when investing and operation in foreign markets. Securing transfer of technology/filling positions, as companies send the expatriates abroad in order to transfer their technology to the foreign subsidiary. I.e. in countries where qualified people are not available, companies send the PCNs to fill out the positions. This is mostly used by multinational and international firms. Securing the headquarter control, where the companies can exercise this control by using the PCNs in their foreign subsidiaries. In such situations firms try to incorporate the headquarters culture into the foreign operations, which in some cases may create cultural problems. Especially MNCs tend to demand administrative and financial control in their foreign operations. Opportunity for international experience/ management development, as several firms find international experience highly important before promoting their employees. Foreign transfers are here important in order to learn foreign cultures and environments. In such situations qualified HCNs are available but managers are still transferred to foreign subsidiaries to acquire knowledge and skills. Securing organizational development, which also is called the Geocentric approach. This role is performed only by the best people at the best places without nationality barriers. Transfers can take place from headquarter to subsidiary, from subsidiary to headquarter, or from subsidiary to subsidiary. Nationality of employees does not matter in this situation, as the objective of this staffing strategy is to get to know about different cultures, create international networks, decentralization, and interaction between managers of different nationalities. In general, this strategy is mostly followed by larger global companies. Expatriates are responsible for transferring new technologies and penetrating new markets in foreign subsidiaries. Organizations opening a new production facility or branches in a foreign country will send an expatriate to facilitate entry into the new markets. PCNs are commonly sent out to initiate operations in fresh markets in countries with no qualified people to carry out the firms mandate. These PCNs render their expertise in the vital global market within the new markets. Mostly, a firm will send a team of expatriates to work together effectively and penetrate the new market. Companies may want to exercise control over foreign subsidiaries by integrating the headquarters culture in foreign operations. This might be achieved by sending PCNs who have been with the company for some time. These expatriates have to promote a variety of inter-organizational skills and interpersonal skills, commonly used in the headquarters, to different employees in the subsidiaries. Most organizations with operations in foreign countries are quite successful and use expatriates to oversee financial and administrative functions. Expatriates have the opportunity to learn the foreign environment and culture during foreign assignments. This international experience and expansive knowledge gained by expatriates can be used to develop products that suit a specific culture, ensuring the firm remains competitive in the global market. The PCNs may be sent to foreign subsidiaries before they are promoted, so that they can learn the skills and knowledge to operate within a diverse environment. This foreign exposure helps expatriates develop international management competencies. Expatriates are sent to foreign countries where they can locate valuable resources and expertise, learn best practices and transfer all these assets to the company operations in the host country. Expatriates may gain expertise from different cultures, providing the company with learning opportunity from a diverse staff. Expatriates help the organization in forming international networks, creating a global market for products. They also promote decentralization of the organization by taking control of the various foreign operations. b. Why How does the repatriation programme of Monsanto is helping reduce attrition rates? INTRODUCTION A largely overlooked but critically important issue in the training and development of expatriate managers is to prepare them for reentry into their home-country organization. Repatriation should be seen as the final link in an integrated, circular process that connects good selection and cross-cultural training of expatriate managers with completion of their term abroad and reintegration into their national organization. However, instead of having employees come home to share their knowledge and encourage other high-performing managers to take the same international career track, expatriates too often face a different scenario. Often when they return home after a stint abroad-where they have typically been autonomous, well-compensated, and celebrated as a big fish in a little pond-they face an organization that doesnt know what they have done for the last few years, doesnt know how to use their new knowledge, and doesnt particularly care. In the worst cases, reentering employees have to scrounge for jobs, or firms will create standby positions that dont use the expatriates skills and capabilities and fail to make the most of the business investment the firm has made in that individual. Research illustrates the extent of this problem. According to one study of repatriated employees, 60 to 70 percent didnt know what their position would be when they returned home. Also, 60 percent said their organizations were vague about repatriation, about their new roles, and about their future career progression within the company; 77 percent of those surveyed took jobs at a lower level in their home organization than in their international assignments. Not surprising, 15 percent of returning expatriates leave their firms within a year of arriving home, and 40 percent leave within three years. The key to solving this