LOreal Strategic Management Change

LOreal Strategic Management Change 1. INTRODUCTION. During the last years the organizations have been going through a process of expanding their barriers to reach new markets across the globe, this process in known as globalization, this describes the process by which societies, cultures, and economies happen to be integrated creating a massive market all over the world in which different companies can be part of. The following report was made upon LOreal analyzing how every acquisition made by the company was a fundamental part to become the leader and biggest cosmetic company in the beauty industry, how did they enter the US market by acquiring the main US brands at that particular time, and finally it will analyze their implemented strategies and market challenges showing how new strategic partners can make possible growth through globalization. The centre of attention of the report will be focused on the internal and external influences to LOreal, and how globalization could affect policies and decisions made by the company. LOreal was created by Eugene Schueller in France 1907 and named after his first product LAureole, the aim of this French chemist was to create the first synthetic hair-color product ever made and then start selling it within France and perhaps some parts of Europe, however, as the time goes by, LOreal positioned as the leader in European hair color market and skin care, but this wasnt good enough for them, as they wanted to reach new markets as the American, and Asian, therefore, LOreal made certain acquisitions, as well as the implementation of new market strategies and corporate strategies to successfully reach their goals. 1.1 SWOT ANALYSIS THEORY. Now the first part of the report will be focused on the primary internal and external influences that the company is subject to, to be able to analyze this influences, I would like to use the SWOT analysis which is a strategic planning method to identify the internal and external factors that are contributing or retaining the company to achieve their goals, The strengths and weaknesses refer to the company and its products whereas the opportunities and threats are usually taken to be external factors over which the company has no control. SWOT analysis involves understanding and analysing the strengths and weaknesses and identifying threats to the business as well as opportunities in the marketplace. Once that is done, we can then attempt to exploit strengths, overcome the weaknesses, grasp the opportunities and defend the organization against threats. This is one of the most important parts of the planning process. SWOT analysis asks the questions that will enable you to decide whet her your company and the product will really be able to fulfil your plan and what the constraints will be.[1] 1.2 STRENGTHS. LOreal has gone through different types of management from their creator, to the CEO Owen Jones, Jones management style has brought to the company a revolution from a French based cosmetic company to a world leader in the cosmetic industry, LOreal main ability is to acquire local cosmetic brands (Ralph Lauren Fragrances, Helena Rubinstein)[2] re-arrange their operational strategy and finally place them in a better location among the competitors, their brand management has been a massive tool to position LOreal in the place they are, as every single product and brand they manage is aiming to an specific segment of the different markets, rather than placing their products indiscriminately as every market has a different demand to be supplied. Another strength of LOreal that can be clearly identified is their patent desire to invest in Research and Development, with this we can assure that LOreal is an organization that is looking forward to implement the latest technology in all their products so that they can efficiently satisfy all their customer needs. They spent and average of 3% of their revenue in R D, when the average of the industry is less than 2%[3], LOreal is aware that in the days we live in, any advance in technology represents a competitive advantage and subsequently thats the best manner to own a market. LOreal has also shown their strength when it gets to marketing campaigns as they know that in order to be successful internationally you must be flexible and able to adapt to new environments, and to be more specific you must e able to produce exactly what a customer is demanding, which is the case of Savannah-Based Carson, which had a 35% share of the US ethnic hair care market and established presence in South Africa, this market has an estimated value of 1 billion dollars, according to LOreals product manager â€Å"You cant pretend to be No 1 in the world and forget about 1 billion consumers of African origin†[4] 1.3 WEAKNESSES. Now to look at the weaknesses of the company, even with the success of the globalization impact, LOreal havent done so much to diversify their products, rather than that, they have focused all their efforts in developing products for the main areas the work on (hair, skin, make up, and perfume). With the US brands acquisition, LOreal split into 3 main product divisions, consumer, professional, and luxury, in his objective to be the world leader in the beauty industry, CEO Jones has focused his efforts on the consumer brands as they are easier to retail, and relatively less expensive therefore is not that hard to build up a reliable data base, however the other 2 areas are very important as well an eventually if they focused their efforts on improving either one or even both of them the response may be positive and subsequently they will be able to reach a bigger portion of the market.[5] Another weakness of the company, and is commonly seen in this kind of organizations is the decentralized organizational structure, with this I am referring to the flow of information and control of the company due to many subdivision, this could affect the production level of the company because of the need of giving reference the other members of the board and directors of the company. 1.4 OPORTUNYTIES. Due to the good performance of LOreal, they have had certain opportunities which they knew how to use, for example the market in Africa, as they had the vision to recognize the enormous potential of this market, now LOreal is the leader of this segment, which wasnt very attractive to the competitors, at the first stage because they didnt know that people in Africa may be interested in this sort of products which lead them to lose interest for this segment and as a consequence LOreal settle down as the leader of the industry by implementing their acquiring strategy along with specific marketing strategies, basically, LOreal realized that the main thing to take over Africa was to develop a product which completely satisfy the population , due to this, LOreal invest in a multi million dollar research and development facility in Chicago to focus exclusively on the hair and skin needs of the people of African-American descent.