A marketing plan for a small gym

A marketing plan for a small gym I will be opening a small business. It will be a gym called Maximize Yourself. It is a private business, this seemed fit because it is a new business and incase it fails, I will have limited liabilities. The Goal of any business would obviously be to make a profit, but to enjoy yourself whilst doing so is important. The goal of enjoying is going to happen automatically because I love fitness training and being able to help others achieve their fitness goals makes it all worth the while. To jump start the business and start making quick profits, debts are required to be repaid, bank overdrafts will be paid as soon as possible to jump start the profit making process. The gym offers amazing services and products including, clothing, supplements, and protection gear and of course fitness training. The gym will have 6 employees including 2 women and 4 men. The women will be mostly concerned with boxing and fitness training and the men focus more on the main gym room, boxing, and also rehabilitation done by myself. All employees are able to answer any questions that members might have, give tips on how to do exercises, and even offer nutritional plans to those of whom are looking to improve their diets. The gym is located in Ryde because there are no other gyms in the area and it is a high traffic area. There is also a pool nearby and sporting clubs in Ryde making it an advantage because people would want to stay in shape and have nice bodies to show off. Also the fact that there are no competitors nearby makes it less of a hassle to have to constantly keep up with competitors. The gym is open 7 days a week, from 8 am to 8pm on Monday to Friday and 8 am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday. Maximize yourself gives bonus offers whether its free boxing and fitness training classes, or discounts for multiple members entering at once, discounts for people who refer others and of course for loyal long term members. This business is all about, overcoming objectives using various strategies, achieving goals, helping people with their fitness goals, and enjoying a job at a gym. Because the gym is in the establishment stage it needs to build a reputation, and to do this we are giving special trial offers and also advertising via commercials and radio broadcasts, etc. Business Description and Ownership It will be a small business, its called Maximize Yourself, it will be a Private Company because it is a new business and if it fails it will limited liabilities. The goals of the business will be to make a profit and to do this it will need to build a reputation, starting with ads like commercials showing free trial offers and deducted prices on equipment in the opening month to get some customers. It will be located in Ryde because there arent many gyms there and its a high traffic area. I will be the owner and start off with 6 employees that have personal training experience to help customers with training and they will ensure all equipment is in place and help with questions that members might have. Employees will rotate between jobs and I will manage financial statements like cash flow in and out of the business. The purpose of the business is to help people with physical goals whether its building or losing weight and in doing this make profit. I will need to manage my funds for the equipment I will be buying with a loan and then repay them when I can. Purpose of plan Preventing failure and guiding a business to achieve its goals is the main purpose of a business plan. By setting targets for the business a giving a design it enables it to evaluate its progress against identified reference points. In order to have a clear direction with the business and a path for the future a well written business plan must be created. It can show how the business could perform in the future and the priorities that are set for the business. The goals of Maximize yourself include: Making a profit (Financial goal, short term/long term) Satisfaction in work self achievement (Personal goal) Long term security Financially (Financial goal, long term) Sponsorship by supplement/ body fitness companies (Social goal) Successful business (Personal goal/Financial goal, long term) Increasing market share (Financial goal) Help people achieve their physical goals (Personal goal/social goal) According to the textbook a business plan outlines: A description of the business (Name, address, organisation and management) The businesss goals A market analysis Customer needs and size of the market The goods and/or services the business provides The industry in which the business operates Marketing/production/financial/employment relation strategies. Situation Analysis This is to make an analysis of the position of the business at the present time SWOT analysis Strengths Great Locations Brand new equipment No bad perspectives of the business because its new Buildable reputation based on service Good manager Skilled and qualified Workers Good use of technology 4 rooms (gym room, fitness training room, boxing room, rehabilitation room) Great reputation (over 100 members) New and updated equipment Large rooms for easy transition between equipment and rooms Weaknesses Low amount of staff and therefore longer shifts Still an expanding financial position High costs required for quick profits No reputation Opportunities Expanding to new locations A growing market means more people will participate Can attract more people due to it being a multigendered gym Threats Increased rent costs Possible changes in governmental regulations. Competitors (Runyaway gym) Competitor Analysis Runyaway Gym Strengths Low prices Many workers A lot of equipment Great reputation Good finance Trained employees Qualified and experienced managers and workers Weaknesses Due to it being popular it has high membership costs Its large reputation means that the Gym could be filled with members at certain times Opportunities Much easy chance of expanding to new locations Large profit allows it to Buy out competitors Threats Competitors (Fitness First) A lot of gyms are starting up Loss of members due to high costs Market Analysis provides enough information to convince a lender or investor that the business has enough existing or potential customers to achieve a certain amount of sales even though theres competitors Target Market and market research The reason maximize yourself is located in Ride is because there arent any gyms in that area, but there is sporting teams and swimming pools which will influence people to want to workout out, lose weight and get fit, to look and feel better and what better way then joining the gym and pursuing their goals . The businesses main focus is: Helping people achieve their physical goals with prices that wont burn a hole through their income. A place to socialise and possibly meet future husbands/wives and also to share tips and make new friends. Also teenagers will be a major topic, due to the fact that there is suddenly a revolution of mostly teenage boys wanting to get into shape a build muscles to show off to the girl in summer. -Aged people, to keep their fitness levels up and maintain their dietary needs. -Lastly, mothers, having to lose those stubborn few pounds to achieve the body they had before getting pregnant Market Segmentation The division of the total market into small segments based on the similar characteristics of a customer group. This is a prediction of how many members the gym will have in the first 2 months, and their age range. AGE AMOUNT OF MEMBERS 10-15 5 16-18 15 19-26 44 26-35 19 36+ 17 This is a prediction of what areas of the gym they will be doing Age Bodybuilding Boxing Body Fitness Cardio/weight loss room 10-15 1 4 0 0 16-18 9 4 2 0 19-26 24 10 2 8 26-35 4 2 2 11 36+ 1 5 1 10 Objectives and strategies Objectives are specific goals. They need to be S.M.A.R.T which means they need to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed. Key business functions Operations: The physical production of a good or the provision of a service. Since my business is a gym it is service based. This can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. Its an advantage because: -There isnt that extra hassle of having enough stock -Making sure its not over stocked -Finding the latest new products to sell to appeal to consumers needs and compete with other businesses -Having to constantly innovate into the business later on in the business life cycle. This is a disadvantage because -If what your providing isnt selling then you could always innovate new products into your business, but when its service based there is no backup, therefore it means that your service must be so good that it will appeal to others and keep consumers interested -It costs a lot more to replace equipment used for services as opposed to just replacing a product -The fact that you cant actually advertise how good your service is as opposed to saying how good a product is in an advertisement. Also having a good description of the good or service, including: -Technology used -Materials and equipment required -Supplies used Testing and evaluation expenses The service the business will provide includes: -From open till close, 7 days a week, at all hours, there will be personal trainers available throughout the gym answering any questions members might have and also helping out people with their workouts, and giving tips on how to maximize their time in the gym to get the best possible results and help them to achieve their goals fast. -Personal trainers that will constantly give feedback to members and support them as they strive to achieve their goals. -A range of knowledge ranging from bodybuilding and body fitness to fat burning and rehabilitation, also kickboxing will be taught by a former champion. The businesses service will be amazing because all employees will have experiences of at least one of these categories and will be able to share experiences and accomplishments and help members do the same. Objectives for the gym include reducing cost of merchandise like supplements, and gym gear, also lowering membership costs or giving free offers, a strategy to accomplish thisis to lower the prices but be aware of competitors prices so the business has a fighting chance, its at a reasonable price, and its still making profit. Another objective will be to improve quality of the service and the products sold, strategies involve researching about the new and latest product but for the sake of them being beneficial as opposed to them costing more then requiring members to pay more for products, also introducing new employees or exercise categories like yoga to attract a variety of consumers. Marketing: This involves finding out what consumers need and want and linking these to the businesses product/service. These may result in a new promotional campaign. Appealing to consumers needs and wants is one of the very daunting tasks of the establishment stage, because it requires finding out what the consumers want and being able to provide that with your business. In terms of a gym, consumers want to be able to achieve their physical goals without getting ripped off, they want to be able to be able to get their moneys worth, be in a comfortable, friendly and inviting environment that would make them want to continuing using the gym without the hassle of being in a crammed room that contains weights, bikes, boxing bags and boxing rings, and be able to navigate throughout the gym with ease. In words this is easy, but being able to be a competitor on the market and show consumers just how good the gym is, will be a challenging task. An objective of the business will be to increase the number of members of the gym by 5 percent in the first year. Strategies to achieve this objective will include trial offers and deducted prices, also special offers that include discounts on equipment and classes to get new members and allow them to experience the gym and potentially keep them as members and possibly have them refer other people to the gym. The main strategy is to find what the consumers want and being able to provide it, also giving people a reason to joining your gym as opposed to going to another gm which will be a competitor. To do this the gym will be for both male and female and for all ages. Other objectives include increased market share which also allows the business to have a chance against competitors and last of course increased profits by 10 % in 12 months. Strategies to achieve this include introducing new products that appeal to consumer demand like the latest supplements or the newest workout machine; this will potentially get more members and also extend current members membership. Marketing strategies must be consistent, the following must be taken into consideration: -Position: Knowing consumers perspective on your product/service and being apply to use this information to improve your business -Price: Set prices, how it was determined and how it is compared to competitors. -Place: Available distribution methods must be assessed Accounting and finance: Provides the financial information needed for sound and viable decision-making. All small businesses must have the following to function properly and also to keep track of money. Financial requirements are needed; new businesses must have a clear idea of the amount of funds they will need. This could come from debt financing or the original owners equity, keeping track of the businesses budget and cash flow is crucial because it lets the owner know what areas are making profit and which areas are slowing the increase in profit. To keep track of these, businesses use a range of tools such as financial forecasting which tells the owner whether or not they can afford to produce the product or provide the service, this helps with a gym because it helps to show which products are selling, and whether or not the quality of their service is good based on the amount of