Cp Rice Global Marketing Essays

Cp Rice Global Marketing Essays Cp Rice Global Marketing Essay Cp Rice Global Marketing Essay Table of Contents 1INTRODUCTION5 1. 1COMPANY BACKGROUND5 1. 1. 1History of C. P. Company5 1. 1. 2C. P. INTERTRADE CO. , LTD, the trading arm of C. P. group major distribution of C. P. Thai rice5 1. 2ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE6 1. 3REASON FOR CONDUCTING INTERNATIONAL MARKETING ACTIVITIES6 1. 4PRODUCT OVERVIEW7 1. 4. 1C. P. Main Products services7 1. 4. 2Agribusiness Food, the heart of C. P. 9 1. 5PARTICULAR PRODUCT (FOR GROUP ANALYSIS)9 2CURRENT MARKET SITUATION9 2. 1COUNTRY ANALYSIS (TARGET MARKET)9 2. 1. 1Geographic Environment9 2. 1. 2Cultural Environment12 2. 1. Economic Environment14 2. 1. 4Political and Legal Environment16 2. 2COMPETITORS ANALYSIS19 2. 2. 1Thailand; number one rice exporter19 2. 2. 2C. P. competitor analysis20 2. 3EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT OF HOST COUNTRY VS. MARKETING STRATEGIES21 3MARKET ENTRY STRATEGIES23 4MARKETING MIXES23 4. 1PRODUCT23 4. 2PRICE25 4. 3PLACE (DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL)26 4. 4PROMOTION27 5SWOT ANALYSIS FOR C. P RICE PRODUCT28 5. 1WEAKNESSES AND STRENGTHS OF THE COMPANY28 5. 2TREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES IN THE FOREIGN MARKET30 5. 3SOLUTION OR POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO THOSE CHALLENGES33 6BCG MODEL FOR C. P. THAI RICE33 RECOMMENDATION35 Introduction Enclosed within this report is the background of the Charoen Pokphand Group; Asia’s leading globally committed conglomerate, how it was started and their main products and services as â€Å"Rice† product is the key focus. It includes host country and competitor analysis, market entry strategy also being explored in this report. This detailed explanation was arrived after much research and analysis. Objectives The objective of this report is to find out the background of the company, as Rice is specific product and Singapore is a trading partner . We hope to know about host country environment which affect the demand for the company product and their competitors as well as the entry mode and market entry strategy. We also analyse marketing mix and company’s SWOT as the data tell many things about the company. Above all, we hope to improve our ability and understanding and also educate other classmate about the modern philosophy in the field of Global marketing and its applications in Thai situation. We are working on and for them to have a better understanding of the subject. 1Introduction 1. 1Company Background 1. 1. 1History of C. P. Company In 1921, Charoen Pokphand Group or generally know as C. P. Group was very first introduced as a small seed shop in Bangkok’s China town named â€Å"Chia Tai† by Chia brothers, Ek Chor and Siew Whooy. A successful seeds business in Thailand allowed this company to steps forward to other level; livestock farming, then toward a fully integrated agribusiness (as of seed to feed to food). During 30 year of operation; C. P. reached fifth largest feed mill operator in the world. Recently C. P. group is the largest conglomerate business in Thailand and one of the leading conglomerates in Asia. Since Charoen Pokphand Group carry on aggressively invest and operate in numerous industries across the world, agribusiness still is intensely embedded within the practicalities of the organization as it branches additional into the international markets. The C. P. group is now employing greater than 250,000 people worldwide and attained 14 million dollars at the end of 2006. 1. 1. 2C. P. INTERTRADE CO. , LTD, the trading arm of C. P. group major distribution of C. P. Thai rice The International Trading Business Group of C. P. or commonly known as C. P. Intertrade CO. LTD was founded in 1979 as general trading company promoted by Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) ), with registered capital 100 million baths. C. P. Intertrade CO. , LTD is the trading arm of C. P. Corporation conducts trade sorting from basic agricultural products and industrial raw materials to high value-added foodstuffs. With over 25 years of international trade experience, The Company won THE BEST EXPORT ER awards in 1978 and 1988, besides in 1995 award-winning rice products are known under the brand name ‘Royal Umbrella’. 1. 2Organization Structure 1. Reason for conducting international marketing activities C. P corporate has been involved in international business. Almost of their businesses are direct- investment and joint- venture in many country. It has branches throughout Asia (including China), the Middle East, Europe, North and South America and South Africa. As the great opportunity to expand its business, C. P. Group has been fully conducted the international business since 1960 while the first international branch was established in Hong Kong. Lately, the company has grown into a global business, with more than 250 subsidiaries in 20 countries Like other successful company, C. P. see an opportunity of maximize their profit and expand it market throughout the world. Seeing that, C. P. generates various kinds of products and services, performing international marketing activities will generate more distribution channel and increase number of business customer both directly and indirectly. As number of customer of C. P. increase, it is surely that the company will generate more revenue. 1. 4Product Overview 1. 4. 1C. P. Main Products services As the largest conglomerate business group, C. P. Corporation gradually expands business throughout the world and involve in international business offering wide ranges and different product lines. Begin with Agro-business and Food by CPF group and its vision of becoming the â€Å"Kitchen of the World† maintains this company as the number one of Agro-business and Food Industry in Thailand. Since 1921, Agribusiness is still at heart of C. P. This core business divided into two major business lines; Livestock business consisting of chicken, duck and swine; Aquaculture business consisting of shrimp and fish. Marketing and Distribution business; To serve consumers wants and needs efficiently and effectively, the foundation of convenience stores, shopping malls and hyper supermarkets have been one of the C. P. group’s main business. Three main businesses is comprised of C. P. ’s Seven Eleven; international’s premier convenience store with 3,800 stores in Thailand. , C. P. ’s Lotus Super Centers ;‘one-stop’ shopping situated across China with 75 store ,and C. P. ’s Super Brand Mall; China’s first and largest one-stop shopping and entertainment complex. C. P. s Telecommunication Services; Thailand’s most integrated communications solution provider, convergence leader and prime lifestyle enabler which generally known as True Corporation Plc. True is tactically positioned to provide consumers with a convergence of network services and content. Seed, Fertilizer and Plant Protection by Chia Tai Business Group, offering a full range of seeds (vegetables and flowers) and fertilizers (various formulas). Besides, the business group has developed organic vegetables for local markets and offers consultation farming services in local and Asian markets International Trading Business Group; conducts trade ranging from basic agricultural products and industrial raw materials to high value-added foodstuffs. The Crop Integration Business Group, with four main businesses in the area of ‘Field Crops’, ‘Horticulture’, ‘Rice’ and ‘Agricultural Machinery’. Products such as hybrid corn, rice, fertilizers, tropical fruits, orchids, tea, wine, disease-free planting materials and food processing machinery are sections of the Crop Integration Business Group’s accomplishments. This business line holds local and international farmers located in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, India, and etc. C. P. ’s Plastic By Plastic business group; manufactures a wide range of products from polypropylene, PVC, artificial leather, and sponge to rigid PVC. This has been one of Thailand’s largest plastic manufacturers. The Pet Food Business Group by Perfect Companion Co. ,Ltd providing balanced and nutritional food, including special diet formulas, vitamins, treats and chews, plus care products, for specific breeds of dogs, cats, birds, aquarium fish, horses and zoo animals. The Automotive and Industrial Products Business Group; concentrates in manufacturing motorcycles (Under the DAYANG trademark) and automotive parts. With a production achieve at 1 million units per year in China, the company currently produces 50 models covering 8 series of motorcycles ranging from 50cc to 200cc. Aside from supplying products to the domestic market, the company’s products are exported to countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America The Real Estate and Land Development Business Group owns and manages several property sites inside Thailand. Existing property sites include apartment, hotel (The Grand Mercure Fortune), office buildings, shopping centers, industrial estates, and etc. 1. 4. 2Agribusiness Food, the heart of C. P. The integrated agribusiness of C. P. group places them to meet the world’s changing lifestyles need for affordable, nutrition, and high quality food products. With five divisions which are seed, animal feed, and livestock production, further processing, and trading and implementing both horizontally and vertically integrated agribusinesses help C. P. roup satisfy the world’s demand and then established this largest conglomerate business group with value. 1. 5Particular Product (For Group Analysis) C. P. Intertrade Co. , Ltd. , a subsidiary of C. P. Corporation, supplies variety of food under â€Å"ROYAL UMBRELLA† brand which has been trade worldwide under its control. However, a specific product that has been chosen for group analysis is â€Å"CP Thai Rice† under a brand name of â€Å"ROYAL UMBRELLA†. 2Current Market Situation 2. 1Country Analysis (Target market) C. P. Group began business in Singapore since 1976. Later Singapore become the largest rice importer form C. P. Intertrade Co. ; Ltd; under the â€Å"Royal umbrella† brand. 2. 1. 1Geographic Environment Involving in international trade, geographical perspectives is surely effect C. P. group for the reason that it’s related to their business decisions: The location of different kinds of economic activity and the transactions that flows across national boundaries, provides insights into the natural and human factors that influence patterns of production and consumption in different parts of the world. It explains why patterns of trade and exchange evolve over time. And it provides a means for assessing how patterns might change in the future through analysis of processes that result in different geographic patterns. In a word, geographic environment provides powerful means for CP group business strategy. GEOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT AND C. P. BUSINESS LOCATION It is one of the most important factor that CP have to consider first when develop their new market at outside of local areas. Location affects their logistic strategy as transportation and distribution. (Ex: Different locations need different transport ways as railway, ship, truck. ) C. P. hip their rice product to Singapore via Vessel which is the suitable mode of transportation as rice is the generic food and not easy being spoiled and very heavy. Vessel shipment is not only inexpensive but also carry large amount at a time. The destinations are Port of Singapore; the worlds busiest port in 2005 in terms of shipping tonnage handled and Jurong Port. Koh Sichang is the commercial port for load ing / unloading vessels. PLACE The characteristics of places both natural and human profoundly influence the way that our business executives in different places participate in international economic transactions. Natural features- climate is one of the other important factors because C. P. business related to agricultural production. Therefore, C. P. will build distribution center in warmer, drier areas where good for rice storage and will also consider of climate when we transport our rice to other country in order to decrease damages from bad climate. Human features – population of a place is also important because C. P. business require intensive labor to be successful. Skills and qualifications of the population also play important role in determining productivity of rice growing. Singapore is a very small county with a big amount of population which covered by modern buildings and road, therefore, no place to grow agricultural product, it is caused a big demand in many kinds of industrial and agricultural resources. In other ways, its allow CP group export more rice to Singapore. INTERACTION The nature of human-environmental interaction also affects C. P. group strategies in production and world market distribution. With technological advances, the company has been able to modify and adapt to their production environment in increasingly sophisticated ways. Advanced irrigation system and bio-tech permit us increase in productivities and be grown in more area. Developing and increasing quality of transportation ventures and condition of road allow C. P. quicker in delivery to Singapore. MOVEMENT Our inter-trade exists because movement permits the transportation of people and goods and communication of information and ideas among different places. The location and character of transportation and communication systems long have had power influences on our economic standing of places because C. P. usiness faces on large export transportation. Communication advances have had a staggering impact on the way that international marketing. Currently we successfully create our brand royally in the world wide market. Keep on communicating with our customers is also important for our further business. Singapore typically request for higher grade and better quality of rice. This is mainly the result of better living standards, a change in lifestyle a nd subsequent change in taste and choice. The healthy choice consumers are also health conscious in their consumption pattern. This is inline with the active promotion of the Government to eat and stay health. Therefore, Consumers in Singapore prefer the higher grade rice that is widely know as â€Å"Thai Hom Mali† rice or Thai fragrant rice. The quality, texture and moisture content in this rice are most acceptable by the local consumers. Although it’s has high price. REGION Understanding of region is also important because region can define by patterns of location, place, and movement in other ways its combination of all patterns. Government: government has a strong impact on the conduct of C. P. business. The borders of government jurisdictions often coincide with the functional boundaries of economic regions. Therefore, study of WTO and FTA rules in different regions is directly related to C. P. margins. We have to work out different marketing strategies to different regions. Singapore is one of the ASEAN Free Trade Area members, so C. P. export of rice has very low cost in tariff and non-tariff barriers. And Singapore government encourages local retailers to import C. P. group rice by reorganization of their high quality rice. . 1. 