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Today is my first day at the UniKL City Campus. After the registration session at the Multipurpose Hall, I need to go to the Male Hostel and later on to the Administrative Building. So, I asked one of the security guards on duty the way to both places. He explained to me the routes to the Male Hostel and the Administrative Building. First, from the guard Post 1, I must go straight and turn left into Jalan Teknologi. Then, I need go straight until I found Multipurpose Hall at my left and at the junction; I must turn left into Jalan Teknikal. After that, I must go straight until I found the classroom and laboratory at my left and turn left into small path at the end of classroom building. Then I need to turn right to park my car at student parking area and I will found the Male Hostel in front of the student parking area but I need to cross restricted area. After I check in at Male Hostel, I need to go to Administrative Building to settle out my document. From student parking area, I need to turn to small path and turn right into Jalan Teknikal. Then, I must going straight and turn right at the end of Jalan Teknikal into Jalan Teknologi. Then, I must take the first junction and I will found Multipurpose Hall at my left. When I move to in front, I will found the classroom and laboratory at my right and the Administrative Building at my left.

Case Study: Managerial Finance Chapter 14

BUS650: Managerial Finance Chapter 14 Closing Case Professor: Darrell Early October 8, 2011 1. If Stephenson wishes to maximize its total market value, would you recommend that it issue debt or equity to finance the land purchase? Explain. If Stephenson wishes to maximize the overall value of the firm, it should use debt to finance the $95 million purchase. Since interest payments are tax deductible, debt in the firm’s capital structure will decrease the firm’s taxable income, creating a tax shield that will increase the overall value of the firm. 2. Construct Stephenson’s market value balance sheet before it announces the purchase.Since Stephenson is an all-equity firm with 15 million shares of common stock outstanding, worth $34. 50 per share, the market value of the firm is: Market value of equity = $34. 50(15,000,000) Market value of equity = $517,500,000 So, the market value balance sheet before the land purchase is: Assets $517,500,000 Debt -Equity $517,500 ,000 Total assets $517,500,000 Debt &Equity $517,500,000 3. Suppose Stephenson decides to issue equity to finance the purchase. a. What is the net present value of the project? As a result of the purchase, the firm’s pre-tax earnings will increase by$23 million per year in perpetuity.These earnings are taxed at a rate of40 percent. Therefore, after taxes, the purchase increases the annual expected earnings of the firm by: Earnings increase = $23,000,000(1– . 40) Earnings increase = $13,800,000 Since Stephenson is an all-equity firm, the appropriate discount rate is the firm’s unlevered cost of equity, so the NPV of the purchase is: NPV= – $95,000,000 + ($13,800,000 / . 125)NPV = $15,400,000 b. Construct Stephenson’s market value balance sheet after it announces that the firm will finance the purchase using equity.What would be the new price per share of the firm’s stock? How many shares will Stephenson need to issue in order to finance the p urchase? After the announcement, the value of Stephenson will increase by $15. 4 million, the net present value of the purchase. Under the efficient-market hypothesis, the market value of the firm’s equity will immediately rise to reflect the NPV of the project. Therefore, the market value of Stephenson’s equity after the announcement will be: Equity Value = $517,500,000 + $15,400,000 Equity Value = $ 532,900,000 Market value balance sheetOld assets $517,500,000Debt NVP of project$15,400,000Equity $532,900,000 Total equity$532,900,000Debt & Equity$532,900,000 Since the market value of the firm’s equity is $532,900. 000 and the firm has 15 million shares of common stock outstanding. Stephenson’s stock price after the announcement will be: New share price: $532,900,000/ $15,000,000 New share price: $35. 53 Since Stephenson must raise $95 million to finance the purchase and the firm’s stock worth $35. 53 per share, Stephanie must issue: Shares to issu e = $95,000,000/$35. 53 Shares to issue = $2,673,797 c.Construct Stephenson’s market value balance sheet after the equity issue, but before the purchase has been made. How many shares of common stock does Stephenson have out- standing? What is the price per share of the firm’s stock? Stephenson will receive $95 million in cash as a result of the equity issue. This will increase the firm’s assets and equity by $95 million. So, the new market value balance sheet after the stock issue will be: Market value balance sheet Cash$95,000,000Debt Old assets$517,500,000Equity$627,900,000 NPV of project$15,400,000 Total Assets$627,900,000Debt & Equity$627,900,000The stock change will remain unchanged. To show this Stephenson will have to: Total shares outstanding = $15,000,000 + 2,673,797 Total shares outstanding = 17,673,797 So the share price is: Share price = $627,900,00/$17,673,797 Share price = $35. 53 d. Construct Stephenson’s market value balance sheet after t he purchase has been made. The market value balance sheet of the company: Old assets $517,500,000Debt Building $95,000,000Equity$627,900,000 NVP of project$15,400,000 Total assets $627,900,000Debt& Equity$627,900,000 4. Suppose Stephenson decides to issue debt in order to finance the purchase. . What will the market value of the Stephenson company be if the purchase is financed with debt? Modilgliani-Miller states that in a world with corporate taxes: Vl = Vu + cB As was shown in question 3, Stephenson will be worth $627. 9 million if it finances the purchase with equity. It is to finance the initial the outlay of the project with debt; the firm would have $95 million. So the value of the company if it financed with debt is: Vl = $627,900,000 + . 40 ($95,000,000) Vl = $665,900,000 b. Construct Stephenson’s market value balance sheet after both the debt issue and the land purchase.What is the price per share of the firm’s stock? After the announcement, the value of Step henson will immediately rise by the percent value of the project. Since the market value of the firms debt is $95 million and the value of the firm is $627. 9 million w can calculate the market value of Stephenson’s equity. Stephenson’s market value balance sheet after the debt issue will be: Value unlevered$627,900,000Debt$95,000,000 Tax sheet$38,000,000Equity$570,900,000 Total assets $665,900,000Debt& Equity$665,900,000 Since the market value of Stephenson’s equity is $570. million and the firm has 15 million shares of common stock outstanding. Stephenson’s stock price after the debt issue will be: Stock Price = $570,900,000/$15,000,000 Stock Price = $38. 06 5. Which method of financing maximizes the per-share stock price of Stephenson’s equity? If Stephenson uses equity in order to finance the project, the firm’s stock price will remain at 35. 53 per share. If the firm uses debt in order to finance the project, the firm’s stock pri ce will rise to $38. 06 per share. There fare, debt financing maximizes the per share stock price of a firm’s equity.

Lisa Benton

1. What are the background factors important to understanding the case?In the Benton Case, important background to understand is how Lisa questioned if her decision on accepting the position with House world was the right-move for career goal. Second, her initial meet with her boss and lack of communication to what is going to be expected from her. Lisa felt, as she is not being utilized to her full potential.Benton, decision on accepting the product manager position, she based it on a long-term goal. She based it on what best will benefit her in the long run. When Lisa met who her reporting supervisor was, she felt as if there was a lack of interest on her being a part of the team. Linton should have met and have some type of initial counseling to go over the expectancy from Lisa and Benton.2. What are the issues of power and influence in the case, organizationally, managerially, interpersonally, and personally?In the case study it did not seem that there was any power of influence organizationally. Houseworld, seemed like a great place for Benton to work and reach her career goal. However, managerially there seems to be many issues of power. Linton really did show Benton a great interest of joining her team, which made Benton feel as if she was not being utilized for what she was really worth. When both managers from pure & fresh met Benton, they both expressed their feeling towards Harvard MBA’s. Ron did have some influence on Benton, because of him she was under the impression that she should be in a learning mode.By being in a learning mode it made Lipton assume that she lacked motivation, which led to the negative statements in her evaluation. Personally, I think that Benton did have all the right intentions to succeed in her current role, but because there were communication barriers it led to many assumptions that caused a great deal of frustration. The one thing that Lisa can do is learn from her experience and utilize what she learns to future situations.3. Is Benton powerless in the case? What are the sources of power? It might seem as Benton was powerless, but in reality she had the upper hand to improve her leadership and communication with management, which would  empower her to become a product manager and reach her career goal.The source of power that Benton has in this case is the opportunity to move every 12-18 months. She can utilize her learning experience that she learn from her current team with pure & fresh to improve her communication when introduce to future managers or team members.4. List and discuss the critical incidents in the case and suggest how Benton could have been more effective in each one.When Benton started to feel frustrated by the way her team made her feel, she could have taken control of the situation by communicating to Linton, which would have allowed her to take control of the situation. It would have primed Linton to meet with Lisa and go over her expectancies in her position, instea d of thinking that she was in a learning mode. A critical incident that Benton could have been more effective is by being more assertive in her role with Pure & Fresh.5. What are your recommendations for Lisa at the end of the case?I would recommend that Benton continue to work with Houseworld, she should keep in mind her motive on accepting her current position, as Houseworld offers the benefit that encouraged her to make that transition from Right-a-way. One thing that Benton can take away from the situation is not assuming what will be expected from her, but to actually know her expectations of her duties. If Benton had not allowed her frustrations to build up and to actually communicate to Linton, she could have avoided the negative aspects of her evaluation.

