Sandvik Saws and Tools Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sandvik Saws and Tools Industry - Essay Example The essay is about the case of Sandvik saws and tools industry. Sandvik saws and tools I is a saws and other hand tools industry with a global presence. With its Headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, the organization is known for its technical competence and maintenance of quality. The organization sells its products in more than 60 countries globally and has a strong presence in Europe. With its own centralized supply and distribution mechanism the organization is able to manage the supply of its products. However the management decided to upgrade the quality of the products by using a particular strategy called as ERGO strategy. The organization has spent a considerable amount of money for supply of technically advanced tools into the market. With this ERGO strategy the management hoped to gain a substantial share in the U.S market, which is not to be. The essay probes deeper into the problems or hindrances for the organization which are acting as limitations and suggests strategies for improvement of the same. The essay is about the case of Sandvik saws and tools industry. Sandvik saws and tools I is a saws and other hand tools industry with a global presence. ... 10. Brand value 11. Supply chain mechanism. 12. References Introduction to the case: The essay is about the case of Sandvik saws and tools industry. Sandvik saws and tools I is a saws and other hand tools industry with a global presence. With its Headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, the organization is known for its technical competence and maintenance of quality. The organization sells its products in more than 60 countries globally and has a strong presence in Europe. With its own centralized supply and distribution mechanism the organization is able to manage the supply of its products. The industry into which Sandvik can be termed as a fragmented industry in which there is plenty of scope for new entrants to come in because of low entry barriers such as technology, or laws regulating its entry. Sandvik Saws and Tools chose ERGO or improvising ergonomics of the tools as a strategy for better positioning of its products in Europe and U.S. The task of implementing the strategy was given another Swedish based organization called as EDG, Ergonomi Design Gruppen, specialists in hand made tools design. According to Sandvik management the ERGO strategy should place the product streets ahead in the competition. However it is not to be. Despite very strong in technology and quality of products Sandvik was unable to maintain a substantial gain in market share in U.S. The essay tries to portray the various reasons for this lack luster performance of the organization and suggests suitable strategies to be applied in the subject area. Parameters chosen for analysis of the case: The various parameters I have chosen for analysis of the case are those which are relevant to any fragmented industry and also a maturing industry. They are such as 1.

Qantas Airlines Essay Example for Free

Qantas Airlines Essay Introduction Qantas Airlines, initially known as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited (QANTAS), was founded by two former war pilots, Wilmot Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinness, in 1920 at Queensland, Australia. Qantas is the flag carrier airline for Australia and it is the second oldest airlines in the world. Qantas Airlines headquarters is located in Mascot, Sydney, New South Wales with its major hub at Sydney Airport. The airline began with joy flights in 1920 and by 1922, they carried 871 passengers and logged 54,000 km without severe damage. It also began its airmail service between Charleville and Cloncurry which was their first ever to be scheduled in 1922. In 1935, Qantas operated its first international flight which was a regular four-day trip from Brisbane to Singapore. It has now become Australia’s largest domestic and international airlines with much development. Qantas started advertising via television. It was a television campaign which started in 1967 through a few decades with it targeting American citizens. The ad was a huge success as it was named as one of the greatest commercial of all times. The airlines also promoted its brand by sponsoring a handful of sports team. Qantas is the principal contributor of the â€Å"Qantas Wallabies†, Australia’s national Union Rugby team and the Formula One Australian Grand Prix. It also sponsors the Australian’s national association football team, Socceroos and recently made a deal with Cricket Australia to be the main backer of the Australian national cricket team. Qantas had become so significant that the government bought over it back in 1947 which is a year after the Australian Airlines was formed. Unfortunately, Australian Airlines had a major issue which led to Qantas b eing sold. Qantas was then privatised and since then it has continued to mature despite fighting financial crisis and global turndown for aviation. To regain profit, Qantas have produce subsidiaries such as Jetstar Airways which is Qantas’ low-cost carrier. CEO Alan Joyce was pleased to announce Qantas’ best profit ($250 mil.) since the global financial crisis in 2011, even though the airlines and the aviation suffered from some challenges. Despite everything, it is undeniable that Qantas is regarded as the worlds leading long distance airline and one of the strongest brands in Australia.