members that they have or the amount of members the have ended their membership. Also theres financial records, this is good for small businesses so they can keep track of their finances, they will need to have, revenue statements (Income, profit and loss of the gym), cash flow statements (the money coming into and going out of the gym), balance sheets and budgets. Also theres breakeven: A planning tool that can be used to forecast how much of the product must be produced, or the service must be provided to cover costs of product and cost of paying employees to cover costs and make a profit. Lastly, financial controls are needed, which is having controls in place to ensure the business stays on track. These controls allow corrective action to be taken and without controls, the businesses ability to succeed start to be questioned. Objectives include reducing debts, that being said reducing the bank overdraft for all the equipment and land that was bought from $35000 to $25000 after 6 months, strategies for this to be done include getting more members to make profit and to do this, the gym will need to be advertised and show special offers to get consumers attention. Another objective includes increases profits by 10 % in the next 12 months by advertising more to make more money, also by continuing to sell products and providing services. Employment Relations: Due to such easy access to technology and raw materials, a businesses staff has become a valuable asset. The gym has an excellent range of staff hand picked by the owner due to their experience and the fact that they did a personal training course, or completed a course for the area of the gym they are working in. A challenge for the owner is keeping the employees interested in the job, this can be bother an easy or hard task depending on whether or not they like the job to start with. Objectives include increasing the pay of the employees. Even though the business is still starting out, a rise in pay should still occur because there wont be much members at first and itll make it easy for the employees to get bored of their jobs. Also rewards and bonuses will be given to employees who deserve it. 10% increase in employees pay in 12 months. A strategy to achieve this will be to possibly cut back the owners pay for a while or by advertising more to sell more products and get more members to make more money to be able to pay the employees. The numbers of staff, and the skills they contain have a large impact on strategic goals, the employment relations of the gym has objectives such as: Ensuring that the employees understand what their job is and whats expected, ensuring a healthy and safe environment, measuring and evaluating their perfomances. Strategies to achieve them include buying fresh new equipment and products, training the employees for a few weeks, keeping track of employee achievements. Job Description Must have a resume showing all recent achievements. Most have completed a personal training course or have certificates in the area they wish to work in. Also at least 3 years experience of the job. Also a medical check is needed to ensure that there is no injuries that will affect the employee on the job. Staffing requirements Rostering is the process of allocating particular staff to complete particular duties. Employees: Steph Greensburg Personal trainer (Completed personal fitness course) Penelope Chaaya Personal Trainer, boxer (Body Fitness course) Tim Stevens Personal Trainer, bodybuilder ( Personal training course, 5 years experience) Alex Dagher Personal Trainer, Boxing (3 Year personal training course) -Simon Rassy Former boxing champion (degree in personal training) Charles Chaaya (Boss) Personal Trainer, Physiotherapist, Rehabilitation doctor (degree in personal training, 4 year course of physiotherapist, 3 year course on body fitness) ROSTER Example: 1 hour break Day (8am-2pm) Area (3pm-8pm) 6pm on Saturday and sunday Area Monday Charles Chaaya Steph Penelope Gym room Boxing Room Rehabilitation room Charles Chaaya Steph Penelope Gym room Boxing/cardio Fitness training Tuesday Alex Tim Simon Cardio/fitness Gym room Boxing Alex Tim Simon Cardio/fitness Gym room Boxing Wednesday Steph Alex Charles Cardio/fitness Gym room Rehabilitation Steph Alex Charles Cardio/fitness Boxing Gym room Thursday Steph Tim Penelope Cardio/fitness Gym room Boxing Steph Tim Penelope Cardio/fitness Gym room Boxing Friday Charles Simon Alex Rehabilitation Boxing Gym room Charles Simon Alex Gym room Cardio/fitness Fitness training Saturday Steph Penelope Tim Cardio/fitness Boxing Gym room Steph Penelope Tim Cardio/fitness Boxing Gym room Sunday Charles Simon Alex Rehabilitation Boxing Gym room Charles Simon Alex Rehabilitation Boxing Gym room Price / Promotion The pricing of Maximize yourself will be based on whether it is an affordable amount, and whether or not it beat competitor pricing. There will be promotions of cheaper trial offers to let people try out the gym and see whether they like it or not. There will be free trials for boxing classes and body fitness classes to also attract a wide range of consumers. Also bonuses included free boxing or body fitness lessons with 3+ month memberships, this will also be to gain members. Apart from profit being a main goal, it is important to have an environment where people dont feel trapped in a maze and can move around freely, and these offers will allow the consumers o discover just how good the gym is. There must be a distinguish between maximize yourself and other gyms, that being, and amazing service and of course amazing prices. Ways of Promoting the gym include: A commercial -Social networking sites -Radio -Door to door sales informing residents of the cheap offers -Discounts for referrals -bonuses for long term members Membership Fees Single visits: $5.00 per person 1 week pass: $20.00 1 month membership: $55.00 3 months membership: $140.00 6 months membership: $240.00 12 months membership: $400.00 OR free boxing/Body fitness classes: membership cost+$15.00 Classes will be posted on a timetable hung up in the gym: Boxing: 1 Class: $8 1 Month: $55 Body Fitness 1 Class: $5 1 Month: $35 Supplement Prices MUSCLE MASS Protein bucket: 1kg: $30, 2kg: $50, 4kg: $80 Creatine Powder: $30 Fat burner supplement: $40 Bulk Building supplements: $60+ depending on product. Products: Bodybuilder and 100% Natural shirts: $15 each Training Singlets: $10 (Different Colours) Gloves for weights: $20 (different colours) Belt for weights: $40 (different colours) Product Due to Maximize yourself being a new gym it is obvious that it will have new top notch products, including trademark brands which are easily bought due to a friend of the owners being a seller of them giving him discounted prices. Due to the spacious layout of the gym the equipment will be spread accordingly allowing free movement without bunching into equipment and interrupting others during their workouts. Obvious products will be sold such as supplements, shirt, singlets, gloves and belts. The products of course vary in size to suit different sized customers and the maximize yourself logo will be on the lower back of the shirts/singlets and imprinted on the belts and gloves. Place How and where the product is distributed. Maximize Yourself did not create the supplements they are going to sell. Although everything else is owned by the business and they are all made by a retailer then send to the business when stock is ordered. Only Maximize yourself will be able to sell the equipment due to it being exclusive distribution. Description of the product/service Even though Maximize Yourself is service based it sells many great products. Services include the following: The gym area, this is where all the main equipment is, this room is mostly used for bodybuilding and contain all the weights and machines that assist with bodybuilding, there will always be a personal trainer in there helping people with their weight training and giving out advice/ answering questions. Also the other trained staff who run boxing classes and fitness training class simultaneously are expertly trained and will give you your moneys worth. Whether thats to learn how to defend yourself, lose weight or get fitter, theyll supply the help. Equipment inside the gym Bench press x 2 $500 Power racks $800 Rubber floors- $1000 per square metre Rubber mats x 8 -$100 Cable equipment (For all muscles) 45 degree leg press $400 45 degree back extension $200 Dip / pull up assist machine $200 Medicine balls x 6 $120 Set of Dumbbells- $1500 Fitness step x 4 $360 Barbell set (10kg 70kg) $2500 Smith Machine x 2 $3000 Rowing machines x 3 $2000 Treadmills x 3 $4000 Exercise bikes x 12 $5000 Boxing bags x 5 $600 Boxing ring $3000 Helmets x 20 $800 Boxing gloves x 20 pairs $600 Personal Trainers Steph Greensburg Personal trainer (Completed personal fitness course) Penelope Cruz Personal Trainer, boxer (Body Fitness course) Tim Stevens Personal Trainer, bodybuilder ( Personal training course, 5 years experience) Alex Dagher Personal Trainer, Boxing (3 Year personal training course) -Simon Rassy Former boxing champion (degree in personal training) Charles Chaaya (Boss) Personal Trainer, Physiotherapist, Rehabilitation doctor (degree in personal training, 4 year course of physiotherapist, 3 year course on body fitness) Classes Boxing See instructors for details Fitness training See instructors for details Boxing Class Learn how to fight and defend yourself with our top notch boxing instructors. Fitness training Intensive cardio, bodyweight training like pushups, dips, squats, lunges, abdominal circuits. Opening hours Monday Friday: 8am 8pm Saturday Sunday: 8am 6pm Front Counter Drinks Singlets Shirts Supplements Gloves Belt Boxing gloves Wrist pads Maximize yourself offers great discounts like: Free trials Discounts for loyal members More people=less you pay Financial Forecasts Balance Sheet Maximize Yourself Pty Ltd Current assets Cash $10000 Accounts Receivable $20000 Inventory $30000 TOTAL $60000 Non-Current assets Equipment $150,000 Land $250,000 Building/Property $100,000 TOTAL $500 000 Other Current Assets Good Will $100,000 TOTAL assets: $660 000 Current Liabilities Overdraft $80 000 Accounts Payable $30 000 TOTAL $110 000 Non Current Liabilities Mortgage $600,000 TOTAL $600 000 Owners Equity Shareholders funds $167,000 Capital $80,000 Retained Profits $40,000 Total Liabilities + Equity $997 000 Liquidity = Current Assets . Current Liabilities =$60000 = 0.55 $110,000 Cash Flow Statement Cash flow from operating activities Receipts from customers Payments to Suppliers and Employees Net cash provided by operating activities $120000 ($110 000) $10 000 Cash Flow from investing Activities Payment for Property, plant and equipment Net cash provided by investing activities ($50000) ($50000) Cash Flow from Financing Activities Repayment of borrowing Net cash provided by financing activities Net increase (decrease) in cash held Cash at beginning of year $40000 $40000 ($5000) $(20000) Cash at end of year ($25000) Critically review the plan and process In all honesty, I actually enjoyed doing the assignment, sure it was EXTREMELY long but it involves me being creative and actually doing an assignment about a topic I like for once. I must admit, if it wasnt for my plan and help from the business teachers I wouldve had no clue what I was doing. Now that I think of it, I regret not setting out my plan correctly, I left to much of the report if not ALL of it for the last due date, this left me with a mess load of work, plus the fact that I didnt manage my time and ended up having to do more than half the assignment in the last two days. I regret not asking as many questions in class. It was startling having a different teach teaching the subject after having Mrs Jones for so long but I eventually adjusted. I was disappointed in my slow progression and poor time management skills, and having assignments for other subjects just made it all the more less motivating in proceeding to complete this assignment. One of my worst flaws is my short attention span, something as little as seeing an item on my desk would cause me to stop and daydream, also knowing that I was one click away from face book and msn. On top of all these distraction is my MAJOR distraction! My Xbox 360, my mentality was always, play now, do business later, Im so good at this game, I cant just stop playing now im owning' is what I always said to myself, even whilst making progress I thought about getting off the computer and going to play. Another factor was friends, theres always someone to have a discussion with, and of course anything to get out of doing work right? Overall I believed I achieved what I planned to and was glad due to the relief of completing such a detailed assignment. I believe a few more lessons dedicated to actually explaining the assignment mightve motivated me to have completed some work sooner. Although Im g

Corporate Strategy for Iranian Car Industry

