Harvard business publishing Essay

In mid-September of 2010, Emily Harris, vice president of New Heritage Doll Company’s production division, was weighing project proposals for the company’s upcoming capital budgeting meetings in October. Two proposals stood out based on their potential to strengthen the division’s innovative product lines and drive future growth. However, due to constraints on financial and managerial resources, Harris knew it was possible that the firm’s capital budgeting committee would decline to approve both projects. She also knew that New Heritage’s licensing and retail divisions would promote compelling projects of their own. Consequently, Harris had to be prepared to recommend one of her projects over the other. The Doll Industry Revenues in the U.S. toy and game industry totaled $42 billion in 2008 and were projected to increase by 4.6% per year to $52.5 billion by 2013. The market was divided into two broad segments: video games (48%) and traditional toys and games (52%). The second segment was further divided into infant/preschool toys (14.5%), dolls (14.1%), outdoor & sports toys (12.3%), and other toys & games (59.1%) including arts and crafts, plush toys, action figures, vehicles, and youth electronics. The U.S. market for toys and games was dominated by large global enterprises that enjoyed economies of scale in design, production, and distribution. Revenues were highly seasonal; the largest selling season in the United States coincided with the winter holiday period. Within the toy and game segment, U.S. retail sales of dolls totaled $3.1 billion in 2008 and were projected to grow by 3% per year to $3.6 billion by 2013. The doll category included large, soft, and mini dolls, as well as doll clothing and other accessories. The phenomenon of â€Å"age compression†Ã¢â‚¬â€ the tendency of younger children to acquire dolls that had traditionally been designed for older girls—reduced growth in the â€Å"baby-doll† sub-segment. Competition among doll producers was vigorous, as a small number of large producers targeted similar demographics and marketed their dolls through the same media. Lasting franchise value for a branded line of dolls was rare; the enormous success of Barbie ® dolls was an obvious exception. More recently and on a much smaller ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ HBS Professor Timothy Luehrman and HBS MBA Heide Abelli prepared this case solely as a basis for class discussion and not as an endorsement, a source of primary data, or an illustration of effective or ineffective management. Th is case, though based on real events, is fictionalized, and any resemblance to actual persons or entities is coincidental. There are occasional references to actual companies in the narration. Copyright  © 2010 Harvard Business School Publishing. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of Harvard Business Publishing. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact info@thecasecentre.org Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting 4212 | New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting scale, New Heritage also had created a durable franchise for its line of heirloom dolls. But the popularity of most doll lines waned after a few years. New Heritage Dolls By 2009, New Heritage had grown to 450 employees and generated approximately $245 million of revenue1 and $27 million of operating profit from three divisions: production, retailing, and licensing. The production division, discussed further below, designed and produced dolls and doll accessories. The retailing division offered a unique â€Å"intergenerational experience† for grandmothers, mothers, and daughters, centered upon the character histories and storylines of the company’s dolls and delivered through an online website (42%), a mail-order paper catalog (33%), and a network of retail stores (25%). In fiscal 2009, the retailing division generated roughly $190 million of revenue and $4.8 million of operating profit. The licensing division was started in 1998, and represented the company’s newest and most profitable division. It sought to extend the New Heritage brand and capitalize on high levels of customer loyalty by selectively licensing the company’s doll characters and themes to a variety of media that reached the firm’s target demographic of toddler to pre-teen girls. In fiscal year 2009 the licensing division generated $24.5 million of revenue and $14.5 million in operating profit. New Heritage’s Production Division Production was New Heritage’s largest division as measured by total assets, and easily its most asset-intensive. Approximately 75% of the division’s sales were made to the company’s retailing division, with the remaining 25% comprising private label goods manufactured for other firms. Table 1 summarizes the division’s various sources of revenue and operating income. Table 1 Production Division Data: Revenue ($ millions) Operating Income ($ millions)    New Heritage’s dolls and accessories were offered under distinct brands with different price points, targeting girls between the ages of 3 and 12 years. The company’s baby dolls were generally priced from $15–$30, and were offered to younger girls in earlier stages of development. These dolls typically came with a â€Å"birth certificate† and a short personal history. Dolls in the higher-end of this category incorporated technology that produced a limited amount of speech and motion. For the 1 The division revenue