Logistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 2

Coordinations - Essay Example The article expects to decide how gracefully chain capacities of Johnstons of Elgin, an organization managing assembling and retailing woven just as sewed items, have empowered it to accomplish an upper hand. Additionally, the degree up to which the plan of action of Johnstons can be applied to organizations in different businesses would likewise be depicted in the article dependent on the gave contextual investigation. Associations working in this cutting edge setting frequently need to confront difficulties in creating and conveying quality and inventive items/administrations to their clients all inclusive with the point of accomplishing predominant serious position. A few components can be found related as a reason for these difficulties. These incorporate expanded degree of globalization, constrain made by the serious powers to improve innovatively propelled creation or flexibly frameworks and developing complexities in administrative philosophies among others (CEVA, n.d.). In this comparable setting, flexibly chain abilities bolster the business associations to accomplish an unrivaled serious situating through contribution quality items to the clients by method of concentrating more on primary capabilities, perceiving the re-appropriating patterns and following the strategy of vertical breaking down in the operational techniques. As for the most part accepted, appropriate and powerful usage of different kinds of flexibly chain capacities can unquestionably help in settling on quality acquirement choices, which thusly can empower the cutting edge business associations to accomplish a better serious situating over their central adversaries (Crown, 2012). It is essential to specify that the prime features of gracefully chain abilities not just help the cutting edge business associations to achieve predominant serious situating yet in addition empowers their individual business to continue in this serious scene. In such manner, the qualities of gracefully chain abilities in a general sense

How to Make a Fruit Battery

Instructions to Make a Fruit Battery In the event that you have a bit of natural product, two or three nails, and some wire, at that point you can create enough power to turn on a light. Making an organic product battery is fun, safe, and simple. What You Need To make the battery you will require: Citrus natural product (e.g., lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit)Copper nail, screw, or wire (around 2 in. or on the other hand 5 cm long)Zinc nail or screw or electrifies nail (around 2 in. or on the other hand 5 cm long)Small occasion light with 2 in. or then again 5 cm drives (enough wire to interface it to the nails) Make a Fruit Battery Heres how to make the battery: Set the organic product on a table and tenderly move it around to mellow it. You need the juice to be streaming inside the natural product without breaking its skin. On the other hand, you can press the organic product with your hands.Insert the zinc and copper nails into the natural product so they are around 2 inches (5 centimeters) separated. Dont let them contact one another. Abstain from puncturing through the finish of the fruit.Remove enough protection from the leads of the light (around 1 in. or then again 2.5 cm) with the goal that you can fold one lead over the zinc nail and the other lead around the copper nail. You can utilize electrical tape or gator clasps to shield the wire from tumbling off the nails.When you associate the subsequent nail, the light will turn on. How a Lemon Battery Works Here areâ the science and compound responses in regards to a lemon battery (you can have a go at making batteries from different products of the soil vegetables): The copper and zinc metals go about as positive and negative battery terminals (cathodes and anodes).The zinc metal responds with the acidic lemon juice (generally from citrus extract) to deliver zinc particles (Zn2) and electrons (2 e-). The zinc particles goâ into arrangement in the lemon juice while the electrons stay on the metal.The wires of the little light are electrical conveyors. At the point when they are utilized to interface the copper and zinc, the electrons that have based upon the zinc stream into the wire. The progression of electrons is flow or power. Its what controls little hardware or lights a light bulb.Eventually, the electrons make it to the copper. On the off chance that the electrons didnt go any more distant, theyd inevitably develop so that there wouldnt be a potential distinction between the zinc and the copper. On the off chance that this occurred, the progression of power would stop. In any case, that wont happen in light of the fact that the copper is in contact with the lemon.The electrons aggregating on the copper terminal respond with hydrogen particles (H) gliding free in the acidic juice to shape hydrogen molecules. The hydrogen particles attach to one another to frame hydrogen gas. More Science Here are extra open doors for look into: Citrus organic products are acidic, which causes their juices to lead power. What different foods grown from the ground may you attempt that would fill in as batteries?If you have a multimeter, you can quantify the current delivered by the battery. Analyze the adequacy of various kinds of natural product. See what occurs as you change the separation between the nails.Do acidic natural products consistently work better? Measure the pH (sharpness) of the natural product squeeze and contrast that and the flow through the wires or splendor of the light bulb.Compare the power created by organic product with that of juices. Fluids you can test incorporate squeezed orange, lemonade, and pickle saline solution.

Essay Sample For Scholarships for Vet Assistant

Essay Sample For Scholarships for Vet AssistantVet assistant scholarships essays samples are a great way to get started on this important part of your future. It is really a matter of time before someone asks you for a service that involves some kind of helping to animals. Getting the job is sometimes hard as there is a lot of competition among people in the same profession.However, you can learn to hone your skills as a vet assistant by studying more and by working hard. This will help you improve your chances to get the jobs. As a matter of fact, there are some providers who are willing to offer students scholarships for their services. The aim of the providers is to encourage students to continue to study further so that they can improve upon their skills.You can start off with some online resources which contain samples for scholarships for vets. In fact, these samples are very helpful as they provide the basis for essay writing. These essay samples will give you an idea on how t o present the information required for writing a scholarship application.The most important thing in these essay samples is the content. You must remember that the information needed for this will be very important in the job application. That is why it is very important to have the information detailed and precise.It is always advisable to use a formal approach when it comes to writing an essay. Using casual language and a formal approach will just make it difficult for you to impress your essay provider. Therefore, you must write with care and accuracy.The type of paper you must use is one that has a good content and that will result in a quality paper. You should make sure that your paper has good grammar and spelling. You must always choose a topic that can be discussed in detail and should be able to answer the question as to how much you would be paid for writing the essay.Moreover, the overall theme of the essay must be composed properly. There are certain topics that will be very important in getting a scholarship such as animal welfare, volunteering and health issues. Once you get a hold of the basic information, it will be easier for you to decide on the topic and the style in which you are going to write the essay.As mentioned earlier, the essays samples for scholarships for vets will help you immensely when it comes to analyzing the topics that will be important to get the job. You can also try using the sample essay for scholarships for vets. This will give you a good idea of what is required from you when it comes to writing an essay.

Competence in Communication Essay - 1143 Words

Communication competence is the capability an individual has in choosing the correct communication behavior which is not only effective, but also appropriate for a particular situation. Competent, effective communication among group members establishes an atmosphere of reliance and feeling that one belongs. When the level that group members feel appreciated and valued is great, the more likely these individuals will be committed to the group and the organization, which in turn, makes for the easy attainment of goals as a team. In order for an individual to be competent in communication, they must be capable of recognizing the particular skills deemed necessary all specific situations, and be motivated and able to put these skills to use.†¦show more content†¦This is ineffective communication because the group members did not receive the proper instruction to complete the project. There was not enough knowledge to deliver effective direction to the group members. Skill Communication competence incorporates the ability to apply knowledge in actual situations, as well as combining this knowledge with skill (Rothwell, 2013, p. 27). In order to have skill in when communicating, an individual must be able to repeat the successful performance of a communication behavior. It is important that in order to master skill in communication, one must practice. Skills without knowledge can be both useless and harmful. An example of lacking skill in communication would be a real life example I can share. I have a supervisor who speaks extremely fast, and she has been told time and time again that in order to share the information effectively with employees, she must obtain the skill of communicating in a manner that we can understand. This is ineffective communication because we are unable to comprehend the information provided by management. Sensitivity According to the text, â€Å"Sensitivity is receptive accuracy whereby you can detect, decode, and comprehend signals and emotional cues sent within groups†. (Rothwell, 2013. p. 29). Being sensitive in communication means you are able to pick up on signals from individuals in a group that might imply emotions such as resentment or hostility, anxiety or tension, ire, annoyance,Show MoreRelatedCommunication Competence1087 Words   |  5 Pages1 Communication Effectiveness Have you ever had to communicate important information to a diverse group of people you share unique working relationships with? Carrying the responsibility of managing the day to day operation of a fifty five million dollar medical Distribution Company forces me into communication instances which require care and precision for effective delivery. As an Operations Leader, I am responsible for delivering information to a large group of diverse individuals servingRead MoreCommunication Competence Analysis1731 Words   |  7 PagesPart I: Communication Competence Analysis Place a checkmark next to those skills that you feel you need to work on. 1. I’m sensitive to contexts of communication. I recognize that changes in physical, cultural, social– psychological and temporal contexts will alter meaning. 2. I assess my channel options and evaluate whether my message will be more effective if delivered face-to-face, through e-mail, or by some third party, for example. 3. I look for meaning not only in words butRead MoreThe Purpose Of The Interpersonal Communication Competence1860 Words   |  8 PagesInterpersonal Communication Competence Assessment is to educate individuals on his or her ability to adapt to certain communicative situations across different contexts, utilize conversational skills, manage conversations, empathize with others, speak effectively, and have appropriate conversations. This assessment asked me questions that really allowed me to take a step out of my body and thoroughly examine my communication from the outside in. I learned about the types of communication with whichRead MoreThe Effects Of Interpersonal Competence On Interpersonal Communication1053 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction Interpersonal competence is an aspect of communication that is rarely given attention despite being a crucial facet of human interaction. In fact, Beebe et al. argue that it is comparable to breathing for being do critical to human growth (2). According to Beebe et al., this aspect of communication is necessary to maintain relationships and to improve affairs between lovers (6-7). To enhance our competence in interpersonal communication, we need to learn and master ways of verbally relatingRead MoreCommunication Is A Fundamental Component Of Clinical Competence1344 Words   |  6 PagesFirstly, what is communication? â€Å"Communication is the act or process of transmitting information (as about ideas, attitudes, emotions, or objective behaviour)† (Merrium-Webster,2015). Communication is a fundamental component of clinical competence. It is a core clinical skill and is essential to health care professionals in a clinical setting. Communication as a healthcare professional is the act of converting theory and evidence based practice into effective clinical practice. (silverman,Kurtz etRead MoreEssay on Cultural Competence and Intercultural Communication1673 Words   |  7 PagesWhen individuals or groups from different cultures communicate, this process is called intercultural communication. The transaction process of listening and responding to people from different cultural backgrounds can be challenging. The greater the difference in culture between two people, the greater the potential of misunderstanding and mistrust. Misunderstanding and miscommunication occur between people from different cultures because of different coding rules and cultural norms, which play aRead MoreThe Communication Competence Summary On Pages 22-231387 Words   |  6 PagesPart I: Communication Competence Analysis Review the Communication Competence summary on pages 22–23.  Complete the checklist and write a response in three parts that addresses the following using clear headings: Pick two to three competencies from the listing for which you feel you are currently strong, and describe why you feel that way. Pick two to three competencies from the listing for which you feel you currently need improvement, and describe why you feel that way. need improvement 1. I’mRead MoreCommunication Competence Scale Assessment On Myself And Calculated My Total Score863 Words   |  4 Pagesthe Communication Competence Scale assessment on myself and calculated my total score to be 98, a low score. I also had a family member complete the same assessment based on his perceptions of my communication competence and that score totaled 132, a high score. The significant disparity of the scores indicates that we definitely have different perceptions about my communication competence. I think this is a very interesting assignment to begin our learning on interpersonal communications, asRead MoreNursing Coat of Arms: Cultural Competence, Communication, Empathy, Teamwork, and Pride2037 Words   |  9 Pagesrole of nursing has become increasingly defined. Five distinct qualities that have become essential qualities for nurses today are cultural competence, communication, empathy, teamwork and pride. This following paper will discuss and explain the five qualities mentioned above and the symbols used to represent each quality in our Coat of Arms. Cultural competence is a valuable quality nurses must process to provide quality care. This quality is especially crucial in Canada, as Canada is known for it’sRead MoreThe Communicative Competence Of Esl Students From A Socially Interactive View Point By Using Computer Mediated Communication1965 Words   |  8 Pagesstudies on improving the communication proficiency for English as a Second Language (ESL) students with a majority of the studies being conducted at the college levels (Zha, Kelly, Ko Park and Fitzgerald, 2006, p. 349). This particular study sought to explore the communicative competence of ESL students from a socially interactive view point by using computer mediated communication such as online discussion boards. The study An Investigation of Communicative Competence of ESL Students Using Electronic

