Hotel Rwanda Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hotel Rwanda - Essay Example How a variety of relations turned out between the needy Rwandans and the Whites or the western people in control also possesses a significant level of accuracy as assessed with respect to history which traditionally depicted racial discrimination, whether or not subtle, with an occasional mode of compassion or empathy and recognition for the black people. The apparently accurate emotions portrayed by the actors behind the characters of the oppressed Tutsis channel an amount of distinction apart from any fictitious attempt since the audience can readily engage as measured by the equivalent horrified reactions that manifest anxious imaginings with distressful feeling of helplessness. The director, T. George, might have felt the necessity to not disclose or point out the motivations behind the hostilities of the Hutu extremists for perhaps being such a complex portion able to divert the main objective of building up a one-man hero into the core. By clearly not revealing the truth that t here were only two foreign journalists in Rwanda on stating â€Å"lots of foreign press are arriving for the peace signing,† the film warrants as such that it gives viewers an impression of witnesses and interested parties at supporting the cause of P.

Merger & Acquisition in Pharmaceutical Industry Dissertation

Merger & Acquisition in Pharmaceutical Industry - Dissertation Example This essay stresses that M&As can be motivated from multiple sources. This conclusion is supported by industry surveys of pharmaceutical firms who report having multiple M&A goals: grow the core business, realize cost synergies, acquire new technologies, gain competitive advantage, generate fiscal advantage, and so on. Such a phenomenon is not unique to pharmaceutical firms; firms in other industries typically have multiple objectives in pursuing M&As. It is possible, of course, that many positive aspirations are voiced to disguise underlying motivations for cost synergies. This paper makes a conclusion that the problem with multiple rationales noted in these other industries may also pertain to pharmaceuticals: the lack of a clear focus in the merger and the presence of conflicting agendas. In the presence of multiple goals, the intentions of the two firms (particularly if one acquires the other) are likely to diverge, if not conflict. Moreover, there may be a simultaneous (and confusing) effort to cut costs and pursue growth. Other problems that stem from multiple rationales concern the merger implementation effort – for example, the difficulty in mapping out the implementation steps due to the need to accommodate a variety of potentially conflicting interests and directions. Multiple rationales may thus prove dysfunctional during the merger transition and lead to unresolvable conflicts. Industry analysts argue that one party in clear control, with a dominant economic rationale, a simple program, great communication, and excellent execution, is the critical ingredient for M&A success.

