Definition and Examples of Generification

Definition and Examples of Generification Generification is the utilization of explicit brand names of items as names for the items in general.â In various cases over the previous century, the conversational utilization of a brand name as a conventional term has prompted the passing of a companys right to the restrictive utilization of that brand name. The legitimate term for this is genericide. For instance, the regular things headache medicine, yo-yo, and trampoline were once lawfully secured trademarks. (In numerous nations yet not in the United States or the United Kingdom-Aspirin stays an enrolled trademark of Bayer AG.) Etymology: From the Latin, kind Generification and Dictionaries An amazing number of words have created disagreeable nonexclusive implications: they incorporate headache medicine, bandage, lift, filofax, frisbee, canteen, tippex, and xerox. Also, the issue confronting the word specialist [dictionary-maker] is the manner by which to deal with them. On the off chance that it is regular utilization to express such things as I have another hoover: its an Electrolux, at that point the word reference, which records ordinary use, ought to incorporate the nonexclusive sense. The guideline has been tried a few times in the courts and the privilege of the word reference creators to incorporate such utilizations is over and again maintained. Be that as it may, the choice despite everything must be made: when does an exclusive name build up an adequate general use to be securely called conventional? From Brand Names to Generic Terms These words beneath have step by step slipped from brand names to conventional terms: Lift and elevator were both initially trademarks of the Otis Elevator Company.Zipper: A name given to a distinct latch by the B.F. Goodrich Company numerous years after it was designed. The new name helped the zipper achieve notoriety in the 1930s.Loafer: For a slipper like shoe.Cellophane: For a straightforward wrap made of cellulose.Granola: A trademark enlisted in 1886 by W.K. Kellogg, presently utilized for a characteristic sort of breakfast cereal. Ping pong: For table tennis, a trademark enlisted by Parker Brothers in 1901. Source David Crystal, Words, Words, Words. Oxford University Press, 2006 Allan Metcalf, Predicting New Words: The Secrets of Their Success. Houghton Mifflin, 2002

Mans Careless Attitude Essay Example

Keeps an eye on Careless Attitude Paper Man’s indiscreet mentality is the primary driver for the devastation of the earth. Talk about. You ought to compose at any rate 350 words. (60 imprints) In this cutting edge progress, man battles to endure the significant expense of everyday costs, which fundamentally increments as time passes. This makes them utilize any strategy accessible that creates salary and they begin to sideline the significance of saving nature. This is because of humankind understanding the capability of economy that can emerge out of nature. Thus, firmly accept the obliteration of nature is for the most part brought about by man’s thoughtless demeanor whereby hello needs their ravenousness for cash and the advancement Of development. Let us investigations this marvel as far as the country’s advancement, criminal operations of misusing nature and the openings for work. Above all else, numerous countries attempt to accomplish the title of the most driving country in economy or framework. So as to contend with different nations, most countries attempt to investigate any accessible land in their nation for improvement, for example, businesses, places of interest and numerous different purposes that are identified with cash. We will compose a custom article test on Mans Careless Attitude explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now We will compose a custom exposition test on Mans Careless Attitude explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer We will compose a custom paper test on Mans Careless Attitude explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer At whatever point they see the capability of a specific land parcel, they tend o create it in spite of a portion of these spots may in any case be uninhabited or the home for some natural life. In some cases, they would likewise trudge through wildernesses or level the mountains for street improvement which seriously changes the scene of nature. Therefore, this narrow minded and indiscreet act will cause the deforestation and a worldwide temperature alteration. For instance, Indonesia has gotten very reckless with their treatment of these issues. In Claimant, Indonesia, the woods is by and large seriously deforested by their kin for land improvement. Furthermore, to exacerbate the situation, they even pick the quickest and coos-sparing strategy f deforestation which is by torching the trees, the mass arrival of carbon dioxide from the mass torch of trees lead to ozone diminishing and nursery impact. Likewise, the cloudiness issue is another negative side item. With respect to the genuine survivors of these demonstrations, they are the neighboring countries, for example, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Philippines particularly as fog causes numerous medical problems, for example, lung malignant growth and breathing issues. Hence, these reckless demonstrations and eagerness cause the obliteration of nature as well as jeopardize numerous lives, both man and creatures. Furthermore, some people’s voracity for incredible fortune and simple life cause them to get childish and indiscreet by over-abusing nature. They enthusiastically do criminal operations, for example, chopping down trees or creature chasing, seeing the appeal for these materials. It will gradually cause the eradication of various types of greenery. In China, these exercises of eating inward organs of creatures, for example, tiger or bear and they even utilize these animals’ body parts for monetary purposes, for example, tiger skin, crocodile skin and elephant teeth and asks by sending out it to the individuals who follow through on a significant expense for it. This seriously affects the biological system which is the termination of creatures. In Indonesia, trees are being chopped down for making costly house furniture made of material, for example, teak wood. Truth be told, these trees require a significant stretch of 10 to 20 years to develop. In this manner, the constant chopping down of trees will in the long run lead to its eradication. These exercises are illicit by law and still happens broadly in spite of numerous countermeasures that have been taken by the approved associations, for example, World Wildlife Fund (WFM). By one way or another, these lawbreakers can sneak past the organization’s requirement laws of securing the untamed life and nature. Additionally, most society are thoughtless to try and pay heed to these issues since they presently can't seem to come to familiarity with the perils that would occur from these illicit demonstrations. In the event that solitary they had given more consideration and collaboration to the approved associations, these issues may have had the option to be forestalled. Finally, to make due in this advanced world, each individual should have the option to get by for themselves of their family, yet numerous individuals with low training level can't land significant pay positions, even college researchers are yet to be sure of finding an appropriate line of work after their graduation in spite of their elevated level of instruction. The opposition is much the same as natural selection among these alumni and individuals with low capabilities. Subsequently with the developing interest for progressively common materials, for example, oil gas and minerals from the earth just as an appeal of snuck merchandise, individuals are happy to follow through on significant expenses to have representatives carry out their responsibility of misusing tauter in light of the fact that these occupations are h igh hazard. So individuals that are frantically needing employments are typically enticed with the compensation and they would accept up the call. This circumstance had opened up a ton of openings for work, yet they are thoughtless to not authenticity that these employments are the primary driver of nature’s decimation since they are being nailed somewhere near the weight of high living expense in this cutting edge world that they have overlooked the significance of saving nature. Basically, still unequivocally trust as I would like to think that nature’s devastation is fundamentally brought about by man’s thoughtless disposition. They endeavor to get by on the planet so frantically that some in the long run deny reality that it is their own deficiency for nature’s devastation. On the off chance that no genuine and appropriate moves are being made quickly by numerous untamed life and nature saving associations or approved associations, for example, WFM, UNESCO and SEAN to set up a compelling system or diagram to forestall this issue, there most likely won’t be any wildernesses or untamed life left later on and our young generator should live in a contaminated world.

Lincoln

Lincoln Lincoln. 1 City (1990 pop. 15,418), seat of Logan co., central Ill., in a farm area; inc. 1865. It is a shipping and industrial center in an agricultural area with light manufacturing. The city was platted and promoted (1853) with the aid of Abraham Lincoln and named for him when he was still an unknown country lawyer. Lincoln practiced law there from 1847 to 1859, and buildings and places associated with him have been preserved or reconstructed. A state school for the mentally retarded is in the city. 2 City (1990 pop. 191,972), state capital, and seat of Lancaster co., SE Nebr.; inc. 1869. It is the railroad, trade, and industrial center for a large grain and livestock area. Cattle are slaughtered and processed; there is printing and publishing; and beverages, construction materials, electronics, motorcycles, sports equipment, valves and cylinders, asphalt, and automotive parts are among its manufactures. A number of insurance companies have their home offices there. Founded in 1864 as Lancaster, the city was chosen as the site of the capital in 1867 and renamed. It is the seat of the Univ. of Nebraska, Union College, and Nebraska Wesleyan Univ. A planetarium, an art gallery and sculpture garden, the state historical society and its museum, and a performing arts center are in the city. The state penitentiary and several hospitals are also there. The state capitol, designed by B. G. Goodhue, with sculptures by Lee Lawrie , was completed in 1934. William Jennings Bryan lived in Lincoln from 1887 to 1916; his home is preserved. 3 Town (1990 pop. 18,045), Providence co., NE R.I.; set off from Smithfield and inc. 1871. Once a textile town, its manufactures include wire, tubing, metal parts, and thread. Limestone has been quarried there since colonial times. Many pre-Revolutionary houses and a state park are in the town. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. See more Encyclo pedia articles on: U.S. Political Geography

Foreign Policy The Transition Of Democracy - 1039 Words

Question 1. Foreign Policy Analysis: 1. Introduction: Foreign policy involves the goals, strategies, measures, understanding, agreements, directives and rules in which national governments conduct international relations with each other as well as international organisations and non-governmental actors. South Africa s post-apartheid foreign policy vision has become prosperous, peaceful, democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and united which contributes to the world that is equitable. This essay will discuss the transition to democracy and how the different heads have contributed to foreign policy since 1994 using the state and individual levels of analysis. This will be done with the following headings; heads of government contribution during the transition of democracy including individual level and state level of analysis. 2. Heads of governments contribution during the transition of democracy: 2.1. Individual level of analysis: At an individual level of analysis, intelligence agencies are known for spending so much effort on collecting clues on the psychology or leadership style of many foreign leaders. Planning and implementing foreign policy it is to consciously think and act in terms of what the country’s intention is in terms of interaction with other countries. Decisions have to be made with reasonable level headedness in terms of the constraints of the country. During Pre-1994, South Africa was undergoing a transition in terms of its foreign policy and internationalShow MoreRelatedWhat Changes Did The Transition Of A Democracy?931 Words   |  4 Pagesfighting for a democracy; however, it takes more than that. Like the saying,â€Å"Actions speak louder than words,† Suu Kyi needs to realize that words alone do not have such a big impact on people. It is great that the people are more educated and know that unification would provide a better outcome. It is important to implement new polic ies and new laws. Any forms of political transition in Burma are inevitable. The question is when and how. The longer it takes for the political transition to start, theRead MoreEssay on The Benefits of Foreign Aid1625 Words   |  7 PagesEast, Africa, and Latin America is justified on this positive and constructive basis; it is in the interest of the United States that we and our children live in a world of independent, open societies, each developing its own version of political democracy...our enemy is poverty, despair, stagnation and the fear that only totalitarian methods can lift a poor agrarian society into sustained growth. 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That dialogue was held due to the conflict between the protests that asked the government to step down after the second political assassination in 2013 andRead MoreThe Sociology of Development: Case Study of Myanmar1247 Words   |  5 Pagesdevelopment as illustrated in the case study of Myanmar, with special focus on the causes of underdevelopment that can be correlated with the modernization and dependency theories, along with comparing the country of study with U.S.A. in terms of democracy, and finally offering insight into the close relationship between state and religion. Starting with 1970, theorists referred to the dependency theory by arguing that trade with wealthy countries does not benefit underdeveloped ones, and consequently

