The Important Things in Life Essay Example for Free

The Important Things in Life Essay In life there are many things that we can get caught up in, but sometimes it is important to focus on the things that are really important such as family, friends and hobbies. By changing the focus in life from the every day hectic problems to these important things it is easier to survive the daily stress. Family is one of the most important things in life, because family members are the people who spend the most time with us and who help us through the stressful times in life. They are the people who understand and support us and accept us for who we are. Friends are another important aspect of life, because friends keep us grounded and can share the secrets we do not want to share with our family. They share many of our experiences and our dreams. Friends are important, because they are the people who choose to be around us. One additional thin that helps us deal with stress is to spend time with the things we enjoy such as studying or creating art. Everyone has some kind of thing they enjoy that can take the stress of the day away if the person takes the time to enjoy them. Every person needs to set priorities in life and take the time to enjoy the things that are important. The things like work, school and life will still be there the next day, but after taking time to enjoy a little time they will be easier to face. It is important for our overall health to take time out for the things we enjoy in life. Patterns in Art Anyone who is creative is fascinated with art. Personal studies in art are a way to learn about the world in which we live. One of the first and most basic studies in art is the use of repetition to form a pattern. It is human nature to group things together that appear to belong together. It is a skill most children master by the age of three. We must be able to group objects and text together, in order to make sense of the world or at the very least learn to read. Words are simply grouping letters together in a pattern devised by someone else. We learn to group things first by sorting out the items that look alike (squares in one pile, circles in another). As we get older, the sorting mechanics become more complicated, but the premise remains the same. We still sort items by what seems to go together. Some ways to do this are by drawing lines to section off groups, using color to blend the groupings, or simply by the use of spacing to separate groups. Repetition helps create unity giving the viewer a sense of completion. Use a quilt for example, one quilt block is interesting to see, but it doesn’t look complete, until you add on the other blocks. This helps if a design appears to need something to make it look complete, an artist can try repeating it. Similarity in shapes helps to create unity by playing to the natural human instinct that like things go together. Most people have an ingrained knowledge that stripes and flowers do not go together, but if you put big dots with smaller dots, it works. In order to make the design more interesting, the shapes could be changed somewhat (rotated, flipped, colors changed). This manipulation maintains the unity, but adds character. Again, a perfect example of this is quilt designs. They show ways that repetition and manipulation of shapes helps to make an interesting pattern (Rhine, 2004). Emphasis is created for many reasons maybe the emphasis is something of importance or interest. It may be the most creative part of the design or the part the artist is the most proud of. Placing the emphasis on a background that is either significantly darker or lighter than the emphasized item would make it stand out more. Coloring it in a bright, bold color makes it draw the viewer’s attention. Resources: Rhine, Marjorie, February 2004, Quilt Design Northwest, Retrieved October 25, 2006, from http://www. quiltdesignnw. com/ Art and Design What is the Difference? The first thing they teach someone in child psychology class is that children are not born with preformed ideas or images. Until a person sees something an image cannot be formed in that person’s mind. Therefore, if something has not yet been invented, its image could not yet exist. It may be true that the idea might exist (example. before Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, probably most people had the idea that a better way to communicate was needed. Until, it was actually in solid form; however the image of a telephone did not exist). People build upon current technology to generate ideas for new art or inventions. An example of this is how Henry Ford used the idea of the wheel and horse drawn vehichles to create the first car. Art is defined as â€Å"the product of human creativity† or â€Å"the creation of beautiful or significant thing† (Farlex, n. d) Design is defined as â€Å"To create a detailed plan of something. (Encarta, n. d. ). In short, art means to create and design means to create a plan. The relationship between the two are obvious Both use human creativity one requires a clear thought through plan, where as the other may or may not be planned. A person can throw a paint can at a wall and call it art, but it is not a design. Drawing an animated movie requires thought about what needs to be done to create the precise scene needed to create the illusion of movement. Both are works of art and the creative process, but only one has design. The relationship between design and art has remained constant throughout history. For many years there has been controversy between abstract artists, whose work rarely required a plan and those who have spent time painstakingly getting every detail of a face correct. Both have always called their work art and both have been correct. In graphic design, a plan is needed to either tell a story or portray a specific idea; therefore both the creativity of art and the preciseness developed through planning are necessary for success. Leonardo DaVinci was an artist who used design and spent up to a few years on one painting trying to get it right. He was born the illegitimate son of a lawyer in the town of Vinci in the Tuscan region of Italy (Beckett, 1994). He became one of the most well known artists to come out of the Renaissance period. He was known for his attention to detail, which keeps people looking at his artwork for a great deal of time and finding something new each time they look. He takes the stiffness out of paintings that were so common in his time and before, by softening lines and using shadow (Gombrich,). This art was not created without using a thought out plan, or design. Artists today are still trying to copy his paintings and his style, but none have exactly matched his detail. His art leaves one thinking about the importance of design and planning in art. References: Beckett, Wendy. Excerpt from â€Å"Sister Wendy’s Story of painting†, (1994). Retrieved October 2, 2006, from http://www. artchive. com/artchive/L/leonardo/monalisa. jpg. html Encarta msn dictionary. (n. d. ) Retrieved October 2, 2006, from, http://encarta. msn. com/dictionary_1861604032/design. html Farlex. The FreeDictionary, (n. d. ) Retrieved October, 4, 2006, from, http://www. thefreedictionary. com/art Gombrich, E. H. Excerpt from â€Å"The Story of Art†, (16th ed. 1995) Retrieved October 2, 2006, from http://www. artchive. com/artchive/L/leonardo/monalisa_text. jpg. html

Comparison of Beer Industry in Italy and Canada

Comparison of Beer Industry in Italy and Canada Introduction Beer is one of the most used beverages in the world next to coffee and tea. The beer industry therefore as we can imagine is one of the biggest industries in the world with many competitors inside of the industry. It is not surprising that many different kinds of beer and a variety of brands can be found in both Italy and Canada, and both of the countries has a long history of development of brewery industry as well. In this article, we are going to compare both of the countries markets, industry condition, cultural differences, political background and so forth, all those information will be taken into consideration, and be processed to make the final decision on which county environment is more suitable and beneficial for us to invest into. Some theories are going to be applied to analyse the cultural dimensions of both countries, such as Hofstedes cultural dimensions, and SWOT analysis, Porters Five Forces Model. Methodology What method do you use to compile your factbook and why? The methods i use to compile my factbook is that i are going to apply some frameworks from respected authors that are most applicable to my chosen industry (beer industry) such as Hofstede, SWOT analysis and Porters five forces. What prime theory and approaches do you draw on and why? Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions Hofstede measures the cultural dimensions differences in different countries. There are five dimensions in this framework, namely the Power Distance Index (PDI), the Individualism-Collectivism, Masculinity-Femininity and Uncertainty Avoidance. Since Hofstede measures cultural dimensions, therefore it will be used in the cultural system page of the paper when the cultural aspects are discussed. SWOT Analysis SWOT is the abbreviation for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It is an analytical framework to help summarize in a quick and concise way the risks and opportunities for a certain company, for my case the beer industry in two different countries, Canada and Italy. The SWOT analysis looks into internal factors within the company/industry/country (Strengths and Weaknesses) and external factors outside the company/industry/country (Opportunities and Threats). This method will eventually help us to look at the main positive, (strength and opportunities), and the negative, (weaknesses and threats), sides of both countries when comparing. Initially this should help us decide on which country would be most attractive to invest in the beer industry. For this reason, this method will be used at the end of the paper, which will give us an conclusive overview of the both countries. Porters Five Forces Model Porters five forces model argues that there are five forces in an industry to determine the extent and scale of the competition. These five forces affect the industries attractiveness. It is an efficient tool to analyse competition in the industry. In this model, five forces are the threat of substitute products or services, the threat of the entry of new competitors, the intensity of competitive rivalry, the bargaining power of customers, and the bargaining power of suppliers. The industrys attractiveness is the primary and fundamental factor to deciding the profitability, and in any industry, the rule of competition will be reflected in any of the five competitive forces. The purpose of Porters five forces is to show the attractiveness of the beer industry in both Canada and Italy and to help investors decide in which country to enter in the beer industry, besides it could help companies to develop a particular strategy in the industry, and this theory might be used in chapter whic h deals with market / industry conditions. What method of data collection and analysis do you use and why? The methods i use to collect my data are searching my universitys library modules for useful academic articles and using a mix of articles from authors known through literature and the Theory Tutorials for my Comparative Country Studies course. Of course, the reliable information on Internet is also consulted as additional sources, and i have also analyzed the annual report of the company. The beer industry of Italy and Canada In this section, relevant market conditions that apply to the Italian and Canadian beer sector will be explained. The market can be separated according to different factors like size and attractiveness as well. If we divide the market according the different market shares which individual brewery holds, we can see that there are several main player in the beer industry in both of the countries. Italy Italy is famous for its wines, however, it is not well-known for its own beer. Generally speaking, Italy doesnt consume nearly as much beer as its European neighbour, however, there is a growing