Corporate Strategy for Iranian Car Industry Abstract The purpose of this research is to come across an effective and implemental strategy for Iranian car industry to become an export player in the Middle-East region. With consideration the importance of market development for international auto makers, the Middle-East market is evaluated and Iran as a case study is looked over in terms of its potential automobile market and developing opportunities in Iranian car industry to become a manufacturing partner for international players. Through out a review of Iranian economy and the position of auto sector in Iran economy, the difficulties of growth and development, the role of government- as the regulator- are discussed briefly and the effect of international auto makers -in the past and future- is analyzed. On this basis, we point out the main troubles of the current auto industrys structure and the government dilemma to set its policies. At the end we suggest a reform in the structure and strategy of both assemblers and suppliers to ent er to the international markets. Keywords: Operation strategy; Iran auto industry; Globalization, Regionalization, Industry study Introduction Irans economic performance has begun to improve slowly after a decade of recession which was caused by the long and costly war with Iraq and fluctuations in oil prices. In the decade ending in 1998, GDPs growth per capitals started to rise, although the average was only 3 percent per year. (Economic reports, the World Bank Group) The automotive industry, as one of Irans most promising industries, was the countrys fastest growing industry with the average annual growth of 27.2% between 1995 and 2000 which was 5.5 times of the country average industrial growth. (Economic Focus, Iran Daily News). The domestic vehicle production is growing quickly but it is highly protected, and only in highly exceptional circumstances can Iranians import cars from abroad. Locally produced cars have a reputation for poor quality and have contributed to the dangerously high pollution levels. Also, Iranian firms were not able to satisfy the domestic market in terms of quantity. Demand for automobiles, particularly passenger vehicles, far exceeds the supply. In fact, more than 450,000 people pre-purchase automobiles every year and wait approximately two years to receive them. As a result the government, which wants to raise unit production and improve domestic industry in line with industrialization program, hopes to stimulate competition as part of the effect to make the economy less dependent on oil. In order to follow the market reform plans and provide better circumstances for the countrys main industries such as petrochemical industry, textile and etc, President Khatami (since August 1997- 2005) in 1999, announced an ambitious program to privatize several major industries which included auto industry as a part of total restructuring of Iranian economy. Currently 13 public and privately owned auto maker exist in Iran. The largest vehicle manufacturing company is Iran Khodro with an average share of 60.90% percent of domestic vehicle production, as the main government-controlled carmaker and Saipa is the second one with 32.70%. Subsequent to the development program, automakers have been encouraged to review the way in which their strategies will be developed in the future and to extend a range of strategy options that might enhance their position. Consequently, most Iranian auto makers have been encouraged to join ventures or any other strategic alliances with foreign auto manufacturers to meet the increasing demand (www.ikco.com). On the other hand, in looking at the automobile market generally, during the past few years, it might be observed that after a period of growth from 1997 to 2000 -resulting from the exceptional boom in US economy and the upturn in Europe-but the automobile market especially in North America and Europe has entered a consolidation phase because of overcapacity. The market is mature in developed countries such as those of Western European countries and US market where nearly 90% of sales of new vehicles are now accounted by replacement purchases. Also, in Far East-Japan and South Korea-, overcapacity is a highly sensitive problem (REINAUD, 2001), whereas in Middle-East region, vehicle out put is 6% of total global output in comparison with 29% in Europe and 30.2% in US (carmakers Annual report,*DRI). Thus, some auto manufacturers might be looking for new methods to penetrate the auto market in Middle-East in order to gain more market share over their competitors. If these companies do become partners, Iran will be an option to emerge as a major regional car manufacturer, serving the Middle East beside Other countries in the region, particularly Egypt and Turkey which have substantial car assembly arrangements. The following companies have signed cooperative agreements and their products are either already on the market or are to be introduced in the near future: Frances Peugeot with Iran Khodro. Koreas Kia Motors with Saipa. Frances Citroen with Saipa. Korean Daewoo and Kerman Motors. Optimus of the UK with Renus. Proton of Malaysia with Zagros According to the French automaker Peugeot, Iran has one car for every 21 people. Turkey has one for every 12, while Western European countries and Japan have nearly one car for every 2 people (www.peugeot.com). That indicates market growth potential, and the reason that foreign car manufacturer might be interested in the Iranian auto market. In this research the current auto industry situation in Iran will be analyzed and it will be evaluated in relation to its future strategy consequent upon growth in terms of output quality and ability to serve the domestic market, but also to play a major rule in region and become a truly international car manufacturer and exporter in Middle-East. To achieve a rich understanding of the current situation and examine the environmental position to meet the research objectives, other developing countries auto industry examples like China, India and Turkey will be investigated and analyzed as examples, while the regional circumstances, business environment and other specific characters of Irans economy e.g. the role of government , economic condition and Irans regulations will be considered to find out the most appropriate strategy for Iran car industry. The research question for the chosen topic is What would be the most effective strategy for Iranian car industry to become a major player in the Middle-East market? From this research question, the following objectives would be appropriate to evaluate: To evaluate existing methods of development strategy in the Iranian auto industry, To identify the best possible methods of development strategy for domestic and foreign companies, To recommend how such a strategy can be implemented. The background of the research is set with a brief discussion on the changes have happened in the world of auto industry, the consequent of globalization, the dynamic and diversity of demand in auto market and the auto makers difficulties to respond to new market characteristics while maintain the ability to make profit. Our goal in this paper is to propose an efficient strategy to . The paper has the following structure. Section 2 gives the brief literature review. Section 3 analyses the competitors in automobile Middle East market. Section 4 introduces the Iranian auto industry case. Section 5 presents the growth and development problems in Iranian auto industry. Finally, section 6 is devoted to conclusions and future works. The remainder of this paper is organised as follows. Section 2 summarises the development of Iranian production and exports in the car industry compared to other major exporters in the world. It also explains why Iranian export growth has remained much below production growth. Section 3 develops the empirical export model and describes the variables and data. Then, the model is estimated in Section 4. Estimation results are analysed and a sensitivity analysis is proposed. Section 5 estimates the Iranian export potential with regard to the main foreign markets, while Section 6 concludes. Literature review History of globalization Humans have coined the word Globalization to describe widely traded activities that take place across the continents which are aided immensely by diminishing international trading regulations negotiated through the World Trade Organisation. Globalization is a combination of many -manufacturing, trade in services, supply chain management activities which have been affected positively by a fast technological development in few last decades. As Friedman (1999) argues, what is new today is the degree and intensity with which the word is being tied together in to a signal globalized market place and village. What is also new is the sheer number of people and countries able to partake of today globalized economy and information network, and to be affected by them this new era of globalization is turbocharged. As it can be observed, that this noticeable international integration is not just in economics, but in politics and cultures are as well. However, it needs to be recognised that the speed of these changes and growth of integration is different across the world. In some countries and regions the trend of globalization is rapidly increasing while in other parts the pace is much slower and globalisation is not welcomed at all. Nevertheless, regardless of the effects of globalisation no country can afford to ignore its impact on their political and economical circumstances. Likewise, the rate of change is different in various industries as is the strategic response of different business sectors to take advantages of exploiting new business opportunities. Although the merchandise trade, capital investment and labour migration started from 1850-1914, and the economy was more open than it is today in terms of the existing tariffs and trade barriers, but it was not globalized. Just the year following the Second World War and through reconstruction of war, the world has started to establish institutions to open up trades and ensure currency stability such as GATT and IMF, which caused massive increase in the economic growth level. According to Dicken (2003), world trade increased at an average annual rate of 6.7 per cent between 1948 and 1953. Between 1958 and 1963 the rate rose to 7.4 per cent and between 1963 and 1968 it accelerated further to 8.6 per cent. So people experienced a boom period up to 1970s when the first oil crisis has occurred. The United States, which suffered less during the Second World War, increased its foreign investment and after a while the US companies started to move into Western European countries and create interdependencies across world markets. Europe and Japan which mainly focused on rebuilding their economies after the war joined in this and also expanded their positions in the market place and on the economic map after the mid-1980s. (Hill, 2005) Also, because of the necessity of promoting global interdependencies, the United Nations was established to maintain world peace and security and so help the spread of industrialisation and world trade. The main drivers of globalization Apart from the history of globalization there were several main drive points that enhanced the process of globalisation. From the Johnson and Turners (2003) point of view one of the main globalization drivers was the changing economic paradigm. The new approach for managing economy was based on limitation the government role and neo-liberalism. Limiting the role of government provides the situations for businesses to progress and boom. As the Hill (2005) says, major changes occur as new economic and political institutions develop, with movement from traditional, non competitive institutions to competition-based capitalistic economies and democratic institution. So the market was relied on to force the pace of competition. Little by little the liberal economy became an external economic policy and the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trades (GATT) set up to support this philosophy. As a result of GATT and afterwards its successor organization- WTO-, there was a great reduction in tari ffs barriers and non-tariffs barriers for participating countries which help them established and spread their liberal economic policy. The second globalization driver is the spread of international governance and regulation. More international rules and policies developed for business environment, especially in regional level aimed at reducing the barriers in economic market among GATT contracting and WTO members. Also spreading e-commerce as a technological consequent has brought new issues in terms of traditional governance structure. Therefore, by passing the time and more international integration, the trade and market regulation were less under the national states control. According to Johnson and Turners (2003) argument finance and capital spread is another driver of globalization. Necessity of financial and capital movement following the market deregulation and economic liberalization has supported by national rules and has facilitated by technological development and ease the financial transactions. All might agree that the technological development, mainly in information technology and communication sector, has played an important role in globalization. However none of them is the cause of globalization, Dicken (2003) argued, without these technologies the current complex global economy system could not exist. Shrinking time and space by innovated technologies was a great opportunity to reorganization and redefinition the commercial and economical structure. Most of industrial sectors are affected by innovations and changes in technologies especially in manufacturing system with a high influence on value chain. Transportation technology has changed dramatically from 1840 to 1960 which was a development period from steam locomotives to high speed aircraft. Therefore, new transportation systems and their wide usage with cheaper prices have brought global shrinkage. Also in communication and its convergence with computer technology development has facilitated more effective networ ks within and between enterprises. All of these technological conveniences provide links across borders and spread globalization in economic term. Social and cultural convergence might be seen as a driver for globalization. The effect of mass media and usage of internet make the consumer preference more common in global market. As Johnson and Turner (2003) mentioned, similar taste of consumer in different parts of the market creates the opportunity to promote global product. So we can claim that the cultural and social similarities make the conditions available for globalization. Also transferring new technologies has brought about more products in greater varieties at lower costs and prices. Consequently standards of living and peoples expectations rise