The Actions and Agenda of the Hizbullah :: Politics Political Essays

The Actions and Agenda of the Hizbullah The Hizbullah are an extreme Islamic fundamentalist group. In fact, Hizbullah means 'Party of God." The Hizbullah came into existence in the social uprising of the late 1960's to the early 1970's by a Lebanese shia community. Then, following their charismatic leader Imam Musa Sadr, who mysteriously disappeared in Libya in 1978, the group developed until the Israeli invasion of 1982. This brought about Shiite radicalism, which is the Hizbullah's basis when it was created. Since then, the Hizbullah have been an influential part of Lebanon. The Hizbullah is a group of tactical genius. They have created an image as being of good intentions. They have helped to rebuild many communities in return for the people's backing. The agenda of the Hizbullah, which is known for its attacks on Israeli forces in occupied southern Lebanon, is now unclear. Israel withdrew from the "security zone" of southern Lebanon in May 2000. The only area of Lebanon where Israeli forces remained was Sheba'a farms. Many believed that because of the Hizbullah victory and the Israeli pullout, the Hizbullah would now focus on political and social agendas inside Lebanon. However Hizbullah has chosen to persist in its military strategy against Israel. Hizbullah's actions have the potential to trigger a full-scale, inter-state war. Some militant actions after the withdrawal have been: - the kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers from Mount Dov / Sheba'a farms. Hizbullah claimed that this advanced Lebanese interests: 'the liberation of disputed Sheba'a farms and the freeing of Lebanese detainees in Israel' and the Palestinian struggle. -the killing of an IDF solider in the Sheba'a area on November 26. Despite press reports of a possible Israel-Hizbullah swap of prisoners, Hizbullah continues to lay the groundwork for future military actions. For Israel, heavy retaliation against Hizbullah and its ally Syria, especially at a time of Israeli-Palestinian violence, risks opening Israel's northern settlements to Hizbullah fire and maybe even a full-scale military confrontation along the northern border. Aims for Hizbullah today: 1. Survival - leader, Nasrallah has said that Hizbullah is defined by its "Jihadic identity," a philosophy of continual military struggle. When Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon, recognized by the UN Secretary General as fulfilling the requirements of UNSC resolution 425, Nasrallah declared this inadequate. Hizbullah states that it will continue to fight to liberate Sheba'a. We will continue to fight to liberate Sheba'a." 2. Balance in Lebanon. Hizbullah wishes to seek a balance between continuing to fight against Israel and also to maintain popular support.