trend of consumption for beer in Italy, the beer in Italy is not as widespread as in its European neighbours, mainly because there is a historical preference for wine in the country. Italian breweries have undergone a Renaissance in recent years. In fact, only in the past few years, Italy has started having beer drinking and tasting competitions and many related festivals. Normally, this sort of activity is reserved for wine, however, nowadays beer is earning more and more respect from wine-preferred Italians, and even many young Italians prefer to support their countrys beer industry rather than the wine industry now, still, the Italian beer industry has much space to grow and be developed. There are some brands of beer in Italy, one of the oldest and most recognized breweries is Birra Peroni, which was established in 1846 and the headquarter of Peroni is in Rome. Peronis most famous product is a pilsner-style beer. Nastro Azzuro, which is also one of the few Italian beers that marketed all over the world, Nastro Azzuro, is a rather light style beer, many breweries are crafting darker, heavier beers that are rousing interest from new and experienced beer drinkers alike. In addition to those giant breweries, there are many microbreweries in Italy, and they play a important role and have a great portion of the market as well. A microbrewery particularly gains attention from young Italians is Birrificio Baladin, the brewery appeals to young generation through quirky advertisements and sponsoring international music festivals and young Italians think theres room in the global beer market for some of their most outstanding brews. Canada Traditionally, Canadas largest brewing companies were Labatts and Molson. In 1995, Labatts was purchased by an Belgian company which is called Interbrew and it is now a part of Brazilian-Belgian Anheuser-Busch InBev, the worlds largest brewing company and Molson, the other largest beer company, which was merged with US company Coors in 2005 and created a new company called Molson Coors, which is the worlds fifth largest brewing company now. In 2006, with the purchase of Sleeman Breweries, the largest remaining Canadian brewery was purchased by the Japanese owned Sapporo Brewery, Canadas beer production has been mainly under the control of foreign multinationals. By the end of 2006, nearly 90% of beer sales was of product brewed domestically under licence from non-domestic corporations. American beers brewed under licence dominate much of the market. For instance, Budweiser is brewed under licence in Canada by Labatts and Coors Light by Molson. The market in Canada for domestic beer is dominated by Labatt, Molson and Sleeman, all foreign-owned companies. The largest Canadian-owned brewer, Moosehead breweries, only controls about 5.5% of the Canadian market. Country comparison Macro-economic indicators Economy Canada population 33,487,208 (July 2009 est.). Italy population 58,126,212 (July 2009 est.). Economic freedom Canada world rank 6. Economic freedom Italy world rank 87. Finance Financial freedom for Canada: 80.0. Financial freedom in Italy 60.0 Canada investment freedom 75.0. Italy investment freedom 75.0. Canada Economy -GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) $ 1.335 trillion (2010 est.). Country comparison to the world: 15. $1.297 trillion (2009 est.) $1.33 trillion (2008 est.) -GDP Per capita (PPP) $39,600 (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 22 $38,700 (2009 est.) $40,000 (2008 est.) -Inflation rate (consumer prices) 1.6% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 41 0.3% (2009 est.) Italy Economy -GDP (PPP) $1.782 trillion (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 11 $1.763 trillion (2009 est.) $1.857 trillion (2008 est.) -GDP per capita (PPP) $30,700 (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 43 $30,300 (2009 est.) $31,900 (2008 est.) -Inflation rate (consumer prices) 1.4% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 32 0.8% (2009 est.) Historical developments Italy Beer is known and drank in Italy very long time ago, Italians brewed and consumed the blond drink. It said that Roman Emperor Agricola was a fan of beer when he was the governor of Britannia, and in 83 AD Roman Emperor Agricola raised to the imperial throne and came back to Italy, he took three master brewers with him from Glevum of which the ancient name Gloucester and opened the first real pub in Italy. Nowadays beer is especially loved by young people in Italy, which has been seen as an informal drink, compared to the wine which is alway used in much more formal places. Aperitif and wine tasting have now gained back to wine many casual drinkers, however, until a few years ago, young Italians actually drank more beer than wine. Pub-styled bars are still very popular in Italy and they have spread the love for the more exotic brands of beer: many of them serve Japanese, German, Australian and East European beers along with the more known ones brewed in the UK and Belgium. At least one bottle of Birra cinese (Chinese beer) is served on every table of every Chinese restaurant. Canada Beer was first introduced to Canada by European settlers in the seventeenth century, as Canada had an ideal climate for making and storing beer before refrigeration was introduced. The first commercial brewery was built by Jean Talon in Quebec City, in the year 1668. Over a century later a number of commercial brewers thrived, including some that became the staple of the Canadian industry: John Molson founded a brewery in Montreal in 1786, Alexander Keith inHalifax in 1820, Thomas Carling in London in 1840, John Kinder Labatt in 1847, also in London, Susannah Oland in Halifax in 1867, and Eugene OKeefe in Toronto in 1891. The very first patent to be issued by the Canadian government on July 6, 1842, was to one G. Riley for an improved method of brewing ale, beer, porter, and other maltliquors. Prohibition in Canada did not last as long as in the U.S. and was largely over by the mid 1920s (apart from Prince Edward Island, where it ran from 1901 to 1948). Nevertheless, it had a similar effect of leaving very few brewers, and it was only in the late twentieth century that there has been a revival and microbreweries have started. Brewpubs are still illegal in some provinces. Cultural system Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions of Italy and Canada Power Distance Individualism Masculinity Uncertainty Avoidance Italy Higher More collective More masculine Strong Canada Lower More individualistic More feminine Weak Power distance Canada is lower on the Hofstedes power distance index than Italy, Italy falls in the middle on the index overall. Italian seems to expect differences in power between people. Canadas Power Distance (PDI) is relatively low, with an index of 39, compared to a world average of 55. This is indicative of a greater equality between societal levels, including government, organizations, and even within families. This orientation reinforces a cooperative interaction across power levels and creates a more stable cultural environment. Individualism The more collective nature of Italy compared to Canada can be seen in many ways. It is not uncommon for grown children to live with their parents for years. Italian businesses are primarily owned by individuals and families. Business is preferably done with people with which one is familiar. Unacquainted guests will not be invited into an Italian home. Coffee or dinner will be taken with non-family members at a cafe or restaurant. Canada has Individualism (IDV) as the highest ranking (80) Hofstede Dimension, and is indicative of a society with a more individualistic attitude and relatively loose bonds with others. The populace is more self-reliant and looks out for themselves and their close family members. Masculinity Italy is a fairly masculine society and ranks slightly higher on this index than Canada. Many Italian men still treat women with gallantry and value machismo. Although women have entered the workforce, their numbers are still small and few are in upper echelon positions. Italian household are the sole domain of women; Italian women for the most part cook, clean and care for the children. Italians place a prime importance on material possessions. It is very important to look good in Italy. However, like a more feminine culture, Italians also know how to take time to appreciate the good things in life. Italians work in order to live rather than living to work. Ambition is not prevalent in Italian culture. Therefore i assume that beer as a informal beverage, it is more popular under this kind of cultural background rather than more formal cultural background countries. Uncertainty Avoidance Italy avoids uncertainly more strongly than Canada. By and large Italians prefer to do business with people they know. In addition, Italians prefer to know something about an individual before they speak with him/her on the phone. Thus, in business one should send an introductory fax and follow-up with a phone call. Political/Government System Beer or malt liquor, is defined as all fermented liquor brewed in whole or in part from malt for the purposes of the Excise Act, grain or any saccharine matter without any process of distillation, but does not include wine. Italian Alcohol Taxes and Duties Legislative Framework Alcohol Duty Beer (5% ABV or 12ËÅ ¡ Plato) 0.12Â £ per pint Wine (bottle 11.5% ABV) 0.00Â £ per 75 cl As we can see in the table of different rates of duty applies to beer in Italy, which contains following level of duty. Italy is a member of the European Union, therefore it shares the Common External Tariff regime. EU duties are charged by the Italian Customs Agency on the CIF (cost, insurance and freight) value of the product imported into Italy. The Alcohol Act (2001) bans TV and radio advertising of alcoholic products between 4PM and 9PM and prohibits alcohol advertisements from being shown on TV within 15 minutes before or after any childrens programs. The Act also requires a self-regulatory code to be provided jointly by media companies, advertising agencies and advertisers to govern alcohol advertising. For the legal drinking age, there is no minimum age of legal drinking. And the legal purchasing age of alcohol is 16 and 18. South Tyrol prohibits both serving and purchase for people under the age of 18 and to everybody in a state of inebriation. Milan has enforced a ban on those under 16 purchasing alcohol. Heavy fines are given to proprieters and parents if a transaction is completed. Canadian Alcohol Taxes and Duties Legislative Framework Beer Duty Up to 1.2% alcohol $2.591/hectolitre 1.2% to 2.5% alcohol $13.990/hectolitre Over 2.5% alcohol $27.985/hectolitre As we can see in the table of different rates of duty applies to beer, which contains following level of duty: (1) more than 2.5% absolute ethyl alcohol by volume; (2) more than 1.2% but not more than 2.5% absolute ethyl alcohol by volume; and (3) less than 1.2% absolute ethyl alcohol by volume, and for all beer containing more than 2.5% absolute ethyl alcohol by volume, the rate of excise duty is currently $27.985 per hectolitre. However, excise duties are not imposed on beer provided it is brewed by a person for personal or family use or to be given away without charge and is not for sale commercially. Canadian government showed how highly they value beer production and its breweries by lowering the taxes exercised on beer production. This is a benefit to the industry. As one of the leaders of the whole economy of Canada, the beer sector is likely to maintain these tax benefits and other benefits might be offered as well to the beer sector to develop the Canadian beer industry. In Canada, alcohol was taxed pursuant to the Excise Act previously. However, a new regime in Canada for the federal taxation of certain alcohol, including spirits and wines, was introduced in the Excise Act, 2001, which was implemented effective July 1, 2003. Excise duties on beer (and malt liquor) continue to be imposed under the Excise Act. Generally, different excise duty treatment applies to alcohol for non-beverage use. A licence is required authorizing certain alcohol operations under both the Excise Act, 2001, and the Excise Act. For beer, a licence is only