[6] As stated before another big opportunity for LOreal to grow is to focus more on their line of dermocosmetics (anti-aging), as this area has a very small portion of the revenue and considering the research network they have, it would be interesting if the focused their efforts to create a new anti-aging product at affordable price and distributed through their channels to reach a bigger population. LOreal being the world leader of the beauty industry could diversify trying to enter new markets such like the clothing taking advantage of their well known name as they already have a strong influence over the new trends of fashion in terms of make up, hair and skin care. 1.5 THREATS. In relation to the threats and challenges, even that LOreal is the market world leader; there are some competitors in the industry and competitors for every single product division of LOreal (consumer professional luxury), competitors like Estee Lauder, Proctor Gamble, Revlon, and Max Factor, specially for the Japan market, which is the market that LOreal is aiming to control. LOreal is the world leader in the industry, however their competitors have been able to strategic place some of their products in the actual market, reason why LOreal is considering acquiring an other brand (Nivea) so that they can gain a better position in the European market. 1.6 SWOT MATRIX STRENGTHS * The ability to acquire new brands and transform then into new market leaders WEAKNESSES * Lack of diversity on their product catalogue OPPORTUNITIES * As they have all the knowledge and capacity they are able to explode new markets such like the African market THREATS * Some other competitors in the industry that currently are stronger in some other segments of the market like in Asia Now that the SWOT analysis has been done, its clear that the reason of success of LOreal is the focus they have implemented on their strategies, as they have been able to identify internal and external influences that gives them a competitive advantage over the rest of the competitors in the industry, as they know exactly where do they want to be, how are the going to achieve their goals, and what is the best way to get to that desire success. Profit margins are easily destroyed when companies focus on internal issues versus the external conditions that affect customers. Revenue comes from the outside, from customers buying products or services, not from implementing new technology, re-engineering business processes or building great teams. Focusing on external forces increases the bottom line. In fact, by shifting to an external focus, companies can often increase profits from 5 to 10 percent. An external focus, however, means more than just gathering competitive and market intelligence. It takes more than empty customer-centred rhetoric. It starts with the CEO and requires core behaviours to focus on where the money comes from.[7] 2. GLOBALIZATION. The second part of this report will be analyzing the following topics: * The impact of globalization in the organization. * How does it affect their policies and decision making, * How effective has LOreal been according to this new situation. 2.1 CONCEPT OF GLOBALIZATION As stated in Time International (1999), globalization means that countries, economies, companies or people in general are coming closer together. This is not because they are forced to do so, but because they want to do so. In fact they want so much to come closer to others that they cannot help themselves. As worldwide communications get better, information, technology, people and financial flows move faster. The cultural assumptions and premises of democracy and free markets spread and become more readily accepted. This very attractive and almost irresistible globalization process becomes more widespread[8]. Friedman (2000) states that the driving force behind globalization is free market capitalism, which uses free trade and competition to create virtual rulers of the world markets. These very powerful capitalists make economies to increase and be efficient. With the opening up of world markets, globalization has become a major force shaping both management theory and practice. Forces of globalization have been accelerating and, as such, are shaping policies and behaviours of nation states as well as corporate entities all over the world.[9] 2.2 How did LOreal become the biggest beauty company? The acquisition strategy implemented by LOreal guide them to be the world leader company in the beauty industry; all these US acquisition they made created a sub division within their products catalogue, consumer, professional, and luxury, LOreals success is a clear example of how to implement a corporate strategy and manage a brand internationally to achieve a massive growth even when the market they sell their products in isnt very steady, the key was to understand and successfully satisfy the needs of every customer through its products like they did with the Wet Lipstick in Japan, or the Research and Development process they carry out to satisfy the afro-American customer needs. LOreal has the capacity to reach more people across the world than any other beauty company thanks to their distribution channels and also is able to generate a bigger income rather than other companies due to their big products catalogue. 2.3 The Acquisition process. As stated in the case, the success of LOreal was achieved thanks to all the acquisitions made through out the world and especially in the US, all the process began by acquiring Ralph Lauren, and Helena Rubinstein which was a cosmetic maker with international distribution, after five years of negotiating process LOreal took full ownership of both companies. The next acquisition of the company was Redken in 1994 however the new products launched under LOreals ownership werent successful so they decide to rename the company to Redken 5th Avenue NY. Following their process the next company to be acquired was Maybelline which was the third largest company completely based in the US and it was very attractive due to their anti-aging line that was very eye-catching to young population, in the market this is very representative for LOreal as this will bring a new image to the company renewing the old French fashion, turning it into a fresh young image. Soft Sheen and Carson was a key element in the acquisition process as they brought a whole new market to the company that hasnt been taken care of because the current competitors didnt realize that that segment of the population may be interested in this sort of products, and in addition LOreal invested 3% of their revenues in research and development to create a new product specially for them. In the 2000 LOreal bought Matrix focusing on their professional line supplying the need of hairdressers and beauty saloons with a high quality standart. The most important acquisition made by LOreal was made in the 2000, they bought Kielhs after a three year countership, the owners finally agreed to sell their company after they realize that they couldnt meet the demand, however some of the employees werent very happy about the new acquisition as they thought that the company wont have any independence left after LOreals take over, this new acquisition was very important for the company as Kielhs could bring a better position related to the store high-end segment of the business. 