problem is good human resource planning. Just as the HRM function needs to develop good selection and training programs for its expatriates, it also needs to develop good programs for reintegrating expatriates back into work life within their home-country organization, for preparing them for changes in their physical and professional landscape, and for utilizing the knowledge they acquired while abroad. MEANING OF REPATRIATION Repatriation, or re-entry, is the transition from a foreign country back to ones own after working overseas for a significant period of time. According to Black, Gregersen, and Mendenhall (1999) this last stage of the expatriation process has been neglected to some extent since the process of relocation to the home country and home organization has been assumed to be a simple matter for expatriates. However, repatriation problems are complex both for the company and the expatriate because they involve the challenges of personal re-entry and professional re-entry at the same time (Linehan and Scullion, 2002). Hodgetts and Luthans (2001), claim that for most expatriates, the return to the home country occurs within five years after leaving the home country. Furthermore, Dowling, et al. (1994) suggests that the repatriation process consists of different phases in which the expatriate and the company face different roles. The authors describe the repatriation process in four related phas es. These are a) preparation, b) physical relocation, c) transition, and d) readjustment. The first stage, preparation, involves the development of plans for the future both for the company and the expatriate. In this stage the expatriate can gather information about the new position that will be offered in the home organization. Preparation is followed by physical relocation of the expatriate. This stage refers to removing personal effects; breaking ties with colleagues, and traveling to the country where the home organization is located. In this stage the company can offer comprehensive and personalized relocation assistance to reduce the amount of anxiety the repatriate may feel. Transition, the third step in the repatriation process, is the settling into temporary accommodations as well as making arrangements for administrative tasks. This makes the process of re-entry to the home organization smoother. Readjustment, the last step, involves coping with reverse culture shock and career demands that are followed by the re-entry. (Ibid) According to Paik, et al. (2002), the process of an expatriates re-entry to the home organization is a complex interaction of several job-related factors, socio- cultural factors and family factors. The job-related factors primarily address the relationship between the expatriate and the home office and issues related to the repatriates career progression after returning to the home country. Many repatriates return to an organization that does not know what they have accomplished overseas and how to use the repatriates experience appropriately. The socio-cultural factors are related to the repatriates ability to adjust and reintegrate into the home country culture. Sufficient cross-cultural preparation is needed to prepare the expatriate for working in another culture as well as for preparing the expatriate for working in the home organization upon return. Finally, the family factors address the impact of reintegration on the spouse and children. The cultural shock that the family ma y experience can affect the repatriates ability to resume their responsibilities at the home office. One of the key transitional activities is to involve targeted communication concerning the expectation of the home office towards the return of the repatriate and his or her family. (Ibid) Suutari and Brewster, (2003) claim that for the employee, career progression is often the reason to accept an assignment abroad. As a consequence the re-entry position is frequently linked with whether the new position matches the repatriates career expectations. Although international assignments are seen as a key tool for developing international managers the positive connection between an expatriation assignment and career development has been questioned. The authors further state that there is a gloomy picture with organizations losing a lot of talented and experienced international staff at or shortly after repatriation. The fall-out rate is often a result of dissatisfaction among repatriates whose careers are blighted by their negative experience and who have to rebuild their careers elsewhere. (Ibid) However, according to Linehan and Scullion (2002) the costs of losing repatriates are significant because they are valuable and expensive human resources who are capable of understanding the workings of both corporate headquarters and overseas operations; in addition they are responsible for critical co-ordination and control functions. MEANING OF REPATRITION PROGRAMME Black, et al, stress the importance of having a well-defined repatriation program in order to accomplish successful repatriation and to conquer the problems companies and employees face. However, Dowling, et al (1999) present a study by Harvey that state that only 31 percent of U.S companies have a program for repatriation. The three most frequent mentioned reasons for not having a program was a lack of knowledge about how to develop a program, the costs of training repatriates, and no perceived need by top management of having a program. (Ibid) Yongsun (2002), claims that in order for organizations to fully exploit the knowledge and skills of returning expatriates it is critical for the company to manage the repatriation process. Different theories and approaches of how a repatriation program can be developed exist in the literature. (Ibid) According to Jassawalla, et al (2004), a retrofit program at the end of the expatriates assignment makes poor