required under the Excise Act for the commercial operation as a brewery, for example, the place where beer is manufactured. All brewery licensees are required to post and maintain security with the Canadian government. The amount of security is set at a minimum of $5,000. Generally, beer is subject to an excise duty that is imposed and becomes payable during the production process. The legal drinking and purchasing age in Canada are both 19. However, In some areas such as Ontario, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut, underage drinking under parental supervision is permitted, with some restrictions, on ones own property in the provinces of New Brunswick andOntario and at home in the provinces of Prince Edward Island, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. InBritish Columbia, only children of the supervising parents, not any other minors such as guests, are allowed underage drinking. Consumption of alcohol in another persons home is subject to other laws. Major players The brewing industry had become extremely concentrated in Canada by the 1970s, being dominated by just three major companies, which are Molson, Labatt, and Carling-OKeefe. Canadas largest brewing companies were Labatts and Molson as we mentioned in the previous overview of industry condition of both countries. In 1995, Labatts was purchased by an Belgian company which is called Interbrew which is now part of Brazilian-Belgian Anheuser-Busch InBev, the worlds largest brewing company and Molson, the other largest beer company, which was merged with US company Coors in 2005 and created a new company called Molson Coors, and it is the worlds fifth largest brewing company now. In 2006, the largest remaining Canadian brewery was purchased by the Japanese owned Sapporo Brewery, Canadas beer production has been mainly under the control of foreign multinationals. By the end of 2006, nearly 90% of beer sales was of product brewed domestically under licence from non-domestic corporations. American beers brewed under licence dominate much of the market. For instance, Budweiser is brewed under licence in Canada by Labatts and Coors Light by Molson. The market in Canada for domestic beer is dominated by Labatt, Molson and Sleeman, all foreign-owned companies. The largest Canadian-owned brewer, Moosehead breweries, only controls small portion of the Canadian market. Italy hosts a few breweries, with the largest owned by the best known Italian and foreign brands. Peronis brewery produces the best known Italian beer: la Peroni. Peroni also produces the premium beer Mastro Azzurro and the brands WÃ ¼hrer, and lesser known Raffo. Heineken Italy brews its famous Heineken, but has also acquired the brands Moretti, Ichnusa, Birra Messina and Dreher. Carslberg owns a few brewerys in Northern and Central Italy. In Northern Italy, Forst brews its own branded beer as well as the famed Menabrea. In Friuli Venezia Giulia the latest brand of Italian beer Birra Castello, has been active since 1997. Along with these big players, there are lots of microbreweries small scale breweries that produce small quantities of beer, they also have premium quality. Major finding of comparison and recommendations Making a decision in which country to invest is not so easy, because of all those different variances in both of the counties, some of the variances are strength for Canada, however, some of them are favorable for Italy. In the first place, the tax rates between Canada and Italy differ. In Canada the rates are relatively lower than in Italy due to the fact that the tax level is relatively high in the European context. In addition to this, the Canadian government reduced taxes even more to benefit Canadian brewers. Secondly, when a look is taken at macroeconomic indicators like GDP per capita we see that Canada is a bit more favorable. However, since this differences are so small, both of the countries that we have chosen are developed countries, and GDP per capita which above certain level has a relatively weak influence on the consumption of beer. Therefore, this factor is not likely to have a significant influences on the desicion of investment in the countries. Thirdly, the population above legal drinking age in the markets has been calculated starting from the age at which alcohol consumption is allowed. This would mean that we start counting the population starting from 18 years old in Italy (some area start from 16 years old) and 19 years old in Canada. We find that the relative amount of people able to purchase and consume alcohol in Italy is larger than in Canada, because the whole population is larger in Italy than in Canada, and the population of legal drinking age are also higher in Italy than in Canada, therefore, the potential market in Italy are larger than in Canada. Lastly, when comparing markets according to its players and their market shares we find that Canada has a more concentrated market with high market share large players and many small players. Italy on the other hand has two old players with a high share and one smaller player while the rest of the market consists of really small players. It would therefore be an advantage to invest in the Italian market; trying to gain and increase a market share because of the fact that there are many foreign players already play very important roles in the Canadian market, Molson Coors Brewing company and Anheuser-Busch InBev have a market share of 42,70 and 42,20 percent respectively. Third place is hold by Moosehead Brewing company with a share of 5,90 percent. These three main players hold 90,8 percent of the market in total by volume. Taking all those facts into consideration, i would say that Italy would be the country that we are going to invest in. As we explained above, we analysed both countries SWOT, for Italy, the strength is market size, the weakness is relatively higher tax rate on alcohol, and the opportunities is that there are only two big old players and some extreme small players, gaining or increasing a share is relatively easy, and the market of Italy are more potential, because Italy still on the growing phase of beer industry. Moreover, since the age allowed to drink in Italy starting from the age of 18 and in some areas are even lower to 16, and with more population in Italy, therefore the market is bigger in Italy than in Canada. In addition, nowadays the Italian government highly values the Italian beer industry due to the impact on its economy and therefore taxes are getting lower and lower. And the threats of Italy is that new public policy may harm the beer industry, such as the advertising policy we mentioned before which bans the ads of alcohol in specific period of time on TV. Comparison of Beer Industry in Italy and Canada Comparison of Beer Industry in Italy and Canada Introduction Beer is one of the most used beverages in the world next to coffee and tea. The beer industry therefore as we can imagine is one of the biggest industries in the world with many competitors inside of the industry. It is not surprising that many different kinds of beer and a variety of brands can be found in both Italy and Canada, and both of the countries has a long history of development of brewery industry as well. In this article, we are going to compare both of the countries markets, industry condition, cultural differences, political background and so forth, all those information will be taken into consideration, and be processed to make the final decision on which county environment is more suitable and beneficial for us to invest into. Some theories are going to be applied to analyse the cultural dimensions of both countries, such as Hofstedes cultural dimensions, and SWOT analysis, Porters Five Forces Model. Methodology What method do you use to compile your factbook and why? The methods i use to compile my factbook is that i are going to apply some frameworks from respected authors that are most applicable to my chosen industry (beer industry) such as Hofstede, SWOT analysis and Porters five forces. What prime theory and approaches do you draw on and why? Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions Hofstede measures the cultural dimensions differences in different countries. There are five dimensions in this framework, namely the Power Distance Index (PDI), the Individualism-Collectivism, Masculinity-Femininity and Uncertainty Avoidance. Since Hofstede measures cultural dimensions, therefore it will be used in the cultural system page of the paper when the cultural aspects are discussed. SWOT Analysis SWOT is the abbreviation for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It is an analytical framework to help summarize in a quick and concise way the risks and opportunities for a certain company, for my case the beer industry in two different countries, Canada and Italy. The SWOT analysis looks into internal factors within the company/industry/country (Strengths and Weaknesses) and external factors outside the company/industry/country (Opportunities and Threats). This method will eventually help us to look at the main positive, (strength and opportunities), and the negative, (weaknesses and threats), sides of both countries when comparing. Initially this should help us decide on which country would be most attractive to invest in the beer industry. For this reason, this method will be used at the end of the paper, which will give us an conclusive overview of the both countries. Porters Five Forces Model Porters five forces model argues that there are five forces in an industry to determine the extent and scale of the competition. These five forces affect the industries attractiveness. It is an efficient tool to analyse competition in the industry. In this model, five forces are the threat of substitute products or services, the threat of the entry of new competitors, the intensity of competitive rivalry, the bargaining power of customers, and the bargaining power of suppliers. The industrys attractiveness is the primary and fundamental factor to deciding the profitability, and in any industry, the rule of competition will be reflected in any of the five competitive forces. The purpose of Porters five forces is to show the attractiveness of the beer industry in both Canada and Italy and to help investors decide in which country to enter in the beer industry, besides it could help companies to develop a particular strategy in the industry, and this theory might be used in chapter whic h deals with market / industry conditions. What method of data collection and analysis do you use and why? The methods i use to collect my data are searching my universitys library modules for useful academic articles and using a mix of articles from authors known through literature and the Theory Tutorials for my Comparative Country Studies course. Of course, the reliable information on Internet is also consulted as additional sources, and i have also analyzed the annual report of the company. The beer industry of Italy and Canada In this section, relevant market conditions that apply to the Italian and Canadian beer sector will be explained. The market can be separated according to different factors like size and attractiveness as well. If we divide the market according the different market shares which individual brewery holds, we can see that there are several main player in the beer industry in both of the countries. Italy Italy is famous for its wines, however, it is not well-known for its own beer. Generally speaking, Italy doesnt consume nearly as much beer as its European neighbour, however, there is a growing trend of consumption for beer in Italy, the beer in Italy is not as widespread as in its European neighbours, mainly because there is a historical preference for wine in the country. Italian breweries have undergone a Renaissance in recent years. In fact, only in the past few years, Italy has started having beer drinking and tasting competitions and many related festivals. Normally, this sort of activity is reserved for wine, however, nowadays beer is earning more and more respect from wine-preferred Italians, and even many young Italians prefer to support their countrys beer industry rather than the wine industry now, still, the Italian beer industry has much space to grow and be