Catholic Teachings on Racism and Stealing free essay sample

People, by their very nature, are social creatures and it is the manner by which society manages these relational cooperations that makes the texture of some random society or culture. There are numerous issues in today’s society which were vital in the public arena through the ages, through our cutting edge and old history and as far back as scriptural occasions. Foundations, for example, the Church give a few lessons with regards to how society ought to be relied upon to carry on different issues. For example, the Catholic Church’s position on both prejudice and taking are positions which could be embraced worldwide to help point towards world harmony, fairness and justness for all. The ideas of having regard for one another as individuals and for singular property are as much an issue today as days gone by and will keep on being later on. The Church’s rules stay pertinent now and can help humankind later on. It is about the ethical decisions that individuals make. Precisely what is â€Å"moral† or â€Å"immoral† might be deciphered by various individuals and societies in an unexpected way. Profound quality is â€Å"a set of accepted rules set forward by society, or some other gathering, for example, religion, or acknowledged by a person for his/her own behaviour† (Sirswal, 2010, p. ). Catholics have lessons set down in the accounts of the Bible which help them to settle on moral decisions in their lives. The Ten Commandments are a rule to ethical quality set somewhere near God himself and give Catholics a rule for their living. The pace of progress in today’s world is quick and the Church additionally, through the Vatican, tries to stay up with these progressions and to advise its devotees regarding the Catholic good position on different social issues through encyclicals and the dri ll. The essential Catholic law of affection , adoring your God and your neighbor are the key part of Catholic ethical quality and considering prejudice to be indecent is legitimately connected to the idea of cherishing thy neighbor. Prejudice can be characterized as â€Å"a conviction or convention that inborn contrasts among the different human races decide social or individual accomplishment, as a rule including the possibility that one’s own race is better and has the privilege than rule others† (Random House, 2013). Bigotry is seen by Catholics as a transgression as it goes straightforwardly against God’s lessons that we should all treat others the manner in which we might want to be dealt with. The Bible says that we were completely framed in the picture and similarity of God and that we are every one of the one in Jesus Christ. This doesn't gel at all with any type of bigotry; we are generally equivalent and nobody (race or something else) is better than another. The Bible lets us know â€Å"Do not judge by appearances, yet judge with right judgment† (John 7:24) and Romans 10:12 discloses to us that â€Å"there is no qualification among Jew and Greek; for a similar Lord is the Lord of all, offering his wealth on all who approach him†. It is about regard for ourselves and our kindred individuals. Another issue like this is taking, which includes individuals having regard for other’s property. Taking is an intricate issue however fundamentally rotates around the issue of burglary, â€Å"the mystery taking of another’s property against the sensible will of that other† (New Advent, 2013). It is basically denying an individual or gathering of their assets. Not exclusively is it seen by the Catholic Church as a transgression, in many societies around the globe it is likewise an unlawful demonstration which is administered against. The Seventh Commandment expresses that â€Å"Though will not steal† and is rehashed commonly in the Bible (Matthew 19:18,Exodus 20:15). This has all the earmarks of being a reasonable instructing and furthermore connects to the Catholic teaching that all individuals must regard the property privileges of others. Anyway the Church’s position on the issue isn't straightforward. There are such huge numbers of levels of taking, as far as the material estimation of what has been taken, the plan to which the taken thing was to be put, the expectation the individual had when they denied the other of that property and whether compensation will be made for the property taken. The Catholic Church makes special case in conditions, for example, where somebody doesn't have the essential necessities of life (food, water and cover) and the burglary of such things might be supported on the off chance that they are fundamental for life to proceed and are taken from another’s overabundance. Adages 6:30-31 states that â€Å"Men don't scorn a robbery on the off chance that he takes to fulfill his appetite when he is starving. However on the off chance that he is gotten, he should pay sevenfold; however it costs him all the abundance of his house†. It is about sympathy for individual man. The Catholic legend on taking can likewise be hard to decipher in present day times when material property can be taken, yet additionally protected innovation, for example, copyright and web/web rights. Informative supplement 1 is an article with respect to some American teenagers who, following Obama’s re-appointment, tweeted bigot remarks, including calling President Obama a â€Å"nigger† and making monkey corresponds. This article features that in spite of the Bible’s educating and the country’s moral codes, there are still a few people who have supremacist mentalities. Catholics ought to have zero resilience f prejudice and it is correct that numerous individuals went to the teenagers’ schools to make them mindful of the remarks made. It ought not make any difference whether the youngsters implied no perniciousness in their remarks or not, maybe they just idea they were being â€Å"funny men† or were capitulating to peer weight and follow ing the lead of others. In present day society, where nations are progressively multi-social it is significant that society advances the idea of various races and societies living respectively in concordance. The Catholic lessons are a decent reason for society to the extent bigotry not being endured and that no race is better than another. It is especially significant in current society as the internet and web based life implies that activities and remarks are shared all through the world in a moment. Though years back, a high-schooler offering some remark like this among companions would not have spread any further, the minor composing of the words on to a tweet mean they were channeled far and wide instantly. It is extraordinary that numerous individuals grumbled and got extremely worked up about the remarks. The other peril today is that such remarks communicate to millions around the globe, may actuate others to carry on along these lines. The Catholic lessons are still as applicable in such conditions as they generally have been. Individuals do need to treat others reasonably and legitimately and all are equivalent in God’s eyes. The article in Appendix 2 alludes to a pack of young people, drove by three young ladies, utilizing a weapon and mallets in a theft of a takeaway store in New Zealand in 2010. They ineffectively attempted to take cash and wound up taking rucksacks loaded with frozen yogurts. The entire demonstration of viciousness and burglary is against the Church’s lessons. Given that the culprits were after cash from the outset, it doesn't appear that they perpetrated the wrongdoing out of franticness or yearning. They have penetrated another person’s right to their property and their entitlement to win a living from their works, The storekeeper likewise had their own privileges of wellbeing and security penetrated having a weapon displayed in his face. Aside from the way that such taking is illicit as far as New Zealand law, the Catholic Church’s educating would likewise apply here. Current society is turning out to be increasingly materialistic and like never before individuals need to maintain the Church’s instructing of Thou will not steal†. Social issues, for example, medications and liquor misuse may likewise make a few people progressively inclined to turn to taking to take care of their propensities and practices. Notwithstanding the entirety of this everybody needs to get a fresh start of the Church’s instructing and to regard others and their property. The idea of Love Thy Neighbor ought to be more appropriate than any time in recent memory. What does the future hold for both these issues and the Catholic perspective on them? We don't and never have, lived in an ideal society and Catholics can't make a case for their lessons offering ascend to an ideal society. Notwithstanding, if more individuals grasped a portion of the Catholic lessons corresponding to the issues of bigotry and taking, it would be a major positive development. Our general public today is more itinerant than any time in recent memory, with individuals consistently venturing out to different nations around the globe and encountering an ever increasing number of societies. Individuals settle in new nations and Australia is a genuine case of a multicultural society. The way in to every one of these races and ethnicities living as one must be equivalent to the way to Catholic lessons, the adoration for one’s God and one’s neighbor. There must be racial fairness and equity for all around the world. The brilliant standard of do unto others what you would need never really still applies today, even with all the mod-cons and innovation available to us. The times of internet based life mean our activities and words as an individual can be seen and decided by others all around the globe in a brief moment. Catholics and without a doubt all individuals need to regard the rights, independences and property of all others. The entire idea of â€Å"property† itself should be reexamined as it doesn't really mean just material things can be taken, yet in addition protected innovation, considerations and thoughts of others are to be regarded as having a place with them. In its least complex structure this implies â€Å"Thou will not steal†, anyway it is likewise imperative to have empathy and to follow our obligation to help those less lucky than ourselves. A person’s comprehension of ethical quality may come from a set of accepted rules set somewhere near any number of establishments, for example, government as laws and religion. It is about how one develops into adulthood and structures thei