2.4 WHAT WAS THE ROLE OF ACQUISITIONS IN THIS GROWTH? The prospect of increasing profitability and market share by acquisitions continues to exercise a more seductive and immediate appeal to business leaders than a reliance on growth alone. There has always been a substratum of mergers, acquisitions and, indeed, divestments in all developed economies. However, the extent of this depends on the buoyancy of the economy. The periodic rise and fall of such activity has heightened debate among managers, academics, politicians, and regulators about acquisition activity and their benefits, as well as ethical considerations (Vinten, 1992). Mergers and acquisitions (MA) have a unique potential to transform firms, and to contribute to corporate renewal (Angwin, 2001). They can help a firm renew its market position at a speed not achievable through internal development (Haspeslagh and Jemison, 1991; Harrison, 2002). [10] Value creation is the important objective in successful acquisitions. Yet, empirical and other studies continue to highlight the low success rates associated with acquisitions. No matter how attractive is the business opportunity associated with an acquisition process, value is not created until capabilities are transferred, and people from both organisations collaborate in order to create the expected benefits and the unpredicted opportunities. This collaboration relies on the will and ability of managers from both organisations to work together towards a new future. The key to integration is to obtain the participation of the people involved without compromising the strategic task. Finding similar organisational cultures and management styles has become a common panacea for avoiding employee dissatisfaction that could undermine MA performance. Different authors agree that it is important to consider cultural compatibility as a criterion for screening potential candidates for MA. On the other hand, managing the cultural differences has been proved as a more realistic and successful strategy in integration processes than finding the ideal culture fit. Buono and Bowditch consider that successful integration can be achieved even between diversified organisational cultures. This viewpoint is adopted in this exploratory study. It examines the strategies being used by executives that encourage employees diversity tolerance while allowing for learning to occur within parent and acquired firm. It looks at the strategies the firms implemented to facilitate the units to work together, and integrative practices involving firms within the same industry but from different countries and contrasting corporate values. In bringing together firms with different skills and knowledge bases, acquisitions create unique learning opportunities for the partner firms. As recently argued by management researchers, knowledge and the capacity to create, transfer, transform and utilise it are the most important sources of a firms sustainable competitive advantage[11]. Acquisitions have played a very important role in LOreals growth, particularly in their expansion through out the world, the more companies the acquire the bigger LOreal was getting as well as their profit, in 1996 they bought Maybelline for $758 million dollars and began a complete restructuration of the brand, starting from moving the headquarters within the USA. With all the restructuration LOreals CEO Owen Jones successfully achieved to reach from 3% to 15% on the nail market, they have also raise their sales in nearly a 100% and positioned Maybelline in over 70 countries. Globalization has had a very positive impact over LOreal as due to this they had the need to reorganize their company making some sort of decisions like relocating their headquarter for the USA operations in Chicago so that they can have control of all the operations taking place in America in a central place where they can keep track of all their progress, this has also brought another issue related to globalization which is the technology, LOreal has invested 3% of their revenue in developing new products where the average of investment in this field in the industry is around 2%, technology has also brought new channels of communication where they can easily be in touch within the company and also they have been able to use cost-efficient distribution channels thanks to their acquisition of Soft sheen-Carson as they had developed cheap delivery systems. 2.5 LOREAL EFFECTIVENESS LOreal has been going through a massive change since their beginning as they started their business creating a synthetic hair-color product to be sold in France and probably around Europe, the response of the people to the product was so good that the company decided to enter the beauty market, diversifying their product catalogue not only to hair care but to skin care as well, with the result of being the market leader. However the effectiveness of the company is not very clear at this stage as the product by itself cant guarantee the success of the company, instead of that, a good strategic management along with a visionary CEO can bring a major strength to the organization and will build confidence within the company to achieve their goals as they stated at the beginning, well, this is the case we are analyzing, as previously stated, CEO Owen Jones had the vision to expand the boundaries of the company by acquiring strategic partners that can contribute to a massive growth for LOr eal, his leadership enables him to see and opportunity of expansion taking advantage of the globalization boom and his vision of opportunities where the competitors didnt see anything was a key to succeed in some parts of the world, LOreal was bright enough to understand that the needs or likes of the people in America were not the same as the people in Asia or in Africa reason why they decided to create products for every single market and this gave them the opportunity to be the world leaders in the market. After all this facts it is clear that LOreal has had a very effective response to the new changing environment as they are prepared to adapt to new situations and is a company willing to deal with organizational change, this is a enormous benefit for the company as they can easily gain competitive advantage at a low cost of opportunity. 