The Large, Meat-Eating Dinosaurs

Few issues in paleontology are as confusing as the classification of theropods--the bipedal, mostly carnivorous dinosaurs that evolved from archosaurs during the late Triassic period and persisted until the end of the Cretaceous (when the dinosaurs went extinct). The problem is, theropods were extremely numerous, and at a distance of 100 million years, it can be hard to distinguish one genus from another based on fossil evidence, much less to determine their evolutionary relationships.   For this reason, the way paleontologists classify theropods is in a state of constant flux. So, Im going to add fuel to the Jurassic fire by creating my own informal sorting system. Ive already addressed tyrannosaurs, raptors, therizinosaurs, ornithomimids and dino-birds--the more evolved theropods of the Cretaceous period--in separate articles on this site. This piece will mostly discuss the big theropods (excluding tyrannosaurs and raptors) that Ive dubbed the saurs: allosaurs, ceratosaurs, carnosaurs, and abelisaurs, to name just four sub-classifications. Here are brief descriptions of the classifications of large theropods currently in (or out of) vogue: Abelisaurs. Sometimes included under the ceratosaur umbrella (see below), abelisaurs were characterized by their large sizes, short arms, and (in a few genera) horned and crested heads. What makes the abelisaurs a useful group is that they all lived on the southern supercontinent of Gondwana, hence the numerous fossil remains found in South America and Africa. The most notable abelisaurs were Abelisaurus (of course), Majungatholus and Carnotaurus. Allosaurs. It probably wont seem very helpful, but paleontologists define an allosaur as any theropod more closely related to Allosaurus than to any other dinosaur (a system that applies equally well to all the theropod groups listed below; just substitute Ceratosaurus, Megalosaurus, etc.) In general, allosaurs had large, ornate heads, three-fingered hands, and relatively large forearms (compared to the tiny arms of tyrannosaurs). Examples of allosaurs include Carcharodontosaurus, Giganotosaurus, and the huge Spinosaurus. Carnosaurs. Confusingly, the carnosaurs (Greek for flesh-eating lizards) includes the allosaurs, above, and is sometimes taken to embrace the megalosaurs (below) as well. The definition of an allosaur pretty much applies to a carnosaur, though this broader group includes such relatively small (and sometimes feathered) predators as Sinraptor, Fukuiraptor, and Monolophosaurus. (Oddly enough, as yet theres no genus of dinosaur named Carnosaurus!) Ceratosaurs. This designation of theropods is in even greater flux than the others on this list. Today, the ceratosaurs are defined as early, horned theropods related to (but not ancestral to) later, more evolved theropods like tyrannosaurs. The two most famous ceratosaurs are Dilophosaurus and, you guessed it, Ceratosaurus. Megalosaurs. Of all the groups on this list, megalosaurs are the oldest and least respected. This is because, early in the 19th century, pretty much every new carnivorous dinosaur was assumed to be a megalosaur, Megalosaurus being the first theropod ever officially named (before the word theropod was even coined). Today, megalosaurs are rarely invoked, and when they are, its usually as a subgroup of carnosaurs alongside the allosaurs. Tetanurans. This is one of those groups thats so all-inclusive as to be practically meaningless; taken literally, it includes everything from carnosaurs to tyrannosaurs to modern birds. Some paleontologists consider the first tetanuran (the word means stiff tail) to have been Cryolophosaurus, one of the few dinosaurs to be discovered in modern Antarctica. The Behavior of Large Theropods As with all carnivores, the main consideration driving the behavior of large theropods like allosaurs and abelisaurs was the availability of prey. As a rule, carnivorous dinosaurs were much less common than herbivorous dinosaurs (since it requires a large population of herbivores to feed a smaller population of carnivores). Since some of the  hadrosaurs  and  sauropods  of the  Jurassic  and  Cretaceous  periods grew to extreme sizes, its reasonable to conclude that even the bigger theropods learned to hunt in packs of at least two or three members. One major topic of debate is whether large theropods actively hunted their prey, or feasted on already dead carcasses. Although this debate has crystallized around  Tyrannosaurus Rex, it has ramifications for smaller predators like  Allosaurus  and  Carcharodontosaurus  as well. Today, the weight of the evidence appears to be that theropod dinosaurs (like most carnivores) were opportunistic: they chased down juvenile sauropods when they had the chance, but wouldnt turn up their noses at a huge  Diplodocus  that died of old age. Hunting in packs was one form of theropod socialization, at least for some genera; another may have been  raising young. The evidence is sparse at best, but its possible that larger theropods protected their newborns for the first couple of years, until they were big enough not to attract the attention of other hungry carnivores. (However, its also possible that some theropod kids were left to fend for themselves from birth!). Finally, one aspect of theropod behavior that has received a lot of attention in the popular media is cannibalism. Based on the discovery of the bones of some carnivores (such as  Majungasaurus) bearing the tooth marks of adults of the same genus, its believed that some theropods may have cannibalized their own kind. Despite what youve seen on TV, though, its much more likely that the average allosaur ate its already-dead family members rather than actively hunting them down for an easy meal!