developed. There are some brands of beer in Italy, one of the oldest and most recognized breweries is Birra Peroni, which was established in 1846 and the headquarter of Peroni is in Rome. Peronis most famous product is a pilsner-style beer. Nastro Azzuro, which is also one of the few Italian beers that marketed all over the world, Nastro Azzuro, is a rather light style beer, many breweries are crafting darker, heavier beers that are rousing interest from new and experienced beer drinkers alike. In addition to those giant breweries, there are many microbreweries in Italy, and they play a important role and have a great portion of the market as well. A microbrewery particularly gains attention from young Italians is Birrificio Baladin, the brewery appeals to young generation through quirky advertisements and sponsoring international music festivals and young Italians think theres room in the global beer market for some of their most outstanding brews. Canada Traditionally, Canadas largest brewing companies were Labatts and Molson. In 1995, Labatts was purchased by an Belgian company which is called Interbrew and it is now a part of Brazilian-Belgian Anheuser-Busch InBev, the worlds largest brewing company and Molson, the other largest beer company, which was merged with US company Coors in 2005 and created a new company called Molson Coors, which is the worlds fifth largest brewing company now. In 2006, with the purchase of Sleeman Breweries, the largest remaining Canadian brewery was purchased by the Japanese owned Sapporo Brewery, Canadas beer production has been mainly under the control of foreign multinationals. By the end of 2006, nearly 90% of beer sales was of product brewed domestically under licence from non-domestic corporations. American beers brewed under licence dominate much of the market. For instance, Budweiser is brewed under licence in Canada by Labatts and Coors Light by Molson. The market in Canada for domestic beer is dominated by Labatt, Molson and Sleeman, all foreign-owned companies. The largest Canadian-owned brewer, Moosehead breweries, only controls about 5.5% of the Canadian market. Country comparison Macro-economic indicators Economy Canada population 33,487,208 (July 2009 est.). Italy population 58,126,212 (July 2009 est.). Economic freedom Canada world rank 6. Economic freedom Italy world rank 87. Finance Financial freedom for Canada: 80.0. Financial freedom in Italy 60.0 Canada investment freedom 75.0. Italy investment freedom 75.0. Canada Economy -GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) $ 1.335 trillion (2010 est.). Country comparison to the world: 15. $1.297 trillion (2009 est.) $1.33 trillion (2008 est.) -GDP Per capita (PPP) $39,600 (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 22 $38,700 (2009 est.) $40,000 (2008 est.) -Inflation rate (consumer prices) 1.6% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 41 0.3% (2009 est.) Italy Economy -GDP (PPP) $1.782 trillion (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 11 $1.763 trillion (2009 est.) $1.857 trillion (2008 est.) -GDP per capita (PPP) $30,700 (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 43 $30,300 (2009 est.) $31,900 (2008 est.) -Inflation rate (consumer prices) 1.4% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 32 0.8% (2009 est.) Historical developments Italy Beer is known and drank in Italy very long time ago, Italians brewed and consumed the blond drink. It said that Roman Emperor Agricola was a fan of beer when he was the governor of Britannia, and in 83 AD Roman Emperor Agricola raised to the imperial throne and came back to Italy, he took three master brewers with him from Glevum of which the ancient name Gloucester and opened the first real pub in Italy. Nowadays beer is especially loved by young people in Italy, which has been seen as an informal drink, compared to the wine which is alway used in much more formal places. Aperitif and wine tasting have now gained back to wine many casual drinkers, however, until a few years ago, young Italians actually drank more beer than wine. Pub-styled bars are still very popular in Italy and they have spread the love for the more exotic brands of beer: many of them serve Japanese, German, Australian and East European beers along with the more known ones brewed in the UK and Belgium. At least one bottle of Birra cinese (Chinese beer) is served on every table of every Chinese restaurant. Canada Beer was first introduced to Canada by European settlers in the seventeenth century, as Canada had an ideal climate for making and storing beer before refrigeration was introduced. The first commercial brewery was built by Jean Talon in Quebec City, in the year 1668. Over a century later a number of commercial brewers thrived, including some that became the staple of the Canadian industry: John Molson founded a brewery in Montreal in 1786, Alexander Keith inHalifax in 1820, Thomas Carling in London in 1840, John Kinder Labatt in 1847, also in London, Susannah Oland in Halifax in 1867, and Eugene OKeefe in Toronto in 1891. The very first patent to be issued by the Canadian government on July 6, 1842, was to one G. Riley for an improved method of brewing ale, beer, porter, and other maltliquors. Prohibition in Canada did not last as long as in the U.S. and was largely over by the mid 1920s (apart from Prince Edward Island, where it ran from 1901 to 1948). Nevertheless, it had a similar effect of leaving very few brewers, and it was only in the late twentieth century that there has been a revival and microbreweries have started. Brewpubs are still illegal in some provinces. Cultural system Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions of Italy and Canada Power Distance Individualism Masculinity Uncertainty Avoidance Italy Higher More collective More masculine Strong Canada Lower More individualistic More feminine Weak Power distance Canada is lower on the Hofstedes power distance index than Italy, Italy falls in the middle on the index overall. Italian seems to expect differences in power between people. Canadas Power Distance (PDI) is relatively low, with an index of 39, compared to a world average of 55. This is indicative of a greater equality between societal levels, including government, organizations, and even within families. This orientation reinforces a cooperative interaction across power levels and creates a more stable cultural environment. Individualism The more collective nature of Italy compared to Canada can be seen in many ways. It is not uncommon for grown children to live with their parents for years. Italian businesses are primarily owned by individuals and families. Business is preferably done with people with which one is familiar. Unacquainted guests will not be invited into an Italian home. Coffee or dinner will be taken with non-family members at a cafe or restaurant. Canada has Individualism (IDV) as the highest ranking (80) Hofstede Dimension, and is indicative of a society with a more individualistic attitude and relatively loose bonds with others. The populace is more self-reliant and looks out for themselves and their close family members. Masculinity Italy is a fairly masculine society and ranks slightly higher on this index than Canada. Many Italian men still treat women with gallantry and value machismo. Although women have entered the workforce, their numbers are still small and few are in upper echelon positions. Italian household are the sole domain of women; Italian women for the most part cook, clean and care for the children. Italians place a prime importance on material possessions. It is very important to look good in Italy. However, like a more feminine culture, Italians also know how to take time to appreciate the good things in life. Italians work in order to live rather than living to work. Ambition is not prevalent in Italian culture. Therefore i assume that beer as a informal beverage, it is more popular under this kind of cultural background rather than more formal cultural background countries. Uncertainty Avoidance Italy avoids uncertainly more strongly than Canada. By and large Italians prefer to do business with people they know. In addition, Italians prefer to know something about an individual before they speak with him/her on the phone. Thus, in business one should send an introductory fax and follow-up with a phone call. Political/Government System Beer or malt liquor, is defined as all fermented liquor brewed in whole or in part from malt for the purposes of the Excise Act, grain or any saccharine matter without any process of distillation, but does not include wine. Italian Alcohol Taxes and Duties Legislative Framework Alcohol Duty Beer (5% ABV or 12ËÅ ¡ Plato) 0.12Â £ per pint Wine (bottle 11.5% ABV) 0.00Â £ per 75 cl As we can see in the table of different rates of duty applies to beer in Italy, which contains following level of duty. Italy is a member of the European Union, therefore it shares the Common External Tariff regime. EU duties are charged by the Italian Customs Agency on the CIF (cost, insurance and freight) value of the product imported into Italy. The Alcohol Act (2001) bans TV and radio advertising of alcoholic products between 4PM and 9PM and prohibits alcohol advertisements from being shown on TV within 15 minutes before or after any childrens programs. The Act also requires a self-regulatory code to be provided jointly by media companies, advertising agencies and advertisers to govern alcohol advertising. For the legal drinking age, there is no minimum age of legal drinking. And the legal purchasing age of alcohol is 16 and 18. South Tyrol prohibits both serving and purchase for people under the age of 18 and to everybody in a state of inebriation. Milan has enforced a ban on those under 16 purchasing alcohol. Heavy fines are given to proprieters and parents if a transaction is completed. Canadian Alcohol Taxes and Duties Legislative Framework Beer Duty Up to 1.2% alcohol $2.591/hectolitre 1.2% to 2.5% alcohol $13.990/hectolitre Over 2.5% alcohol $27.985/hectolitre As we can see in the table of different rates of duty applies to beer, which contains following level of duty: (1) more than 2.5% absolute ethyl alcohol by volume; (2) more than 1.2% but not more than 2.5% absolute ethyl alcohol by volume; and (3) less than 1.2% absolute ethyl alcohol by volume, and for all beer containing more than 2.5% absolute ethyl alcohol by volume, the rate of excise duty is currently $27.985 per hectolitre. However, excise duties are not imposed on beer provided it is brewed by a person for personal or family use or to be given away without charge and is not for sale commercially. Canadian government showed how highly they value beer production and its breweries by lowering the taxes exercised on beer production. This is a benefit to the industry. As one of the leaders of the whole economy of Canada, the beer sector is likely to maintain these tax benefits and other benefits might be offered as well to the beer sector to develop the Canadian beer industry. In Canada, alcohol was taxed pursuant to the Excise Act previously. However, a new regime in Canada for the federal taxation of certain alcohol, including spirits and wines, was introduced in the Excise Act, 2001, which was implemented effective July 1, 2003. Excise duties on beer (and malt liquor) continue to be imposed under the Excise Act. Generally, different excise duty treatment applies to alcohol for non-beverage use. A licence is required authorizing certain alcohol operations under both the Excise Act, 2001, and the Excise Act. For beer, a licence is only required under the Excise Act for the commercial operation as a brewery, for example, the place where beer is manufactured. All brewery licensees are required to post and maintain security with the Canadian government. The amount of security is set at a minimum of $5,000. Generally, beer is subject to an excise duty that is imposed and becomes payable during the production process. The legal drinking and purchasing age in Canada are both 19. However, In some areas such as Ontario, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut, underage drinking under parental supervision is permitted, with some restrictions, on ones own property in the provinces of New Brunswick andOntario and at