2Cultural Environment Culture is the pattern of behavior and thinking that people learn, create, and share. Culture distinguishes one human group from others. Cultural preferences are major reasons for adapting products as they affect purchasing behavior and product use. Cultural influences drastically on the usage of goods such as personal goods (clothing, food) and non-durable consumer goods (grocery products, etc). The cultural influence i s less appreciated with regard to industrial goods and production goods. However, even if the latter are less modification of the cultural environment, alternations is still necessary for other reasons, for example, connection to legislation climate. Cultural development, the sociology and cultural influence on economic development, moral maps in societies, gender and human values and national prosperity are creating changes in consumption, distribution, product and price adaptation in foreign market. Understanding the cultural value of various consumer behaviours and understanding personal values in a society affect on marketing strategies in emerging economies. A peoples culture includes their beliefs, rules of behaviour, language, rituals, art, and technology, styles of dress, ways of producing and cooking food, religion, and political and economic systems. For example: A U. S. toothpaste manufacturer promised its customers that they would be more â€Å"interesting† if they used the firm’s toothpaste. But in Latin American Countries â€Å"interesting† is another euphemism for â€Å"pregnant†. Consumption patterns, living styles, and the priority of needs are all dictated by culture. Culture prescribes the manner in which people satisfy their desires. No wonder that consumption habits very greatly. The consumption of beef provides a good illustration. Some Chinese do not consume beef at all, believing that it is improper to eat cattle that work on farms, thus helping to provide foods such as rice and vegetables. Singapore: the most economical and largest country in South East Asia has a loveable and incredible combination of different cultures of various ethics groups. The immigrants of the past have given the place a mixture of Malay, Chinese, Indian, and European influences, all of which have intermingled. The Chinese are predominantly followers of Buddhism, Taoism, Shenism, Christians, Catholics and some considered as free-thinkers (Those who do not belong to any religion). Malays have the Muslims and Indians are Hindus. There are a sizeable number of Muslims and Sikhs in the Indian population. The important manners and customs of Singaporeans that the international marketers should know are they do not like to be touched anything with the fingers. Using the hands is considered ill-mannered and unhygienic. Singaporeans use utensils such as forks, spoons and chop sticks for pizza, sandwiches, fruit, chicken, Chinese foods such as noodle and Japanese foods such as sushi. They try to eat in the â€Å"continental† style, with the chop stick most of the time. Singaporeans people like to eat street food all the time. It is no secret that Singaporeans eat and drink with a passion. As the Singaporean traditional food is so much rely on the rice. Such as Chinese food (Hainanese chicken rice, clay pot rice) Malay food (coconut rice with chicken) Indian food (bariani). As the Asian, they used to eat with rice everyday. Modern people especially who take care on their health has been looking for a meal that is delicious, low fat and easy to eat something like Japanese sushi. In Singapore, people discovered Sushi Sashimi in the last decade, so, everybody is looking for something really special for a healthy life. For a long time Japanese restaurants were unknown before becoming fashionable a few years ago, and now they are popular to stay as the new generation cannot live without a sushi. Eating well in good Japanese restaurants in Singapore is not cheap but it is very easy. The city is quickly becoming one of the gastronomic centres of the world. As eating rice has been used in Singapore cuisines for a long time ago, they prefer to have the rice in sushi in Singapore is a change agent there. So the new style of eating rice takes their interest and consumption of rice is increasing. So Singapore’s culture is easy to adapt as there are many ethic groups. There is no conflict with the language and religion of Singapore because they also use English and the Buddhism has no restriction on one’s eating habit. And their manners and customs on eating give no trouble to operate. Though they have their wonderful, gorgeous and wonderful traditional cuisine, they also fond of all kinds of good foods around the world. The main point is that the high demand of rice in Singapore is very attractive as they use large amount of rice in their traditional food and Japanese food restaurants, such as sushi retailers, are also more and more. We can target not only the Japanese in Singapore but also the new generation of Singapore as they are now enhancing eating habits of Japanese Cuisine where we can mostly use rice in large amount. Moreover, we can also target the Singaporean Cuisine. 2. 1. 3Economic Environment C. P. Company sees a greater export potential for high quality rice due to its unique taste particularly jasmine rice, 100-per-cent white rice and parboiled rice. The company exports under its own brand name, Royal Umbrella, an average of 40,000 tones of rice annually worth Bt1 billion. Main export markets include Hong Kong, Singapore, the Middle East and the United States. During the review period, economic growth in Singapore was strong until mid-1997, when the effects of the Asian economic crisis began to be felt. Between 1995 and 1997, real GDP growth averaged over 8% annually. Real GDP growth fell sharply to 0. % in 1998, however, mainly as a result of both weaker demands in the region and in demand for Singapores main exports outside the region. Slower economic activity pushed unemployment up from 1. 8% in 1997 to 3. 2% in 1998. Economic growth in Singapore is underpinned by a stable macroeconomic environment. A history of prudent fiscal and monetary policy enabled the Governme nt to respond swiftly to the economic crisis that hit the region in 1997, giving temporary tax cuts to businesses in the 1998 and 1999 budgets to tide them over the crisis. As a consequence, the previously surplus budget is expected to register a deficit of 3. % of GDP in 1999/2000. In addition, monetary policy was loosened to allow the exchange rate to fluctuate within a wider band, reducing pressure on the currency. The outcome is that the Singapore dollar has depreciated against major international currencies, although the more substantial regional currency devaluations have eroded the external competitiveness of Singapores lower value-added exports. As a result, inter alias, of the Governments budgetary measures, improved demand in Singapores major export markets for electronics, and signs of economic recovery in the Asian region, the Singapore economy appears to be making a rapid recovery. Overall real GDP growth projections for 1999 are currently around 5%, substantially higher than 0. 3% in the previous year. The economic crisis in Asia and subsequent currency devaluations in neighboring countries has, nevertheless, highlighted concerns about the export competitiveness of some sectors; particularly lower value-added manufactures, where lower cost regional producers are making in-roads. Singapores relative unit labor costs, especially with respect to other countries in the region, have continued to rise for much of the period under review. While the recent temporary budgetary measures have helped cut costs, longer term measures, including programmers such as Industry 21, Information Technology 21, and Manpower 21, have also been taken to increase value-added production in manufacturing and services. Between 1995 and 1998, Singapore reduced the percentage of tariff lines subject to import prohibitions (from 0. 7% to 0. 5%) and to automatic and non-automatic import licensing (from 19. 7% to 19. 2%), the report states. In general, Singapore maintains import and export restrictions for environmental or health and safety reasons; however, imports of rice are licensed for food security reasons and a ban is maintained on imports of motor vehicles that are three years old and above, for safety and environmental reasons. Every decision making that C. P. Corporation has been made for international engaged company must be considered trade restrictions and regulations of Singapore. Rice is the number one export product of Thailand. C. P. Intertrade is one of the major Thai rice exporter and one of its main target market is Singapore. Singapore import rice mostly from Thailand around 350,000-400,000 tones each year more than other country. Percentage show that 83. 1 % of total rice imports are from Thailand. SINGAPORE IMPORT REGULATION Singapore employs Free Trade Policy, thus there is no import tax except GST (Goods Services Tax) which is only 5% (Government of Singapore is now consider to increase to 7% in 2005). The Importer must be granted an Import License from International Enterprise Singapore (I E Singapore). RICE TRADE REGULATION Rice importers of Singapore have to stock the rice two time of its rice import each month and have to keep it only in Singapore Storage Warehouse Pte. Ltd. (SSW). Types of rice that have to be reserve are Fragrant Rice, White Rice and Broken Rice. Other than this is exception. Besides, International Enterprise Singapore (I E Singapore) is only an organization that has authorization to approve quantity of rice trade so if any importer prefer to increase or decrease amount of rice trade, they must inform and ask permission three month before any transaction is occur . 1. 4Political and Legal Environment Political and Legal Environment has played a critical role and influenced every business organization in conducting global business. Expert manager should clearly understand about political and legal circumstances of both home country and those of the host country. HOME POLITICAL LEGAL (THAILAND) The politics of Thailand currently takes place in a structure of a constitutional monarchy, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government and a hereditary monarch is head of state. Thailand had been ruled by kings since the thirteenth century. The King of Thailand has little direct power under the constitution but is a symbol of national identity and unity. Export Control Promotion and maintenance of quality in Thai Hom Mali Rice is requiring establishing reliability and gaining acceptance in foreign markets. 1. ) Thai Hom Mali Rice should be prescribed as a standardized commodity. 2. ) Thai Hom Mali Rice Standards should be divided into the 2 following types: White rice and Cargo rice. 3. ) Thai Hom Mali Rice which is standardized should have the standards as follows: (1)Containing must not less than 92. per cent of Thai Hom Mali Rice (2)The moisture content must not having exceeding 14. 0 per cent (3)Having the general characteristics of a long grain rice with naturally little chalk (4)Not having any live insect HOST POLITICAL LEGAL (SINGAPORE) The politics of Singapore take place in a framework of a administrative republic, that the Prime Minister of Singapore is the head of government with a purifier multi-party syste m. The role of the president as the head of state has been, historically, largely ceremonial, although the constitution was amended in 1991. Import Control Policy and Import Quota Singapore use freely trade system, no import tax. The tax that collect call goods and services tax 5% and have the import regulation by importer have to receive the import license from International Enterprise Singapore which has characteristic of Statutory Board. Rice Import Quota 1. The importer has to reserve the rice in double of quantity that import in each month and the rice reserve have to keep in Singapore Storage Warehouse Pte. Ltd. The types of rice that have to reserve are Fragrant Rice, White Rice and Broken Rice. The rice that has not reserve are Half-milled rice, Steamed rice and sticky rice. 2. I E Singapore who approve quantity of import rice such as in case that importer have a purpose to import rice 500 tons in March should have 1,000 tons an in April, for those who want to import 550 tons should write the letter to I E Singapore to request for the approval first. In case to reduce the quantity of import such as from 500 tons to 450 tons should request the approval from I E Singapore 3 months in advance. Rice License Rice is a main food in Singapore. Consequently, the import regulations for rice are maintained purely for security purpose. All importers of rice are required to be licensed. The imports of rice are also subject to licensing. There are two categories of import licenses, namely, the stockpile licenses and ordinary licenses: 1. Licenses for stockpile grades of rice are issued only to importers who participate in the Rice Stockpile Scheme. The licenses seeks to ensure that the importers of the stockpile the stipulated types and minimum quantities of rice in proportion to their total imports. The rice stockpile is reserve stock for emergency use; and 2. Licenses for non-stockpile grades of rice are issued automatically. The quantities of rice that are imported into Singapore are decided entirely by the importers themselves. Singapore’s average annual imports of rice in the last two years are about 200,000 tons. Under license and partial monopoly of the Food Commissioner’s Department, Licenses are issued to actual users for import of small quantities of luxury varieties of rice. GOVERNMENT SUPPORT The Department of Export Promotion have a very important strategies for improve Thai producer and exporter which have a very potential in case to negotiate with foreign buyer and importer both in the main export market and new export market. Also in the market which have FTA contract to achieve the alliance negotiation between countries include increase export potential by service the exporter with export document and electronic support document and encourage the E-Logistic system for decrease the register step and cost. In the export promotion, the indicator for the strategic is the proportion of the value of export in the main market with the old market, in the year 2007 the proportion is about 40:60 The Department of Export Promotion provide information and suggestion about commercialization, marketing, product development and services business, building Thai brand, develop employees to export and develop commercial telecommunication system. 2. 2Competitors Analysis 2. 2. 1Thailand; number one rice exporter Considering in general, Thailand has been the number one rice exporter and supplier in the global rice trade and market share for many years since 1995 up to now seeing that Thai rice quantity and quality is remarkable in the Global market. The top three rice exporter regardless Thailand are Vietnam followed by India and United State as the table show below. Within this latest year; the year of 2007, World rice supplies are predicted to be tight, but despite this abundant supplies in Thailand will permit it to expand its lead as the world’s largest exporter. Vietnam as the world’s second-largest rice exporter is stuck in exporting and expanding their global market share. Even though, within this several years Vietnam took some market share form Thailand and considered as a hard competitor. However, during this year due to unexpected natural disaster and decreasing in rice cultivation area, Vietnam is predicted to export less than last year and lowering in world rice market share while Thailand is expected to increase in market share. RankCountryExports (M/T) 1Thailand 8. 25 2Vietnam 4. 70 3India 4. 30 4United States 3. 08 5Pakistan 2. 50 6China, Peoples Republic of 0. 80 7Egypt 0. 80 8Uruguay 0. 75 9Australia 0. 60 10Argentina 0. 45 Data source: USDA-FAS, Production, Supply and Distribution (PS) Database. fas. usda. gov/psdonline/psdHome. aspx 2. 2. C. P. competitor analysis Analyzing competitors in Rice trading sector of C. P. , both direct competitors to Royal Umbrella brands itself and competitors in rice biding are realized. COMPETITORS OF ROYAL UMBRELLA RICE Direct competitors to Royal Umbrella brand in Singapore, which has been shelves in the same distribute store are more than 30 brands namely; Double FairPrice, FairPrice, Golden Fairprice, Golden Royal Dragon, Harvest King, Golden Wheel, Rambutan, Golden Dragon Phoenix, Golden Phoenix, Golden Jade, Golden Rhino, Golden Coco, Songhe, Double F. K. , Golden F. K. Sun Moon, Golden Flying Fish, Golden Padi, Golden Eagle, Jin Huang, Golden Lion King, Heavenly Peaches, Golden Twin Lion, Golden Prosperity, Golden Leaf, Golden Five Stars, Golden Twin Stars, Golden Three Stars, Golden Pineapple, Royal Lily, Golden Narcissus, Golden Field, Golden Tri-Leaf, Golden Longan, Flying Man, Golden Princess, Golden Mandarin, Happy Times and Day’O Fragrant. Those are brand competitor to Royal Umbrella brand in Singapore rice retailing. RICE BIDDING COMPETITORS Recently, rice bidding of Thai government each year becomes more aggressive as there are many potential participants. C. P. Thai Rice submits all tender under control of 2 companies which are C. P. Intertrade Co. , Ltd and Bangkok Rice Products Co. , Ltd C. P. Thai Rice has been faced more than 200 competitors on rice biding. However, several main competitors are Capital Cereal Co. , Ltd , Capital Rice Co. , Ltd from STC Group, Siam Thanyarak Silo from President Agri Trading Co, Ltd, Chokanan Rice (2003) Co. , Ltd, Koaw Chaiyaporn Co. ,Ltd, from Chaiyaporn International Co, Ltd, Asia Goldenrice Co. ,Ltd, Riceland International Co. ,Ltd. nd etc. Competitors in rice biding are more aggressive than rice selling. Finding customer is easier than competing in biding rice. Any company in rice sector wins in the biding will surely sell the entire silo as the world rice demand is more than supply. 2. 