as well. Mode of entry and expansion methods In simple terms, globalization is an opportunity for companies to expand their market, their value chain and their business across borders. But the point is how effective can companies use these opportunities to make more profit and enjoy sustainable growth. What factors should they consider to make decision to choose an investment option to carry on their development strategy? Global supply chain and its dimensions Apart from different modes of entry available for firms to get advantages from globalization and to move across borders to expand their market, other advantages may be gained through developing global supply chains. The production of any good or service can be conceived as a production chain that is, as a transactionally linked sequence of functions in which each stage adds value to the process of production of goods and services. (Dicken, 2003) The firms try to differentiate their value chain in order to add more competences by using the advantages of each production chain requirement in different part of the world. However, build a global value chain might make it fragmented while the control and management of a global network is more difficult. From Dickens point of view there are three important dimensions in production networks: First is governance which means how they are coordinated and regulated. In the case which varying combinations and interrelationships of different kind of companies and firms might perform in a production network, As Dicken says, the market is the main organizer of external transactions, in contrast with the case which the entire network operated with a single firm and internal organizational structure governs transactions. (Dicken, 2003) The second important dimension in production network is spatiality and how they are conFigured geographically. By increasing the emergence of global production network, network organizing is changing from geographically concentrated to geographically dispersed. The third issue is territorial embeddedness the extent to which they are connected in to particular bounded political, institutional and social setting. (Dicken, 2003) information technology and other new technologies have made space and distances meaningless. Most types of capitals are mobile and all of them can easily move from one place to another. However transportation and communication technology has developed as well, capital does moves within spaceless world. Place is still an important issue, as firms are highly affected by the cultural, socio-political and institutional context of the territorial they are embedded. Therefore multinational firms try to take advantages of differences within regulations and socials in various places while, bringing different state with different regimes in count within a production network makes the situation more complex to control and to take benefits from. Since 1999 and strongly growth of globalization, the same as other important and effective phenomena, globalization has a positive view wave that strongly recommend it and a negative wave against it which moves from developing country to developed countries during these years. Arguments about globalization success or failures do not have any satisfactory result, while globalization can be observe and discussed to understand both negative and positive sides of it. Growth of regionalism Although the speed of globalization and integration in the world market has increased during past decades under the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT) and more recently by World Trade Organization (WTO), the regional agreement and the debate on the desirability of regionalism has grown as well. By the beginning of twentieth century most of the counties were part of a regional integration. However one might argue that the reason of regional integration is more political than economic explanation, it can not be ignored any more as almost 50 per cent of all world trade is within regional trade agreement. As a result of that, there is fear within WTO and other international institutions that regionalism takes the place of globalization and make a stumbling block toward further global trade integration. (Lung Van Tulder, 2004) Nevertheless there are different forms of regional integration and each of them affects global market more or less while the time of their integration pr ocess is various. The dynamics of automobile market Although some changes had happened in the composition and geography of automobile demand, the concentration of automobile industry in three major global regions face auto companies in these regions with the overcapacity problem. The highly market-oriented of automobile production caused its development be based on affluent consumer markets to achieve the economy of scale. But during the years, the automobile consumer markets in three developed region has developed as well. As Dicken argued in the Global Shift (2003), the changing demand for Automobiles has three major characteristics: It is highly cyclical. There are long term (secular) changes in demand. There are signs of increasing market segmentation and fragmentation. ( Dicken, 2003) The competitors Despite the fact that NAFTA, EU and Japan are the main developed region in both production and trade in auto industry sector, other countries have started restructuring this sector in line with their economic reform. The obvious example might be China and India which both are gaining a sustainable growth in the last decade. Also Turkey has emerged as a new automobile producer in line with other industrial changes aim to become qualified to join European Union. Turkish auto industry Turkey auto industry has been developing due to the well strategic planning applied by the Turkey government by the way in which they opened their country to the global world. They have started their industry as a montage (CKD or SKD) in 1960 and have turned it to manufacturing part after a few years in 1966 trough licensing agreement and dealer-assembler with American and European firms. Gradually the government attempted to adapt an export-oriented strategy; consequently it started to liberalize the importation of cars gradually and reducing the tariffs. Meanwhile it provided some financial supports for upgrading themselves to international acceptable condition. But the main change which caused a revolution in Turkey car industry was the customs unionization agreement in 1995 with European Union which followed by a new restructuring in their auto industry. To harmonization the administrative and regulatory structure of the industry, Turkish government has established an accreditation council to prepare the documents for new adaptation the issues and procedures of exporting in line with European countries. However the Turkey supposed to complete the adaptation and remove all tariffs by 2001, they have not completed it yet and it seems the Turkeys auto industry has not well prepared for full liberalization. Although adaptation a new regime from Turkey government which obligate importing vehicle companies to prepare service facility and aftermarket parts for customers within a country was a great opportunity for domestic firms to become involved with providing spare parts and services. Even though it was not a stable macro environment after 1997-1998 Russian and Asian crisis and again December 2000 crisis, the restructuring program caused some investment in car companies in Turkey in order to support economy of scale and encourage them to developed more update types of automobiles. Turkish manufacturers have operated in two car segment; low medium and medium models and the produced cars have already been phased out in their country of origin, added that these segments account for 90 per cent of the Turkish market. (Duruiz, 2004) Governmental financial supports and investment on auto sectors attracted many foreign investors from 1995 onward, especially with aim to develop new generation cars and modernization the industry. Most of foreign car firms have gained relatively high share of the auto industry after liberalization to use the resources in Turkey and export to European countries through Turkey. Table 1 shows the main auto manufactures in Turkey and their share. As the effect of custom utilization agreement, the automotive sector had the 5th place in Turkey exporting in 2000, but the main effect has happened in component sector and it has increased relatively higher then auto sector export. It was also easier for component producer to upgrade their standard of their firms to get a competitive position in EU base on their lower labour wages. (Duruiz, 2004) Nevertheless Turkey has accepted liberalization in their trade but as they have not done the full integration, their case has become special. Mostly the Turkeys future economy highly depends on the European Union decision to accept it or not as a member of European Union which lead to change their economic structure with the support from the IMF and European Union. Indian auto industry Emerging of India in the world economy has been started by implementing liberalization and opened up most of the economic sectors to the global world in 1992. Looking historically at Indian car industry, it can be divided in four phase from the view point of Kim (2004). The starting point was in 1920s with assembly which was established by foreign companies. (General motor and Ford) It took two decades up to 1952 that Indian build up their domestic production firm. The governmental policy in auto sector is known as the main reason of no progress in productivity and technology in this sector for long period. (Kim, 2004) The third phase was started, after three decades, by making a join venture of Maruti Udyog -became nationalized in 1980- with the Suzuki motor company. According to this agreement a revolution had happened in Indian car industry. Increase the volume and standard was not just in auto makers but the change was occurred in the components industry as well. (Venkataramani, 1990) The main and last phase was started by Indian economic reform after 1992 under the guidance of the IMF and World Bank. As it was anticipated, deregulation of auto industry in 1993 and the expectation of market growth in India according to the population have attracted international auto makers to invest in India. According to the foreign existence it was a dramatically fell of domestic firms share in India. Investment of foreign car makers, which were mainly in the form of joint venture with domestic firms, caused there-restructuring in the Indians motor industry. Apart from promotion of new models with more stylish design, significant changes have happened in auto financing as well. Also numbers of component manufacturers invested in local firms to supply their assemblers. So Indian witnessed a fundamental change in the technology, infrastructure and managerial systems. (Kim, 2004) Despite of all expectations and anticipations about the fast economical growth after regulations in India and a positive view of auto makers about Indian market because of the sizable population of middle-class, the estimates about rising in demand did not turn to reality. Apart from the problems which multinationals generally face in new emerging countries such as undeveloped supplier base, weak infrastructure and undeveloped regulations (Kim, 2001), Indian environment seems more complicated for them. Although the population was far enough to support ten auto makers, the companies face with overcapacity. The lack of demand in both domestic and regional market has become the major problem for multinationals auto makers in India. In terms of export from India to the neighbour countries also, the multinational car makers have not achieved any remarkable result. However the main reason might be the economic situation and poverty of South Asian countries which limit the demand for passenger car, we should not ignore the political and economical relation of India with its neighbour. Despite the hopes after the South Asian Association for Region Cooperation (SAARC) in 1985 and the South Asian Preferential Trading Agreement (SAPTA) in 1995, there was no significant growth observed in the South Asian trade relationship. Although the auto industry in India has not succeeded as it was anticipated, the auto component industry has occurred high progress in quality, technology and international standards. Now, in collaborate with foreign companies, they have become competitive in international markets and auto makers in India use their Indian suppliers to supply their other operation plant around the world. Moreover, Indian government regulations disable multinational to import completely build automobiles to India. However the Indian government did not define any limitation for on foreign ownership, instead 123 per cent tariff rates on import cars were forced multinationals to set up their assembly plant fully within India. And a high tariff on finished components also was another issue that multinationals prefer to find their supplier within domestic firms. (Kim, 2004) Despite of all mentioned problem in India, multinational car makers seems still have a positive view about the Indian market. The potential existing market is there, but the matter is that when it will become visible. Chinese auto industry Following the economical reform in China, the Chinese policy makers focused on auto industry as a symbolic sector which shows the industrial development within a country. The need for technology and knowledge caused them looking for foreign partner to provide the required technology by setting up assembly plant which also generate and improve numbers of domestic firms as the suppliers to support the main assembly plants. So, in the mid-1980 three main cities of China (Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai) established a joint-venture with foreign auto makers supported by central and local government. (Thun, 2004) Each