Everything You Need to Know About Shakespeares Plays

William Shakespeare is best known for his plays, although he was also an accomplished poet and actor. But when we think about Shakespeare, plays like Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Much Ado About Nothing immediately spring to mind. How Many Plays? A remarkable fact about Shakespeares plays is that scholars can’t agree on how many he actually wrote. Thirty-eight plays is the most popular hypothesis, but after many years of wrangling, a little-known play called Double Falsehood has now been added to the canon. The main problem is that it is believed that William Shakespeare wrote many of his plays collaboratively. Therefore, it is difficult to identify the content penned by the Bard with any accuracy. What Were Shakespeares Plays About? Shakespeare was writing between 1590 and 1613. Many of his early plays were performed at the building that would eventually become the infamous Globe Theatre in 1598. It was here that Shakespeare made his name as a budding young writer and penned such classics as  Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Taming of the Shrew. Many of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies were written in the early 1600s and would have been performed at the Globe Theatre. Genres Shakespeare wrote in three genres: tragedy, comedy, and history. Although this seems very straightforward, it is notoriously difficult to categorize the plays. This is because the histories blur comedy and tragedy, the comedies contain elements of tragedy, and so on. Tragedy Some of Shakespeare’s most famous plays are tragedies. The genre was extremely popular with Elizabethan theatergoers. It was conventional for these plays to follow the rise and fall of a powerful nobleman. All of Shakespeare’s tragic protagonists have a fatal flaw that propels them towards their bloody end. Popular tragedies include Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet,  King Lear, and Macbeth. Comedy Shakespeare’s comedy was driven by language and complex plots involving mistaken identity. A good rule of thumb is if a character disguises themselves as a member of the opposite sex, you can categorize the play as a comedy. Popular comedies include Much Ado About Nothing, and The Merchant of Venice. History Shakespeare used his history plays to make social and political commentary. Therefore, they are not historically accurate in the same way we would expect a modern historical drama to be. Shakespeare drew from a range of historical sources and set most of his history plays during the Hundred Years War with France. Popular histories include  Henry V and Richard III. Shakespeare’s Language Shakespeare used a mixture of verse and prose in his plays to denote the social standing of his characters. As a rule of thumb, common characters spoke in prose, while noble characters further up the social food chain would revert to iambic pentameter. This particular form of poetic meter was extremely popular in Shakespeare’s time. Although iambic pentameter sounds complex, it is a simple rhythmic pattern. It has ten syllables in each line that alternate between unstressed and stressed beats. However, Shakespeare liked to experiment with iambic pentameter and played around with the rhythm to make his character’s speeches more effective. Why is Shakespeare’s language so descriptive? We should remember that the plays were performed in daylight, in the open air, and with no set. In the absence of atmospheric theater lighting and realistic sets, Shakespeare had to conjure up mythical islands, the streets of Verona, and cold Scottish castles through language alone.

The Number One Strategy You Should Be Using for Nursing School Application Essay Samples

The Number One Strategy You Should Be Using for Nursing School Application Essay Samples Nursing School Application Essay Samples A nurse leader has to have a number of leadership styles based on the circumstance. Also few sort of patients will need to get excluded for achieving a valid data. Medical assisting is becoming a quite common career and is in pretty significant demand due to a lot of unique explanations. Grad school is amazing. Students lead busy lives and frequently forget about a coming deadline. Only then the students should search for the medical school with an exceptional pre-med advising program. They should be the volunteers in a medical area that will help in the applying to the medical school. You may also find a variety of discounts on our site which will help you to save some more money for future orders or anything you want to spend them on. If you rush, it is going to show. Construction work sometimes takes a toll on your physique. As more Ame ricans have become older and less folks are becoming nurses, preventive care is going to be quite vital later on. Nurses have various motivations for picking their career, but the majority of them state it is their urge to help others. They are in a position to act as client advocates. If you wish to be admitted to nursing school, you are going to have to compose a why I need to be a nurse essay. Alas, many nursing students become caught up in the excitement of more fast-paced nursing career alternatives and never stop to consider the everyday work. To me, nursing is genuinely the most suitable profession. With the projected impending lack of nurses, nursing remains a favorite career choice. Your why can I would like to be a nurse essay must impress your evaluators and make them realize that you've got the potential to be an amazing nurse. One particular common work at home job is nurse coaching for an insurance provider. For some, opting to turn into a nurse is easy. Since you can see, a number of the factors for becoming a nurse aren't quantitative. The Basics of Nursing School Application Essay Samples It's a critical misconception that can cause unsatisfactory outcomes. To get essay online, you merely will need to fill in the application form and you'll get excellent work on the desired topic. After discovering our website, you will no longer will need to bother friends and family with these kinds of requests. More specific details on customer. The Importance of Nursing School Application Essay Samples For instance, if the school demands a lot of health student research, be sure you show how that interests you. The students who really are eager to apply to the great medical school should remember the subsequent Medical School Interview Tips. For example, one reason I chose medical assisting is since there are a lot of available career opportunities and options out there for career advancement within the health care field. There are many diverse opportunities I'll never be required to settle at work. Now you can get genuine college essay online, one that is going to fit your financial plan and get your work done too. After you receive a work done from us you will return again if you need assistance with another one of your essays. If you are searching for assistance with your essay then we provide a comprehensive writing service given by fully qualified academics in your area of study. In order to be sure you'll have this knowledge on you, here are the 8 steps to follow when writing a college application essay and to make certain that it'll be written well. You would like to utilize your essay for a tool to demonstrate why you need to go to their school, versus simply stating why you would like to go there. They are sometimes surprised to demonstrate admission essay samples. For the exact same in the prolonged essay ee, level grading. Is employed in the lengthy essay writing service healthcarehow. So in case you have an essay assigned that you require help with, you can purchase essay online cheap from us. Highlight the things you wish to put in your essay, summarize your own personal story and incorporate your qualifications. The sort of essay you're looking for will be provided to you within the deadline offered to you. You will have a comparative essay.

Effects and Implications of Coalition Governments free essay sample

Effects and implications of coalition governments on the political scenario in India Abstract: Parliamentary democracies ruled by multiparty cabinets make foreign policy decisions in a fairly unique institutional context, complicated by the politics of coalition government. Recent research suggests that this context is associated with foreign policy behaviors that are quite distinct in character from foreign policy made by single party cabinets. In particular, coalitions tend to engage in more extreme (both more peaceful and more aggressive) and more committed foreign policies. In this paper, we examine the reasons behind extreme foreign policy choices by coalition cabinets. We also investigate the proposition that some coalitions are more likely to engage in conflictual behavior, while others are more likely to be cooperative. In doing so, we unpack the category of coalitions and study the effects that certain cabinet characteristics have on foreign policy. In particular, we examine the effects of coalition strength, the number of parties in the coalition, and the ideological placement of coalition parties. We will write a custom essay sample on Effects and Implications of Coalition Governments or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page These characteristics stem from different institutional and political situations that coalitions face, but are also connected to long-standing psychological explanations of group decision making. Our study is a quantitative analysis using published data on the characteristics of coalitions. Politics of India The place in a framework of a federal parliamentary multi-party representative democratic republic modeled after the British Westminster System. The Prime Minister of India is the head of government, while the President of India is the formal head of state and holds substantial reserve powers, placing him or her in approximately the same position as the British monarch. Executive power is exercised by the government. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the Parliament of India. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Othello uses many different rhetorical devices to Essays

Othello uses many different rhetorical devices to persuade and show the Venetians that he is not a threat. Othello uses his skills in rhetorical devices to show the Venetians that he isn't a treat to them. Othello starts out using an appeal to emotion or ethos by saying "Her father loved me" to help him in his persuasion by showing an emotional side. He uses an appeal to emotion to try and bring out the emotion in the Venetians, so they will side with him. Othello then uses anaphora many times by saying "Of moving accidents by flood and field, Of hairbreadth 'scrapes i' th' imminent deadly breach, Of being taken by the insolent foe" and then in the next few lines saying "And sold to slavery, of my redemption thence, And portance in my traveler's history," in order to prove his point more and draw more of their attention. Othello is using anaphora to show the Venetians what he was talking about. He then in the very next line uses imagery to talk about his travels and give the Venetians an image of where he went, to help guide them in his defense, by saying "And portance in my traveler's history, Wherein of oceans vast and deserts idle,". Othello then goes on to using personification when he says, "Rough quarries, rocks, and hills whose heads touch heaven" because quarries rocks, and hills can't really touch heaven. HE says this to exaggerate and explain the scenery he saw on his travels to help prove that he isn't a threat. When Othello says "And of the cannibals that each other eat," he is using an appeal to logic or logos because it is a fact that cannibals eat each other. He uses an appeal to logic to show the Venetians that he knows they are smart and is just stating common knowledge. Othello then uses personification again by saying "She'd come again, and with a greedy ear" because ears can't really be greedy. Again Othello is just exaggerating what he knows, that when she were to come she would come with greed. He uses an appeal to emotion again by saying "And often did beguile her of her tears, When I did speak of some distressful stroke, That my youth suffered. My story being done, She gave me for my pains a world of sighs." Othello says this to try and get the Venetians to feel sympathy for him to try and sway their position on whether he is a threat or not. Othello then again uses anaphora to help his case in trying to prove that he isn't a threat by saying "She swore, in faith, 'twas strange.'twas passing strange, 'Twas pitiful, 'twas wonderous pitiful." When Othello says this he is trying to emphasize how weird and pitiful her swearing was. In this passage Othello uses many different kinds of rhetorical devices to help him prove that he isn't a threat to the Venetians.

LEARNING TEAM CHARTER TEAM C Essays - Team, Teams, Free Essays

LEARNING TEAM CHARTER TEAM C Essays - Team, Teams, Free Essays LEARNING TEAM CHARTER TEAM C Course TitleLDR/300 Team Members/Contact Information NamePhoneTime zone and Availability during the WeekEmail MonFri 6pm to 9pm Sat-Sun [emailprotected] Team Ground Rules and Guidelines Goal: Work together as a team to produce the best possible results. Collaborate to expose strengths of each team member. Share the load so that one team member does not shoulder all of the responsibility. Assignment Completion: Each team member must have their part of the collaborative assignment to the team leader by 9:00pm on Sunday night prior to assignment due date. This allows the team member putting together the assignment enough time to piece together the assignment and have the team approve it prior to submission. Expectations for Time Management and Involvement All team members will communicate via email, phone or student website. The Team Leader will coordinate with each team member via email or phone if timelines are not met or if the team leader has questions. If a team member has an emergency and cannot complete their portion of the assignment, that team member must notify the Team Leader immediately. The Team Leader will coordinate and assign additional task to cover the team member if necessary. Ensuring Fair and Even Contribution and Collaboration What strategy will you use to ensure that all team members are contributing and collaborating appropriately? Describe the communication strategy you will use if a team member is not contributing and collaborating effectively. How will the team manage conflicts between team members? Each member of the team will do their part of the assignment. They will commit to completing their part within the allotted time frame. If a team member is not communicating and collaborating, it will be up to the Team Leader to address the issue with the team member and try to get resolution. Team members who do not contribute their assigned portion of the assignment prior submission will not receive credit. Special Considerations What do you, as a team, agree will make this team experience different from past team experiences? The most important thing to insure success of the team is communication. Everyone needs to make sure that other team members know if they are having issues. If a team member has a question that is not being answered completely via e-mail or classroom communication, a phone call should be made to sort out the question. Messages received via text message should also be notated within the team forum. If there are assignments that require extra team involvement, it may become necessary to meet outside of class.