Apple Company Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Apple Company Analysis - Essay Example The paper tells that Apple Inc. is the producer of the iTunes software program that is used to store and play music in one place. The company’s clients are varied with respect to the variety of products, for instance, educators, business organizations, and daily basis customers. Owing to its wide range of products, the company has the capability to target a wide range of customers, with most sales being conducted online and a host of others from direct sales, retailers and the company’s retail shops. The company has current operations distributed all over the world; in the United States, Japan, Europe, Asia Pacific and some parts of Africa. On April 1, 1976, three men, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne co-founded Apple Inc. The company did not receive immediate attention in the market but until 1984 when the company introduced the Macintosh computer. Jobs and Wozniak left the company in 1985 in pursuit of other goals. The company went ahead with the release of new computer models that were unique in style and more portable as opposed to other computer models. Even with these improvements, the company could not cement its position as a dominant computer manufacturing company across the globe and in 1997, one founder Steve Jobs rejoined the company when it was losing huge sums of cash. Apple released the iMac in 1998 and immediately gained profits with increasing market share thus turning the downward spiral of the company around. Apple’s revolution of the digital music distribution came with the introduction of the iPod in 2001 along with iTunes and in 2007, the company expanded its scope of production and entered the smart-phones world when it released the iPhone. Today, Apple is among the leading innovators in computer hardware and software, phones and a host of digital portable devices.

Risk assessment analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Risk assessment analysis - Assignment Example However, the organization is having many years of operation in the audit sector. The bond of the risk assessments to motivators of shareholder value and objectives is rarely available. Risk assessments can be regulated by rules and regulations such as anti-money embezzlement and internal control over financial reporting. They can in operation due to an organization’s own business development, operational efficiency, and talent nurturing. It is clear from the Vectren corporation audit report that the internal control is integrated framework given by the sponsoring organization committee of the tread commission. The management in charge for the maintenance of effective internal control report entails the management in accordance to internal control over financing details. The main responsibility is expressing the opinion concerning the organizations’ audit. The standards require a proper planning and appropriate performance of the audit to come up with a with a reasonable assurance if there was maintenance of effective internal control over the financial reports. There are aspects of evaluating the dangers that the weakness of a substance exists, assessing and testing the design and operating effectiveness. This provides a reasonable basis of the opinion count (Hester & Harrison, 2007). An organizations’ internal control over financial reporting is a concept structured by supervision of the organizations principal executive and principal financial persons carrying out the same activity. It is always the core activity of personnel, board of directors and management to facilitate provision of assurance concerning the financial reports to be reliable. There is preparation of financial statements for external factors in accordance with accounting rules and regulations. Making sure that the maintenance of records that are

Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 97

Assignment - Essay Example The website offered self-evaluation platform where I filled my thoughts on different issues. At the end of the trial, I realized I was strong in my vision but inferior in courage. My assessment outcomes were as follows. Vision 4.3, Ethics 3.9, Reality 3.5, Courage 3.2. The grading is on a scale of, five as the most developed and one the least developed leadership trait. According to the outcome, I am focused, understanding and intellectually creative towards meeting my goals. I am confident about new experiences and welcome change. The worst paper part is that I fear responsibility and consequences for my choices. The result of the assessments has made revolutionary changes in the way I perceive things. I for once never thought I was such a visionary person. I believe in the common good of all but never thought it was such strong. The realization that I am a person bestowed with a visionary mind has made me feel so good about myself. I fell I can become a leader and guide people, according to my vision. I feel superior when I see my high points being visionary since all great personalities I have read about in history were people of great ideas. However, my downside is weightier than my strength. How am I going to become a leader if I fear responsibility? Leadership is all about responsibility. If I have to lead, I will take the responsibility of others and shoulder them as they were my own, yet I am not strong enough. Lack of courage chills me and makes me feel belittled. I am having difficulties between advocating my vision and fighting my courage. I have a strong urge to achieve, but I fea r failure. When I look at my closest strength Ethics, I relate it to the vision and see a great leader. Leadership based on ethics is more beautiful than fairy tales. Ethics is the guiding principles of leadership (Bondas, 2006). Without ethics, one is subject to become a dictator or insensitive of others feelings. My personal values have saved me uncountable

Legalizing drugs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Legalizing drugs - Essay Example ‘This means buyers and sellers cannot resolve their disputes with lawsuits, arbitration or advertising, so they resort to violence instead’ (Miron, 2009). This led Miron to controversially conclude ‘the only way to reduce violence is to legalize drugs’. I aim to discuss arguments supporting the controlled legalization drugs. ‘The legalization of drugs would massively reduce organized crime’ (Micklethwart, 1994). Legalization wouldn’t mean the existing ‘evil drug pushers’ controlling the market. Instead, official legal businesses (e.g. cigarette companies) would take control of the drug industry. ‘The number of drug related murders would fall because turf battles would be settled by law instead of gun fire and corruption/blackmail/bribes by drug dealers to judges, government officials and the police, etc would diminish’ (Micklethwart, 1994). Cussen and Block (2000) also claim that the price of drugs could fall if they are made legal due to increased competition amongst drug companies, which could reduce theft, and murder rates among addicts in order to get their next ‘fix’ because they wouldn’t need as much money to afford them. The increased availability of drugs could therefore decrease drug-related crime. Drug revenues of cartels (often international organisations which support terrorism and add to violent crime) could also diminish due to drug revenues being increasingly distributed by free-market forces (Cussen and Block, 2000). On the whole, crime figures would reduce dramatically as formerly illegal activities become ‘socially approved business transactions (Cussen and Block, 2000: 528). ... However, when prohibition ended, alcohol related crime decreased. The same scenario could happen if drugs were legalized too. The legalization of drugs could also stop the ‘potency effect’, which is best summarized with the example of prohibition. During this time, the sellers would sell alcohol with higher alcoholic concentrations (higher potency) because ‘hard liquors’ had greater value (per unit of volume) (Cussen and Block, 2000). This resulted in people drinking alcohol with higher concentrations such as vodka, which, when drunk excessively is more dangerous than beer and wine. The same ‘potency effect’ can also be applied to today’s drug trade, in which dealers carry more potent drugs (which are also the most dangerous to consume, e.g. cocaine) due to their greater monetary value. I believe the ‘potent effect’ of drugs could be reduced is they were legalized. A legalized drug trade could also save taxpayers money. For e xample, in the UK, drug related crime costs the state department ?16 billion a year. Easton (2009) estimated that a regulated drug market for cocaine and heroin would see ?7 billion worth of savings due to savings in the cost of drug crime. ‘Jails are also often overcrowded and large amounts of tax payers dollars are being spent on enforcement efforts that only aggravate the problem’ (Cussen and Block, 2000: 532). Legalizing drugs could therefore cut the costs, not only of the consequences of addicts’ habits, but also for tax payers. Legalizing drugs would also mean that they could be taxed like alcohol and cigarettes, which would provide the state with a new substantial form of revenue which could outweigh related expenditure / costs, occurred onto

Econometric Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Econometric Project - Essay Example will use in-depth statistical analysis processes to create models relating the different observations, particularly that between gross weekly earnings (grmain1) and other observations such as age, sex, race, years of education and number of years in employment, among others. Correlation analysis will also be used to investigate the strength of the relationship observed between the dependent variable (gross weekly earnings) and other independent variables. A residual plot will be used to confirm the presence or absence of outliers, the plot will also indicate whether there were any particular areas where the model greatly under or over-predicted the relationship between unemployed persons and persons seeking employment. From the results, it is observed that othe sample consists of 7227 respondents. The mean income is obtained as 10.3 and this corresponds to an income category of  £300-350 per week. The standard deviation is obtained as 4.5 and this corresponds to an income category of  £100-125 per week. This implies that on average, the respondents’ salaries differ from the average earning by this amount. The STATA output shown indicates that the greatest proportion of respondents (20.23%) earn over  £600 per week followed by those that earn  £300 - 350 and  £250-300 with 9.5% and 9.2% respectively. Apart from persosn that do not earn anything, the income category of  £50-75 has the least number of respondents. It is observed that out of the 7227 respondents, 47% were male while the remaining 53% were female. These percentages correspond to 3398 and 3829 persons respectively. Observing these percentages, it is seen that both sexes made up approximately 50% of the sample. Further analysis of the data on sex in later sections of the paper will give further findings. The greatest proportion of respondents have â€Å"white british† ethnicity followed by â€Å"any other white background†. The two ethnicities account for almost 95% of all persons surveyed. This

Persuasive speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Persuasive speech - Essay Example This is indeed true because beauty within any person is difficult to judge since it is hidden deep down inside. On the same token, I believe that beauty could be judged by this person’s actions, behaviors and talks. He or she could be written off as an ugly person if he or she does not know how to talk to people, how to interact with them and how to be considerate towards their issues. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to suggest that beauty must not be looked inside people with an exterior eye alone. It needs to be based on past events, present understanding of matters and how things would shape up within the future. Beauty comprises of all these tangents to be called as beauty in essence. I would like to end my speech by making a point here. Beauty of face and body could vanish with the changing times but it is the inner charisma known as innate value system of which beauty is just a single part that never leaves an individual alone. Beauty is indeed more than skin deep. I would like to thank each one of you present in this august