Market Structure Of The Company Essay - 1088 Words

Market Structure Introduction There are four types of market structures and they are monopoly, perfect competition, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly. What is a market structure? A market structure is â€Å"the makeup of the companies operating in a particular market.† Why is the market structure important to the producer as well as the consumer? It distinguishes the difference in seller numbers, buyer numbers, seller entry barriers, and buyer entry barriers. The main differences in market structures are the number of producers and consumers in market as well as size, the degree of barriers, and the type of products being sold. As a consumer it is important to be aware of the market the product is going to be sold in. What is the best market structure that will benefit the consumer as well as the producer? Perfect Competition In a perfect world perfect competition exist. Perfect Competition is where the market reaches an equilibrium in which the quantity supplied equals the quantity demanded. This generally does not happen in a realistic world. Perfect Competition â€Å"was first introduced in the famous book â€Å"Wealth of Nations† by Adam Smith.† Wealth of Nations was a to reform mercantilist economic theories. Adam Smith believed in order to become rich the person’s income must exceed their expenses. Adam Smith believed there should be an â€Å"invisible hand† that lets the companies regulate themselves. According to Bllas, â€Å"The seller is the price taker.† In a Perfect CompetitionShow MoreRelatedMarket Structure of Petrol Companies952 Words   |  4 PagesPetrol companies have the market structure of an oligopoly. An oligopoly is a market structure where there are a few dominant firms whose behavior is interdependent. There are a few dominant firms relative to market size, and they each command a large proportion of the market share, thus having strong monopoly power. Examples of petrol companies include Shell, Caltex and Exxon Mobil. Their demand curve is downward sloping, meaning that they are price setters. Petrol is a homogeneous product, henceRead MoreThe Market Structure Of The Coca Cola Company2365 Words   |  10 Pagesposition. Simply stated, the company competes in a variety markets including teas, coffees, energy drinks, and many others facets of the industry. As a result, the Coca-Cola Company competes with only a few corporations in the drink market such as, Nestle and PepsiCo. (The Coca Cola Company, 2015). The Coca-Cola Company, along with the competitors, operates in collusion with one another in an effort to maintain consistency and sustainability in the non-alcoholic drink market. An important point toRead MoreMarket Structure Effectiveness For Operations Of The Company1912 Words   |  8 PagesPlan for the assessment of Market structure Effectiveness for Operations of the Company Analysis of the performance of microwave category can be done through the increase or decrease in the demand between years. The analysis shows that the demand is ever increasing for microwave category products. The perceived advantage of expending microwave foods has augmented as the work/ life balance of the consumers is becoming progressively complex. The advantages could be summarized as expedient (time saving)Read MoreEffectiveness Of The Market Structure For The Company s Operations1957 Words   |  8 Pages1. Outline a plan that will assess the effectiveness of the market structure for the company’s operations. Every company that is in a pure competitive market is a price taker; the equilibrium price and industry output is a direct result of demand and supply. â€Å"The marker for low-calorie microwavable food† shows how demand and supply in the market is produced under conditions of perfect competition, determine the total output and price consumers are willing to pay. The equilibrium price is $407.65;Read MoreInternal Assessment : Financial, Organizational Structure, Market Analysis And Company Strategies1364 Words   |  6 Pagesbusiness areas; financial, organizational structure, market analysis and company strategies. Financial Analysis NTGR was analyzed in this study based on a five year average for years 2009 through 2013 as provided by Investing (Investing, 2014). The objective of the financial analysis is to review and assess NTGR’s position in the market and the strategy required to be successful and maintain its financial health. Financial ratios are often used by companies and investors to evaluate competitors, industryRead MoreEasy Living Foods : The Market Structure Of A Low Calorie Frozen Microwave Food Company Operates1739 Words   |  7 Pagesassignment, I will use the regression results and the other computations from the previous assignment in order to determine the market structure in which a low-calorie frozen, microwave Food Company operates. Easy Living Foods is the leading competitors in the industry and it will be very vital to note their pricing strategies, profitability and their relationships. The market structure has been found to be perfectly competitive hence QD=QS. It is therefore very substantial to set an optimal price using thisRead MoreDifferentiating Between Market Structures1598 Words   |  7 PagesBetween Market Structures Jennifer Lavallee ECO/365 May 27, 2013 Market structure is the physical characteristics of the market within which companies react. This means that there are different kinds of market structure based on how companies work together within a particular industry. Location and product have the most to do with determining the market structure. There are four defined market types. The first market structure is called the perfectly competitive market. The second market is calledRead MoreThe Competitive Strategy Of Titan1090 Words   |  5 Pagesone of four different market structures; perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly. The market structure an organization is grouped in is based on characteristics such as competition, products, and ease of entry into the market. Powerlifting is a specialized sport with only a few companies selling the custom equipment required. Titan is one of the companies that sell powerlifting equipment. The following paragraphs will identify which market structure Titan b elongs to andRead MoreThe Market Structures, Monopolistic Competition, Oligopoly And Monopoly1507 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction A market is a dynamic and restless institution where commercial dealing between buyers and sellers takes place. There are many companies and businesses that run the market. According to how the firm functions and other factors like the number of competitor firms and the type of products produced, the firm is classified into a particular market structure. The other competing firms in the market structure affect the pricing strategies of a particular firm in the same industry. Based onRead MorePepsi Inc : An American Based Multinational Company Essay1445 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Pepsi Inc. is an American based multinational company that focuses on food, beverage, as well as snacks. The company’s headquarters are located in New York, United States. Notably, Pepsi Inc. was incorporated in the year 1965 as a merger between Pepsi -Cola Company and the Frito-Lay Company. Pepsi is one of the largest beverage and food companies in the world. The company focuses on widening its business in both Europe and other parts of the world through introduction of subsidiaries