Human communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human communication - Essay Example Alternatively, from a retailing perspective the need for businesses to be creative in order to adapt to the multi-channel marketplace has become well-recognized (Levy & Weitz, 2008). Indeed, leading industry body for global e-retailing IMRG estimates that currently a quarter of all UK shopping is undertaken online via the internet or other mobile devices within a market estimated at approximately  £80 billion according (www.imrg.org). Signals of this prolific growth have been evident since 2003, which has resulted in a constant drive by retailers to introduce new delivery mechanisms to broaden customer reach (Diamond & Pinter, 2004). As such, this has seen a shifting approach in multi-channel retail strategy from bricks and mortar to multi-level formats including home shopping and mobile commerce (Levy & Weitz, 2008). It is submitted in this paper that the change in consumer behaviour, growth of media outlets and de-regulation of the media industry has created a seismic shift in co rporate strategy, which is underpinned by the media ecology theory. Leading sociologist George Caspar Homans is usually hailed as the central consolidator of social exchange theory works in his piece â€Å"Social Behaviour as Exchange† (1958). In general terms, the social exchange theory posits that social change and stability is a process of negotiated exchanges between parties (Homans, 1958). Moreover, the social exchange theory posits that all human relationships are formed by the use of a subjective cost-benefit analysis and the comparison of alternatives (Gouldner, 1960). Homan gives the example of when a person perceives the cost of a relationship as outweighing the perceived benefits, the theory predicts that the person will depart from the relationship (Homans, 1958). Katherine Miller (2005) is a key opponent of the social exchange theory and argues that it reduces human interaction to purely rational process that arises from

Abstract Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Abstract - Assignment Example This wall provided a platform in which most artists created their art with the main aim of communicating. The street art in Germany, Berlin to be precise, went on after the wall was pulled down in the year 1989 when Germany was reunited again (Visconti et al., 520). Street art has been seen to have a large influence on both political and social cultures of people all over. For instance, artwork in San Francisco, worked a lot for the people by communicating with both leaders and society. It was used by people in San Francisco to struggle of peace movements, gay rights, and the horrors of capitalism. At the same time, the artwork in both the middle class, underprivileged and wealthy neighbourhoods, which always acts as a reminder for equality throughout social classes (Dickens, 70). Art work in Berlin, paid a lot more over the time when there was oppressive and the country was separated into two, street art, worked as the voice of the people without much rebellion and did not all go in vain, it led to Germany being reunified. At the same time, these artworks serves as the best custodian of the historical revolutions Germany has gone through (Riggle,

Marketing Plan of Japanese Steakhouse Benihana

Marketing Plan of Japanese Steakhouse Benihana Benihana a Japanese steakhouse restaurant with hibachi concept commenced in 1964 in West Side, New York. This restaurant was founded by Hiroaki (Rocky) Aoki, an opportunity seeker, who identified the untapped needs in the American restaurant industry after having done a thorough analysis of the market. His concept serve the unfulfilled needs of the market especially the middle-income businessmen by providing exotic surroundings, the authentic Japanese ambiance, as well as offering new experience by having chefs cooked in front of customers. The idea quickly gained the popularity; resulted in high profits and rapid expansion. This service concept brought forth the competitive advantage to Benihana restaurant. By having chefs outside cooking; it allows the restaurant to save labor costs and offer more attentive services. The menu limitation also lowers the costs. The space was fully utilized to maximize the profits. The costs structure and utilization of space will be explained in detailed. Moreover, the highly trained skilled chefs and creative PR and marketing campaign were also the key contribution to the success of the restaurant. Despite the success, the rapid expansion can often time be a problem since, company may not have the resources and the solid plan for the growth strategy. Rocky wanted to diversify his business into retail and fast food chain. In addition, this new innovative service concept may cause confusion as to what the restaurant core product or services really are. This report aims to address the issues mentioned by evaluating Rockys diversification plan, identify the core products and services, come up with alternatives which were first to open new Beni Trendy restaurant which target younger generation and After Benis for dessert and come up with action plan. Issue Statement Rocky Aika is a man of great dreams but his dreams may be too big for him to be able to achieve it. He plans to grow his business to other sections of the market especially the younger generation but in order for Rocky to be able to grow his business and to maximize the profits, the expansion plans need to be strategically revised and planned. Currently, Rocky is planning his diversification strategy, but this has to be evaluated and for the purpose of successfully growing Rocky needs to first understand his business and market. Data Analysis Benihana, a Teppanyaki Japanese restaurant with hibachi concept was a major success. The service concept was new and unique to the market which differentiated itself from the typical existing restaurants. The major differences of the concept were: The restaurant eliminated the back of house conventional kitchen while instead providing hibachi tables with well-trained chefs cooking in front of customers. This concept allows the labor cost to be cut down to 10-12% of gross sales and attentive service. Benihana provided limited menus, which resulted in reduction of food storage and wastage costs. The authentic Japanese ambiance or Japanese touch was brought to the restaurant through importing all furniture from Japan including walls, ceilings, beams and decorations. Benihana better utilize their space. Normal restaurants require 30-35% space for back of the house meanwhile Benihana needed only 22% of the total space. By focusing on the above mentioned points, Benihana was able to reduce their costs, thus become more profitable. For instance, Chicago branch was the most profitable unit with the gross profit around 1.3 million per year. The reason for this was that the managements ability to keep their expenses to a minimal with food 30%, labor 10%, advertising 10%, management 4%, and rent 5 %. Benihana Cost and Typical Restaurant Cost Structure The above income statement shows the profits that Benihana in Chicago was making during the year 1972. Some of the amounts were already given including the gross sales, food and beverage sales, the percentage of food cost, labor cost, advertising costs, management cost, and rent. However, some other items needed to be calculated or assumed such as the percentage of beverage cost, the total sales and the income tax. The gross sales were given to be $1,300,000, thus the food and beverage would be $910,000 and $390,000 respectively. The food costs that are 30% of food sales would give an amount of $273,000 and the beverage costs that was averaged to be 20% of the beverage sales would equal to $78,000. Therefore, the gross profit would equal to gross sales minus total costs of goods sold which is equal to $949,000. The labor, advertising, management and rent expenses are expected to be 10%, 10%, 4% and 5% of gross sales respectively. The expenses were calculated to be $130,000, $130,000, $52,000, and $65,000 which totalled to $377,000 or total operating costs. The net profit before income tax on the other hand is equal to gross profit minus total operating expenses or $949,000 minus $377,000 which gives the value of $572,000. To calculate the net profit after tax, the assumption was made that the income tax was 14% which is based on the percentage of tax that needs to be charged must be given but the case does not give any such information, so for the purpose the assumption assume that the income tax was at 14% so in this case the value would be $80,080 which is $572,000*20/100. So the net profit after tax will be $572,000 minus $80,080 which calculates to $491,920. In order to have a clearer picture of the difference between Benihana and typical restaurant the percentages of each item were compared. The food and beverages sales percentages of Benihana are simlar to that of a typical restaurant which were around 70% for food and 30% for beverages. Nevertheless, the major difference lies in the food and beverage costs which was approximately 50% in Benihana whereas in typical restaurant would be equivalent to 73-88% or about 23-38% higher. The total expenses percentages of Benihana comes up to 29% which composed of labor, advertising, management and rent, meanwhile the operating expenses percentages of a typical restaurant total to 42.25-57%. It is apparent that Benihanas service concept, service operation and its delivery system enable the restaurant to significantly reduce costs and gain higher profits, thereby became more competitive than its competitors. The Chefs Salary Chefs were vital element to the success of the Benihana. Therefore, it is extremely important to estimate the influence of their salaries on the restaurant profitability. The case provided that in one unit there were approximately 30 staff which were 6-8 chefs, 6-8 waitresses, 4-5 managers, 2-3 barman, and about 8-11 bus staff and dishwashers. The total labor cost as calculated above was 10% of gross sales which is equivalent to $130,000 which must be divided among all the employees excluding the managers. In order to estimate the chefs salaries, each employee salaries will be first estimated. The assumption is made that waitresses and barmen would have roughly the same amount of salary which is approximate $3,000-4,000 per person per year or about 2-3% of total labor cost. The 6-11 bus staff and dishwashers could earn around $1,500-3,000 per person per year or 1-2% of total labor cost for each person. Given the assumptions above, the chefs salary would be around $10,000-12,000/year. Benihana Production System Benihana has an efficient process flow from that of the production process to the service delivered to the customer, providing them with the ultimate dining experience. The average dining time period is one hour which does not include the bar time. This identifies the efficiency of the employees, the hibachi style of cooking and seating arrangement. The food is prepared in front of the seated guest and is delivered to them with a personalised service; at the same time ensuring that high quality standards of food production are met. The restaurant has a well-organized layout plan which enhances their service delivery. It has been designed in a very systematic so as to facilitate the smooth flow of the staff and the guest entering the restaurant. The production system has been focused, which can be interpreted to mean, the entire production service within the restaurant from time of bringing the guest and staff together , seating them, taking their order, delivering the food, preparing the food till the time of guest leaving the restaurant. On carefully examination of the layout for the Benihana, it can be seen that the entrance leads directly to the lounge. See Figure 1. The guest can relax and have a drink in the lounge which has a seating capacity of about 50, while a table is being organised for them as the turnover time period ranges to about an hour. They are then escorted to the dining area in batches 4, 8 or 16. The 112 seat restaurant has again been planned with great efficiency. There is one chef and one waitress for every two hibachi tables, thus the designing process has been made keeping this in mind and at the same time this reduces the labour costs. The back area space has been efficiently utilised. The kitchen includes a pre-preparation area, hot area and post production area, which are separated to avoid confusion and chaos. The washing area is close to the kitchen and the restaurant to avoid delay of service. The storage area has enough space to cater to both the kitchen and the beverage areas in addit ion are designed to be easy access to both the areas. At the same time there are a few alterations that can be made to further enhance the process. The entrance for the restaurant consumes a lot of space and can be modified to accommodate more guests in the lounge. The Lounge area setup can be reorganized to accommodate more guest so that if the guests dining in the dining area want to spend some more time in the restaurant by having a few drinks they can thus be escorted to the lounge area, this in turn would also further reduce the turnover time period. The washrooms have been placed quite close to the bar and near the entrance which is extremely far from the dining area so if they are placed in between the lounge and the dining area it would be more convenient for the guest to walk to the location than to go from the dining area and through the lounge at last reaching the washroom. The three poles in between the lounge area can also be an obstacle for the people seated in the area as well as for the employees while delivering their s ervices. Presentation of Solutions The major concerns that were raised by both internal and external parties regarding Benihana business were the expansion strategy, understanding its core business and the sustainability of the business. In order to come up with solutions, one needs to understand the core business by first understanding the market. According to the survey, the main target market of Benihana was middle-income businessmen. The survey also revealed that the number one reason that persuades customers to come to the restaurant is good food or about 46.7% and atmosphere and preparation together came up to about 26.4%. The first time visit percentage is about 34.4%. Thereby, it is led to believe that first time visitors may come because the restaurant provides them with new exotic experiences. Consequently, as they have experienced the food; they were satisfied with the taste, hence second visit. Customers also rated that they would highlight the food 38.2% and preparation 24.6%. From this, one could conclude that the main core products and services of Benihana are the food and the experiences. The sustainability of business issue was also raised by Russ Carpenter. Due to the concept of the restaurant and the limited menus, the long-term competitiveness is questioned. As the business grows, so did the competitors. If new competitors with different concepts come into scene, the sustainability is raised. The limited menu options which although Benihana gave an advantage by reducing the food costs, but would it be enough the changing trends to attract the customers. Once the restaurateur knows that the restaurant is already successful, the management should consider the sustainability of the products and services. Time changes, trends change and people change, thus businesses should come up with innovative plan as a pioneer or expand the line of product for the business growth. If Benihana is considered to be fashionable due to the trend, then they will need to develop a concept for service according to help Benihana to become sustainable. According to Rockys, he planned to diversify into retail sale of Benihana-labeled food label and quick-service operation. Orient Express, their new product lines will be quite innovative and a great potential plan for the future. The Benihana label will enhance the corporate brand, yet increase the brand awareness among the people who have never experienced Benihana. Figure 3 shows Rockys growth strategy. One core product/service and one market Benihana Restaurant Chain for middle-income businessman Sell existing products/service in new geographic market segment Expanding Benihana Restaurants to different part of US through JV and wholly-owned Sell existing core service out of country Expanding Benihana Restaurants to different part of world Conglomerate diversification Expanding to retail and fast food chain, Orient Express Rocky intentionally aimed to appeal the younger generation by investing in the new small units called Orient Express which would be located in gas stations. However, the quick-service units in gas stations did not necessary target the younger generation. Since the gas station is a place that people stop to fill gasoline, use the restrooms or take a rest after a long journey. According Rockys concerns and issued raised by Russ Carpenter the following solutions are suggested: (1) To open a new Benihana which directly targets the younger generation. (2) To diversify the Benihana business to the other business such as Benihana restaurant that sells purely the Japanese style dessert. By doing so, Rocky could direct his business towards the group he wanted to attract, at the same utilize the companys core competencies which were the quality food and authentic Japanese experience. The dessert restaurant would allow Benihana to diversify into the potential market which is females which currently only constituted only 28.6% of Benihana restaurant according to the survey. The costs of training and staff would be reduced as the operation would be similar to that of the existing ones. Figure : Proposed growth strategy. Adapted from Carmen Langeard (1986) One core product/service and one market Benihana Restaurant Chain for middle-income businessman Sell existing products/service in new geographic market segment Expanding Benihana Restaurants to different part of US through JV and wholly-owned Sell existing core service out of country Expanding Benihana Restaurants to different part of world Conglomerate diversification Expanding to retail, but NO ORIENT EXPRESS Concentric diversification Beni Trendy: targets 18-30 people After Benis: desserts penetrate into younger and female market Recommendation The alternative to the solution mentioned above is opening a new unit which targets only the young generation (18-30 years old) as a separate clientele from existing Benihana. The unit will be named Benihana Trendy. This unit will create a completely different experience from original Benihana, but at the same time the customers still can perceive the feeling that this is Benihana. Benihana Trendy would still sell grilled steaks, however of different price and quality. The atmosphere would be created to attract new generation who seek for thrill and exotic experiences at lower prices. For example, the customer can cook with chef upon reservation. The menu of self-cooking might be added in the menu. The interior will be designed to facilitate the trendy atmosphere that appeals the young generation. The furniture did not have to be imported from Japan, hence cost saving. Another diversified alternative is creating a separate dessert unit which is called After Benis. The name comes from the idea that people can come to have dessert after having main course from Benihana or Benihana Trendy The ideal is the location of After Benis should be located as near as possible to Benihana, otherwise the name would not be quite suitable. The concept of this unit would also be the cooking show but the chef is not allocated at each table. The cooking show from chef will be set in the area that everyone can see, so the tables are not equipped with the hot stove. The dessert menu will be designed to incorporate the cooking show; for instance, the pancake, the fried ice-cream (mixing two or more ice-cream in one dish), and etc. As Japanese food culture is very delicate, the menu will be deliberately invented by design of Japanese chef. This also aims to attract younger generation as well as females segment. The decoration would be homely, but keep the trendy element. By having these two new concepts, it is believed that Rocky can best utilize his resources and core competency. This would help him save costs. In addition, he can tailor these new products and services to the new market segments which he had not yet tapped into. This will provide the opportunity for him to expand his business or concentric diversification, which is believe to be less risky than conglomerate diversification which he had initially planned. It is believed that this would be a good investment and diversification plan for Benihana. Action Plan For Benihana Trendy and After Benis Goals: To open Beni Trendy within 1 year with the budget of approximately around $US 210,000 To open After Benis within 1 year with the budget of approximately around $US 150,000 This is from the assumption that to open up new Beni Trendy will cost 70% and After Benis will cost 50% of set up cost for Benihana unit which is $US 300,000. Actions: Market research Define Five Ps of services Procurers, (customers) Product, (service concept) Policies Practice (operation strategy) Place Plant (service delivery system) Providers (servers)Actual Construction of the site Construction Hire The thorough concept is defined to serve the target market. Key factors are identified. 1. What products to sell. 2. What should the ambiance of the restaurant? 3. What should be on the menu none Define (Policies and Practices) Operation Strategy Within 1 month Rocky, Bill Susha, Allen Saito Time Concrete concept formed. Eg. The rules and regulations of the company that is accepted by all parties none Finding (Place and Plant) Restaurant location Within 2 months Rocky Time, connections with people, capital To find the right location to have the restaurant and to negotiate and sign contract with the landlord. none Design of the restaurant Within 3 months however alternations could be made within the project period. Rocky, Glen Simones and Interior Designer Floor plan To come up with the floor plan and interior design concept that fit the service concept $US50,000 Construction of restaurant Within 3 months External contractors Time and finances Find the right contractor and construct the restaurant $US120,000 Find Suppliers Within 2 month Bill Susha and Allen Saito Time Found the best suppliers of the raw materials which the price reflects the quality none Hire staff Within 2 months Restaurant Manager Time To find the quality staff that match the culture of the restaurant. none Train staff Within 1 month Restaurant manager Time and finance $US 2,000