Domestic and Community Violence against Women in USA Essay

Domestic violence in the United States is said to be high whereby, it is reported that over 700,000 Americans are victimized by the domestic violence according to the 2000 National Crime Victimization Survey. (Nocav and Bourbonnais, 2002) Domestic violence in the United States is said to come up as a result a result of poverty, gender inequality and even socio-economic factors. In this case we find that, the physical violence is defined as an intentional use of an individuals physical force with an objective of causing injury, harm or death these injuries are usually caused by either using a weapon, hitting or even kicking another person, while sexual violence is known as the physical force used to involve an individual into sexual acts against his will. Psychological violence or commonly known as the emotional violence that include the humiliation of an individual, controlling what an individual can do, it may also be practiced by withholding the victims information this act is usually applied to make the victim embarrassed, isolated and denied the right to enjoy his personal rights. The other type of abuse is the economic violence where we find that an abuser takes a complete control over the victims’ economic materials and resources. (Lupton, 2002) These differences are both biologically and socially determined where the social, cultural, economic and political forces are said to have brought variation in the position of different group of people in different societies globally. According to various research studies conducted we find that these domestic violence are especially caused by; the psychological factors which involve that personality and the characteristics of the stated offender and this may also carry a form of social hypothesis that normally consider the factors that are created externally in the offender’s surroundings, this may include the family structure, stress or even social classifications. (Draper, 1989) In some communities we find that violence comes up as a result of an individual seeking power or control over other members of the society, here we find that the abuser creates a negative impact on the victims, whereby they end up attributed to low self- esteem. An example for this practice in the United States is where women are said to be disadvantaged where they are being isolated in the distribution of income and consumption within the community. Where the share of the national income shows that there is inequality between women and men throughout the world, here women are said to have a significantly lower share of national income than men. Therefore we find that men regard themselves to be given a higher priority they practice gender discrimination where more women and children are forced by men in their families to do most work to produce food for the families in which men are proved to be taking control over family resources and yet they do not participate in their production. Through gender analysis of roles done by many institutions it is said that men contribute less than three hours in a day of their time to activities that is geared towards food production compared to women who do the bulk of the work here we find that the rights of women are being violated. Conclusion The main roles of the civil rights movement is to fight the domestic violence in the American society, under this we find that, the civil rights activists say that there are many ways of handling the domestic violence in our communities whereby the government plays a role of ensuring that commitments to equal rights and opportunities are upheld and delivered, by setting an enabling environment for all members of the American society at the country level and in the global community through the formulation and implementation of conferences and international conformities. Promote an active culture that emphasizes the right to formation and support the developmental activists to demand information from all sectors including government, other Non-Governmental organisations in order to promote local accountability to the victimized members of the community. The government should create an enabling environment which will influence change in policies, laws and institutions at national and international levels. (Draper, 1989) The other method that can be applied in dealing with domestic violence is the safety plan which is usually a plan that directed to the victim where he asked to act quickly so that he may remove himself from the dangers of the violence. This plan involve a specific plan of how to get out of the place, here the victim is advised to carry himself with the basic needs that will be required to be used when out of the place. Although partnerships are strengthening around a based purpose there is still so much for the governments affected by the fight over power to close the gaps in understanding and increase co-operation between the governments, the states and the civil societies. This recommendation is seen to be adversarial instead of being collaborative leading to little sharing of experience and good practice by the prominent people in the American society. References Lupton, R and Power, A. (2002): Social Exclusion & Neighborhoods. In Understanding Social Exclusion† Hills J, Le Grand J. & Piachaud D. Edn pp. 118- 140: Oxford: Oxford University Press. Burgess, R and Draper P. 1989 the explanation of family violence, the role of biological, Behavioral and cultural selection. Ohlin L. and Tonry M. Edn. Family Violence pp. 59-116 Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Black People Essay