3External Environment of Host country VS. Marketing Strategies When C. P group subject to its business, there are two marketing environments Effect Company’s marketing strategy; Micro and Macro Environmen t or in other words are company’s internal and external environment. External environment is larger societal forces that affect the internal environment. It’s considered to beyond the control of the organization. The illustration shows below is the external environment forces which affect C. P groups marketing strategies in Singapore: Those external environment forces which are geographical, culture, economic, political and legal environments affect C. P. Company’s marketing strategies in exporting their rice to Singapore. Traditionally, rice is the main meals for Singaporeans but as the limited geographical environment, there is no area of growing rice. Therefore, importing form outsides is the only way to satisfy the large rice demand of Singaporean population. Singapore government creates free trade policy which has no import tax except GST. for I. E license holders. Moreover, the highly growth and more strength in economic of Singapore result better living standards, a change in lifestyle and subsequent change in taste and choice. The healthy choice consumers are also health conscious in their consumption pattern and with the active promotion of the Government to â€Å"Eat and Stay Health† As a result, higher grade and better quality of rice that is widely know as â€Å"Thai Hom Mali† rice or Thai fragrant rice. The quality, texture and moisture content in this rice are most acceptable by the local consumers, even though it’s has high price. Providing the higher grade and the better quality of rice is the best way to capture the Singapore market share in rice sector. 3Market Entry Strategies Company uses various market entry strategies in doing international business with different countries in different types of business and product. In rice trading, C. P. roup uses Exporting as the market entry mode to distribute their rice product to more than 50 countries around the world including Singapore. They established their own intermediary which knows as C. P. intertrade; their own Export Management Companies (EMC) to manage all of their exporting and for propose of sourcing, buying agent, and consolidating services for all non-food and foodstuffs from Thaila nd and all over Asia. 4Marketing Mixes 4. 1Product C. P. Intertrade Co. Ltd or CPI adds value to various categories of generic product such as Rice and other agricultural goods. This report is focus on â€Å"Rice† as the main product. â€Å"ROLAY UMBRELLA Thai fragrant rice, as a leading product was won the prime ministers export award in 1995. The premium quality Thai fragrant rice which is re-cleaned and polished by the most modern machines which automatically run under computerized quality control, strictly free from insects and unusually materials. BRANDINGLOGO Rice product of C. P. Company has been called as â€Å"CP Thai Rice† under a brand name of â€Å"ROYAL UMBRELLA† and brand theme of â€Å"Rice is Life†. PACKAGING It is individually packed in attractive and strong consumer bags of 1 50 kilograms. (1kg, 2kg,5kg,10kg,20kg,25kg,30kg and 50kg. ) PRODUCT LINES For rice products, the company provides four different categories together with the premium quality Thai fragrant rice. 4. 2Price Trading price of Rice between C. P. Company and their importer is a commercial secret. However, they must follow the standard rice export selling price that will be announced by Rice Exporters Association of Thailand. Price that has been announced is FOB selling price from Bangkok Market. The example Standard selling prices of rice in year of 2005 are as follow; STANDARD EXPORT RICE PRICES (Export Prices (F. O. B), USD per M/T) Type of rice29-Aug-0722-Aug-0715-Aug-078-Aug-071-Aug-07 Jasmine Rice 100%NA$574 $580 $583 $586 White Rice 100%$334 $332 $336 $337 $339 White Glutinous Rice 10%$746 $746 $724 $728 $732 Parboiled Rice 100%$340 $338 $341 $340 $342 Source; The Rice Exporters Association ( Bangkok, Thailand) Term of sale that has been employed by C. P. Intertrade and importer in Singapore is CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight); a common selling term in a sales contract. This means that C. P. takes responsible of freight or transport costs and also the cost of marine insurance. There are several of different payments methods that C. P. accepted. Three mostly used are as followed. Cash in advance Document against Payment Letter of Credit 4. 3Place (Distribution Channel) Distribution is the part of the marketing mix ensuring that customer obtains their purchases at the right time in the proper place. This doings insert value to a product. Actually, distribution offerings to three of the four type of utility-time, place, and ownership utility. RICE DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL OF C. P. Form a Rice Silo to rice processing plants in Patumthani and Ayudhaya Province, C. P. Company exports their rice to Singapore and other countries around the world using their own intermediary; CPI or C. P. intertrade Co. Ltd. Key importers of C. P. Thai Rice are Singapore General Rice Importers Association and NTUC FairPrice Co- Operative. Their customers are end user, manufactures who need rice as the raw material, Wholesaler/ Distributor and Exporter. C. P. also sells rice under Royal umbrella brand. It can be found easily in Singapore. The key distributors are NTUC (National Trades Union Congress) Fair Price; the leading supermarket in Singapore with a retail network of close to 180 stores and NTUC Fair Price also uses an E-commerce to sell their product, Cold Storage; the supermarket retailer of 30 stores, Carrefour (2 Branches), Giant (7 Branches), Cheers Convenience Store, Pearn-Thai shop and other grocery stores island-wide. 4. 4Promotion Promotion is one of the four key aspects of the marketing mix. This includes all of the tools available to the marketer for marketing communication. The elements of the promotions mix are: ? Personal Selling. Sales Promotion. ?Public Relations. ?Direct Mail. ?Trade Fairs and Exhibitions. ?Advertising. ?Sponsorship. C. P. Company has been promoted their Royal Umbrella brand product mainly through Trade Exhibitions. The latest exhibition that they attend was Thaifex, World of Food Asia. Below the line strategy tool such as Sponsorship has been use a lot to promote their Royal Um brella rice product. Academic Olympics Sponsored by â€Å"Royal Umbrella Rice† has been recognizing gradually by their customers. The company also promotes their product through website. They creates separate website for Rice product via â€Å"www. cpthairice. com†. Above the line Strategy for example Advertising through TV commercial is one of promotion tool that has been using for Royal Umbrella Rice (broadcast in Singapore Oct 2003 – Oct 2005). 5SWOT Analysis for C. P Rice Product STRENGTHSWEAKNESSES High Quality Product Good reputation among customers Quality Guarantee Strong Marketing and Distribution Channel Strong in building human resource High financial stabilityLess Focus On Individual Product Huge span of control OPPORTUNITIESTREATS Removal of International Trade Barriers High rice production capacity Rising demand of rice in Global market Strong Competitors in the world market Emergence of substitute product High standard rice export grade Hard Inspection of Export Rice Complicated rice biding process Strong Currency of Thai Baht 5. 1Weaknesses and Strengths of the company WEAKNESSES Less Focus On Individual Product Seeing that C. P. Group is doing business in many different areas, they can not concentrate in every product at a time even though they have an effective management team. Huge Span of control Since C. P. Group has doing business across many sectors, it may not have the flexibility of some of its more focused competitors. STRENGTHS High Quality Product C. P. ees a greater export potential for high quality rice due to its unique taste particularly jasmine rice, 100-per-cent white rice and parboiled rice. It’s renowned to the world for the best selection from the best rice cultivated, clean and hygienic processing with high technology and long experience in exporting rice. The company provides various rice products of brand â€Å"ROYAL UMBRELLA† and also offers high quality under customers brand. That all of products are come from excellent source through high standard of production technology and pack in hygienic packaging which is just as important as the quality of the rice itself. Good reputation among customers Awards: Thai Prime Minister award Superbrands Thailand 2005, 2006 Superbrands Singapore 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Quality Guarantee C. P. Intertrade guarantees 100% satisfaction on all products that they sell. The Quality Technician performs several quality checks ensuring the C. P Products meets international quality. All export rice must be inspected by independence surveyor, such as SGS or Bureau Veritas, at the end of process to certify the Quality, Quantity, Packing and Weight. Strong Marketing and Distribution Channel Thailand is major rice exporting country and it alone controls about 30% exporting of the market. The CP Thailand Company is the Top 10 exporter of rice, and this is a variety world wide customers brand. Main export markets include Hong Kong, Singapore, the Middle East and the United States. To be a top one in exporting rice, that they own the strong distribution channel: CP has constantly sought to provide premium quality products and services at easily accessible stores. The creation of convenience stores, shopping malls and hyper supermarkets has enabled them to serve consumers wants and needs efficiently and effectively. Strong in building human resource The establishment of C. P. Corporate University allows for a centralized system of human resource training and development within the organization at its units situated locally and abroad. In order for the organization to efficiently serve its growing businesses with productive and proficient employees, the need for a knowledge m anagement center was realize High financial stability For the fiscal year ended December 2004, CPF generated revenues of THB 91,790 million ($2355 million), an increase of 10% over 2003. The operating profit of the company during fiscal year 2004 was THB2612 million ($66. 7 million), a decrease of 6. 5% over 2003. The net profit was THB1236 million ($31. 5 million) in fiscal year 2004, a decrease of 44. 9% over 2003. 5. 2Treats and Opportunities in the foreign market TREATS Strong Competitors in the world market Agribusiness country like Vietnam is becomes the hard competitor of exporting rice due to their competitive advantages like cheaper labor cost and fertile rice growing areas. Emergence of Substitute Product There are many substitute products for rice such as bread and noodle. This will reduce the demand for rice if the lifestyle of people is changing. High standard requirement for rice to be export Thailand is the number one of rice trade and supply in the global market. To maintain this position, Thai government creates the high standard rice export grade. C. P Company has to meet this standard. Hard Inspection of Export Rice All rice export from Thailand mu st be inspected prior to loading. Generally the inspection is done by independence surveyor ( SGS, Bureau Veritas, etc) appointed by buyer/seller and according to the Ministry of Commerce regulation, the Rice Inspection Committee of Board of Trade of Thailand has been appointed to inspect all lots of Thai Rice Export. Complicated rice biding process A new rice bidding process is to help curing the problem of conspiracy among rice trading firm; however it is more complicated than the previous rice biding process. Strong currency of Thai Baht Strong currency value affects almost every business sector in Thailand especially in doing export. C. P was also affected by this crisis. Strong Currency will increase the risk of exchange rate in the host country and affect the price of the product. Price of product will be more expensive and demand for that product may decrease. OPPORTUNITIES Removal of International Trade Barriers Increasing in Economic integration likes ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) or FTA among trading country provides so many benefits in doing business in the global market. C. P. Company has been realizing that benefit when exporting rice to Singapore as Thailand and Singapore have been in ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). Thus; C. P. export of rice has very low cost in tariff and non-tariff barriers. And Singapore government encourages local retailers to import C. P. group rice by reorganization of their high quality rice. High capacity for rice production in Thailand Thailand has considerable excess capacity for increasing rice production. Any upward pressure on the price of rice will provide incentives to exploit the excess capacity for rice production in Thailand. Thailand has continued to increase exports even when rice prices remained low in the world market. Farmers have maintained a low cost of production despite increasing wage rates through consolidation of farm holdings and mechanization of agricultural operations. If rice prices go up, farmers will be encouraged to increase production by investing in irrigation and increasing area under dry season rice, and reducing the yield gap for the wet season. Increasing demand for Rice in the global market 5. 3Solution or possible solutions to those Challenges They should use a company’s internal strengths to take advantage of external opportunities whereas reduce the impact of external threat. Moreover, they ought to improving internal weaknesses by taking advantage of external opportunities while creating defensive tactics to reduce internal weaknesses and avoiding environmental threats. 6BCG Model for C. P. Thai Rice The C. P. Thai Rice business is the rice trader to both domestic and foreign market. The company has the rice to sell by auction from government. They divided their rice business in to two categories which are: 1) sell rice to the huge order, 2) sell rice in a form of small package to the convenience store or retailer. So the position of CP Thai Rice business can indicate rom the auction as follows: 1. ) Government auction in year 2543/2546 In this year, there are 9 rice traders who offer the rice in this period, the government chooses the 3 highest price offer company there are 1. ) Capital Serials Co, Ltd (part of Nakorn Luang Rice Trader) 2. ) CP Intertrade and 3. ) President Agri Trading Co, Ltd. In this auction, CP Thai Rice was be the first place and g ot the rice about 100. 493. 3 tons at the price of 8,672. 36 Bath:ton. 2. ) Government auction in year 2547/2548 The total rice quantity in this year is 440,000 tons. From 30 price offer trader, the government forecasted that the number one of this auction is CP Intertrade(121,301 tons with 15,500 Bath:ton), and next is Hual Chuan Rice Trader(14,500-15,500 Baht:ton) and Chareaonphol Ricemill(14,000-15,300 Baht:ton) From the 2 auctions report, we can summarize as follow: From the graph, we can conclude the CP Thai Rice in the Thai rice market that this business is in the â€Å"STAR† period because the company have a very high market share and market growth. The star business is the market leadership so company should use a large amount of money to invest and also generate a large amount of cash. If a company can maintain their large market share, the company will be the cash cow when the market decline in next future. 7Recommendation C. P. Thai rice under control of C. P Intertrade Co. Ltd, have been successfully in the global market as it has been export to more than 50 countries world- wide for more than a decade. Well-built networking, Trading arm and Strengths of the C. P. group are well supports to C. P. Thai Rice Product. Nevertheless, after many researches about this largest Conglomerate Company in Asia and their C. P. Thai Rice product, we have found a very important issue which is the rice bidding conspiracy corruption in Rice Industry. C. P. Company should avoid any corruption and bribery on bidding. Following the normal and legal processes will surely bring them a very beautiful success in the global market. Our Last words We have learned very much on this report after much research in every aspect of Charoen Pokphand Group and their Rice Product. This report has not only given us the knowledge of Charoen Pokphand group but also provide a better understanding of Global Marketing term and concept. Moreover we hope to educate other colleagues about the company . We are working on and for them to have a better understanding of this subject. List of References Poter, Michael E. 1980. Competitive Strategy. London: Collier Macmillan Publishers. Boon, Louise E. , and Kurtz David L. 2002. Contemporary Business. 11th ed: Harcourt College Publishers. McConnell, Campbell R. , and Brue, Stanley L. 2005. Microeconomics: McGraw-Hill Ryerson. Ferrell, O. , Hartline, M. , Lucas, G. , Luck, D. 1998. Marketing Strategy. Orlando, FL: Dryden Press. Childs, N. , 2007. Rough Rice Exports Critical to U. S. Rice Producers. Amber Waves. [ online] Available from: ers. usda. gov/AmberWaves/February07/Findings/RoughRice. htm [cited 12 August 2005]. Charoen Pokphand Group. , C. P. History. [online]. Available from: cpthailand. com/default. aspx? tabid=81 [cited 7 July, 2005]. Charoen Pokphand Group. , C. P. Businesses. [online]. Available from: cpthailand. com/Home/OurBusinesses/tabid/228/Default. aspx [cited 11 July, 2005]. C. P Intertrade. , Rice Product. [online]. Available from: cpthairice. com/Product/tabid/71/Default. aspx [cited 11 July, 2005].