Thomas Hardys Philosophy Influences His Writing Essay -- Biography Bi

Thomas Hardy's Philosophy Influences His Writing In a letter written in 1920, Thomas Hardy comments, "it is my misfortune that people will treat my mood-dictated writing as a single scientific theory" (Hicks 111). Hardy did not write under the pretenses of a single belief system, but was "so often misunderstood that he had to try and give some clear and precise statement of his beliefs" (Hicks, 110). Although he did not fulfill the role of philosopher, often these statements were read as Hardy's "philosophy." According to Jacobson, the task of a philosopher is to "develop articulate, settled systems of thought about the nature of the world, about the moral constitution of mankind, and about the grounds and modalities of knowledge itself." He continues to explain that these ideas must be "coherent, not just within themselves . . . but also with those put forward in the other two[systems of thought]" (115). While Hardy explores the ideas of nature, morality, and knowledge in his writings, he focuses on the multi-faceted aspects of ea ch idea, not on any general conclusions about each idea. Although Hardy did not support an individual or personal "philosophy," echoes of the late nineteenth century philosophers, including Nietzche, Comte, and Schopenhauer, are found in his works. Nietzche comments on the nature of human drives, arguing that one could understand culture by studying the conflict between the Apollonian and Dionysian drives. The Apollonian drive, according to Nietzche, strives to find order in a confused, chaotic, and cruel world. The Dionysian drive, on the other hand, desires to break down that artificial order. An example of these opposing drives is found in Hardy's short story "The Fiddler of the Reels." Ned, ... ...eas represent a powerful combination of the philosophies introduced by contemporary thinkers. Bibliography Bailey, J. O. Thomas Hardy and the Cosmic Mind: A New Reading of The Dynasts. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1956. Baybrook, Patrick. Thomas Hardy and His Philosophy. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippencott, Co., 1927. Drabble, Margaret, ed. The Genius of Thomas Hardy. NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976. Hicks, Granville. Figures in Transition: A Study of British Literature at the end of the Nineteenth Century. New York: McMillan, Co., 1939. Jacobson, Dan. "Thomas Hardy: The Poet as Philosopher." American Scholar, vol. 65, no. 1, Winter 1996, pp. 114-19. Millgate, Michael. Thomas Hardy: A Biography. New York: Random House, 1982. Orel, Harold, ed. Thomas Hardy: Personal Writings. Lawrence: The University of Kansas Press, 1966.