Tar Baby Toni Morrison’s novel might for some be a novel of cultural awakening. One also might at their first reading and perhaps also by reading the different studies made on Tar Baby, restricted to an interpretation that sees Jadine, Morrison’s protagonist, as woman who has, consciously or unconsciously, lost her â€Å"ancient properties† (305) and internalized the values of a white culture. Jadine has totally disconnected herself from her racial identity and cultural heritage. This reading is supported by the fact that Jadine has got her education in Europe with the financial assistance of Valerian Street (her aunt’s and uncle’s employer). Paraphrasing Marylyn sanders Mobley – the characterization of the protagonist, Jadine, draws attention to a fundamental problem as one that Morrison wants to affirm the self-reliance and freedom of a black woman who makes choices for her own life on her own terms. She also seeks to point out the dangers that can happen to the totally self-reliant if there is no historical connection. While the conflict in Tar Baby is undoubtedly â€Å"between assimilation and cultural nationalism represented by the sealskin coat Ryk has given her and the pie table† (Rayson, 94), the limiting categories which Jadine is continually forced into do not come from the white characters but primarily from the black community in which she finds herself because she (Jadine) has embraced white stereotypes along with white culture. While Valerian is portrayed as the traditional master-figure in the novel, it is actually Son, Sydney and Ondine, and the folk past represented by the different women in different places that try to conquer and dominate Jadine, who retain and represent their culture in the very colour of their skin. On the other hand, one could argue that it is as a result of Jadine’s university education in Europe and her career that further draws her away from her culture and identity and therefore (paraphrasing Mobley in Toni Morrison critical perspectives past and present) contributes significantly to the emotional and spiritual uncertainty that plague her as well as the many different roles that are imposed upon her by her aunt and uncle as well as the ‘society’ that caused her to seek upward social mobility. Sydney and Ondine, Jadine’s uncle and aunt in the novel can be seen as representative of one of the tar pits for Jadine. They do not accept all black people equal in the community in which they live because they employ racial hierarchies. Ondine sees herself as the only woman in the house (209), while Sydney notes more than twice that he is a Philadelphia Negro, â€Å"the proudest people in the race† (61). They seem to have a clear vision of what they want for Jadine their niece. As the story progresses, though, it becomes clearer that it is not actually a question of what they want for Jadine but what they want of her or expect her to do. In addition to them wanting Jadine to provide them safety and credit for their race, Ondine admits by the end of the novel, â€Å"maybe I just wanted her to feel sorry for us [†¦ ] and that’s a lowdown wish if I ever had one† (282). Jadine understands that Sydney and Ondine â€Å"had gotten Valerian to pay her tuition while they sent her the rest† (49) and Ondine keeps reminding that she â€Å"would have stood on her feet all day all night to put Jadine through that school† (193). Ondine sees Jadine as her â€Å"crown† (282), and she and Sydney are continually â€Å"boasting† (49) about Jadine’s success to the point that Margaret calls Ondine â€Å"Mother Superior† (84). In return, they seem to want Jadine to offer them safety for the rest of their lives as Ondine claims that â€Å"Nothing can happen to us as long as she’s here† (102). They are not comfortable with the idea of Jadine marrying Ryk, who is â€Å"white but European which was not as bad as white and American† (48), but they are terrified of her running off with a â€Å"no-count Negro† (193) like Son. Although their views on racial hierarchies seem to alter from time to time, on the outside they seem to want what is best for Jadine. Jadine refute Ondine’s views of black womanhood when she tells her some of the things that are expected of her from society Jadine tells Ondine that: â€Å"I don’t want to learn how to be the kind of woman you’re talking about because I don’t want to be that kind of woman† (282). This, according to Rayson (1998), might be interpreted as Jadine’s â€Å"rejecting the roles of mother, daughter, and woman to stay the tar baby† (Rayson, 95), however it marks her becoming aware of what kind of woman she is by the end of the novel. Jadine‘s inclination toward upward social mobility leads to her separation from the Afro-American roots and the tar quality that Morrison advocates. This kind of flaw in Jadine effectively disqualifies her as a black woman capable of nurturing a family and by large the community. Jadine‘s