Valuation of Brand “Coca-Cola” Essay Sample free essay sample

The planetary drink industry consists of the entire grosss generated through the sale of soft drinks. beers. cyders. flavored alcoholic drinks ( FABS ) . liquors and vinos. For the intent of this study we are concentrating merely on the soft drinks sectors as that is where coca Cola trades in. The planetary drinks industry had entire grosss of $ 1749. 4 billion in 2010. stand foring a CAGR of 1. 9 % for 5 twelvemonth period of 2006-2010. The industry prognosis is that the industry will slow and will hold an awaited CAGR of 1. 8 % for five twelvemonth period of 2010-2015. A study by Rabobank. planetary fiscal services says that industry consolidation will take topographic point in 2012-2013 and will be driven by the five mega tendencies such as volatility. emerging market demand. bifurcation of value. convergence of distribution and sustainable sourcing. Soft drinks have been a usage of transition among the young person of modern coevalss which sets up this class for future coevalss. With borders acquiring slim. it is of import that trade names continue to pull new clients and sponsor them towards their trade name. Consumer conversations are progressively driving the perceptual experience of the trade names which implies that the soft drinks and drinks trade names will hold to concentrate more on client battle and expression for new entry points. The soft drinks section contributed gross of $ 559. 8 billion in 2010 holding a portion of around 32 % in the overall drink industry. The Coca-Cola Company is the taking participant in the planetary drinks industry. bring forthing 16. 3 % portion of the industry’s value and following is PepsiCo. Inc. which accounts for 9. 2 % of the industry. Coca-Cola turned 125 old ages immature in 2011 and has set a 2020 vision with focal point and strength along the 6Ps of Net income. Peoples. Portfolio. Partners. Planet and Productivity. Coca-Cola continues to busy a alone topographic point in the Black Marias of the people worldwide. It is besides puting one million millions of dollars in India to increase presence and penchant and outpace rivals and envis ages China to go its biggest market finally. We have carried out a rating of the â€Å"Coca-Cola† trade name and have used by and large accepted trade name rating methodological analysiss viz Income based rating method ( Dividend Discount Approach ) . Market base trade name rating methods ( Relative Evaluation ) . Cost based Brand rating method ( Historical Method ) . We have provided a principle for the assorted methodological analysiss indicating out the pros and cons of the assorted methodological analysiss. The trade name rating has been carried out based on the amalgamate financials and prognosiss provided by the company on public beginnings. The trade name rating is based on 2011 informations available in Annual Report FY 2012. The rating of the trade name as per the above methods is estimated at around 100 bn $ based on our analysis of the trade name and the company and topic to the premises and restrictions described in this study. COCA-COLA Company The Coca-Cola Company engages in the fabrication. distribution and selling of non-alcoholic drink dressed ores and sirups. The company owns the world’s most valuable trade name: Coca-Cola and is sold in more than 200 states worldwide. Most of the Coca-Cola’s merchandises are manufactured and sold by bottling spouses. who convert them into finished packaged merchandises for sale to distributers and other clients. Its major drink merchandises include Coca-Cola. caffeine free Coca-Cola. Cherry Coke. Diet Coke. caffeine free Diet Coke. Diet Coke Sweetened. Coca-Cola Zero etc. It operates its concern through six concern sections: North America. Eurasia and Africa. Europe. Latin America. Pacific and Bottling investings. The company has divided its operations into sections based on geographic operations. The Coca-Cola system is non a individual entity from a legal or managerial position and the Company doesn’t ain or command the bottling workss. The company common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. traded under the heart KO. The company has been one of the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1987. As of December 31. 2011 there were about 2. 3 billion portions outstanding and 252. 197 stockholders of record. The company had cyberspace runing grosss of $ 46. 542 manganese in 2011 with an runing income of 10. 154 mn $ which is a important growing vis-a-vis 2001 which had grosss of 35. 119 mn $ and runing income of 8. 449 mn $ . Per capita ingestion – the mean figure of 8 ounce helpings ( 250 milliliter ) helpings of drinks people consume each twelvemonth in a given market is a cardinal index of the growing potency. 2011 Per Capita Snap Shot ( Beginning: 2011 Annual Review. World Wide Web. coca-colacompany. com ) Coca-Cola BrandConsumers frequently prefer merchandises that have a strong. positive image. Brand Association plays an of import portion when people think and feel the trade name both on witting and subconscious degree. Thus it is imperative that any trade name should make the right image in the heads of the consumer. Coca-Cola has been a planetary patron of athleticss by agencies of tie ining at the international degree to the local degree so that is exposed to consumers at maximal touch points. It therefore places itself as an icon and taking trade name that mentally and physically encouragements consumer associations. Awards received by Coca-Cola in 2011: 1. Topped Interbrand’s ranking of the 100 Best Global Brands for the 12th back-to-back twelvemonth. The estimated trade name value of Coca-Cola increased 2 % to 71. 9 bn $ in 2011 as per Interbrand. 2. Ad Age saluted this trade name for marketing excellence and identified it to be the Marketer of the Year. Furthermore. Coca-Cola remains the figure one consumer merchandise fan page on Facebook. 3. Advanced to figure 6 on FORTUNE magazine’s 2011 list of the World’s 50 most admired companies. 4. Moved up to no 8 on Barron’s ranking of the World’s most well-thought-of companies 5. Moved up five musca volitanss to figure 12 on Diversity Inc magazine’s top 50 companies for Diversity list for 2011 The company’s efficient trade name direction system has successfully established a planetary trade name. At present. Coca-Cola possesses a strong trade name individuality in the planetary market for which its gross revenues are quickly increasing. R elevance of the Study One of the critics of rating has been that it fails to capture the value of trade name names and other intangibles. Brand name is one of the assets which strike instantly when intangible assets are talked about. Brand names are powerful plenty that it allows a premium to be charged for precisely the same merchandise without the trade name taking to greater net income borders and higher net incomes. A trade name name company will hold higher value than an otherwise similar company without the trade name name. Having a universe renowned trade name has its benefits. Some of them are: * Allows to bear down a premium for precisely the same merchandise * A trade name name company will hold higher value than an otherwise similar company without the trade name name * If we accept the purpose that trade name names have values it is logical to follow up and traveling in front in gauging them * Effectss of trade name are multi-bound as it affects all the 4P’s of Marketing as coke in the late eightiess made the error of believing that their trade name name come from gustatory sensation and started experimenting with the merchandise seting full company to hazard. * Gross saless * Pricing Policies* Financing costs* Brand names represent one of the long permanent competitory advantages to concerns. * Top trade name names in 1925 were still alive in 2000 as per a selling diary The best manner to believe about how much a trade name adds value to the company is to believe about what will go on to the firm’s value if it loses the trade name. This is really hard to cipher as a trade name is an built-in portion of the house impacting gross revenues to fundss. In this undertaking we confront this job and lay down a methodological analysis of valuing trade name values which generate hard currency flows for concerns but are hard to insulate. Why Coca-cola Brand rating is clearly brought out when: * There are no quality differences between a company’s merchandise and those of its rivals * There is at least one company in the sector that is genuinely generic We can non believe of any ground why one Soda should sell for a monetary value higher than another. based on properties like monetary value and quality. Thus we feel any differences in borders between coke and a generic sodium carbonate is due to the BRAND NAME that coke has built up over the period of clip. Besides. Coca Cola was ranked figure 1 trade name name in the universe by Business Week magazine. Thus it is non surprising that assorted ratings in the yesteryear have assumed 80 % of Coca Cola’s value coming from its trade name name. Besides the attacks that we adopt while rating assumes that a generic company exists and we have entree to its fiscal statements. Furthermore. trade name name is the lone ground for differences in net incomes of the two companies. He nce this attack is more appropriate in valuing trade name name such as Coca Cola but less in valuing say Sony or Goldman. Objective of the Study How much can Coca Cola deal due to its trade name name?ORWhat is the Evaluation of the Brand â€Å"Coca Cola† ? The attacks used by analysts to value trade name names are frequently ad-hoc and may significantly exaggerate or minimize their value. Firms with good – known trade name names frequently sell for higher multiples than lesser-known houses. The standard pattern of adding on a ‘brand name premium’ . frequently set randomly. to dismiss hard currency flow value. can take to erroneous estimations. One of the benefits of holding a well-known and well-thought-of trade name name is that houses can bear down higher monetary values for the same merchandises. taking to higher net income borders and hence to higher price-sales ratios and house value. The larger the monetary value premium that a house can bear down. the greater is the value of the trade name name. Literature Review We studied the undermentioned documents in this field: * Valuation of trade names and rational capital by Pablo Fernandez: – This paper fundamentally is a alteration of assorted trade name rating methodological analysiss used worldwide. In peculiar. the paper has gone deep in to analyze the ratings of Kellogg’s and Coca-Cola performed by Damodaran and the method proposed by Interbrand. * Documents by Damodaran: – Damodaran has considered monetary value to gross revenues ratio to value a trade name. Specifically. he has taken the monetary value to gross revenues ratio for a branded company and another monetary value to gross revenues ratio for an unbranded company. that is. with private labels or generic merchandises. The difference when multiplied with the existent gross revenues of the company gives the trade name value of the company. * Houlihan Valuation Advisers: – The brand’s value is the present value of the company’s free hard currency flow less the assets employed multiplied by the needed return. Observe that the free hard currency flow attributable to the trade name is slightly similar to the EVA. This method does non do much sense. It replaces the hard currency flow attributable to a generic merchandise company with the assets employed by the branded company multiplied by the assets’ required return. * Roos J. G. Roos. L Edvinsson and L Dragonnett: – In the first portion of the article. they describe and analyze the â€Å"first-generation† rational capital patterns. the systematic visual image and measuring of the different signifiers of rational capital. The â€Å"second-generation† rational capital patterns expand on the â€Å"first generation† by consolidating the measurings in an aggregative rational capital index. Harmonizing to these writers. â €Å"intellectual capital† ( IC ) can be described as the difference between a company’s market value and its book value. * + legion other secondary resources available Data BeginningDatas beginnings are the accounting statements of the company for the last many old ages which are available in the Annual Reports