Case Study The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs

Q1-Describe Job’s leadership style using the (Blake Mouton) managerial grid? A1- Blake and mouton’s two-dimensional theory recognise that leaders tend to focus on either product or people (or both). I would consider Steve Jobs leadership style to be placed in the managerial grid as â€Å"Produce or Perish† this is due to Steve Jobs always being production focused, from the case with can see that Steve Jobs only cared about the end results and didn’t care about his employees as people see his â€Å"Reality Distortion Field as a euphemism for bullying and lying† because he would tended to scream and swear at his employees to get the job done â€Å"He would shout at a meeting, ‘You ***, you never do anything right. However Steve Jobs leadership style could be classified as â€Å"Team† in the managerial grid because as his employees found him to be inspirational as he made his employees perform extraordinary feats â€Å"those who worked with him admitted that the trait, infuriating as it might be, led them to perform extraordinary feats†. Overall I would say Steve Jobs would be placed in between â€Å"Produce or perish† and â€Å"Team† because he might be mainly production focused but Steve Jobs did care about his employees because he was able to inspire his staffs, also Steve Jobs gained more loyal staff then those CEOs who took the gentleman approach. Q2 (A) - Assess Job’s leadership effectiveness as assessed by Apple’s shareholders? A2 (A) - Shareholders any individual, company or other institutionShow MoreRelatedCase Study: Steve Jobs Apples1584 Words   |  7 PagesCase Study: Steve Jobs amp; Apple Sharell Byrd HSC_6304 July 8, 2012 Dr. Samantha Murray Abstract Steve Jobs success story began in 1976 when he and a friend built the first personal computer. He founded Apple in 1970s; he was the Chairman and CEO of Apple Computers Incorporations until he was fired by the board of directors. He did not let this obstacle stop him. He went and started other businesses and developments in 1984, he developedRead MoreSteve Jobs Leadership Essay1064 Words   |  5 PagesSome would say that Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computers Inc., was an exceptional leader. However, there are many who would disagree with that statement. Jobs could define leadership in some aspects, yet he fell short in others. Jobs’ leadership style is difficult to pin down because his position fit very many styles. Steve Jobs co-founded Apple in 1976 and in 1984 he created the Macintosh, the first small computer with a graphic interface. Unfortunately in 1985 Jobs was forced to leave afterRead MoreFailure Analysis Change Strategy2108 Words   |  9 Pagesin 1997, Steve Jobs. Jobs partners with several organizations such as Microsoft and CompUSA forming a strategic alliance with Apple products. According to Finkle and Mallin (2010), Steve Jobs states â€Å"the reason why his companies have become so successful is because they hire the very best people in the world to work for them; his business savvy, negotiation skills, and propensity to take risks enable him to transform technology into companies that flourish† (p. 38). Apple’s leadership style isRead MoreCompare and Contrast the Leadership of Steve Jobs with That of Fr Jose Maria Arizmendiarrieta2544 Words   |  11 PagesSteve Jobs and Father Jose Maria Arizmendiarrieta were both exemplary leaders. In just 35 years, Steve Jobs took Apple Computers from a mere idea to a $380 billion dollar enterprise. Father Arizmendiarrieta educated and aided the first founders of the Mondragà ³n Cooperative that today employs more than 80 000 people. Great achievements from two man who simply cannot be defined by any one â€Å"textbook† leadership style. It appears that in real life leadership theories may be applied in synergy, allowingRead MoreInnovation and Change Management1725 Words   |  7 Pages| INNOVATION amp; CHANGE MANAGEMENT MHN221935-12-A | Malgorzata Glowacka S0915718 International Tourism amp; Hospitality Enterprise | Innovation and change management have been and continues to be an important study on a number of levels. It plays significant part in economic growth as well as it is vital for firms’ survival and development. 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Jr. al Ford Motor Company: Scott McNealy of Sun Microsystems; Jack Welch of General Electric and his successor. Jeff Immelt Cisco’s John Chambers; and Bill Gates of Microsoft One of the most powerful managers is GeorgeRead MoreMy Best Friend s Generation1869 Words   |  8 PagesGetting him to be interviewed by setting up an ideal time and having a detailed conversation undoubtedly took a while but it eventually had a meaningful output. After thoroughly analyzing my course content, I came up with some lessons that really appealed to me and I thought would have a significant impact on my potential professional life. Starting with the most interesting one, flexibility is the responsiveness of an individual to any kind of change. This seems the most importantRead MoreTrends in Workplace17940 Words   |  72 Pageslongstanding and not likely to change in the near term. Four particularly noteworthy demand-side developments are the growing effort given to managing knowledge, the integration of learning and communication functions, a resurgence of interest in leadership development and executive coaching, and the intensifying requirement among employees that career development become an integral part of their employment relationship. The supply-side developments to follow are those that hold the potential forRead MoreCoaching Salespeople Into Sales Champions110684 Words   |  443 Pageshow to do it well.’’ Brian Tracy, Author of Getting Rich Your Own Way ‘‘Flufï ¬â€šess! Rosen continues to give practical, A to Z how-to advice. After you read it, simply do it!’’ Anthony Parinello, Author of Selling to VITO ‘‘Keith has done a tremendous job outlining the importance of coaching versus managing. 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Racial Ethnic Groups in the United States Free Essays

string(92) " only their culture and people but the society of people in which they surround themselves\." Even in 2013 racism and ethic differences are a struggle in the United States. This is mainly due to the fact that unlike fifty years ago when the country was split just black and white, there are now more races involved. Granted, the generations now are much more knowledgeable about the ethic differences, most don’t see any harm in a person judged based on their skin color. We will write a custom essay sample on Racial Ethnic Groups in the United States or any similar topic only for you Order Now However, those who do still find it a problem have taken it to the extreme to let their opinions be known. Take for instance in week five’s reading; the hate that was betrayed against Asian Americans in the radio show where over two dozen Asian Americans were physically injured, thirteen of which had to go to the hospital because their African American classmates decided to fight. However that is not the worst part of that situation. Instead of the security guards and teachers doing something to stop the hate, they let it continue. And this is in every race. Many people in today’s day and age tend to pick more on the Latino groups of America. This is mainly due to the fact that a lot of them are not in the United States legally. Included in these races are people of Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Venezuelan heritage. The main reason for many of these immigrants to come to the United States is to receive a better life. But with this immigration mainly fail to assimilate properly to their local neighborhoods to live the American way. By assimilating in the United States one is able to adopt the cultural traits and/or identity of the host group, Americans, and/or integrate into the primary networks and secondary organizations of the host group.  (Feagin and Feagin) While coming into the country illegally the Latino race automatically puts a bad taste in most American’s mouths because on top of them coming into the country without proper paperwork, they take away jobs that could be used for other Americans simply because Latinos are known for taking a lower pay so that they may be paid in cash verses check based on the simple fact that they do not have proper documentation to be working in the United States. According to Milton Gordon, author of the influential Assimilation in American Life, there are many problems with assimilation. This though involved mainly European groups coming into the United States that they were not willing to adjust to the living styles of another country. This being the main problem of immigrants is that they will not forego racial difference to fit into the country. Gordon suggested that this will be the main problem with America in the future. (Page: 31, Racial and Ethnic Relations Census Update, Ninth Edition, 9E by Clairece Booher R Feagin and Joe R. Feagin, Pearson) This of course is not the case with all Latinos though. There are many people of these races that live in the United States legally that are hardworking and want to the properly the American way. These are the kind of people though that end up getting left in the dust because not many realize that some people want to be a part of the country to that extend. These Latin Americans have fully comprehended the concept of acculturation, or cultural assimilation, which is the change of one group’s important cultural patterns to those of the host or dominant group. (Feagin and Feagin) This doesn’t mean though that Latin Americans, or any race, have to give up their entire cultural habits. It simply means that they understand that they came into a different country and they respect the fact that some things culturally are done differently. For instance there were many situations brought up in the video on 60 Minutes regarding the American Canal. Americans see that canal as a water source for their vegetables in the winter, however those from Mexico see it as a dangerous way into the United States. This is of course a problem between the two races because the Americans don’t feel they need to alter the safety  of the canal so that Mexicans don’t continue to keep drowning in the water in attempts to get into the country illegally. Asian Americans have a huge burden on them just like the Latino races but it’s not as much as being considered â€Å"illegal†. Their pressure is more of an educational outlook. They are expected to excel in school and get great grades at high education at the best colleges. Some of this plays into their benefit though considering the life they will be able to live by better educating themselves. They are pressured with these expectations through their own families though too. For instance it is assumed that if a Caucasian American meets an Asian American while they are at school, such as college, it may be assumed that the Asian American is good at math. It might not be verbally said, but as Americans that is a trait that Asian Americans have always had. This is a trait though that does not , and should not, be given up with trying to fit into the American way of life. If anything a trait like this only enhances living in America. Take for instance the breakdown of educations in America. Asian-Indian Americans lead the country when it comes to obtaining a Bachelor’s degree from college with 70.1%, Chinese Americans follow with 52. 