Implementing QoS Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Implementing QoS - Research Paper Example A majority of organisations have made extensive use of quality of service (QoS) in order to improve services and to ensure that quality is maintained at all levels. Quality of service has therefore been elevated to higher levels when it comes to the degree of its importance, and it is becoming apparent that it will occupy an even more important role in the future management of organisations. I also think that quality of service will evolve to be come more sophisticated and complex as time goes. Implementing Quality of Service There are various methods used in the implementation of the quality of service and differs. Assess the CPU utilization from each router during or in busy period to which it assists on the distribution of the Quality of service among the networks that share the load. Classify the types of traffics to which it flows in groups to reduce the workload .The interface should also be identified to which the traffic will reverse Cruz (1995). After that there should be th e determination of maximum delay that the application can be able to handle and if you needed should adjust its parameters within the traffic The rates are then checked to determine if it can be supported on the type of the interface being used and configure the bandwidth to match with the interface. Slow links are then identified to be able to determine whether the bottlenecks of the network used is located and then choose on which is to be applied in the link efficiency mechanisms for the type of interface chosen. One should use the only interface chosen in its implementation Cruz (1995). Calculation is then used in layer two and three overhead for the type of media type that will be used in the transportation of the traffic. This assists in the correction and also calculation of the bandwidth needed for the classes used Cruz (1995) Advantages of QOS Quality of service is important in organizations as it is used in translating a business in achieving its goals by simplification of its processes (Cardoso et.al 2002). This makes it efficient thus saving time and energy as it makes most of the work to be done or achieved in good time. This leads to an individual or an organization dependence as Quality of service makes its work easier and better enabling the managing their time and work in good time without stress QOS is also used in designing a business’s workflow as it design it to QoS metrics fulfilling not only the business but also the customer’s expectations. It can also be used in controlling and also monitoring an organization’s workflow depending on the type of QoS setting. This thus helps to manage commitments like contracts setting up compensation strategies when undesired metrics are identified (Cardoso et.al 2002). It is used by network administrators in making it efficient in providing services without interfering with their networks and enabling them manage their network. It improves users experience as it reduces a businessà ¢â‚¬â„¢s cost by using the available resources adequately reducing the need for upgrade of the networks (Cardoso et.al 2002). . Disadvantages of QOS It is difficult to know the type of protocol to use in implementing the quality of service. Different networks have different resources as some operate in real time and need a higher share It can controlled on the data from the main source but from you own point or place taking an example if ISP and modem (Cardoso et.al 20

Comparing poems Essay Example for Free

Comparing poems Essay Salome turns out to be an evil and very disturbed character; she gets pleasure by beheading people. In this poem it turns out that Salome has removed few other heads previously and she would doubtlessly do it again. She does not even know whos head it is that is next to her, but it seems like that she does not care at all. This makes her sound like a whore. As the maid walks in this makes her feel more comfortable and better for some reason. Hitcher: The man seems really stressed and tired, and when he receives the phone call from his boss that is his final straw. He seems very jealous of the hitcher this is because he is free of stress and is a free spirit. He seems very frustrated. The Man He Killed: This poem is very interesting. It turns out that they dont want to kill each other but because they are at war with each others country. One of them says youd treat if met where any bar is or help to half-a-crown. He is saying if I met you in any other circumstances I would take you to a bar and buy you a pint. My Last Duchess: She is very very jealous, in fact she is so jealous that she wants to poison he and watch he die very slowly. She makes the poison sound like something that is rich and luxurious. Salome: There is some alliteration on line 18-19 where the sound of maids clanging makes Salome happy. Throughout the poem the tone of it makes the poem sound like a young girl who is spoiled and self-indulgent. In this poem there are quite a few clichi s e. g. and aint life a bitch. Hitcher: In this poem the first stanza has some typical rhymes which binds the poem together tired, fired, hired. Can you see the effect of this? He is tired and then his boss threatens to fire him then he hires a Vauxhall Astra. A lot of clichi s are used in this poems here are some examples The truth he said was blowin in the wind, or around the next bend. hed said he liked the breeze to run its fingers/ through his hair. The Man He Killed: There are colloquialisms such as off-hand like which provide an earthy realism along with the rough sounding meter. The Laboratory: This poem uses consolation irony. It also uses some alliteration here is an example Grind away, moisten and mash up thy paste and here is another example Brand, burn up, bite into its grace-. It also has some ambiguity in it here is an example If it hurts her, beside, can it ever hurt me? . Salome: The first verse describes how she is trying to figure out whose head is on the pillow next to here. The second verse describes how she started to feel less hangover when the maid rough in her breakfast. The third verse discusses how she is trying to dissolve the life of the booze and the fags and the sex. Then she decides to turf out the blighter from her bed. Hitcher: This poem has five stanzas and a regular five line shape with the third line being the longest in all of them. If you look at each third line you will see some sort of a pattern occurring. The shape of the stanza is very interesting. The Man He Killed: This poem has a simple but formal structure of five short stanzas all rhyming ABAB. The last tow stanzas remind the men that they could be friends if they met in any other situation. Stanzas two and three: set out the qualifying circumstances that change everything for the mens fate: they are soldiers in opposing armies and therefore enemies. The laboratory: The title in this poem gives us a big hint on where the scene takes place. The speaker is a woman; she takes a lot of pleasure watching the procedure. In the second verse we cab see why the woman wanted revenge, she wanted revenge because the speaker has been betrayed by her lover. In verse three she watches the apothecary at work and is fascinated by what he is doing. She is in no hurry. She takes pleasure in the preparation. This is better than dancing in the kings palace.

Environmental Ethics Essay Example for Free

Environmental Ethics Essay Environmental ethics falls under the discipline of environmental philosophy that studies how human beings relate to their natural environment. This is a wide study that involves a variety of other disciplines such as those that study human relationships, economics, the earth’s structure and biology especially ecology. Human beings being the most superior of all the living things on earth have an ethical obligation to the environment concerning the earth, air, water, other organisms and the human population, both the present and the future generation. Environmental ethics brigs up a variety of issues concerning what, when, how and why we should consider this area of study. Aspects arising include the environment’s moral value, how sustainable are the policies on environmental protection, and how do these apply to the developing nations, and what policies should be put in place to ensure that the environment is safe guarded for the future generation, among others. Many philosophers through the years have studied this topic, but it only came to be recognized as an independent discipline in 1970, due to awareness of effects of increasing human knowledge on the environment. Growing economics and populations, new technologies and development of industries all have had various adverse effects on nature, although aimed at improving life. The works of Rachael Carson, Paul Ehrlich, Aldo Leopold, among others brought about ethical concerns about the environment. Under environmental ethics, human beings have a duty towards the environment, on protection and conservation as well as having a quality life for themselves. In this context, contentious issues arise as to why we should be concerned about the environment. Should it be for us, the living human beings, the future generation, or for the environment itself regardless of our own benefits? Different personalities offer different answers to this question; hence different views have come up on environmental ethics. The issues of environmental ethics is of growing concern to the government and other institution including United Nations which have come up with incentives to people to value and appreciate nature. Earth Day which is held annually (first held in 1970) continues to create awareness and sensitize people on the value of the environment and why it should be protected. The Moral Standing We cannot handle ethics without reference to moral philosophy, which is concerned with individual behaviors and conducts. The moral standing depends on what is considered ‘right’ or ‘good’ and ‘wrong’ or ‘bad’ by an individual or a society. For instance, different societies have different views on areas like land and animal ownership, rights of the future generation, and many more. Personal conduct with respect to environmental ethics defines how people should interact with nature, regarding its exploitation