available publically on the web site. The information on the trade name name outgo is collected for each twelvemonth. traveling back historically for the amortizable life of the trade name name. We chose 31 old ages as our amortizable life. we collect informations for each twelvemonth for the last 31 old ages ( 1980 onwards ) for the trade name name expenditures ( under historical cost attack ) . One of the generic companies identified is a Canadian drink maker call Cott Corporation and its financials are besides beginnings of of import informations available publicly. Evaluation Methodologies The criterion of value used is the 1 which a purchaser could be expected to pay for the trade name or marketer can anticipate to accept if the trade name was put on sale in an unfastened market with both parties holding entree to all the appropriate information. Besides we have assumed the concern to be a traveling concern for the rating. Trade names are more than merely the name of a company. It is a construct which creates value for the concern or the company as an organisation presenting economic values. stockholder wealth. prosperity and civilization. Brand if successful is one of the most valuable and rare assets that are recognized and due attention must be taken to work it to an organisations ain advantage. Due to its broad facets trade name is considered to be a really valuable plus and it influences the pick of clients. employees. investors and authorities governments. Trade names have a alone lastingness and in a commoditized market. it provides the organisation with a sust ained competitory advantage which can non be compared to any other plus in the balance sheet. Based on the information available for the trade name Coca-Cola and a generic company besides available as Cott drink. we have used the undermentioned methods for our rating: 1. Income based rating method ( Dividend Discount Model ) . 2. Market base trade name rating methods ( Relative Evaluation ) . 3. Cost based Brand rating method Date of Valuation: Updated last on 09th Dec 2011. based on financials stoping 31 Dec 2011 Income based rating methods ( Dividend Discount Approach ) Price premium method: based on capitalisation of future net income watercourse premiums attributable to a business’ trade name above the grosss of a generic concern. without a trade name. Simply put. how much excess do I acquire which is attributable to the trade name To quantify this difference. we used the discounted hard currency flow attack and attempt and insulate the trade name name on the hard currency flows of the house. Here we try to mensurate the trade name value by comparing the hard currency flows of Coca-Cola with Cott Corporation. Market Base Brand Valuation Methods ( Relative Valuation Approach ) In this theoretical account of comparative rating. we try to gauge the trade name value by looking at how the market monetary values behave with and without the trade name name. We once more make usage of the generic house and cipher the EV multiple as the aggregative value doesn’t make much sense as Cott is a really little house as compared to coca-cola. Mathematically. Value of Brand = { ( V/S ) b- ( V/S ) g } * Gross salessThe V/S ratio ensures that the difference of size between the branded merchandise and the generic merchandise is taken attention of. We besides used the multiple EV/EBITDA and both resulted in different trade name values. Cost based Brand Valuation Method ( Historical Approach )Creation costs method: this trade name rating methodological analysis estimates the sum that has been invested in making the trade name. Valuation DescriptionMethod 1: 3 phase Dividend Discount Model attackMeasure 1:Here we footing is that Coca-Cola. the branded company and the generic company ( Cott Corporation ) are publically traded. Since it is hard to compare the aggregative market value because the generic company is really little as compared to Coca-Cola Company. Thus we compared the cardinal statistics for Coca-Cola and Cott Corporation for twelvemonth stoping Dec 2011: | Coca- Cola| Cott| Grosss ( USDm ) | 46. 542| 2335|Operating border ( after-tax ) | 15. 79 % | 4. 28 % |Tax return on Capital ( after-tax ) | 17. 90 % | 2. 80 % |We can clearly see the benefits of the trade name name. Coca-Cola generates more grosss and is well more profitable than Cott. So to acquire the value of the trade name we used the operating border attack. where we changed Coke’s runing border to do it equal to Cott keeping grosss changeless and Gross saless to capital ratio at current degree. We assumed a 3 phase growing period with a stable growing rate of g ( which would be a spot higher than the economic growing rate ) Here we tried to integrate the impact if Coca- Cola goes for a trade name extension and say comes up with T-shirts. This is done in the growing rate estimated STEP 2: Cash flows are estimated as per the growing rate. Expenses are likewise calculated based upon certain premises. We have calculated FCFF in this instance STEP 3: Generic MerchandiseWe tried to make a scenario by taking different values for the growing and operating net income per centum of the generic merchandise. The generic company here is Cott Corporation which is a taking provider of private label carbonated soft drinks headquartered in Canada. Snapshot: | Value of Coca-Cola|| With Current Margin| With Cott’s Margin|Tax Rate| 24. 50 % | 24. 50 % |Revenues| 46. 542| 46. 542|Period 1|Length. years| 10| 10|Reinvestment Rate| 0. 35| 0. 35|Operating Margin ( after-tax ) | 15. 79 % | 4. 28 % |Sales/Capital ( Turnover Ratio ) | 1. 13| 1. 13|Tax return on Capital ( After-tax ) | 17. 84 % | 4. 84 % |Growth rate during period ( g1 ) | 6. 24 % | 1. 69 % |Cost of Capital during period| 7. 10 % | 7. 10 % | Period 2|Length. years| 5| 5|Growth Rate| 5. 0 % | 5. 0 % |Tax return on Capital| 12. 0 % | 12. 0 % |Reinvestment Rate| 41. 7 % | 41. 7 % |Cost of capital in steady state| 7. 1 % | 7. 1 % |Payout Ratio| 52. 0 % | 52. 0 % | Period 3|Growth Rate| 1. 4 % | 1. 4 % |Tax return on Capital| 7. 1 % | 7. 1 % |Reinvestment Rate| 19. 7 % | 19. 7 % |Pn ( Payout ratio for the following period ) | 80. 3 % | 80. 3 % |E/S| 2. 892| 0. 637|Value of firm| 134621| 29629|Difference| 104991| | Brand Value| 104 bn $ | |This helped us to analyse the trade name value spread for different growing rates and the value of trade name name we got is 104 bn $ The attached excel shows the computations associated with the rating. Method 2: Relative Valuation Approach We would cipher the EBIT for the company which is from the branded portion by deducting the EBIT of the generic company A multiple would be calculated on the footing of certain parametric quantities and so net incomes of the assorted trade names in the same sector ( like Pepsi. Coca Cola ) would be multiplied to acquire the trade name value. The multiple we used here are EV/sales and EV/EBITDA. Valuing any trade name utilizing this method seems extremely subjective. non merely because of the parametric quantities used but besides because of the methodological analysis itself. However. analysing the strength factors for each brand/geographical area/format enables comparings to be made and may supply guidelines for placing the brand’s and company’s chief value drivers. increasing the brand’s strength and. hence. its value. 2011| Coca-Cola| Cott Corporation|EV/Sales| 3. 67| 0. 55|Difference| 3. 12| |Brand Value| 145037| 145 bn $ || | |EV/EBITDA| 14. 10| 6. 34|Difference| 7. 76| |Brand Value| 93933| 93 bn $ | Detailss are in the excel attached.Method 3: Cost Based ApproachIn this we analyzed the sum that has been invested in constructing the trade name. We begin by presuming that around 40 % of the merchandising. general and administrative disbursals are spent in trade name edifice and so we try to capitalise this disbursal. We collect informations traveling back to 1980 and therefore we have 31 old ages data. We choose 31 old ages as the amortizable life utilizing a consecutive line agenda. As a consequence. we calculate the sum invested boulder clay day of the month in trade name edifice which we say as the value of the trade name. Year| Total Selling A ; Advertising| Brand Name Related Expense| Amortization this year| Unamortized expense| 1980| 1121| 448| 14. 46| 0|1981| 1189| 476| 15. 34| 15|1982| 1221| 488| 15. 75| 32|1983| 1376| 550| 17. 75| 53|1984| 1543| 617| 19. 91| 80|1985| 1579| 632| 20. 37| 102|1986| 1631| 652| 21. 05| 126|1987| 1777| 711| 22. 93| 161|1988| 2025| 810| 26. 13| 209|1989| 2235| 894| 28. 84| 260|1990| 2717| 1087| 35. 06| 351|1991| 3069| 1228| 39. 60| 436|1992| 3499| 1400| 45. 15| 542|1993| 3797| 1519| 48. 99| 637|1994| 4765| 1906| 61. 48| 861|1995| 5231| 2092| 67. 50| 1012|1996| 5597| 2239| 72. 22| 1156|1997| 5535| 2214| 71. 42| 1214|1998| 5699| 2280| 73. 54| 1324|1999| 5963| 2385| 76. 94| 1462|2000| 6016| 2406| 77. 63| 1553|2001| 6149| 2460| 79. 34| 1666|2002| 7001| 2800| 90. 34| 1987|2003| 7488| 2995| 96. 62| 2222|2004| 8146| 3258| 105. 11| 2523|2005| 8739| 3496| 112. 76| 2819|2006| 9431| 3772| 121. 69| 3164|2007| 10945| 4378| 141. 23| 3813|2008| 12124| 4850| 156. 44| 4380|2009| 11358| 4543| 146. 55| 4250|2010| 13158| 5263| 169. 78| 5093|2011| 17440| 6976| 225. 03| 6976|Total| | | 2316. 95| 504 77. 08| Value of Brand Name| 50 bn $ | Premises:1. 40 % of SGA each twelvemonth are associated with edifice up the trade name name with the balance used to bring forth grosss in the current twelvemonth 2. Amortization over 31 old ages utilizing consecutive line amortisation 3. Costss before 1980 are non taken into history due to miss of informations and information Conclusion A ; Uniqueness about this survey We have tried to gauge the value of trade name coca-cola by assorted methods and there are important differences in the value that have been estimated by different methods Method| Value of brand| Income based rating methods ( Dividend Discount Approach ) | 104 bn $ | Market Base Brand Valuation Methods ( Relative Valuation Approach ) | 145bn $ ( EV/Sales ) ; 93bn $ ( EV/EBITDA ) | Cost based Brand Valuation Method ( Historical Approach ) | 50 bn $ | The income based rating method gives us an intrinsic value of the trade name and that we believe is the most dependable given that the inputs are chosen suitably and with due attention. As it approaches from the company basicss. we assume the value of the Coca-Cola trade name to be within 20 % of the value calculated from this taken into history assorted estimate parametric quantities due to miss of clip and informations. The market based rating is a method of comparative rating and is the most normally used method in the market today. It carries with itself the disadvantages of what a typical comparative rating does. The pick of multiple as we have seen gives a scope of trade name value and it may sometimes be hard which one to t ake for. However. this is one of the easiest methods to cipher the trade name value. The cost based or the historical method is another appraisal which gives us a really low value. This is due to the fact that we have taken into history informations from 1980 onwards merely while the company is bing since 1886. So. a big sum of value is lost because of the non handiness of informations. We believe the existent trade name value to be decidedly higher than this value of 50 bn $ . However. the trade name rating procedure is really utile. since it helps place and measure trade name value drivers. This assessment consists of comparing a brand’s value drivers with those of other brands/companies. with the brand’s old drivers and with the proposed ends. The trade name rating procedure increases the sum of information held by the company about its trade name and it should be developed so that it can be used as a direction tool for value creative activity. A good trade name rating procedure is a tool that helps keep a coherent scheme over clip and assign selling resources systematically. In our analysis we have assumed that the trade name grows in a phase wise mode. but in world the trade name may turn at different rates throughout the skyline and therefore the trade name value calculated here is merely a contemplation of existent value. To suit these alterations. we carried out sensitiveness analysis with our variables being profitableness ( to explicate the dynamic concern ) and stable growing government ( to explicate the dynamic concern environment ) which can be seen in the affiliated excel.