Features of Perfect Competition

Features of Perfect Competition Contrast the features of perfect competition with those of oligopoly. (10) The comparison between perfect competition and oligopoly will be based on the following: number of buyers and sellers, nature of product, and barriers to entry of firms. Number of buyers and sellers Perfect competition is a market structure that is characterised by many buyers and sellers with each firms output representing an insignificant proportion of the total output. Hence, sellers cannot influence prices by changing its level of output. Thus, they accept the market price as given i.e they are price takers. Each firm then faces a perfectly elastic demand curve as shown in fig 1a. An example of a market that comes close to the perfectly competitive model is that of agricultural farming. How much the farmer sells his wheat for will depend on the prevailing price of wheat in the market. On the other hand, an oligopolistic firm produces a significant amount of the total market output. The seller can either influence the price or output. It can sell more by lowering price or increase price but sell less. This indicates that the firms demand curve is downward sloping. In addition, due to the small number of firms prevalent in the market, each firm now makes its decisions based on the reaction of other firms in the same industry. No firm can afford to ignore the actions and reactions of other firms in the industry. For example, there are only a few car manufacturers in the US such as Chrysler, GM and Ford Motors. If Ford Motors wants to increase sales, it can lower the price of its cars so that some buyers will switch from either Chrysler or General Motors but the increase in quantity demanded will be insignificant given that Chrysler and General Motors will follow the cut in price. This behaviour can be summarized by the kinked demand curve. Nature of product In perfect competition, each seller produces an identical product, thus they are perfect substitutes for each other. Since consumers think that the products are the same, they will not show any preference towards the goods of one firm over another. This means that sellers are not able to arbitrarily raise their prices for fear that consumers switch to other firms. Firms in perfect competition are price takers, and the demand for their goods are perfectly price elastic, hence the horizontal demand curve. In oligopoly, firms may either be producing a homogenous product or a differentiated product. When the product is differentiated, the oligopolist can increase the price and the output would not fall significantly. This implies substantial market power for the firms in an oligopoly. Even when the good is homogenous like steel or aluminium, the firm is likely to differentiate in terms of the services and terms of conditions, hence the downward sloping demand curve. Barriers to entry There are no barriers to entry or exit in a PC industry so the markets will consist of a large number of small sellers. The implication of this is that the firms in perfectly competitive industry will earn normal profits in the long run as supernormal profit earned by the firms in the short run will be depleted by the entry of the new firms into the industry. It is relatively easy to lease a plot of land to grow wheat and in the event that the farmer chose to give up wheat farming, he could easily terminate his lease with the landlord. The start up cost is low as all he needs are some simple tools and seedlings. In oligopoly, there are significant entry and exit barriers. For example, in car production, there are very high initial fixed costs such as the setting up of the assembly line and only if the firm produces a very large output level will the average cost fall significantly. The lower cost associated with a big output serves as an entry barrier for new firms as their initial d emand is usually low. Exit is also difficult, as it is not easy to dispose of the firms fixed assets. Other forms of barriers could be patent rights, exclusive ownership of certain raw materials and legal barriers. So the oligopolist can earn supernormal profits even in the long run. 2b. Discuss why oligopoly is a more common type of market structure compared to perfect competition. (15) Perfect competition is an ideal model and so it is difficult to find markets that have all these characteristics. There are some markets in the real world that approximates perfect competition. Examples of such markets are farming, the stock exchange market and the foreign currency market. These markets possess some of the characteristics of PC as explained in part (a). However, even in such markets, some of the characteristics are hard to fulfil. For instance, buyers and sellers may not be price takers. In the stock exchange market, there are some individuals or institutions that can influence the price of shares through their large holdings of a particular companys shares. The product is also not homogenous if stock of different companies are considered., Thus, if they were to sell their shares, price will fall. Knowledge is not perfect either. Although buyers and sellers do have easy access to information through their brokers and the Internet, there are some who do have insider i nformation and use that to their advantage. Moreover, managers tend to reveal more information about their companies to financial specialists rather than to small investors. In the real world, most industries do not have that many firms. In fact, in industries such as automobiles, air-craft manufacturing industry, oil industry, steel industry, supermarket chains and pharmaceutical industry, the industry is dominated by a few large firms. Most firms would rather face less competition so that their market power can be consolidated and secured. Oligopoly is thus a more desired form of market structure as far as sellers are concerned. Oligopoly is a more common market structure. It can be attributed mainly to the high entry barriers. Barriers to entry refer to any impediments that prevent new firms from competing on an equal basis with existing firms in an industry. An effective barrier for new firms to enter the industry is substantial economies of scale. The production of some goods involves very high initial fixed costs. Good examples are the petroleum industry and the manufacturing of aircrafts. For example, Airbus and Boeing must construct huge expensive structures to build the A380. Thus, for the production of such goods, the larger the output the greater is the economies of scale enjoyed by the firm. Such industries have very large Minimum Efficient Scale, and hence, only a few firms exist in such industries. Economies of scale are not the only source of barrier to entry. Other barriers to entry can be the possession of superior technical knowledge or sterling reputation for quality or efficiency. Take for example, high end sports cars like the Ferrari is such well known brand names that it is quite impossible for any new auto firms to replicate them. For years, they are the symbol of quality and luxury, an image that the carmakers have painstakingly cultivated. Production of such cars also requires superior technical knowledge, which is jealously guarded by the manufacturers. Thus it is not easy for new firms to enter such industries. In addition, existing firms could have spent millions on advertising to build and maintain brand loyalty. It will require a substantial period of high advertising costs and low revenues for new entrants if they want to establish themselves. Also, they can spend large amounts on advertising to make it difficult for a new entrant to differentiate its product. With the high entry barriers, firms are able to earn supernormal profits in the long run and have the financial strength to block the entry of new firms. Such firms can also adopt predatory pricing to further keep out competitors. Their huge profits allow them to cut prices drastically to drive out competitors. They can maintain excess production capacity as a signal to a potential entrant that with little notice, they could easily saturate the market and leave the new entrant with little or no revenue. Besides, huge profits allow firms to spend generously on RD. The discovery of new and better products allows them to compete more effectively in the market and also keep out other firms. For instance, in the pharmaceutical industry, millions of dollars are required to discover a new vaccine or a new drug. Hence the presence of high entry barriers results in many oligopolies. Globalisation and liberalization With increased globalisation, many domestic firms are threatened by the entry of big foreign firms or MNCs. Bigger firms have a competitive advantage in terms of pricing. Domestic firms can survive as long as there is government legislation to prevent the entry of foreign firms. But most governments are liberalizing their domestic industries. In order to compete with foreign firms, domestic firms have to merge. A merger would safeguard their survival as well as to allow them to compete more effectively. For instance, the merger of DBS bank with POSB and UOB with OUB , are all meant to expand the size of each bank so as to better compete with other international banks such as Citibank and Standard Chartered etc when MAS liberalize the financial sector to encourage competition. Hence globalisation has increased the tendency for mergers and the formation of oligopolies. Conclusion There are not many industries in the real world that satisfy the characteristics of the perfectly competitive model given it is an ideal model. On the other hand, the characteristics of an oligopoly are more easily met. The nature of production is more favourable to an oligopolistic kind of market. There are many advantages to being big. Some firms are big due to high entry barriers natural or man-made, while others expand internally or externally through mergers and acquisition in response to a changing external environment. The main reason for oligopoly being a common market structure can be attributed to benefits of economies of scale which gives firms the incentive to merge and be large. It will lower their costs and give them higher returns to meet potential competition and as a consequence, they have huge incentives to erect barriers to deter entry by new firms, and to consolidate their position.