2.6 IMPROVEMENT AREAS. LOreal is the world leader company in the beauty industry thanks to their brilliant management and their products; however there is always a little extra that can be done to reach that additional little piece of the market. In my point of view I would suggest that the company hire an Asian Marketing Manager hopefully with a strong Japanese background in order to be able to completely take over this market as this market has a huge potential which was proved with the Wet Lipstick, perhaps if they invest some part of their revenue in research and development as the did with the African market, they might get a very good response as all the markets should be kept in mind as a big opportunity. LOreal could also consider expanding to the Latin American market and specially the South American, now that they control the US market (North America), they can implement their expansion strategy to take over central and south America which is a market that havent been explode yet or not as much as they could. LOreal could implement the same strategy implemented by Dell in Brazil, as they decided to relocate their plant in South America (Brazil) in order to manage all the market from there, taking advantage of the Mercosul market which enables the company to save on taxes within the continent. And finally LOreal should consider to extent their products catalogue to clothing and accessories as this may give them a competitive advantage over the rest of the companies in the same industry, it is very important to try to be always one step ahead of the company and be visionary in order to predict what the market wants and how to supply that demand. 2.7 CONCLUSION. After analyzing this case it is clear how important is to have a good strategic management and understand how the environment can affect every organization from the most insignificant change to any huge change that may involve any of the decisions of the company, its understandable that the vision of the CEO of the company can bring success to the organization and build a good know how that will enable the company to enter new markets. 2.8 REFERENCES. [1] Westwood, John. How to Write a Marketing Plan (3rd Edition).London, GBR: Kogan Page, Limited, 2006. p 27. [2] LOreal and the globalization of American beauty, Page 5. [3] LOreal and the globalization of American beauty, Page 15. [4] LOreal and the globalization of American beauty, Page 9. [5] LOreal and the globalization of American beauty, Page 2. [6] LOreal and the globalization of American beauty, Page 9. [7] Emerald Insight Staff (CB). Change Strategies.Bradford, GBR: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2004. p 4. [8] Samli, A. Coskun. In Search of an Equitable, Sustainable Globalization: The Bittersweet Dilemma. Westport, CT, USA: Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated, 2002. p 21. [9] Samli, A. Coskun. In Search of an Equitable, Sustainable Globalization: The Bittersweet Dilemma. Westport, CT, USA: Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated, 2002. p 34. [10] Emerald Insight Staff (CB). Mergers and Acquisitions. Bradford, , GBR: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2005. p 4. [11] Emerald Insight Staff (CB). Mergers and Acquisitions. Bradford, , GBR: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2005. p 5.

Beloved herself Essay

Introduction Toni Morrison is famed for her portrayal of African American life in her vivid novels, especially her portrayal of African American women and their place and position within society. Morrison was herself born in a working class family but worked hard and attended Howard University and then Cornell University. Although she faced discrimination and sexism throughout her early life, she overcame the obstacles and went on to become a successful editor before writing her first novel in 1970, The Bluest Eye. All of Morrison’s later novels earned her praise and a place within a white-dominated literary world. She used her influence to advance fellow African American writers, but it was Beloved that she became best known for. The novel, which is set in rural Ohio following the Civil War, contains multiple stories, voices, and shifts in time. The narrative swings back and forth in time to reveal the disturbing and complicated maternal experiences of Sethe, now a former slave living with her mother-in-law Baby Suggs and daughter Denver in a farmhouse on the outskirts of Cincinnati. While much of the novel takes place in this 1873 post-war setting, the past lies at the devastating core of the novel and impacts the present with vicious intensity. Indeed, as critic Valerie Smith points out, â€Å"The characters have been so profoundly affected by the experience of slavery that time cannot separate them from its horrors or undo its effects† (345). Certainly, this is the case for Sethe and Paul D, a former Sweet Home slave who comes to live with Sethe and Denver in Ohio after the war. Having endured unspeakable horrors during slavery, both find the past a constant, threatening presence in their lives. To a significant extent, Beloved embodies the past and serves as a disrupting force in the present. Moreover, with her multiple incarnations, Beloved also represents the complex, multi-layered treatment given to maternal experience in the novel. The first and most obvious level of the maternal in Beloved consists of the social and historical realities that lie beneath the text. Morrison acknowledges that the actual story of Margaret Garner of Ohio provides the historical substance of Beloved (qtd. in Naylor 206). According to various accounts, Garner, like Sethe, attempted to kill her children rather return them to slavery (Lerner 60-63). She succeeded in killing one child, whom Morrison transforms into the figure of Beloved herself. According to Morrison, â€Å"I just imagined the life of a dead girl which was the girl that Margaret Garner killed, the baby girl that she killed† (qtd. in Naylor 208). With Garner’s story then becoming Sethe’s, Morrison depicts both the cruel realities of motherhood under slavery and the interiority of such maternal experience. In this process, she exposes the â€Å"the silences in the generic first-person slave narratives† and crosses â€Å"the boundaries between fiction and history† (Grewal 156) Mothering, although about loving, caretaking, nurturing, and teaching, has the primary function of protection that stems from the request to survive. The survival includes that of self and of offspring, who will ensure the existence of future generations of families. Because survival of