Manchurian Candidate – Film Theory Paper

The Manchurian Candidate, adapted from Richard Condon’s novel of the same title, was released in 1962, and directed by John Frankenheimer. Brief Plot Summary The central concept of the film is that the son of a prominent, right-wing political family has been brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy Thesis Statement The Manchurian Candidate was noted for its breakthrough in cinematography, as the scenes were shot in a creative manner that was new and different in that era.It also made use of different editing techniques to seamlessly piece the story together, along with the use of certain recurring Motifs to effectively deliver the story to the audience. This paper would examine how the groundbreaking use of cinematography, editing help to bring across the theme of surrealism, and delivers a thrilling effect while the motifs help bridge the Theme of The Manchurian Candidate with the use of visual elements. Cinematography The Manchurian Cand idate made use of several different brilliant cinematography aspects to bring forward the theme of surrealism and thrill to the audience.According to the Dictionary, the term â€Å"surrealism† refers to â€Å"an avant-garde movement in art and literature that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, characterized by the evocative juxtaposition of incongruous images in order to include unconscious and dream elements. † This theme was highlighted in several scenes in the film. Particularly in a scene where Major Marco was having a nightmare, the camera tracked from the end of Marco’s bedroom towards Marco, who was lying on the bed sleeping.The tracking shot ended with a close up of Marco’s face, with his brows furrowed as he began to experience his recurring nightmare. The close up shot of Marco’s troubled face was then superimposed onto his nightmare shot. From the tracking to close up shot, it creates a sense of mystery and suspense, which intrigues the audience and builds up the anticipation. After which it would lead up to the film’s most noted scene- the Ladies in Garden Club scene.In this scene, the director made use of a 360 degrees panning shot to showcase three different points of view- the â€Å"Reality†, the â€Å"brainwashed white man’s imagination† and the â€Å"brainwashed black man’s imagination†. These three different points of view in a dream add up to one big surrealistic nightmare scene. It is also important to note that this scene was considered to be â€Å"notorious† (Chung, 2006, p. 129) during that era, for its unconventional use of camera work. During and after the 1950s, there is an â€Å"increase in the number of dark, provocative and original films. (Mann, 2008, p. 12) and The Manchurian Candidate was one of them. It was â€Å"stylistically ambitious† (Mann, 2008, p. 12) and can be considered a breakthrough in cinematogr aphy during that era. This scene alone had to be shot 3 different times, as each individual point of view comprised of different elements and actors. The platoon was captured and brainwashed into thinking they were attending a ladies horticulture club meeting, when in fact they were present and sitting in a Communist meeting. The camera then does a 360 degrees slow panning shot from the lady speaking, Mrs.Whittaker, to everyone present in the scene, listening to the talk. However, as the camera makes a full round and returns to the start, gone was Mrs. Whittaker, and in her place stood an East Asian doctor giving the Russian and Chinese generals a speech about the brainwashed American soldiers. This panning shot builds up suspense, as the camera slowly pans around the venue, showing that there were only ladies present. It delivered a shock to the audience, who expected to see Mrs. Whittaker after the camera makes a full round, to find out that the lady was gone and replaced by a man instead.This slow panning movement also gave the scene a dream-like quality, which is a characteristic often associated with the theme of surrealism. The scene with the doctor and Communist generals reflected the â€Å"reality† of which the soldiers are unaware of, as they were brainwashed. The camera used a low-angle shot to reveal the amphitheatre filled with Communists. It was positioned behind the soldiers, as if they were looking up to those seated. This is to show that the American soldiers caught were at the mercy of those Generals present, to show authority from those seated above and around the amphitheatre.Even though they are under the mercy of the Communists, the soldiers showed no sign of fear as they were brainwashed into thinking they were facing a group of women instead. Hence the use of camera angle here provides a sort of contradiction to reality, it showed Communist authority even though the soldiers displayed no fear. Another groundbreaking use of cinemat ography can be found in the scene where Johnny Iselin was confronting the Secretary about the â€Å"number of Communists in the Defense department† with Eleanor Iselin manipulating her husband.In this scene, the Secretary was giving a press conference and Johnny Iselin stood up, and demanded to know why are there communists present in the Defense department. The scene was constructed such that the Secretary was at one end of the room, while Johnny was the other end. Yet they were able to appear in one frame, with the use of juxtaposition. As the press conference was broadcasted live, the confrontation between both parties were filmed and showed on television screen.Whenever the Secretary is in frame, Johnny Iselin would appear on the screen of a small television at the corner of the frame, thus making both parties visible onscreen even though technically, they are at different ends of the room. This use of framing and juxtapose imagery echo them theme of â€Å"surrealismâ₠¬ . Surrealism often uses incongruous juxtapositions to highlight conflicts (Strom, 2003). In one particular scene, the mastermind of this confrontation, Eleanor Iselin, appeared in the foreground, with Johnny in the background, and the Secretary reacting angrily on the small little television screen at the corner of the frame.Every action was combined in one frame capturing the whole shot, filled with conflict and movement. This framing brought the tension of the film up a few notches and audiences were able to feel the impending explosion of anger between the characters. The unconventional use of cinematography aspects in this film successfully brings forward the theme of Surrealism, with its â€Å"unusual framings and camera movements† (Strom, 2003, p. 8), which are styles indebted to Surrealism. Editing The different use of editing was also one of the most noted aspects of The Manchurian Candidate.According to Carroll (2003), â€Å"editing, or montage, was generally cel ebrated as the most important, essential characteristic of cinema† (p. 153). Hence the right choice of editing technique would set the pace and coherency of the film. This would bring us to the editing pace of the film- the long takes versus the accelerated montage. The scene that showcased a long take, happened when in Major Marco’s train ride from Washington to New York. Marco was feeling jittery and nervous, thus he decided to leave his train seat and go to the back of the train for some fresh air.He arrived at the last carriage, and stood with his back leaning against the wall. A woman followed Marco and entered the same carriage. She had observed Marco from before, and decided to follow him into the back. Marco and the woman began to strike up a conversation, with random small talks that made no sense. This whole scene involved no cuts at all, all shot at one go and thus showcasing the aspect of a â€Å"long take†. The long take builds on the tension between the meeting of two strangers, showing the entire conversation between Marco and the woman, despite it being nonsensical and weird.The audience took in the scene at one go, after which it leaves them wondering â€Å"what lies underneath this exchange of words between the Major and this woman? † The long take establishes a fact that this scene is important, as it â€Å"intensifies† a shot (Goldberg, n. d), contradictory to the fact that the content of the scene is random and consist of small talks only. As opposed to a long take, which consists of virtually no cuts, an accelerated montage consists of shots with increasingly shorter lengths.With regards to The Manchurian Candidate, the accelerated montage editing aspect occurs during the â€Å"Convention† scene, where Raymond Shaw was sent on a mission to assassinate the President. In this particular scene, Sergeant Raymond Shaw was instructed by his mother to shoot the newly elected President at the Madison Squar e Garden, with Major Marco scrambling to stop Shaw from accomplishing his mission. The establishing shot of Madison Square Garden showed Raymond walking through rows and rows of empty tiered seats, arriving at a small room high above the arena.He positioned his rifle as he prepares for his mission to assassinate the elected President while he was giving his speech. As crowds filled the arena, Major Marco struggles to locate Shaw in hopes of stopping him. The whole sequence was edited with the cross-cutting technique. Through cross-cutting, it helps to create tension and delivers the sense of thrill when the audience sees Shaw preparing to fire his rifle, as Marco runs frantically to stop him. From the first few shots of Shaw preparing his rifle and locating his target to Marco searching frantically for Shaw, was edited with shots and cuts that got shorter and shorter.It adopted the technique of Accelerated Montage, which serves to create tension and keep the audience at the edge of their seats. As this is the climax of the film, by using cross-cutting and accelerated montage, the film manages to capture the audience’s attention and builds a highly thrilling and exciting sequence. Motifs The Manchurian Candidate makes use of several motifs in this film to drive home its message and to develop its theme. One of the most glaring motifs used in this film would be the Red Queen, or the Queen of Diamonds.The Queen of Diamonds card had appeared several times in the film, particularly during scenes that involved Raymond Shaw being brainwashed. In this film, the Communists had conditioned Shaw’s brain into receiving commands and fulfilling them like a robot would. However, this brainwash condition can only be activated when Shaw hears the line â€Å"Why don’t you pass the time by playing a little game of solitaire? † After which, Shaw would proceed to take out a stack of cards robotically and began playing.As he plays the game, he would even tually draw out the Queen of Diamonds card, and upon seeing the card it would fully activate Shaw’s brainwashed condition. At first glance, it may seem that the Queen of Diamonds motif is played out to trigger Shaw’s mental condition. However, as the film progresses, the intent of using the Queen of Diamonds began to clear up- that the Queen of Diamonds was linked to Shaw’s mother, Eleanor Iselin and later in the film, his soon-to-be wife, Jocie (Blakesly, 2007).According to Blakesly (2007), the Queen of Diamonds card represented â€Å"an adamant woman, his mother, someone Raymond would rather not see†. During the first few scenes, Shaw admitted that he â€Å"despised and loathed his mother†. It was eventually revealed that Shaw’s mother was also part of the Communist conspiracy, and a woman hungry for political power. Hence, the card that would trigger Shaw’s mental condition was picked out to be the Queen of Diamonds, which signifie s his mother and hinted that his mother had a connection with the Communists. As mentioned above, the Queen of Diamonds is also known as the Red Queen.In this case, it represented Communism as this film was shot and based on the Cold War, which was ongoing during that time. Blakesly’s analysis surmises that: Another triggering device for Raymond’s conditioning is when he looks upon the Queen of Diamonds, the Red Queen, with the concomitant relationship of â€Å"red† to the â€Å"Red scare†, the communism from which the left in North America, with rare exceptions, still recoils. (p. 218) Besides being a figure representation of Shaw’s mother, the Queen of Diamonds also took on the representation of Communism.Hence it would make sense to why Shaw would fall into a state of â€Å"brainwashed condition† upon seeing the Queen of Diamonds card- he was being controlled by the Communists, with the card serving as a reminder that Communism took over his mind. Other than the Queen of Diamonds motif, the film also adopted Abraham Lincoln as a motif. The use of Abraham Lincoln ranges from obvious pictures of Lincoln himself, hanging in the Iselin house to a more subtle form, where Johnny Iselin dresses up at Abraham Lincoln in a masquerade party.The Iselins were from the Right-Wing, or Republican party. The use of Lincoln signifies the stand that the Iselins take within political context and also to serve as a kind of contradiction between right and wrong. Abraham Lincoln was a prominent leader of the Republican Party. According to Redding (2008), the film was â€Å"mediating symbolically on the political heritage of Lincoln’s republic among a corrupted public sphere†. Lincoln was used a symbol to represent America, and the director’s portrayal of the Iselins served as a satire of the America politics during that time.Johnny Iselin, the Senator, was portrayed as a drunk, impulsive and rash person. He often con fronted the government with issues concerning the communist, when in fact; he is also part of the communist conspiracy to take over the American government. This is a parody of â€Å"McCarthy†, who was a rash and impulsive Senator from the Republican Party. During the time he acted as a Senator, he often appeared drunk and caused a lot of controversy. Thus the portrayal of Johnny Iselin based on McCarthy, and the images of Lincoln all served to fuel the director’s satire on the political situation.During the masquerade party scene, Johnny Iselin dressed up as Abraham Lincoln, a contradiction as he is working with the communists whereas Lincoln was regarded as a righteous politician in the past. To further highlight the contradiction, Johnny’s wife, Eleanor Iselin dressed up as Bo Peep, a character which symbolizes innocence and naivety. However, as mentioned previously, Eleanor was anything but innocent. She worked hand in hand with the communists in order to ga in political foothold. Thus, this portrayal also serves to show a contradiction between right and wrong, righteous and evil.Portraits of Abraham Lincoln decorated the Iselin house, and in a particular scene, where Eleanor was confronting Raymond about his love interest with the daughter of a Senator from an opposition party, Lincoln was â€Å"staring† down at the confrontation. This is yet another example of contradiction between right and wrong, the mother being an evil influence was threatening Raymond to give up his love and Lincoln’s portrait in the background serves to remind us light will prevail, as the portrait was hung above of Eleanor as she speaks.The different motifs of this film helped shaped the entire plot and provided audience with clues; when they see the Queen of Diamonds they immediately would know that Raymond Shaw would be brainwashed. It also helped to bridge certain morals or theme of the story with visual elements, like the battle of right and e vil was shown through the portayal of the Iselins versus Abraham Lincoln iconography. Conclusion This paper discussed how use of cinematography, editing helped bring across the theme of surrealism, and delivered a thrilling effect while the motifs helped bridge the Theme of The Manchurian Candidate with the use of visual elements.In conclusion, The Manchurian Candidate made use of highly unconventional cinematography and editing aspects that successfully showcased the theme of â€Å"surrealism† and effectively created tension and thrill, for the audience. Not forgetting the effective use of motifs, which helped developed the main theme with the use of visual elements and provoked thought from the audience as they watch the film, while trying to piece the puzzles together.Bibliography * Blakesly, David (2007) The Terministic Screen: Rhetorical Perspectives on Film. Illinois: SIU Press * Carroll, Noel (2003) Engaging the Moving Image. USA: Yale University Press * Chung, H. S. ( 2006) Hollywood Asian: Philip Ahn and the Politics of Cross-Ethnic Performance. USA: Temple University Press * Goldberg, * Mann, Denise (2008) Hollywood Independents: The Postwar Talent Takeover. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press * Redding, A. F. (2008) Turncoats, traitors, and fellow travelers: culture and politics of the early Cold War. USA: University Press of Mississippi * Strom, Kristen (2003) Resurrecting the Stylite Simon: Bunuel’s Surrealist Film. P. 8