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Zaras Supply Chain Managment Essay Example for Free

Zaras Supply Chain Managment Essay Abstract This case essay provides a business analysis on Zarathe most profitable and well-known fast fashion brand under the world’s largest fashion distributor Inditex Group. The analysis will evaluate Zara by using Porter Models, looking at its Supply Chain Management and defining its current IT challenges. Then, the essay will discuss the costs and benefits of upgrading to the new OS systems. The essay will give recommendations on whether Zara should upgrade its POS terminals after considering all above factors. Case Summary Founded by Amancio Ortega, the richest man in Spain and its biggest shareholder, Zara is a clothing and accessories retailer that opened its first store in La Coruna, Spain in 1975. Zara has been operated under Inditex Group, the world’s largest fashion distributor, since 1985. Zara was originated on a simple business idea explained by the CEO of the company Jose Maria Castellano Rois who joined Inditex in 1997 that: Link customer demand to manufacturing, and link manufacturing to distribution. (McAfee, Dessain, Sjoman, 2007) As a flagship chain store of the company, Zara plays a very important role in the Inditex Group. By 2003, Inditex has 1558 stores in 45 countries which nearly one third of them were part of the Zara Chain. For the fiscal year of 2002, Inditex’s net income was posted as â‚ ¬438 million on â‚ ¬3,974 million revenue, which Zara alone generated nearly three quarters of sales. Women clothing accounts for 60% of Zara’s sales, and Menâ€℠¢s and Children’s segment each accounts for about 20%. (McAfee, Dessain, Sjoman, 2007) Zara’s operation system is very critical. Compare to other companies that it takes them about six months to develop a product and deliver it to the store, Zara only needs three weeks to complete the whole procedure. And Zara launches about 11,000 garment items on average each year. (Business Week, 2006) Only the fast speed of Supply Chain Management (SCM) can assure Zara to respond very quickly to the demand of target customers who are young, fashion-conscious city dwellers. And to reach its goal to quickly respond to customer demand, Zara developed three cyclical processes from ordering to fulfillment to design and manufacturing. Zara’s Information Technology has matches its preferences for speed and decentralized decision-making. There’s no CIO within Zara, but instead, Salgado and Castellano are on board of the technology committee who makes decisions around IT. Due to Zara’s business uniqueness, most of its IT applications are established internally by its IS department rather than buying commercially available software or outsourcing. At August 2003, Salgado and Sanchez must make a decision on whether Zara should upgrade its operating system or not. In every Zara store, there are basically two technological systems that are used—PDAs (short for Personal Digital Assistant) and POS (Point of Sales) terminals. PDAs are handhelds that were used primarily for ordering and were upgraded constantly. POS terminals are cashier computer systems with Zara’s own application installed and had remained unchanged for over a decade. Zara, at 2003, was using the DOS operating system that was no longer supported by Microsoft. The POS application that was ran on top of the DOS system worked very fine and efficient for Zara so Sanchez insists on not changing it. Salgado, on the other hand, thinks that there are potential problems with the outdated system and there are rooms for improvement if they upgrade it with a new system. As far as the debate could go, the two men need to agree on a decision and come up with a solution for this challenge. Business Analysis To help Mr. Salgado and Mr. Sanchez to solve this tough problem, we need to firstly understand Zara’s business model. I will use Michael Porter’s Generic Strategies, Five Forces and Value Chain to analyze Zara Company. Generic Strategy Among the three generic business strategies Dr. Porter identified, which are (1) broad cost leadership, (2) broad differentiation, and (3) focused strategy, I think Zara inherited both cost leadership strategy the differentiation strategy. Zara differentiates itself from the rest of the clothing industry not only by offering unique products but also by having full control of its operation processes. As Daniel Piette, LVMH’s fashion director, described as â€Å"Possibly the most innovative and devastating retailer in the world†, Zara truly has its unique business philosophy. (CNN Business, 2001) Zara meets its customers’ expectation by delivering the latest fashion lines at affordable prices the soonest it can. This concept itself is unique enough. Unlike high-end designer brands that offer limited exclusive lines at big prices, or like some other clothing retailers that offer trendy styles at low costs but poor qualities, Zara is able to bring the newest fashion into mass production and deliver them to people with a normal quality for very good prices. While most of the clothing or textile companies rely on outsourcing and cheap labors from China, Zara established a vertically integrated operation system. (Osterwalder, 2005) Customer demands are Zara’s heavenly goal, and Zara collects them from its stores throughout the world. Zara has its own â€Å"commercials† that make decisions on what to design and produce. Zara owns a group of factories around La Coruna and near Spain to finish manufacture and production quickly. Zara is able to use this network to move a new design from concept through production and into the Distribution Center in as little as three weeks. And deliveries to the store usually take only one to two days via various transportation methods. Jeffrey Ballinger, a Harvard researcher and director of pressure group Press of Change, said that. â€Å"Zara has turned control over garment factories into a competitive advantage.† (CNN Business, 2001) Zara’s differentiation strategy results in a low cost strategy. Zara uses a low cost structure than its competitors to cut cost. Unlike fashion brands that creates or used well-known designers or design groups that cost millions of dollars, and produce with exotic, rare to find fabrics. Zara takes its designs from its â€Å"commercials† and use easy to find textile to not only react to changes quickly but also cut the majority of the cost, therefore, Zara can always offers a lower price. Zara’s generic strategies—both differentiation strategy and low cost strategy are due to Zara’s closeness to its customers. Zara’s designs are generated from preferences collected in the store, and Zara is able to satisfy its customer by taking full control of the operation process and therefore, fulfilling customers’ demand quickly. The ability to transform this close relationship into a value proposition gives Zara complete advantage over its competitors. (Osterwalder, 2005) Five Forces Michael Porter’s Five Forces can be used to identify Zara’s competitive forces within the environment to assess the potential profitability in the clothing retail industry. According to Paige Baltzan, Five Forces’ purpose is to â€Å"combat these competitive forces by identifying opportunities, competitive advantages, and competitive intelligence. If the forces are strong, they can increase competition.† (Baltzan, 2010) Below, I will discuss Zara’s competitiveness from the five forces. 1, Buyer Power—is the ability of buyers to affect the price they must pay for an item. (Baltzan, 2010) Buyer power is not very strong in Zara’s case. Customers who buy from Zara know exactly what kind of merchandises they are purchasing from this brand—trendy fashionable items with a normal quality for a good price. Since Zara has 531 stores over the world, it has a large number of customers. Since Zara’s garments have â€Å"fairly short life spans† (McAfee, Dessain, Sjoman, 2007), it creates a sense of urgency for customers. Customers know that if they don’t buy the item this time because they are hesitating on the price, they may not even be able to find it next time they visit the store. This gives Zara power to name its own price, but of course, within a reasonable â€Å"Zara price range†. Although there are brands like Gap, HM, Benetton and so on to compete with Zara, the unique fashionable items that are offered at Zara, which c hange constantly, makes the switching costs high for Zara. There are definitely loyalties in Zara’s customers who check out the store frequently hunting for new items as soon as they are available. 2, Supplier Power—consists of all parties involved, directly or indirectly, in obtaining raw materials or a products. (Baltzan, 2010) Zara’s operation structure gives it a comparably lower supplier power. Clothing retail industries rely on their manufactories to produce their garments, so usually their suppliers have high bargaining power. If the price of cotton goes up, the whole industry is likely to be influenced and therefore, their cost will go up, their merchant price will rise as well. However, since Zara owns its factories, Zara is its own supplier. Supplier power is comparably lower than its competitors. 3, Threat of Substitute Products or Service—is high when there are many alternatives to a product or service. (Baltzan, 2010) The thread of substitutes is low for Zara. Even the fashion industry is very unpredictable and Zara has a lot of competitors wanting to make the next big fashion trend, Zara is still distinctive because it is known for constant innovations and designs for the latest fashion. No competitors of Zara could catch up its speed on producing so many items a year and deliver that fast. 4, Threat of New Entrants—is high when it is easy for new competitors to enter a market. (Baltzan, 2010) The enter barrier to create a company that is similar to Zara is high so the threat of new entrant to Zara is low. Profitability always attracts investment to enter the industry, and in fact, there are new entrants all the time. However, Zara’s business model is quite unique and difficult to copy. Zara has already built its reputation, and is the leading company in the industry. It will be hard to achieve what Zara has. It also takes time and capital to establish a successful company like Zara. It is hard to gather all the resources including talented people like what Zara has to create an industry giant. There are going to be some threats of new entrants but not that big of the influence to Zara. 5, Rivalry among Existing Competitors—is high when competition is fierce in a market. (Baltzan, 2010) Since there is not many similar fast fashion stores in the market, Zara’s rivalry is low among existing competitors. Zara’s existing competitions come from sharing the same clothing retail industry, but not so much from what Zara is specialized in—fast fashion. So again, Zara distinguishes from other competitors for its products and speed, and so far competition for Zara is not that fierce within the market. Value Chain Analysis Support Value Activities Value Added Michael Porter created value chain analysis to identify competitive advantages by viewing a firm as a series of business processes that each adds value to the product or service. (Baltzan, 2010) By identifying Zara’s value chain, we can determine the ways in which Zara can implement IT or add value to its products and services. Primary Value Activities As it was described in the case, Zara’s primary value activities are Ordering, Fulfillment, Design and Manufacturing, Distribution and Store Operations. Store managers at Zara place an order to La Coruna twice a week encompassing both replenishment of existing items and initial requests for newly available garments. Commercials at La Coruna then fulfill and ship clothes to stores to satisfy their orders. Zara has its own team of design who amazingly produce approximately 11,000 new items a year. Zara also has a vertically integrated manufacturing operation system that moves its design to production quickly. Zara’s distribution center then transport and distribute Zara products to stores. Zara stores are responsible for selling items and collecting customer preference for fashion trends. These primary activities consist all basic business activities happen within the company everyday. Zara’s Support Value Activities, like many other companies, are Administration, Information Technology, Human Resources and Procurement. Zara’s approach to IT is consistent with its preference for speed and decentralized decision making. (McAfee, Dessain, Sjoman, 2007) IT team, who creates most of the applications that Zara uses internally, supports Zara to function the best way it can and supports well. Zara’s IT is used in store operations, logistics, administrations and so on. It has reduced the overhead cost in many areas, and therefore, has helped Zara to achieve a cost advantage. Implementations of Porter Models Zara differentiates itself from the rest of the industry for its concept of fast fashion at an affordable price. And this is done and supported by not only Zara’s talented employees such as powerful store managers and commercials but also by the IT Zara employs. Information plays an important role through Zara’s supply chain management. Information of customer preference was collected from the store and transferred to commercials so that they can generate the right products quickly. Information of SKUs (stock-keeping-units) was communicated so that the Distribution Center knows what to replenish to stores twice a week. IT adds value to Zara in almost every primary and supportive activity in the value chain. Zara used IT in terms of functional processes and decision level. Even Mr. Sanchez states that the current system is stable, effective and easy to use, there are still many potential risks and problems and there is a big room for Zara’s IT to improve so that the operation could perform even better. Zara POS terminals are run on DOS operating system that is not supported by Microsoft any more. Zara also uses the PDAs to make orders and handle returns. (McAfee, Dessain, Sjoman, 2007) As important as sales information is, Zara’s POS terminals were not connected to one another via any in-store network, so employees have to transport all the information on a disk and to the one modem-equipped terminal to accomplish transaction. This process is inefficient and has many potential risks of losing the information. PDAs also use the same terminal’s modem to receive the offer and transmit the order. Within a store, POS terminals and PDAs could not share information. That being said, one the terminal modem is dead or has some kind of flaws, the whole store operation will be delayed or stopped. Then, Zara will lose its competitive advantages from its five forces in the market and less value will be added to the value chain. As a result, its generic strategy won’t work as well. Solution Evaluation The question is: should Zara choose to upgrade its POS system? Nicholas G. Carr explained in his article It Doesn’t Matter that IT has lost its ability to create a sustainable competitive advantage and suggested companies not to try new technologies but follow the ones that have been tested to reduce risks. (Carr, 2003) But from the study of all publically traded companies in the article Investing in the IT we learned that there is an industry concentration that large share of the market is concentrated from a small number of companies. (AcAfee Brynjolfsson, 2008) As where Zara stands in the clothing company, it definitely doesn’t want to lose its competitiveness as one of the small group of companies who hold a large piece of pie from the market. The case problem is a semi-structured one since we only know some of the valuables and it is hard to measure the future value of the result. Peter Drucker said that â€Å"If you can’t measure it, don’t do it.† Within Zara company, Salgado and Castellano were only involved early in discussion of initiative that might include computerization. They only determine what new system there is department should purchase or who should work on them without further conductions for cost/benefit analyses. However, I will give a financial forecast using the numbers given in the case to show whether upgrading the system would add value to Zara or not. Cost analysis From Exhibit 13 of the case, we can collect some data and ideas of how much it will cost Zara if it decides to upgrade the system. The company can try the new system in a few stores first to test the efficiency. However, my calculation is based on installing the Windows Operating System throughout all 531 Zara stores average five terminals per store within a year. (Despite new store openings) Total cost to purchase and maintain the Windows OS system per terminal is â‚ ¬170. Hardware required to install in the store including POS terminals, wireless router and wireless Ethernet card cost â‚ ¬5,430. High-speed Internet connection will cost â‚ ¬240 per store annually. Time required per store to install new POS terminals with new POS application, establish wireless network and train staff is 32 hours, which convert to four days of work. Cost per day will be â‚ ¬2,000 times four days, and that gives â‚ ¬8,000 expenditure per store. So, total cost per store to completely install the new OS system with new POS application ready to perform daily tasks is â‚ ¬14,520. Total programming time required to port existing POS application to new OS and expand POS application to include some new features is 20,000 hours. Assuming that computer programs can be run on the machines 24 hours a day, each day cost â‚ ¬450, total cost will be â‚ ¬375,000. As a result, 531 Zara stores will cost â‚ ¬7,710,120 to install the program, plus â‚ ¬375,000 expenses from the IS department, total cost to upgrade the POS system will be â‚ ¬8,085,120. (See Exhibit 1) Since Zara generated 73.3% of the Inditex Group’s sales, Zara’s Net Operating Revenues can be estimated at â‚ ¬2,913 million in 2002. And assume all companies under Inditex Group operate in the same way and share expenses equally as sales, Zara will make â‚ ¬313.8 million Net Income. (See Exhibit 2) The â‚ ¬8 million upgrading expenses will count for a 3% investment for Zara. Benefit Analysis A â‚ ¬8 million IT upgrade is not a small investment, we need to look at potential benefits that can be made out of the system to measure if it makes a profit for Zara. In another word, we need to forecast future returns to see if the new system will add value to Zara or not. I will use some Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and some Critical Success Factors (CSF) to analyze the outcome. Financial Forecast There are some tangible KPIs we can measure to see if Zara benefit from the new system. I will use Revenue, number of garment, percentage of time saved using the new system as my KPIs. Every business is about making money. If the new system cannot bring Zara extra revenue, why invest? Let’s suppose that the system runs smoothly and well once it is installed. Hopefully it will link up the POS terminals and PDAs that are used in each store to headquarter automatically using the wireless Internet. Added new features are supposed to enable staff to check theoretical inventories from the store as well as all other Zara stores near it. The system will minimize faulty transactions from human errors. Staff in the store does not have to record sales numbers and transport it from one terminal to another. More information from customers and store managers can be collected and sent back to commercial teams quicker and more accurately. Distribution Center will be able to see store inventories from the system simultaneously so replenishment can be made without making an order. Shipment can arrive more frequently to the stores. Let’s say the system accelerate the whole operation process by 10% of the total time, and the design group is able to make 10% more garment items a year due to the time they saved. That will make a total of 12,100 items a year compared to 11,000 before. Revenue can be increased to â‚ ¬3,204.23 million from â‚ ¬2,912.94 million. Although the number may be too positive, it gives us an idea that multi-million of revenues can be made due to the increased efficiency of the system. Another important fact is that the new system installed will last for a period of time, not just one year. The current DOS system has been used for over a decade, and I believe the new system can be run for about the same period. The IT investment expenses can be distributed over the next few years and Zara will continuously benefit from the uses of the system. Other benefits There are also some intangible values that can be added from the new system. Some Critical Success Factors include market competitions, Supply Chain Management, Customer Relationship Management and Material Resource Planning II. The new OS system will help Zara to be competitive in the industry. As an innovative company, Zara has its unique and simple business model that has a proven success. The IS department of Zara that create program application for Zara to use is a valuable Proprietary Technology benefit that Zara owns. It is beneficial because no other competitors have access to the technology. Infrastructural Technology such as this DOS or new OS system has better value when more users are taking advantage of it. (AcAfee Brynjolfsson, 2008) Zara should take the advantage by also applying the new OS system as many other competitors in the industry have already used it. Thus, Zara will have both benefits from both proprietary and infrastructural technologies and stay competitive in the market. New OS system will link Zara’s supply chain better and faster. Zara’s business model decides that the company wants to exchange information and it wants the information to be exchanged fast. Zara’s supply chain links from Supplier to Manufacture to Distributor to Stores and to Customers are tighter than many other companies because its products turn over more frequently. Zara needs a good system to perform operation than any other companies. Having an upgraded system will help Zara to achieve its business goal. New system will bring more customer satisfaction to Zara. A lot of Zara’s customers have some degrees of loyalty to the company and their satisfaction is important to Zara. Despite chatting with customers for their fashion sense when they are in the store, Zara doesn’t make much networking effort with customers. Product says it all. Zara simply keeps its customers coming by offering their favorite items. These fashion-forward, young city dwellers come to Zara enthusiastically want to buy what they like. So, being able to check inventories in nearby stores when a customer’s size runs out is very important. The new system will let Zara do that. Material Resource Planning and Labor will also be better off with the new system. Zara’s vendors have promised to follow Zara’s IT system so it was not really problem. Yet, Zara shouldn’t be standing on the passive side to wait until when it has to switch to a more up-to-date system. By taking the lead, Zara gains more flexibility and comfort to utilize resources it needs. The new system will also fix and install some new features that Zara’s employees have being requesting for. Keeping the labor force happy is essential since talents (people) are the key factor that makes it hard for other companies to copy and apply the same IT and business model Zara has successfully. (AcAfee Brynjolfsson, 2008) Auditing Some main reasons that Sanchez pointed out to support his idea of not upgrading and some other factors that need to be considered are discussed below.   Mr. Sanchez worries that switching to the new system will turbulent the stable usage of the current system and cause troubles. We have to admit that what he said could happen. That’s why we take close consideration of it to prevent it from happening rather than not to do it. The current system is effective, stable and rolls out easy to use for employees because it has been tested and run for more than ten years. Staff is familiar with the system, and IS department knows how to fix it when there’s a problem. However, this shouldn’t stop Zara from innovations. Zara can plan on installing the new system and test it with a small number of stores first and slowly transformed the rest of the company to use the new system. Zara may also face the difficulties to train employees to use the new system, or the system doesn’t work perfectly for Zara at the beginning phase, and therefore, causing systematic troubles that affect the business negatively. Yet, generally speaking, these software interfaces for businesses are easy to use. Not to mention that Zara has a strong IS department that can support its technology uses. In the process of new system development, Operation/Maintenance consists 80% of the time and cost while User Acceptance only contains 20%. That being said, maintaining the system and Auditing the system after it has been installed is crucial. Zara’s IS department should pay more attention to them. Overall, there are more benefits and predictable profits than shortcomings to upgrade the outdated DOS system for Zara. Conclusion and Recommendations Taking into considerations of all possible factors, I believe that this case analysis is in favor for Zara to consider upgrading its outdated DOS system to OS system. As a successful fast fashion clothing retailer, Zara’s business idea, which links customer demand to manufacturing, and links manufacturing to distribution, works very well and keeps Zara a flagship chain store for Inditex Group. Zara’s generic strategy is to differentiate and save cost. Since Zara has a strong demand for speed in the operation process and tight links in Supply Chain Management, its requirement for IT is high. The evaluation of the solution shows us that there are more predictable advantages than disadvantages for Zara to upgrade its system. With thoughtful considerations and backup remediation plans, Mr. Bruno Sanchez shouldn’t be so conservative and against the idea to upgrade the system. I am confident that upgrading the system will meet Zara’s business goal to be the most innovative and profitable fast fashion retailer in the industry. References AcAfeeAndrew, BrynjolfssonErik. (June-August, 2008). Investing in the IT. Harvard Business Review. BaltzanPaige. (2010). Business Driven Information Systems (3rd Edition). New York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Business Week. (Arip 4th, 2006). Zara-Taking the Lead in Fast Fashion. CarrNicholas G. (May 2003). IT Doesnt Matter. Harvard Business Review. Castellano RiosMariaJose. (1975). Business idea for Zara. Spain. CNN Business. (June 15th, 2001). Zara, a Spanish sucess story. McAfeeAndrew, DessainVincent, SjomanAnders. (2007). Zara: IT for Fast Fashion. USA: Harvard Business School. OsterwalderAlexander. (June 23rd, 2005). Business Model Alchemist. http://www.businessmodelalchemist.com/2005/06/zaras-business-model.html