self is a necessary phase of survival of the offspring, with it come characteristics seemingly unmotherly. Although mothers are stereotypically viewed as soft, selfless, and abounding with patience, in fact, they have the capacity to be selfish, angry, and cruel in the process of being protective of their children. Mothers work to maintain life, or what they regard as right in terms of their definitions of life, regardless of the morality of their actions. And who determines the morality? Mothers are expected to be authoritative in their realm and are charged with the protection, at all costs, of the children of which they are the source or guardian. However, most of them don’t have certain rights or power to make the rules in society to carry out the protection. Therefore it is interesting to examine the social construction of mothering, both for mothers that chose motherhood, and for those upon whom motherhood was imposed; the dismantling of mothering stereotypes; and the way racial tragedies, culture, and survival define a mother’s role. Part of the issue, then, is that we place modern day standards on women from other eras. Another issue is raised as well. It is the question as to what determines how a mother will do her job. The answer includes nature and nurture, as well as, perhaps, the division of essentialism and social constructionism. According to essentialism, a mother has born qualities, nature determined, that manipulate her thought process and her decision-making process. Yet, these born qualities co-exist with environmental factors. Morrison therefore identifies de-essentializing critical strategies that still give a place to the slavery problem but revise the direction of this criticism. Nevertheless, the essentialist versus social constructionist theory still remains inherent to issues of motherhood. Eyer notes that â€Å"bonding is described as a maternal instinct†¦ designed to ensure survival† (69). Yet even the notion of maternal instinct can be questioned, especially if this mean it is to question biological determinism. Once again the issue of essentialism in motherhood is directly related to the social construction of what it is to be a â€Å"Good Mother† (Eyer 69). But who defines motherhood, survival and bonding? Is it possible that physical survival can be worse than death? Is it possible that the mother-child bond, so tightly fused, requires mothers to question the norm of the time, of the societal conditions? To protect may be interpreted as kill, as in Sethe’s case. Do these mothers have the obligation, whether essentialist or socially constructed mothers, to determine what is appropriate mothering in their situations? Perhaps these mothering characters absorb the language of biological determinism and actually use their biological differences as the source of their power, the source of their decisions and choices. The focus of this thesis, then, is the breakdown of the stereotype of mother as a result of racial and cultural oppressions in the most extreme circumstances, or after these extreme circumstances, illustrating that the cultures themselves are not always supportive of mothers and their inherent roles in society. The thesis also focuses on the crucial mothering characters in Toni Morrison’s Beloved, as well as offers relevant theoretical background that provides important perspectives on mothering in racial and cultural contexts. Morrison presents mothers who are very willing to be soft and hard, loving and cruel, moral and amoral for the sake of future generations. In Beloved, the crucial mothers are Sethe’s mother, Sethe, Baby Suggs, and Denver. Ella and Nan, though briefly addressed, are not considered central, as their mothering or othermothering capacities are demonstrated in a limited manner. The thesis would argue further, based upon the actions of Sethe that the socially constructed mother may refuse to act in full accordance with essentialism, for the purpose to do what they feel right, rather than the rules and morality based on social definitions. A lot of sources have been examined throughout this literary research study. A brief literature review on these sources is presented further. Deborah White in Ar’n’t I a Woman? attempts the mythology of the Southern mammy and other myths and challenges a richer, more multifaceted picture of the lives of African American women in slavery. Drawing on historical proof, including slave narratives and the diaries and autobiographies, in addition to the modern scholarship on the African American family, the author examines slave women’s routine, livelihood, female networks, and family roles. She finds power and ingenuity, but denies that female slaves played a dominant role in their families. Toni Morrison and Motherhood, by Andrea O’Reilly, offer a critical reading of motherhood and mothering complexly depicted in Beloved. The author intimately scrutinizes Morrison’s text and interviews as well as other appraisal of Morrison and feminism to theorize Black women’s daily experiences, which have been basically ignored by white feminists. Angelyn Mitchell in The Freedom to Remember studies current literary revisions of slavery in the United States by African American women writers. She claims that the modern studies have examined these works only from the perspective of victimization. Author transforms the conceptualization of these accounts in Beloved, focusing on the theme of freedom, not slavery, defining it as â€Å"liberatory narrative. † The Freedom to Remember shows how the liberatory narrative serves to emancipate its readers from the heritage of slavery in American culture: by facilitating a deeper dialogue of the problem and by making them new-fangled through elucidation and questioning. In the Toni Morrison’s Developing Class Consciousness, Doreatha Mbalia followed the growing of Morrison’s consciousness from her examination of racism in her early fiction, to her growing understanding of the nature of capitalism and the necessity for collective struggle in and Beloved. Diane Eyer in Motherguilt: How Our Culture Blames Mothers for What’s Wrong with Society, is convinced that the pseudo scientific conception of maternal â€Å"bond† is one of the ways the rules of mothering have been revised to restrain mothers’ interests in such possessions as work for income outside the home. Eyer is disturbed with the political and subjective twists that scientific investigation is given when attitudes about maternal nature and the principles of motherhood are questioned. Jan Furman in Toni Morrison’s Fiction, traces the persistent characters, subjects, and settings that represent Morrison’s literary vision and strike a well-known chords for Morrison’s readers. Showing that novelist sturdily supports the thought that the artist must beget and interpret culture, Furman