home in the provinces of Prince Edward Island, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. InBritish Columbia, only children of the supervising parents, not any other minors such as guests, are allowed underage drinking. Consumption of alcohol in another persons home is subject to other laws. Major players The brewing industry had become extremely concentrated in Canada by the 1970s, being dominated by just three major companies, which are Molson, Labatt, and Carling-OKeefe. Canadas largest brewing companies were Labatts and Molson as we mentioned in the previous overview of industry condition of both countries. In 1995, Labatts was purchased by an Belgian company which is called Interbrew which is now part of Brazilian-Belgian Anheuser-Busch InBev, the worlds largest brewing company and Molson, the other largest beer company, which was merged with US company Coors in 2005 and created a new company called Molson Coors, and it is the worlds fifth largest brewing company now. In 2006, the largest remaining Canadian brewery was purchased by the Japanese owned Sapporo Brewery, Canadas beer production has been mainly under the control of foreign multinationals. By the end of 2006, nearly 90% of beer sales was of product brewed domestically under licence from non-domestic corporations. American beers brewed under licence dominate much of the market. For instance, Budweiser is brewed under licence in Canada by Labatts and Coors Light by Molson. The market in Canada for domestic beer is dominated by Labatt, Molson and Sleeman, all foreign-owned companies. The largest Canadian-owned brewer, Moosehead breweries, only controls small portion of the Canadian market. Italy hosts a few breweries, with the largest owned by the best known Italian and foreign brands. Peronis brewery produces the best known Italian beer: la Peroni. Peroni also produces the premium beer Mastro Azzurro and the brands WÃ ¼hrer, and lesser known Raffo. Heineken Italy brews its famous Heineken, but has also acquired the brands Moretti, Ichnusa, Birra Messina and Dreher. Carslberg owns a few brewerys in Northern and Central Italy. In Northern Italy, Forst brews its own branded beer as well as the famed Menabrea. In Friuli Venezia Giulia the latest brand of Italian beer Birra Castello, has been active since 1997. Along with these big players, there are lots of microbreweries small scale breweries that produce small quantities of beer, they also have premium quality. Major finding of comparison and recommendations Making a decision in which country to invest is not so easy, because of all those different variances in both of the counties, some of the variances are strength for Canada, however, some of them are favorable for Italy. In the first place, the tax rates between Canada and Italy differ. In Canada the rates are relatively lower than in Italy due to the fact that the tax level is relatively high in the European context. In addition to this, the Canadian government reduced taxes even more to benefit Canadian brewers. Secondly, when a look is taken at macroeconomic indicators like GDP per capita we see that Canada is a bit more favorable. However, since this differences are so small, both of the countries that we have chosen are developed countries, and GDP per capita which above certain level has a relatively weak influence on the consumption of beer. Therefore, this factor is not likely to have a significant influences on the desicion of investment in the countries. Thirdly, the population above legal drinking age in the markets has been calculated starting from the age at which alcohol consumption is allowed. This would mean that we start counting the population starting from 18 years old in Italy (some area start from 16 years old) and 19 years old in Canada. We find that the relative amount of people able to purchase and consume alcohol in Italy is larger than in Canada, because the whole population is larger in Italy than in Canada, and the population of legal drinking age are also higher in Italy than in Canada, therefore, the potential market in Italy are larger than in Canada. Lastly, when comparing markets according to its players and their market shares we find that Canada has a more concentrated market with high market share large players and many small players. Italy on the other hand has two old players with a high share and one smaller player while the rest of the market consists of really small players. It would therefore be an advantage to invest in the Italian market; trying to gain and increase a market share because of the fact that there are many foreign players already play very important roles in the Canadian market, Molson Coors Brewing company and Anheuser-Busch InBev have a market share of 42,70 and 42,20 percent respectively. Third place is hold by Moosehead Brewing company with a share of 5,90 percent. These three main players hold 90,8 percent of the market in total by volume. Taking all those facts into consideration, i would say that Italy would be the country that we are going to invest in. As we explained above, we analysed both countries SWOT, for Italy, the strength is market size, the weakness is relatively higher tax rate on alcohol, and the opportunities is that there are only two big old players and some extreme small players, gaining or increasing a share is relatively easy, and the market of Italy are more potential, because Italy still on the growing phase of beer industry. Moreover, since the age allowed to drink in Italy starting from the age of 18 and in some areas are even lower to 16, and with more population in Italy, therefore the market is bigger in Italy than in Canada. In addition, nowadays the Italian government highly values the Italian beer industry due to the impact on its economy and therefore taxes are getting lower and lower. And the threats of Italy is that new public policy may harm the beer industry, such as the advertising policy we mentioned before which bans the ads of alcohol in specific period of time on TV.

Analysis Of A Vapor Power Plant :: essays research papers

Analysis of A Vapor Power Plant The objective of this study is to construct a computer model of a water vapor power plant. This model will be used to calculate the state properties at all points within the cycle. Included is an analysis of the ideal extraction pressures based on the calculated values of net work, energy input, thermal efficiency, moisture content, and effectiveness. 4.0 Body 4.1 Introduction System to be Analyzed Steam enters the first turbine stage at 120 bar, 520  °C and expands in three stages to the condenser pressure of .06 bar. Between the first and second stage, some steam is diverted to a closed feedwater heater at P1, with saturated liquid condensate being pumped ahead into the boiler feedwater line. The Terminal Temperature Difference of the feedwater heater is 5 °C. The rest of the steam is reheated to 500 °C, and then enters the second stage of expansion. Part of the steam is extracted between the second and third stages at P2 and fed into an open feedwater heater operating at that pressure. Saturated liquid at P2 leaves the open feedwater heater. The efficiencies of all pumps are 80%, and the efficiencies of all turbines are 85%. Throughout this report the states will be referenced as depicted above with the numbers 1-13. The analysis of the system will involve the use of the Energy Rate Balance to isolate the specific enthalpies and associated values of temperature, pressure, specific volume, and steam quality. The Entropy balance equation will be used to calculate the specific entropy at all the above noted states. Energy Rate Balance (assume KE&PE=0) dEcv/dt = Qcv-Wcv+Smi(hi) - Sme(he) Entropy Rate Balance dScv/dt = SQj/Tj + Smi(si) - Sme(se) + scv For simplicity, it is assumed in all calculations that kinetic and potential energy have a negligible effect. It is also assumed that each component in the cycle is analyzed as a control volume at steady state; and that each control volume suffers from no stray heat transfer from any component to its surroundings. The steam quality at the turbine exits will also be constrained to values greater than or equal to 90% (Moran, 337). 4.2 Code Development The C program "finalproject.c ² was developed to calculate the state values given the constraints listed in section 4.1. The program structure consists of three parts: Header/variable declaration Calculation section Data Report section The Header section includes all the variable declarations, functions to include and system definitions. To obtain accurate data values, this program uses floating point values. The Calculation section is the function that is used to calculate all the state values. In essence this section consists of two nested while()

The Soldier :: essays research papers

Travis was a quite a bit older than the other soldiers who enlisted for service during World War 11. He was in his early thirties, but most of the soldiers were in their late teens or early twenties. Travis had been working since he was a boy, so he felt that he knew something about how the world worked. He enlisted because he not only felt it was his duty to do so, but he also was looking for adventure. He was a tall, friendly man, with a booming voice and a good sense of humor. Soon, the younger soldiers were coming to him for advice or just to talk about how homesick they were. When his platoon needed a leader, Travis was chosen.It wasn’t long before Travis’s unit was shipped overseas. They eventually wound up on an island in the Pacific, far different from any place that the soldiers had ever seen. Snakes, monkeys, and bugs were everywhere, and the heat was almost unbearable. Many of the men quickly became sick, but their biggest problem was the enemy fire that con stantly surround them. Travis had been looking for adventure, but he had to admit that this was not the kind of adventure he had hoped for. Still, he found himself doing things he never thought he would or could do : bandaging wounds, planning attack strategies, thinking up camouflage ideas, and even writing letters home for the wounded soldiers. He knew that the men in his platoon trusted him and relied on him, and he was determined not to let them down.Travis served nearly four years in the army, all during World War 11. When he finally returned home, he was welcomed with great excitement and joy by his family and friends. Travis was glad to be home, of course, but he knew he was not the same person who set out adventure years before. The Soldier :: essays research papers Travis was a quite a bit older than the other soldiers who enlisted for service during World War 11. He was in his early thirties, but most of the soldiers were in their late teens or early twenties. Travis had been working since he was a boy, so he felt that he knew something about how the world worked. He enlisted because he not only felt it was his duty to do so, but he also was looking for adventure. He was a tall, friendly man, with a booming voice and a good sense of humor. Soon, the younger soldiers were coming to him for advice or just to talk about how homesick they were. When his platoon needed a leader, Travis was chosen.It wasn’t long before Travis’s unit was shipped overseas. They eventually wound up on an island in the Pacific, far different from any place that the soldiers had ever seen. Snakes, monkeys, and bugs were everywhere, and the heat was almost unbearable. Many of the men quickly became sick, but their biggest problem was the enemy fire that con stantly surround them. Travis had been looking for adventure, but he had to admit that this was not the kind of adventure he had hoped for. Still, he found himself doing things he never thought he would or could do : bandaging wounds, planning attack strategies, thinking up camouflage ideas, and even writing letters home for the wounded soldiers. He knew that the men in his platoon trusted him and relied on him, and he was determined not to let them down.Travis served nearly four years in the army, all during World War 11. When he finally returned home, he was welcomed with great excitement and joy by his family and friends. Travis was glad to be home, of course, but he knew he was not the same person who set out adventure years before.