and conservation. The moral standing of the ethical issues on environment are wholly placed on human beings as they are the only living things who can reason and decide on moral issues. Many of the environmental concerns revolve around man and how these affect him, thus the responsibility of environmental ethics should be solely man’s. Responsibility to the environment implies that we are aware of this task, we are able to do it, we are at liberty to do it or not, and carrying out of the task has an effect to others existing in the environment. This means that we know the damage we can cause to the environment, the effects of this damage and the prevention or solutions to these problems. This gives us a moral significance in environmental ethics, and gives us a central role. The moral standing therefore means we have the moral obligation towards nature and the capability to carry out this responsibility. When we consider environmental ethics, then, look at issues such as: †¢ Should we care about nature for itself while it’s people who really â€Å"matter†? That is if not for human beings benefit; why else should we conserve the environment? And if depleting the natural resources is necessary for life improvement, why not exhaust it? †¢ Is the loss of biodiversity, destruction of scenic geographical features for human benefit such as in agriculture so harmful to man? Where is the need to conserve a species while it has no chance of survival in the near future due to changes in earth’s patterns? †¢ Is it right for a person to own land, it being a natural resource among others, or is it morally wrong? Is it fair that 5% of the human population use 30% of natural resources, while in other less countries the population suffers due to lack of the basic resources such as food and clean water? Do these resources exist for the benefit of a few or should they be left free for use by all? †¢ Is it possible for human beings to improve nature, seeing how man seems to have no control over nature when it comes to events such as natural calamities? †¢ Do recent developments in technology relieve us of our duty of protecting the environment? For instance, does biotechnology with potential to create new species, or bring back an extinct species, relieve us of the duty to conserve the biodiversity? Or alternative sources of fuel give us a right to deplete the natural fuel reserve? †¢ Should we let nature take its course as it always has or try and preserve it without assurance that this is of any benefit, or that this only hinders the course of nature? Is there any way that nature can take care of itself without our hand, like self renewal? The main issue surrounding environmental ethics today is the activist movements on environmental protection that focus people on the wrong issues, that is the moral standing is more emotional than factual or logical. The following are essential in discussing environmental ethics and policies. Western Religion and Culture It has been viewed by some philosophers that the Western religion has adversely affected the environment as it teaches that human beings have dominion over the earth and subdue it. Others view this as a command to take care of nature as we have been left in charge. The command given in the bible to the first man â€Å"be fruitful and fill the earth† (Genesis 1:28, Holy Bible KJV) raises the question of population control, is it ethical for the sake of the environment or is it a direct defiance of God’s command? To address this sensitive topic, religion should be understood in context. At the time of the command there was only one man on earth, so he was required to ‘fill’ it, but now the earth is already ‘filled’. Is it logical to still apply the very same principles now as they did then? The culture of a people defines how they relate to and use the environment. Many of the historic events that shape the western culture have had a huge impact on the environment. Events such as the industrial revolution, technological advances and the modern culture have affected the environment. Culture can easily adapt to changing environments, as well as cause permanent change to different environments. The environment is very wide and continuous, while the environment defines cultural practices. Therefore it is ethical to put environment before culture, and change current lifestyles towards more nature friendly practices. The future generation Most of the damage to the environment is more likely to affect the future human population. This therefore calls on the currently living humans to consider the rights of those who are not yet born. We might not know exactly what that generation will require but we are well aware of the basic needs of living beings; food shelter and basic health. Based on these we can have a model of what the environment should offer the future human beings. Therefore it is our moral obligation to them to utilize nature as much as we need to but ensure that we do not deny them the enjoyment of the same. Animals Other animals should be considered when addressing environmental ethics, since they are sentient beings, that is are capable of feeling. Although animals come after humans, they have rights and should be considered according to what they are interested in, such as feeding, living in their natural habitat, and allowed their existence. Controversy about animal rights arises in what animals exactly should we grant rights to. For instance, are insects or other smaller animals in this category? Is it right to use animals for laboratory research for medical and other studies to better our lives? The simple answer to this question is that unless it is extremely necessary, animals should not be put at risk or in adverse conditions. The harm to animals should be justified and be limited to a certain allowable level. Ecofeminism Women are seen to be closer and more in touch with nature; this is claimed by feminists concerned with the environment (Cochrane, 2007). This is because of their ability to give life, and the fact that the earth is considered female (Shiva, 1993). Thus this gives them a better understanding of nature and how to coexist in harmony. Val Plumwood, an ecofeminist believe, that feminism should go hand in hand with environmentalism as both women and the environment are under the same oppression. Another feminist argues that the problem is in trying to justify this kind of oppression thus allowing such subordination. When considering environmental ethics and policies, the domination over women and nature is a critical issue that requires attention. Economics and Ecology Economics and ecology usually appear as counter forces. Economy involves trying to allocate the limited resources while ecology looks out to protect these resources. The ever-growing human population has placed great pressure on nature and thus their distribution is highly competitive. Market forces have added more pressure to natural resources and their exploitation. Rapid growth of industries has contributed to environmental deterioration. The cost-benefit considers questions like; if nuclear power makes electricity cheaper, should this field be ventured? What is the cost of preserving a forest compared to the cost of exporting timber? These raise challenges when setting up policies on the environment because of the question of cost versus the benefit of environmental ethics. Technology Technology has had a huge impact on human life as well as on the environment. The effects of technology are both beneficial and adverse. The medical, agricultural, communication and energy industries rely heavily on technology to better human life. Technology has the power to destroy nature as well as replenish it. The technological advances that are most potentially harmful include nuclear technology that is able to annihilate nature and biotechnology, which has the potential to alter the natural species boundaries. Since all technologies come with potential risks along with their benefits, ethical consideration must be made with regards to the environment. Conclusion In studying environmental ethics, the first thing is to ask the question ‘what should be done about the current environmental situation and how should it be done? ’ The other consideration is the importance of individual natural resources and how much effort and cost we should dedicate to protecting such. This should be based on facts and not feelings, like and dislikes. It is important that policies be based on an integrated system that has in mind all the components of nature, as well as involvement of the government, institutions and other countries. The following should be noted when considering environmental ethics: †¢ The environment is not a resource just for us but for those we share it with (animals, plants and microorganisms) and for the future inhabitants of the planet. †¢ Nature is continuous with continuous flow of energy, but with rapid exhaustion, the environment is not able to renew itself. †¢ Some of the artificially made substances are capable of spreading all over the earth out of our control and nature has no way getting rid of them, for example nuclear waste, fluorocarbons, DDT, GMOs, etc. †¢ Our policies on environment affect the whole world since everything in nature spreads. We should be sensitive to the needs of other countries especially the less developed when considering environmental ethics It has to be demonstrated clearly that the policies we put in place concerning the environment have defined benefits for all concerned otherwise the area of environmental ethics will always be viewed with sharp critism. The benefits of conserving the environment should be clearly elucidated and put out for all interested stakeholders. Reference: Conchrane, A.Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Environmental ethics, (London School of economics and Political Science, 2007). Lotter, Don, A History of Western Culture’s relationship with Environment, (UC Davis Experimental College, 1990) Sutton, Eugene, An introduction to Cultural Ecology (Berg, 2004) Leefers, Castillo, Ecology and Society: Bridging the gap between Economics and Ecology, (Michigan State University, 1998) Beckman, Ted, Martin Heidegger: Environmental Ethics, (Claremont, 2002) Vandeveer, D and C Pierce, The environmental ethics and policy book: 3rd Edition. (Belmont, 1994)