1%; Filipino Americans 48%, Vietnamese Americans at 27. 8%, Asian-Indian Americans with 70. 1%, and White Americans with 30. 7%. (Page: 338, Racial and Ethnic Relations Census Update, Ninth Edition, 9E by Clairece Booher R Feagin and Joe R. Feagin, Pearson) Even according to Gordon, the transition of Asian Americans into the United States society is a lot easier that other races and it has a lot to do with their ability to want to learn and help not only their culture and people but the society of people in which they surround themselves. You read "Racial Ethnic Groups in the United States" in category "Papers" According to the research done in the Feagin and Feagin text the amount of Asian students not only applying but getting admitted into college is increasing every year. A study shows that in 1979 2. 6 percent of students admitted into Brown University were of Asian descent. In 1993 however, it jumped to 14. 8 percent of the students accepted. Many researchers though such as James Madore of the Christian Science Monitor label Asian Americans as â€Å"model minorities†. However they still have their troubles. For instance the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) argued with U. S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas for his use of the term â€Å"model minority† when describing Asian Americans. Thomas argued that Asian Americans â€Å"transcended the ravages caused even by harsh legal and social discrimination† and should not be beneficiaries of government affirmative action because they are â€Å"overrepresented in key institutions. † (Page339: , Racial and Ethnic Relations Census Update, Ninth Edition, 9E by Clairece Booher R Feagin and Joe R.  Feagin, Pearson) The term â€Å"model minority† can be taken as a good or bad quality as explained in the above paragraphs it is all a matter of who is saying it and in what context they are using the title. But it expresses the fact that Asian Americans still face hard consequences in the United States based on assimilation and acculturation because even though some of their traits from their own heritage are beneficial to Americans, Americans then feel offended that someone is coming into the country trying to take over schools and education. It is hard to be an immigrant in the United States and that is understood by a lot of people in the country. But at the same time Americans want to keep their reputation of living the American dream with excellent jobs and families that love and support each other with the right to stick up for what they believe in and the will to pursue their dreams in whatever they wish. It is the some groups of Americans that have backed down to the immigrants of the country and have been belittled by those  assimilating into the United States. It is these Americans that create the hate in the country against entire races verses individuals. It is the lack of education on Americans that plays into part of the frustration of the country. No one notices those trying to do things the correct way but that may be because there are so many immigrants in the country that are illegal and take advantage of the fact that they don’t have to do anything to stay in the country. But this is not â€Å"Living the American Dream†. Immigrants that are taking advantage of any state’s aid, or not agreeing to file proper documentation to become a citizen to receive a paycheck instead of a lower pay but being paid in cash are a huge part of the problem. Taxes play into this just as much. Immigrants to America are not stupid. America taxes everything and everyone is required to pay them. Not everyone does though. Having many other races enter the country in this day and age gives those of this generation a clue to what happened many years ago when whites and blacks were ordered to stay separated. There are still parts of the country that blacks are not welcomed and they are discriminated against. It is almost as if no laws were overturned. Today there are still about eleven states in the country without a street dedicated to Martin Luther King Junior, and some states say they do not plan on including that street in the maps anytime soon. With racial issues almost always a battle it is almost near impossible to say that everyone one day will be entirely happy and created equal. The battle between White Americans against Asian Americans against Latino Americans and African Americans seems to be a never ending battle. In his research, Gordon believe that â€Å"the integration of African Americans into the core economy and society is well under way†. (Page 205: , Racial and Ethnic Relations Census Update, Ninth Edition, 9E by Clairece Booher R Feagin and Joe R. Feagin, Pearson)This indicates simply that the full migration of different races, though thought to be fixed many years ago, still has many small details to be drawn out. Every person whom goes to school learns about the horrible way that African Americans were treated before any slavery laws were abolished. It is a part of any history class at an early age. Every child in America should be able to answer simple questions such as what was Jim Crow segregation. Could this be that years down the road history is repeating itself only with another race, which race will it be? Will it be all of them? Will it be illegal immigrants? African Americans though were willing to fight for what they believed they had a right to, they stood up and protected themselves and many dies fighting for what they believe in, which is the exact way that Americans are known to live their lives. That quality in itself is one of the most solid reasons as to why African Americans are treated equally in America now as opposed to having different drinking fountains and bathrooms and having to sit in the back of the bus. Many of the challenges facing African Americans today are more subtle and involve a struggle that is more within the African American community than without. Many of these challenges involve fighting negative stereotypes that were born from hip hop videos or the misuse of power and authority by well-known figures in the African American community. The struggle involves pushing against institutional barriers that have been strengthened by those in favor of maintaining a historical precedent or the status quo. For example, it oftentimes seems easier for city leaders to support the new school district that educates the suburban community rather than funding the struggling inner city schools. And simply because an organization has never had an African American leader, does not mean that it never should. Finally, the struggle involves a continued determination to resist an apathetic attitude toward the problems in the African American community. In many instances, it is not the opinionated few who determine the overall outcome, but the indifference of the majority who are usually directly affected by the decision that they fail to be a part of. Discrimination is described as the actions carried out by members of dominant groups, or their representatives, that have a differential and harmful effect on member of subordinate racial or ethnic groups. Since times of racial issues the word discrimination can be used for other things also. Many people even in the year 2013 are being discriminated for physical or mental differences too. There is so much hate in the United States yet and many people are not aware of it. Discrimination due to skin tone, physical or mental differences can have long tern effects on a person and often cause, like in the Asian cultures, attempts at suicide. These are actions that can be avoided if people would just educate themselves on the hate that is still in the world. How to cite Racial Ethnic Groups in the United States, Papers

Business Use the Unconventional Strategies -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Business Use The Unconventional Strategies? Answer: Introdcucation The mission statement of delta hedge fund management lies at the heart of the economy. In this, the organization aims at providing the best products for the market. The ability to provide the best quality of the market is a principle that is ingrained in the culture of the organization and provides the platform to serve the community. The variety of products provided for the market meet most of the demands of the public and therefore serves to improve the public relations in comparison to the other organizations. Furthermore, the organization considers the sensitivity level of the market in term of prices and the demand for a commodity before deciding on the future and final prices of a commodity that will be distributed to these different markets. Our Vision Delta hedge fund management is founded on the most of strict guidelines which serve to propel the organization to greater heights. Furthermore, the employees are devoted to the working principles which serve to ensure that the ability to engage the market with unique products is achieved. By this engagement, the organization knows how to interact with the market and therefore provides commodities and goods that are well received. The products and services The organization offers a variety of recreational goods and services with retail stores available including bike shops and sports shops. The commodities fit the needs and the specifics of the customer but most importantly are customized to meet the requirements of the whole market. The determining factor on the proportion of the market that is covered by products mainly revolves around the demand (Tan, n.d.). In line with this, the discount stores are the most dominant and later on followed by the sports stores. The bike shops cover the smallest percentage of the market but are effective in ensuring that the market demand is satisfied. Company structure Delta hedge fund is a company on the rise and has been continually satisfying the market since its inception. There are various companies that are in competition with delta hedge fund management but the management structure of the company is fully equipped to ensure that the company is in operation and that it keeps the rival organizations at bay. Companies that employ people based on credentials, such as delta hedge, tend to be very successful (Thomas Karodia, 2014). It is important to understand that delta hedge is within the larger delta investment management group. At the helm of the company is Mr. Atkenson.Mr. Atkenson can be described as a simple and brilliant individual who has a vast knowledge of economics and business. Therefore, he is well equipped to oversee any turmoil within the companys finances and furthermore ensures that the profits are kept within the desirable limit while guaranteeing the customers the satisfaction that they so much deserve and want. He is a founding principal of the organization which just indicates the zeal for excellence. Before Mr.Atkenson was involved in the founding and development of the organization, he had worked in previous organizations that generally entails the same activities as Delta Hedge. Initially, he was a managing director at a bank. In this, he managed the Bank of America before he moved on to delta force capital. At delta force capital, Mr.Atkenson played a bigger role in the new position of partner and portfolio manager. All