Metallica - Kill ‘Em All free essay sample

This is Metallicas first collection which was discharged in July 25, 1983. It was recorded in a brief timeframe, fourteen days to be precise, and on an exceptionally little financial plan. The first collection title was unique however the studio encouraged them to transform it. There so they transformed it to what it is currently. The collection spread is of a sad remnant of a hand relinquishing a wicked heavy hammer. In spite of the fact that this collection isn't as amazing as Master of Puppets or Ride the Lightning yet it is as yet an entirely decent collection. It has an a lot quicker beat than different discharges and it likewise has much more thrashier sound. That is the reason this collection is a greater amount of a unique whip metal collection. This collection isnt as quick or fierce as Slayer collections however its despite everything cool to listen as well and is unadulterated whip collection. This collection has those infectious guitar riffs, crazy guitar performances, incredible vocal singing, and extraordinary drumming. We will compose a custom exposition test on Metallica Kill ‘Em All or then again any comparable subject explicitly for you Don't WasteYour Time Recruit WRITER Just 13.90/page Presently lets talk about the tunes: 1. Hit the Lights-This melody starts with a blur in of the guitars and afterward Lars, the drummer, making a drumming design. After that the guitarist are on speeding fret sheets. They have cool guitar riffs and all through melody have numerous smaller than expected performances and afterward they go in to the genuine performance. This is an extraordinary opening melody and must be one of my top picks on this collection. 2. Four Horsemen-This melody isnt as quick as the past tune however it has snappy guitar riffs and incredible performances. Despite the fact that the performances are progressively old style performances. 3. Motorbreath-This melody starts with a drum introduction. The guitars command in this tune however. 4. Bounce in the Fire-This melody is quite quick however it has snappy riffs. Toward the end there is dynamically increasingly quicker and long guitar solo that I appreciated. 5. (Sedation) Pulling Teeth-is a long performance however its not guitar solo its a BASS S OLO! This tune shows Cliff Burtons abilities in his progressively old style foundation. Likewise he utilizes overwhelming twisting and a Wah-Wah Pedal. The main verses or exchange in this tune is toward the starting where Cliff states: â€Å"Base Solo, Take One† Then likewise in the first place there is no drum beat however they do kick in at about the 2:40 imprint. 6. Whiplash-starts with low pounding of the bass drum then the guitars kick in and add flavor to the tune. 7. Ghost Lord-has its good and bad times. You can scarcely hear the vocals since they are suffocated by the guitars. This tune additionally has a cool guitar solo. At that point it hinders again after that. At that point another guitar solo comes in and speeds it up once more. Much the same as I said it has its high points and low points. 8. No Remorse-has a cool beat to it is as yet a decent piece of Metallicas live shows. 9. Look for Destroy-Finally we have gone to my main tune of this collection. This has renowned opening guitar lick that I love. It likewise has snappy vocals that simply keep so stimulated! Additionally those incredible guitar riffs that are so dull. This tune likewise has a cool guitar solo that at that point closures to the first song of this track. 10. Metal Militia-is the most crazy track out of these on the grounds that it begins quick and simply has that unadulterated whip sound to it. Really cool tune So my decision is this is an incredible collection if youre a Metallica fan. In spite of the fact that its not in the same class as different collections that I recorded however on the off chance that youre a metal head, at that point you will appreciate this incredible collection by one of the best whip metal groups.

Product Liability Suit against British Petroleum

Presentation BP is a global enterprise whose primary exercises remember investigation and exchanging for oil and gas. BP is the third biggest organization in the vitality segment on the planet and sixth in the general classification. The organization is associated with a few exercises inside the vitality segment particularly investigation of gas and oil, processing plant and dissemination of the equivalent, age of intensity and in retailing of gas and oil products.Advertising We will compose a custom research paper test on Product Liability Suit against British Petroleum explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More BP has likewise made significant walks in the sustainable power source area particularly in bio-fills, wind force, hydrogen and sun oriented vitality. The parent organization has its worldwide headquarter in London. There have been a few suits brought against BP because of their careless and deceptive conduct which put the two individuals and condition in danger. BP has had many negative episodes which have marked its social duty picture the world over. A portion of these slip-ups have had extreme natural effects and have influenced the occupations of a few people. There is by all accounts a culture of exemption inside the company’s top officials since a portion of its slip-ups continue happening over and over. Obviously the organization has wound up on the negative side of a few item obligation suits because of mishaps in its site and the utilization of a portion of its items. These suits have been brought by individuals, organizations and gatherings who have been harmed during these mishaps and are requesting equity and revenge for the activities or absence of them with respect to BP. Item Liability Suit against BP There have been a few item obligation suits against BP over the world because of mishaps and mischief from utilizing a portion of its items. However, this paper considers the ongoing and continuous case against BP becaus e of the unfriendly impact occasioned by the oil slick at the Gulf of Mexico. Late disclosures by the Orlando Sentinel have uncovered a condemning truth with respect to BP that the plans they utilized in the profound water rig were not the best for that specific reason and area. Considerably additionally alarming is the allegation by the sentinel that this specific plan was wrong as well as defective. This end was shown up at through a few meetings with engineers.Advertising Looking for inquire about paper on business corporate law? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This uncovered the way that BP decided to utilize a structure which was less expensive and problematic. Notwithstanding the pre-owned plan, there were a few mechanical goofs which ought to have been a sign of conceivable emergency. Oil masters have singled out the Gulf of Mexico as one of the spots where boring is difficult and along these lines requires more secu re and dependable boring techniques. BP obviously overlooked this pool of extraordinary counsel and decided to put cost cutting before human security and natural concerns. The subsequent spill, one of the biggest ever, has risked BP of fire and is confronting a few item obligation suits from influenced individuals and organizations. Because of the numerous item obligation suits documented against BP, the offended party legal counselors have chosen to utilize a prosecution system called multidistrict case (Ashby, 2010). This arrangement of case has been utilized a few times in the US in significant prosecution against significant organizations. This permits all arguments brought against a solitary organization to be brought to one court and be heard by one appointed authority with the end goal of effectiveness. The significant advantages are efficient instruments like sharing affidavits and pooling assets during the time spent proof assortment. This thus decreases asset wastage in si tuations where legal counselors would need to contend the equivalent in various courts. BP as of late needed to pay a few millions because of a comparative issue in Alaska and it’s almost certain that they will be requested to do so again after the finishing of this item obligation suits. Alleviation against item risk suits and different emergency Six sigma investigations ought to have affected BPs the board in utilizing the correct framework from the beginning or transforming it when framework and upkeep issues began happening. They ought to have utilized the information gathered in this remote ocean rig and in different locales to figure the conceivable hazard and sanction the correct moderation measures. Yet, they excused most thoughts achieved by prestigious specialists in the field, something which negated the sigma approach (Meredith Schafer, 2010). They additionally neglected to set up elevated expectations in building the apparatus and thus the low measures may have c aused the blast and the acceleration of the emergency. The circumstances and logical results belief system can be seen grinding away during this emergency where BP’s broken structure and their reluctance to listen turned into the reason for both the fiasco and the incredible degree to which it influenced the general condition. Obviously, had they being sensible from the beginning, they would have forestalled the ebb and flow cost of review and the ensuing item risk suits.Advertising We will compose a custom research paper test on Product Liability Suit against British Petroleum explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More Crisis the board has picked up importance lately because of the capacity of single emergency to dissolve the advantages gathered after some time by a firm and cause death toll and income. In any case, the ramifications of an emergency may frequent an association just like the instance of BP for quite a while to come. BP has demonstrated that the ex pense of an emergency is amazing and the expense of review is constantly gigantic. One of the dangers that face organizations during times of emergency is item obligation cases. There is no preferable model over BP’s late recorded settlement of an item risk case. The outcome isn't simply paying out huge settlement or harms however the expense of initiating a PR battle to revamp the company’s picture. It isn't constantly conceivable to foresee the event of an emergency and the resultant misfortune that follows, however it is conceivable to moderate that likelihood. This would guarantee that should they happen, the degree to which they influence the association and those around the influenced zones won’t be as extreme if no measures had been taken. It is no big surprise that many feel that BP ought to be rebuffed cruelly for its numerous bumbles that cost lives and serious harm to the earth. Most academicians accept that there exist enough motions toward foresee t he conceivable event of calamity and disregarding them until it’s past the point of no return comprises carelessness. It is just passage then that organizations who inability to do so ought to be considered responsible and be made to pay for the expense of fix and repay the influenced people. Inasmuch as organizations keep on disregarding moderation by making solid emergency supervisory groups, at that point item obligation suits will are setting down deep roots. End This paper shows obviously that the lead of BP was flippant and ought to be considered responsible for the death toll and the calamitous harm to nature. Despite the fact that the organization has vowed billions in recovery exertion, it isn't sufficient for the individuals who have lost a vocation because of the oil slick. It is not yet clear whether the courts will decide for the few plaintiff’s who have recorded an item obligation class suit against BP. Be that as it may, by all signs, it is crooked to co ntrol in any case despite such gross unfortunate behavior and carelessness with respect to BP.Advertising Searching for look into paper on business corporate law? We should check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Find out More References Ashby, J. (2010, September 13). As BP Suits Take Off, a Hard Look at the ‘MDL’ Process. Money Street Journal. Recovered from https://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/09/13/as-bp-suits-remove a-hard-take a gander at-the-mdl-process/Meredith, J. Shafer, S. (2010). Activities Management for MBAs, fourth Ed. John Wiley Sons. This exploration paper on Product Liability Suit against British Petroleum was composed and put together by client TheFury to help you with your own investigations. You are allowed to utilize it for research and reference purposes so as to compose your own paper; in any case, you should refer to it likewise. You can give your paper here.