local government aimed to improve the local supplier network by its JV, but the assembly plants were looking for the better quality and lower price. Therefore in contrast with the local government and despite of geographical advantages of supplying from local firms, assemblers were dependence on outside supplier and most of them imported 100 per cent of the components from outside unless they were forced by Chinese government to increase their required components from domestic firms. But even after the time assemblers shifted from outside supplier to domestic firms, the local government aim to improve their local network were failed as the JV sourced their parts from other regions. Therefore, as of 2003, just Shanghai could relay on their local auto sector and even though it did not meet the international standards, it became a dominant firm in Chinese auto market. (Thun, 2004) The Shanghai success was the result of well support and strategic plans of local government and Shanghai Automobile industry corporation (SAIC). In 1984, when the Shanghai established a joint-venture with Volkswagen (VW), non of local firms were able to supply the required component for the assembling plant and after two years their share increased by just 2.7 per cent. (Li, 1997) No significant achievement after two years caused Shanghai municipal government began to re-evaluate the problems within the sector and the capacity of individual firms to solve these problems. (Thun, 2004) Consequent of problem solving process, they discovered two necessity preconditions to facilitate improvement in domestic firms. The first one was a reorganization of the municipal bureaucracy responsible for auto sector oversight. They have set up an Automobile Industry Leading Small Group in order to control the local actors. (Li, 1997) The second precondition was the capital accumulation and investment. To solve this problem the local government defined a localization tax and set up the localization office which was responsible to carry out a straightforward import-substitution policy for the imports in auto sector even from other Chinese regions. Also, the localization office checked out the list of imported components and their domestic firms which are capable of produce them successfully, then it provided a suitable investment capital as well as managing the firms relationship with the main assembler plant. (Thun, 2004) Apart from the local government programs, SAIC had its own way to support the Shanghai auto sector, however in some areas their activities overlappe Corporate Strategy for Iranian Car Industry Corporate Strategy for Iranian Car Industry Abstract The purpose of this research is to come across an effective and implemental strategy for Iranian car industry to become an export player in the Middle-East region. With consideration the importance of market development for international auto makers, the Middle-East market is evaluated and Iran as a case study is looked over in terms of its potential automobile market and developing opportunities in Iranian car industry to become a manufacturing partner for international players. Through out a review of Iranian economy and the position of auto sector in Iran economy, the difficulties of growth and development, the role of government- as the regulator- are discussed briefly and the effect of international auto makers -in the past and future- is analyzed. On this basis, we point out the main troubles of the current auto industrys structure and the government dilemma to set its policies. At the end we suggest a reform in the structure and strategy of both assemblers and suppliers to ent er to the international markets. Keywords: Operation strategy; Iran auto industry; Globalization, Regionalization, Industry study Introduction Irans economic performance has begun to improve slowly after a decade of recession which was caused by the long and costly war with Iraq and fluctuations in oil prices. In the decade ending in 1998, GDPs growth per capitals started to rise, although the average was only 3 percent per year. (Economic reports, the World Bank Group) The automotive industry, as one of Irans most promising industries, was the countrys fastest growing industry with the average annual growth of 27.2% between 1995 and 2000 which was 5.5 times of the country average industrial growth. (Economic Focus, Iran Daily News). The domestic vehicle production is growing quickly but it is highly protected, and only in highly exceptional circumstances can Iranians import cars from abroad. Locally produced cars have a reputation for poor quality and have contributed to the dangerously high pollution levels. Also, Iranian firms were not able to satisfy the domestic market in terms of quantity. Demand for automobiles, particularly passenger vehicles, far exceeds the supply. In fact, more than 450,000 people pre-purchase automobiles every year and wait approximately two years to receive them. As a result the government, which wants to raise unit production and improve domestic industry in line with industrialization program, hopes to stimulate competition as part of the effect to make the economy less dependent on oil. In order to follow the market reform plans and provide better circumstances for the countrys main industries such as petrochemical industry, textile and etc, President Khatami (since August 1997- 2005) in 1999, announced an ambitious program to privatize several major industries which included auto industry as a part of total restructuring of Iranian economy. Currently 13 public and privately owned auto maker exist in Iran. The largest vehicle manufacturing company is Iran Khodro with an average share of 60.90% percent of domestic vehicle production, as the main government-controlled carmaker and Saipa is the second one with 32.70%. Subsequent to the development program, automakers have been encouraged to review the way in which their strategies will be developed in the future and to extend a range of strategy options that might enhance their position. Consequently, most Iranian auto makers have been encouraged to join ventures or any other strategic alliances with foreign auto manufacturers to meet the increasing demand (www.ikco.com). On the other hand, in looking at the automobile market generally, during the past few years, it might be observed that after a period of growth from 1997 to 2000 -resulting from the exceptional boom in US economy and the upturn in Europe-but the automobile market especially in North America and Europe has entered a consolidation phase because of overcapacity. The market is mature in developed countries such as those of Western European countries and US market where nearly 90% of sales of new vehicles are now accounted by replacement purchases. Also, in Far East-Japan and South Korea-, overcapacity is a highly sensitive problem (REINAUD, 2001), whereas in Middle-East region, vehicle out put is 6% of total global output in comparison with 29% in Europe and 30.2% in US (carmakers Annual report,*DRI). Thus, some auto manufacturers might be looking for new methods to penetrate the auto market in Middle-East in order to gain more market share over their competitors. If these companies do become partners, Iran will be an option to emerge as a major regional car manufacturer, serving the Middle East beside Other countries in the region, particularly Egypt and Turkey which have substantial car assembly arrangements. The following companies have signed cooperative agreements and their products are either already on the market or are to be introduced in the near future: Frances Peugeot with Iran Khodro. Koreas Kia Motors with Saipa. Frances Citroen with Saipa. Korean Daewoo and Kerman Motors. Optimus of the UK with Renus. Proton of Malaysia with Zagros According to the French automaker Peugeot, Iran has one car for every 21 people. Turkey has one for every 12, while Western European countries and Japan have nearly one car for every 2 people (www.peugeot.com). That indicates market growth potential, and the reason that foreign car manufacturer might be interested in the Iranian auto market. In this research the current auto industry situation in Iran will be analyzed and it will be evaluated in relation to its future strategy consequent upon growth in terms of output quality and ability to serve the domestic market, but also to play a major rule in region and become a truly international car manufacturer and exporter in Middle-East. To achieve a rich understanding of the current situation and examine the environmental position to meet the research objectives, other developing countries auto industry examples like China, India and Turkey will be investigated and analyzed as examples, while the regional circumstances, business environment and other specific characters of Irans economy e.g. the role of government , economic condition and Irans regulations will be considered to find out the most appropriate strategy for Iran car industry. The research question for the chosen topic is What would be the most effective strategy for Iranian car industry to become a major player in the Middle-East market? From this research question, the following objectives would be appropriate to evaluate: To evaluate existing methods of development strategy in the Iranian auto industry, To identify the best possible methods of development strategy for domestic and foreign companies, To recommend how such a strategy can be implemented. The background of the research is set with a brief discussion on the changes have happened in the world of auto industry, the consequent of globalization, the dynamic and diversity of demand in auto market and the auto makers difficulties to respond to new market characteristics while maintain the ability to make profit. Our goal in this paper is to propose an efficient strategy to . The paper has the following structure. Section 2 gives the brief literature review. Section 3 analyses the competitors in automobile Middle East market. Section 4 introduces the Iranian auto industry case. Section 5 presents the growth and development problems in Iranian auto industry. Finally, section 6 is devoted to conclusions and future works. The remainder of this paper is organised as follows. Section 2 summarises the development of Iranian production and exports in the car industry compared to other major exporters in the world. It also explains why Iranian export growth has remained much below production growth. Section 3 develops the empirical export model and describes the variables and data. Then, the model is estimated in Section 4. Estimation results are analysed and a sensitivity analysis is proposed. Section 5 estimates the Iranian export potential with regard to the main foreign markets, while Section 6 concludes. Literature review History of globalization Humans have coined the word Globalization to describe widely traded activities that take place across the continents which are aided immensely by diminishing international trading regulations negotiated through the World Trade Organisation. Globalization is a combination of many -manufacturing, trade in services, supply chain management activities which have been affected positively by a fast technological development in few last decades. As Friedman (1999) argues, what is new today is the degree and intensity with which the word is being tied together in to a signal globalized market place and village. What is also new is the sheer number of people and countries able to partake of today globalized economy and information network, and to be affected by them this new era of globalization is turbocharged. As it can be observed, that this noticeable international integration is not just in economics, but in politics and cultures are as well. However, it needs to be recognised that the speed of these changes and growth of integration is different across the world. In some countries and regions the trend of globalization is rapidly increasing while in other parts the pace is much slower and globalisation is not welcomed at all. Nevertheless, regardless of the effects of globalisation no country can afford to ignore its impact on their political and economical circumstances. Likewise, the rate of change is different in various industries as is the strategic response of different business sectors to take advantages of exploiting new business opportunities. Although the merchandise trade, capital investment and labour migration started from 1850-1914, and the economy was more open than it is today in terms of the existing tariffs and trade barriers, but it was not globalized. Just the year following the Second World War and through reconstruction of war, the world has started to establish institutions to open up trades and ensure currency stability such as GATT and IMF, which caused massive increase in the economic growth level. According to Dicken (2003), world trade increased at an average annual rate of 6.7 per cent between 1948 and 1953. Between 1958 and 1963 the rate rose to 7.4 per cent and between 1963 and 1968 it accelerated further to 8.6 per cent. So people experienced a boom period up to 1970s when the first oil crisis has occurred. The United States, which suffered less during the Second World War, increased its foreign investment and after a while the US companies started to move into Western European countries and create interdependencies across world markets. Europe and Japan which mainly focused on rebuilding their economies after the war joined in this and also expanded their positions in the market place and on the economic map after the mid-1980s. (Hill, 2005) Also, because of the necessity of promoting global interdependencies, the United Nations was established to maintain world peace and security and so help the spread of industrialisation and world trade. The main drivers of globalization Apart from the history of globalization there were several main drive points that enhanced the process of globalisation. From the Johnson and Turners (2003) point of view one of the main globalization drivers was the changing economic paradigm. The new approach for managing economy was based on limitation the government role and neo-liberalism. Limiting the role of government provides the situations for businesses to progress and boom. As the Hill (2005) says, major changes occur as new economic and political institutions develop, with movement from traditional, non competitive institutions to competition-based capitalistic economies and democratic institution. So the market was relied on to force the pace of competition. Little by little the liberal economy became an external economic policy and the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trades (GATT) set up to support this philosophy. As a result of GATT and afterwards its successor organization- WTO-, there was a great reduction in tari ffs barriers and non-tariffs barriers for participating countries which help them established and spread their liberal economic policy. The second globalization driver is the spread of international governance and regulation. More international rules and policies developed for business environment, especially in regional level aimed at reducing the barriers in economic market among GATT contracting and WTO members. Also spreading e-commerce as a technological consequent has brought new issues in terms of traditional governance structure. Therefore, by passing the time and more international integration, the trade and market regulation were less under the national states control. According to Johnson and Turners (2003) argument finance and capital spread is another driver of globalization. Necessity of financial and capital movement following the market deregulation and economic liberalization has supported by national rules and has facilitated by technological development and ease the financial transactions. All might agree that the technological development, mainly in information technology and communication sector, has played an important role in globalization. However none of them is the cause of globalization, Dicken (2003) argued, without these technologies the current complex global economy system could not exist. Shrinking time and space by innovated technologies was a great opportunity to reorganization and redefinition the commercial and economical structure. Most of industrial sectors are affected by innovations and changes in technologies especially in manufacturing system with a high influence on value chain. Transportation technology has changed dramatically from 1840 to 1960 which was a development period from steam locomotives to high speed aircraft. Therefore, new transportation systems and their wide usage with cheaper prices have brought global shrinkage. Also in communication and its convergence with computer technology development has facilitated more effective networ ks within and between enterprises. All of these technological conveniences provide links across borders and spread globalization in economic term. Social and cultural convergence might be seen as a driver for globalization. The effect of mass media and usage of internet make the consumer preference more common in global market. As Johnson and Turner (2003) mentioned, similar taste of consumer in different parts of the market creates the opportunity to promote global product. So we can claim that the cultural and social similarities make the conditions available for globalization. Also transferring new technologies has brought about more products in greater varieties at lower costs and prices. Consequently standards of living and peoples expectations rise as well. Mode of entry and expansion methods In simple terms, globalization is an opportunity for companies to expand their market, their value chain and their business across borders. But the point is how effective can companies use these opportunities to make more profit and enjoy sustainable growth. What factors should they consider to make decision to choose an investment option to carry on their development strategy? Global supply chain and its dimensions Apart from different modes of entry available for firms to get advantages from globalization and to move across borders to expand their market, other advantages may be gained through developing global supply chains. The production of any good or service can be conceived as a production chain that is, as a transactionally linked sequence of functions in which each stage adds value to the process of production of goods and services. (Dicken, 2003) The firms try to differentiate their value chain in order to add more competences by using the advantages of each production chain requirement in different part of the world. However, build a global value chain might make it fragmented while the control and management of a global network is more difficult. From Dickens point of view there are three important dimensions in production networks: First is governance which means how they are coordinated and regulated. In the case which varying combinations and interrelationships of different kind of companies and firms might perform in a production network, As Dicken says, the market is the main organizer of external transactions, in contrast with the case which the entire network operated with a single firm and internal organizational structure governs transactions. (Dicken, 2003) The second important dimension in production network is spatiality and how they are conFigured geographically. By increasing the emergence of global production network, network organizing is changing from geographically concentrated to geographically dispersed. The third issue is territorial embeddedness the extent to which they are connected in to particular bounded political, institutional and social setting. (Dicken, 2003) information technology and other new technologies have made space and distances meaningless. Most types of capitals are mobile and all of them can easily move from one place to another. However transportation and communication technology has developed as well, capital does moves within spaceless world. Place is still an important issue, as firms are highly affected by the cultural, socio-political and institutional context of the territorial they are embedded. Therefore multinational firms try to take advantages of differences within regulations and socials in various places while, bringing different state with different regimes in count within a production network makes the situation more complex to control and to take benefits from. Since 1999 and strongly growth of globalization, the same as other important and effective phenomena, globalization has a positive view wave that strongly recommend it and a negative wave against it which moves from developing country to developed countries during these years. Arguments about globalization success or failures do not have any satisfactory result, while globalization can be observe and discussed to understand both negative and positive sides of it. Growth of regionalism Although the speed of globalization and integration in the world market has increased during past decades under the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT) and more recently by World Trade Organization (WTO), the regional agreement and the debate on the desirability of regionalism has grown as well. By the beginning of twentieth century most of the counties were part of a regional integration. However one might argue that the reason of regional integration is more political than economic explanation, it can not be ignored any more as almost 50 per cent of all world trade is within regional trade agreement. As a result of that, there is fear within WTO and other international institutions that regionalism takes the place of globalization and make a stumbling block toward further global trade integration. (Lung Van Tulder, 2004) Nevertheless there are different forms of regional integration and each of them affects global market more or less while the time of their integration pr ocess is various. The dynamics of automobile market Although some changes had happened in the composition and geography of automobile demand, the concentration of automobile industry in three major global regions face auto companies in these regions with the overcapacity problem. The highly market-oriented of automobile production caused its development be based on affluent consumer markets to achieve the economy of scale. But during the years, the automobile consumer markets in three developed region has developed as well. As Dicken argued in the Global Shift (2003), the changing demand for Automobiles has three major characteristics: It is highly cyclical. There are long term (secular) changes in demand. There are signs of increasing market segmentation and fragmentation. ( Dicken, 2003) The competitors Despite the fact that NAFTA, EU and Japan are the main developed region in both production and trade in auto industry sector, other countries have started restructuring this sector in line with their economic reform. The obvious example might be China and India which both are gaining a sustainable growth in the last decade. Also Turkey has emerged as a new automobile producer in line with other industrial changes aim to become qualified to join European Union. Turkish auto industry Turkey auto industry has been developing due to the well strategic planning applied by the Turkey government by the way in which they opened their country to the global world. They have started their industry as a montage (CKD or SKD) in 1960 and have turned it to manufacturing part after a few years in 1966 trough licensing agreement and dealer-assembler with American and European firms. Gradually the government attempted to adapt an export-oriented strategy; consequently it started to liberalize the importation of cars gradually and reducing the tariffs. Meanwhile it provided some financial supports for upgrading themselves to international acceptable condition. But the main change which caused a revolution in Turkey car industry was the customs unionization agreement in 1995 with European Union which followed by a new restructuring in their auto industry. To harmonization the administrative and regulatory structure of the industry, Turkish government has established an accreditation council to prepare the documents for new adaptation the issues and procedures of exporting in line with European countries. However the Turkey supposed to complete the adaptation and remove all tariffs by 2001, they have not completed it yet and it seems the Turkeys auto industry has not well prepared for full liberalization. Although adaptation a new regime from Turkey government which obligate importing vehicle companies to prepare service facility and aftermarket parts for customers within a country was a great opportunity for domestic firms to become involved with providing spare parts and services. Even though it was not a stable macro environment after 1997-1998 Russian and Asian crisis and again December 2000 crisis, the restructuring program caused some investment in car companies in Turkey in order to support economy of scale and encourage them to developed more update types of automobiles. Turkish manufacturers have operated in two car segment; low medium and medium models and the produced cars have already been phased out in their country of origin, added that these segments account for 90 per cent of the Turkish market. (Duruiz, 2004) Governmental financial supports and investment on auto sectors attracted many foreign investors from 1995 onward, especially with aim to develop new generation cars and modernization the industry. Most of foreign car firms have gained relatively high share of the auto industry after liberalization to use the resources in Turkey and export to European countries through Turkey. Table 1 shows the main auto manufactures in Turkey and their share. As the effect of custom utilization agreement, the automotive sector had the 5th place in Turkey exporting in 2000, but the main effect has happened in component sector and it has increased relatively higher then auto sector export. It was also easier for component producer to upgrade their standard of their firms to get a competitive position in EU base on their lower labour wages. (Duruiz, 2004) Nevertheless Turkey has accepted liberalization in their trade but as they have not done the full integration, their case has become special. Mostly the Turkeys future economy highly depends on the European Union decision to accept it or not as a member of European Union which lead to change their economic structure with the support from the IMF and European Union. Indian auto industry Emerging of India in the world economy has been started by implementing liberalization and opened up most of the economic sectors to the global world in 1992. Looking historically at Indian car industry, it can be divided in four phase from the view point of Kim (2004). The starting point was in 1920s with assembly which was established by foreign companies. (General motor and Ford) It took two decades up to 1952 that Indian build up their domestic production firm. The governmental policy in auto sector is known as the main reason of no progress in productivity and technology in this sector for long period. (Kim, 2004) The third phase was started, after three decades, by making a join venture of Maruti Udyog -became nationalized in 1980- with the Suzuki motor company. According to this agreement a revolution had happened in Indian car industry. Increase the volume and standard was not just in auto makers but the change was occurred in the components industry as well. (Venkataramani, 1990) The main and last phase was started by Indian economic reform after 1992 under the guidance of the IMF and World Bank. As it was anticipated, deregulation of auto industry in 1993 and the expectation of market growth in India according to the population have attracted international auto makers to invest in India. According