figures include approximately $95 million of internal sales within divisions which are eliminated when considering consolidated revenue for the company. BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact info@thecasecentre.org Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 The New Heritage Doll Company was founded in 1985 by Ingrid Beckwith, a retired psychologist specializing in child development and the grandmother of two young girls. Dr. Beckwith believed the dolls produced by the major toy companies did little to develop girls’ imagination or foster a positive self-image, so she created a line of dolls with unique storylines and wholesome themes. Dr. Beckwith’s dolls struck a chord among mothers and grandmothers who also rejected the dated, clichà ©d images portrayed by the popular dolls of the day. New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting | 4212 New Heritage outsourced much of its production to a select number of contract manufacturers in Asia. To ensure product quality and safety, the company maintained a fulltime staff to oversee material sourcing, production, and quality control on site at each of its manufacturing partners. Manufacturing activities that required precise tolerances or proprietary processes, along with all the creative elements (design and product prototyping, for example), were handled in-house at the company’s headquarters facilities in Sacramento, California. Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 Capital Budgeting at New Heritage New Heritage’s capital budgeting process retained some of the informality that characterized the company’s early years as an innovative startup. As the company grew, deliberate steps were taken to decentralize some of the project approval process and increase spending authority at the division level. However, large and/or strategic spending proposals were reviewed at the corporate level by a capital budgeting committee consisting of the CEO, CFO, COO, the controller, and the division presidents. The committee examined projects for consistency with New Heritage’s business strategy and sought to balance the needs and priorities of each division against practical financial and organizational constraints. The committee also sought to understand project interdependencies and the potential for a given investment to strengthen the whole company, not solely the division proposing it. New Heritage’s capital budget was set by the board of directors in consultation with top officers, who in turn sought input from each of the divisions. The capital and operating budgets were linked; historically, the capital budget comprised approximately 15% of the company’s EBITDA. The committee had limited discretion to expand or contract the budget, according to its view of the quality of the investment opportunities, competitive dynamics, and general industry conditions. Before being considered by the committee, projects were described, analyzed, and summarized in self-contained proposal documents prepared by each division. These contained business descriptions, at least five years of operating and cash flow forecasts, spending requirements by asset category, personnel requirements, calculations of standard investment metrics, and identification of key project risks and milestones. Financial Analyses Financial analysis began with operating forecasts developed with oversight from New Heritage operating managers. Revenue projections were derived from forecasts of future prices and volumes. Fixed and variable costs were estimated separately, by expense category. Forecasts of working capital requirements were likewise vetted by line managers, who paid particular attention to a project’s requirements for various types of inventory. Forecasts for fixed assets and related depreciation charges were developed in cooperation with analysts reporting to the controller. HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING | BRIEFCASES Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact info@thecasecentre.org $75–$150 price range, New Heritage produced a line of heirloom-quality dolls and accessories. These were designed to appeal to older girls and to convey a sense of cultural and family tradition among grandmothers, mothers, and daughters. The heirloom dolls had more elaborate accessories and personal histories. Finally, the company offered a line of high-end dolls based on fictional â€Å"celebrities,† each associated with a charitable cause and embracing more contemporary fashion trends. These dolls targeted girls in the so-called â€Å"tween† age range of 8–12 years, and also were priced from $75–$150. Like the heirloom dolls, celebrity dolls also came with more elaborate stories and accessories. 