repatriation. Vermond (2001) sugge sts that the repatriation process should start as early as possible in an expatriates assignment, and should be continued after the expatriates return to the home country. The repatriation program as an ongoing process, have developed a theoretical model of how an effective repatriation program can look like. In this model the authors have divided the repatriation process in three stages. This model identifies the key action steps taken prior to departure, during the assignment, and after the repatriates return that appear to determine the organizational and individual outcomes. (ibid) However, the outcomes of these actions will not be discussed as mentioned in the delimitations in chapter one. As previously mentioned, companies and expatriates face different problems in the repatriation process. These problems affect the stages in the repatriation program developed differently. Therefore some problems are mentioned in several stages in order to justify different actions that can be taken in order to conquer the problems that either the company or the expatriate/repatriate face. Repatriation Program Prior to the expatriates departure During the expatriates stay After the expatriates return Choosing new assignments in the home office -Quality of interaction with sponsors The sponsor has a stake in the repatriates personal long-term career. The duties of a sponsor include searching for positions that may suit the repatriate and try to ensure that the repatriates skills will be used upon return. Using the procedures designed to reorient the repatriate to the home office Task clarity Expectations on the expatriate The deadlines of the task How the performance will be evaluated -Career counselling The reasons for sending the manager overseas The benefits of the overseas assignment for the firm and the manager The managers career options upon return Formal policies for repatriation Repatriation policies should include actions to be taken during the pre-visit, visit and post visit. -Perception of support while on assignment Related to issues included in the relocation package such as financial compensation, support to the spouse and children to aid in their adjustment to the foreign environment. Nature and frequency of communication This factor is related to the frequency of communication between the home office and the expatriate while he or she is abroad. Who is responsible for the contact and how the contact is maintained are considered. -Perceptions of support upon return Receiving credit and recognition for the foreign assignment Utilizing their new perspectives in their new job Adjusting to the differences in job related factors of their new job compared to the foreign assignment Although a lengthy discussion of underlying reasons for expatriate failure is unfortunately out of scope for this article, it can be argued that companies benefit from managing this repatriation process in order to exploit the knowledge and skills of returning expatriates. (3) High attrition rates have been found to be primarily related to organizations difficulties to effectively reposition their repatriated employees. This observation is a strong argument to stress repatriation management in HR departments. (4) Organizations may experience difficulties in finding candidates for expatriate positions when potential candidates see what will happen to expatriates once they return. (5) Ogberg, who coined the term culture shock in 1960, also considered a reverse culture shock that expatriates experience when returning home. Proper preparation for this future shock may prepare expatriates for the transition to domestic work and family settings. (5) Research in 2005 showed that repatriatio n adjustment was the strongest predictor of intent to leave the organization (Lee Liu, 2005). Retention and career management, therefore, should be central to planning expatriate positions. Positions should be gradually more challenging in order to challenge valuable employees and be part of a long term career path. Long term career planning foresees in building on previous assignments; assigning repatriates unchallenging positions once back home may be regarded as an invitation to apply for positions elsewhere. Sound expatriate management will therefore consider repatriation arrangements as good practice. In reality, however, organizations often seem to have forgotten who these expatriates are. HR departments fail to build on expatriates skills and experience because they do not know well what they have accomplished during the years. Expatriates experience frustration once their expatriate benefits and status will be lost upon repatriation. They will have to get used to normal levels of pay and taxation again. Their children will have to attend national curriculum schools, private school tuition fees will not be covered upon return to the home country. Establishing a mutual understanding and a clear definition of successful repatriation could help repatriates establish correct expectations before returning home. A proper preparation towards the end of expatriate assignments may ease the transition and avoid costly turnover for the organization. An ongoing lack of attention to repatriation management will likely continue to fuel high attrition rates. Avoiding Reverse Culture Shock While we often think of culture shock as a factor during a familys arrival to a new country, dont underestimate the role that reverse culture shock can play when the assignment ends. After a period of time spent away from their home culture, family members may have trouble readjusting to the formerly familiar environment. This culture shock can affect any member of the family, but children are known to have the most difficulty readjusting. For example, friends and loved ones while they may have stayed in touch during the time away will have moved on to new interests and p