Describe The Danger Of Illicit Drugs In Our Locality - 825 Words

Describe The Danger Of Illicit Drugs In Our Locality (Essay Sample) Content: The danger of illicit drugs in our locality.There have been so many cases of use of illicit brews in our village. It has been to the increase over several years consecutively .The illicit brew started as a traditional drink of different tribes and was used during important occasions by the different tribes that live in the locality. In these generation things have changed and it has come to be the order of the day in the way the people here live. Before this illicit brew that is modern came to be, the people before used to make it using natural herbs, grains and fruits, by fermenting them unlike these days they are just cooked anyhow producing poisonous drink. This will see to it that we have bad effects. This illicit brew will see to it that we lose lives and our future .something really needs to be done about the situation.This illicit drug came into existence after we had the villagers who brew the liquor found a new way to make it ferment quickly. This included the use of a drug that was not goes at all. The chemical is the major component that is making people get drunk immediately and with great effects. The drug is also making people get addicted to the liquor quickly at a rate which can be regarded as lethal to human beings. This drug is a component that makes the liquor a threat to our community as it has become famous, being used by people of different creed and beliefs, as once they get the effects, there is no going back in any way. This is the main reason why the drug should be done away with, as it is in fact illicit.Many people have been affected either directly or indirectly buy this brew. Students who are using it are poor performers in their academics and co-curricular activities. They miss school and sneak away from their dormitories leading to indiscipline to schools. Some have been said to be stubborn and have become ill-mannered behavior toward the elders. Some are being expelled from schools for good, making the lives of their parents difficult while searching for new schools. Some teachers in local area have taken the habit of attending classes while drunk, which is a direct way of setting a bad example to the childrenIn the village, there has been increase in the number in cases of violence. They are being initiated by the drug users. They roam during the day and hover around .Since some have no source of income and the demand of drugs is high in their bodies, they go at night and steal peoples property and money .There have been complains of killing as the thieves who are drunk become ruthless. Men who are alcoholic hurt their wives when they get home at night. There has been a case where a husband burned the wife while drunk while another put poison to the whole family to die, which was under the influence of drugs. Those homes have no peace and children live in fear of their future.Some deaths have occurred in the locality as a result of excessive drinking of illicit brew. It has been noted t hat they make one drunk faster than the normal alcohol made in the factory. Some people have lost their eyes for good. Some have generated mental disorders. The living standard of people has lowered as the breadwinner dies. The addicted are being sacked...

Similarities And Weaknesses Of Heraclitus And Parmenides

Heraclitus and Parmenides were two of the most influential and enigmatic of the Presocratic philosophers. Heraclitus argued for the idea that reality is impermanent, while Parmenides argued that reality is static. Parmenides also focused on using rationality to discern the nature of reality, as opposed to Heraclitus’ use of sensory experiences. They both argued for reality being one distinct thing, however there are differences between them in this idea of unity. Nietzsche s perspectivism is important in discussing the problems with either view as we should take the strengths and weakness of both into account to create a better understanding of the world. Parmenides of Elea was a prominent philosopher of the 5th century BCE who†¦show more content†¦This leaves us with what James Warren (2007) describes as an ‘unfamiliar reality which leaves no room for change, plurality, motion, difference, people, days or nights’. This idea of change being an illusion means that complete, objective and timeless knowledge exists that cannot be changed. This also allows for analysis as many things, such as analysing how bee colonies are organised and the functions within it require a focus on structure and commonality. This view was in dialectical opposition to Heraclitus of Ephesus, who argued that the world is in a constant state of flux. Heraclitus argues that there is a problem with people’s attachment to the illusion of permanence. Everything in the world will not stay the same, we can see this from the idea from Heraclitus that ‘it is not possible to step twice into the same river, according to Heraclitus, nor to touch mortal substance twice in any condition’ (Plutarch, 392B). Rivers are bodies of water that continually flows so that every second the water at a point in the river is not the same as it was before. The state of the physical world has never remained the same; mountains move over millions of years, a few billion years ago Earth could not sustain life, and even longer ago there were no solids, no liquids, only gases. Each moment can be said to die and be reborn in the next, so that change occurs every moment and it