But, its in the Dictionary!

But, its in the Dictionary! But, it’s in the Dictionary! But, it’s in the Dictionary! By Maeve Maddox Sometimes readers respond to my rejection of a given word or spelling with the argument that its â€Å"in the dictionary.† My response is that dictionaries are not scripture. Just because a word is in the dictionary does not mean that it’s an acceptable choice for all speakers and writers in all contexts. The recent discussion on mankind vs humankind certainly bears that out. Then there’s the fact that more than one variety of â€Å"standard English† is spoken and written in the world. British speakers write honour where Americans write honor. Americans write the noun percent as one word; British speakers as two: per cent. Region and audience will determine which are the â€Å"correct† spellings. A good dictionary is the writer’s indispensable tool. I consult both the OED and Merriam-Webster Unabridged in the process of writing every post. I do not, however, take the view that because a particular spelling is included as an entry or given as an alternate spelling that it is â€Å"just as good as† a more conventional word or spelling. I’ll give just two words to illustrate: alright and irregardless. Both words have separate entries in both of my dictionaries. alright: a frequent spelling of all right OED alright: in reputable use although all right is more common Merriam-Webster irregardless:probably blend of irrespective and regardless; [nonstandard] Merriam-Webster irregardless: in nonstandard or humorous use: regardless OED The spelling alright is to be found in Middle English. The Online Etymology Dictionary points out that in modern use the spelling is â€Å"attested since 1893.† Nevertheless, the spelling alright screams â€Å"incorrect† at me. I would never use it in my own writing, and it distracts me in the writing of others. As for â€Å"irregardless,† I might use the word as a speech tag to characterize a fictional character, but I’d never use it in my own speech or writing. Other speakers and writers, on the other hand, have embraced the word. Dictionaries, like spell checkers, are useful up to a point. The â€Å"point† is the place at which the writer’s background, education, personality, and purpose are called into play. Without a single red underline, my spell checker permits me to write I seen there faces threw the window.† It’s up to me whether or not I want to leave it that way. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Punctuate References to Dates and TimesRunning Amok or Running Amuck?Oppose and Opposed To

Marketing 4050 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Marketing 4050 - Assignment Example Commentary feature focuses on minor issues in the country while the Briefing feature deals with the social life style of the citizens. The Culture feature in the magazine is business oriented. The leading article in the magazine clearly related to the ad on the front page. The article reads â€Å"Can this man save Europe? â€Å" The cover page has the picture of Italy’s Mario Monti who is the Prime Minister. He has a difficult task for stopping the European crisis as the continent is in heavy debts. The Time Magazine faces stiff completion from other types of magazine that tend to offer the same type of information. It faces stiff competition from New York Magazine and The Monthly Issue Washington DC. This is a good investment as information is process daily. To be able to make good sales by conveying this information through magazines, one has to have a high-quality and attractive ad . This will lure the readers into reading thereby making