this engagement with various markets and sectors have enabled him to have an amount of experience which goes beyond 20 years. Furthermore, this has enabled him to be among the people who help build the institutional sales team that is found on the west coast sides of America. All this has enabled him to serve the position better. Finally, the educational credentials of Mr.Atkenson are impressive as his management of the organization. He has managed to obtain a bachelors of economics from Harvard and has been able to obtain a master on the same from the Stanford University Graduate School of business. Second in line is Andrew Houghton.Mr. Andrew is also a founding principal of the organization and has worked alongside Mr.Atkenson at delta investment for a very long time. The understanding between the two individuals is a factor that has steered the organization to greater heights as in line with the vision and the mission statements. In this regard and like Mr.Atkenson, Mr. Andrew has 20 years of experience working in this line of work. In line with the work experience of Mr. Andrew, he first served in the position of senior sales at the bank of American securities. later on, he moved to managing position serving as the managing director at think equity.His movement and cofounding of the organization came after serving as the portfolio manager, just like me.Atkenson, in delta force capital. The company has been thrust forth by the understanding between the co-founders of the company and the working experience they both have. In this, they have a combined working experience of about 40 years. The educational background of Mr. Andrew is very much like that of Mr.Atkenson and revolves around economics. However, unlike the latter, he only has a bachelor of economics that was obtained from Boston University.In addition to this, he has done various charitable works such as serving as a peace volunteer in West Africa. Finally, Mr. Andrew is dedicated to the knowledge having written his own book and also an editor in the investment newsletter. The management of the company comprises of consultants and Ms. Jackie Patterson is one such consultant to the company. Consultation is a very important aspect in the management and operations of the company and therefore any person and/or party employed by an organization in the position of consultancy must be very knowledgeable (Boxall Purcell, 2011). It is of particular concern that the two co-founders have managed to acquire the services of Ms. Patterson who has an array of tasks and knowledge underneath her sleeves. She has over 20 years of software that revolve around computers and technology but has knowledge going to over 8 years working in the investment industry. More to this is the fact that Ms.pattrson is also an entrepreneur having founded her own organization by the name of dba backtesting report. The organization deals with mountain trading. In line with her working experience in consultation, she has worked with various organizations mainly in the position of consulta ncy. One such organization is fidelity investments and this can be attributed to her educational background. Ms.Patterson managed to obtain a degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of Colorado. Budget Allocation The budgeting strategy employed by each organization determines the short term as well as the long-term sustainability issues and attainment of the goals (Carroll Buchholtz, 2014). This being the guiding principle of delta hedge budgeting, a lot of measures and steps have been taken to ensure that the amount of money disbursed to the different sectors is able to cater for the operations which in turn means an increase in the profit margins of the organization. According to the investigations conducted, the key products have different forecasted as well as actual demands.The adventure products have the highest forecasted demands while the Adv2 commodities have the actual highest demand. The third and fourth products which are gear up and furious have slightly lower forecasted and actual demands and this has to be considered in the budgetary allocation. Therefore, in line with the budgetary allocation and distribution, the most important determinants are the actual and forecasted values (Joseph, 2017). Furthermore, the closing inventory also plays a significant part in the framework to be employed. The details of the commodities are provided in a number of reports such as the market summary, multiform products unit sales, multifarm product awareness, product sales among others. Finally, the forecasted, as well as the actual values, will determine the amount of money allocated to the public relations and advertisement sector with the main aim to improve on the sales that are still behind while still keeping the other products within the demand criteria. Marketing Strategy Every company or organization has to employ a marketing strategy that can meet the set goals and specification without compromising on the vision statement and/or the mission (Day Evans, 2015). However, marketing depends on the budgeting as well as the effort put behind the scenes to ensure that each strategy is successful (Emerson, 2015). The main agenda of marketing is to increase the coverage of an organization in the market by mainly attracting new customers but at the same time maintaining the previous ones (Feloni, 2015). It is, therefore, an intense process that requires wit and understanding. As with Delta hedge, the main strategies employed involve the use of media.Therefore, the organization employs the different forms which include magazine, television, and radios.However, the strategies employed have to consider the marketing information (Thai, 2015) such as the size of the segment and the market, the product dimension sensitivities, the preference, branding and the media channels to be used (Angeles, 2017). The marketing strategy to be employed in any case, therefore, has to be under intense scrutiny with the determinant factors the coverage as well as the product in consideration (Dudovskiy, 2012). One case scenario is the media channels and the viewing habits. In case of delta hedge fund, it has been noted that the different segments have different rates at which they can be achieved with the different channels. The segments include: youth, mountain, road, max advertising and max PR. on the other hand, the media channels under consideration are the television, internet, and magazines. The organization has categorized and reflected on the percentage used and the accompanying factors. Another aspect that may be looked into is the branding and in this, it is worthwhile to note that corporate branding is able to generate a humongous amount of traffic to a particular commodity which in turn will ensure that it thrives in the market (Furtwengler, 2015). The fact that advertising, public rel ations, and the branding all work in a synchronized function to ensure that a particular commodity thrives in the market is also an important aspect to consider in the context of marketing strategy. The Marketing Model Marketing is based on the profitability of the individual commodities with more emphasis on those likely to generate more revenue than the rest (Laudon Traver, 2014). However, according to the marketing strategy employed and the coverage, the expenditure can vary between $ 0 and $ 2.8 million. The minimal expenditure occurs when the coverage of the television, internet, and magazines is at 0% while the $2.8 million expenditure occurs when the coverage of the television, internet, and magazine is at 44.5%, 48.5% and 41.4% respectively. By drawing the graphs of the three advertising and PR channels, the organization is able to select an optimal channel through which the market may be covered. In trying to ensure that the operations of the organizations are sustainable (Handford, 2010) and well managed (Ferell Fraedrich, 2015), scheduled meetings are an important assessment tool (Peterson, et al., n.d.). The meetings are mainly as a result of the board discussions but take the various matters into consideration. The meetings held in this case considered the public relations and marketing strategy, the budgetary allocation, the profits and the turnover and the commodities available. The first meeting pertains the public relations and the marketing strategy. The ability of the company to maintain profits while at the same time ensuring that the advertising strategies employed are efficient depends on the budgetary allocations. Therefore, a detailed review of the budget, as well as the channels used, was proposed. The meeting pertaining the budgetary allocation mainly engulfed the aspects of advertising and PR, new commodities and the profits. The development of new commodities to satisfy the ever increasing market may only be achieved by increasing the amount allocated to this sector. Furthermore, the advertisement and PR, as discussed before, will need to be looked into in terms of the budget. Finally, the profitability and turnover of the organization were looked into detail in terms of the current ordered inventory, ordered, forecasted and the closing. All this would provide a blueprint for the profitability. References Angeles, S., 2017. Beyond powerpoint: presentation tools for small businesses. Business news daily. Boxall, P. Purcell, J., 2011. strategy and human resource management. s.l.:s.n. Carroll, A. Buchholtz, A., 2014. Business and society: ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management. s.l.:s.n. Day, D. Evans, M., 2015. 10 Key Steps To Expanding Your Business Globally. [Online] Available at: www.forbes.com/2015/03/04/10-Key-Steps-To-Expanding-Your-Business-Globally Dudovskiy, J., 2012. impact of communication technology on business. Emerson, m., 2015. ^ tips for managing small business finances. [Online] Available at: www.succeedasyourownboss.com Feloni, R., 2015. Google's Hr boss shares 10 secrets to running a company everyone wants to work for. [Online] Available at: amp.businessinsider.com/google-laszlo-block-management-tips-2015-5 Ferell, O. C. Friedrich, J., 2015. Business Ethics: Ethical decision making and cases. s.l.:s.n. Furtwangler, D., 2015. Become a Maverick: GrowYour Business Using the Unconventional Strategies of World-Class Companies.. s.l.:s.n. Handford, M., 2010. The language of business meetings. s.l.:s.n. Joseph, C., 2017. factors that may cause a change in an organization. Small business. Laudon, K. Traver, C., 2014. E-commerce: Business, Technology, Society.. s.l.:s.n. Peterson, S. D., Jaret, P. E. Schenck, b. F., n.d. How to identify opportunities and threats in business planning. [Online] Available at: www.dummies.com/business/start-a-business/business-plans/How to identify opportunities and threats in business planning Tan, J. S., n.d. Trends In Organizational Change. [Online] Available at: referenceforbusiness.com/management/tr-z/trends-in-organizational-change.html [Accessed 17 August 2017]. Thai, V. V., 2015. Information technology as Competitive Advantage: the role of human, business and technology resources. Maritime economics and logistics. Thomas, S. Karodia, A. M., 2014. HUMAN RESOURCES PRACTICES AT GOOGLE IN TERMS OF SOME, MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE: EXPLORING THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT. Arabian Journal of business and management review.