Battle of Wake Island in World War II

The Battle of Wake Island was fought from December 8-23, 1941, during the opening days of World War II (1939-1945). A tiny atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, Wake Island was annexed by the United States in 1899. Located between Midway and Guam, the island was not permanently settled until 1935 when Pan American Airways built a town and hotel to service their trans-Pacific China Clipper flights. Consisting of three small islets, Wake, Peale, and Wilkes, Wake Island was to the north of the Japanese-held Marshall Islands and east of Guam. As tensions with Japan rose in the late 1930s, the US Navy began efforts to fortify the island. Work on an airfield and defensive positions began in January 1941. The following month, as part of Executive Order 8682, the Wake Island Naval Defensive Sea Area was created which limited maritime traffic around the island to US military vessels and those approved by the Secretary of the Navy. An accompanying Wake Island Naval Airspace Reservation was also established over the atoll. Additionally, six 5 guns, which had previously been mounted on USS Texas (BB-35), and 12 3 anti-aircraft guns were shipped to Wake Island to bolster the atolls defenses. The Marines Prepare While work progressed, the 400 men of the 1st Marine Defense Battalion arrived on August 19, led by Major James P.S. Devereux. On November 28, Commander Winfield S. Cunningham, a naval aviator, arrived to assume overall command of the islands garrison. These forces joined the 1,221 workers from the Morrison-Knudsen Corporation which were completing the islands facilities and the Pan American staff which included 45 Chamorros (Micronesians from Guam). By early December the airfield was operational, though not complete. The islands radar equipment remained at Pearl Harbor and protective revetments had not been built to protect aircraft from aerial attack. Though the guns had been emplaced, only one director was available for the anti-aircraft batteries. On December 4, twelve F4F Wildcats from VMF-211 arrived on the island after being carried west by USS Enterprise (CV-6). Commanded by Major Paul A. Putnam, the squadron was only on Wake Island for four days before the war began. Forces Commanders United States Commander Winfield S. CunninghamMajor James P.S. Devereux527 men12 F4F Wildcats Japan Rear Admiral Sadamichi Kajioka2,500 men3 light cruisers, 6 destroyers, 2 patrol boats, 2 transports, and 2 carriers (second landing attempt) The Japanese Attack Begins Due to the islands strategic location, the Japanese made provisions to attack and seize Wake as part of their opening moves against the United States. On December 8, as Japanese aircraft were attacking Pearl Harbor (Wake Island is on the other side of the International Date Line), 36 Mitsubishi G3M medium bombers departed the Marshall Islands for Wake Island. Alerted to the Pearl Harbor attack at 6:50 AM and lacking radar, Cunningham ordered four Wildcats to begin patrolling the skies around the island. Flying in poor visibility, the pilots failed to spot the inbound Japanese bombers. Striking the island, the Japanese managed to destroy eight of VMF-211s Wildcats on the ground as well as inflicted damage on the airfield and Pam Am facilities. Among the casualties were 23 killed and 11 wounded from VMF-211 including many of the squadrons mechanics. After the raid, the non-Chamorro Pan American employees were evacuated from Wake Island aboard the Martin 130 Philippine Clipper which had survived the attack. A Stiff Defense Retiring with no losses, the Japanese aircraft returned the next day. This raid targeted Wake Islands infrastructure and resulted in the destruction of the hospital and Pan Americans aviation facilities. Attacking the bombers, VMF-211s four remaining fighters succeeded in downing two Japanese planes. As the air battle raged, Rear Admiral Sadamichi Kajioka departed Roi in the Marshall Islands with a small invasion fleet on December 9. On the 10th, Japanese planes attacked targets in Wilkes and detonated a supply of dynamite which destroyed the ammunition for the islands guns. Arriving off Wake Island on December 11, Kajioka ordered his ships forward to land 450 Special Naval Landing Force troops. Under the guidance of Devereux, Marine gunners held their fire until the Japanese were within range of Wakes 5 coastal defense guns. Opening fire, his gunners succeeded in sinking the destroyer Hayate and badly damaging Kajiokas flagship, the light cruiser Yubari. Under heavy fire, Kajioka elected to withdraw out of range. Counterattacking, VMF-211s four remaining aircraft succeeded in sinking the destroyer Kisaragi when a bomb landed in the ships depth charge racks. Captain Henry T. Elrod  posthumously  received the Medal of Honor for his part in the vessels destruction. Calls for Help While the Japanese regrouped, Cunningham and Devereux called for aid from Hawaii. Stymied in his attempts to take the island, Kajioka remained nearby and directed additional air raids against the defenses. In addition, he was reinforced by additional ships, including the carriers Soryu and Hiryu which were diverted south from the retiring Pearl Harbor attack force. While Kajioka planned his next move, Vice Admiral William S. Pye, the Acting Commander-in-Chief of the US Pacific Fleet, directed Rear Admirals Frank J. Fletcher  and Wilson Brown to take a relief force to Wake. Centered on the carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3) Fletchers force carried additional troops and aircraft for the beleaguered garrison. Moving slowly, the relief force was recalled by Pye on December 22 after he learned that two Japanese carriers were operating in the area. That same day, VMF-211 lost two aircraft. On December 23, with the carrier providing air cover, Kajioka again moved forward. Following a preliminary bombardment, the Japanese landed on the island. Though Patrol Boat No. 32 and Patrol Boat No. 33 were lost in the fighting, by dawn over 1,000 men had come ashore. Final Hours Pushed out of the southern arm of the island, American forces mounted a tenacious defense despite being outnumbered two-to-one. Fighting through the morning, Cunningham and Devereux were forced to surrender the island that afternoon. During their fifteen-day defense, the garrison at Wake Island sank four Japanese warships and severely damaged a fifth. In addition, as many as 21 Japanese aircraft were downed along with a total of around 820 killed and approximately 300 wounded. American losses numbered 12 aircraft, 119 killed, and 50 wounded. Aftermath Of those who surrendered, 368 were Marines, 60 US Navy, 5 US Army, and 1,104 civilian contractors. As the Japanese occupied Wake, the majority of the prisoners were transported from the island, though 98 were kept as forced laborers. While American forces never attempted to re-capture the island during the war, a submarine blockade was imposed which starved the defenders. On October 5, 1943, aircraft from  USS  Yorktown (CV-10) struck the island. Fearing an imminent invasion, the garrison commander, Rear Admiral Shigematsu Sakaibara, ordered the execution of the remaining prisoners. This was carried out on the northern end of the island on October 7, though one prisoner escaped and carved  98 US PW 5-10-43  on a large rock near the killed POWs mass grave. This prisoner was subsequently re-captured and personally executed by Sakaibara. The island was re-occupied by American forces on September 4, 1945, shortly after the wars end. Sakaibara was later convicted of war crimes for his actions on Wake Island and hung on June 18, 1947.