to the foreign existence it was a dramatically fell of domestic firms share in India. Investment of foreign car makers, which were mainly in the form of joint venture with domestic firms, caused there-restructuring in the Indians motor industry. Apart from promotion of new models with more stylish design, significant changes have happened in auto financing as well. Also numbers of component manufacturers invested in local firms to supply their assemblers. So Indian witnessed a fundamental change in the technology, infrastructure and managerial systems. (Kim, 2004) Despite of all expectations and anticipations about the fast economical growth after regulations in India and a positive view of auto makers about Indian market because of the sizable population of middle-class, the estimates about rising in demand did not turn to reality. Apart from the problems which multinationals generally face in new emerging countries such as undeveloped supplier base, weak infrastructure and undeveloped regulations (Kim, 2001), Indian environment seems more complicated for them. Although the population was far enough to support ten auto makers, the companies face with overcapacity. The lack of demand in both domestic and regional market has become the major problem for multinationals auto makers in India. In terms of export from India to the neighbour countries also, the multinational car makers have not achieved any remarkable result. However the main reason might be the economic situation and poverty of South Asian countries which limit the demand for passenger car, we should not ignore the political and economical relation of India with its neighbour. Despite the hopes after the South Asian Association for Region Cooperation (SAARC) in 1985 and the South Asian Preferential Trading Agreement (SAPTA) in 1995, there was no significant growth observed in the South Asian trade relationship. Although the auto industry in India has not succeeded as it was anticipated, the auto component industry has occurred high progress in quality, technology and international standards. Now, in collaborate with foreign companies, they have become competitive in international markets and auto makers in India use their Indian suppliers to supply their other operation plant around the world. Moreover, Indian government regulations disable multinational to import completely build automobiles to India. However the Indian government did not define any limitation for on foreign ownership, instead 123 per cent tariff rates on import cars were forced multinationals to set up their assembly plant fully within India. And a high tariff on finished components also was another issue that multinationals prefer to find their supplier within domestic firms. (Kim, 2004) Despite of all mentioned problem in India, multinational car makers seems still have a positive view about the Indian market. The potential existing market is there, but the matter is that when it will become visible. Chinese auto industry Following the economical reform in China, the Chinese policy makers focused on auto industry as a symbolic sector which shows the industrial development within a country. The need for technology and knowledge caused them looking for foreign partner to provide the required technology by setting up assembly plant which also generate and improve numbers of domestic firms as the suppliers to support the main assembly plants. So, in the mid-1980 three main cities of China (Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai) established a joint-venture with foreign auto makers supported by central and local government. (Thun, 2004) Each local government aimed to improve the local supplier network by its JV, but the assembly plants were looking for the better quality and lower price. Therefore in contrast with the local government and despite of geographical advantages of supplying from local firms, assemblers were dependence on outside supplier and most of them imported 100 per cent of the components from outside unless they were forced by Chinese government to increase their required components from domestic firms. But even after the time assemblers shifted from outside supplier to domestic firms, the local government aim to improve their local network were failed as the JV sourced their parts from other regions. Therefore, as of 2003, just Shanghai could relay on their local auto sector and even though it did not meet the international standards, it became a dominant firm in Chinese auto market. (Thun, 2004) The Shanghai success was the result of well support and strategic plans of local government and Shanghai Automobile industry corporation (SAIC). In 1984, when the Shanghai established a joint-venture with Volkswagen (VW), non of local firms were able to supply the required component for the assembling plant and after two years their share increased by just 2.7 per cent. (Li, 1997) No significant achievement after two years caused Shanghai municipal government began to re-evaluate the problems within the sector and the capacity of individual firms to solve these problems. (Thun, 2004) Consequent of problem solving process, they discovered two necessity preconditions to facilitate improvement in domestic firms. The first one was a reorganization of the municipal bureaucracy responsible for auto sector oversight. They have set up an Automobile Industry Leading Small Group in order to control the local actors. (Li, 1997) The second precondition was the capital accumulation and investment. To solve this problem the local government defined a localization tax and set up the localization office which was responsible to carry out a straightforward import-substitution policy for the imports in auto sector even from other Chinese regions. Also, the localization office checked out the list of imported components and their domestic firms which are capable of produce them successfully, then it provided a suitable investment capital as well as managing the firms relationship with the main assembler plant. (Thun, 2004) Apart from the local government programs, SAIC had its own way to support the Shanghai auto sector, however in some areas their activities overlappe

Marc Forster’s Monster’s Ball Essay -- Marc Forster Monsters Ball Ess

Marc Forster’s Monster’s Ball Marc Forster’s Monster’s Ball is a depiction of one man’s journey to overcome his lifelong ignorance, but this seems to be the film’s only accomplishment. The grisly drama attempts to address pressing racial issues, but instead it creates a monstrous web of unanswered questions and unfulfilled plotlines cleverly masked by brilliant acting and cinematic beauty. The first half of Monster’s Ball revolves around a family of executioners responsible for the last days of a black death-row inmate. Billy Bob Thornton is striking as Hank Grotowski, a native Georgian who has spent his life following in his father’s footsteps both as a corrections officer in the state penitentiary and as a racist. Peter Boyle plays Thornton’s retired father and delivers a gritty performance that is a welcome change from his role as the wise-cracking Frank Barone on CBS’s Everybody Loves Raymond. Heath Ledger is Sonny Grotowski, Thornton’s son, a third-generation corrections officer who never lives up to the family’s tough-guy standards and dares to have black friends. Hank and Sonny are part of an execution team assigned to Lawrence Musgrove, a cop-killer skillfully portrayed by Sean Combs, whose impressive performance suggests that his acting career may have as much earning potential as P. Diddy’s current line of work . Thornton’s portrayal of Grotowski is flawless—his best since 1996’s Sling Blade—and helps one forget such disappointments as 1998’s A Simple Plan. He becomes Hank and leaves no trace of Billy Bob on the screen. Grotowski’s dialogue is limited and purposely lacks profundity, forcing Thornton to convey meaning through action. When Hank descends his front porch to meet his son’s two black friends with a s... ...m—when the â€Å"monster† himself, Lawrence Musgrove, is awaiting death. Chesse creates depth and parallelism between Lawrence and Leticia, bouncing back and forth between the activities on death row and in Leticia’s home. The scene is reminiscent of Dead Man Walking, but Combs’ Musgrove is a welcome departure from Sean Penn’s Matthew Poncelet in that Musgrove accepts his fate and doesn’t fight death. This allows him to be fully effective in conveying what is the film’s best line of dialogue as well as its main theme: â€Å"It truly takes a human being to really see a human being.† Monster’s Ball had the potential to be a gripping tale of love lost and love found, but that potential is lost in a sea of subplots that drowns the main narrative. Forster is left with a film that is little more than a star vehicle for Berry’s and Thornton’s most compelling performances to date.

The Time Machine :: essays research papers

Chapters 1 and 2 Summary The Time Traveller is in his home, speaking to a group of men that includes the narrator. He is lecturing on the fourth dimension. He tells them that a cube exists not only in space, but also in time. Time is the fourth dimension. Many of them are skeptical. The Time Traveller claims that one should be able to move about in the fourth dimension just as one can move about in the other three. After all, he notes, we are constantly moving forward in time, why not move faster or slower or even backward? He produces a miniature time machine, the size of a clock, made of ivory and crystal. The Time Traveller explains that one lever sends the machine into the future and the other one sends it into the past. He asks one of the guests to push the forward lever, and the machine disappears in a small gust. He claims that the machine is now gliding forward into the future. The guests ask why they cannot still see it, since they too are moving into the future, and the Time Traveller explains that it is moving forward too quickly to be seen, like the spokes of a wheel or a speeding bullet. The guests are amazed. The Traveller then shows them a much larger machine, with which he plans to explore time. The narrator concludes that not many of the guests believed the Time Traveller, as he was a very intelligent man, likely to play elaborate pranks. The narrator returns to dinner at his house the next week. The guests include some of the men from the previous week and some new guests. They have been instructed to begin dinner without their host. When he enters, he is incredibly dusty and dishevelled. He quickly drinks some champagne, then goes to wash up. The narrator suggests to the other guests that their host has been travelling in time. The others are incredulous and make sarcastic remarks in reply. When the Time Traveller is finally ready to tell his story, the guests quickly raise objections. The Time Traveller says that he has no energy to argue and will speak only if everyone agrees not to interrupt. The guests agree, and sit in increasingly rapt attention as the story begins. Chapters 3 and 4 Summary The Time Traveller gets on his machine and pushes the forward lever just a little. He feels a dizzying sensation, and when he looks at the clock in his lab he sees that five hours have passed. He then presses the forward lever a bit more.

Relationship Issues Essay -- International Relations, Japan, South Kor

Different arguments and disagreements between countries can be found throughout our history on this Earth. A relationship that is lesser known to a lot of people is the relationship between the two Asian countries, Japan and South Korea. Japan and South Korea are two countries that are trapped by their past that they share with each other and have shared for more than thirty-five years. Although the two countries are slightly similar when it comes to manners and other different aspects, they are also very different in cultures and beliefs. Different cultures and different beliefs are not the only reasons that are keeping Japan and South Korea apart though. Their history is the largest reason the Japan and South Korea do not have a strong relationship with one another. Japan and South Korea have a long history. A history of colonial rule and lack of trust in Japan, South Korea chooses not to ally itself with Japan and to not trust in Japan. Although the two countries have been workin g on stabilizing their relationship, they still need to overcome some issues and their past. South Korea may never learn to get past their long relationship with Japan, but they may be able to work around it. Japan and South Korea's unstable relationship could be improved by sharing their different cultures more or through a military alliance with each other. Japan and South Korea's relationship is known as a "quasialliance" (Cooney 9). South Korea and Japan are both allies with the United States, but Japan and South Korea still remain unallied to each other. Japan and South Korea still maintain an unstable relationship that could be improved drastically. They still have yet to overcome their differences and forget their past. Although the two count... ...ver people may go and whenever they may happen. Some consequences may occur but many benefits are also possible as well. Japan and South Korea have the potential to become allies. If they were to become allies they would become an extremely strong force in the Asian world. The process may take some time but eventually the two countries would be able to see eye to eye on certain issues regarding North Korea and other important matters. They may become allies through the culture the two already share with one another, or maybe they could become allies economically through the business relationship they have. North Korea and the United States might even play a role in the two countries becoming allies. Whatever the reason, Japan and South Korea can become allies. Both countries, Japan as well as South Korea, would both benefit by becoming allies with one another.

What is forensic science?