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The advertiser wants to know how much you earn in your present job. This is a managerial position. To stay in this job, you need to renew your contract annually. You could get this job without having a degree or diploma. Before you check your answers, go to pages 8–9. TEST ONE READING PART ONE 7 A Lecturers in Tourism, Business Management or Media Studies required for the Rosas Excellence Institute. The posts are on the basis of a one-year contract renewable. Candidates need a degree or diploma in a relevant subject and five years’ teaching experience. Send CV with covering handwritten letter and details of current salary. B Automotive Engineer to take charge of busy Vehicle Maintenance Workshop. The job involves working as part of the management team, and in particular organizing and supervising work schedules and assisting with staff training. A higher qualification in mechanical engineering and previous experience of heavy goods vehicles essential. We will write a custom essay sample on Other or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Send career details with photograph and three professional references. C Medical Representative to sell pharmaceutical products to doctors and pharmacies. You need to have a degree in a relevant subject, preferably in biology or chemistry, experience in sales/marketing, and an ability to get on with people. The job offers an excellent salary, benefits and career opportunities. Applications should include CV and mention of expected salary. D Junior Officer (Accounts) to help with overseas customer accounts. The successful applicant will be bilingual (in English and Spanish), and will have at least three years’ relevant experience. We offer a competitive salary, holiday allowance, bonus scheme and free medical insurance. For further details and an application form, phone or write to Personnel Officer Provenza SA. 8 TEST ONE READING PART ONE FURTHER PRACTICE AND GUIDANCE EXAM INFORMATION Part One of the reading test is a matching task and consists of four short texts on a related theme (or sometimes a single text divided into four sections). The texts may include: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ product descriptions advertisements for goods or services job advertisements information notices warning notices short product reviews. You are given seven statements and you have to say to which of the four texts each statement refers. A DETAILED STUDY The secret of success in this test is careful reading and attention to detail. The same information may occur in more than one text, so you have to look carefully to see which information matches the statement. For example, four business cards might have the following details: Card A Card B Card C Card D name name name name job title job title – job title office tel office tel office tel – home tel – home tel home tel mobile – – mobile email email – – If the statement refers to the card that has a job title, mobile number and email, you can see that only Card A has all three. 1 Read the information about four shops on page 9, and then answer the questions. More than one hop may fit the description. Which shop (or shops) will you visit if: 1 2 3 4 5 you want some fresh vegetables and you want to pay by credit card? Wednesday is the only day you are free to do your shopping? you need some tinned tomatoes and just have a credit card? you like to shop early in the morning for fresh fruit and vegetables? you canâ€⠄¢t get to the shop till the evening and you want fresh fruit? FURTHER PRACTICE AND GUIDANCE TEST ONE READING PART ONE 9 Shop A Opening times: 06. 00–15. 00, Mon–Sat Sells: fresh fruit and vegetables Accepts: cash only Shop B Opening times: 08. 00–22. 0, 7 days a week Sells: frozen goods, dry and tinned (canned) goods Accepts: cash or cheque, credit cards Shop C Opening times: 08. 00–17. 00, Mon–Sat (closed all day Wed) Sells: dry and tinned (canned) goods Accepts: cash or cheque Shop D Opening times: 10. 00–22. 00, Mon, Wed, Fri only Sells: fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen goods, dry and tinned (canned) goods Accepts: cash or cheque, credit cards 2 Now look at the four job advertisements on page 7. Underline all references to: 1 2 3 4 5 qualifications experience salary other terms (benefits) of contract method of application Now check your answers and then look back at your answers to Part One of the reading test. 10 READING PART TWO TEST ONE PART TWO Questions 8–12 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Read the article below about starting your own business. Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps. For each gap 8–12, mark one letter (A–G). Do not use any letter more than once. There is an example at the beginning (0). STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS The first two things to do if you are starting your own business are to find an accountant and talk to your bank manager. Your accountant will help you to draw up a business G plan to show what borrowings you need from your bank. (0) .. . While you are engaged in these consultations, it is a good idea to find out whether you are entitled to any government subsidies or similar financial help. (8) .. . Check too whether training grants are available for yourself or people you employ. Once you have completed these preliminary tasks, there are a number of specific things you then need to do. Doing them in the right way and at the right time can save you a lot of money, so make sure you know what to do. Perhaps the most important is to tell the Inland Revenue that you have left your job and have started your own business. (9) .. . The Inland Revenue will also need to amend their records to show that you are now self-employed. Next, you should think about registering for Value Added Tax (VAT). Generally, if your sales exceed a certain amount you have to charge VAT on them. (10) .. . Consider the consequences of employing people in your business. As soon as you start to take on employees, you will need to establish proper procedures. These include drawing up proper contracts of employment. You will also need to get in touch with your local tax office to register your employees. Lastly, as part of becoming an employer of others, you must become familiar with a number of legal issues. Once you have more than a minimum number of people on your payroll, you will need to comply with Health and Safety requirements. (11) .. . One issue that you should think about once your business expands and your staff grow in numbers is equal opportunity. In particular, you should consider drawing up a company policy on equal opportunity. 12) .. . If you need more information on legal or other matters relating to employment, contact your local Chamber of Commerce, which will either be able to help you, or will put you in touch with organizations who can. TEST ONE READING PART TWO 11 Example: 0 A B C D E F G A It is a good idea, when considering this issue, to ask your local Fire Authority to check your work premises in order to ensur e that they comply with current fire regulations. Even if your sales are under that figure, it may be worthwhile registering voluntarily because you could recover what you ave been charged on your business purchases. If you are new to this, talk to your local Chamber of Commerce about placing suitable advertisements in the local press. For example, you might be in a less prosperous region where grants are made to encourage the startup of small businesses. You may be due a repayment of income tax deducted while you were in employment, so do this as soon as possible. If this includes a commitment to employ disabled people, you will need to ensure that your premises are equipped to accommodate them, for example with ramps for wheelchairs, special provision of toilets, and so on. Once this is done, your bank manager will need to review the plan and discuss any overdraft facility you might need. B C D E F G 12 READING PART THREE TEST ONE PART THREE Questions 13–18 †¢ †¢ Read the article below about leadership and the questions on the opposite page. For each question 13–18, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) for the answer you choose. FIRST TIME LEADER T 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 aking on a leadership role for the first time is tough. There is always pressure on you to do the right things, and to be seen to be doing them. But, unless there’s something that needs sorting out urgently, your first few months in the role will be better spent in understanding the people and the situation. One easy mistake to make is to think that you, as leader, the top person with the top salary, have the sole responsibility and the know-how to solve every single problem yourself. And you can be sure that others will encourage you to think that way, since it takes the pressure off them, and it satisfies their natural urge to leave the solving of problems to others. Instead try using existing resources to identify the current position and the ways to change it for the better. Start by consulting widely, beginning with the people who now report to you direct, as these are most likely to be the people with the expertise and experience to tackle some of the problems that are identified. A series of one-to-one meetings, though time-consuming, will be worthwhile, especially if they are structured to provide you with the information you need to make decisions later on. Two useful questions are: ‘What do you see as the biggest problem facing the department now? and ‘What one change would make the most difference to our success? ’ From their answers you can build up a picture of your people, as well as of the issues. Some will consider the needs of the department as a whole, while others may just concentrate on their own particular concerns. You will also have had personal contact with each person and can judge who you will work well with in the future. Overlap in their responses is a useful pointer to the priorities needing your attention. If there is no duplication in 45 problems or solutions, it means that you 0 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 have inherited a disunited group which will need some team-building and restructuring. If no clear picture emerges, it means that your people are part of the problem: you will need to make them aware of this. At the same time, consult with customers. Be open to criticizm and to praise. Compare the views of your department with this external viewpoint and see where the biggest gaps are. This will help to identify areas for action. While you are data-gathering, have a look at the figures. Apply different measures from the standard ones. You probably lack knowledge about which company products are profitable, and you recognize that staff costs are a key factor. So, ask for an analysis of profitability per employee. There will be some grumbling that the new figures involve extra work, but the analysis will reveal how many and what kind of staff your company really needs. Finally, a key issue for you as a new leader is to establish priorities. If you have done your research well, you will have identified a number of areas for action. Bring your senior team together and tell them about your research findings, both the problems and the suggested solutions. Together, plot the solutions on a big graph, with one axis relating to the amount of difference the action would make; and the other axis to the ease of implementation. This will prompt useful discussion on the issues and the means of resolving them. In selecting priorities, you might well gain volunteers to tackle some of the tasks. Agree actions, assign responsibilities and establish dates for completion and progress reviews. TEST ONE READING PART THREE 13 13 Employees encourage their boss to believe that he or she should solve all the problems, because they A B C D really don’t want to have to solve the problems themselves. elieve that the boss is paid to solve problems. know that the boss has a lot more information about the issues than they do. feel that they shouldn’t have to solve problems created by other people. 