Capturing The Real Value Of High Tech Acquisitions - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 23 Words: 6969 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? The fast rate of technological change was one of the most important trends in the 1990s and this brought an increasing complexity and cost to the development of new technologies. Companies used their innovative assets as a major source of competitive advantage to quickly introduce new products and adopt new processes (Sen and Egelhoff, 2000). Acquisitions are completed in many industries for reasons that are aligned with the dominant competitive driving forces for that industry. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Capturing The Real Value Of High Tech Acquisitions" essay for you Create order In the area of high technology and seminconductors, the competitive drivers are short product life cycles and process advancement. Process advances are required to both support the incremental changes to existing products and to allow the creation of radically new one. The number of acquisitions rapidly increased through the decade for several reasons: the product life cycle was getting shorter; participating in the creation of industry and product standards was crucial; early entry helped capture market share; and R D risk could be reduced. Hagedoorn (1993) found the reduction in innovation time and acquisition of needed technologies as the most important reasons for one company to pursue another. Several researchers have written about the radical and incremental innovation capabilities, their distinguishing factors and the important consequences to the corporation. It has also been argued that large firms are effective with incremental innovations and small firms are better at rad ical innovations. (Ettlie, Bridges, and Oà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢Keefe, 1984; Dewar and Dutton, 1986; Christensen, 1992). Corporate decision to acquire or not acquire another company embodies a high level, serious management strategy decision toward repositioning a company in the competitive landscape. The decade from 1990 to 2000 was chosen as an important time for acquisition activity. There was frequent activity in acquisitions during a time of stable economic conditions creating good conditions for analysis. In 1990, the dollar value of all acquisitions and mergers in the United States was two percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2000, the value reached over 15% of the GDP (Mergerstat, 2003). In the first 10 months of 2000, in the technology sector alone, there were 2,019 acquisition and merger deals worth $573 billion (Reason, 2000). This occurred despite studies done in the 1980à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s and 1990à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s that found little positive effect financially for the acquiring company. The magnitude of the activity strongly suggests that some positive relationship could be fo und if examined in a different way or using new metrics. This research uses a different methodology by exploring a single industry, selecting profitability growth as the metric from theoretical industry driving forces and analyzing profitability over time as a statistical repeated measures model using SPSS software. The results from this work may have strategic implications for remaining competitive in high technology, high-velocity industries. It should be noted here that the term acquisition, mergers and acquisitions and M A will be used interchangeably in this research and are defined in Appendix A along with other important terms. In high technology industries, such as semiconductors, a firm interested in new product innovation must aggressively invest to stay at the leading edge. Creating or acquiring new offerings can be dependent on a combination of efforts directed either internal or external to the company. Internal efforts include primarily Research and Development (R D) or newly formed affiliates, termed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“greenfieldsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Vermeulen Barkema, 2001; Sonenclar, 1984; Bradley Korn, 1981). External efforts can take the form of acquisition or mergers to best capture the intellectual property (IP) that is maintained in the categories of trade secret and proprietary know-how. Acquisitions, when done well, appear to have the advantage of capturing this kind of IP as compared to the other forms of external efforts. Acquisitions also potentially offer faster repositioning with less risk and lower cost than pursuing internal company endeavors (Singh Montgomery, 1987). A high technology com panyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s success hinges on creation of innovative ideas, availability of creative personnel, speed of new product execution and cost effectiveness. Mergers and acquisitions are a highly favored management avenue for growth and competitive positioning. The importance of this management consideration and the impact of mergers and acquisitions continue to expand with billions of dollars involved. The importance in the technology sector becomes apparent when looking at the 724 firms that made their initial public offering (IPO) in 1992, but were not acquired or merged. Of these companies, 58% were selling at less than their IPO price six years later (Small Business Statistics, 2000). Product and service offering must constantly evolve and change (Thompson Strickland, 2001). High velocity innovation is fundamental to the growth and survival of high technology businesses. Organizations that are successful have a regular stream of unique products and services. Hewlett-Packard had over 50% of revenue in 1999 coming from products introduced in the previous two to four years. In high technology companies, the highest profit levels come from the newest products. Consequently, it is imperative to accelerate the innovation cycle, often through mergers and acquisitions, and this is critically important to remaining competitive. Entrepreneurial firms consistently outperform larger firms in both market and earnings growth on the Inc. 500 and Forbes 200 lists (Imparato Harari, 1994). There are several potential reasons for making an acquisition that have been identified and studied in the literature. In addition to the reasons for actually acquiring, there are a number of factors following the event that will influence the degree of success or failure that these efforts may experience. These elements that play a part in determining the outcome have been the focus of studies that are summarized in the Literature Review. WHAT MAKES HIGH-TECH COMPANIES AND THEIR ACQUISITIONS UNIQUE Both the popular business press as well as recent academic research seems to uniformly accept the unique nature of high-tech stocks. Kohers and Kohers (2000) state: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The high-growth nature of technology-based industries distinguishes them from other types of industries. In addition to their high-growth potential, however, another distinctive feature of high-tech industries is the inherent uncertainty associated with companies whose values rely on future outcomes or developments is unproven, uncharted fields (p. 40). In fact, many à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“pureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? technology stocks are young companies, underfunded and without prospects for generating any cash flows in the near future. Nevertheless, despite the inherent uncertainty of high-tech industries, investors seemed to disregard most equity fundamentals when valuing technology stocks, especially during the market upturn in the late 1990s. As a result, even though high-tech stocks were in general extremely volatile, many of them were trading at remarkable premiums. The exploding rate of growth in M A activity that involved high-tech industries can be partly attributed to those overly optimistic valuations. Puranam (2001) argues: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“On the acquirerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s side, booming stock market valuations have made acquisitions for stock feasible for several relatively small (revenue wise) firms, as well as the more established larger ones. On the targetà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s side, an increasing preference for the ready liquidity offered, by an acquisition, as opposed to the paper profits from an IPO have created an environment conducive to acquisitions of small start-upsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. At the same time many of these acquisitions were also motivated by the acquirerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s need to obtain critical technologies and expertise in order to quickly enhance their own technological competence. Despite the burst of the high-tech market bubble and the failure of most of these acquisitions, investors continue to show an extreme faith on these stocks. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Americans still believe that technology can create a better world. Each time the U.S. tech sector falls into a trough, new technologies and companies emerge to lead it forward againà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Business Week, August 27, 2001). PROBLEM MOTIVATING THIS STUDY This research effort seeks to understand the relationship between acquisitions and profitability by looking at the industrial sector for high technology semiconductor companies. Many prior studies have shown little financial benefit to the acquiring company in research conducted beginning in the 1980s and extending to today using a variety of variables, measures and company sample selection. These studies will be discussed in more detail in the Literature Review. The researchers Rumelt (1984), Ravenscraft and Scherer (1987), Porter (1987) and Kaplan and Weisbach (1990) separately found that acquisitions that could be categorized as unrelated, or diversifications, did not lead to profitability improvements, but most of these studies obviously included a cross-section of divergent industries. The importance of innovation and new products in high velocity, competitive environments is discussed in literature and high velocity innovation is fundamental to the growth, profitability and sur vival of these businesses (Thompson and Strickland, 1999; Betz, 2001; Burgelman, Christensen and Wheelwright, 2004). The competitive advantage of capturing intellectual property through acquisition has also been discussed more recently. More clear evidence is beginning to emerge concerning the drive to acquire technology and the unique features of doing so (Prentice Fox, 2002). This research examines the correlation between the event of acquisition and subsequent company performance and growth of profitability in the decade of 1990-2000. Practicing managers in the area of management of technology are faced with the challenge of high velocity innovation being a requirement to maintain competitive positioning (Thompson Strickland, 2001). Two methods for constant innovation include internal efforts, such as Research Development (R D), and external efforts, such as acquisitions, on which this paper focuses. Prior studies have been cross-sectional across different industries and analyzed the benefits gained in terms of patents and R D (Bettis 1981), stock price (Matsusaka, 1990; Schleifer and Vishny, 1990; and Lubatkin, 1982) or increase in company size versus the cost of acquisitions. These studies have not captured one of the most unique features of the high technology industry where innovation and new products are dependent on intellectual property (IP) that is maintained in the categories of trade secret and proprietary know-how. Because of this characteristic, the high technology industry would be expected to yield different results. The importance of IP and know-how has been an area of academic focus working to clarify the concept of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“absorptive capacityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? in the 1990s, but empirical work to tie these concepts to firm performance was not pursued (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990; Barney, 1991; Prahalad and Hamel, 1990). The use of patents as a measure, as used in prior research (Acs and Audretsch, 1988; Pakes and Griliches, 1980; Hitt, Hoskisson, Ireland and Harrison, 1991), does not capture the IP benefits in these categories or measure the success resulting from these external efforts. Acquisitions, when done well, should be expected to have an advantage on capturing this kind of IP. Acquisitions potentially offer faster positioning with less risk and lower cost than internal company endeavors which include primarily Research and Development (R D) (Gulati, 1995; Singh Montgomery, 1987). STUDY OVERVIEW This research effort focuses on one high technology industrial sector of semiconductors and studies the correlation between acquisitions, profitability, survivability and RD intensity over time. Many prior studies (Rumelt, 1984; Ravenscraft and Scherer, 1987; Porter, 1987; and Kaplan and Weisbach, 1990) have shown little financial benefit to the acquiring company, but most of these studies included a cross-section of divergent industries. The importance of innovation and new products in high velocity, competitive environments is widely discussed in literature. High velocity innovation is fundamental for the theory of growth, profitability and survival of these businesses. The competitive advantage of capturing intellectual property through acquisition has also been discussed more recently. More clear evidence is beginning to emerge concerning the drive to acquire technology and the unique features of doing so (Prentice Fox, 2002). This paper researches the correlation between the ev ent of acquisition and subsequent company performance, survivability, the growth of profitability and R D spending. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ON HIGH-TECH COMPANIES Most research on high-tech companies is relatively recent and has its origin in various business fields. Chaudhuri and Tabrizi (1999) study the practices of 24 high-tech companies involved in acquisitions, and try to identify the key factors in capturing the real value in high-tech acquisitions. They conclude that in order to make a successful acquisition managers need to move beyond the traditional model of acquisitions where the people acquired are secondary to physical assets and brands. High-tech acquisitions need to focus on the people since technological capabilities tied to skilled people are the key to long-term success in these industries. Arora, Fosfuri and Gambardella (2000) examine how the growth of markets for technology affected the corporate strategies of the leading companies, which can now sell technologies that they do not use in-house and increase their potential returns to R D. They argue that globalization, along with the low transportation costs of technologies, has made large R D intensive companies realize that they have the potential to exploit their technology on a very large scale by licensing. However, in deciding how to exploit their technology small firms and technology-based startups face a different set of challenges. According to the authors they need to trade off the costs of acquiring capital and building in-house production, distribution and marketing capability against the rents that would be lost or shared with their partners in a licensing deal. Also, the authors argue that integration may reduce the innovative potential of the firm, because the acquisition of the complementary assets in evitably increases the size of firms and induces important changes in the culture of the firm and in the speed and fluidity of information flowsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. Finally, they claim that evaluating technologies and being able to use them requires substantial in-house scientific and technological expertise and therefore internal and external R D can be reviewed as complements and not substitutes. Liu (2000) focuses on a different issue by examining the marketsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ reaction to innovation news announcement made by the U.S. biotech firms during the 1983-1992 period. He finds that the average AR to the announcements is as high as 3.98 percent for a three-day event window and biotech stocks trading volumes almost double on the day of the news announcement. The announcement period ARs are negatively related to firm-size and underwriter reputation, while positively related to the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s technology depth as measured by R D intensity. However, during the months following the announcement the average three-month post announcement AR is 2.73 percent. The negative drift in stock prices appears to be mainly driven by the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s weak science and technology (less R D intensive), firms with high Book to Market (B/M) ratios and large firms. In explaining his findings the author proposes an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“expectation error hypothesisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. According to this hypothesis it is hard for investors or even managers to precisely evaluate the economic value of innovations which in turn leads to the possibility of forming erroneous expectations. In high-tech industries the erroneous expectation is reflected in the investorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s over-optimism towards high-tech firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s innovation news. Eventually, the stock prices adjust itself to reflect the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s fundamentals, especially its technology depth. The author attributes the observed evidence to the costly information required to value a high-tech firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s innovation. Prentice and Fox (2002) provide a comprehensive review of the merger and acquisition process while focusing on the distinctive characteristics of high-tech companies. They argue that technology mergers are different from traditional mergers because of the importance that must be placed on people and their ability to innovate. Targets must be evaluated on intangible assets such as intellectual property and human capital. At the same time managers need to consider the issues of retention, culture and integration strategy from the beginning of the merger process to ensure success. There are two studies that are most relevant to this research. The first one is by Kohers and Kohers (2000) who examine the value creation potential of 1,634 mergers in the various high-tech areas between 1987 and 1996. They find that acquirers of high-tech targets experience significantly positive Ars at the time of the merger announcement, regardless of whether the merger is financed with cash or stock. Othe r factors influencing bidder returns are the time period in which the merger occurs, the ownership structure of the acquirer, the ownership status of the target and the high-tech affiliation of acquirers. They conclude that the market appears to be optimistic about such mergers and expects that acquiring companies will enjoy future growth benefits. The second related study is also by Kohers and Kohers (2001) who examine the post-merger performance of acquirers that purchase high-tech targets in order to determine whether the high expectations regarding the future merits of these investments are actually justified. Their results indicate that compared to non acquirers, acquirers perform poorly over the three-year period following the high-tech takeover announcement. Furthermore, glamour bidders show significantly lower long-run ARs, while value bidders do not experience significant post-merger ARs. Also, glamour bidders with a higher risk of agency problems show even worse post-merger performance while institutional ownership in the acquiring firm has a positive influence on acquirer long run ARs. Overall, the authors conclude that the market tends to exhibit excessive enthusiasm toward the expected benefits of high-tech mergers but many of these benefits do not materialize. CHAPTER 3 HYPOTHESES, METHODOLOGY AND DATA SOURCES STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESES Previous research in the literature has generally found little financial benefit for the acquiring companies that were associated with occurrence of the acquisition activity (Rumelt, 1974; Ravenscraft and Scherer, 1987; Porter, 1987; and Kaplan and Weisbach, 1990). Consequently, the first and second questions for this study are focused using the single industry of semiconductors, are stated in the null hypothesis format. First, firm profitability growth rates are compared in two groups, one that does acquire and one that does not. Secondly, individual firm profitability growth is examined before and after an acquisition event looking for a change in growth rate that is significant. Hypothesis 1 (H1): There will be no significant difference in profitability growth when firms making acquisitions are compared to firms not making acquisitions in the high-tech sector. Hypothesis 2 (H2): Acquiring firms making acquisitions are expected to have no significant change in profitability growth before and after the acquisition event. The literature yields less empirical work in analyzing the relationship between merger and acquisition actions and the longevity of a corporation. Theory certainly recognizes the close link between competitive capability and company survival. For the high technology industry of semiconductors, high velocity innovation is a requirement for remaining competitive. Research questions three and four are also stated in the null hypothesis format. Company longevity, or survival rate in number of year, is compared in two groups also, where one group does acquire and one does not. Lastly, an individual firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s spending rate on R D is examined before and after an acquisition event looking for a significant change in the rate compared to the trend for the company. Hypothesis 3 (H3): Firms making acquisitions are expected to have no difference in survivability in this industry than firms who do not make acquisitions. Hypothesis 4 (H4): A companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s R D intensity will show no significant change following the event of acquisition within this industry. SELECTION OF VARIABLES This research was conducted in a concentric approach by starting with one independent and one dependent variable initially to define the relationship and guide the next treatment in the study. As work continued, variables were selected and the methodology expanded to assess both within-subject and between-subject effects. The variables used in this study for Hypothesis 1 (H1) include profitability growth rate and a dummy variable to represent the presence or absence of the event of acquisition. The event