discloses the Morrison ‘s contribution to the development and restatement of the American literary tenets through her depiction of the Black woman experience. As well, Furman scrutinizes Morrison’s distress with the threat of gender and racial stereotyping and with her appreciation for those who defy such boundaries. Pointing to the Morrison ‘s astonishing portrayals of human pain, survival, and triumph, Furman moves ahead of literary analysis to enlighten what she argues to be the crucial achievement of Morrison’s narrative: the presentation of the pathway to emotional independence and spiritual freedom. Trudier Harris in Fiction and Folklore: The Novels of Toni Morrison, shows how Morrison’s previous novels reveal interest to the folkloric elements in the form of narrator as storyteller; in the use of folk tales, funny stories, false notions, and other kinds of traditions; and in the emphasis on such â€Å"verbal† features as music. Jacqueline Jones’s tremendous study Labor of Love. Labor of Sorrow: Black Women, takes us far into the insinuations of the extensive social distinctions between the African American and the white experiences and practices in America. Jones’s book gets rid of several nasty stereotypes and obstinate myths, it is free of the bigotry and racism it portrays, and it shows old facts in new ways. This thesis has been divided into 5 parts, introduction, main body and conclusion. Main body is dived into three chapters. The first part explores the social construction of slavery motherhood. Theoretical background to the mothering aspects of Morrison’s novel is presented here briefly. Certain generalized assumptions are made about motherhood, mothering and othermothering. Although they cannot be accurate definitions for all mothers or all situations, they perhaps indicate the relation between essentialism and constructionism, in the identification of motherhood. This part looks at mothering under pressure and threat. The second part examines the roles and representations of motherhood in the novel, and Sethe’s role as a mother in particular. The role of breasts and breastmilk images are discussed and considered as a bond between mother and a child. Then, thesis, especially in terms of Sethe, distinguishes how mothers’ reactions to situations, though seemingly â€Å"animalistic† are, in fact, logically thought out, using human reasoning. If, according to society, the essential aspects of mothering are to be loving, caring, and nurturing, then it is through circumstances that a mother must determine how she can best be all these things, doing what is â€Å"best† for her child or children. In the third part, thesis is focused on the breakdown of the stereotype of mother as a result of racial and cultural oppressions in the most extreme circumstances, or in the aftermath of these extreme circumstances, illustrating that the cultures themselves are not always supportive of mothers and their inherent roles in society. The character of Baby Suggs has also been analyzed here thoroughly, showing how a destreotyping of black womanhood can contribute to a de-essentialized image of slavery. The thesis concludes, that the socially constructed mother who rejects the essential aspects of motherhood in order to do what she feels is â€Å"right,† rather than what is expected by society as a human mother. Thus, one must ascertain with respect to these culturally diverse mothers whether the essential aspects of being a mother transcend the socially constructed aspects of motherhood or not. Their desire and ultimate goal is still keeping their children and themselves alive. Indeed, the interpretation of mothering for each of the mothers makes the difference. Each woman identifies herself as a mother or othermother includes motherhood into her personal identity. A mother creates identity, or, if she does not create it, she nurtures it so that it may bloom and grow of its own accord. Considering social constructionism, this creation becomes exceedingly evident in the mothers and daughters in the novel, as well as in reality.

Financial Analysis on Coles Myer & Woolworths Essay

Introduction Coles Myer Limited (CML) and Woolworths Limited (WOW) are two major Australian companies with extensive retail interest and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. They are Australian public companies which operate a number of retail chains. CML is Australia’s second largest retailer, behind WOW. It operates a number of chains of retail outlets which are including Coles Supermarkets, Bi-Lo, Liquorland, Pick ‘n Pay Hypermarket, Kmart, Officeworks, Target, Harris Technology and Coles Express (Wikipedia, 2006) . WOW is currently the largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand by market capitalisation and sales. WOW operates in Australia through several retail banners such as Woolworths and Safeway Supermarkets, BWS, Dan Murphy’s, BIG W, Dick Smith Power House and Dick Smith Electronics (Wikipedia, 2006) . The purpose of this report is to analyse financial performances of the two publicly listed companies in last 5 years by using series of calculation tools include horizontal analysis and financial ratios. Also as a recommendation, we will advise investors to buy or not buy the two companies’ shares according to the results of the performance analysis. Financial Condition (See Appendix 1 & 2 for ratio details) 1. Overview The WOW’s revenue has increased every year, one year as great as 149.90 % in 2005 (see appendix 11 for details). In 2001, revenues were 20915.1 million while in 2005 revenue has increased to 31352.5 million. Since revenue increased, the net profit obviously has increased as well. Net profit rose 84.70% from 2001 to 2005. The Horizontal Analysis (Appendix 11 &; 14) indicates WOW is a very successful company and earning money. CML’s revenue has increased 52% and the net profit rose 314% from 2001 to 2005, the growth was tremendous because it occurred in typical connection with the restructuring of the method of financing a foreign operation (Financial Report, 2005). 