Nazi Play :: essays research papers

Brandon-Hi, my brother Frank and I are about to tell you, about the walk home from school that ended our lives. Chris- Fivel and I were upset with each other the day of October 15, 1939. We pouted at each other the whole way to school. We usually got along. But that day we weren't. The school day was fine until the princeable interrupted our class and turned on the radio. It was one of Hitlers ridiculous speeches. We didn't really know what Hitler was up to this time. Brandon- So we ignored it. Little did we know it was about the invasion of our town to round up all the jews. That morning was the last we saw of our parents. They had their own steel mill, and that was the first target for the NAZI's. Besides this we attended Tillberg private school and grew up in Fankvurg Germany. We where pretty wealthy. Chris- Fivel quite babaling on lets get to the story. We started home from school that evening.We saw big green trucks next to the steel-mill so we stopped walking. We thought it was the supply truck until we saw soldiers with guns in hand. We took a look around and then Fivel through me into the woods. I remember him saying Oh god its the NAZI's. Brandon- We saw genocide right before our eyes. Houses were burnt down and people were killed. IT was terrible. We couldn't go any where or if the NAZI's saw us we would be killed. We slept in the ditch culvert in the woods.We woke up to see body piled up. The town was destroyed. The Nazis where still there. Chris- The only thing we ate was dry leaves, grass, and bark. We knew we couldn't live for much longer. Fivel lost all feelings in his legs. Brandon- With feelings in my legs gone I couldn't do much. Then reality hit. We saw the SS coming up the street with search dogs. They must have been fifty feet away when they saw us. We knew we were dead. Chris- The dog bit Fivel once and I got beat by the soldier. He cussed at us many times. We where drug to a lieutenant. And we where in pure shock. My nose was crushed and bleeding non stop. Fivel's leg was torn apart like he was a dogs chew toy. Brandon- The lieutenant looked at us lying there and one word came from his mouth: Trash.

Ferguson Foundry Limited

————————————————- Case: Ferguson Foundry Limited (FFL) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Date: March 10 2013 To: Mark Ferguson, President From: Carl Holitzner Re: FFL’s Lower-Than-Budgeted Profit for the Fiscal Year Ended May 31 2010 The major issue is determining why Ferguson Foundry Limited’s (FFL) actual profit was $367,600 lower than budgeted, despite selling 2,000 more wood stoves (12,000 instead of 10,000 units). This will be explained using Variance Analysis to demonstrate the underlying reasons why the company failed to meet its president’s expectations.FFL profit for 2010 was below budget due to many factors both production and marketing related. From a production perspective, there were 3 major areas of concern all of which were unfavorable with respect to Variance Analysis (As shown in Exhibit 3): 1. Direct Labor 2. Variable Overhead 3. Fixed Cost The $139,2 00 unfavorable Direct Labor Variance can be attributed to many reasons however it is most likely linked to the management team. Due to the early retirement of the sales manager, the production manager being hospitalized and the accountant quitting, it can be understood that inefficiencies were bound to arise.Without proper management, labor reduced overall productivity of the company, as these workers took 121,200 hours to produce 12,00 stoves rather than the standard 120,000 hours that it should have taken. This reduced Net Income by $18,000 (Labor Yield Variance calculation). Secondly, the problem arising from Direct Labor also transcends to the Variable Overhead, as it is used as its cost driver. As a result, the $69,600 unfavorable Variable Overhead Variance can also be attributed to the more hours undertaken to produce the 12,000 stoves.With the lack of an inefficient management team, overhead could have accumulated through inefficient use and/or the budget could have not even accurately portrayed current rates for overhead items. The third problem with regards to the production perspective concerns the increase in fixed costs. In particular, the fixed manufacturing cost increased by $30,000 over budgeted costs, which in turn resulted in a reduction of net income by the same amount. This could have resulted due to several reasons such as additional machinery being required to handle the increased sales volume.However at this point it is unclear given the information provided and so further investigation must be conducted in an effort to better budget for future fixed costs. From a marketing perspective, there were also 3 major areas of concern all of which were unfavorable with respect to Variance Analysis: 1. Price 2. Fixed Cost 3. Sales Mix In analyzing the price changes, although it was beneficial to increase the sell price of the Basic Wood Stove ($300 to $325), this income benefit was significantly outweighed by the reduction in sell price of the Del uxe Wood Stove ($800 to $700).In the end, the price changes of both products resulted in a $300,000 reduction in profit (Sales Price Variance). Another reason for FFL’s lower than budgeted profit, although obvious and minor, had to do with the increase in selling and administration cost. As can be seen in Exhibit 3 by the Fixed Selling & Administration Budget Variance, an increase in the fixed costs reduced net profit by $7,000. The third problem area, concerning the marketing perspective, involved the difference in sales mix from actual to budget.FFL actually sold more Basic Wood Stoves and fewer Deluxe Wood Stoves than budgeted. Unfortunately, the Deluxe Wood Stove possessed a higher standard contribution margin per unit than the Basic ($210 to $80). Therefore the difference in the mix of sales caused FFL’s net profit to be reduced by $234,000 (Sales Mix Variance). Ultimately, more market research must be conducted to better understand consumer wants and needs and th us be able to efficiently budget company products accordingly to reach profitability goals. APPENDIX EXHIBIT 1| | BASIC (Actual)| BASIC (Std. | DELUXE (Actual)| DELUXE (Std. )| Selling Price| $325| $300| $700| $800| Variable Costs:| Direct Materials| $67. 50| $70. 00| $171. 00| $190. 00| Direct Labor| $104. 00| $90. 00| $248. 00| $240. 00| Overhead| $52. 00| $45. 00| $124. 00| $120. 00| Sell & Admin| $15. 00| $15. 00| $40. 00| $40. 00| Total Variable Costs| $238. 50| $220. 00| $583. 00| $590. 00| Contribution Margin| $86. 50| $80. 00| $117. 00| $210. 00| CONTRIBUTION MARGINS TABLE| Illustration of some calculations involved: *Using the Actual Results Table Provided in Exhibit AActual Unit Selling (Basic) = Sales Revenue ? Sales Volume (units) = $2,340,000 / 7,200 units = $325 Unit Direct Materials (Basic) = Direct Materials Cost ? Sales Volume (units) = $486,000 / 7,200 units = $67. 50 *Using the Unit Cost Standards Table Provided in Exhibit B Std. Unit Direct Labor (Basic) = DL Std . Qty. Per Unit x DL Std. Rate Per Hr. = 6 hrs. x $15. 00 per hr. = $90 APPENDIX EXHIBIT 2| For the Year Ended May 31 2010| | ACTUAL| FLEX-BUDGET VARIANCE| FLEX BUDGET| SALES-VOLUME VARIANCE| STATIC BUDGET| TOTAL VARIANCE| Quantity (units)| 12,000| | 12,000| | 10,000| |Sales Revenue| $5,700,000| ($300,000)| $6,000,000| $250,000| $5,750,000| ($50,000)| Variable Costs| $4,515,600| ($99,600)| $4,416,000| ($181,000)| $4,235,000| ($280,600)| CM| $1,184,400| ($399,600)| $1,584,000| $69,000| $1,515,000| ($330,600)| Fixed Costs| $919,500| ($37,000)| $882,500| | $882,500| ($37,000)| Net Income| $264,900| ($436,600)| $701,500| $69,000| $632,500| ($367,600)| FLEXIBLE BUDGET REPORT| GIVEN CALCULATED FILL IN THE BLANK VARIANCES: ($) = UNFAVORABLE & $ = FAVORABLE Illustration of some calculations involved for Flex Budget: Flex Sales Revenue = Std.Sell Price Per Unit x Actual Sales volume (units) Basic Wood Stove = $300 x 7,200 units = $2,160,000 Deluxe Wood Stove = $800 x 4,800 units = $3,840,000 Total Flex Sales Revenue = $6,000,000 Flex Variable Costs = Std. Variable Price Per Unit x Actual Sales Volume (units) Basic Wood Stove = $220 x 7,200 = $1,548,000 Deluxe Wood Stove = $590 x 4,800 = $2,832,000 Total Flex Variable Costs = $4,416,000 Flex Fixed Costs = Static Fixed Costs APPENDIX EXHIBIT 3| | FLEX BUDGET VARIANCE| SALES VOLUME VARIANCE| SALES VARIANCES| | | | Sales Price| | $300,000 U| -| Sales Mix| | -| $234,000 U|Sales Quantity| | -| $303,000 F| Sales Volume | | -| $69,000 F| TOTAL SALES VARIANCE| | $300,000 U| $69,000 F| | | | | VARIABLE COST VARIANCES| | | | Direct Materials| | $109,000 F| -| Direct Labor| | $139,200 U| -| Overhead| | $69,600 U| -| Selling & Admin| | $0| -| TOTAL VARIABLE COST VARIANCE| | $399,600 U| -| | | | | TOTAL CM VARIANCE| | $399,600 U| -| | | | | FIXED COST VARIANCES| | | | Mfg. Budget| | $30,000 U| -| Sell & Admin Budget| | $7,000 U| -| TOTAL FIXED COST VARIANCE| | $37,000 U| -| | | | | TOTAL VARIANCE| | $436,600 U| $69,000 F| | | | | VA RIANCES TABLE| U = UnfavorableF = Favorable APPENDIX Illustration of some calculations involved in creating Exhibit 3: SALES VARIANCE Section Sales Price Variance = Actual Units sold x (Actual Sell Price – Budgeted) Basic Wood Stove = 7,200 x ($325-$300) = $180,000 F Deluxe Wood Stove = 4,800 x ($700-$800) = $480,000 U Total Sales Price Variance = $300,000 U Sales Mix Variance = (Actual Sales Mix % – Budgeted) x Actual total units sold x Budgeted CM per unit Basic