4212 | New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting New Heritage assigned discount rates to projects according to a subjective assessment of each project’s risk. High-, medium-, and low-risk categories for each division were associated with a corresponding discount rate set by the capital budgeting committee in consultation with the corporate treasurer. Assessments of each project’s risk were made at the division level, but subject to review by the capital committee. Factors considered in the assessment of a project’s risk included, for example, whether it required new consumer acceptance or new technology, high levels of fixed costs and hence high breakeven production volumes, the sensitivity of price or volume to macroeconomic recession, the anticipated degree of price competition, and so forth. In 2010, â€Å"medium†-risk projects in the production division received a discount rate of 8.4%. High- and low-risk projects were assessed at 9.0% and 7.7%, respectively. Projects that created value indefinitely, given continuing investment, were treated as going concerns with a perpetual life. That is, NPV calculations included a terminal value computed as the value of a perpetuity growing at a constant rate. However, to preserve an element of conservatism, the capital committee generally insisted on relatively low perpetual growth rates – lower than New Heritage’s historical growth and lower than near-term growth forecasts for a given division. Investment Opportunities in the Production Division Emily Harris was focused on two of the production division’s most attractive current proposals. The first involved expanding the successful Match My Doll Clothing Line to include matching allseason clothing for tween girls and their favorite dolls. The second involved a new initiative, the Design Your Own Doll line, which employed web-based doll-design software to let users â€Å"customize† a doll’s features to the customer’s specifications. Match My Doll Clothing Line Expansion The Match My Doll Clothing line originally consisted of a few sets of matching doll and child clothing and accessories for warm weather. It quickly became successful after the daughters of a few celebrities were spotted and photographed wearing items from the line, and girls’ magazines included some of the line in â€Å"what’s hot to wear† sections. Given recent publicity, Marcy McAdams, the brand manager responsible for the line, believed the timing was perfect to expand. Specifically, McAdams proposed to create an â€Å"All Seasons Collection† of apparel and gear covering all four seasons of the year. She expected the new offerings to be at least as profitable as the existing line, since its current popularity would make it possible to maintain premium prices. She also hoped to take advantage of off-peak discounts offered by some suppliers and contract manufacturers as they tried to smooth their capacity utilization. In the same fashion, McAdams argued the expansion would help reduce, or at least not exacerbate, the seasonality in New Heritage’s sales and earnings. BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact info@thecasecentre.org Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 Operating projections for a given project were used to develop cash flow forecasts that would underpin calculations of net present value (NPV), internal rates of return (IRR), payback period, and other investment metrics. Cash flow forecasts were intended to capture the incremental effect of a proposed project on the firm’s cash flow for each year within the forecast period. That is, each project’s cash flow forecasts excluded non-cash items, such as depreciation charges, and nonincremental items such as sunk costs (i.e., costs that would be incurred regardless of whether a given project was undertaken or not). The cash flow forecasts were computed on an after-corporate-tax basis, but excluded all financing charges. Some elements of the cash flow forecasts were prepared with assistance from treasury analysts, but most of the necessary adjustments were well understood by division staff. New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting | 4212 To exploit the current popularity of the original Match My Doll Clothing line, especially given the fickle nature of children’s fashion trends, McAdams believed the opportunity had to be exploited without delay. Her investment proposal contained relatively large outlays for R&D, market research, and marketing to maximize the probability of quick acceptance and longer-term success for the follow-on line. Upfront investment expenditures are summarized in Table 2. Table 2 Match My Doll Clothing Extension Outlays The R&D and marketing expenditures would be deductible for tax purposes at New Heritage’s 40% corporate tax rate. The property, plant and equipment was expected to have a useful life of 10 years; the associated depreciation charges, shown in Exhibit 1, were based on the modified accelerated cost recovery system (â€Å"MACRS†) allowed by the IRS. Working capital requirements, shown in Table 2 for 2010 and in Exhibit 1 for subsequent years were based largely on recent historical experience with the original Match My Doll Clothing line. Finally, given the proven success of Match My Doll Clothing, Harris believed the project entailed moderate risk—that is, about the same degree of risk as the production division’s existing business as a whole. Design Your Own Doll This initiative targeted existing New Heritage customers, many of whom owned several of the company’s heirloom dolls. The company’s research showed that, when asked what features (e.g., appearance, ethnicity, â€Å"life story,† etc.) New Heritage should give to future dolls, loyal customers’ responses had a high correlation with their own personal data. That is, girls wanted dolls like themselves. Further research suggested that many loyal customers would purchase yet another doll if they could customize the doll’s features to create a â€Å"one-of-a-kind† addition to a girl’s or family’s existing collection of dolls. It also promised to increase the girl’s pride in and identification with the doll, both because of their shared features and because of the girl’s participation in creating the doll. This