The Causes of the Great Depression :: American America History

The Causes of the Great Depression Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution early in the nineteenth century the United States ad experienced recessions or panics at least every twenty years. But none was as severe or lasted as long as the Great Depression. Only as the economy shifted toward a war mobilization in the late 1930s did the grip of the depression finally ease. Stock prices had been rising steadily since 1921, but in 1928 and 1929 they surged forward, with the average price of stocks rising over 40 percent. The stock market was totally unregulated. Margin buying in particular proceeded at a feverish pace as customers borrowed up to 75 percent of the purchase price of stocks. That easy credit lured more speculators and less creditworthy investors into the stock market. The Federal Reserve board warned member banks not to lend money for stock speculation because if prices dropped, many investors would not be able to pay back their debts. No one listened. The stock market began sliding in early September, but people ignored the warning. Then on "black Thursday" (October 24, 1929) and again on "black Tuesday" (October 29, 1929) the ball dropped. More than 28 million shares changed hands in frantic trading. Overextended investors, suddenly finding themselves in heavily in debt, began selling their stocks. Many found that no one would buy anythin g at any price. Overnight, stock values fell from a peak value of 87 billion dollars to 55 billion dollars. The crash was felt far beyond the trading floors. Speculators who borrowed money from the banks to buy their stocks could not repay the loans because they could not sell stocks. This caused many banks to fail. Since bank deposits were uninsured before the 1930s depositors' their money, which in many cases was all that many people had. The stock market crash intensified the course of the Great Depression in many ways. Besides wiping out the savings of thousands, it hurt commercial banks that had invested heavily in corporate stocks. It also caused a loss of confidence in the market prolonging the depression. The downturn began slowly and almost unnoticeably. After 1927, consumer spending declined and housing construction slowed. Inventories piled up, and in1928 and 1929 manufacturers began to cut back on production and lay off workers. Reduced income and buying power in turn reinforced the downturn. By the summer of 1929 the economy was clearly in a recession.