Wood Stove = [(7,200/12,000)-(4,500/10,000)] x 12,000 x $80 = $144,000 F Deluxe Wood Stove = [(4,800/12,000)-(5,500/10,000)] x 12,000 x $210 = $378,000 UTotal Sales Mix Variance = $234,000 U Sales Quantity Variance = (Actual total units sold – Budgeted) x Budgeted Sales Mix % x Budgeted CM per unit Basic Wood Stove = (12,000-10,000) x (4,500/10,000) x $80 = $72,000 F Deluxe Wood Stove = (12,000=10,000) x (5,500/10,000) x $210 = $231,000 F Total Sales Quantity Variance = $303,000 F Sales Volume Variance = (Actual Sales Volume – Budgeted) x Budgeted Cm per unit Basic Wood Stove = (7,200-4,500) x $80 = $216,000 F Deluxe Wood Stove = (4,800-5,500) x $210 = $147,000 U Total Sales Volume Variance = $69,000 F Ferguson Foundry Limited ————————————————- Case: Ferguson Foundry Limited (FFL) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Date: March 10 2013 To: Mark Ferguson, President From: Carl Holitzner Re: FFL’s Lower-Than-Budgeted Profit for the Fiscal Year Ended May 31 2010 The major issue is determining why Ferguson Foundry Limited’s (FFL) actual profit was $367,600 lower than budgeted, despite selling 2,000 more wood stoves (12,000 instead of 10,000 units). This will be explained using Variance Analysis to demonstrate the underlying reasons why the company failed to meet its president’s expectations.FFL profit for 2010 was below budget due to many factors both production and marketing related. From a production perspective, there were 3 major areas of concern all of which were unfavorable with respect to Variance Analysis (As shown in Exhibit 3): 1. Direct Labor 2. Variable Overhead 3. Fixed Cost The $139,2 00 unfavorable Direct Labor Variance can be attributed to many reasons however it is most likely linked to the management team. Due to the early retirement of the sales manager, the production manager being hospitalized and the accountant quitting, it can be understood that inefficiencies were bound to arise.Without proper management, labor reduced overall productivity of the company, as these workers took 121,200 hours to produce 12,00 stoves rather than the standard 120,000 hours that it should have taken. This reduced Net Income by $18,000 (Labor Yield Variance calculation). Secondly, the problem arising from Direct Labor also transcends to the Variable Overhead, as it is used as its cost driver. As a result, the $69,600 unfavorable Variable Overhead Variance can also be attributed to the more hours undertaken to produce the 12,000 stoves.With the lack of an inefficient management team, overhead could have accumulated through inefficient use and/or the budget could have not even accurately portrayed current rates for overhead items. The third problem with regards to the production perspective concerns the increase in fixed costs. In particular, the fixed manufacturing cost increased by $30,000 over budgeted costs, which in turn resulted in a reduction of net income by the same amount. This could have resulted due to several reasons such as additional machinery being required to handle the increased sales volume.However at this point it is unclear given the information provided and so further investigation must be conducted in an effort to better budget for future fixed costs. From a marketing perspective, there were also 3 major areas of concern all of which were unfavorable with respect to Variance Analysis: 1. Price 2. Fixed Cost 3. Sales Mix In analyzing the price changes, although it was beneficial to increase the sell price of the Basic Wood Stove ($300 to $325), this income benefit was significantly outweighed by the reduction in sell price of the Del uxe Wood Stove ($800 to $700).In the end, the price changes of both products resulted in a $300,000 reduction in profit (Sales Price Variance). Another reason for FFL’s lower than budgeted profit, although obvious and minor, had to do with the increase in selling and administration cost. As can be seen in Exhibit 3 by the Fixed Selling & Administration Budget Variance, an increase in the fixed costs reduced net profit by $7,000. The third problem area, concerning the marketing perspective, involved the difference in sales mix from actual to budget.FFL actually sold more Basic Wood Stoves and fewer Deluxe Wood Stoves than budgeted. Unfortunately, the Deluxe Wood Stove possessed a higher standard contribution margin per unit than the Basic ($210 to $80). Therefore the difference in the mix of sales caused FFL’s net profit to be reduced by $234,000 (Sales Mix Variance). Ultimately, more market research must be conducted to better understand consumer wants and needs and th us be able to efficiently budget company products accordingly to reach profitability goals. APPENDIX EXHIBIT 1| | BASIC (Actual)| BASIC (Std. | DELUXE (Actual)| DELUXE (Std. )| Selling Price| $325| $300| $700| $800| Variable Costs:| Direct Materials| $67. 50| $70. 00| $171. 00| $190. 00| Direct Labor| $104. 00| $90. 00| $248. 00| $240. 00| Overhead| $52. 00| $45. 00| $124. 00| $120. 00| Sell & Admin| $15. 00| $15. 00| $40. 00| $40. 00| Total Variable Costs| $238. 50| $220. 00| $583. 00| $590. 00| Contribution Margin| $86. 50| $80. 00| $117. 00| $210. 00| CONTRIBUTION MARGINS TABLE| Illustration of some calculations involved: *Using the Actual Results Table Provided in Exhibit AActual Unit Selling (Basic) = Sales Revenue ? Sales Volume (units) = $2,340,000 / 7,200 units = $325 Unit Direct Materials (Basic) = Direct Materials Cost ? Sales Volume (units) = $486,000 / 7,200 units = $67. 50 *Using the Unit Cost Standards Table Provided in Exhibit B Std. Unit Direct Labor (Basic) = DL Std . Qty. Per Unit x DL Std. Rate Per Hr. = 6 hrs. x $15. 00 per hr. = $90 APPENDIX EXHIBIT 2| For the Year Ended May 31 2010| | ACTUAL| FLEX-BUDGET VARIANCE| FLEX BUDGET| SALES-VOLUME VARIANCE| STATIC BUDGET| TOTAL VARIANCE| Quantity (units)| 12,000| | 12,000| | 10,000| |Sales Revenue| $5,700,000| ($300,000)| $6,000,000| $250,000| $5,750,000| ($50,000)| Variable Costs| $4,515,600| ($99,600)| $4,416,000| ($181,000)| $4,235,000| ($280,600)| CM| $1,184,400| ($399,600)| $1,584,000| $69,000| $1,515,000| ($330,600)| Fixed Costs| $919,500| ($37,000)| $882,500| | $882,500| ($37,000)| Net Income| $264,900| ($436,600)| $701,500| $69,000| $632,500| ($367,600)| FLEXIBLE BUDGET REPORT| GIVEN CALCULATED FILL IN THE BLANK VARIANCES: ($) = UNFAVORABLE & $ = FAVORABLE Illustration of some calculations involved for Flex Budget: Flex Sales Revenue = Std.Sell Price Per Unit x Actual Sales volume (units) Basic Wood Stove = $300 x 7,200 units = $2,160,000 Deluxe Wood Stove = $800 x 4,800 units = $3,840,000 Total Flex Sales Revenue = $6,000,000 Flex Variable Costs = Std. Variable Price Per Unit x Actual Sales Volume (units) Basic Wood Stove = $220 x 7,200 = $1,548,000 Deluxe Wood Stove = $590 x 4,800 = $2,832,000 Total Flex Variable Costs = $4,416,000 Flex Fixed Costs = Static Fixed Costs APPENDIX EXHIBIT 3| | FLEX BUDGET VARIANCE| SALES VOLUME VARIANCE| SALES VARIANCES| | | | Sales Price| | $300,000 U| -| Sales Mix| | -| $234,000 U|Sales Quantity| | -| $303,000 F| Sales Volume | | -| $69,000 F| TOTAL SALES VARIANCE| | $300,000 U| $69,000 F| | | | | VARIABLE COST VARIANCES| | | | Direct Materials| | $109,000 F| -| Direct Labor| | $139,200 U| -| Overhead| | $69,600 U| -| Selling & Admin| | $0| -| TOTAL VARIABLE COST VARIANCE| | $399,600 U| -| | | | | TOTAL CM VARIANCE| | $399,600 U| -| | | | | FIXED COST VARIANCES| | | | Mfg. Budget| | $30,000 U| -| Sell & Admin Budget| | $7,000 U| -| TOTAL FIXED COST VARIANCE| | $37,000 U| -| | | | | TOTAL VARIANCE| | $436,600 U| $69,000 F| | | | | VA RIANCES TABLE| U = UnfavorableF = Favorable APPENDIX Illustration of some calculations involved in creating Exhibit 3: SALES VARIANCE Section Sales Price Variance = Actual Units sold x (Actual Sell Price – Budgeted) Basic Wood Stove = 7,200 x ($325-$300) = $180,000 F Deluxe Wood Stove = 4,800 x ($700-$800) = $480,000 U Total Sales Price Variance = $300,000 U Sales Mix Variance = (Actual Sales Mix % – Budgeted) x Actual total units sold x Budgeted CM per unit Basic Wood Stove = [(7,200/12,000)-(4,500/10,000)] x 12,000 x $80 = $144,000 F Deluxe Wood Stove = [(4,800/12,000)-(5,500/10,000)] x 12,000 x $210 = $378,000 UTotal Sales Mix Variance = $234,000 U Sales Quantity Variance = (Actual total units sold – Budgeted) x Budgeted Sales Mix % x Budgeted CM per unit Basic Wood Stove = (12,000-10,000) x (4,500/10,000) x $80 = $72,000 F Deluxe Wood Stove = (12,000=10,000) x (5,500/10,000) x $210 = $231,000 F Total Sales Quantity Variance = $303,000 F Sales Volume Variance = (Actual Sales Volume – Budgeted) x Budgeted Cm per unit Basic Wood Stove = (7,200-4,500) x $80 = $216,000 F Deluxe Wood Stove = (4,800-5,500) x $210 = $147,000 U Total Sales Volume Variance = $69,000 F Ferguson Foundry Limited CASE ANALYSIS: FERGUSON FOUNDRY LIMITED (FFL) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Introduction After reviewing the financial statements for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2010, Mark Ferguson, President of Ferguson Foundry Limited’s (FFL), was disappointed with the results. Operating Income was $367,600 below expectation, despite having sold 2,000 wood stove units greater than budgeted. To determine which areas FFL’s actual performance was better or worse than expected, a variance analysis will be conducted.However, it is important to note that variance analysis alone can only emphasize areas that need improvement, and not determine the reason for these discrepancies. A further investigation is warranted once