in turn further cemented customer loyalty. The customization process would begin with a new section of New Heritage’s website, where proprietary design software enabled the customer to select physical attributes of the doll such as hair color, hair length & style, skin color, eye shape, eye color, and other facial features. The software could combine selected features and produce a photo-realistic image showing the finished doll with user-selected accessories. The customer could zoom in or out on the image and rotate it to see different aspects. The software made it easy to try out different combinations of features and accessories before making a purchase. Elizabeth Holtz, brand manager for heirloom dolls, was very excited about the project. She observed, â€Å"A girl’s relationship with her favorite doll is often partly mommy and partly big sister. Either way, having your doll look more like you is really powerful. And there’s excitement in the experience: exploring the website, naming the doll-to-be, selecting her first outfit†¦even the anticipation of waiting for the new doll to arrive. I really think this is big.† Holtz also believed that the dolls could command a premium price. â€Å"Customers will naturally expect to pay more [for a HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING | BRIEFCASES Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact info@thecasecentre.org Initial Expenditures ($ thousands) 4212 | New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting custom doll],† she said. Market research with focus groups revealed significant enthusiasm for the product concept and supported the notion of premium prices. The web-based software tools and order entry system required New Heritage to make significant modifications to its existing technology infrastructure, expand its webhosting capacity, and modify the terms of its third-party service agreements to ensure a higher level of service quality. The majority of the R&D expenditures shown below were related to software development, hardware upgrades, and web design. The development time involved, including product testing, was expected to be approximately 12 months. Initial outlays, some of which occurred in 2010 and some in 2011 As with Match My Doll Clothing, the required R&D and marketing costs would be tax deductible. Manufacturing equipment had to be ordered by the end of 2010 to be ready for production at the beginning of 2012. While New Heritage had the option to pay for custom equipment in quarterly installments, the firm could get a substantial discount by paying for the equipment up front, in 2010. Figures in Table 3 and Exhibit 2 reflect the discounted cost of the equipment. To support the forecasted level of sales, substantial investment in working capital (primarily work in process inventory of partially manufactured dolls) would be required beginning in 2011. And still more equipment would have to be purchased and installed no later than 2014. In years 2015 and following, investments in working capital and equipment would revert to patterns familiar from the production division’s traditional lines of dolls. To complete development work, Holtz planned to use some of the company’s existing IT staff. The majority of the work would take place during calendar 2011. The number of people and their fully loaded costs are shown Table 4. These costs were not included by Holtz in the initial outlays shown in Table 3 or in the forecasts presented in Exhibit 2. The development personnel Holtz needed were considered â€Å"corporate† resources and were almost certainly available to work on the project. Table 4 Design Your Own Doll Development Personnel, ($ 000s) Application Development Personnel Costs: Web Application Developers Database Manager Systems Integration Specialist Total Cost BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact info@thecasecentre.org However, even a limited degree of customization increased manufacturing complexity and expense. Further, because of the low production runs and volume, fixed costs on a per unit basis were expected to be relatively high. Consequently, the breakeven volume for the project was also expected to be high. New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting | 4212 Finally, Holtz needed to give Harris her assessment of the project’s riskiness. On the one hand, Design Your Own Doll had a relatively long payback period, introduced some untested elements into the manufacturing process, and depended on near-flawless operation of new customer-facing software and user interfaces. If the project stumbled for some reason, New Heritage risked damaging relationships with its best customers. On the other hand, the project had a relatively modest fixed cost ratio, and it played to the company’s key strength—creating a unique experience for its consumers. Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 Emily Harris still needed to complete her review and financial analysis of the two proposals. McAdams and Holtz were in frequent touch with Harris and both had offered to respond to any questions she might have about the proposals: the business case, the financial projections, the operating details, or anything else. Harris expected that she would indeed have some follow-up questions as she worked through her financial analyses. She also knew that her final recommendation might disappoint some executives within the division, who would scrutinize it closely. It had to be well-supported.