Death in Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe

Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe In the short story â€Å"Masque of the Red Death† By: Edgar Allen Poe he delivers the theme of age old inevitability of death and futility of trying to escape death, the setting of his story is based during a time when the bubonic â€Å"black† plague took over Europe. The black plague was a bacterium that survived in rats and rodents, human beings became infected when they got bitten by the fleas that lived on these rodents and rats; you knew you had gotten infected by several symptoms such as bleeding in the lungs, high fever and delirium but the most outstanding symptom was bubos. Now Bubos are painful lymph nodes that appear usually in the armpits, legs, neck or groin areas, if the infected†¦show more content†¦Shortly after their discovery each and every invited wealthy guest fell to their untimely death from becoming infected by the â€Å"red death†. Now the reason why the wealthy thousand died was because the â€Å"Red Death† infiltrat ed the whole castle by the unwelcomed guest that appeared earlier in the short story, in the end darkness, decay and the red death have at last triumphed. In conclusion death knows no difference between the wealthy persons and the less fortunate people to death we are all the same, when your time comes you cannot escape death by running, hiding, or confining yourself and your friends in a castle guarded by tall walls and iron gates Edgar Allan Poe born in 1809 to traveling actors from Boston, at the delicate age of one his mother died of tuberculosis, overwhelmed by such sorrow his father deserted him at the age of two left in abandonment he was adopted by a lovely couple Mr. and Mrs. John Allan. As time passed he only studied a brief time at the University of Virginia, his behavior and gambling habits kept him from becoming successful at UVA. In 1836 he married a young woman named Virginia who happen to be only fourteen years of age and his cousin, In 1846 he lost his wife to a long lifetime illness because of his loss he became addicted to more than just drinking he became addicted to drugs such as morphine and opium. The last twelve years of his life he worked as a journalist, editor and creative writer. Sadly in 1849 Edgar Allan Poe diedShow MoreRelatedThe Masque Of The Red Death By Edgar Allan Poe Essay1712 Words   |  7 PagesEdgar Allan Poe is a well known profound writer because of his great works of fiction through short stories and poetry. Often times inciting fear and suspense into readers by the use of tone and subject in a various literature ways. Evidently in stories such as The Masque of the Red Death, The Tale-Tell Heart, and The Raven being that they are all well known. Poe an unforgettable writer, because of his horror stories and writing style has created stories and poems that are classical and often spokenRead MoreThe Masque Of The Red Death By Edgar Allan Poe1769 Words   |  8 Pagesâ€Å"isolation† is used, most people think of it as an action performed in solitude. It brings to mind an empty space in which one person resides, far from all others. However, isolation does not always occur in a singular sense. In â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† by Edgar Allan Poe, isolation is used by a large population as a means of safety. In â€Å"The Thing Around Your Neck† by Chimananda Ngozi Adichie, isolation occurs among crowds of people and even in the company of someone close to one’s heart. In bothRead MoreThe Masque Of The Red Death By Edgar Allan Poe2034 Words   |  9 Pagesatmosphere exudes a dream-like quality, which calls into question if the events are simply a product of one’s imagination. This situation is comparable to that of â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† by Edgar Allan Poe. Originally published in 1842, this narrative t ells the story of a wealthy noble, Prince Prospero. An extremely deadly plague, the Red Death, has devastated the land, and Prince Prospero invited a group of a thousand friends to one of his abbeys to hide away from the disease. Everything about the partyRead MoreEdgar Allan Poe s The Masque Of The Red Death1300 Words   |  6 Pagesmovement took action during the mid-eighteen hundreds in which Poe wrote his short story, Masque of the Red Death According to Edgar Allan Poe in his short story, â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† â€Å"No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous.† Even though plagues had been common throughout the years, none of them had been as hideous as society was during the Movement. In his short story â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death†, Edgar Allan Poe demonstrates that people are naturally born evil, during the Anti-TranscendentalismRead MoreEdgar Allan Poe s The Masque Of The Red Death1225 Words   |  5 Pagesstories of tribes, to colonial poems, to the twisted mind of Edgar Allan Poe, there is a connection. Poe’s â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† may not seem to portray the ideas of religion but through close examination, the association will become less cloudy. Poe’s use of symbolism, narrator, word choice, helps readers unmask the idea of religion. Poe’s use of symbolism is very evident throughout the story of â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death†. Much has been made about the meaning of the rooms that fillRead MoreThe Masque Of The Red Death By Edgar Allan Poe And Shirley Jackson1219 Words   |  5 Pagesa writer masterfully orchestrates their piece of literature to capture and intrigue an audience, the author utilizes a certain depth in the piece, where their vernacular elicits emotions. The short stories written by Edgar Allan Poe and Shirley Jackson, â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† and â€Å"The Summer People†, produce an unexpected ending. The key to creating feelings of tension and suspense lies within their command of literary elements. Each of these aspects contribute toward the bigger pictureRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of Edgar Allan Poe s The Masque Of The Red Death1409 Words   |  6 PagesA Literary Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† Edgar Allan Poe is popularly known as a Gothic short story writer. He has produced many gruesome stories, including the short story â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death†. In this short tale, Prince Prospero decides to lock himself and his friends of the court into a magnificently decorated abbey to escape becoming ill of a disease which has caused half the people in his land to perish. The Prince provides indulgences and throws partiesRead MoreMasque Of The Red Death By Edgar Allan Poe Analysis758 Words   |  4 PagesEdgar Allen Poe is famous for his distinct style of writing. Authors use stylistic elements to create an effect on their writing that develops a voice. Factors such as Edgars past has influenced his writing and has contributed to his style. In his literary works, Poe uses figures of speech such as irony, similar point of views, and allegory to establish his voice as an author. Figures of speech such as irony are used by Poe to create his style. In Masque of the Red Death it states, No pestilenceRead MoreComparative Essay- Rachel Orbach In â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† by Edgar Allan Poe, and â€Å"To900 Words   |  4 Pages Comparative Essay- Rachel Orbach In â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† by Edgar Allan Poe, and â€Å"To Build a Fire† by Jack London, both authors use similar protagonists who unwillingly have to face their death. Prince Prospero, in â€Å"The Masque of Red Death†, is avoiding a deadly plague by hiding in his castle with his kinsmen, and the man in â€Å"To Build a Fire† is traveling in the freezing weather trying to abstain from hypothermia and death. Prince Prospero and the man, while different from one anotherRead MoreCompare And Contrast The Style Of Edgar Allan Poe And The Masque Of The Red Death1018 Words   |  5 Pagesjust by reading it once. Edgar Allen Poe has a very distinct style one will see. Through themes, symbolism and tone, Poe is easily distinguished from other writers by having a style that is very dark, and suspenseful. Poe uses recurring themes that set him apart and emphasize the dark suspenseful style. One of the most common themes he uses is death, found in almost all of Poes works. In A Cask of Amantillado, it is centered around Montressor killing Fortunato, death being the only thought he

Jesus Christ Reigns over the World-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp

Question: The body of Jesus Christ can only be a visible body, or else it is not a body at all discipleship,p.225. How does Bonhoeffer understand the visibility of the church in chapter 11 of discipleship? What are the social implications of this idea of the visible church? Answer: There's no doubt that there are certain statements made in the New Testament, regarding the Church, in which spatial analogies have been used and one may consider the Church being mentioned as a house, a temple, a building and in the same way, also as a body. It becomes clear from this that just needs to be mentioned as the visible Church - the community of God present on earth; it is not possible to avoid spatial images. In fact, a particular space is occupied by the judge in the world. That is decided by its order, its worship and also on the basis of its congregational life. This fact is the point of departure concerning the thinking in context of realms in general.[1] It is worth mentioning that it can be perilous to overlook it and in the same way, to deny the visibility of the church and therefore to devalue the church in completely spiritual entity. In such a case, the fact related with the revelation of God in the world will lose its power and the same way, Christ will be spi ritualized. It is an intrinsic part of the God's revelation in Jesus Christ that has occupied space in this world, even the space in a stable. The reason is that 'there is no other place present in the inn'. The whole reality of the world has been embraced by God in this narrow space.[2] Similarly, God reveals its ultimate foundation in it. Hence it can be said that the Church of Jesus Christ is the place, or in other words, the space in this world where it has to be proclaimed and demonstrated that Jesus Christ reigns over the world. Hence, it can be stated that the space of the Church does not exist only for itself. The existence of the space is already always something that had been reached beyond it.[3] The reason is that it is not the space of a cult that has to make efforts for its own existence in this world. Instead, the space of the church can be described as the place where a proclamation is made and seriously considered that God has reconciled the world in Christ and in t he same way, it is also proclaimed that God loved the world so much that He has given his Son to it. On these grounds, it can be said that space of the Church is not present for the purpose of fighting with the world to get a piece of its territory. On the other hand, it is present executive testified to the world that it is still the world or in other words, the world that God loves and reconciled.[4] Many other scholars have also agreed with Bonhoeffer, and have said something similar. Generally speaking, it can be said that the Church is not required to fight for its own existence. If truth is spoken by Church, then, ultimately, the truth will win. In this way, the existence of the Church is not for itself. It speaks regarding the issue of apologetics. It can be stated that most apologetics have a hint of desperation regarding them.[5] In the same way, most of them are the exercises in deus ex machina. At this point, it can be argued for God, based on what we do not know. Generally, it comes up in context of the discussions that are related with faith and science. In such cases, the problem is present that God is always in retreat.[6] On the other hand, science always marches forward. Due to this reason, the things that were mysteries for us in the past have taken the form of theories today. In this regard, a little work of Bonhoeffer is present titled 'Jesus the Center. He had also talked about knowing God in what we know in all his writings. In this way, on a practical level, when the ministry and the efforts of the local church board towards surviving, in such a case, it can be said that the gospel has been lost. When a Church is required to provide new motivation so that it may appeal to its own congregants and also to those outside, it can be said that the gospel is no longer at the center. These may include coffee bars on new buildings etc. However, this does not mean that a new building may not be required in all the cases but when it is clear that everything needed by the Church is already present by someone else, it results in changing the understanding regarding what is necessary. Bibliography Caputo, John D. The Weakness of God: A Theology of the Event Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006 Carson, D. A. Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2005 Cousland, J. R. C. The Crowds in the Gospel of Matthew Supplements to Novum Testamentum V. 102. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2002. Gibbons, Dave. The Monkey and the Fish : Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church The Leadership Network Innovation Series. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2009 Harper, Steve. The Way to Heaven: The Gospel According to John Wesley. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2003 Hirsch, Alan. The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Brazos Press, 2006 Carson, D. A. Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church : Understanding a Movement and Its Implications. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2005 Hirsch, Alan. The Forgotten Ways : Reactivating the Missional Church. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Brazos Press, 2006 Cousland, J. R. C. The Crowds in the Gospel of Matthew Supplements to Novum Testamentum V. 102. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2002. Caputo, John D. The Weakness of God : A Theology of the Event Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006 Gibbons, Dave. The Monkey and the Fish : Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church The Leadership Network Innovation Series. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2009 Harper, Steve. The Way to Heaven : The Gospel According to John Wesley. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2003