The Threat Of New Entrant Marketing Essay

The Threat Of New Entrant Marketing Essay Introduction Poh Kong Sdn. Bhd. was founded in 1976, by 3 Choon Brothers and their two brother-in-laws, which built in half of a normal retail store in Petaling Jaya. The company started to expand their business around the city in Petaling Jaya. On 1999, the company has reached 50 retail outlets around the Penisular Malaysia. Most of it located in Klang Valley, 3 branches in Johor Bahru, and one branch in each of these city: Melaka, Kuantan, Muar, Batu Pahat, Ipoh, and Sungai Petani. Poh Kong was listed on the main board of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad on 9th March, 2004, with 60 outlets and approximate 600 employees around the world. Then, the company started to expand the franchise division, and the first franchise outlet is in Complex Karamunsing in Sabah, to be part of the retail expansion in East Malaysia. As to date, the company has reach market capitalization of RM197millions and has more than 1200 of employees, with the total of 101 retail store and still expanding. The mission and vision of Poh Kong Group is to manufacturing and retailing the jewelries, while differentiates their products offered by achieving the four core business principles of value, quality, choice, and trustworthiness. Besides, they also try their best to serve their customers from the walks of life for many of their important moments. From setting the benchmark in retailing of jewelries in Malaysia, Poh Kong Holdings Berhad is known as a company with corporate successes in phenomenal growth over the years. The company also has several in-house brands such as Tranz, Happy Love, Anggun, The Art of Auspicious, and Bunga Raya Gold Bar. While, Poh Kong is also the licensee for Disney Collection, sole distributor for Schoeffel luxury pearls from Germany, Luca Carati and Verdi Gioielli from Italy, Angel Diamonds from Belgium, Cocoro from Japan, which that the company has variety of unique jewelries from around the world. Besides, the company also differentiate themselves by separate the retail concept store. Other than Poh Kong and Diamond Gold outlets, retail concept stores such as Diamond Boutique, Jade Gallery, Tranz Boutique and Oro Bianco are available. Besides, they also providing Gold Bar Buy-Back service to customer, its purpose is to letting the customer to trade back their Bunga Raya Gold Bar for jewelry or trade it for cash. While, they also helping customers to customize the design of the jewelries and also making of corporate awards and gifts, such as Gold emblem, gold plaque an d etc. The group mentioned that they will actively look for more business opportunities to expand, while grow its market share in the same time. Poh Kong is the market leader and will continue to stay on its market position as the largest jewelries retail store in Malaysia. Demand for gold is expected to be recovering over the long term due to its intrinsic values by Asian cultures of giving gold jewelries as customary gifts. Poh Kong also expects the retail sales will be boost due to the coming festive spending seasons and the purchase of gold jewelries and gold bars by customers as a hedge to against the global currency risks and inflation. On top of that, the group will utilize the loan proceeds raised from the ICP/IMTN Programme to grow its business by to finance group wide restructuring programme and the capital expenditure of the Poh Kong Group. Poh Kong will continue to drive and raise its market share by enhancing and differentiating its product to its targeted market segments. In addition, they are trying to attract new customers via introduction of new products and designs, while providing as good customer service as they can. Poh Kong provided different choices of retail concepts to meet the various needs and required of customers. They are also fully commits on the design of jewelries, its craftsmanship, and quality of their products with setting reasonable competitive pricing on them. Other than that, their retail sales teams are supported with advertising, promotions, events marketing and public relations. Strong retail network have been made to reach the mass market, while the image differentiation of its product brands and retail concept stores is performed to meet the needs of different customers. Recently, Poh Kong comes out with floral designs on the recent Hari Raya celebration and some new design and series such as the Anggun series and Melur collections. The well-crafted designs are combined with elements of tradition. Manja collection is designed for children to target new market others than targeting women only. They also teams up with the Italian jeweler, Moraglione 1922, which is one of the worlds finest brands being inspired by the Europes royal families. Customers who love fine jewelries can now have the opportunity to  obtain one of  the Europes finest  brands of gems. The collections available including Anastasia, Isabella, Grace and Sofia,  which comprise of diamonds and colourful precious stones. The executive chairman and group managing director said, Malaysians can now enjoy to wearing one of the best jewelries in the world. With the Moraglione 1922 collections, Poh Kongs customers can expect the best in terms of glamour and elegance. Poh Kong is now considering on the expansion outside of the Malaysia. The group is eyes on Asean marts by plans to open the overseas outlets in Asean before 2015. Research had been done and stated that Asean region especially Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam are among the worlds key success gold markets, and they are taking opportunities of the setting up of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) by 2015. Moreover, the gold jewelry consumption are now mostly at China and India, and the company is also considering to expand on it in the future. Sales revenue is expected to rise by growth of 25% compare to this year. 2. Prospective and Strategies Products and services Poh Kong is selling different products in their outlets such as diamond and gem, Jade, Gold, and also Gold bar (Bungaraya gold bar). They also sell international products which consist of Schoeffel, Luca Carati, Angel Diamond, Cocoro, Disney and etc. Besides, wedding and Festive collection also available in the Poh Kong outlets, Chinese New Year and Hari Raya collection could be found on their outlets. Besides, they also providing Gold Bar Buy-Back service to customer, for customer to trade in Bunga Raya Gold Bar for jewelly or trade it for cash. Poh Kong Corporate Sales is also helping customers to customize in the design of jewelries andmaking of corporate awards and gifts, such as Gold emblem, gold plaque and etc. Missions and Visions Poh Kong Group, an integrated one-stop jeweller, from manufacturer to retailer of gold, jewelleries and precious stones, differentiates its products offering by meeting the four core business principles of quality, value, trustworthiness and choice. Poh Kong has served customers from all walks of life for many of their important occasions. Theres always something for everyone, from exquisite pieces to simple designs, from irresistible collections to dazzling custom-made orders are available to suit our patrons taste and budget. Setting the benchmark in the manufacturing and retailing of gold and fine jewellery in Malaysia, Poh Kong Holdings Berhad, as a public-listed company has earned a place in the countrys annals of corporate successes with phenomenal growth over the years. Milestone 1976 Poh Kong was established on March 26th, 1976, with its first outlet at Jalan 52/4, Petaling Jaya, more known as PJ Newtown or PJ State. It has been the Poh Kong Headquarters until today. 1982 First branch in SS2, Petaling Jaya, of retail space 1,500 sqft and 20 employees, was opened. 1983-1992 Poh Kong opened another 13 branches. 1993 Poh Kong upgraded all outlets with fully computerised point-of-sales and inventory systems. 1995 Poh Kong was made the exclusive distributor of Disney characters in gold in Malaysia. 1996 Poh Kong designer team won a gold medal for the Golden Design Awards 1996 organized by the World Gold Council Europe in Italy. 2001 Poh Kong invested RM12Mil to establish a 60,000 sqft modern manufacturing facility in Shah Alam. Poh Kong launched its first in-house brand, Tranz in collaboration with World Gold Council. 2004 Poh Kong was listed on the main board of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad on March 9th, 2004. Poh Kong opened its first Poh Kong Gallery-a stylish Italian Classic VIP lounge with 5,000 sqft, at the 1stfloor of its headquarters. Poh Kong reached 60th  outlet in Peninsular Malaysia. 2005 Poh Kong set up a franchise division. 2006 Poh Kong ventured into the diamond cutting and polishing, sales, import and export of precious stones in collaboration with Hong Kong companies. Poh Kong opened its first franchise outlet in Complex Karamunsing, Kota Kinabalu in September as part of its retail expansion into East Malaysia. 2007 Poh Kong was appointed as sole distributor for Schoeffel in Southeast Asia. Poh Kong Group participated in the International Trade Malaysia (INTRADE MALAYSIA 2007) exhibition organized by Matrade and supported by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. 2009 Poh Kong and Luca Carati, one of Italys oldest and most prestigious jewellers launched the brand in Malaysia. Poh Kong is commemorated as the sole distributor in Malaysia. 2010 Poh Kong showcased in house brand products, Tranz and Anggun in Malaysian Pavillion at Shanghai World Expo 2010. 2011 Poh Kong reached 100th  outlet in Peninsula Malaysia. PEST Analysis Political As usual, government policies play an important role on the development of 1 industry. It can affect how well the industry can perform and influence the decision on consumer as well as the sellers. Based on the Malaysia Budget 2011, in order to promote Malaysia as a shopping haven in Asia, the import duty of approximately 300 goods is abolished and imitation jewellery is one of the listed goods. As effective from 1st January 2011, this imported as well as exported jewelry items will enjoy the tax free policy. The execution of this new tax policy has successfully transformed Malaysia to be a duty-free shopping paradise locally and internationally. The reduction on tax burden has encourages tourists and local buyers to spend more with lowest price and it is expected will bringing economic growth in the jewellery industry would expected to growth in both importing and exporting sector. In this gold and jewellery industry, there is an association which will govern the rule and regulation of the industry, which namely Federation of Goldsmith and Jewellers Association of Malaysia. This association was established in 25 April 1978 by 12 different goldsmith associations and today there is more than 1500 goldsmiths and jewellers are in the member list. As at year 2011, the group managing director of TOMEI Group, Mr. Ng YihPyng is the president of this association and the deputy president is served by Mr. Siow Der Ming, the executive director of Poh Kong Holding Bhd. The aim of establishing this association is to protect the interest of the member. They also dealt with lobbying with the government as well as standardize the retail charges of gold and other jewelry ornaments to prevent them from being distorted by competition among the goldsmiths and jewellers. In order to protect the member, the association will try to bargaining with the government on the taxation. E.g. In 1982 the Association bargained over the government for a free and open policy whereby gold bar imports would be exempted from tax, and eventually this had been executed in 1983. This execution had enhanced the performance of goldsmiths and jewellery industry. As mentioned, this association will standardize the retail charges of gold and other jewelry ornaments. However, starting from around October 2012, the standardization of the price no longer apply, which mean all the goldsmiths and jewellers can charges whatever the price of their product they want to. The abolishment of standardize gold price could cause the jewellers who achieved the economics of scale can charge for lower price of their jewellery compared to whose had cost competitive disadvantage. This brings up the more competitive in the jewellery industry and for sure, the larger size company with lower production will win the battle and the small scale goldsmiths and jewellery business will have to move out from the industry. Physical gold bullion is no longer a restricted item since 1987, which means general public can trade in gold like other merchandise. One can now buy and sell gold bullion at goldsmith shops which traditionally sells over-the-counter (OTC) gold jewellery and also at many gold trading companies which apply different trading model to attract business. This has been increased the confident of those investors which buy for the purpose for investment because the existing of physical gold is far better than a just a piece of paper prove that how much gold you have owned. This abolishment had further increased the growth of the industry. In recent the announcement of Malaysia Budget 2013 will also enhanced the lifestyle of the citizen especially of the medium range income receiver. One of the policies listed in Budget 2013 is that the tax rate will be has a reduction of 1 per cent for those chargeable income which currently fall into the category below tax rate of 19 per cent. This will increase the disposal income of those middle income ranges of household, which is 60% of Malaysia household and hence probably will increase the consumption of jewellery industry. Economic Jewellery industry in Malaysia from a very humble beginning of family-owned business transformed into one of the major exporters of jewellery in the Asian region. According to the industry write-up released on Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), the Malaysian jewellery industry consists of 2 segments: Precious metals and gemstone jewellery Costume or imitation jewellery Jewellery sector was ranked the 13th largest contributor and accounted for 1.5% share of total exports of manufactured goods. Based on the trade performance from MATRADE (Appendix), the exports of jewellery in year 2011 grew by 1.7% compared to year 2010.   