Definition of Addiction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Definition of Addiction - Essay Example Actually, addiction is rampant challenge in the world especially among the young people and has adverse effects on human life. There have been many arguments and researches on addiction with various scholars and researchers drawing diverse definitions and explanations on the reference topic. Philip Stater is one of such scholars that seek to explain addiction. Indeed, in his article, â€Å" Want-Creation Fuels Americans Addictiveness,† Philip Stater argues that addiction is a state of wanting and that it is a condition in which the individual feels he or she is incomplete, inadequate, lacking, not whole, and only the addition of something external can solve satisfy it (Stater 391). Philip Stater argues his point by first drawing us to the probable effects of illegalizing cigarette smoking. He argues that even though tobacco would become expensive in America, people would still smuggle tobacco to the country via Miami and New York because they cannot live without it. Moreover, he argues that even if the federal government ban growing and advertising tobacco, many Americans would consequently try smoking cigarette for the first time since Americans love making laws but hate implementing them. He further argues that Americans are self-centred, restless, dissatisfied, and innovative and love trying new things that will give them comfort with speed and no hustles.

International Supply Chain Management (Sourcing Strategies) Essay

International Supply Chain Management (Sourcing Strategies) - Essay Example As a result of near-shoring activities, enhancement of cultural affinity takes place which acts as a boon to the modern businesses with respect to their value chain activities. The cultural affinity being developed provides strong prospect for the long-term relationship development among the various entities of the supply chain. As a result of this, the supply functions of the companies enhance up to a considerable extent. Finally, it is worthy to mention that the new approach of near-shoring as a sourcing strategy offers cost advantages to the companies. The proximity of time zone allows the companies to reduce the extra amount of work required to match with the time of the entity in other ends of the supply chain. The cultural affinity leads to reduced amount of time spend upon the cycles required for reaching a consensus (Neoris Practical Visionaries, 2010). However, the activities within near-shoring strategy for sourcing are not without risk associated with it. Although it is be tter to go for near-shoring than off-shoring as according to the contemporary managers, near-shoring cannot lead the companies towards achievement of goal when applied alone. A combination of off-shoring, onsite and near-shoring would provide better result than being used alone. Thus, instead of determining the advantage of near-shoring over off-shoring, it would be beneficial for the contemporary mangers to identify the most effective combination through which goals can be achieved (Bell, 2005). On-Shoring Along with near-shoring, on-shoring has also been evolving as an innovative concept in the businesses where efficient supervision of supply... This essay stresses that the opportunity cost associated with outsourcing at times triggers the interest among the companies to remain preset to this process. This is because through outsourcing the production units can derive the advantage of lower production costs in the developing nations of the world which would not be possible with the process of in-sourcing. Another noticeable disadvantage of in-sourcing is that the focus of the company gets deviated from its core competencies because of in-sourcing. In-sourcing might bring about the necessity of concentrating upon certain activities like that of IT in which the company is not expert at. In such a situation, the time, the efforts and the resources that will be spend over activities other than the core activities would be considered as extra amount of cost This paper makes a conclusion that development of various combinations of the modern sourcing strategies would be essential. The companies can then adopt various means of assessing each of the combinations in a critical way. The combination that anticipates the most effective output for the companies should be selected. These actions of the companies in relation to the adoption of one best sourcing strategy are helpful for both the short-term as well as the long-term prospects of the companies. This is because effectiveness of the sourcing strategies leads towards enhanced competency of the supply functions of the companies which is a competitive aspect in the context of the modern businesses.