The film A Streetcar Named Desire from the silent film era through the Essay

The film A Streetcar Named Desire from the silent film era through the 1950s - Essay Example Stella is married to Stanley played by Marlon Brando and they are expecting a child. Stanley and Blanche are the two central characters of this movie. The story gradually becomes interesting as friction begins to develop between Stanley and Blanche. Stanley being an uncouth, randy, sweaty and rough character does not like Stella very much which ultimately leads to immoral and violent depictions in the movie. The movie received a lot of criticism upon its release regarding the vulgarity and decadence depicted in it. Brando’s performance as Stanley is hailed as one the best performances in the history of American cinema. Brando was able to represent the exact nature of Stanley in front of the viewers. Stanley had to be uncouth yet attractive to women and Marlon Brando was just the man for that. This paper will analyze Marlon Brando’s acting skills in this movie. Later on, these skills and tools will be associated with the method acting presented by Uta Hagen in her book R espect for Acting. Stanley wears shirts that reveal his muscles and sweat; he drinks and smokes in a greedy fashion yet he possesses a grace in his personality. He is gentle in his own sense. Brando played this character in very realistic manner. He gave the character true raw emotions. His style in this movie is said to have influenced the Hollywood film industry so much that it inspired many artists such as Sean Penn, Jack Nicholson and James Dean. Before Brando’s performance in this movie, no matter how violent the emotions in acting may be, audience could always spot a hint of modesty in it. Brando left a mark on acting style that was adopted by Hollywood and embraced by the audience immediately. Brando portrayed more than just the violent nature of the character. Every single action of the Brando in this character feels as real as his anger outbursts. Moreover, Brando was able to pull off this role with such delicacy that he left a lot of fragments of Stanley’s pe rsonality for the audience to interpret. There are instances where the audience cannot easily interpret the actions of Stanley because there is no apparent cause for the way he behaves and this makes the audience wonder about the life of the character which ultimately leads to the development of sympathy towards characters. The character shows that it has much more than just his raw violent outbursts and callous behavior (Ebert). Brando sank in this character so well that the audience could not view Stanley and Brando as two different individuals. In fact, Brando himself became the character and was soon associated with Stanley. The charms of his acting can be measured by the fact that the audience started learning to develop sympathy for film characters after this movie. Brando presented Stanley to the audience in a manner that would distress them but this distress is accompanied by enticement. The audience fell in love with a loathsome character. The charm of the character overpow ered them. Brando’s sexual appeal and charms superseded Stanley’s uncouth and rowdy behavior. If we take the audience out of picture, even then it would be hard to separate the two entities as they resolved well together. It seems that Brando did not make any effort playing this character. He was so at ease that it appears Stanley is a part of Brando’s personality. Such realistic acting comes from specific methodologies that involve the resolution of the character and the actor. Unlike the conventional acting of the rest of the cast of the movie, Brando’

Human experience Essay Example for Free

Human experience Essay Star I thought it was a big coincidence that I ended up babysitting for a cancer patient with the same name as mine, Stephanie. Star, as she was fondly called, was a picture of hope when I first met her. I was a student then at a university near the hospital where she was confined. Her mom was a friend of my sister’s and one day, she took me with her to visit Star. That visit marked the beginning of a wonderful friendship. Every day I would visit her and she will be waiting by her window. I would bring her gifts, mostly toys and books I bought from a bookstore beside our school. We would often read the books together or play with her dad. One time, we also decorated her room with paper flowers and dolls. Star shared her dreams with me. She told me she wanted to become a doctor someday and help children like her. She wanted so much to get well that seeing her fighting for her life everyday sent tears to my eyes. But I never showed her my weakness for fear that that will bring her to her end. She taught me in her own little way to remain brave and hopeful despite the trials that come my way. It was in the afternoon of August 7, 2001 that she finally bid us goodbye. She knew it was her time to go back where she belonged, among the little angels of God where there is no pain, no tears, but only joy. That experience in my life made me wonder if God really exists and if He does, how come He didn’t answer my prayers. On the other hand, I knew that it was for the best. I myself didn’t want Star to suffer any longer. I realized God works in mysterious ways and we have to pass by many significant experiences to keep our faith and love for Him strong.

Marriott Corporation and Project Chariot Essay -- Marriott Case Analys

Marriott Corporation and Project Chariot   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Marriott Corporation (MC), had seen a long, successful reign in the hospitality industry until the late 1980s. An economic downturn and the 1990 real estate crash resulted in MC owning newly developed hotel properties with no potential buyers in sight and a mound of debt. During the late 1980s, MC had promised in their annual reports to sell off some of their hotel properties and reduce their burden of debt. However, the company made little progress toward fulfilling that promise. During 1992, MC realized that financial results were only slightly up from the previous year and their ability to raise funds in the capital market was severely limited. MC was left with little choice, as they had to consider some major changes within the company if they wished to remain a successful business. Thus, J.W. Marriott, Jr., Chairman of the board and president of MC, turned to Stephen Bollenbach, the new chief financial officer, for ideas and guidance. Bollenbach, who had a reputation for creating innovative financial structures in the hotel industry, proposed a radical restructuring for MC. Bollenbach’s proposal included breaking MC into two separate entities. The new company would retain the service businesses of MC and have the financial strength to raise capital and take advantage of various investment opportunities. On the other hand, the old company would retain the hotel properties and the pressure to sell properties at reduced prices would be greatly lessened. This drastic restructuring proposal, deemed Project Chariot, had to be evaluated by J.W. Marriott before he went before his board of directors with his ultimate recommendation. Thus, Marriott planned to review the company’s past financial history that led to their current position; evaluate Project Chariot’s advantages, disadvantages and value; determine the bond risk involved if Project Chariot was accepted and finally consider alternative recomm endations. Past History of MC By the 1980’s, the Marriot Corporation, founded in 1927, had grown into a financially sound, industry-leading corporation. Although MC went public in 1953 and continued to sell stock to the public, the Marriott family still retained the controlling interest of 25% of the company in 1992. Once J.W Marriott Sr. resigned in 1964, his son, J.W. Marriott Jr., took over the posi... ...th the restructuring proposed by Project Chariot. The Management team of HMC must aggressively restructure its finances in order to alleviate this debt and reduce its risk of bankruptcy or take-over.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Also, if possible actions should be taken to ease the worries of existing bondholders and institutional investors. Management may consider sharing the debt more equally between the two divisions in an effort to prevent downgrading of the credit rating and loss of investors. References Answers.com. Leveraged Buy Out. Retrieved July 17, 2005 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.answers.com/topic/leveraged-buyout High yield or â€Å"junk† bonds. Retrieved July 18, 2005 from http://www.finpipe.com/bndjunk.htm http://www.investopedia.com/university/mergers/mergers4.asp. Retrieved July 16, 2005. Ross, S., et. al. (2001). Corporate Finance. McGraw-Hill Companies. Yawson, A. (October 20, 2004). Performance shocks, turnaround strategies, and corporate recovery: Evidence from Australia. Retrieved July 18, 2005 from http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:2aoQ4Wn2y8MJ:wwwdocs.fce.unsw.edu.au/banking/workpap/wp%252010%25202004.pdf+australian+strategies+corporate+restructuring&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Artwork Essay

The â€Å"Self-Portrait with a bandaged ear† by Vincent Van Gogh and â€Å"The Two Fridas† by Mexican painter Kahlo Frida are depicting the artists’ deep hurt and emotional breakdown at losing their special person in life. However, the portrait â€Å"The Two Fridas† is representing the artist’s conflicting psychological mind more into details and straightforward than Vincent Van Gogh’s self-portrait â€Å"The Bandaged Ear. † In â€Å"The Two Fridas,† she uses various actions and clear setting to help viewers the theme of painting easily. The background is filled with the agitated clouds on the stormy dark sky and it obviously reflects her inner pain. Frida who sits on the left side portrays rejected Frida by her husband Diego Rivera. On the right, it represents loved and respected Frida by him. The two Fridas hold hands each other as if loved Frida tries to join unloved Frida’s suffering. It also implies her only companion is herself since she was six years old. She was isolated from other people due to her health problems. In â€Å"The bandaged ear,† Van Gogh pierces the viewer’s feeling using the facial expression rather than actions. His pale and thin face like Jesus Christ in a late medieval painting and every brushstroke that he made on the canvas tells his pitiful presence at the time. In fact, it is not easy to catching the purpose of the Japanese painting on the wall behind Van Gogh. For late 18th century, European artists considered the traditional Japanese art as a utopian aestheticism. So, he uses the Japanese painting for representing his lost paradise. Frida utilizes many symbolic and striking objects to illustrate her turmoil. The two hearts express her pain. The abandoned Frida’s heart is dying while the other Frida’s heart is whole. The unloved Frida is holding the surgical pincer to cut off a vein that travels through both Fridas’ hearts. Frida tries to stop the flow of blood from loved Frida on the right. Therefore, the blood is dripping on her white dress and it is the sign of danger of bleeding to death. In addition, her white dress is ripped open and it refers her broken relationship between Diego. Van Gogh simply uses fewer objects than Frida’s portrait. In combination of wearing a bandage across his ear to under his chin and his sallow skin imply his health condition is unwell. He may be shivering inside because he wears a coat and hat. Frida Kahlo has been associated with the surrealist movement which is the most influential movement in early 1900’s. This movement is influenced by Sigman Freud and Karl Max and they are well known psychologists. The surrealists believe the conscious mind repress the power of imagination so they are willing to depict their unlimited imagination. They expose the uncensored feeling as if in a dream. Also, they use many different kinds of symbols and colors to make art more details and straightforward. Unlike surrealist Frida, the impressionist artist Van Gogh conveys the subject of his art by demonstrating the techniques of loose brushstrokes that barely forms the figure and it makes his piece sort of like a sketch or â€Å"unfinished painting. He uses not many different colors but instead he focuses on putting shadows or highlights in color. Both of great self portraits portray the artists’ mental and physical collapse in their own stylistic and unique techniques. However, Kahlo Frida’s painting is easier to analyze the subject of artwork than Van Gogh’s painting. Because, she chooses varieties of symbols and colors to express her strange and violent imaginations and it definitely helps viewers easy to define her painful heart through her painting.