Drunk Comparison :: Essays Papers

Drunk Comparison After around two hours in a bar the way I carry myself is definitely different from the time I walked in. I’ve never considered myself much of a drinker, especially before I came to college. I had never appreciated the way beer had tasted, or it could have been only because I was exposed to some of the more disgusting ones. When I lived in my hometown only a few months earlier I attended tons of parties. Most of them were always hosted by the fellow alcoholic teenagers, and supplied the cheapest beer they could get hold of. I can recall filling my cup with the foamy cold beer that poured from the tap, and sipping it for hours. â€Å"I just don’t like beer!† I would reply to my male friends when asked why I wasn’t drinking much. After a few hours at the party I would realize that I was the most sober one there. The first day I came to Fredonia, I went to check the bars out. I first drank a few beers I recognized and then asked around for the names of some mixed drinks. The first one I tried was a Blue Whale; I loved it. I figured; if one mixed drink tasted good I’m sure that others would too. Drinking had finally turned into something that was fun to me. Now after partying for a few hours, I was no longer the sober one in the group. On my way to a party or a bar I am completely sober. I am aware of the surroundings around me and am capable of walking in a straight line. When I speak, my language is pretty much perfect and everyone has a clear understanding of what I am trying to say. In my mind I know what is exactly going on and concentrating on something is easy. Knowing that I am on my way to a party or bar I tend to be excited. I am usually energetic and hyper; realizing that I will finally be having fun after all the work I had done during the week. As I continue to make my way to my destination I am aware that the way I feel and think will most likely change by the end of the night.