Malaysias exports of jewellery comprised three major product categories namely jewellery of gold, silver and platinum, which is the main export sector with 81.5% of total jewellery export and followed by is the articles of precious metals, which recorded 18.3 % share of exports and lastly is the imitation jewellery which has a share of 0.2%. According to the news reported in The Star on 13 July 2012, the growth rate of jewellery industry in Malaysia is expected to have a growth rate of more than 6% a year. In current economic condition, the increase of price of fuel, electricity and transportation and other costs has left companies no choice but to increase the price of their goods. According to the consumers of the industry, the prices for gold and jewellery have been increasing rapidly over the years. This has caused a drop in the demand for jewellery. If costs of gold and other precious metals such as silver and platinum continue to escalate, demand for jewellery would decrease and thus affect jewelers and the industry. Malaysia jewellery industry will continue to face keen competition from low-cost producers such as India, Thailand, Indonesia and China. However, the industry has the potential to successfully compete against the luxury goods industry and preserve its traditional domination of the consumers spending. Social In todays jewellery market, consumers preference seem has been changed. The traditional yellow gold jewellery can no longer attract younger customers which prefer their jewellery set in white gold and platinum. Most of the jewelers have changed their strategy to meet the demand of younger customers. One example can be found is the DeGemBerhad. In order to meet the preference of younger customer, one of the listed player in goldsmith and jewellery industry, DeGemBerhad, had purposely launched its division Diamond Platinum, which is more focuses on more trendy and fashionable designs to capture the demands of younger customers who preferred their jewellery set in white gold as well as platinum. Even though there are changes in customers preference in term of design and material the cultural may also affect the consumption level of jewellery industry. In this multi-racial country, the effect from different races can be greater than single race countries. In Malaysia, each race has its own new year, own festive, therefore the gold and jewellery industry performance can be further boosted by these festive. For example part of Chinese traditional culture, gold and precious stone jewellery will be the popular gift to their friend when they are get married or give birth. Furthermore, the Valentines Day, Christmas, and Mothers Day, and etc are also the main boost of the sales in the jewellery sales. Not only have those stated, most of the designs of jewellery in this industry are based on the different season. Different season the jewellers and goldsmiths will comes out with unique designs which use the seasonal theme as the basis. Therefore the innovation and creativity of the craftsmanship are crucial in this area in order to differentiate the product from the competitors and attracting the buyers. For Poh Kong, it used the spider and leaf as the theme for their autumn series design. Crimes affect the consumption of gold jewelry among the consumer. They afraid of being rob therefore they tend to not wearing the jewelry when going out. So the demand of gold will be affected as the crime of robbery increase simultaneously. Technology With today advanced technology, Internet had been effectively using and hence the increased the distribution channel for not only jewellery but also other product. Website has been a tool for the jewellers to list their precious jewellery and giving the information to the potential customers. Also with this technology, the imitation jewellery increased its position by offering the online buying the jewellery and shipping worldwide. The advanced technology in today jewellery industry had made the need of craftsmanship decreased. Before this, the responsibility of the craftsmanship are design the jewellery, supervise the jewellery making process (e.g. make sure the cutting is accurate.). Since the advancement of technology, the development of Rapid Prototyping and Tooling Technology in jewellery CAD (computer aided design) has made the jewellery process more precisely and less craftsmanship is needed. This new technology had simplifies the designing process, ease the adjusting processes if the design is not well designed hence it shorten the time of making a jewellery and increase the productivity. Not only that, the error rate of this technology has greatly reduced to only 0.0012 chances of error occurred. This technology is kept in improving and enhancing. Threat of New Entrant This industry needs very huge amount of capitals in order to operate the business, such as acquisition of shop lot, plant and machineries to manufacture jewelleries, high securities costs and so on. In consider that the inventory itself (gold material) is very expensive to afford compare to other industries (gold price as at 12 November 2012 2.34pm New York Time is USD1,234.87 per ounce, exclude the labour charges and other transaction costs). And of course, this industry will incurred a low exit cost, the disposal price of the inventory (gold jewelries) will be deducted 20% till 25% of the purchase cost and that is risky considered the fluctuation of the gold price. Whereas in terms of the government policys barrier, this industry is controlled by Bank Negara Malaysia, that not everyone can simply operate a goldsmith and jewellery business as there is a needed to get approval from the Federation of Goldsmiths and Jewellers Association of Malaysia, this create the barriers of entry a mong the jewellery industries in terms of capital investment, the rules and regulations and low exit costs. The threats of new entrance for jewellery industries is low because the high barriers of entry. Here, Poh Kong has managed to lower down the average cost by selling more product compare to the small-sized company, in order to utilize the fixed cost. Also, it is very unlikely for those small-sized companies to achieve these economies scale, considered that we need high cost of plant and machinery, and of course a high rental cost to expand the business in order to compete with Poh Kong. Threat of Substitute The more substitutes are available, the more elastic is the demand because customers have more alternative choices. When customers have more alternative choice to choose, the threat will become greater for a company. Jewellery actually is an item that is desired but unnecessary. Therefore only people with surplus income will buy precious metals jewellery. For those people who unwilling to afford a precious metals jewellery, they can choose to spend their money in buying imitation jewellery such as poly-plastic jewellery or non-precious metals jewellery such as stainless-steel jewellery and tungsten jewellery. And yes, there are many jewellers which are dealing with this kind of jewellery and target those low income consumers. All these jewellery will have very low relative price compare to precious metals jewellery such as gold and platinum jewellery. Not only the price, but consumers also can easily buy this type of jewellery through different channel, either from physical shop or b uy it online. Since this imitation jewelleries are cheap and customers usually will not examine them as they already know it is imitation. Therefore, the sellers can operate an online shopping which easier to reach to potential customers and provide free shipping service to attract those customers which unable to afford the precious metals jewellery. The implementation of online shopping by those jewellers has increase the availability of the substitution for precious metals jewellery. Other than that, jewellery market not only offers those precious and non-precious metals jewellery, there are also jewellery made of precious stone and gem which embed into the precious metal or ornament. For those people who do not like gold or any other precious metals but want something special or for collection, they also can opt for amber or crystal jewellery. Amber and crystal jewellery actually not cheap at all, some of the rare amber and crystal jewellery can cost more than a 4 carats diamond. If a person able to afford such expensive precious metal jewellery, it will be not a problem for that person to afford an amber or crystal jewellery. At the end of the point, its just depending on what is preferred by the consumers. The more choices of jewellery available in the market, the more option can the consumer choose from and the higher the threat. Currently the non-precious metals jewellery can be very easy to obtain from many goldsmiths and jewellers. Not all people will love jewellery. As mentioned above, jewellery is an item which desired but unnecessary, so it is considered as a luxury goods. Most of the people will first spending their money on daily necessities then only considers buying jewellery if there is a surplus. Those people who spend their money on luxury goods is try to enjoy better lifestyle. In todays world, those people who wearing or using a luxury product will giving a signal that the person is a rich man, should be more respect to them. So luxury goods in this world is not limited to jewellery only, there could have many other products, such as branded watches, designer clothes, branded hand bag and etc. These products can totally substitute the needs of jewellery for those people who wanting a better lifestyle. Furthermore, these products can also be very easy available, which has high distributional channels that easily distribute to potential customers, therefore the threat of substitute from these products is high. As the result from those many substitutions from the above, Poh Kong is facing a high threat of substitute. The direct substitution, amber and crystal, which will serve the same purpose as the precious metals jewellery, are the highest threat of substitute. It is because Poh Kongs does not sell these kinds of jewellery in its products range even though it is operating jewellery business. Threat of Buyers As an overall, the threat of buyers faced by Poh Kong will be considered as moderate to high. When supply more than demand, the threat of buyer will become higher. Poh Kong has no major customer and relies on this type of customer, which will rapidly purchase substantial amount of jewellery from Poh Kong for every purchase. This indicated that Poh Kong does not face any threat of major customer of discontinue get its sources from Poh Kong. Moreover, the switching cost of buyer is low as after they purchased the jewellery from Poh Kong, there is no restriction of law which disallowed the customers from resells their jewellery to other jewellers.(True?) In jewellery industry, products are differentiated mainly based on the design. When Poh Kong offered less variety of design can be chosen then its competitors, the higher the threat from the buyers as they can choose the preferred design from Poh Kongs competitors. This more alternative available to the customers has increase the threat of buyer for Poh Kong. Even though the jewelleries are served for the same purpose, however the designs of jewellery determine the preference of the customer. Therefore the uniqueness of the design is crucial to capture the customer demand. Human being is a weird creature, when there is a limited range of product can be choose from, they will only choose the best fit their preference from the limited range. Furthermore, Poh Kong actively comes out with different design based on different season, different festive as well as jointly design with foreign reputable company (who). Therefore no any crucial threat will face by Poh Kong in term of differentiation. In addition, most of the jewellers operate its outlets near to their competitors. Therefore, buyer can easily get the price and compare the price between them. If Poh Kongs jewellery prices higher than its competitors, buyer will try to negotiate with them. If they fail in negotiation, they can simply switch to Poh Kongs competitors. In this point of view, the bargaining power of buyer can be consider as high. Bargaining power of suppliers The raw material of jewellery of Poh Kong is mainly supply from gold bullion bank such as UOB Gold Bullion Bank, Al Rajhi Bank or Maybank. The price is set according to the market gold price and hence the supplier did not have any negotiate power for the gold price. The banks may earn the profit by charging the transaction costs and service charges against each transaction deal, therefore, the jewellery industries may negotiate with bank or choose the bank who offer the lowest charges. Therefore, the banks will very concern about these jewellery industries since they order in bulk quantity and they will try to retain the customer royalty and gain the market share. Another source of raw material also comes from the Pawnshop or Pawn Broker which the customer of pawnshop who fails to redeem their gold product such as jewellery, gold coin. This threat of supplier in this group also low because there have a lot of variety of pawnshop in Malaysia and they try to offer the lowest price to sell the failure redemption product. The minor supplies of gold are from individual through trade in or buy back schemes. The gold price is fixed and the price of trade-in is lower than outside by offering the spread. Therefore, the individual may negotiate with Poh Kong to reduce the spread and labour charges but the price cannot run away as the price set in market. Besides that, the gold bullion or gold is a homogeneous products and hence the only way to differentiation the gold bullion bank and pawn shop of industries can do is by good servicing and lower charges. Therefore, the threat of supplies basically is low because jewellery manufacturer may have variety of choices of firms which offer the best price and best services to them. In summary, the bargaining power of suppliers are low since gold is a homogenous product and the price is set in commodity market and also by BNM. Rivalry among the Competitors More than 1500 of goldsmiths and jewellers customer can choose from. The threat of new entrance is low, the bargaining power of buyers and substitutes are high while the bargaining power of suppliers are low There are only 3 listed companies in jewelry industry including Poh Kong, Tomei and DeGem. Poh Kong is not the only player in the jewelry market. Buyer can choose from many other goldsmith jewelrer. For eg: Tomei, DeGem, Habib, Wah Chan. Therefore buyer can choose from different jewelers can hence bargaining power of the buyer will be high because many alternatives can be chosen by the buyers. High industry growth rate The jewellery industry currently is expected growing by 6% per year hence, Poh Kong is able to continue expanding the jewellery market and generate the profit from there. Therefore, although there have an excited competition among the competitors such as Tomei, DeGem and etc, Poh Kong still can gain the profit from therecause the market is expanding. High fixed or storage costs There have a high fixed cost incurred in manufacturing process such as craftsmanship, rental, depreciation of plant and machinery, and there have need to incurred the high security costs to store the jewellery such as a special storage room, CCTV and security guards. This will encourage the rivalry among the competitors because the jewellery manufacturer and dealer will get the market share as much as possible to cover up those fixed costs. Low differentiation or switching cost There have low switching cost among the buyers because the buyers can change their suppliers anytime without incurred any compensation or legal fees (actually their switching costs is just learning costs, research costs). Therefore, these will cause the increases of bargaining power of buyers and threats of substitute. Degem, Tomei, Chow Tai Fook and other jewellery firm will try to lock-in the buyers through their innovation and marketing strategics hence increase the competitions among existing firm. High exit barriers There have low exit barriers for the jewellery industries, its actually just need to expose the risk of fluctuation of gold price when they dispose off their remaining stocks, hence these factor will weaken the rivalry among the competitions because the firms will not need to put the hard afford to stay in the market due to the high exit barriers. BCGs Matrix Attractiveness of portfolio Based on the information gather for each portfolio for Poh Kong, and the BCGs Matrix as at Appendix, trading division is star while manufacturing is question mark division for Poh Kong. For trading division, Poh Kong is a market leader among other competitor because it generates the highest external revenue among other competitors, which higher than the benchmark company is Tomei Consolidated Berhad, the 2nd