14 How should you structure your first meetings according to the writer? A B C D Explain to each member of staff the problems facing his or her departm ent. See people individually and ask each one the same questions. Ask each member of staff to help in setting priorities for action. Bring everyone into the discussion to get an agreed plan of action. 15 Getting the same answers from different people during your research tells you that A B C D the people who are under you clearly do not work well together. a lot of your department’s problems are caused by the people themselves. you have identified the most urgent issues needing your attention. your department is working well despite a number of problems. 16 It is useful to talk to customers about the performance of your department because A B C D they are likely to be more honest and open than your own staff. it makes your customers feel that their opinions are important to you. t gives you an opportunity to criticize or praise them. you can evaluate what they say against what your own staff told you. 17 What might you learn from the kind of financial analysis that the writer recommends? A B C D that you need to employ fewer people, or people with different skills that you can increase profitability by using different measures that this kind of financial analysis involves a lo t of extra work that financial data must be combined with other information to give a full picture 18 According to the writer, using a graph as part of the meeting with senior taff is a good way to A B C D set deadlines for completing the work and reporting back. give feedback to your staff on the results of your research. get your staff talking about the issues and what to do about them. show which members of staff should tackle the various problems. Before you check your answers, go to pages 14–15. 14 TEST ONE READING PART THREE FURTHER PRACTICE AND GUIDANCE EXAM INFORMATION Part Three of the reading test has a text of 450–550 words followed by six four-option multiple choice items. For Questions 13–18, you have to choose the option which best matches the information in the text. This part of the test is designed to see how carefully you read the text, and how well you are able to match the correct option to the relevant information in the text. The texts are all on business-related topics and deal with such issues as: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ economics and finance trade and industry starting up or running a business management careers working conditions working practices office technology. A DETAILED STUDY 1 Read the text and answer these general questions. 2 3 4 5 Will the employees talk mainly about their department’s problems or about their own problems? What do you learn if you get similar information and views from several employees? What do you learn if each employee gives you a different picture? What does it mean if you really learn very little from your employees? Apart from interviewing staff, what other sources of information does the writer suggest for the leader? 2 The questions below will help you understand the text better and make sure you choose the correct options for questions 13–18. 2 3 4 5 6 What does the phrase since it takes the pressure off them mean? (lines 14–15) What does the expression one-to-one mean? (line 25) Who or what does the word their refer to in line 42? Explain the phrase overlap in their responses is a useful pointer (lines 42–43). What do the words the biggest gaps refer to? (line 55) What will an analysis of profitability per employee tell you? (lines 63–64) What does this refer to in line 79? Explain the phrase This will prompt useful discussion †¦ (line 79). FURTHER PRACTICE AND GUIDANCE TEST ONE READING PART THREE 15 3 This exercise will help you become more familiar with the text and practise some useful expressions. Underline the following phrases in the text and explain the meaning of the words in italics. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 something that needs sorting out urgently (line 5) you have the sole responsibility (lines 10–11) the know-how to solve every single problem (line 11) their natural urge to leave the solving of problems to others (lines 15–16) try using existing resources (line 17) identify the current position (line 18) tackle some of the problems (line 24) time-consuming line 26) build up a picture (line 34) others may just concentrate on their own particular concerns (lines 37–39) you will need to make them aware of this (line 50) see where the biggest gaps are (line 55) Apply different measures from the standard ones (lines 58–59) establish priorities (line 69) the ease of implementation (line 78) Now check your answers and then look back at y our answers to Part Three of the reading test. 16 READING PART FOUR TEST ONE PART FOUR Questions 19–33 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Read the article below about claiming business travel expenses. Choose the best word to fill each gap from A, B, C or D on the opposite page. For each question 19–33, mark one letter (A, B, C or D). There is an example at the beginning (0). BUSINESS TRAVEL EXPENSES B ritain’s business travellers need to work as many as 3. 5 million extra days B every year to (0) .. the cost of unaccounted-for travel expenses, according to Visa International. Business travellers from six European countries (19) .. that they were left out of pocket by nearly ? 23 per month through forgetting to (20) .. ack business travel expenditure, or losing expense (21) .. . Visa (22) .. interviews with European business travellers in order to ascertain their (23) .. towards travel expenditure and expense reporting. The research (24) .. that executives find it easier to (25) .. their expenses if they use a company payment card for most of their expenditure. The survey found that many British business travellers have to fund their (26) .. completely out of their ow n pockets and wait to be (27) .. by their company. Around half said that they were not given cash prior to going away on business, and over 80% said that they had to (28) .. on using their personal credit cards. In contrast, Spanish and Italian companies generally (29) .. their executives with cash. Approximately two thirds of business travellers from these countries said their company gave them cash in (30) .. . Getting your money back is further (31) .. by the fact that almost 20% of European companies refuse to give a refund to employees who cannot produce valid evidence of expenditure. Companies are losing out too. The survey shows that British business travellers (32) .. 7. 8 million working days every year filling out their expense forms! But a solution is in sight. The present situation requires the business traveller to take cash to pay for incidental expenses. However, leading card providers are developing ‘plastic cash’, a card which can be used like a debit card. In this way, the (33) .. of using cash can be avoided. TEST ONE READING PART FOUR 17 Example: 0 0 A accept A B C D B cover C solve D deduct 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 A assessed A claim A invoices A conducted A opinion A exposed A run A trips A returned A count A supply A advance A prevented A pass A embarrassment B valued B ask B bills B produced B behaviour B displayed B manage B tours B rewarded B call B equip B case B hindered B bring B discomfort C estimated C demand C tickets C led C conduct C revealed C control C voyages C recompensed C decide C involve C settlement C interrupted C spend C inconvenience D analyzed D require D receipts D caused D attitude D uncovered D adopt D excursions D reimbursed D rely D treat D arrears D obtained D use D disturbance 8 READING PART FIVE TEST ONE PART FIVE Questions 34–45 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Read the article below about answering machines. In most of the lines 34–45, there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect or does not fit in with the sense of the text. Some lines, however, are correct. If a line is correct, write CORRECT. If there is an extra word i n the line, write the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS. The exercise begins with two examples, (0) and (00). Examples 0 00 A C O R R E C T ANSWERING MACHINES 0 00 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 We all rely on answering machines and voice mail. Yet a research shows that they are among the most hated things in business life. What’s worse, you can easily upset callers with a bad message. Here it is how to improve your message. First, state your name or company. It is frustrating enough not to have speak to someone without wondering if you have even so reached the right person. Ask callers to leave their name, reason for calling and phone number. Thirdly, if you leave out an alternative number, say it slowly. It’s also a good idea to let people know when you will pick up your messages. Next, make sure of the bleep sounds immediately after the outgoing message. It is irritating for callers to have to start their message all over there again because the bleep interrupted them. Researchers say that 7 out of 10 callers do not leave messages, so far it may be better to get a phone answering service to handle your calls. In the end, it will cost you too much less to pay an agency to handle your callers than to lose a client but who is unable to get through to you.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor

How to Read Literature Like a ProfessorIf you want to learn how to read literature like a professor, the main ingredient to a great composition is a thesis statement. You need to find something that will set you apart from other readers. This may sound a little complicated, but it is not. In this sample essay, you will use your thesis statement to give your reader an idea of what you mean by the text and the kind of thought process you are going through.How to read literature like a professor is to allow your reader to come away with an image of who you are. This will take some time to develop, but you can get started by developing the following elements into your style statement. Just think about the tenor of your conversation as you present it, and adapt it to fit what you want your reader to feel when they read your work.Tone and Voice: It is important to keep the tone and voice of your conversation consistent with the tone and voice of your prose. Remember that it is your reader' s style and personal response to your writing that will be the most important part of the interaction between you and your reader. The tone you choose is going to speak volumes about your personality.Character: The character of your dialogue and writing should go hand in hand. You need to convey your character in the form of the dialogue. You will have a good idea of how your reader is feeling if you take the time to communicate a sense of your character with your dialogue.How well can you relate to your reader? Are you a student yourself, or do you have enough knowledge of the subject to be interesting? Learn about the way you relate to your audience and then incorporate that into your research for your work.The main point of the article is to provide information about a topic that has been discussed by others. The major lesson that your readers should take away from your essay is the idea that your text can teach them something valuable. Find the part of your writing that will mov e your reader and then embed it into your text. Then, take that idea and follow it up with some argument and proofreading, or you may lose the reader.Your final product needs to inspire your reader. Do you feel that you would enjoy doing the work involved? Then develop a sense of direction and a reason for it, and keep coming back to the same goal. If you love to tell stories and have some confidence in your ability to write an interesting piece of writing, you can always go back and edit your work to make it better.This sample essay will give you an idea of how to read literature like a professor. If you want to make a living writing essays, you need to be comfortable with your topic and have a certain level of expertise in it, as well as an easy flow that makes your writing appear as if it is written by an expert.