Animal and Color Symbolism in Harry Potter Series Essay

An Investigation of J.K. Rowling’s Utilization of Animal and Color Symbolism in Her Harry Potter Series Many consider symbolism the most important factor in comprehending the knowledgeable realm. â€Å"Symbols and metaphors extend into the realm of everyday language and figures of speech† (Biedermann VII). In turn, the Harry Potter novels of J.K. Rowling are extensively â€Å"philosophical† and symbolic (Bagget and Klein 3). Some believe that a civilization that is very advanced will keep records of important symbols (Biedermann VIII). Paralleling this statement, the civilization that J.K. Rowling creates is one â€Å"of menacing trolls and forbidden forests [that] haunts the bestseller lists week in and out, enthralling readers and leaving them hungry for more† (Bagget and Klein 1). Thus the question arises: In what ways and to what extent does J.K. Rowling incorporate animal and color symbolism into her Harry Potter series? Non-fiction animals that exist in reality, as well as in these novels, are utilized as symbols by J.K. Rowling. Owls often seem to be intelligent, tolerant, contemplative, ominous, and nocturnal. (249). Read more:  How many words in the harry potter series. These animals appear â€Å"frequently in the emblems of scholarly publishing houses and book stores† (250). According to Aeppli, cats are considered â€Å"the typically feminine animal[†¦] and females are known as being ‘more deeply rooted in the dark intuitive side of life than man with his simpler psyche’† (59-60). â€Å"The cat is tireless and cunning when going after its prey – the virtues’ of a good soldier† like Professor McGonagall (60). Of course, Rowling includes many super-natural figures. According to Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, â€Å"‘[p]hoenixes burst into flame when it is time for them to die and are reborn from the ashes’† (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 207). Dumbledore refers to the usual grandeur of the phoenix and his feathers of scarlet and gold, the colors of Gryffindor (Rowling, Chamber 207). The phoenix, often referred t o as the â€Å"firebird[,]† ignites itself centennially, perishes, and is reborn from the cinders. The phoenix globally embodies â€Å"immortality, death by fire, the sun, and resurrection† (Bruce-Mitford 31). In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Rowling describes â€Å"a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads, three pairs of rolling mad eyes, [and] three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction† (Rowling, Stone 160). According to Hermione, the dog is blatantly protecting something, for it stands on a disguised door (Rowling, Stone 162). The three-headed dog mainly symbolizes reliability and awareness in mythology; it usually portrays a protector at the entrance to the world of the dead (97). Unicorns have come to signify wholesomeness and power (Biedermann 360). â€Å"According to medieval lore, a unicorn’s horn was a powerful antidote to poison† (28). Unicorns are described as â€Å"pure and incorruptible† (Bruce-Mitford 28). Rubeus Hagrid explains that unicorn blood has the ability to save any life – no matter how near to death – but at an awful cost, having killed an animal of its purity and lack of defense in a selfish manner (Rowling, Stone 258). Mythology, when describing the conception of the earth, depicts dragons as very primitive. The gods are called to overcome these dragons and eventually, their most important descendants become â€Å"dragon-slayers† (102). â€Å"In fairy tales and legends, slaying the dragon is a frequent test of the hero’s mettle† (Biedermann 102). As the dragons are being tended to in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, â€Å"torrents of fire [shoot] into the dark sky from their open, fanged, mouths, fifty feet above the ground on their outstretched necks† (Rowling, Goblet 326). In a Christian view, the dragon can represent the evil counterpart, usually a devil (Biedermann 103). Many main characters in this series are represented by the animals into which they can transform. Because of the rat’s reputation for soiling what is good and carrying sickness, it has become known as a follower of the â€Å"devil, demons, and witches† (279). Peter Pettigrew, a follower of Harry’s evil counter- part, spends many years disguised as a rat. Black dogs have been thought to be in partnership with doers of black magic, yet â€Å"only rarely do dogs appear in a negative light† (97). The Chinese mostly considered them guards against fiends (98). Dogs primarily have a reputation of â€Å"loyalty and vigilance† (97). These are qualities similar to those of Harry’s god-father Sirius Black. To Christians, a wolf is most often the rival endangering those who hold strong faith. Various fables of wolves resulting from murderous individuals exist. The word werewolf is exactly translated to â€Å"man-wolf† (387). As the Latin word for wolf is â€Å"lupus[,]† it is a great foreshadowing tool that the Hogwarts professor with the surname â€Å"Lupin† is in fact a werewolf (387). The first name of said professor, Remus, also seems too well suited to be of coincidence. It appears in â€Å"the Roman legend of the Capitoline wolf that was said to have nursed Romulus and Remus† (Biedermann 389). The deer has great significance in this series. Various older legends of Europe include adolescent females who are changed into does. It was a doe that â€Å"was said to have rescued fleeing Frankish warriors by showing a point at which they could ford the Main River† (Biedermann 97). In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Rowling describes â€Å"a silver-white doe, moon-bright and dazzling, picking her way over the ground† and Harry senses the â€Å"inexplicable familiarity† of this creature. His mother’s patronus, a symbol used to fight off evil creatures w ith a spell, was a doe identical to this one. Harry realizes that his patronus is inherited from his father when he casts his own spell and sees a stag with prominent antlers. This causes him to recall his father’s nickname, Prongs. (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 411) As the mascot of Slytherin House is a snake, it is reasonable that—as reported by an Christian passage, Physiologus—â€Å"the deer spits water into every crevice in which poisonous snakes are hiding; it thus spits them out and tramples them† (92). The deer has been seen as having skin that can act as a talisman to defeat snake poison, and antlers that can be powdered for protection against dark powers (92). Supposedly, â€Å"burnt deer horn drives away any snake† (Biedermann 93). The sorting hat, the judge of how each student is placed into a house, sings â€Å"‘[one] might belong in Hufflepuff, [w]here they are just and loyal, [t]hose patient Hufflepuffs are true [a]nd unafraid of toil’† (R owling, Stone 118). As Hufflepuff is somewhat of a misunderstood house, it is understandable that â€Å"yellow [the primary house color] gives some of the most mixed messages of all. It is the color of pulsating life—of corn and gold and angelic haloes—and it is also at the same time a color of bile, and in its sulphurous incarnation it is the color of the Devil† (Finlay 203). European opinion has dubbed the color cowardly, which coincides with the notion that Hufflepuff is quite inferior to the brave Gryffindor (Bruce-Mitford 107). Rubeus Hagrid states that â€Å"‘Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o’ duffers† (Rowling, Stone 80) According to Goethe and his color theory, yellow is â€Å"‘soft and merry’† but can easily become unpleasant (392). A badger—the Hufflepuff mascot—survives off the fat of its own body, which has turned it into a representation of iniquity corresponding to the bad representation of the Hufflepuff house. In the English language, the term â€Å"badgering† is synonymous to irritating (Biedermann 28). The unnerved new students are told that they could prosper â€Å"‘in wise old Ravenclaw, [i]f [they’ve] a ready mind, where those of wit and learning will always find their kind’† (Rowling, Stone 118). The House color blue is primarily known as a representation of â€Å"things of the spirit and the intellect† (Biedermann 44). In order to enter Ravenclaw’s chambers, one is asked to solve a problem. This encourages them to always seek knowledge, according to a Ravenclaw member (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 587). Usually, eagles—the house mascot—have favorable connotations. They consist of â€Å"energy, renewal, con templation, acuity of vision, [and] royal bearing† (Biedermann 108). Appropriately, the sorting hat also sings â€Å"[f]or Ravenclaw, the cleverest [will] always be the best† (Rowling, Goblet 177). The wise sorting hat advises new students that â€Å"‘perhaps in Slytherin [they’ll] make [their] real friends, [t]hose cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends’† (118). To Harry’s perception, the Slytherin members appear to be â€Å"an unpleasant lot† (Rowling, Stone 119). A serpent, the representative of Slytherin, originated from the ability of the house’s founder to speak to snakes, a trait that Harry shares (Rowling, Chamber 196). By the Chinese, snakes are considered hazardously cunning. They also believed that the possession of a snake skin signified that a person would become wealthy (312). A snake is capable of murder by biting and utilizing its poison (Biedermann 310). Snakes are often related to demise and disarray (Willis 250). Controlled by the returned Lord Voldemort, a basilisk is hidden deep inside Hogwarts Castle that â€Å"kills people by looking at them† (Rowling, Chamber 291). In the early Middle Ages, the basilisk was attributed with incredible deadly magic. It also, possessed a lethal â€Å"glance and touch† (Rowland 28). According to Moaning Myrtle, a ghost victim of the basilisk, it only takes the glance of a basilisk’s â€Å"‘big, yellow eyes’† to inflict death (Rowling, Chamber 299). In accordance to the beliefs of Christians, basilisks symbolize an evil spirit that can only be stopped by the bible (Rowland 28). Green, Slytherin’s primary color, can represent childishness. â€Å"Especially in English, the color is associated with negative emotions† such as â€Å"envy† and â€Å"jealousy† (Biedermann 159). At one point in time, there was a green color that was undisclosed in China except to the selected royal people. All that was disclosed was its origin of the color green (Finlay 245). This statement parallels the wish of Salazar Slytherin, the founder of the house, to be more particular when admitting students to the school (Rowling, Chamber, 150). The sorting hat declares that one â€Å"‘might belong in Gryffindor, [w]here dwell the brave at heart[.] Their daring nerve and chivalry set Gryffindors apart’† (Rowling, Stone 118). Primarily, red—Gryffindor’s main color—is a sign of â€Å"aggression, vitality and strength, associated with fire and symbolizing both love and mortal combat† (28). Red is commonly the most favored color to an individual (281). To Christians, red is synonymous to Christ’s sacrificed blood, those willing to die for Christ, and ardent affection (Biedermann 282). Upon the instruction of Dumbledore, Harry rotates the sword that previously helped him defeat Lord Voldemort, â€Å"the rubies blazing in the firelight[†¦] [T]hen he [sees] the name just below the hilt[,] Godric Gryffindor† (Rowling, Chamber 333). According to Aeppli, in a dream, red indicates that the dreamer is brave, or equipped to act. Cardinals wear red in order to indicate that they are ready to give up their lives for Christ (Biedermann 282). Accordingly, Harry willingly accepts that â€Å"all that [is] left [for him] [is] the thing itself: dying† to defeat Lord Voldemort (Rowling, Hallows 692). According to [I Peter 5:8]—for Alchemists—lions can represent sulfur, the chief element or â€Å"‘the red lion,’ for the finished ‘philosopher’s stone’† (Biedermann 210). The philosopher’s stone, as it was originally referred to, is â€Å"blood-red† (292). According to Hermione Granger, â€Å"‘Nicholas Flamel[,]’† an alchemist, â€Å"‘is the only known maker of the [Philosopher’s] Stone’† (Rowling, Stone 219). â€Å"In European Heraldry the lion[†¦] is usually red or gold, with its tongue and claws in a contrasting color† (Biedermann 210). After Gryffindor’s defeat of Slytherin for the house cup, â€Å"[i]n an instant, the green hangings became gold [the secondary color of Gryffindor house]; the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering Gryffindor lion took its place† (Rowling, Stone 306). Indeed, symbols are amidst the assets of the world that are the most essential (Biedermann IX). Mostly, the human race doesn’t register the significance of these signs or even their existence (Bruce-Mitford 6). Yet, as J.K. Rowling utilizes them in her Harry Potter series, â€Å"[s]ymbols [†¦] enable people to bring the incomprehensible into the realm of the ta ngible, where they can deal with it† (Biedermann XII). Works Cited Baggett, David, and Shawn Klein. Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts. Chicago, Ill.: Open Court, 2004. Print. Biedermann, Hans. Dictionary of Symbolism: Cultural Icons and the Meanings Behind Them. Trans. James Hulbert. New York: Meridian, 1992. Print. Bruce-Mitford, Miranda. The Illustrated Book of Signs and Symbols. New York: D.K., 1996. Print. Finlay, Victoria. Color: A Natural History of the Palette. New York: Ballentine, 2002. Print. Rowland, Beryl. Animals with Human Faces: A Guide to Animal Symbolism. Knoxville: U of Tennessee P, 1973, Print. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. New York: Levine, 1999. Print. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows. New York: Levine, 2007. Print. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. New York: Levine, 2000. Print. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. New York: Levine, 1999. Print. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. New York: Levine, 1997. P rint. Willis, Roy G. Signifying Animals: Human Meaning in the Natural World. London: Unwin Hyman, 1990. Print.