Property, Plant, and Equipment free essay sample

Plant and Equipment Property, Plant and Equipment I- Nature of Accounting Issues Businesses purchase and use a variety of fixed assets, such as equipment, furniture, tools, machinery, buildings, and land. These fixed assets are long-term or relatively permanent assets. Also, they are tangible assets because they exist physically. They are owned and used by the business and are not offered for sale as part of normal operations. Perhaps the most descriptive titles these assets are known under are plant assets or property, plant and equipment. Depending on the industry, the plant assets of a business can be a significant part of its total assets. That is why the accounting for these long-term assets has important implications for a company’s reported results. In this paper, we discuss the proper accounting for the acquisition, use, and disposition of property, plant, and equipment. Before going over a brief overview of the nature of accounting issues, we ought to take a deeper look at what plant assets really are. We will write a custom essay sample on Property, Plant, and Equipment or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The major characteristics of property, plant, and equipment are as follows: * They are acquired for use in operations and not for resale. Only assets used in normal business operations are classified as property, plant, and equipment. For example, an idle building is more appropriately classified separately as an investment. Also, land developers or sub dividers classify land as inventory. * They are long-term in nature and usually depreciated. Property, plant, and equipment yield services over a number of years. Companies allocate the cost of the investment in these assets to future periods through periodic depreciation charges. The exception is land, which is depreciated only if a material decrease in value occurs, such as a loss in fertility of agricultural land because of poor crop rotation, drought, or soil erosion. * They possess physical substance. Property, plant, and equipment are tangible assets characterized by physical existence or substance. This differentiates them from intangible assets, such as patents or goodwill. Unlike raw material, however, property, plant, and equipment do not hysically become part of a product held for resale. The content of this paper will be centered on the four main accounting issues we face when dealing with property, plant, and equipment. The first one is computing the costs of these plant or fixed assets; the following one is how to allocate the costs of those fixed assets–depreciation- (less any salvage amounts) against revenues for the cor responding periods; the third one is how to account for expenditures such as repairs, additions and improvements to these plant assets; and finally how to record their disposal. The following table provides a summary of these accounting issues: II- Historical Background of the Accounting Rules in the U. S and Internationally * IFRS Standards Background Information An important and considering factor for understanding the International Financial Reporting Standards is having a little history about it how it came to be. Before we go any further about property, plant, and equipment, we must first discuss the history and background of how the standards under IFRS originated and the importance of defining why it originated. In order to understand IFRS, we need to examine what the International Financial Reporting Standards are. With that in mind, we want to reference the authors of Understanding IFRS Fundamentals: International Financial Reporting Standards, â€Å"IFRS are a set of standards promulgated by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), an international standard-setting body based in London† (Ankarath 2). This quote tells us who makes IFRS and where IFRS originated from. The International Accounting Standards Board made it clear that when developing the standards, they wanted to make them clearly stated and based on principles instead of rules-based like U. S. GAAP. In other words, IFRS are rooted in â€Å"the approach [principles-based, that] focuses more on the business or the economic reality of transactions and the underlying rights and obligations instead of providing prescriptive rules† (Ankarath 2). This basically means that IFRS is not setting certain rules to be followed and are instead giving guidance in the form of principles. We now want to look into the International Accounting Standards Board and framework for the preparation and presentation of financial statements. The conceptual frameworks are split into five categories and are in the following order: the objective of financial statements; underlying assumptions; the qualitative characteristics that determine the usefulness of information in financial statements; the definition, recognition, and measurement of the elements from which financial statements are constructed; and the concepts of capital and capital maintenance (Ankarath 11). The standards under IFRS are beginning to become much more popular across the world for several different reasons. The International Financial Reporting Standards are currently being used by at the very least 100 countries and â€Å"[was] expected that by 2011, more than 150 countries [would] have adopted them† (Ankarath 1). We happen to find this important because it seems that a lot of countries are starting to adopt IFRS to report their financial statements. One of the reasons why many countries made the switch over to IFRS is because â€Å"the decision of the U. S. SEC to allow foreign private issuers to list their securities on U. S. stock exchanges using IFRS and without reconciling to U. S. GAAP has also made it incumbent upon accountants, finance professionals, analysts, and bankers to become proficient in IFRS† (Ankarath 1). Another significant factor when dealing with IFRS is the rise of globalization and businesses within countries wanting to have the flexibility and ability to compete worldwide. This made countries seek and adopt accounting standards to give investors, creditors, financial analysts, and the financial statements needed to be comparable and of high-quality. This became a difficult issue because companies ran into the problem of not being able to compare financial statements unless they were under a certain set of standards. With that being said, â€Å"International Financial Reporting Standards are increasingly becoming the set of globally accepted accounting standards that meet the needs of the world’s increasingly integrated global capital markets† (Ankarath 2). * U. S. GAAP Standards Background Information In order to fully understand the topic of plant, property, and equipment, we first must consider how the FASB has implemented its standards in the past. So before we go any further into the â€Å"nuts and bolts† and foundation of the accounting standards followed under U. S. GAAP, we first want to discuss what GAAP is, who created GAAP, how it was created, and the hierarchy of GAAP after codification. The answers to these questions will give us a better understanding of U. S. GAAP and the historical background needed to fully understand how U. S. GAAP works in practice with respect to fixed assets. According to Steven Bragg, author of Wiley GAAP 2011: Interpretation and Application of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, â€Å"the phrase â€Å"generally accepted accounting principles† is a technical accounting term that encompasses the conventions, rules, and procedures necessary to define accepted accounting practice at a particular time† (Bragg 1). The main concerns under GAAP are the measurements of economic activity, as mentioned earlier, GAAP used a more rules-based approach and â€Å"thus GAAP is a reaction to and a product of the economic environment in which it develops† (Bragg 2). The creation of U. S. GAAP dates back to the stock market crash of the 1930’s. Its original goal was to try and help pick the economy back up. With the economy being in distraught, â€Å"the AICPA created a special committee to work with New York stock exchange toward the goal of establishing standards for accounting procedures† (Bragg 2). This committee did not get very far in achieving its goals because of limited resources and lack of research efforts. The APB (Accounting Principles Board) was then used in order to have better research and to report its findings to the division of the AICPA concerning accounting principles. However, the APB was not as successful as they hoped for and this made forth for the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to try and solve these problems of poorly written accounting procedures. The FASB was formed in 1972 and â€Å"is recognized as authoritative through Financial Reporting Release 1 of the SEC and through Rule 203 of the AICPA code of professional conduct† (Bragg 3). The FASB issues many types of pronouncements to help ensure that companies using U. S. GAAP are doing so by the book and â€Å"the FASB staff is empowered to issue implementation guides† to help companies report their financial statements to be comparable (Bragg 3). Another important creator of U. S. GAAP that we want to briefly explain is the Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) that was formed by the FASB in 1984 in order to help assist current and future issues to be raised. We now want to shift our topic away from the creators of U. S. GAAP and discuss how the 5-level hierarchy got condensed into two categories and briefly explain the hierarchy of GAAP after codification. An important date in history is July 1, 2009, when the FASB Accounting Standards became the official source of authoritative, nongovernmental U. S. generally accepted accounting principles (Bragg 7). This codification or condensation in our opinion made the 5-level hierarchy split into two categories that reorganizes the large number of U. S. GAAP pronouncements into roughly 90 accounting topics and each has some sub-topics. The way the codification is arranged is simply by topic, subtopics, sections, and subsections to make it easier for accountants to follow the rules and it also makes it easy for accountants to look up. The four main areas of the codification for topics are as follows: presentation, financial statement accounts, broad transactions, and industries. An example we found as to how to read the codification is through â€Å"a hybrid classification developed by the FASB that follows the structure of XXX-YY-ZZ-PP, where XXX=topic, YY=subtopic, ZZ=section, and PP=paragraph† (Bragg 8). As you can see this makes it very easy for anyone to find the topic they are looking for because everything is broken down by code. We also must account for what happens when there are updates to the codification and the way the FASB handles this is through organizing the new standards using the same section heading as those used in the codification. Whenever there is a new standard they are â€Å"deemed to be non-authoritative in their own right; [and] instead, the new standards serve only to update the codification and provide the historical basis for conclusions of a new standard† (Bragg 9). Now that we have discussed some background information of U. S. GAAP, we are now ready to examine these standards with respect to property, plant, and equipment. III. Recognition and Measurement The International Accounting Standards, or IAS, and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or GAAP are both essential tools in helping accountants provide accurate financial information and reports to shareholders, external users and internal users. There are differences and similarities as well as advantages and disadvantages between the two sets of recognition and measurement rules when it comes to the requirements under the topic of Property, Plant, and Equipment. Even though under IFRS, the International Financial Reporting Standards, it is globally accepted amongst most countries, GAAP provides easier comparability, a more straight forward cost system and may be less costly in the long run. Before comparing the similarities and differences between the recognition and measurement rules of property, plant and equipment in IFRS and GAAP, it must first be clarified whether accountants within the United States are even allowed to apply IFRS guidelines in reporting. According to one of the well-renowned and respected accounting firms, McGladrey it has been a constant and ongoing debate within the Securities Exchange Commission or SEC for the final decision on determining which set of reporting standards to adopt. The recognition and measurement rules for property, plant and equipment is located in the International Accounting Standard (IAS) 16 under IFRS and in the Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 360 of FASB. First, to determine what is recognized as Property, Plant and Equipment under IAS 16: it must be a tangible item, held for use in the production or supply of goods and services. Then, recognition under IFRS requires the entity to apply â€Å"the general asset recognition principle to all property, plant and equipment costs at the time they are incurred, including initial costs and subsequent expenditures† (IN6) meaning that they are all measured at cost at initial recognition, and after that the entity can choose either to apply the cost or revaluation model. Under GAAP, however, property, plant and equipment are still measured under the cost model: the carrying amount is equal to the initial