Particular sectors of the population Essay

Abstract The point of this paper is to help the reader grasp the different aspects of human identity construction with regards to ones race and/or ethnicity. This is a topic that is incredibly important to all races of people regardless of economic class or whatever else is seemingly more important. It is quite impossible to go throughout life without forming an idea of who you are or where you have come whether you care to make it a part of your daily life, have no choice or acknowledge it when it is convenient; without that knowledge I find it difficult to fully make the most of life. Through the readings from the semester and class discussions I have come to the conclusion that White ethnics choose to either assert their ethnicities thickly or thinly, or they chose to incorporate it into their lives symbolically. Blacks on the other side of the spectrum lack choice in their racial identity because their race is visible and so it is assigned to them. Asians have both the ability to choose to assert their specific ethnicities but they are racially assigned. The issue with racial and ethnic construction is that it is born of social construction-what others believe of your race to be true. This can make the identity construction process much more difficult depending upon your racial or ethnic background. Regardless, I find this to be an important part of the identity construction journey. How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone. These words were spoken by the infamous French fashion designer, Gabrielle â€Å"Coco† Chanel. In America today, these words could not ring truer in the subject of identity. â€Å"Who am I? †, â€Å"Where do I come from? † All questions of self reflection which undoubtedly each individual asks themselves on a daily basis. These questions are not elaborate in structure but hold a great deal of weight to them and contain countless answers. White ethnics face the decision of whether or not to include their ethnicities into their identity construction; their racial invisibility gives them the choice to identify. Racial minorities self define differently from those of the white majority-there often is no choice. There are many different facets of identity construction that create the varying formulas with which Black Americans must create their racial identity. The blatant visibility of race for Blacks creates many of the difficulties that they face in the United States varying from the generalized stereotypes, entry into the coveted middle class of America. These are some of the factors that determine whether or not a positive Black identity is being formed. Lastly, Asian Americans, have found themselves in that strange middle ground of identity construction; their struggle is not exactly like that of Black Americans but they are also not easily accepted like the dominant white group. The unique factors that help Asian Americans shape their identity are the same ones that make it difficult for others outside of their race to define them. It is with this unusual combination that Asian Americans have been given the convenient ability to choose to assert their specific ethnicities and to assimilate like white ethnics while still feeling the effects of racial constraint and having their race assigned to them like Black Americans. White Ethnic Identity Construction Today we look at the possible ways the white racial group define themselves; how they appear to others of their same race as well as to non-whites and the impact of American societal expectations on the self, ultimately creating a portrait of how white ethnics construct their ethnic identity throughout the generations and the evolution of ethnic value over time. It is all too common to hear an individual say â€Å"I don’t care what people think of me† or â€Å"Their opinion doesn’t matter,† although that may be their thought process, little do they know that it is the interaction with other human beings that helps form each person’s sense of self and that every person’s opinion of you matters a great deal. â€Å"Identity cannot exist apart from a group†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Gans, 1991, p. 430). Each person bounces their personality off of other people and it is from their reactions to us that we base our identities on. This idea is called â€Å"The Looking Glass Self† developed by Charles Cooley. Cooley argues that every time we interact with another person, we see ourselves in a mirror that they hold up to us and our reflections shape our sense of self (Butler-Sweet, 2011, Sep. 20). Essentially our self definitions are based on how others see us. We cannot escape it, the society that we live in is based on interaction with other people and humans, by nature are visual; we judge first by what we see. This is why race is the defining factor in American society but mainly for non-whites. The white race in America is dominate, however, it is not dominate because of the race itself but because of the culture that was formed from it. This idea of â€Å"whiteness† stems from European ideals where historically white ethnics had the most education and were Christians opposed to the non-Christians who were also not white. When Europeans came over to America they brought these ideals with them and used them as a foundation for the new culture they were creating that placed large emphasis on church, family, and accumulating wealth and with that social status (Zack, 1998, p. 61). These ideals were the foundation of American culture and since this culture was created by whites, American became synonymous with white, white became the norm and therefore transparent. If you are white in America it is highly unlikely that you will notice your race on a daily basis unless you are placed in a situation where you are surrounded by non-whites and forced into awareness. It is a definite advantage to have your race be invisible to everyone; when you are accustomed to seeing something, you do not think about it. That being said, according to the â€Å"Looking Glass Self†, hardly anyone, white or non-white will reflect a white person’s whiteness to them. Having race viewed as insignificant in a white individual’s identity. Due impart, to the diminished importance of race to white identity construction, ethnicity among white ethnics is a choice. White ethnics can decide if they want their ethnicity to be a part of what shapes their identity and if they do chose to assert an ethnicity they chose once again if they want to assert it thickly or thinly. Growing up in Connecticut, I know that there is not as wide a variety of ethnicities as there could be among white ethnics but in a few of the less suburban areas in Connecticut, namely New Britain, certain white ethnics choose to thickly assert their ethnicity. In New Britain there is a large population of Polish white ethnics; they speak the language and have ethnic markets and restaurants. They choose to incorporate their ethnicity into their everyday lives and associate with those of that same ethnicity. On the flip side, in my suburban hometown of Farmington, Connecticut, there were a decent amount of Polish people who attended my high school however, most choose to thinly assert their ethnicity mostly by only claiming their ethnicity when it came to soccer or eating polish food during the holidays. The importance of ethnicity to white ethnics is often asserted thinly if at all. The amount of emphasis placed on the value of ethnic identity among whites is not the same as it has been in times past; the emphasis has now been placed on American culture and what is considered valuable. If white ethnics choose to include their ethnicity in their identity today, it would most likely be symbol of what once was. When Europeans first came to America from whichever country, their original ethnic background was everything. The language, food, traditions, clothing and music was a constant influence on their everyday lives as first generation Americans. Community ties to people of your same ethnicity were incredibly important as it was an extension of your immediate family. Being the â€Å"new kids on the block† so to speak, was what kept these ethnic communities very tightly knit however, each generation after began to slowly back away from those original ties and started to assimilate into the dominate American culture. The acculturation process starts in second generation white ethnics where original ethnic traditions that they grew up with become not as important because now, fitting in to the dominate culture is the way to progress. The third generation white ethnic, has fully assimilated into American culture and has little interest in their ethnicity because by now they have figured out that in being a white ethnic, they fit into the dominate culture and ethnicity is not necessary. It may not necessarily be a hindrance to their economic, intellectual or social success, but it also is not a part of them that they feel needs to be asserted; it is at this point, that ethnic symbolism begins to show up (Gans, 1991, p. 430). Through intermarriage and acculturation, third generation white ethnics and beyond often know little about their ethnicity or by now ethnicities. Sometimes there are so many ethnicities to choose from, from either parent that a white ethnic will simply pick out the stereotypes of a certain ethnicity in their genetic arsenal that they feel they can identify most with as a way of feeling ethnic of their ethnic identity. Physical traits are often used as the indicator for which ethnicity a white ethnic will chose to identify with; one of my closest friends is Luxembourgian, German, Scandinavian, Swedish, Norwegian, and Scottish. Despite the fact that her last name itself is German, she chooses to associate her fair skin, blonde hair and blue eyes with her Scandinavian and Swedish ethnicities; this is probably in large part due to her mother’s family who’s history holds more interest to her as well as people who look the most like her. She uses her physical features as symbols of her ethnicity, nothing more. It is often that if one side of the family is more vocal about a certain ethnicity or ethnicities within the family that as a result, the children will associate more with that ethnicity or ethnicities (Waters, 1998, p.60). The majority of white ethnics are of the upper middle class in American society because the race is not a constraint for them and so they have access to jobs and to education that non-whites may not have. This American culture or â€Å"whiteness† by itself leads to a sense of monotony to some white ethnics and so the symbolic ethnicity comes into play as a way to liven things and bring back a since of individuality; to not be â€Å"just American† (Waters, 1998, p. 90). Non-whites in America maintain their ethnicity and embrace it because they are not given as equal a chance to assimilate into the dominate culture and without that opportunity, they are cut off from the jobs, that would provide money to become educated and progress in the American way and therefore stay very rooted in their original culture and maintain a strong sense of community which many white ethnics do not have. The constraints of white ethnic identity are few. The invisibility of whiteness gives white ethnics a definite upper hand and even further so, when it comes to their ethnicity they can make the choice. The possibilities for white ethnic identity and furthermore, their identity as a whole would seem to be very flexible. They lack only, it would seem when it comes to the sense of community. In the American culture, as it has evolved into today, the majority population’s focus is on wealth and social status and so nothing else comes to matter. White ethnics as a whole suffer little if any because, being the dominant race and culture; it is rare to find any door closed; the invisibility of their race gives them an unseen advantage which racial minorities do not have. Black Racial Identity Construction As mentioned previously in discussing white ethnic identity construction, Cooley’s Looking Glass self was a prime factor in how identity is shaped, particularly for Black Americans. The mirror that is continuously held up to each Black person is a constant reminder that their race is a large part of how others define them. Unlike the dominant White group, race is nowhere close to being invisible for Blacks. W. E. B DuBois applies the basic idea of Cooley’s looking glass self, most specifically to the Black minority group with this concept of a â€Å"double consciousness† (Butler-Sweet, 2011, Nov.3). Much like the looking glass, the double consciousness stresses that you will never be able to truly see yourself if you are of the Black minority group because others will see your race first and automatically reflect a negative image. If this double consciousness continues it can create, what Cornell West calls a Nihilistic threat; internalizing the negative impressions of your racial group and therefore yourself. Beverly Daniel Tatum points out in her book â€Å"‘Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? ’† that young children do not view racial differences as an issue but rather as a topic of curiosity, however, as the child reaches, what she calls, the â€Å"encounter stage† around adolescence race becomes very noticeable and if parents are not careful, their child will internalize all of the negative connotations of what it is to be Black (p. 55). The rest of that child’s life they will be reminded daily of their race, not necessarily in demeaning racial slurs, but in indirect forms of racism and prejudices. Unlike their White counterparts, Black Americans do not have the privilege of letting their race be invisible in society. Being the dominant group, White is expected and accepted-their race is invisible but as a minority group, Blacks do not have the choice of blending in; race is not only an assigned part of one’s identity if you are Black but it is thickly assigned which creates the boundaries and sense of separateness among the different racial groups. Identifying oneself as Black is essential for a member of the Black minority group if they wish to avoid self conflict. Wishing that you were not Black or attempting to be something other than Black only exasperates the issue. This negative view has to do with prejudices which transformed into stereotypes about Black Americans and translated into the negative Black identity which Black adolescents begin to form and even take with them into adulthood. Ones view of what it means to be Black can be fuelled primarily through stereotypes which can lead to a disdain of your own race. This could be expressed in a need to be the opposite of all those stereotypes, which was manifested as the Black kid not sitting at the all Black table (Tatum, 1997, p. 67). He refused to associate himself with those of his race because of the stereotypes that were reflected through â€Å"the looking glass. † This can at times be rectified later in life through exposure to positive examples of Black peoples, particularly those who are college educated. According to the double