Spanish development Essay Example

Spanish development Essay Example Spanish development Essay Spanish development Essay Essay Topic: The Lottery and Other Stories Special report: Brazil Grounded Having come tantalizingly close to taking off, Brazil has stalled. Helen Joyce explains what it must do to get airborne again Seep 28th 2013 | From the print edition IN JUNE THIS year Brazil was struck by an outbreak of mass protests as sudden as a tropical storm. Brutal policing of demonstrations against a rise in bus fares elicited a wave of solidarity and brought more than a million marchers to the streets on subsequent nights. It also gave vent to previously unsuspected public fury over rising inflation, high taxes, poor public services and political corruption. Even football, a Brazilian passion, became a target of the protesters ire. Many carried placards contrasting their governments lavish spending on stadiums for next years World Cup with the dire state of the rest of the countrys infrastructure. The change in political weather came after almost two decades of brightening skies. Since 1994, when hyperinflation was tamed with a new currency, the real, successive governments have pursued generally sound economic policies and adopted anti-poverty programmed. The economy grew rapidly and inequality declined. The global commodity boom eloped by sucking in Brazilian iron ore and agricultural produce, and in 2007 Brazil struck vast deposits of deep-sea oil. Being chosen to host both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics seemed due recognition that its days as a chronic underachiever were behind it. But Braziers economy did not play ball. Having grown by 7. 5% in 2010, the fastest rate for a quarter-century, it slowed to 2. 7% in 2011 and a mere 0. 9% in 2012. This year will see a tepid recovery at best. Inflation is sticking at around 6%. Pessimists recall that the one period of impressive growth within living memory, in the sass, ended in chaos and hyperinflation. In recent years Brazil has been seen as one of the leading emerging-market economies that would help drive global growth in the next half-century. But many now wonder whether it has managed nothing more than a v ¶o De galling (chicken flight), a brief, unsustainable growth spurt followed by a rapid return to earth. During Braziers economic miracle of the sass it was the rich who captured most of the gains. At the time Edema Bach, an economist, invented a new label for it, Believed?a combination of a small, rich country, like Belgium, and a large, poor one, like India. Public education, health care ND roads were provided for the Belgian part. Those living in India did without and expected nothing better. Brazil is still one of the worlds most unequal countries. Its murder rate rivals Mexico. Public health care is a lottery. Fewer than half its pupils leave school fully literate. But it is no longer Believed. In the past quarter-century a better labor market and a basic social safety net have cut poverty by two-thirds. In the past decade the income of the poorest 10% of Brazilian has almost doubled in real terms, whereas that of the richest 10% has grown by less than a fifth. Braziers Gin coefficient, a measure that expresses income inequality, is at a 50-year low. But there is a sense in which Brazil is still Believed, says Marcelo Inner, the president of PEA, a government-funded think-tank: A rich country thats growing like Belgium? population of mm now belongs to a new lower-middle class, living in households with a monthly income per person between 291 and 1,019 realms ($127-446). Most of these gains in income have come from earnings, though government transfers have made an important contribution, especially in the poor north-east. Tens of millions of Brazilian now live in more solid houses equipped with cookers, fridges and washing machines. Many own cars. Children of illiterate domestic servants have Jobs in the formal economy and study for degrees at night. But when the new middle classes step outside their doors, traces of sass Believed are still all around. The number of cars in circulation has more than doubled in a decade, but most roads are still unpaved and few new ones have been built. Public transport consists mainly of packed, decrepit buses. Air traffic has also more than doubled in the past ten years, but airports have barely been touched. Children attend school in two, sometimes three shifts a day. Two-fifths of Brazilian are not covered by local primary health care. When life was a struggle for survival, the economy and Jobs were the main concerns. Now that people are a little better off, the parlous state of infrastructure and public services is at the front of their minds. The government has tried but largely failed to respond to growing demand for public goods. Many of the big infrastructure projects included in its Growth Acceleration Programmer announced in 2007 are running years behind schedule and way above budget. Dilemma Rousseau, the president, appears at last to have accepted that Brazil will need private-sector involvement to get the roads, railways, ports and airports it needs, but her conversion has been late and grudging. Concessions to run three airports were auctioned at the beginning of 2012, but auctions for more airports, as well as ports, roads and railways, were delayed while the government quibbled over the terms. The dangers of complacency Many Brazilian politicians seem to believe that the protests were simply growing pains, but they are being unduly complacent. They should have realized that the new diddle classes would want decent public services, commutes without epic traffic jams and elected representatives who were visibly working towards these ends. Several parties have proposed electoral reforms to make politicians more responsive to voters, but they all want different things, so reaching consensus will be difficult. A less favorable economic climate is now making it even harder to meet the voters increasingly vocal demands. The slowdown in growth has caused a downturn in investment, which last year was Just 18. 4% of GAP, not enough to lead a recovery or to build the infrastructure Brazil needs. Ms Rousseau has been hectoring businessmen to invest more, ignoring the fact that it is mainly government obstructionism and heavy-handedness that hold them back. And commodity prices seem unlikely to bail out Braziers economy with another growth spurt. The country has also blown its chance to cash in on its demographic bonus. Its birth rate has declined steeply over the past few decades but it still has a young population, with many people currently of working age, and a relatively small number of defendants at either end of the age scale. Unfortunately most of this bonus is going on a crazily generous pension system. That will soon put an even bigger strain caveats, this special report will argue that, given the will, there is scope for the social and economic advances of the past two decades to continue. Braziers agribusiness has made huge productivity gains and offers opportunities for further growth. Innovative consumer firms are catering to the new middle classes and are starting to expand abroad. Braziers politicians have been put on notice that todays young adults, better educated than the previous generation, will be less willing to accept corrupt, venal politics and more insistent on getting decent public services in return for the gig taxes they pay. The way to fund such services is not to increase public spending, which at 38. % of GAP is already far higher than in comparable countries, but to get growth going again. To achieve that, the government will have to resume the reforms it dropped during the good times: trimming pension benefits, cutting red tape, lowering and simplifying taxes and updating labor laws. Successful infrastructure auctions, too, would help get investment back on track, and abandoning anti-profit rhetoric would improve business sentiment. But the most urgent problem that Brazil deeds to tackle is a sharp loss of competitiveness. Braziers future Has Brazil blown it? A stagnant economy, a bloated state and mass protests mean Dilemma Rousseau must change course Seep 28th 2013 | From the print edition FOUR years ago this newspaper put on its cover a picture of the statue of Christ the Redeemer ascending like a rocket from ROI De Jeaneries Cordovan mountain, under the rubric Brazil takes off. The economy, having stabilized under Fernando Henries Cards in the mid-sass, accelerated under Luis Len ¤CIO Lull dad Silva in the early sass. It barely stumbled after the Lehman collapse in 2008 and in 2010 grew y 7. %, its strongest performance in a quarter-century. To add to the magic, Brazil was awarded both next years football World Cup and the summer 2016 Olympics. On the strength of all that, Lull persuaded voters in the same year to choose as president his technocratic prop ©g ©e, Dilemma Rousseau. Since then the country has come back down to earth with a bump. In 2012 the economy grew by 0. 9%. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in June in the biggest protests for a generation, complaining of high living costs, poor public services and the greed and corruption of politicians. Many have now lost faith in the idea that their country was headed for orbit and diagnosed Just another vivo De galling (chicken flight), as they dubbed previous short-lived economic spurts. There are excuses for the deceleration. All emerging economies have slowed. Some of the impulses behind Braziers previous boom?the pay-off from ending runaway inflation and opening up to trade, commodity price rises, big increases in credit and consumption?have played themselves out. And many of Lulls policies, notably the Bolas Familial that helped lift mm people out of poverty, were admirable. The worlds most burdensome tax code But Brazil has done far too little to reform its government in the boom years. It is not alone in this: India had a similar chance, and missed it. But Braziers public sector imposes a particularly heavy burden on its private sector, as our special report 58% to salaries and the government has got its spending priorities upside down. Compare pensions and infrastructure. The former are absurdly generous. The average Brazilian can look forward to a pension of 70% of final pay at 54. Despite being a young country, Brazil spends as big a share of national income on pensions s southern Europe, where the proportion of old people is three times as big. By contrast, despite the countrys continental dimensions and lousy transport links, its spending on infrastructure is as skimpy as a string bikini. It spends Just 1. 5% of GAP on infrastructure, compared with a global average of 3. 