Balance-of-Power theory in World War I & II Research Paper

Balance-of-Power theory in World War I & II - Research Paper Example While WWI was more re suit of growing tension and competition, WWI was caused by direct aggression (Russel 130). The swelling of nationalist pride that began in the 19th century and endured into the 20th induced both wars at least partly. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand and the conflict between on Serbia and Austria, for example, was a result of Serbian nationalism and was fueled by a longing for self-determination. World War II was also begun by nationalism, especially that of the Germans. It was this German nationalism and desire for sell‘-determination that fueled Hitler's campaigns to take over Europe. Both wars were sparked by the upset of the delicate balance of power in Europe. In WWI, tension between the big powers of the time- Germany Britain Russia and France- upset this balance, likewise the balance was tipped ones again when Hitler’s campaign began and the German ‘Reich’ began to expand. While WWI began with a conflict between small countrie s, which then branched out through the tangled alliances of Europe to other larger countries. WWII began with the big powers. WWI can be traced back to the rivalry between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. Over time, large powers such as Russia and Germany stepped in to defend their allies and this enraged oven more countries. The inception of WWI was therefore like a 'ripple' effect beginning quite small, and then expanding. WWII was quite the opposite, beginning with the brutal campaigns and expansion of revisionist powers Germany and Japan. If WWI began with a ripple, WWII began with explosion. Large European powers got involved in WW1 because they wanted to protect their allies, not because of direct acts of aggression against them. WWII was marked by such acts daggrassim as the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the invasion of Poland, and the Rape of Hackling. While WWI began largely because of tension between countries that had been caused by competition over reign markets and colonies (Paul et al 112). Largely Fascism and a thirst for revenge began WWII. Hitler’s attacks on Europe and the transformation of Germany into a dictatorship was made possible because the German people were vulnerable and scarred by the previous war. These wars could be considered one continual conflict that was not properly resolved in the interim. The nationalism, alliances, and aggression that led to both wars points out that their roots were quite similar. The lesson learned is that the resolutions or lack of it has therefore shaped the way we make peace today. Both World War I and II were preceded by large armament buildups. In WWI, in Europe they were of a long-standing nature and in response to balance-of-power exigencies which usually placed a two to four times greater per capita burden on the populace than in the United States Germany‘s per capita burden was 7.65 times more than that of the US. There was no doubt that it was a nation poised for war. There was little suppo rt for a contrary opinion in both world wars; eminent expenses grew beyond the security needs of the nations. Rates immediately prior to both wars were of such a magnitude as to strongly suggest the imminence of war. In both these cases, inhibitory controls on armaments could have prevented wars of the sizes that occurred. For example, Treaty of versatile prohibitions on Germany and the League of Nations treaties vetoed by Great Britain in the 1923-25 period. What distinguished the occurrence of WWI and WWII entailed the dependence on the military, and the inhibitory controls. The choices made were military ones: balance of power and Maginot Lincoln neither ease did these methods perform, as intended, to prevent war. In terms of the present model in the WWI-WWII interim period, German DT was not

Slave experience in north america Research Paper

Slave experience in north america - Research Paper Example The implications and nature of slavery in North America can be better understood by focusing and researching on the different experiences of slaves in the region. However, most scholars have deliberately failed to employ the different documented records of the experiences of slaves. Nonetheless, each black family of different social groups, which was involved in slavery, has their own opinions and views about the whole practice.1 However, researchers in the study of slavery in North America have neglected the testimonies of various past slaves. Therefore, using different documented records, including slave narratives and interviews, this paper will explain the slave experience in North America. Slavery for the black men and women in North America was a devastating experience for both of the genders. First, both black men and women slaves brought to North America were forcefully taken out of their homes. Therefore, this had separated them from their families, which they would never se e again. All slaves in North America were subjected to similar treatment, regardless of their gender. Therefore, both men and women were forced to perform hard and grueling tasks, which were highly mentally and physically demanding. The slaves were also regarded as property, therefore were not entitled to any form of rights. Male slaves were more in number compared to the female slaves, since these were considered stronger, thus capable of many heavy tasks. Therefore, while males were assigned jobs such as carpentry and blacksmithing, most of their female counterparts worked in the agricultural fields and were also assigned other jobs such as cooking. The gender divide was not respected in slavery. Motherhood was debased for all the female slaves. While motherhood and reproduction was highly upheld in the slaves’ homeland prior to their slavery, in slavery, this was regarded beneficial to the slave masters, since it led to the multiplication of their number of slaves, thus in creased labour supply. The masters also