perception of an ancestral relationship from which she is estranged occurs when she sees an African woman in a Parisian bakery. When she is celebrating her success as model evidenced in her appearance on the cover of Elle, Jadine becomes nervous or perhaps uncomfortable by the African woman in yellow attire. She triggers an identity crisis in Jadine at the moment when she should have felt more secure with her professional achievement assured by beauty and education. In his African woman, Jadine catches a glimpse of beauty, a womanliness, an innate elegance, a nurturer, an authenticity that she had never known before: ? That woman‘s woman – that mother/sister/she/; that unphotographable beauty? (p. 43). By calling the African woman ? that mother/sister/she,? J. Deswal (online source â€Å"Tar Baby- Shodhganga) claims that â€Å"Morrison presents a threefold definition of womanhood which can thrive within the confines of family and community only. The three eggs she balances effortlessly in her ? tar-black fingers? (p. 44) appear to Jadine as if the woman were boasting of her own easy acceptance of womanhood†. Wendy Harding and Jacky Martin in A World of Difference: An Inter-cultural Study of Toni Morrison explain the importance of the African woman‘s presence as such: â€Å"Whereas Jadine has just been rewarded for her conformity to Western ideals of feminity, the African woman suggests a more powerful version of black womanhood. Like some fertility goddess, she holds in her hand the secret of life. She is the mother of the world in whose black hands whiteness appears as something as easily crushed as cared for (71). When Jadine measures herself by the idea of black womanhood that she sees in the African woman the insecurities of her rootless condition surface in her mind. The women in yellow makes Jadine confront her female role and her sexuality†. Jadine sees ? something in her eyes so powerful? (p. 42) that she follows the woman out of the store. The writers also claim that â€Å"As a symbol of repudiation of Jadine‘s westernized lifestyle, the African woman ? looks right at Jadine? (p. 43) and spits on the pavement†. Jadine hates the woman for her spitting, but what she cannot do is escape feeling ? lonely in a way; lonely and inauthentic? as she tells the readers on page 45. When the sense of self is based on the denial of one‘s ethnic roots, one is certain to experience mental chaos and alienation. So, the woman‘s insult to Jadine had the powerful effect of challenging Jadine‘s choices: her white boyfriend, her girlfriends in New York, her parties, her picture on the cover of Elle and the way she lived her life. One can say that it is as a result of the African woman that Jadine desided to visit her aunt and uncle on the island. Jadine is confused and even questions her plans to marry Ryk, her white boyfriend: I wonder if the person he wants to marry is me or a black girl? And if it isn‘t me he wants, but any black girl who looks like me, talks and acts like me, what will happen when he finds out that I hate ear hoops, that I don‘t have to straighten my hair, that Mingus puts me to sleep, that sometimes I want to get out of my skin and be only the person inside – not American – not black – just me? (p. 45) It is through Son, however, that Morrison offers Jadine the ultimate opportunity to ‘redeem’ herself to her heritage, adapt it and revive her womanhood. Son picks up from where the African woman left off in a sense by making Jadine confront her inauthenticity. Jadine and Son enjoys their stay in New York because it is the place where Jadine feels at ease. She feels loved and safe: ? He ‘unorphaned’ her completely and gave her a brand-new childhood? (p. 231). In turn, Son is encouraged by her need and by his apparent ability to redefine Jadine culturally and emotionally. Son insists that he and Jadine goes to Eloe his hometown where Jadine will see how Son is rooted in family and cultural heritage. He attempts to rescue Jadine from her ignorance and disdain for her cultural heritage, trying in a sense to mould Jadine into the image of his black female ancestors. Son assumes that a relationship with Jadine will mean that they will have children together. He presses claims for family and community: ? He smiled at the vigour of his own heartbeat at the thought of her having his baby? (p. 220). Thus, he wants Jadine to love the nurturing aspects of home and fraternity. He is fed on dreams of his community women. The dreams of ? yellow houses with white doors? and ? fat black ladies in white dresses minding the pie table? (p. 119) are nourishment to Son. Sandra Pouchet Paquet (The ancestors as foundation in their eyes were watching god and tar baby) observes: ? In Son‘s dreams of Eloe, the African-American male ego is restored in a community of black man at the center of a black community. But however appreciative Son is of the beauty, the strength, and the toughness of black women; his vision is of male dominance; of the black women as handmaiden? (511). The image feminity that Son cherishes – of the black woman taking passive role as a nurturer of the hearth – is flagrantly opposite to Jadine‘s perception of the modern black woman. This terrifies Jadine and narrows the possibility of their forming a