8%, even though its stock of infrastructure is valued at Just 16% of GAP, compared with 71% in other big economies. Rotten infrastructure loads unnecessary costs on businesses. In Matt Gross a soybean farmer spends 25% of the value of his product getting it to a port; the proportion in Iowa is 9%. These problems have accumulated over generations. But Ms Rousseau has been unwilling or unable to tackle them, and has created new problems by interfering far more than the pragmatic Lull. She has scared investors away from infrastructure projects and undermined Braziers hard-won reputation for macroeconomic rectitude by publicly chivvying the Central Bank chief into slashing interest rates. As a result, rates are now having to rise more than they otherwise might to curb persistent inflation. Rather than admit to missing its fiscal targets, the government has resorted to creative accounting. Gross public debt has climbed to 0-70% of GAP, depending on the definition?and the markets do not trust Ms Rousseau. Fortunately, Brazil has great strengths. Thanks to its efficient and entrepreneurial farmers, it is the worlds third-biggest food exporter. Even if the government has made the process slower and costlier than it needed to be, Brazil will be a big oil exporter by 2020. It has several manufacturing Jewels, and is developing a world-class research base in biotechnology, genetic sciences and deep- sea oil and gas technology. The consumer brands that have grown along with the countrys expanding middle class are ready to go abroad. Despite the recent protests, it does not have the social or ethnic divisions that blight other emerging economies, such as India or Turkey. An own goal for Dilemma Fernando? But if Brazil is to recover its vim, it needs to rediscover an appetite for reform. With taxes already taking 36% of GAP?the biggest proportion in the emerging world alongside Christina Fresheners chaotic Argentina?the government cannot look to taxpayers for the extra money it must spend on health care, schools and transport to satisfy the protesters. Instead, it needs to reshape public spending, especially pensions. Second, it must make Brazilian business more competitive and encourage it to invest. The way to do that is not, as the government believes, to protect firms, but to expose them to more foreign competition while moving far more swiftly to eliminate the self-inflicted obstacles they face at home. Braziers import tariffs remain high and its customs procedures are a catalogue of bloody-minded obstructionism. More dynamic Latin American economies have forged networks of bilateral trade deals. Brazil has hidden behind Numerous, a regional block that has dwindled into a leftist talking-shop, and the moribund Doth round of world-trade talks. It needs to open up. Third, Brazil urgently needs political reform. The proliferation of parties, whose only interest is pork and patronage, builds in huge waste at every level of easy: a threshold for seats in Congress and other changes to make legislators more accountable to voters. But getting those who benefit from the current system to agree to change it requires more political skill than Ms Rousseau has shown. In a years time Ms Rousseau faces an election in which she will seek a second four-year term. On her record so far, Braziers voters have little reason to give her one. But she has time to cake a start on the reforms needed, by trimming red tape, merging ministries and curbing public spending. Brazil is not doomed to flop: if Ms Rousseau puts her hand on the throttle there is still a chance that it could take off again. From the print edition: Leaders Politics A rough ride for Rousseau But much could still change in the year to the next election Seep 28th 2013 | From the print edition BEFORE THE PROTESTS June Dilemma Rousseau of the workers party (OPT) seemed a shoo-in for a second presidential term after the elections in October 2014. Back in March this year 65% of voters approved of her government, a better mid-term wowing than for either Fernando Henries Cards, the architect of the inflation- busting Real Plan in the sass, or Luis Len ¤CIO Lull dad Silva, the former trade-unionist who succeeded him as president. But Ms Resources post-protest fall has been equally striking. By June her governments approval rating had fallen to 30%, though it rebounded to 38% in September. The sagging polls suggest that Ms Resources support lacked deep roots. Propelled into the presidency by Lull, her mentor, the dour former bureaucrat has never formed a personal connection with the electorate. But mid-term unpopularity need not mean disaster at the polls. Lulls own support suffered a big blow in 2005 after revelations that his party had been buying votes in Congress. Once the ugly stories dried up, he bounced back and was re-elected the following year. Ms Resources biggest advantage is a weak and splintered opposition. A ©CIO Never, the preferred candidate of many in Mr. Cardamoms Party of Brazilian Social Democracy (SODS), can point to two successful terms as governor of Minas Geris, the countrys second most populous state, but the current anti-politics mood has not helped his standing. Joss © Sera, also of the SODS, who lost against Lull in 002 and Ms Rousseau in 2010, wants to challenge Mr. Never for the partys nomination. He is unlikely to succeed, but the attempt may weaken Mr. Never. Eduardo Campus, the business-friendly governor of the north-eastern state of Permanence, looks increasingly likely to run, but his chances are hard to gauge since he is not well known in other regions; and some in his party, which currently supports Ms Rousseau, would prefer not to gamble on a rupture. The fourth of the possible challengers is the only one who seems capable of responding to the mood of the streets, but she is not ready to seize the moment. Marina Silva, who resigned as Lulls environment minister in 2008 and left the OPT over the issue of dam-building in the Amazon, garnered nearly 20% of the vote as the Green Partys presidential candidate in 2010. The child of poor rubber-tapers who learnt to read only as a teenager and put herself through university by working as a maid, she is admired like usual. The latest polls give her 22%. If she did that well in the election, she would force Ms Rousted a run-off. But without backing from a big, established party, she will find it hard to get airtime on television and to run an effective campaign. More worrying for Ms Rousseau than the opposition is friendly fire. Most of the parties in her unwieldy coalition Just want to stay in power. Since taking office she has managed them badly, displaying a mixture of arrogance, inexperience and a perhaps understandable distaste for the unsanitary bargains required to govern Brazil. If her candidacy looks like sinking, those allies will Jump ship without hesitation. Nor is her own partys loyalty guaranteed. It accepted her because she was Lulls choice?and because all the obvious candidates were struck by scandal. Many in the party would eke to see Lull return. He would probably garner more votes than Ms Rousseau. But since stepping down he has said many times that he does not want to run again. Only a total collapse in Ms Resources popularity would change his mind. That still looks unlikely?but it is no longer unimaginable. From the print edition: Special report The economy The price is wrong Why Brazil offers appalling value for money Seep 28th 2013 | From the print edition FROM $30 CHEESE pizzas in S ¤o Paulo to $250-a-night windowless, smelly hotel rooms in ROI, the lasting memory from a visit to Brazil in recent years has been shock t how expensive it is. When Lull came to office in 2003 a dollar bought 3. 5 realms; by mid-2011 it bought Just 1. 53 realms, barely a third of the 2003 figure in real terms, because inflation in Brazil during the period was much higher than in the United States. Since then the exchange rate has fallen to 2. 3 realms to the dollar, but that has undone little more than half the past decades gains. In any case, the causes of Braziers competitiveness problem go far deeper than the exchange rate. The strong real actually helped keep prices down by making imports cheaper. It did, however, give foreign visitors a chance to experience something the locals know so well that they have a name for it: the custom Brasilia (Brazil cost). Compared with other middle- income countries, Brazil is astonishingly poor value for money. Large domestic appliances and cars cost at least 50% more than in most other countries. For everyday items such as toothbrushes and childrens toys the difference is often a lot more. Among the 48 countries tracked by the Big Mac index, The Economists lighthearted currency-comparison tool, a burger in Brazil costs more than in only a mindful that are much richer (Norway, Sweden, Switzerland) and one that is dysfunctional (Venezuela). Burgers should be cheaper in poorer places because wages are lower: in Brazil, less than a quarter of European or North American levels. Allowing for that, a Brazilian Big Mac costs an indigestible 72% more than it should do, and the real remains one of the worlds more overvalued currencies. Special The Miffs broader cost-of-living figures show that Braziers high prices are no mere quirk of overgenerous. In most less well-off countries people find their money goes Averaged across all goods and services, a Mexicans spending power, for example, is 45% higher at home than if he bought dollars and shopped across the border. But a Brazilian can buy little more at home than he can in the United States. The causes of Braziers cost problem are legion. Start with taxes. At 36% of GAP, the total tax burden is far heavier than in other developing countries. Payroll taxes, at 58% of salary, are higher than in any other big economy. Consumption, too, is heavily taxed, which explains why a Brazilian-made car costs up to 45% less in Mexico than it does in Brazil itself. High tariffs push up the price of imports even more. A smartened costs about 50% more than in the United States. Most cars imported from outside the Numerous trade block and Mexico attract not only a 35% tariff but an extra 30% on top of the normal sales tax. The complexity of the tax code also raises compliance costs. A mid-sized Brazilian firm takes 2,600 hours to prepare its annual tax return, almost ten times the global average. Rigid labor laws make it hard to deploy workers efficiently and lead to costly court cases, 3. Mm last year alone. Many businesses prefer to hide in the informal sector. A 2006 McKinney report estimated that by remaining in the shadows a retailer could more than triple its profit margin, but at the cost of forgoing investment and economies of scale. A simplified regime for small firms introduced since then has persuaded many to register, but the resulting efficiency gains are limited by a new problem: too many Peter Pan firms unwilling to grow up and lose their privileges. A plethora of other costs help drive up prices. Poor roads and a limited rail network make for high freight charges. High crime rates have bred a private army of 650,000 security guards. Prime office rents in big cities are vertiginous; Iriss are the highest in the Americas, north or south. A low savings rate, high bank-reserve requirements and the governments considerable funding needs (it runs a budget deficit each year, despite that 36% tax burden) make credit expensive. FIEFS, S ¤o Paulos association of industrialists, says firms financing costs make up 5% of the end price of manufactured goods. Retailers manage to keep selling by accepting payment in installments. The hyperinflation years taught Brazilian consumers not to worry about the total cost, Just whether they can afford he monthly payments. But the effect is to push up the sticker price, since the cost of waiting for full payment and the risk of default has to be built in. Corners are also being cut on quality. In Mexico the bottom-of-the-range Golf, made in Brazil, is a 1 . 6-liter, four-door affair with air-conditioning. In Brazil it has a I-liter engine and two doors, with air-conditioning extra. Shopping around Brazilian respond to whopping price differences by going on foreign shopping sprees. Brazilian tourists spent $22. 2 billion abroad last year, a record, and seem set to go even higher this year. Direct Luxury Group, a consultancy, estimates that four- fifths of Brazilian spending on market goods takes place abroad. Miami has been getting so many Brazilian shoppers in recent years that many stores there have hired Portuguese-speaking staff. TAM, a Brazilian airline, says it takes on extra fuel on the return leg of that route to allow for excess baggage. The story of the custom Brasilia is decades old. Now soaring pay is adding a new chapter to it. Since 2003 the countrys have trebled, thanks to currency appreciation. One reason is the scarcity of well- educated workers. Manpower Group, an employment agency, says Brazil is the worlds second-hardest place for firms to find the skills they need, behind only ageing Japan. At the top end, headhunters say multinationals often have to pay their Brazilian executives more than their bosses in London or New York earn. But the main reason is a decade of big increases in the minimum wage, which sets a trend for all pay negotiations. At the start of 2003 it was 200 realms a month; now it is 678 realms, almost twice as much in real terms (see chart 2). The government is committed to above-inflation increases until 2015. Raising the minimum wage had its merits at iris, says Gray Newman of Morgan Stanley. In the years before Lull took office its value had eroded, creating room to shift profits from capital to labor. High interest rates kept inflation in check, and the weak currency ensured that exports remained competitive even if prices did rise a bit. Higher incomes, helped by somewhat more accessible consumer credit, boosted consumption, creating more Jobs in a virtuous cycle. Large domestic appliances and cars cost at least 50% more than in most other countries But the policy has now pushed costs beyond what either the foreign or the domestic market is willing to bear. Household consumption, one of the economys few bright spots in the past two years, has leveled off. Consumers are overstretched, with 21. 