Forensic science is one of the three applications of medical knowledge applied to solving crime, over recent years forensics has become more advanced and better technology used to assist in criminal cases. Forensics alone is not a preventative to crime but can be seen as a hindrance to criminal activity. Unless criminals become clever and become forensically aware, it would be impossible to leave some trace evidence at a crime scene. Forensics is not only just about finding the perpetrator(s) of a crime but can also be used to prove a persons innocence using DNA and forensic evidence. I'm sure those who have suffered a mis-carriage of justice fully appreciate being cleared of a crime they didn't commit thanks to the use of DNA and other forensic techniques. Forensics used in conjunction with policing can provide vital evidence along with eyewitness statements, alibis etc to provide prosecution teams with the necessary evidence to convict. Collating information obtained from other crime scenes and producing a database for cross-reference is a major break-through. This allows police and other agencies to compare similar cases and possibly find links to previous unsolved cases. All the information is collected and placed on various databases stored for future reference. A forensic investigator must be impartial and assume no one is guilty unless the evidence states otherwise. They are not there to find the assailant but to collate any evidence from a crime scene, which is vital to naming the perpetrator. It certainly is a tool most useful in crime prevention and detection and in time will save the police a lot of time on cases trying to piece together all the evidence when specialist forensic teams can speed up this process through experience and knowledge. In turn moving on to other cases, spending less time on each case but still providing the same outcome. More cases solved, criminals will no doubt think twice about crime unless they want to get caught. With the help of the police and a pathologist (a scientist who is skilled in identifying the cause and progress of diseases by examining tissue and fluid from the body. Especially one who determines the cause of someone's death by conducting an autopsy), together they investigate the cause of death with suspicious circumstances. The forensic scientist assists the pathologist by determining the blood type, DNA profile, identifying other samples such as hair, fibres, semen, and any other substances found on the body, which may have been deposited by the assailant. All evidence collected is vital in proving guilt or innocence. Other forms of forensic identification include: * Fingerprints – scraping debris from under the nail beds can sometimes contain relevant DNA. * DNA – DNA can be collected from blood samples or blood spatter and compared to the national DNA database where matches can be found. * Forensic Odontology – from teeth marks and bites, matches can be found through dental records or identification can be made from moulds made of teeth if no identity is known. * Facial Recognition system – this is identifying person(s) from photographs or video footage. By analysing specific actions i.e. style of walk. * Voice Recognition – if audio recording available, this can be analysed and compared to other voice samples for comparison. * Handwriting Analysis – by studying styles of writing, loops, height of letters etc it can be established if a signature is fake or real. * Ballistics analysis – identifying weapons used from bullet cartridges found, and looking for unusual markings that can tie a bullet to a particular weapon. Markings found on shell casings are like fingerprints but in the ballistics world, each weapon fired leaves distinctive markings. * Document Analysis – characterising the composition of the type of paper used and ink. The age of the paper can be established and the manufacturer. * Typewriters – the type can be identified by minor variations to the positioning and wear and each letter. * Paper shredders – unless a cross shredder is used; it is easy to piece together relevant documents for information. * Copiers – computer printers each have an identification number, which is embedded on printouts. Also computer printers have an individual banding pattern, which helps to identify a particular machine used to print a document. * Network Analysis – this involves using bank records, telephone records and postal records to check financial status and/or phone records to trace last phone numbers called or retrieve vital messages. * Radio Transceivers – can be identified by minute variations of their output signal. * CCTV – this is very useful as CCTV has been used in most major town centres and known hot spots where there is trouble. CCTV has been used to solve a number or valuable cases and is also useful in identifying automatic number plates recognition as it is linked to the DVLA database. * Computer Analysis – identification can be made via an IP address or MAC address. Using criminal psychology that uses psychological theories and methods of understanding, explaining and predicting criminal behaviour can assist the police in determining an assailant's guilt or innocence. By examining their motivation and extreme behavioural habits they can assess the complexity and severity of what they are dealing with. Criminal psychologists do not work on the understanding that a person is solely driven by inner thoughts or ideas or controlled by other means. Mostly they concentrate on the theory of experience and learning as the main principle to explain their actions and accepting that their social conditions, unconscious motivations and their biological pre-dispositions are all factors. Many still pursue research into the theory of genetics relating to human behaviour. Is it possible that our genetic make-up is responsible in some way for our behaviour? It has been found that psychopaths have an extra Y chromosome instead of having the XY chromosome they have XYY, but this is not conclusive. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) looked at the theory of psychoanalysis arguing that unconscious forces drive behaviour and criminal behaviour is the result of these unresolved conflicts. He states that the force of the ID (the instinctive part of the mind) is not sufficiently controlled by the ego (the mediator between our desires and prohibitions of the superego, the area that controls our impulses). This is why he based all his theories on crime being a psychic rather than materialistic need. Freud originally tried to explain his workings of the mind in terms of physiology and neurology thinking as a scientist would. Freud's methods of psychoanalysis were based on his theory that people have repressed, hidden feelings. The psychoanalyst's goal is to make the patient aware of these subconscious feelings. Childhood conflicts that are hidden away by the patient become revealed to both the analyst and the patient, allowing the patient to live a less anxious, healthier life. Methods of hypnosis were originally used by Freud to find the cause for anxiety, but he dismissed them as being too inaccurate. He started to use methods of free association to delve into the patient's sub-conscious. By assessing the patient's reactions to the analyst's suggestions, Freud saw that the analyst could help the patient become consciously aware of his repressed childhood conflicts and impulses. By interpreting the patient's dreams, the analyst can provide an insight into the patient's conflicts as well. The therapist's interpretations of the patient's free associations and dreams are known as psychoanalysis. Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, however, does have its problems. One of its drawbacks is that it is based on the assumption that repressed conflicts and impulses do in fact exist. Today this assumption is being challenged, and is provoking intense debate. Freud first developed these methods of psychoanalysis when he met with patients whose disorders did not make neurological sense. A patient, for example, may have suddenly gone blind. The problem is that there is no damage to either of his eyes. Freud began to wonder if this disorder might be psychological rather than physiological. A patient not wanting to see something that aroused anxiety might have caused his own blindness, he hypothesized. In order to find out what the anxiety stemmed from, he used methods of free association where the patient would say whatever came into his mind. Through the slips made when the patient was told to carry out the free-association process, and some of the patient's beliefs and habits, Freud could delve into the patient's subconscious. These thoughts produced a chain directly into the patient's subconscious, and unearthed memories and feelings. This process soon became known as psychoanalysis. Freud also believed that dreams were an important way of getting into the patient's subconscious. By analyzing dreams, he could reveal the basis of conflict within the patient. Freud believed the mind was made up of three main parts: the conscious, the preconscious, and the subconscious. The conscious region is the part that people are most aware of and what others can see. The preconscious region holds thoughts and feelings that a person can become aware of but that are mostly hidden away. Finally, the subconscious region consists of thoughts and feelings which are completely hidden away and which one is mostly unaware of. Some believe that the preconscious region is really a small part of the much larger subconscious region. Freud said that the mind is like an iceberg, with most of it, the subconscious, hidden away, and only a small part, the conscious, showing above the water, able to be seen. Why, then, would the majority of the mind be hidden; why is the subconscious region so much larger than the conscious region? Freud explained that the answer is that one forcibly blocks thoughts and feelings that he does not want others to become aware of. Although the person is not fully aware of these feelings, he still expresses them in disguise through the way he makes his choices. Using psychoanalytic methods, Freud was able, he said, to learn what feelings the patient had blocked and hidden in his subconscious. Freud developed one of his most famous theories of the mind when he realized the source of conflict in a person. He theorized that there were three interacting systems within the mind: the id, ego, and superego. The id is the largest part of the unconscious, and operates mainly on the need to gain pleasure and satisfaction. The ego can be seen as the moderator between the id and superego. Finally, the superego is the region of the mind that is mostly conscious. The superego forces the ego to consider the most ideal way of dealing with a problem. It is made up of morals, values, and culture's influence on a person. The superego's demands are very much opposed to those of the id, and it is the ego that must struggle to balance the ideas of the two. To live in a society one must be able to control the sexual impulses of the id. The roots of the anxiety in most of Freud's patients, he discovered, had usually come from conflicts that they had been subject to in early childhood. He concluded that in a growing child, the id begins to focus on certain pleasure-seeking areas of the body. These areas Freud called the erogenous zones. So it seems that using a combination of forensic techniques, psychoanalysis and criminal profiling, together this makes a more accurate way to crime solving than just plain policing. As crimes become more creative in some cases, police and forensics need to have the means to manage and cope with the never-ending original scenarios. So as some criminals become more creative and aware of new technologies with forensics, so must the forensic teams ensure they are always one step ahead when it comes to analysing evidence and finding improved techniques and use technology to enhance an ever-increasing field. It has been suggested by many that maternal deprivation is a factor in producing criminals. Being deprived of any attachments and bonding create emotionless and non-affectionate individuals. Child-rearing techniques is an important area of research and seen as a preventative towards breeding more criminals. Forensics may be seen as a preventative in today's society because it has become so vast that virtually anything can be analysed and identified by scientists. Ensuring you don't leave any form of physical evidence at a crime scene is not impossible to get away with crime, but you would either have to have extensive knowledge of forensic science or be very meticulous or take time and a lot of preparation to ensure no DNA or trace evidence is left at the crime scene. I'm sure there are those that feel it is possible to create the perfect crime and never be caught, as we know some crimes remain unsolved due to lack of evidence or witnesses not reliable enough.

Marriage – Argumentative Essay

Marriage is a social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitment, religious ceremony, etc. This is the kind of marriage that we are all used to. Nowadays, in reality, there are some people who found love not to someone that are the opposite sex, but to those who are the same sex. A lot of people have been debating about the legality of gay marriage. From relating it to religion and its affect on the traditional family values, there are a lot factors that can make this into a controversy. Even though gay marriage is still an illegal action in the majority countries there are some factors that should be considered to make it become legal. Opponents of gay marriage claim that homosexuality is a sin in most religion. However, this statement violates the First Amendment of Constitution about the free exercise of religion on a person’s religious views must be protected. Which means that the government cannot make a law that is based on a certain religion rule. Additionally, the civil marriage and the religion marriage are a total different institution; therefore a law in the government that is based on a religion rule should not be made. Moreover, legalizing gay marriage also consistent with the Equal Right Amendment on the first text about the Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Therefore the legalization of gay marriage will make an equal marriage for all in the eye of the government based on those two Amendments. The other arguments that the opponents mentioned is that the Institution of Marriage will get less respect and the definition will become unclear. They said that the purpose of marriage which is to pro-create, hence the marriage between a man and women is the possible one. However, when we see the divorce rate in America for the past decade, the number is stable at 50% for the first marriage. This gives the impression that even the straight marriages give less respect to the institution it self. Moreover, if we look into the simple, deeper of marriage it self, marriage is a constitution between two people that are brought together by love. So, love is the basic aspect in this Institution of Marriage. Therefore gay marriage won’t give less respect or make the definition become unclear because basically they already fulfill the ground aspect of marriage, which is love. The final argument from the opponents of gay marriage is that family contains a mother and father. However, this meaning of family has become biased since in reality there are a lot of other families that doesn’t have a mother and father but we can still call them a family. So basically the meaning of family has changed due to the different things that occur in the reality. For instance, single mother and single father families are a common thing nowadays, with this one parent cover the two different role of two parents. Therefore there is no exception for the gay couple if they want to extend their family. As long as they will provide their kids with love, support, shelter, and things that the kids will need. Additionally there are a lot of kids that have been waiting to have their own family, so adoption in gay marriage will help both the kids and the gay couple in creating their own family. In conclusion, gay marriage is just like any other marriage with a twist of the same sex between the couple. Therefore the legalization of gay marriage will make an equal marriage for all in the eye of the government based on those two Amendments. Additionally, gay marriage won’t give less respect or make the definition become unclear because basically they already fulfill the ground aspect of marriage, which is love. Moreover there is no exception for the gay couple if they want to extend their family. As long as they will provide their kids with love, support, shelter, and things that the kids will need because there are a lot of kids that have been waiting to have their own family, so adoption in gay marriage will help both the kids and the gay couple in creating their own family. Furthermore, in my opinion everyone deserve an equal right to marry someone they love because everyone deserves to be happy. SEKAR RINDANG FASHION MANAGEMENT 1401125124 REFERENCES Dictionary. com 5 December 2011 Messerli, Joe. â€Å"Should Same-Sex Marriages be Legalize? † balancedpolitics. org 19 November 2011. 5 December 2011 Tsivkin, Roman. â€Å"Marriage Laws In The USA. † livestrong. com 8 April 2010. 5 December 2011 Wikipedia. com 5 December 2011 Wikipedia. com 5 December 2011 divorceguide. com 5 December 2011