consciousness, the fact that you are Black is already assigned and therefore asserting it further, is unnecessary. The idea that having a positive Black identity is contingent upon putting your race first is redundant because it is already visible to everyone you come in contact with. It is as if you are a book and your race is the plastic covering around it; people cannot open the book because the plastic is sealed so tightly around it. In order for there to be a positive black identity all that is necessary is a full acceptance of your race and the positive aspects of it. The presence of positive Black role models in the life of a Black youth early on encourages a positive Black identity and expels most of the widely spread negative stereotypes. (Tatum, 1997, p.55). With largely widespread negative views on Black Americans as a whole and stereotypes being perpetuated regularly it is easy for a Black person to feel victimized; caged into a role even. The most readily available images of Black people in the media are often those that portray blacks in dire, downtrodden striates or extreme poverty. Sadly, this generalized portrait of Black Americans is overly, the dramatized and filled with gang violence, illegal drug sale, and so on. This type of life has been glorified in popular music; rappers especially speak of having been poor and having to live in the projects-the only way to survive being crime. Whatever is most commonly projected will be the easiest to accept as your only choice if you are Black. Lack of funding in lower income communities, the majority of which are populated by Black Americans, create low grade schools decreasing the ability or even the possibility for Black minorities to go on to higher education. America is a country built on capitalism; if one group cannot keep up with the dominant group financially they will fall back. Only 30% of Black Americans are impoverished but as a whole, are widely accepted as poor because of the media’s attention on densely populated, majority black communities (Butler-Sweet, 2011, Nov. 10). When this negative view becomes the norm, it is hard for Black youth to see much else, which is often why the minority of Blacks who rise above the negative stereotypes their racial identity is questioned by others of their same race. Since the idea of a middle class and the suburbs is a social class largely dominated by the dominant white group, some would find Black Americans as a part of that middle class to be an oddity. It is automatically assumed that because the White race is dominate in American society that they would have the jobs, the wealth, education and ability to enter seamlessly into the middle class realm and above. However, racial prejudices and stereotypes have made it so that it is quite uncommon to find a Black family in a predominantly White suburb; the symbol of the middle class. Somehow, through hard work, sacrifice or well-off parents, Blacks have managed to go on to higher education and thereafter; higher paying jobs, earning them a spot in the middle class. Unfortunately, this kind of success among Black people of the middle class does not sit well with those that live below it. It is the truest statement to say that personally, growing up in a largely White suburb, endured an intense inquisition about my racial affiliation from my Black peers who were bused in from Hartford. I was told that I â€Å"dressed White†, â€Å"talked White†, and many a time that I was in fact White or an â€Å"Oreo† as they would put it. Many of my White friends would joke around with me that I was not Black. There is nothing more offensive than being told, in so many words, that because your parents were educated, held well paying jobs, bought a house in the suburbs and educated you in a majority White school system, that you were no longer Black; worse even, being scrutinized and ignored by people of your own race because of a difference in social class. Tatum speaks of the same issues in her book, she even states how important it is for young Black people in predominantly White communities to connect with other Black peers to share experiences and increase awareness of daily life outside of the suburbs (Tatum, 1997, p.69-70). One would think that coming to a university with a larger community of Blacks than in my high school would open doors, but sadly I find that the divide is almost completely the same. The Black friends I have made since attending the University of Connecticut have been ones that share a similar background as myself; rarely do non-suburban Black people and I become friends and it is not for lack of effort on my part. I would like to think that I keep a positive attitude towards both Whites and Blacks but because of the stereotypes so deeply ingrained in many of us, it is difficult to lay them down and redirect our way of thinking. It is this reason, among others why other racial and sometimes ethnic minorities have difficulty being accept in America, Asian Ethnic and Racial Identity Construction The entrance into America for Asians is considered to be the first wave of immigration. This wave is relatively recent beginning in the early 19th century with the Chinese who immediately moved out west where the work they were given was largely agricultural. Like all immigrants coming into the United States, the Chinese, Japanese and later other groups like Filipino, Korean, and Vietnamese, among others, all faced discrimination from the dominate White group. When the Chinese first entered they were very hardworking and skilled while working on the transcontinental railroad but having not been in America long enough and having so many Chinese coming in their seemingly flawless work ethic was viewed as a threat by their fellow White workers. After the Chinese Exclusion Act was put into action in 1882, Japanese immigrants began to make their way into America but the same thing happened to them. Their advanced skills in agriculture were considered a threat to the Whites. They were taking their jobs and since farmland is not something that goes away, the Japanese were able to establish themselves a little better than the Chinese (Butler-Sweet, 2011, Nov. 28). The manner in which the group entered into the United States is the reason why their history is so important to their formation of a positive Asian American identify. The entrance of the various Asian groups into the United States and the acceptance of them were bound to be a bit difficult. The size of the group was large enough to be considered a threat to the dominant white group and because they had a tendency to settle down together, making it difficult for them to assimilate into American culture. The second wave of Asian Immigration is a part of present day America and this idea of being threatened by the skillfulness of Asians is still something that the dominant group feels and makes a point to mention often. In the first wave of immigration, the Chinese and Japanese succeeded because the work they found in the United States involved the use of skills they had already cultivated in their specific countries and so the excelled. Here in this second wave it is the same thing; whatever the Asian group is good at in their places of origin are the skills they will take with them when immigrating and that is why this idea of the Model Minority Myth has been created (Monk, 1996, p. 31). Asian American’s ability to succeed so effortlessly it seems, in large part can be attributed to the fact that much like the dominant White group, Asian Americans have the ability to assert their specific ethnicities. Similar to Black Americans, Asian Americans have an assigned race; when it comes to their ethnicities, which hold more value to them than their race, it is of greater significance to how they identify. However, non-Asian groups tend to lump every Asian ethnicity under one â€Å"Pan Asian† label but Asian Americans refuse to accept this (Kibria, 2002, p.73-74). Instead of agreeing with the reflection they see from other people about their race, as mentioned previously in regards to Cooley’s â€Å"Looking Glass Self†, Asian Americans place a great amount of emphasis on their specific country of origin and its traditions and cultures in order to define themselves. In the first wave of immigration, Asian Americans would settle in closely knit communities with their specific ethnic group; in those communities, they would all help each other out making it easier to survive in America. Even today, there are large communities of Asian Americans who choose to live close to each other to keep that sense of having a culture and traditions that separate them from everyone else. Having these tightly knit communities makes it easier for Asian Americans to succeed because they have a constant support group and people to fall back on if they need it (Monk, 1996, p. 37-38). Being in such constant close contact with those who share your culture background and infuse it into daily life definitely helps with forming a positive Asian American identity, regardless of outside influences. Some of the dominant White group believes that if given the chance, over time Asian Americans could have the potential to fully assimilate to American culture and become ultimately â€Å"white. † This idea of racial ethnogenesis is that the later generations of Asian Americans as well as incoming groups of Asians will simply begin to blend into American culture to the point that they will just embrace the racial category they have been placed in and forget about their ethnic background (Kibria , 2002, p. 14). What would this do for the identity construction of Asian Americans? Would their full assimilation into American culture really improve their quality of life anymore? The identity construction of Asian Americans would be so unlike every other identity if they simply assimilated completely into American culture. Letting go of cultural ties and accepting the general name for people of your same race will not improve the quality of life significantly because their race is still visible. Again, culture is a choice, race is not. Although Asian Americans are capable of choosing their ethnic identity and asserting it like the White ethnics, they also share the disadvantage of being assigned to their race like Black Americans because their race like Blacks is very visible. Since their race is visible it creates this aspect of constraint which makes it difficult for people to not see your race and therefore puts limits on how people will treat you or what jobs you can attain. Regardless of the success Asian Americans have in academics and achieving higher paying jobs, there is still a â€Å"glass ceiling† they have to deal with (Monk, 1996, p. 42). The visibility of their race keeps them from being hired as corporate CEOs or being in leadership positions in general. Excelling most commonly in mathematics and sciences often places Asian Americans in behind the scenes type of work that pays well but does not require them to be out in the open as public figures in the corporation. The added factor of an accent for more recent immigrants can also serve as additional restriction to entering into the higher echelons of business (Monk, 1996, p. 43). The positive connotations that come with being Asian American as well as the negative can have an adverse affect in identity construction. Being considered to be a â€Å"Model Minority† definitely can create some hostility especially for second and third generation Asian Americans. When non-Asians assume that you get A’s in school and that you are inherently good at mathematics it becomes a burden (Kibria, 2002, p. 87). Just the same, negative stereotypes about the foods that different Asian American cultures eat or assuming that because certain physical features are similar among the different ethnic groups, they are all the same, can create negative feelings about being Asian American and that is not good for the development of a healthy ethnic or racial identity. The saying â€Å"Asian Invasion† (Monk, 1996, p. 44) is very common I personally even have used it in jest and so have some of my Asian friends; I assumed that its use was okay. Generally, my second generation Asian friends will use this term when talking about either the Asian students who are studying abroad on campus, or in regards to first generation Asian Americans. This makes me wonder if my friends have assimilated enough into the dominant white culture that they no longer can see themselves associating with the incoming Asians. It is hard to determine whether the statement is meant as a joke or a commentary against ethnic Asians. Conclusion Having explained the different forms of identity construction through the examples of White ethnics, Black Americans and Asian Americans it has been made clear that identity construction cannot be viewed the same for a ethnicities and races. White ethnic identity comes in many different shapes sizes and forms ranging from symbolic, non-exisistent, or thinly asserted to a large part of how one identifies or thickly asserted. The option to pick and chose which part of your heritage you prefer over another or not at all is how white ethnics construct their identities. The majority of white ethnics who choose the route of symbolic ethnicity opposed to asserting either thinly or thickly a certain ethnicity is often because the dominant American culture has become of greater value to their identity than anything else and choosing an ethnic symbol to place on themselves is what will separate them from the rest of their fellow white ethnics or bring them closer to someone who holds the same ethnic symbol. Just the same, the constant pressures placed on Black Americans to play multiple roles are a difficult task. Shaping a positive identity of any kind is difficult but to shape a positive Black identity in America holds a certain amount of extra weight to it. Black Americans struggle trying to advance themselves because of the constant racial stereotypes reverberating in the background. If you do manage to elevate into the higher ranks of American life your racial loyalty will then be questioned. Is it possible that over time these stereotypes will dissipate or is there a reason they are kept alive? The unique combination of both ethnic choice and racial constraint makes Asian American identity construction the most interesting form of identity construction so far. Since the first wave of immigration into the second one, Asian Americans have dealt with a slew of racial injustices in America but they have also gained a great deal of merit mostly for being the â€Å"ideal† so to speak. Being hard workers and keeping close ethnic ties have made Asian Americans competition for White ethnics. In the future, whether or not they will completely assimilate or not is questionable and what toll it will take on their identity construction. Having the option to choose a part of your identity which no one can see will never outweigh your racial assignment. What is it, or is it possible to have a truly positive White ethnic or Black or Asian racial identity in America? The constant changes in society make it impossible to know.