Professional Wrestling is Not a Sport, It’s Entertainment Essay

Professional Wrestling is Not a Sport, It’s Entertainment In what All-American sport can skin-tight spandex be worn and women flaunt giant biceps, while brandishing names such as Disco Inferno or Manna the Headhunter and still are adored by a mass audience? Why, in wrestling, of course. The dramatically choreographed sport entertains an audience of violence-starved fans who covet moves, such as the coined "People's Elbow". In fact, wrestling rises emotion from almost every viewer the industry draws in. Whether the emotion is intrigue, or pure disgust, this form of entertainment relies on the audiences' reactions, nonetheless. In this day and age, an industry has been built based on wrestling as a revolutionary form of mass culture entertainment. Polan explains how mass culture is essentially the regime of content, theme, the formulaic regularity of simple explanatory myths, an art tied to the gives of an everyday world (169). Even though some individuals may have reserve to whether wrestling is art or not, the sport certainly "finds an emot ion resonance in the genre's audience" (Polan 167). Wrestling's main motive is to reach a large-scale audience, and the sport relies on a predictable audience and appealing, symbolic entertainment. Truly, without the hundreds of fans that swear allegiance to wrestling, there simply would be no sport. The wrestlers go about entertaining the masses with outrageous matches and just a tough of cheesy drama. As proof of this, Putterman states: Most sports begin as games that the press and public then overlay with their own wish-fulfillment fantasies in order to turn the game into melodrama. Wrestling begins with the situation and characters of melodrama and then, t... ... Clearly, wrestling is in existence for the show business, but relies on a mass audience to create the sport of wrestling. The money and fame come merely as seconds in wrestling, for the audience must be entertained. Thus, the wrestling industry's ability to bend the audiences' sediments with every move is a raw example of mass culture entertainment. There is no doubt that wrestling is effective in controlling its audience, for it consists of all the elements that embody mass entertainment. Do not let the acronyms fool you, for wrestling is an up-front form of mass entertainment that has no shame and does not try to hide what the sport is all about. So, keep watching, continue to be entertained, even attend a match, and remember that the sweaty, emotion soaked crowd is much more unpredictable than the actual match. That's the effects of entertainment, baby.

Population Ecology vs. Neoinstitutional Theory Essay -- Environment, E

Organization-environment relations depict certain areas of UCSB in their entirety in which two of those theories include population ecology and neoinstitutional theory. Population ecology and neoinstitutional theory looks at UCSB in divergent perspectives: population ecology looks at UCSB as a living or dying species whereas neoinstitutional theory highlights UCSB’s importance as an establishment to its field of education. With this, I am going to compare both, population ecology and neoinstitutional theory, in relation to the University of California – Santa Barbara. I will further discuss each of their strengths and weaknesses in accordance to the behavior and environment of institution, faculty, staff, and its students. Within nature, any form of species focus on selection and adaptation towards their environment to better themselves; organizations to utilize this idea as a metaphor to personify the organization-environment theory of population ecology underlining any organization functions as a living or dying species. Primarily, population ecology reflects both a rationalist and naturalist perspectives. Population ecology echoes rationalist theory because power is frequently controlled by those in superior positions due to their experiences within the organization (Taylor 25). Also, population ecology is natural because it denies specificity and predictability due to the organization’s dependence of the fluctuation of environmental resources (Sutton 1/20/11). Ultimately for any organization to adapt and change the future of the establishment, it is necessary for workers in a dominant and higher position to ruminate any strategies and environmental opportunities and threats (Hannan 930). He nry Yang, as UCSB’s chancellor, ... ...rsity. Conformity limits the organization values and appearance to which they cannot change unless the organization wishes to achieve any backlash. Overall, population ecology and neoinstitutional theory are part of organization-environment relations and are applied throughout UCSB. Population ecology and neoinstitutional theory are two theories describing and affecting the organizational environment at UCSB from two perspectives: the population and institutions as a whole. With population ecology, UCSB faces competition dilemmas to keep their organization from â€Å"dying†; and additionally, neoinstitutional theory shows UCSB how to appear legitimate through conforming to society’s beliefs and expectations. Although both concepts are vastly differently, they aid UCSB, as well as other organizations, to understanding the lifespan and appearance of its establishment.

Fond Memories :: essays research papers

Fond Memories As I grew up my family and I have lived in a few places, but none were more memorable than our house in Columbia, Maryland.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The neighborhood I grew up in was a brand new town house development. The house colors were tan, white, green or yellow. My neighborhood was shaped like a gigantic eight. In the center of each circle that made up the eight was a center island that was dense with trees, and had honeysuckle plants that gave off a sweet almost hypnotic smell. On the outskirts of the figure eight were the townhouses. In front of each house was a tree or two surrounded by evergreen shrubbery and a garden of various different types of insanely large flowers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To the rear of the houses were wooden fences separating each town house, it was as if the builders of the houses had anticipated trouble between where one persons property ends and another persons property begins. Behind our fences there laid a dark concealing forest that was perfect for exploring as a kid. In this forest you could find any tree from redwoods to weeping willows towering in the sky. On the ground there was moss, ivy, and even poison oak (which I found the hard way over and over again), but oddly enough there was no grass in this forest. Maybe the reason there was no grass is because the trees were so huge that sunlight had not touched the ground there for at least 100 years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There were many paths in the forest, and all of them led to isolated parts of the famous Patomic River. This river is famous in Maryland for the wildlife that it supports and its stunning beauty. The section of the river that I always liked to visit was about 12 feet wide and as clear as crystal. There were tons of fish, frogs, and bugs there it was enough to keep a kid like me busy all day. Although there was a hint of a moldy smell there it mainly smelled like pine and sap. This was by far my favorite experience growing up in this neighborhood.

Feminism and Marginalization Essay

Female characters in Death of a salesman are marginalised and trivialised. Criticism from feminists reflects the lives of women and what extent they are marginalised and trivialised. Women are being relegated to a secondary level and are made unimportant as portrayed by critics, feminist and Arthur Miller in his book Death of a salesman and this can be derived from their views towards the topic. There are different reasons why and different ways in which women are made unimportant and ways in which this may be stopped if not minimized. Some feminist view marginalization and trivialization as factors brought about by equality or difference in gender or sex. They argue that women’s supposed differences from men have been used over the centuries to justify discrimination against women and their exclusion from full social and political citizenship. They argue that the constant differentiation, however has been that women have been given an inferior or secondary status in the society because of the assumed natural sexual difference pg9-10 (freedman. Feminism). For centuries difference has been the starting point of and justification for the creation of different social roles for men and women. Not only was women’s biological capacity for child birth and breast feeding and the generally lesser physical strength seen as determining their social role in the home ,occupying themselves with domestic chores and bringing up children, but it was also claimed that these biological differences made them unfit to participate in the public sphere. Women were judged to be less reasonable than men, more ruled by emotion, and thus incapable of political decision making, for example. They continue to say that the social roles and modes of behaviour that civilizations have assigned to women have kept them in an inferior position to that of men. This means that women are not like the Working classes in Marxism ideology: they have not emerged an oppressed group because of particular historical circumstances, but have always been oppressed in all forms of social organization. Ortner(1998: 21) argues: the secondary status of women in the society is one of the true universals, a pan-cultural fact. And as she goes on to explain, this secondary status of women can be explained by the fact that within multiplicity of cultural conceptions and symbolizations of women that exist and that have existed in different societies, there is a constant in the women are being closer to nature in their physiology, their social role and their psyche. Whereas women have been perceived as closer to nature, men have been perceived as closer to culture, more suited for public roles and political association. For this reason, women have been relegated to a secondary status in the society, often confined to roles in the home rather than able to accede to powerful public positions. For example Willy Loman treated his wife Linda badly, he overpowered her and he bosses her and disrespects her and s always rude to her and this is why she kept herself busy with house hold duties as any other oppressed wife would do. E. g he doesn’t give her a chance to talk when she tries to give her own opinion pg31 and he shouts at her a lot even she is doing the best she can to make situations better pg69 (Arthur Miller.  Death of a salesman) Carol Gilligan believes that the reason why women are marginalized and trivialised is because their voices have not been heard, that women have not been given a chance to air out their views because of the common culture that men are more superior. ‘Only if we can understand why their voices have been silenced, and how the dominant ideal of moral autonomy in our culture, as well as the privileged definition of the moral sphere, continue to silence women’s voices, do we have a hope of moving to a more integrated vision of ourselves of our fellow humans generalized as well as ‘concrete’ others’. Benhabib 1988:95) for example: where Linda tries to give suggestions or to air out her opinion then Willy tell her to shut up and he told her not to interrupt him. Willy does not allow her to say what she wants to say, he does not give her the opportunity to speak. This in its own way is marginalization and trivialization because it proves how men feel that everything they say is right and matters most than what women say because they feel that they are more superior than women. pg31 and pg49(Arthur Miller.  Death of a salesman) Feminist ambivalence to maternalism is based on the argument that women’s public role if framed women’s condition of oppression: the ideology of domesticity and women’s exclusion from public roles in society. The qualities and capacities make women different from men are those acquired through their condition of oppression. Pg31(Sara Goodman and Diana Mulinari. Feminist intervention in discourses on gender and development). Dorothy Smith(1987) has shown how men in position of power do not only control the world but name it and how women are excluded from the process of description and ordering the world. SHULAMITH FIRESTONE 1979:12 believes that women’s oppression is thus the primary oppression, ‘an oppression that goes back beyond history to the animal kingdom itself’, and this oppression is based on biological oppression. The effects of biology are all-pervading, and women’s inferior social position can be explained by biology- their reproductive capacity and their weakened physical condition – these biological factors being reinforced by men’s development of social structures that keep women tied to their reproductive role. pg69 (freedman.  Feminism). Examples of oppression are where Linda always tries to make situations better as way to please her husband, she takes a lot from Willy and never complains about the way he treats her. She takes all this in because she believes in pleasing her husbanding and by so doing it is shown that she is oppressed, she is not doing what she wants but what she thinks is right because she lives under the shadow of her husband and her dictatorship. E. g Linda looks out for her husband, does everything in his favour and does everything for him. E. where she asks her sons not give Willy a hard time and where she tries to make the situation batter by telling him that it was just a joke yet she know it wasn’t and she does this to protect him pg42-48(Arthur Miller. Death of a salesman) Firestone(1979) says women’s liberation is therefore ’a struggle to break free from oppressive power structure set by nature and reinforced by man’. She believes that women must be liberated th rough destruction of biological oppression and this can happen through the development of reproductive technologies that will free women from their biological reproduction capacity. In my opinion, marginalization and trivialization are phenomenons that exist in everyday life because it is believed that man are superior and women are inferior and this idea contributes thus they encourage marginalized and trivialization of women. Inequality and difference are also contributing factors because they give the impression that just because women and man are different based on their sex, women are believed to be incapable of a lot of things including decision making thus giving man the impression that they are able to rule or they are more capable of a lot than women. Oppression is also a contributing factor because it limits women from doing things to their full capacity in that they live according to what they are stipulated to do and this oppression gives man the power to belittle women and to make them unimportant. I believe that equality meaning equal opportunities to both man and women is the best solution to stopping marginalization and trivialization of women.