determining the issues outlined through variance analysis. Analysis – Qualitative and Quantitative There are many areas within FFL’s production which have been proven to be unfavourable, and where immediate improvement is necessary. Of particular concern is the variable overhead, where an unfavorable variance of $180,600 was discovered (Appendix F).Within this variance, the variable overhead costs, both manufacturing and non-manufacturing of the Deluxe model are what seem to be causing inefficiencies. The Deluxe model accounts for $157,200 of the $180,600U mentioned above. Other Key Areas of Concern Outlined Through Variance Analysis: * Appendix I: Although the selling price of the basic model increased by $25, a $100 reduction in the selling price of the Deluxe model counterbalanced this increase, and negatively affected income. Appendix E: The difference between the budgeted and actual sales mix had an adverse effect on revenues. The Deluxe model had a greater CM/unit of 210, and was budgeted at 55% of the sales mix, however, it only ended up accounting for 40% of the actual sales mix. * Appendix H: The market share of FFL resulted in being less than expected (10% to 9%), in a market which was larger than expected/budgeted (133,333 to 100,000 uni ts). Recommendation and Implementation We recommend a proper rectification of the issues with regards to FFL’s unfavourable variances.Firstly, is it of utmost importance to have all the necessary components of management (i. e. supervisors, directors, and managers) on the job and ready to manage. Once FFL has the personnel to solve these significant issues, the following must be corrected, in order: Direct labor inefficiencies and high overhead costs, most importantly. Then, they can â€Å"fine tune† and solve higher than usual selling and administrative expenses and high fixed overhead costs. Further instructions with regards to solving these issues are outlined in Appendix K.However, if FFL is not capable of reorganising the company by itself, external help is necessary to implement specific changes that will improve FFL’s bottom line. REFERENCES Bhimani, Alnoor et al. Management and Cost Accounting. Pearson Education Limited, 2012. Print. APPENDIX A DIRECT MA TERIAL VARIANCES Note: F = Favorable and U = Unfavorable APPENDIX B DIRECT MATERIAL VARIANCES CONTINUED *540,000 + 912,000 = 1,452,000 *315,000 + 1,045,000 = 1,360,000 Note: F = Favorable and U = Unfavorable APPENDIX C DIRECT LABOR VARIANCESNote: F = Favorable and U = Unfavorable APPENDIX D DIRECT LABOR VARIANCES CONTINUED Note: F = Favorable and U = Unfavorable APPENDIX E SALES VARIANCES 7200/12000 = 0. 6 4500/10000 = 0. 45 Note: F = Favorable and U = Unfavorable APPENDIX F VARIABLE OVERHEAD VARIANCE *Variable Selling & Administrative Expenses are labeled as Non-Manufacturing in this table. Total Variable Overhead for Basic and Deluxe = 27,000U + 18,000F = 9,000U Note: F = Favorable and U = Unfavorable APPENDIX G FIXED OVERHEAD VARIANCE *750,000 ? 115,000 = 6. 217 Note: F = Favorable and U = Unfavorable APPENDIX H MARKET VARIANCES Note: F = Favorable and U = Unfavorable APPENDIX I VARIANCE OVERVIEW Note: F = Favorable and U = Unfavorable Note: F = Favorable and U = Unfavorable APPE NDIX J ANALYSIS OF THE UNFAVORABLE VARIANCES Note: F = Favorable and U = Unfavorable Note: $421,300 represents the sum of all unfavorable variances that have brought down the company’s annual earnings. Note: F = Favorable and U = Unfavorable APPENDIX K RECOMMENDATIONS: REDUCING THE TOTAL UNFAVOURABLE VARIANCE

Corporate Social Responsibility Essay

In general, Corporate Social Responsibility can be described as an approach by which a company: * recognises that its activities have a wider impact on the society in which it operates and that developments in society in turn impact on its ability to pursue its business successfully. * actively manages the economic, social, environmental and human rights impact of its activities across the world, basing these on principles which reflect international values, reaping benefits both for its own operations and reputation as well as for the communities in which it operates. * seeks to achieve these benefits by working closely with other groups and organisations – local communities, civil society, other businesses and home and host governments. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been a critical part of the Sunway Group for the past three decades. Sunway Group company is one that instils and celebrates the culture of giving to society. The Group recognises the significance of developing and harnessing human capital excellence in driving the development and growth of the company, the community and our country. Winning the Anugerah PMCSR is a form of encouragement for The Group as it has truly brought CSR to an entirely new level. Sunway Group also has been recognised for outstanding achievements in CSR. The Sunway Group’s CSR programmes are wide-spread and aim to protect and promote human capital excellence above and beyond the company. In enhancing human capital excellence through education, if I the director of Sunway Group, I would implement the programmes which is: * Raising the level and standards of education in the country * Providing for the less fortunate members of the community. * Growing a healthy and sustainable knowledge-based workforce in Malaysia. The corporate social responsibility that Sunway Group provided are : 1) The Jeffrey Cheah Foundation The Sunway Education Trust Fund was established in March 1997 for the purpose of managing and administering surpluses from the institutions for the benefit of students be it for reinvestment into the institutions or for the disimbursement of scholarships and research grants. The Jeffrey Cheah Foundation was formed to perpetuate and crystallise the vision of a credible vehicle that will serve the cause of bringing good and quality education to the nation. Shares are transferred under the Sunway Education Trust into this Foundation where they will be held for perpetuity and can never be sold. Total profits from the Sunway University College and 70% of the profits from the Monash University Sunway Campus are ploughed back into activities to deliver higher quality education, to grow research capabilities and for the upgrading of facilities. From January to June 2010, more than RM4 million worth of scholarships were given out. 2) The Public School Adoption & Restoration Programme The Sunway Group has contributed to primary and secondary-level education schools over the last few years. Some of these projects have involved direct and active participation in restoration works, where the Group has dedicated consultancy, labour and construction resources into the refurbishment projects. In recent years, about RM3 million was contributed to schools such as SMK Bandar Sunway, SCK Chee Wen, SMK Klang Convent, the Gunung Hijau Primary School, SRK Bandar Sunway and SMJK Yuk Choy, Ipoh. To date, total contributions to public schools add up to RM10 million. 3) The Job Placement Programme Recognising that every person deserves a chance to feel a sense of belonging and purpose in society, the Sunway Group runs a Job Placement Programme endorsed by the Ministry of Education, Malaysia. Special needs students from the Sunway sponsored SMK Bandar Sunway are trained on basic work-related skills and ethics. Upon graduating, these students are presented with certificates of accomplishment to seek employment, where they are able to progress as independent members of society’s workforce. To date, the five-year old programme has helped a total of 58 special needs students. In 2010, the fifth batch of 10 students commenced their job placement at Sunway’s subsidiaries starting March 2010, and two were hired under the year’s Job Placement programme. 4) CSR Bowling Besides fostering education and life skills from an intellectual perspective, Sunway also embarks on education and skills in the physical sporting arena. This programme is for those aged between 14 and 22, and endeavours to train participants in the physical recreational sport of bowling Bowling training consists of one hour per week at the Sunway Pyramid Bowl for a total consecutive duration of 23 sessions. There are about 30 students in this programme who attended the Bowling Tournament 2010 on 21st September. To date the Sunway Group has trained about 150 special students. 5) The New Straits Times (NST) School Sponsorship Programme The programme was launched in August 2005 with the aim of bridging the urban-rural gap among the student population with regards to English language acquisition, information access and skills development. The group identified seven schools under Sunway’s CSR programme to receive complimentary copies of the NST everyday for one year commencing May 2010. The identified schools are SJK (C) Gunung Hijau, SMK Bandar Sunway, SRK Bandar Sunway, SMK Convent Klang, SRK Convent Klang, SJK (C) Chee Wen, Subang and SMK Tambun, Ipoh. Other CSR initiatives undertaken by the Sunway Group include the Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah Distinguished Speaker Series and the Sunway Medical Centre Public Health Forums. The Sunway Group reaches out to people at different levels of society through its CSR activities and aims to enhance the learning experience in the classroom and beyond. The Group hopes to improve the standard of education, quality of life and ultimately leave a positive change in turning Malays ia into a high-income nation.