family. The modern, educated black woman seems to snivel at the aspects of traditional female- specific role as the nurturer of hearth and home. Decadent white values and life style thwart the black woman’s vital roles of building families and raising children. The modern black woman cannot be a complete human being, for she allows her education to keep her career separate from her nurturing role. The black woman is increasingly becoming able to define her own status and to be economically independent. She tries to seek equality in her relationship with men. Robert Staples gives an insight into the faltering dynamics of modern couples: ? What was once a viable institution because women were a subservient group has lost its value for some people in these days of women‘s liberation. The stability of marriage was contingent on the woman accepting her place in the home and not creating dissension by challenging the male‘s prerogatives? (125). The black woman‘s intrinsic quality of ? accepting her place in the home? is Morrison‘s tar quality. However, in advocating the tar quality Morrison does not admonish the educational and professional accomplishments of the black woman. In fact, the black woman is expected to achieve a balance between her roles in the domestic and professional fields. â€Å"It is the historical ability of black women to keep their families and careers together. In an era where both the black male and female seek to fulfill individual desires, relationships falter and, consequently, the prospects of the propagation of a family are not too bright. Jadine‘s tar quality is submerged by the white-like urge for freedom and self-actualization. As a result, she finds the conventions of black womanhood antithetical to her own value system†. At Eloe, Jadine is determined to resist rigid male-female role categorization. Jadine cannot ? understand (or accept) her being shunted off with Ellen and the children while the men grouped on the porch and after a greeting, ignored her? (p. 248). While at Eloe, Jadine is provided with yet another chance to attain certain qualities that is for black women. She is accustomed to living an upper-class white lifestyle so she finds the people of Eloe limited and backward. Their stifling little shacks are more foreign to her than the hotel-like splendor of Valerian‘s mansion. She stays in Aunt Rosa‘s house where she feels claustrophobically enclosed in a dark, windowless room. She feels ? she might as well have been in a cave, a grave, the dark womb of the earth, suffocating with the sound of plant life moving, but deprived of its sight? (p. 254). It is in this very room where Jadine and Son were having sex that she had a second awakening vision, which is more frightening than the one she had in Paris about the African Woman. Here, Older, black, fruitful and nurturing women – her own dead mother, her Aunt Ondine, Son‘s dead wife, the African woman in yellow and other black women of her past – become a threatening part of Jadine‘s dreams: I have breasts too,‘ she said or thought or willed, I have breasts too. ‘ But they didn‘t believe her. They just held their own higher and pushed their own farther out and looked at her,? (p. 261) and ? the night women were not merely against her†¦ not merely looking superior over their sagging breasts and folded stomachs, they seemed somehow in agreement with each other about her, and were all determined to punish her for having neglected her cultural heritage. They wanted to bind the person she had become and choke it with their breasts. The night women? accuse Jadine for trading the ? ancient properties? (p. 308) of being a daughter, mother, and a woman for her upward mobility and self-enhancement. All these women are punishing Jadine for her refusal to define herself in relation to family, historical tradition and culture. As they ‘brandish’ their breasts before her eyes, they mock and insult her with their feminity. Jadine finds these women backward and sees no self-fulfilling value in the roles that they serve. However, she is constantly haunted by dreams of the black female image that she seems to have lost throughout life. Ondine express shame and disappointment over her lack of concern for her family, the African woman, at the Parisian bakery, spits at her in disgust and the night women, in the vision at Eloe taunt her with their nurturing breasts. Having refuted her own black culture and heritage, Jadine face the consequence of a divided consciousness and a mental death. Her decision to end the love affair with Son— ? I can‘t let you hurt me again? (p. 274) is an evidence of her shunning womanhood and losing her Afro- American roots as she chooses Ryk her white boyfriend over Son who refused to become the person or image that Jadine wants him to be . Jadine is compelled to make her choice and she decides that it is in Paris, away from Son, where there are prospects of financial success and personal independence. She doesn‘t want what Son and Eloe have to offer: To settle for wifely competence when she could be a beauty queen or to settle for fertility rather than originality and nurturing instead of building? (p. 271). Jadine makes it clear to the reader that she is self-sufficient and independent of men, family and community.