Competition between local and foreign products

One of the fastest growing countries in the East. This results from unavoidable phenomena of globalization that bring together global companies becoming one market including in Malaysia. Consumers are presented with a variety of international brands such as Apple, Mercedes-Benz, and Role watches. Therefore, it increases the degree competition between domestic and foreign product. Generally, the competition Involves three distinct aspects such as the taste and preference, quality and price range. Foreign and local brands are occupying the local market competitively.Customers' references for both brands differ in some ways and one of it is the brand personality. Asker, 1996 mentions that customers' preferences are subject to the emphasis of brand personality. For example, consumers are much more exposed to international brands as these products are Intensely advertised globally to make them more recognizable worldwide (Hassle, 2004). As compared to local labels; which only limited in s tores, foreign labels are way desirable. Other than that, customers' preferences are subject to the location and environment where the products are available.Both local and foreign merchandises have specific places as where to get heir products. For example, there are plenty of street stalls offering local foods meanwhile people will have to go to decent places for non-local ones. Customers who prefer more choices will most likely buy local ones. On the other hand, for those who are willing to spend a bit go for non-local ones because of the ambiance plus It Is more hygienic compared to street foods. Accessibility in which customers can reach those products also plays an important role in assisting consumers' decision.There is easier access to get local brands compared to foreign brands. For example, customers can just go to their nearby small groceries shops to buy local products. Foreign products such as pasta or seasonal fruits Like apples are only available In supermarkets or hy permarkets. Practically, both products have their own uniqueness and strategies to meet customers' wants and preferences. Furthermore, quality Is also one of the aspects in the competitive markets between local products and foreign products.Persona and Mediumistic have been competitors in term of safety and structure of the vehicle in an automotive industry for years. ‘Ixia' were developed in Malaysia automotive manufacturer in the name of Persona ‘s company, while ‘Mirage' developed In Japan automotive manufacturer named Mediumistic Motor company. Both cars share some similarity In terms of safety ‘s quality. It has 5 doors hatchback, point settable, antiknock system with electronic break-force distribution, brake assist, and SOFIA system.Besides that, the differences of safety features for Ixia are dual airbags, solar and security window film and the key with integrated remote control. For Mirage, it has 7 airbags which include front and side bags for drive r and passenger seats, side curtain bags over front and rear window and knee airbag for driver, usual suite of electronic safety system that consists of stability motorcar is rarely different. In this modern era, the facilities of the motorcar are getting more compact and it is fully equipped with modern design and technologies devices.The inner design of Mirage is far more behind than Ixia in the new market arena. For instance, Ixia has touch screen DVD player with Bluetooth and Navigation system, the tissue component behind the front passenger seats as in it interior while the turning signal been located on the retractable mirror as it exterior compare to Mirage which only side mirror deflector, push start button and also smart key as its special features. Similarity, both cars have leather seat and leather-wrapped steering wheel.Therefore, Persona Ixia has reached the value of quality where the price met the expectation of a product. The most noteworthy difference is the price be tween the local product and foreign product in Malaysia. Commonly, the price of foreign product is more expensive than the local product because it is imported from other places which involving shipping fee, money exchange and taxes for importing goods. For example, when we exchange Ringing to foreign money such as Singapore dollar, the Ringing value is becomes lesser and causing the item has higher price in Malaysia.According to Nikkei Official website 2014, there is an $8 shipping fee will be charge per shoes. Other than that, Malaysia also charges higher tax on foreign product than local products. A motor vehicle is one of the examples that we can speak about. Lee (2013) mention that due to the reason on combination of high duties and tax cars plus decreasing loss from outflow of ringing to foreign country, Malaysia is one of the countries that has some of the highest car prices in the world. ENG (2013) said that there is a 65% to 105% excise tax, plus 10% sales tax was charged o n motor vehicle in Malaysia.It is obviously can be seen that the price plays major role in the competition between local products and foreign products in Malaysia. It is unquestionable, there is a strong competition between local and imported product that offered in our country. Therefore, Malaysian citizen should support the Government initiative through the ‘Buy Malaysia Product Campaign'. The implementation of this campaign is to promote interest among the Malaysian consumer to purchase more local brands. In conjunction with that, it helps the local entrepreneurs to grow and compete in producing more quality and standardized product.As a result, it boosts the domestic economy as we can export Malaysian product to another country, at the same time to promote our local products in the global market. One of the examples of successful Malaysian product is KIND, which invented greatest electrical home appliances and making millions of sales from exporting to over 50 countries (K IND, 2010). Hence, consumers should not underestimate our local products but build a positive perception and buy Malaysia made products.

The True Eternal Love Is the Love of a Mother to Her Child

As of now I have not yet experienced to carry a child to my womb. But you know what? I already felt it. It’s really hard to be pregnant in times of troubles and problems. My sister experienced it. On that time, she had to move away from us because my mom didn’t want to see her. It’s emotionally hurting. I know how she feels, how they feels. Mom is hurting too. But I knew her. She will never show her weaknesses to others. On the other side, Ate is hurting. She is emotional because she is pregnant. That’s why I just supported her.I tried to make her smile every day I’m going to their home. Yes, I’m visiting them without mom knowing it. I’m bringing her a piece of mango every day, or sometimes oranges, or an apple. I want her to be healthy for the sake of the baby, too. It’s really happy to think that in that way, we became closer and closer to each other. Almost all the time her husband was on his work. That’s why I’ m the one coming with her at the maternal clinic every schedule. I felt excitement when I saw the baby’s first picture! The doctor told us there that it was a girl. She’s pretty. I knew it! =)She’s seven months on her mother’s womb when Ate took steps on the stage to get her diploma. Yes, she did continue studying to finish her course. It’s not our mom who walked with her but our aunt. Thanks to our lovable auntie because she helped us to convince mom to let Ate live with us again. I know she can’t ignore it. Why? Because she do loves us, Very much indeed. Dramatic scenario when the entire member of the family cried. That was a happy night to remember, when our family from being broken unite as one again. And that, there is one little angel will be added to the family.It was June then. The baby grew bigger at Ate’s womb. The doctor told her to stop eating too much. The baby is too big and might get bigger if she continues to do so. If that happened, it will be hard for her to give birth. June 15 was actually her due date but until the 25th of June came, she’s not feeling anything that indicates she had to confine. I suggested then to take her to hospital so that the doctors could give her drugs. The baby was excited to feel us. I felt it too. She’s moving almost all the time. And it is ridiculous that whenever I’m asking her to move, she will definitely do t! She can understand and hear me. It’s blissful! The day came. It was 30th of June and I was on my school. I called my mom by lunch time and she told me Ate was still laboring. I was so worried. I know it’s difficult for her. If you could only see Ate, she is thin and little! And imagine that big angel on her tummy! The only thing I can do is praying. Surprisingly by 3:40, I was on my home from school, my mom texted me that Ate had successfully gave birth to her baby. And about her name? She was named Criziah Wynes M. Agao. |Pretty cool, isn’t it?The next day they came home. Ate was sick and tired. I bet she got to confine. It might be a serious illness like the doctor told them before they leave. She can’t even take care of Wynes. That’s why I’m helping my mom to fix things needed for our angel. And as time goes by, by God’s will, we became okay and the family became big and happy. Now Wynes is one! And until now, I am one of her so called moms. She’s always calling me. She wants to come with me whenever i’m going to school. She wants me to be with her whenever they’re going somewhere.I almost live at their house because she wants me to sing a lullaby for her at her sleeping time. But ask me about the feeling. It’s very happy to be with her EVERY MOMENT. I’m not her mom, but I can feel she is mine. She is my pain reliever, stress reliever and my happiness. She makes me smile though I’m not well. She makes me smile thru bad ti mes. I’m not a mom. But Wynes let me experience and feel it. I also don’t believe in eternal love, I never before. But as of now, I just realize that aside from God’s eternal love for us, there is another one. And it is the love of a mother to her child. =)