cost minus accumulated depreciation minus accumulated impairment losses. Also, it is noted that during the construction period in preparing the asset to become ready for its final stage of intended use, certain interest costs are capitalized. Since the revaluation method is not allowed under U. S. GAAP, it can be argued that IFRS would be a more accurate model of reporting the costs of property, plant and equipment. Under valuation, IFRS uses the cost model, like in GAAP mentioned above or it can use the revaluation model in which it recognizes the carrying value of property, plant, and equipment assets at fair value at the date of revaluation minus accumulated depreciation since revaluation date minus accumulated impairment losses since revaluation date. According to IAS 16 if the carrying value is less than fair value at revaluation date, then the carrying value is increased to fair value and recognized in comprehensive income. On the other hand, if the carrying value is greater than fair value at revaluation date, then the carrying value is decreased to fair value, decreasing revaluation surplus which is then recognized in profit or loss. Measurement at recognition under IFRS standards also include a lot of the obligations in anticipating the disposal element of an asset, such as requiring entities to both include the costs of removal, restoration and dismantlement of an aspect of property, plant and equipment as well as measuring a property, plant and equipment asset at fair value if there is commercial substance in an exchange involving a non-monetary asset. For the issue of recognition and measurement of depreciation in an asset of property, plant or equipment IFRS and GAAP both allow the same depreciation methods including: straight line, accelerated, and units-of-production. They both allocate the cost of the asset over its useful life, and have the option of component depreciation; however, it is not often used in US GAAP, while component depreciation is required under IFRS if the useful lives of the component are different. GAAP requires the recognition of an impairment loss under certain events that change the book value of an asset, like a significant decrease in market price, a significant change in its physical condition or how it is being used to name a few. The measurement of depreciation is a two-step process involving two tests. First, applying the recoverability test, which is required only when the undiscounted sum of future cash flows is less than the book value and thus, the entity will record depreciation at cost basis, for example: debiting depreciation expense and crediting accumulated depreciation on the income statement. Second, is measuring an impairment loss of the revaluation, which is the fair value minus the book value. Then, to adjust the property, plant and equipment assets to fair value and record revaluation surplus, the entity will debit accumulated depreciation for its cost, and credit the asset and its revaluation surplus for the difference between fair value and book value. In analyzing the differences and similarities between the recognition and measurement guidelines that GAAP and IFRS provide, it can be seen that a convergence between the two reporting standards may be the best solution to a more uniform and easy to comprehend universal accounting principles. The cost method is used in GAAP for both the initial costs and thereafter, while both the cost method and revaluation method is used in IFRS allowing the cost basis to be raised to fair market value, this then allows for appreciation without creating a capital gain. Regarding the recognition and measurement of depreciation and impairment losses, there are also both similarities and differences between IFRS and GAAP and the conceptual framework. It has consistently been an ongoing issue in the convergence of the guidelines of recognition to using the fair value measurement and revaluation option for property, plant and equipment over the cost model of US GAAP, but only time can tell what is decided for the future of accounting reporting. IV- Presentation and Disclosure Rules There are presentation and disclosure rules that both IFRS and GAAP set forth in order to provide adherence and cooperation amongst many for the sake of a better understanding and communication of the financial statements for different entities. Presentation rules amongst IFRS and US GAAP are very similar but there are some differences. For presentation of financial statements under IAS 1, there are many requirements and guidelines set in order to provide a structure for financial statements that everyone could understand. There is an exact objective for providing presentation rules for financial statements and that is to be able to compare information with previous periods or with other financial information from other entities. â€Å"The objectives of IAS 1 are to ensure comparability of presentation of that information with the entity’s financial statements of previous periods and with the financial statements of other entities (Wiley IFRS). Usually, the presentations of financial statements include the Balance sheet, income statement, a cash flow statement, and a statement of changes in equity. Now with IAS 1 revised, the balance sheet is called the statement of financial position and there is a statement of comprehensive income included. With presentation rules under US GAAP, the presentation of comparative financial statements’ objective is to clearly bring out the nature of certain events and changes in an entity. According to U. S GAAP, financial statements for a period should also show the financial position at the end of the period, earnings and net income for the period, cash flows during the period, and investments by and distributions to owners during the period. Comprehensive income for the period is included in one statement, or two separate but consecutive statements, only if the reporting entity is required to report comprehensive income. The statement of financial position, the income statement, and the statement of changes in equity should be presented for one or more previous years and also for the present years. Just by looking at the presentation of the financial statements, it is recognized that there are many similarities between IFRS and US GAAP. Therefore it is not much of surprise to see there is an abundance of similarities under both IFRS and US GAAP with the subject of property, plant, and equipment disclosures but there are few differences that should be acknowledged. Under IFRS, IAS 16 provides disclosure requirements and a specific way of presentation for property, plant and equipment. The information that needs to be disclosed is the gross carrying amount, the accumulated depreciation, and the detailed reconciliation of the carrying amount at the beginning and end of the period. Other information includes the measurement bases used for determining the gross carrying amount and the depreciation methods and rates or useful lives. Restrictions and contractual commitments related to property, plant, and equipment and compensation for assets impaired, given up or lost must be disclosed as well (Friedrich, 2009). For example, with each class of long-lived asset the amount of impairment losses recognized in profit or loss for each period being reported upon must be stated under the comprehensive income statement. Or if any impairment losses were recognized in other comprehensive income and in revaluation surplus in shareholders’ equity it should be disclosed as well. If the items of property, plant, and equipment are stated at revalued amounts then there are certain requirements that the entity must disclose such as: * the effective date of the revaluation * whether an independent valuer was involved * the methods and significant assumptions applied in estimating the items’ fair values * the extent to which the items’ fair values were determined directly by reference to observable prices in an active market or recent market transactions on arm’s-length terms or were estimated using other valuation techniques * for each revalued class of property, lant, and equipment, the carrying amount that would have been recognized had the assets been carried under the cost model * the revaluation surplus, indicating the change for the period and any restrictions on the distribution of the balance to shareholders (Friedrich, 2009) Although US GAAP does not have a comprehensive standard that reports long-lived asset, its definition of prope rty, plant and equipment is very similar to IAS 16. For example, with impairments of long-lived assets to be held and used, a description of the events and circumstances of the impairment should be stated. The amount of the impairment loss should as well be stated, along with it recorded in the income statement. Another aspect that should be considered is the methods used to determine the fair value. This information must be disclosed as well. Items of property, plant and equipment cannot be revaluated because it is not permitted under U. S GAAP. Another important difference that can be discussed deals with investment property. Under U. S GAAP, investment property is considered and treated to be held for use or held for sale. This is not the case with IFRS. In fact, IFRS discusses investment property under IAS 40 instead of IAS 16 that was previously discussed. Determining the similarities and differences amongst IFRS and U. S GAAP provides a better and clearer distinguishing of presentation and disclosure rules with the subject of property, plant, and equipment. We found that there were many similarities in the presentation and disclosures of property, plant, and equipment but one difference that really stood out. Although IFRS and U. S GAAP both record their property, plant, and equipment cost as historical, IFRS allows revaluation of assets. Up to this point, we have assumed that companies use the historical cost principle to value long-lived tangible assets or fixed assets after acquisition. However, under IFRS companies have a choice: they may value these assets at cost or at fair value. * In testing for impairments of plant assets, GAAP uses a two-step model to test for impairments. As long as future undiscounted cash flows exceed the carrying amount of the asset, no impairment is recorded. The IFRS impairment test is stricter. However, unlike GAAP, reversals of impairment losses are permitted. The accounting for impairments is different under GAAP and IFRS. A fixed tangible asset is impaired when a company is not able to recover the asset’s carrying amount either through using it or by selling it. To determine whether an asset is impaired, on an annual basis, companies review the asset for indicators of impairments—that is, a decline in the asset’s cash-generating ability through use or sale. This review should consider internal sources (e. g. , adverse changes in performance) and external sources (e. g. , adverse changes in the business or regulatory environment) of information. If impairment indicators are present, then an impairment test must be conducted. This test compares the asset’s recoverable amount with its carrying amount. If the carrying amount is higher than the recoverable amount, the difference is an impairment loss. If the recoverable amount is greater than the carrying amount, no impairment is recorded. Recoverable amount is defined as the higher of fair value less costs to sell or value-in-use. Fair value less costs to sell means what the asset could be sold for after deducting costs of disposal. Value-in-use is the present value of cash flows expected from the future use and eventual sale of the asset at the end of its useful life. Future Developments: As a result of these divergences between U. S GAAP and IFRS with respect to accounting for property, plant and equipment; the two boards have in plan to examine the measurement bases used in accounting for fixed assets with respect to revaluations specifically. As part the conceptual framework project, fair value measurement might be recommended in the converged conceptual framework for property, plant and equipment. However, it will be a very difficult change to adopt due to conservatism proponents who still prefer the historical cost model. Works Cited: Ankarath, Nandakumar, et al. Understanding IFRS Fundamentals: International Financial Reporting Standards. Hoboken, New Jersey. John Wiley amp; Sons Inc. , 2010. Print. Bragg, Steven M. Wiley GAAP 2011: Interpretation and Application of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Hoboken, New Jersey. John Wiley amp; Sons Inc. , 2010. Print. FASB: Property, Plant and Equipment. FASB: Financial Accounting Standards Board. N. p. , n. d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. lt;http://www. fasb. org/jsp/FASB/Page/SectionPagegt;. Kieso, Daniel E. , Jerry J. Weygandt, and Terry D. Warfield. Wiley: Intermediate Accounting, 14th Edition. Wiley: Intermediate Accounting, 14th Edition. N. p. , n. d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. lt;http://www. wiley. com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-EHEP001739. htmlgt;. Summary of IAS 16 Property, Plant and Equipment. IFRS. N. p. , n. d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. lt;http://www. ifrs. com/blog/post/summary-of-ias-16-property-plant-and-equipmentgt;. Http://mcgladrey. com/pdf/us-gaap-vs-ifrs-property-plant-equiment. pdf. U. S GAAP vs IFRS: Property, Plant and Equipment. McGladrey, n. d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012.