Growing telecommunication in society Essay

It is clear that growing telecommunication will help increase the effectiveness of business. Some consulting companies can do not need to hire office, to buy expensive equipment. People can stay at home to do your business. they don’t need to strictly come to the office. This is much more convenient than ever before. However life is harder. People both yough and old seem to stick to their computer all the time for their work or and for their entertainment. It is true that there are so many things in a computer. People can explore a lot of things. They can easily contact with a friend far away by email, they can know what is happening and even they can go to the market though Internet and there are many other services in the Internet that I cannot count. But the problem is that some people are now addicted to computers and they lose other habits in life. People become stricter because face to face communication is increasingly dwindling. They spend less time to enjoy the beauty of the nature which is very beautiful with alive scenes with sunshine, with fresh air and a variety of things. As a result, human emotion is also reducing. People are not developed fully in mental and physical strength. In addition, as shown recently by research of scientists , sitting in front of computers for long time will affect people’ health. The eye is seriously affected. The number of myopic people is increasing. Sitting in a place also makes people feel tired and stressed. Beside, the whole society seem to be running in a strict mechanism which is facilitated by the computer system. If there appear a problem, this system will collapse rapidly. It can be easily seen many cases of computer hacking which cause great damage to the society and business, for example the virus † love† , originated in the Philippines caused great damage on the global scale in the United States and in south east Asia. The power of the damage is very strong.

Analysis of The Fence

The author started the story by describing the two nipa houses. But if you go back to his introduction after reading the story, you would realize that these adjectives were pertaining to the two main characters, Aling Biang and Aling Sebia. † They were two separate worlds, two opposing planets so near together that their repulsion had become stifled, and its repression become more envenomed. And yet but a yard of parched soil separated them, a yard of brittle-crusted earth with only a stray weed or two to show there was life still thriving in its bosom.†Words from this paragraph maybe too far to explain the character's feelings but it actually did. The author chose to compare the lead characters of his story to two opposing worlds that bounce away from each other resulting to this awkward distance between them. â€Å"–windows as desolate as the soul of the occupants of the house, as sharply angular as the intensity of their hatred. † This clearly shows how e ach of the two characters treat each other. Cold, distant, deserted and empty. By this time the author already catched the attention of the readers. Here, he starts to narrate why the FENCE was built.Aling Biang built the fence from hatred because she caught her husband with Aling Sebia and now she wants to protect her â€Å"properties† away from the â€Å"thief†. Aling Sebia on the other hand built the other half of the fence from hurt out of Aling Biang's offensive and cold words to her. The author made use of the fence as the anger they both have for each other that is why the fence was built by BOTH of them, because aside from the fence they literally built, there is also the great hatred exerted by both their hearts like a barrier that keeps the two of them from forgiving each other.The characteristics of their children may have also been the results of the quarrel between them. The hatred went on like a curse as their children grew to be sickly and ugly. The auth or even used ironies like â€Å"the fence his mother had built and strenghtened–to crush his soul. † and â€Å"crushing sterness† of the fence. These ironies were used to describe what Iking felt towards the hatred that his mother acquired for years now, it was crushing him, his soul. He could have been happier when this anger between the two women wasn't existing at all.A situational irony between Iking and the daughter of Aling Sebia also occured when Iking had spoken to her for the first time, it was also the last time. As Iking awaits for the music, he loses hope and thought that maybe the hatred had also gone through the girl's heart unlike him who kept no hatred or anger. This means that living a life in hatred is a choice you can take or reject. And â€Å"as the moon descended† literally pointed out to his heartbeat slowly dying. He died with a heart of no anger, with an ear waiting for music but was dissaponted.So timely the guitar played as if it mourns for the death of Iking but Aling Buang rather took it a as a mock, she stood and looked accusingly to the other side, but she saw nothing other than the stately white fence which refers to her hatred. As she looks at her neighbor the only feeling she is able to find in her heart is hatred and nothing more than it. Lastly, the author wants us to know the effects of planting hatred within our hearts. I beleive that the author of this story acts as a omniscient third person. he knew each and every detail that only the two women should have known.He also showed us what consequences having hatred can bring in our real lives. The theme of this story is mainly hatred. Hatred is an intense dislike or ill will. The author was able to describe to us how intense the hatred of the two characters contain for each other, he also would like to clear our minds that hatred shouldn't be something we plant inside our hearts and nurture. This is something that would ruin us, our lives and the l ives of the people around us. Why bother hating one person to death when you could have moved on and live a happy life. As they say, we only live once and hatred isn't something worthy to waste a lifetime with.