How to Get Into UC Berkeley 4 Steps to a Stellar Application

How to Get Into UC Berkeley 4 Steps to a Stellar Application SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Wondering how to get into UC Berkeley? Getting accepted to Berkeley can be tough.How hard is it to get into Berkeley? In 2018, UC Berkeley received 85,615 applications, and it admitted 13,558 of those applicants, for an acceptance rate of 15.1%. This makes UC Berkeley a â€Å"strongly competitive school†: it’s not quite as competitive as Ivy League schools, but you’ll need to have a strong application across the board in order to get accepted.In the rest of this guide, we’ll explain the UC Berkeley admissions requirements, when and how you should apply, exactly what Berkeley looks at when they review your application and how you can create the strongest application to maximize your chances of getting into Berkeley. How Does UC Berkeley Evaluate Applications? Compared to many other schools, Berkeley is pretty transparent about what they’re looking for in applicants and how they evaluate applications. They first make sure you meet the minimum UC Berkeley admissions requirements, then they assess your academic history, and then they do a holistic review where they take other areas into account, such as your extracurriculars and responses to essay questions. UC Berkeley states that they use a â€Å"broad concept† of merit, which means no one part of the holistic review is automatically worth more than the others. Below are the factors UC Berkeley evaluates for the minimum requirements, academic assessment, and holistic review. Minimum Requirements Meet the A-G subject course requirements: History: 2 years English: 4 years Mathematics: 3 years Laboratory science: 2 years Language other than English: 2 years Visual and performing arts: 1 year College-preparatory elective: 1 year Have a 3.0 GPA in A-G courses taken in the 10th and th grade years. (3.4 GPA for non-California residents) Take either the SAT plus Essay or the ACT exam plus Writing Academic Assessment Your weighted and unweighted UC grade point average (calculated using 10th and th grade UC-approved courses only) Your planned 12th grade courses Your pattern of grades over time The number of college preparatory, Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), honors and transferable college courses you have completed Your grades in those courses relative to other UC applicants at your school Your scores on AP or IB exams Your scores on the ACT or SAT Holistic Review Number and rigor of high school courses taken and grades earned in those courses Personal qualities of the applicant, including leadership ability, character, motivation, insight, tenacity, initiative, originality, intellectual independence, responsibility, maturity, and demonstrated concern for others and for the community are considered Likely contributions to the intellectual and cultural vitality of the campus. In addition to a broad range of intellectual interests and achievements, admission readers seek diversity in personal background and experience Performance on standardized tests Achievement in academic enrichment programs, including but not limited to those sponsored by the University of California. This criterion is measured by time and depth of participation, by the academic progress made by the applicant during that participation, and by the intellectual rigor of the particular program Other evidence of achievement. This criterion recognizes exemplary, sustained achievement in any field of intellectual or creative endeavor; accomplishments in extracurricular activities such as the performing arts or athletics; leadership in school or community organizations; employment; and volunteer service So what does it take to get into Berkeley? Basically, you need to have good grades in difficult classes, strong standardized test scores, and show that you’ll have a positive impact on campus. In the rest of this article we’ll explain exactly what you can do to meet each of the expectations Berkeley wants to see in applicants. UC Berkeley Application Deadlines If you want to know how to get into UC Berkeley, you first need to know all the major application deadlines. Berkeley states right on their website that they almost never accept late applications, so don’t miss any deadlines!UC Berkeley doesn’t offer early action or early decision options, so everyone applying has the same deadlines. Deadline Action August 1 UC Berkeley application opens November 1-30 Period application can be submitted online December Self-report December test scores January-February Submit official December test score results February-March Admissions decisions are sent out March 2 Financial aid applications due May 1 Reply date for all accepted first year students July 1 Admitted students must submit their final high school transcript The most important deadline you need to be aware of is November 30th. This is the last day you can submit your Berkeley application. However, as long as you have your application submitted by November 30th, you can still take the SAT/ACT in December. If you decide to do this, you’ll self-report your scores in December, then send your official scores once you get them in January or February. We don’t recommend waiting until December to take the SAT or ACT because if you’re unhappy with your score you won’t have any other chances to retake it. However, if you’ve taken the exam several times and want one more shot, a December test date is an option. You’ll learn if you’ve been accepted to UC Berkeley in March (occasionally as early as February), and you’ll have until May 1st to decide which school to attend. How to Apply to UC Berkeley There are four main steps to applying to Berkeley. The earlier you begin your application (as early as August 1st) the more time you’ll have to complete all the steps and the less pressure you’ll be under to meet the deadline. The steps are the same regardless of which UC school(s) you’re applying to since all UC schools use the same application (and you only need to submit one application, even if you apply to other UC schools in addition to Berkeley. Below is an overview of how to apply to Berkeley. For more in-depth information, check out our complete guide to applying to UC schools. Step 1: Create an Account First you need to create an applicant account. This step will only take about a few minutes since you just need to fill out basic information. Step 2: Complete the UC Application After creating your account, you’ll be immediately sent to the beginning of the application. Some of the key parts of the application include: Entering information about which UC school(s) you’re applying to (you’d choose UC Berkeley, but you can also apply to other UC schools with the same application) and what you plan on majoring in Filling out your eligibility for scholarships Answering demographic questions Filling out your academic history (what classes you took, the grades you got in them, if they were honors or AP, etc.) Filling out information on your extracurriculars and any awards you’ve won Self-reporting your standardized test scores Answering the personal insight questions There are eight personal statement questions, and you’ll need to answer four of them. Each response needs to be 350 words or less.The prompts are listed on the UC admissions website Step 3: Pay Admission Fees and Submit Your Application Once you’ve finished each section your application, you can submit it, as long as it’s between November 1-30. You’ll also need to pay the $70 application fee ($80 if you’re an international student). Then you’ll click submit, and your application will officially be sent to Berkeley! Step 4: Submit Your Standardized Test Scores You’ll self submit your test scores when you fill out your application, but you also need to send official score reports to Berkeley.You’ll need to take either the ACT with Writing or the SAT with Essay. You aren’t required to take AP exams or SAT Subject Tests, but Berkeley does recommend taking at least a few and submitting those scores as well. We have guides specifically on sending ACT scores and SAT scores to colleges if you need more information. What You Need to Get Into Berkeley Berkeley wants top students so you need to make sure your application is strong across the board. Below are the five most important categories Berkeley evaluates when they look at applications. If you stand out in most or all of these areas you’ll have a great shot at getting into UC Berkeley! Classes The classes you took in high school are often the most important part of your college application. When UC Berkeley admissions officers look at your classes, they’re looking at two things: the actual courses you took and how difficult they were.For the first category, they want to make sure you’ve taken the classes you need to succeed as a college student at one of their schools. This means taking the A-G courses that we mentioned above. Remember that the A-G courses are the minimum UC Berkeley admissions requirements; most applicants will have gone well beyond these requirements. Some majors, especially those in math or science, recommend or require additional classes before you start college. For example, if you want to major in chemistry, Berkeley requires you to have taken one year of chemistry, one year of physics, four years of math, and two to three years of a foreign language. Research your intended major on Berkeley’s website to check the specific requirements you need to meet. In general, it’s best to take more classes in the fields you plan on majoring in. Berkeley also looks at the difficulty of the classes you took. They’re specifically looking for honors, AP, or IB courses since these are more difficult than regular-level classes. If your school offers these classes, you should take as many as you can without overloading yourself and still maintaining a high GPA.Taking difficult classes shows them that you’re focused on your studies and can handle the challenge and workload of college classes. Also, Berkeley specifically mentions that they look at the â€Å"quality of your senior-year program,†, so don’t be tempted to slack off senior year with a bunch of easy classes! Grades It’s not enough just to take the classes Berkeley want; you also need to do well in them. Your grades and overall GPA are another critical component of your Berkeley application.For Berkeley, as well as all UC schools, you need to have at least a 3.0 GPA in your A-G classes if you’re a California resident, or a 3.4 GPA if you’re a non-resident. Additionally, you can’t have gotten below a â€Å"C† in any of the A-G classes. However, you should aim higher than this. The middle 50% range for weighted GPA of accepted students in 2018 at Berkeley is 4.16-4.30. That means 25% of admitted students had a GPA lower than 4.16, and 25% of admitted students had a GPA higher than 4.30. To give yourself the best chance of getting into UC Berkeley, you should aim to have a weighted GPA of 4.30 or higher. This means you’ll have a higher GPA than the majority of accepted students which gives you a great chance at getting in.To get a weighted GPA of 4.30, you’ll need to get A’s in most of your classes, and you’ll also need to take advanced classes like honors or AP that’ll further raise your GPA. Test Scores There is no minimum SAT or ACT score you need to get into Berkeley, but you’ll want to aim high to give yourself the best chance of getting accepted.The middle 50% SAT score range for accepted Berkeley students in 2018 is 1340-1530, and for the ACT it’s 30-35. Again, you want to aim for the higher end of this range, so your goal should be either a 1530 on the SAT or a 35 on the ACT. Remember, it’s completely possible to get into Berkeley with scores lower than these (most admitted students will have scores lower than these), but setting that as your goal gives you a good score to aim for so you can maximize your chances of getting into UC Berkeley.Also, don’t forget that Berkeley also requires the essay/writing section of the SAT and ACT. While Berkeley doesn’t require any SAT Subject Test scores or AP scores, having at least a few of these will further strengthen your application by showing you can score well on tests that cover different topics. Your goal should be to submit three Subject Test or AP scores, with at least one related to the area you want to major in (so a math/science score if you want to be a biology major, a social science score if you want to major in history, etc.).For these exams, you should aim to get at least a 700 on the Subject Tests and a 4 on the AP tests. Essays You’ll need to answer four of the UC personal insight prompts, and your responses should show: Who you are What you'd contribute to the Berkeley community What causes/topics/hobbies are important to you What your intellectual interests are Maybe you’ve always been fascinated by space and want to attend UC Berkeley and major in aeronautical engineering, or maybe you dream of being a writer and want to major in English or Creative Writing. Whatever your story is, this is the place for Berkeley to hear it, and it’s the best place in your application to show them who you really are as a person. This is the part of your application where you can really show Berkeley who you are, so be sure to put time and thought into your responses. Berkeley also specifically mentions that the personal insight section is one of the parts of the application they look at most closely.For a more in-depth look at how to stand out with your responses, read our guide on how to write outstanding UC essays. Extracurriculars Your extracurriculars are another important part of your Berkeley application. The best extracurriculars show your leadership skills and passion for whatever the extracurricular focuses on. Exactly which extracurriculars you choose, whether they are related to sports, academics, arts, volunteering, etc., isn’t that important. What will make your extracurriculars stand out is if you can show that you’re passionate about them, have dedicated significant time to them, and have taken on a leadership role or important responsibilities. Some factors Berkeley states they’re specifically looking for in extracurriculars include: Special talents, awards, or achievements Leadership experience Significant experiences or achievements that demonstrate the student's promise for contributing to the intellectual vitality of a campus They list the following examples of strong extracurriculars: Special talent in visual and performing arts, communication or sports Intensive study and exploration of other cultures Significant community service Significant participation in student government Don’t feel like you need to have all or even any of these experiences; they’re just given so you can get an idea of what Berkeley is looking for. Pretty much any extracurricular that you’re passionate about, skilled in, and have shown some leadership potential for is a great extracurricular to include on your application. Note that, even if you send in additional materials, such as an art portfolio, Berkeley won’t take these into consideration when evaluating your application, so be sure to do a good job describing your talents and accomplishments within the application. You can also use the Additional Comments box in the Personal Insights section (see the next section for more info on this). What If You Have a Weak Area in Your Berkeley Application? Not sure how to get into Berkeley if you got a lower SAT score than expected, flunked math freshman year, couldn’t participate in extracurriculars for an extended period because you had mono, or something similar? If there’s a weak area on your Berkeley application, don’t think it automatically means you won’t get in. The majority of Berkeley applicants will have at least one part of their application that isn’t as strong as the others, and very few candidates have a stellar application across all areas. One way you can reduce the impact of these weak areas is to discuss them in the Additional Comments boxes. There are two Additional Comments boxes in the UC Berkeley application, one under Academic History and one under the Personal Insight section.It’s in these boxes that you can explain any information you’d like the application readers to know. For the academic history box, you could, for example, explain why some of your grades are lower than what you wanted (and what you did to raise your grades in future classes), or explain you didn’t get to take as many advanced classes as you wanted to because your school didn’t offer many. For the personal insight box, you should include any relevant information about your extracurriculars there wasn’t a spot for in the application, such as a time you showed exceptional leadership, took initiative, solved a serious problem, etc. Strong extracurriculars can help reduce the impact of a low grade or test score. If you have a weak area of your application, do your best to explain what you’ve learned from it and how you’ve improved since that. Your maturity and self-awareness will impress the people reading your application. Conclusion: How to Get Into UC Berkeley How hard is it to get into Berkeley? Each year, Berkeley admits only about 15% of the students who apply, but you can increase your chances of getting in by understanding how to apply and knowing what the admissions officers are looking for.You can begin the Berkeley application in August, and you have until November 30th to submit your application. Berkeley wants students who are intelligent, leaders, passionate about what they’re studying, and will have a positive impact on campus.To show Berkeley that you’re the type of student they want to admit, you should aim to take difficult classes and get good grades in them (aim for an unweighted GPA of about 4.30). You should also have high scores on the SAT or ACT (aim for a 1530 on the SAT or a 35 on the ACT). For getting into UC Berkeley, you should also have strong extracurriculars and answer the Personal Insight questions thoughtfully. If you’re not sure how to get into Berkeley, Berkeley admissions may seem overwhelming, but if you plan ahead and work to make your application as strong as it can be, you’ll give yourself the best chance of getting into UC Berkeley. What's Next? Applying to other UC Schools?Read our guide on how to apply to UC schools for everything you need to know about the UC application. Want to learn more about the University of California schools?We have an in-depth guide to the UC schoolsto make it easy for you to compare the schools and see which is best for you. Working on your UC essays?Check out our guide onhow to answer every UC essay promptto get great writing ideas. Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. 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