2. Liquidity Current ratio This ratio represents the financial liquidity of the company. ‘The current  ratio compares the assets a company can quickly convert to cash to the liabilities it must pay in the near term’ (Vance, D. E. 2003). The higher the ratio, the more liquid the company is. For CML, there was a slight increase of 0.04 from 2001 to 2002. Then it followed by an obvious fall from 1.37 to 1.09 during period from 2002 to 2005. This represents that one-unit current liabilities is secured by 1.37 units of current assets in 2002 and 1.09 units, nearly one current asset for one current liability, in 2005. From the perspective of WOW, the ratio starts from 0.81 up to 0.84 then declined to 0.81 and finally dropped to 0.82 during this period of time. The current ratios are all less than one, indicating that one current asset will prepare for the payment of more than one unit current liability. That leads to high liquidity risk in the business operation. If there is an emergency to WOW, it wi ll encounter the problem of repayment. Quick ratio Quick ratio is similar with current ratio, but more conservative than current ratio, because in numerator, inventory is excluded from current assets, and in dominator, bank overdraft is excluded from current liabilities. ‘The quick ratio addresses the issue of whether current assets could cover current liabilities if inventory were found to be worthless’ (Vance, D. E. 2003). WOW experienced a slight increase from 0.2 to 0.26 in this period of time. In contrast, CML experienced a modest fluctuation and end up with 0.28 in 2005, the lowest one in 5-year time and the highest one is 0.41 in 2003. Generally, the quick ratios of CML exceed the ones of WOW. Cash flow ratio Cash flow ratio will analyse the ability of repayment on current liabilities from the perspective of the operating cash flows. Vance, D. E. (2003) states that it is another way to think about the risk of leading to, or investing in a company. These two companies both experienced a drop on this ratio from 2004 to 2005, 0.35 for WOW and 0.3 for CML in 2005. 3. Financial leverage Equity ratio & debt ratio Equity ratio and debt ratio are both designing for capital structure and they are negatively related with each other. The cost of equity is higher than the cost of debt, but shareholders will not require companies to repay them dividends and principals any time. However, companies must pay the debt holders interests and principals each year. And increasing leverage ratio will result in increasing the return to shareholders, yet at the same time, it will increase the repayment commitments and then raise the risk to company and shareholders. CML’s equity ratio increased to 0.4 and correspondingly debt ratio decreased to 0.15 from 2001 to 2005. Generally it is a good trend, even though there has been a decrease in equity ratio in 2005 from 0.45 to 0.40 and an increase in debt ratio from 2004 to 2005, it may be due to the acquisition from US group KKR. However, in 2005, equity is almost three times debt, which means the capital structure is still in good condition. On the other hand, WOW experienced a different trend that its equity ratio has decreased from 0.30 to 0.25, and debt ratio has significantly increased from 0.13 to 0.32 between 2001 and 2005. WOW raised funds heavily on interest-bearing liabilities and consequently takes higher risk than CML due to higher leverage ratio. Times interest earned & fixed charges coverage ‘Times interest earned ratio examines the ability of the business to meet its regular financial commitments’ (Harvey, McLaney and Atrill 2001). Fixed charges coverage ratio is very similar to Times interest earned ratio. These two ratios assess the profitability of company and the ability of interests and principal repayment. CML experienced a significant increase on these two ratios from 3.48 to 12.04 and from 6.81 to 16.64, even though there was a slight drop between 2004 and 2005. However, WOW experienced an obvious fall to 11.82 and 12.25 on times interest earned and fixed charges coverage  respectively. In 2005, compared with WOW, CML showed a better financial performance on the ability to repay the interests and principal. Average payment period CML experienced a decreasing trend on average payment period from 45.29 to 38.69. In contrast, WOW experienced an increase from 19.41 in 2001 to 37.78 in 2003, and a decrease to 34.77 in 2005. Compared with WOW, CML has a longer payment period. It means CML can hold its money more time and do some investments. 4. Assets management Sales turnover This ratio indicates assets management efficiency that one unit asset can generate how much sales. From the perspective of CML, the sales turnover gradually increased from 2.9 in 2001 to 3.94 in 2005. On the other hand, WOW maintained stable on about 4.5 sales turnovers. We can see that WOW managed its assets more efficiently than CML did. Average inventory turnover period This ratio assesses the efficiency of inventory management whether company reduce the inventories as fewer as possible. The fewer inventories, the more free cash flow company has to invest on other assets. Both WOW and CML experienced a decrease on inventory turnover period from 39.64 to 29.64 and from 59.45 to 41.38 respectively. It indicates that CML managed its inventories less efficiently than WOW did. 5. Profitability Return on sales WOW return on sales remained constant, 4% of sales. For CML, it maintained  stable, nearly 2% of sales. Obviously, WOW has a higher operating profit margin, and then a better profitability performance maybe due to the more efficient costs control. Return on assets ‘It is used to measure whether assets are being productively employed’ (Vance, D. E. 2003). This ratio indicates how much profit one unit asset can generate and how profitable company is as a whole. WOW and CML are both in the increasing trend, 0.17 and 0.1 respectively in 2005. In term of this ratio, it showed that WOW is more profitable than CML Return on equity & earning per share These two ratios reflect the return to the shareholders and the value increase for the shareholders. WOW and CML both experienced an increase on the return to the shareholders, yet the WOW’s increase of the return is more stable than CML’s. In 2005, in term of return on equity, WOW stayed with 37% of the equity, yet CML just 16%. Conclusion The two companies have been doing quite well in recent years as can be seen from the increasing profitability. The table in Appendix 15 indicates a comparison of the two companies according to the above discussion. CML has a better performance on liquidity and financial leverage but WOW managed Assets and Profitability better than CML. Recommendations On 8th September 2006, WOW’s closing share price is $20.80 and CML is $13.70. Based on the financial analysis above, we can conclude that WOW has maintained a constant financial performance in last 5 years, but their growth is not rapid. However, Simpson (2006) states that ‘At present Coles Myer is earning a 13 per cent return on capital invested in stores, compared  with 24 percent by Woolworths.’ Therefore, I recommend potential investors buy shares from WOW for a short-term. According to CML news released in March and June, CML had acquired Sydney drug stores Pty Ltd (CML News Release, 2006) and Hedley Hotel Group (CML News Release, 2006). CML will expand the pharmacy business further more and have a different strategy than WOW if the regulations change in the future becomes true. CML also will expand their liquor business to compete WOW as well. Thus, I believe that the potential financial growth of CML will be a lot higher than what it is right now and I su ggest investors put their money on CML for a long-term investment. References 1.Wikipedia 2006, Coles Myer Ltd, Wikipedia Free Source Organization, viewed 10 September 2006 2.Wikipedia 2006, Woolworths Ltd, Wikipedia Free Source Organization, viewed 10 September 2006 3.Financial Report, 2005, Coles Myer Ltd., pp 19 4.Vance, D.E. 2003, Financial Analysis and Decision Making, McGraw-Hill, United States of America 5.Harvey, D, McLaney, E and Atrill P 2001, Accounting for business, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford 6.Simpson, K. 2006, Market waits for higher Coles bit, The Age, 8 September 2006, front page of Business Section 7.News Release 2006, ‘Coles Myer Acquires Pharmacy Direct’, Coles Myer Ltd., 31 March 2006 8.News Release 2006, ‘Hedley Hotel Acquisition Complete’, Coles Myer Ltd., 14 June 2006