of acquisition is represented by a dummy variable with a zero (0) representing no acquisition and with a one (1) representing an acquisition event. An acquisition event is identified by using a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s reported cash flows attributed to acquisition as stated in the Compustat database. The profitability growth rate is calculated from the total gross profit margin reported by year and cumulated over three years, then averaged to reduce fluctuations and facilitate identification of trends. The variables used for H2 analysis of profitability growth rate before and after an acquisition were the dummy variable for the presence of acquisition, the gross profit margin percentage (GPM %) calculated as a three (3) year cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) to smooth fluctuations and better identify a trend. This relationship was studied for three (3) years prior to the actual acquisition and five (5) years following the action. As the study progressed, a second dummy variable was used for company size to separate the effect of this independent variable as well. A repeated measures matrix was designed with two dummy independent variable as well. A repeated measures matrix was designed with two dummy independent variables, each with two levels and one dependent variable with repeated measures over nine years for a 2 x 2 x 9 repeated measures analysis using the SPPS software. The variables used for H3 analysis of acquisition relation to firm longevity were the acquisition dummy variable and the data from Compustat for the number of years that the company did financial reporting during the period of this study. H4 looks for the effects between acquisition and RD spending or intensity by using the acquisition dummy independent variable and R D intensity as the dependent variable. R D intensity is calculated using the R D expense reported as such by the companies and in the Compustat database. This Compustat item represents all costs incurred during the year that relate to the development of new products or services. This amount is only the company`s contribution and includes software and amortization of software costs and complies with Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB) standards. This item excludes customer or government-sponsored research and development (including reimbursable indirect costs) and ordinary engineering expenses for routine, ongoing efforts to define, enrich, or improve the qualities of existing products. Methodology This study encompasses the time period of ten years from 1990-2000, inclusive. Semiconductor companies were selected as an entire group according to their NAICS/SIC codes. Using the Standard Poorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Compustat database, there are 153 semiconductor companies included that were identified as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“activeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? companies at the end of the calendar year 2000 by Compustat. These companies are listed in Appendix B. Active reporting for one year. Companies are designated as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“inactiveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and reclassified in the Compustat database when it is no longer actively traded on a stock market exchange due to bankruptcy, becoming a private company, leveraged buyout or merging. The research effort started with analysis one independent variable and one dependent variable in order to initially establish what the relationship was that existed, if it was significant and how to proceed with analysis. Exploratory work on Hypothesis 1 showed that there was a statistically significant and positive correlation between acquisitions and gross profit margin (GMP) growth broadly over the decade which differs from prior research. Hypothesis 2 moves toward a more detailed analysis of this finding. Consequently, in this chronology of discovery, the next step presented in Section 4.2 look at one dependent variable of profit margin growth and two independent variables of company size and acquisition activity. 3-way ANNOVA and regression treatments of the data are conducted using the data analysis tool available under Microsoft Excel Software looking at individual years in the ten year study period. The results show significance again and suggest that other interactions betwe en variables would yield additional understanding. The next step in the research was set up to look at one dependent variable, again gross margin (GPM) growth, repeatedly measured over time for each subject or company was entered for the nine (9) years 1995-2000 inclusive to capture acquisition effects giving 2 x 2 x 9 repeated measures design. The two independent variables were used in the dummy format with non-acquires given a code zero à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“0à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and acquires assigned at one (1). Company size was the second dummy variable with firms less than $100M in sales per year coded zero (0) and if greater than $100M in sales, assigned a one (1). The statistical analysis using a repeated measures design analyzed the variable interactions and their relationship to GPM growth using the SPSS software. These results are presented in Section 4.5 Repeated Measures Analysis that was done using SPSS software. Descriptive statistics were an important first treatment of the data sets created. This includes the values for the following parameters: mean, median, range variance, standard deviation, kurtosis, and skewness. This treatment looks at characteristics of the data and the degree of normal distribution. The 3-way ANOVA investigations and regression treatment of the data were initially done using the data analysis tool software available in Microsoft Excel. Generally, the data sets for this study vary somewhat from the classical normal distribution, but ANOVA and MANOVA (multivariate ANOVA) within a repeated measures analysis are considered robust to violations of the normal distribution assumption (Maxwell Dealney, 1990; Stevens, 1996) SPSS Advanced Models 11.0 software was used to create general linear models of the data and conduct analysis of variance (ANOVA), regression, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) for the multiple variables in this model with repeated measures. The factors or independent variables were used to divide the population of 153 active semiconductor companies into groups. There were two independent variables used that were designated as dummy variables. The first variable of acquisition separated companies that did complete acquisitions from those that did not complete acquisitions during the decade of study. The second variable grouped the companies by size of sales at the end of the decade by either greater than $100 million or less than $100 million. Then the general linear model procedure was used to test the four null hypotheses, as stated above, regarding the effects of the independent variables on the dependent variable of gross profit margin growth as a repeated measure over the perio d 1992-2000. The investigation included looking at interactions between factors as well as the individual factors and the effects and interactions of covariates. This model specifies the independent variables as covariates for regression analysis. The SPSS repeated measures model creates a matrix for the sums of squares due to the model effects, gives the approximate F statistics and estimates parameters in addition to testing hypotheses. When an F test shows significance, SPSS performs post hoc tests to evaluate the differences between the means. This yields a predicted mean value for the cells of the model. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to named variables to study the portion of variance in the each variable that could be identified as explained and unexpected with regard to the event of acquisition. A covariance tool was also used when looking at the variables described above such as acquisition occurrence, company size and profitability growth changes. This compares whether the two ranges of data move together à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" that is, whether large values of one set were associated with large values of the other (positive covariance), whether small values of one set were associated with large values of the other (negative covariance), or whether values in both sets were unrelated (covariance near zero). DATA SOURCES Standard Poorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Compustat database was used for data collection in this research. The database contains fundamental financial, statistical and market data derived from publicity traded companies trading on the NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, OTC and Canadian stock exchanges. The calendar year for a company is the year in which the fiscal year ends and is the time period used as standard in this research. Companies with fiscal years ending in January through May are assigned by Compustant into the year in which the fiscal year begins. Companies with fiscal years that end in June through December are assigned to the year in which the fiscal year ends. The EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval) System database maintained by the United Stated Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) was also used. The EDGAR data is also collected from the same sources that are used to generate the Compustat database. Data from these controlled and verifiable sources were corroborated and augmented with information collected from semiconductor trade journals, company annual reports and the Mergers Acquisitions Journal that tracks statistics in this area. CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION HI à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" ACQUISITON AND PROFITABILITY RELATIONSHIP A strong positive relationship was found to exist between the presence of acquisition activity and the growth in gross profit margin (GPM) by the end of the ten year study period. The statistical analysis is detailed below and is a departure from previous findings. This finding addresses the central question of this research endeavor to look for a relationship between acquisition events and profitability growth within the one industry of semiconductors. A positive financial effect is found and opens the path for additional analysis in this direction. Consequently, this information forms the foundation for the additional work presented in this research. ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION RESULT VERSUS HYPOTHESES The four hypotheses are stated again in Table 1 as a summary for ease of reference as results are discussed. Table 1. Statement of Hypotheses Summary Hypotheses 1 (Hi): There will be no significant difference in profitability growth when firms making acquisitions are compared to firms not making acquisitions in the chosen sector. Hypotheses 2 (H2): Firms making acquisitions are expected to have no significant change in profitability growth before and after the acquisition event. Hypotheses 3 (H3): Firms making acquisitions are expected to have no difference in survivability in this industry than firms who do not make acquisitions. Hypotheses 4 (H4): A companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s RD intensity will show no significant change following the event of acquisition within this industry. Corporate acquisitions in general have studied by researchers for many years. The researchers cited in this paper examined a sampling of industries through different methods using a variety of approaches and variables. These studies, however, did not focus on one industry using a measure tied to one of the most central theoretical driving forces for the industry. This research successfully analyzed the variable of profitability growth rate over time to model and explores the relationship between the presence of acquisition events and company performance for the high technology industry of semiconductors. Perhaps the most important outcome is the consistently positive and significant relationship found between the event of acquisition and profitability growth. This result ties to the central question of this research that sought to explore this area in a high technology industry using a different methodology and approach. The principal result of this research finds significant positive growth in the financial measure of profitability for firms that complete acquisitions. This finding is different from prior research in which positive financial benefits for the acquiring firm has generally not been found. The sample set focuses on a single industry and allows the selection of variables that reflect the critical elements of the competitive environment. Using a slightly longer time period for the measurement also made it possible to smooth fluctuations and use the strength of a repeated measures statistical treatment. This suggests that other research questions may benefit from using this approach. This research uses the established data sets to further analyze these elements. The initial research question looked at what relationship existed between acquisitions and profitability growth within one industry, semiconductors. Hypotheses 1 (H1) states that there will be no significant differences in profitability levels when firms making acquisitions are compared to firms not making acquisitions in the chosen sector. This research found a statistically significant relationship between positive gross profit margin (GPM) growth and a company performing acquisitions in both ANOVA and regression tests, allowing the rejection of the null hypotheses. The strength of this relationship was tested and corroborated in the multivariate and repeated measures analysis with SPSS software. This clear finding stands out from previous where other dependent variables were chosen as the proxy measures for positive financial gain as a result of acquisition and the time periods generally were less than the decade as selected for this research. Previous measures included items such as stock price, return to shareholders, sales, and assets as a brief summary of the studies covered in more detail under chapter 2 , the Literature Review Section. Other studies sought to measure positive intrinsic organizational effects and outcome associated with acquisitions such as the number of patents created, number of new products, executive turn over, R D effectiveness and number of customers gained. These elements play an important role in the overall management and success of a companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s actions and probably contribution to the degree of acquisition success, but this granularity is beyond the scope of this study. Hypotheses 2 (H2) states that firms making acquisitions are expected to have no significant change in profitability level before and after the acquisition event. This research found important statistically significant correlations between positive gross profit margin (GPM) growth over time and the independent variables of company size and whatever acquisitions were completed or not. Consequently, H2 can be rejected as the null hypothesis. The within and between-subjects effects were clearly strong and identified strategic time considerations also in the outcome from the multivariate and repeated measures analysis. Acquisitions bring a significant, positive profitability growth influence for both large and small companies. It is a clear disadvantage to be a non-acquirer in the semiconductor industry from a GPM standpoint over time. The additional importance of repeated acquisition is suggested by the data, but not included in this research. In the high velocity semiconductor industry, product life cycles average approximately 18 months. With the innovation cycle obviously spanning a slightly longer period, it appears that the three year mark post-acquisition is a key time for smaller companies. Perhaps because their internal resources in people or RD provide less absorption capability or smoothing than in larger companies (Burgelman, Christensen, Wheelwright, 2004). It is also expected that the interaction between internal RD, greenfields and regular acquisitions (Vermeucen Barkema, 2001; Sonenclar, 1984; Bradley Korn, 1981) would be an excellent area of study if limited to one industry for deeper understanding. Hypothesis 3 (H3) states, again using the null format, those firms making acquisitions are expected to have no difference in survivability in this industry than firms who do not make acquisitions. The literature contains less empirical work looking at merger and acquisition actions and the longevity of a corporation. Theory certainly recognizes the close link between competitive capability and company survival. For the high technology industry of semiconductors, high velocity innovation is a requirement for remaining competitive (Burgelman, Christensen, Wheelwright, 2004; Thompson, Strickland, 1999; Porter, 1987). Here, firm survival rates are compared in two groups also, where one group does acquire and one does not. Again significance is found showing a positive relationship between longevity and being an acquirer in this industry allowing the rejection of H3. This relationship presents opportunities to separate out the causality aspect of whether companies survive longer because t hey acquire more often or whether they acquire more often as a consequence of being older. Again significance is found showing a positive relationship between longevity and being an acquirer in this industry. Longevity in this case reflects a sustainable strategic position and its linkage to acquisition presence can imply that this is an important part of remaining competitive. Surviving longer in a highly competitive situation usually means that a company is doing things better than the competition. A significant relationship is found for this industry between the activity of performing acquisitions and being in business longer. The recommendation can be made that semiconductor companies should consider acquisitions as part of their competitive strategy, certainly in cycle of growth for the industry. Hypothesis 4 (H4) states that a companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s RD intensity will show no significant change following the event of acquisition within this industry. Here, an individual firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s spending rate measured as RD intensity is examined using the three (3) year average over the period 1998, 1999, 2000 and measured against the dummy variable of whether or not an acquisition occurred during the decade. The p value of 0.041 suggests an acceptable level significance, but comes from a distribution showing high kurtosis and the R2 value is lower at 0.028. Since targeting by specific industry is found to be significant, many studies and conclusions fro literature will benefit from this new examination. These results reopen the question of acquisition value measurement and study. The explanatory value of this multivariate model using repeated measures employs an application that is somewhat unique and present findings that call for additional research. INTERPRETATION OF RESUTLS The interpretation of these findings for four hypotheses presented is divergent from the body of previous studies which found no financial gain to the acquiring company. This empirical data analysis explored the link between acquisition activity and company profitability and longevity using the semiconductor industry as the initial testing grounds for this approach and methodology. Several potential relationship and interactions are examined including company size, calendar year, years before and after acquisition, longevity and relationship to the level of RD intensity. The use of dummy variables for company size and for whether an acquisition occurred or not improved the clarity for this research encompassing the semiconductor industry and its high velocity, high technology environment. The unique strength of this study arises from analyzing only one industry. The design of the study started with analyzing the driving forces for this industry in order to choose the most applicable dependent variable and independent variable. The selection was viewed as very important since the finding of financial gain from acquisitions has defied normal measures used in other research. The weakness of relying on a measure such as number of patents, as a measure of acquisitions success or innovation acceleration is that for semiconductors, some of the most vital knowledge is not patented, but held as trade secret and embodied in individual and organizational know-how. By comprehending the unique aspects of this industry and hypothesizing the possible impact and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“ripple-effectà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (from acquisition to innovation to new product to profitability), empirical focus was directed at profitability. By looking at GPM prior to and post acquisition, some of the elements of management and organization strengths or weaknesses can be noted in further analysis. If a company is managed poorly before completing an acquisition, this situation is anticipated to be reflected in the profit numbers and would be expected to experience less than optimal improvements post- acquisition. There are many ways that an organization can manifest strength and it can change over time. Managementà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s decisions impact whether an acquisition is done, with whom and when. By looking at the whole industry, this study sought to minimize the managerial issue and was looking for a general relationship. This was reflected in finding positive significance for both large and small companies, over time in a fairly large sampling of corporations. Nonetheless, knowledge can be further gained through research to look at the degree of success and the contributing factors as the next step. Because this is a complex situation in the real world with dynamic factors, it could be attempted to assign the results to random chance or a confounding factor. However, the positive, significant results are consistent and repeated. Since an entire industry was used over a period of ten years, it is difficult to expect that a confounding variable could have consistently impacted this many companies over this period of time. The argument could be offered that these positive results were occurring because the semiconductor industry was in a growth cycle. Although this industry id definitely a cyclical one, the trends that were discovered directed tied to the independent variables of size and acquisition event in this study. This period was chosen because of the positive cycle stage for its stability, the absence of overriding events and the richness of acquisition activity yielded available data. It should also be noted that not all companies demonstrated the same results, regardless of phase, and positive results were found regardless of company size or longevity.