exploited the black women slaves sexually, since their spouses could not offer protection to them. Nonetheless, slaves responded differently to their slavery situations. Women had to persevere in slavery for the sake of their children, as the African nature emphasized the role of a mother as a caregiver, thus they sacrificed their comfort for the sake of their loved ones. On the other hand, most male slaves considered escape as the main solution to run away from slavery and protect their ego and masculinity.2 In the early 20th century, most journalist and writers showed interest in the topic of slavery, and therefore wished to debunk the various incidences and experiences, which comprised the practice of slavery. Therefore, between the years 1936-1938, journalists and writers in the United States embarked on the task of looking out for former slaves in different states, and interviewing them, in order to reveal and learn about the slavery expe rience in North America. In their interviews, the journalists and writers interviewed close to 3,000 former slaves. However, most of the interviewees were those born in the last period of slavery and others during the period of the civil war. Nonetheless, these provided first-hand accounts of the experiences,

The Essential Characteristics of Loving Assignment

The Essential Characteristics of Loving - Assignment Example According to Freud, present society is on the third level of restriction of sexuality: it controls even those sexual activities that are intended for procreation only (â€Å"Civilized’ Sexual Morality and Modern Nervousness† 6). This is dangerous, because in this situation: (1) individual libidinal characteristics (that often differ from the societal demands) are ignored and (2) every man and woman is being torn apart by 2 contradictory yet inescapable desires. One of them is the need of appreciation from fellow human beings, which is impossible when the sexual behavior of an individual is considered inappropriate. Another one is an instinct that Freud associates with love. In â€Å"Civilized’ Sexual Morality and Modern Nervousness†, the founder of psychoanalysis describes sexual instinct as almost a living creature that is innate in every human. It is a subject to development, and the problems in the way of this development lead to different types of neur oses (in the article, Freud distinguishes between neurasthenia and psychoneurosis (4). This â€Å"animal inside us† is incomparably greedy and cruel: it is â€Å"probably more strongly developed in man than in most of the higher animals; it is certainly more constant, since it has almost entirely overcome the periodicity belonging to it in animals† (â€Å"Civilized’ Sexual Morality and Modern Nervousness† 5). Freud does not recommend tolerating abstinence, as it suppresses the dangerous sexual instinct. In such cases, the latter is either ‘sublimated’ or resulting in neuroses. However, marriage does not offer any attractive alternatives, as it limits the sexual satisfaction of the couple to the pre-conception intercourses (â€Å"Civilized’ Sexual Morality and Modern Nervousness† 8). Following this logic, marriage is a severe stress, especially for women, so that neurotic girls cannot make the good party (according to Freud) and are succumbed to the abstinence-related neuroses (â€Å"Civilized’ Sexual Morality and Modern Nervousness† 8). In the paper â€Å"On the Universal Tendency to Debasement in the Sphere of Love†, Freud develops this theory of sexual instinct. As a physician, he approaches love technically, mainly as a working instrument of the explanation of neuroses: â€Å"The highest phase of development of which object-libido is capable is seen in the state of being in love, when the subject seems to give up his own personality in favor of an object-cathexis† (Freud, â€Å"On Narcissism† 76). From this quotation, it follows that sexual instinct is always object-directed, and it finds its objects either in the people surrounding an individual or an individual him/herself.  

International Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International Strategic Management - Essay Example So, it is evident that for an organization to become sustainable it has to optimally care for people as well as the planet and this brings into the picture the concept of Triple Bottom Line (TBL). This concept is also known as the ‘people-planet-profit’ approach because as the name suggests, organization must have three different bottom lines of people, planet, and profit to function effectively and achieve success. However, this concept might not be applicable to the organizations during certain situations, necessitating corrective strategies. So, this concept of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) will be evaluated here firstly focusing on how it is indeed useful for businesses and then discussing the difficulties of measuring the social and environmental contributions that a business makes and how these difficulties can be managed. Triple Bottom Line (TBL) was originally an accounting framework which focused mainly on profits, return on investment, and shareholder value. However, it was John Elkington who reoriented this concept to include environmental as well as social dimensions in 1980s. He further strengthened this reorientation by coining the phrase â€Å"people, planet, profit† in 1994. Elkington (2004, p.3) has defined TBL as the concept that â€Å"focuses corporations not just on the economic value they add, but also on the environmental and social value they add (or destroy)†. Elkington brings in broader perspectives by referring TBL to all the processes, issues, and values that organizations have to manage in order to eliminate or minimize their negative impacts on the social and environmental aspects. â€Å"This involves being clear about the company’s purpose and taking into consideration the needs of all the company’s stakeholders—shareholders, customers, emplo yees, business partners, governments, local communities and the public† (Elkington 2004, p.3). Chapman & Milne (2004)