Timeline for Applying to Law School

As most people are aware, preparing to pursue a career in law involves a total of eight years of education, starting with a bachelors degree in a similar field. Therefore, it is advised that hopeful applicants to law school should begin preparing to apply at least a year ahead of time, during the junior and senior year of their bachelors program.   Discover the timeline below to find out the best methods for applying for and completing your law school degree, the first step into an exciting career in the field.   Junior Year First things first: do you want to go to law school? Around the beginning of the junior year of your bachelor degree, you should determine if a path into law is right for you. If so, you can begin researching law schools to apply to on the LSAC site  and schedule your  LSAT  for either February or June of the following semester.   During the following months, its best to begin preparation for this all-important test. If you are taking the LSAT in February, immerse yourself in studying. Consider taking a preparation course or hiring a tutor. Review test prep books and take as many exams as you have access to. Registration for each exam must be completed at least  30 days before the tests — remember that seats do fill up at testing locations, so booking early is advised. Developing relationships with professors in the field would also be advisable at this time. You will need them to write  recommendation letters  for your application. Cultivate relationships with these faculty, and they will have a positive response (and good things to say) when it is time for you to ask. You should also meet with a pre-law advisor or another faculty member who can provide you with information and feedback on your progress toward gaining admission into law school.   In the spring (or summer, depending on when you schedule it), you will take your LSAT. Your score will be available three weeks after the exam. If your LSAT score  is high enough for a good chance of admission, you dont have to worry with this again. However, if you feel you might do better, there are two more opportunities to retake the LSAT: once in June and again in October.   Summer Between Junior and Senior Year If you need to retake the LSAT, remember to register more than 30 days in advance for the June test. If you still dont believe the score is good enough to get you into your chosen  law schools, you may retake it in October. In that case, spend the summer studying up and meeting with other professionals in the field to get insight on how best to take the test.   At this time, it is essential that you register with the LSDAS and begin your Credential Assembly Service application, complete with having your higher education  transcripts sent to LSDAS. You should also start finalizing your list of top choices of schools youd like to apply for. Narrowing down your selection will prevent wasting money on applications to schools you dont want and help in understanding what you should be sending out in your resumes (each school is slightly different).   Spend the summer gathering each schools application materials, downloading applications and requesting additional information and materials as needed. Draft your  personal statement and review it with your advisor, other professors, friends and family and anyone else who will read it and give feedback. Edit this and draft your resume, again seeking feedback for both.   Fall, Senior Year As you enter your senior year, it is time to  request recommendation letters from faculty  who you have developed relationships with throughout your schooling. Youll typically want to send three of these letters along with each application. You will then need to provide the letter writer with  a copy of your resume, transcript and a summary of aspects of your academic, professional and personal life accomplishments for them to consider. If needed, continue updating your resume and take the October LSAT for your final chance to garner the highest score.   If you require financial aid, complete the  Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which makes you eligible to apply for it. Triple-check your law school applications before finalizing them with the Credential Application Service. Then prepare and submit  law school application forms to each school. It is important now to confirm that each application was received and is complete. Typically you will receive an email or postcard. If you dont, make contact with the admissions office. During this time, also do not forget to submit completed financial aid applications. Acceptance, Rejection or Wait-Listed It is important to keep your LSAC profile up to date, so submit your updated transcript to the LSAC upon entering the final semester of your senior year. As soon as January,  acceptance, rejection and wait-list letters begin to roll in. You will now need to evaluate acceptances and wait-list letters to determine which ones you will pursue further. If your application was rejected, evaluate your application and consider  reasons why  and  how to improve, if you decide to reapply. It is recommended that you visit law schools youve been accepted to, if possible. This way you can get a feel for not only the academic environment of the schools curriculum but also a feel for the community, landscape, location and campus of your preferred schools. If youve been accepted to multiple institutions, these could be the determining factors that help you choose which law school youll ultimately go to.   In any case, you should send thank you notes to faculty who have helped you. Let them know the outcome of your application and thank them for their help. Once you graduate college, send your final transcript to the school that you will attend.   Then, enjoy your last summer before law school and good luck in your next higher institution of learning.