5% of household income going to service debts. Despite some of the worlds highest tariffs, imports are taking a bigger share of the manufactured products Brazilian buy. Exports of manufactured goods are slipping. After several years of price rises close to 10%, demand for services is losing steam. After a long boom driven by credit and consumption, Brazil has ended up looking in some ways like southern Europe, says Tony Pylon of Norma Securities, a broker. Only the rising value of its commodity exports saved it from ballooning current-account deficits. In the short term a weaker currency will help, as long as tight fiscal and monetary policy prevent it from fuelling inflation. The real is now 11% lower than at the start of this year, having touched 20% in August, though after taking inflation into account it is still well above its long-run average. A cheaper real will make Brazilian poorer by lowering their wages in foreign-currency terms and do nothing to get to the roots of the custom Brasilia. But it will protect Jobs by making exports cheaper and imports ricer, and by reducing the price of services compared with treatable goods. In the longer term Brazil needs to boost its productivity. A recent study by the Boston Consulting Group estimated that three-quarters of Braziers growth in the past decade has come from adding more workers and only a quarter from productivity gains. Since there is little room for the workforce to grow further, that needs to change. Other developing countries, and plenty of rich ones too, are doing far better. Regis Bonneville and Julia Fonts of the Fund#o Getting Barras, a university, calculate that in 000 Brazil achieved 19% of United States productivity levels, but by 2012 this had dropped to 18%. Over the same period the Chinese figure leapt from 6% of that in the United States to 17%. A closer look at the productivity figures points to some explanations. In the past two decades total factor productivity?the part left over after accounting for growth in in most other countries: in China by 2. 8% annually, in India by 2. 3%. That suggests Brazil missed out on gains other countries saw from investments in both human and physical capital, or that other improvements that generally come with such investments somehow failed to materialism. The World Banks annual report on doing business in various countries reads like a productivity to-do list for Brazil: make it simpler to start up and wind up companies; cut and streamline taxes; increase domestic savings and investment. For more hints, the country might turn to one of the few sectors where productivity has grown steadily in recent years: agriculture. From the print edition: Special report Agriculture v industry Leave well alone Braziers agriculture has benefited from government neglect. Its car industry has had too much attention Seep 28th 2013 | From the print edition Cottoning on to more productive farming IN 1984 WALTER HORRID, the youngest of three sons of a Japanese immigrant who farmed 500 hectares (1,240 acres) in the southern state of Prang, headed north in search of land. Matt Gross do Soul and Matt Gross, colonized by GAchose from southern states in the previous two decades, were too expensive for him. Eventually he settled on western Bah (see map below), where he bought 1,210 hectares, paying four sacks of soybeans per hectare. There was nothing, he says. No roads, no schools, no health care, no electricity, no water supply, no phone. He got digging. By 1999 the farm was so successful that his brothers in Para ¤ sold up and Joined him. Today the Horrid brothers own 150,000 hectares in western Bah, growing mostly Soya, cotton and corn. The story of how Braziers vast central and north-eastern crop belt was won starts in 1973, when Braziers military regime decided to centralist agronomy research and set up the Brazilian agricultural research corporation, Embrace. It sent 1,200 bright young scientists abroad to study. When they returned and were set to work, they achieved something of a miracle: they made the charade bloom. Until then, Braziers Savannah with its acid, nutrient-poor soil had been thought impossible to cultivate. It turned out that deep tilling, huge quantities of lime and fertilizer and fast-growing crops bred to suit the local conditions could coax a rich harvest from it. Go north, young man The new crops and techniques were adopted by GAchoc sons lured to the charade by the promise of virgin lands. They pushed northwards through Braziers central states, eventually arriving in the region now nicknamed Ambition: the cultivable parts of Marina ¤o, APIPA, Toscanini and Bah. Not only vast farms but prosperous new towns prang up as a result. When Mr. Horrid arrived in western Bah, Luis Eduardo Magical ¤sees (known as ELM) was Just a petrol station. In 2000, when it had 18,000 residents, it split away from Barriers, the regions only sizeable municipality at the time. ELM now has a population of 70,000 and is one of Braziers fastest-growing towns. The mayor says his biggest problem is finding 2,000 new school places each year. The John Deere concession run from ELM by Chic Lovelier, another GAchoc pioneer, is one of the American farm-equipment makers biggest worldwide. Around 40% of the 6. M hectares planted with grains and oilseeds in planted and harvested in the same year. Where rain is too sparse, millet replaces the cotton or corn. Marcos Junk of Agricultural, a Brazilian consultancy, reckons that another mm hectares in Brazil could be transformed in the same way without further advances in crops and technology. A further mm hectares currently under pasture could be turned over to high-productivity crop farming. The transformation of the charade is often dismissed as Braziers belated discovery of a competitive advantage. That leaves out a lot, and not Just Embarrass role and the argue of the GAchoc pioneers. Farming in the tropics is in many ways more difficult than in a temperate climate. Without cold winters, pests and crop diseases are harder to control. Intensive soil preparation and large amounts of lime and fertilizer require scale and capital. According to Roding Rodriguez of Agrarian, a company that buys and farms virgin charade, preparing land for its first crop?deep-tilling, root-picking, liming and so on?means passing over it 1 5 times, which costs as much as the land itself. The 1,300 members of AIBO, Biass farmers association, on average farm 1,269 hectares each. The average American farm is 170 hectares. Other obstacles in the way of Braziers frontier farmers include murky land titles. Bah is better in this respect than other bits of Ambition, and an electronic rural-land register will eventually bring a big improvement, but for now every purchase requires expensive due diligence. Braziers Forest Code requires some land to be set aside on every farm nationwide, no matter how far from the rainforests. Getting the environment agency to agree on set-aside and grant a license to start clearing can take years. Petty bureaucracy is a problem too. After buying a farm in western Bah in 2009, Agrarian built a km power line at a cost of 460,000 realms to connect it to the national grid. The power line has been finished since March, but the company is still waiting for permission to hook it up. Survival of the fittest On the wall of the Horrid brothers office in Barriers hangs the framed root of a drought-resistant cotton plant. It is 3. Mm long, a reminder of the power of natural selection in a harsh environment. Julio Boast, AlBAs president, says such forces have shaped the region too. One reason its farms are so big is that only the best made the grade, and they bought out the losers. Muff dont hear those stories so often, he says, but lots of people came and lost everything, and now theyre, say, driving a truck. It was the opening up of Braziers economy that enabled Embarrass tropical-farming technology to be taken up so widely, says Joss © Garcia Queues of the agriculture ministry. Until a couple of decades ago farmers were being supported by means of minimum prices, government-purchase schemes and trade controls, and agricultural output was growing only because extra land was being added. But in 1990 Braziers then president, Fernando Color, slashed tariffs and dismantled many import and export controls. Since then the total area under crop cultivation in Brazil has increased by 38% and production has more than trebled. Total factor productivity has been growing by 4. 6% a year. In these new areas [such as Ambition] they rarely even mention the government, says Mr. Queues. Theres no culture of subsidies; it was broken 20 years ago. In the past decade, propelled by the commodity boom, Brazil has become one of the worlds largest agricultural

Italian Proverbs and Sayings

Italian Proverbs and Sayings Italian is a language as fertile as the vineyards that dot the peninsulas countryside from north to south, and as a result, it’s also rich in short, pithy sayings. Didactic or advisory in nature, Italian proverbs are generalizations couched in specific, often metaphorical expressions, like niente di nuovo sotto il sole, meaning theres nothing new under the sun or troppi cuochi guastano la cucina, which means that too many cooks spoil the cooking. The Study of Proverbs Italian proverbs can be very amusing: Bacco, tabacco e Venere riducono luomo in cenere, but they are of linguistic interest and often show lexical change. In academic circles, scholars concern themselves with la paremiografia and as well as la paremiologia, the study of proverbs. Proverbs are part of an ancient tradition common to every part of the world, and there are even Biblical proverbs. Linguistic experts point out that proverbiando, simpara; by speaking and parsing out proverbs, one learns about the language, the traditions, and the mores  of a culture. The statement itself is a take on the famous Italian proverb: Sbagliando simpara (One learns from his mistakes), which implies that both native speakers and new students of Italian can increase their grammar aptitude, and vocabulary by studying quotes and sayings. You Say Pentolino, I Say†¦ The Italian language, reflecting the pastoral heritage of the country, has many proverbs that refer to horses, sheep, donkeys, and farm work. Whether termed an adagio (adage), a motto (motto), a massima (maxim), an aforisma (aphorism), or an epigramma (epigram), Italian proverbs cover most facets of life. There are proverbi sul matrimonio, proverbi regionali, and proverbs about women, love, the weather, food, the calendar, and friendship. Not surprisingly, given the large variety of regional differences in the Italian language, there are also proverbs in dialect. Proverbi siciliani, proverbi veneti, and proverbi del dialetto Milanese, for instance, reflect this diversity and show how a common idea may be given different local references. For example, here are two proverbs in Milanese dialect that show the similarities and differences in construction and pronunciation: Milanese dialect: Can ca buia al pia no.Standard Italian: Cane che abbaia non morde.English translation: Barking dogs dont bite.Milanese dialect: Pignatin pien de fum, poca papa ghà ¨!Standard Italian: Nel pentolino pieno di fumo, cà ¨ poca pappa! (or, Tutto fumo e niente arrosto!)English translation: All smoke and no fire! A Proverb  for Any Situation Whether you are interested in sports or cooking, romance or religion, there is an Italian proverb thats appropriate for any situation. Whatever the topic, remember that all Italian proverbs embody a general truth: I proverbi sono come le farfalle, alcuni sono presi, altri volano via. Or, Proverbs are like butterflies, some are caught, some fly away.