Ethernet and Network Essay

Ethernet and Network Essay Ethernet and Network Essay Virtual Local Area Network: The Low Cost Solution The use of Local Area Networks has become common practice in most businesses and organizations regardless of their size. While this may be sufficient for many smaller organizations, larger networks will find that the use of Virtual LANs is not only practical it is essential. While it may not be as necessary for smaller businesses to incorporate the use of VLANs it is still tremendously practical. Not only do Virtual LANs segment the network they provide extra security without increasing the cost. This is only one of the many advantages. Other advantages are the ease of maintenance and improved performance. VLANs allow network administrators to segment their networks without physically rearranging the devices or network connections. A Local Area Network built with Layer 2 switches is considered a â€Å"flat network†. A flat network operates with a single broadcast domain and each device is interconnected within the network. Which means every device sees every broadcast packet that is transmitted. With the use of the same Layer 2 switches and the configuration of Virtual LANs within those switches the network now becomes a Layer 3 with the capability of routing within the network. A VLAN is made up of defined members communicating as a logical network segment. The switches are configured with access control list, mapping, and routing information to provide logical connectivity between the different VLAN members. The switches have two types of links; access links and trunk links. All network hosts connect to the switches’ access links to gain access to the LAN. The access link is the ports on every switch which is configured to access a particular VLAN. Trunk links are links that connect two VLAN switches together and is configured to carry data from all available VLANs. Virtual LANs work through the use of the Ethernet header. Moving VLAN data over multiple subnets requires a process called VLAN tagging in which the switch adds extra information into the packet header of the Ethernet frames so that the switch knows how to pass the data.The switch receives the Ethernet frame. If there is a VLAN tag in the header it will forward on through the ports tagged with that VLAN, if there is not a VLAN in the header the switch will assign it a VLAN according to the configurations on the ACLs. When building and configuring the ACLs for use with VLANs it is recommended to use different IP subnets for each VLAN. Most switches also require there to be a virtual routing interface configured on each switch. Moving VLAN data over multiple subnets requires a process called VLAN tagging in which the switch adds extra information into the packet header of the Ethernet frames so that the switch knows how to pass the data. A Local Area Network that is running with a high consumption of bandwidth caused by all hosts receiving broadcasts can benefit from the use of VLANs. In the case with a traditional LAN where two file servers may be sharing the bandwidth, if each file server is put into separate VLANs then the available bandwidth has been doubled. This easily improves the performance without increasing the cost. An organization that has many different departments can increase the security by separating each department into different VLANs and segmenting the network. Instead of the broadcast going to each host they now go to only the host within that VLAN. This increases security and lowers the possibility of several types of attacks. This also increases the security within the network as authorized users only see the servers within their designated network. While the other servers can be configured to communicate with users form other VLANs they do not establish a session with each other. If an attacker’s device sends an ARP broadcast searching for an IP address and receives a reply then the attacker cann see all the servers in that network and potentially providing access for a

Analysis of Holy Water Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis of Holy Water - Essay Example Water is an uncontrollable force and people find joy living in the illusion that they can control the uncontrollable. She is not cynical of people that don’t share her intensity of love for water, she merely shows in a very subtle and delicate way that people consider water another commodity, they take it for granted whereas it is a force of nature, and in some parts of the world it is extremely scarce. True value for this blessing can be observed in those remote areas of land where people collect it drop by drop. That is why people (including Didion) show due respect to water while others might consider that overdue. The technique used in this essay is predominantly not of ethos or logos, but of pathos. Didion clearly states that she is simply obsessed with water, not by its politics but by its flow, how the water flows in ducts and pipes and drains. She meditates thinking about this natural force. The weird thing is she was once caught in the river passageway in a military-raft when she was seventeen and instead of panicking, she was ‘deliriously happy’. She highlights how water moves around from one place to another and how it has become commodity that is released or held according to supply and demand. UNIVAC 418 machine has been mentioned probably referring to the ‘mechanics’ of water control. People have devised water-speak like â€Å"putting some over the hill† and â€Å"pulling it down† to indicate the movement of water. They move around water in a mechanical fashion. Didion points this out when she missed her chance of ‘draining the quail’. She deemed that a vocation that she missed and puts it as missing on her ‘instinctive affinity’. To her it was a matter of utmost significance to be able to control the magnificence of huge water reservoirs. The complain Didion makes is that people don’t realize how water affects their daily lives. Even if there is someone she talks to on this

The Water Retention Landscape of Tamera Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Water Retention Landscape of Tamera - Essay Example The creation of this innovative large water preservation space will get Tamera much nearer to the full apprehension of the water landscape as original envisaged in 2007, by Austrian perm culture specialists. During their earliest visit to Tamera in March 2007, they drafted a map for how an arid land similar to that in Tamera could be changed into a fertile and productive landscape with plenty of water. In spite of the lengthy summer droughts, there is certainly no scarcity of rain over the entire year. The only crisis is that it falls about wholly in winter, where it can hardly penetrate the earth and swiftly flows away, leading to erosion and overflowing or flooding downstream. The vision specialists offered to Tamera for a water landscape comprised of at least ten rain-water preservation spaces of different sizes, enclosed by perm culture terraces and healthy assorted woodland – an edible landscape (Holzer, & Mà ¼ller, 1). This vision was originally met with some cynicisms from the Tamera society. However, when the high amount of capacity of the  water that falls annually in the catchment region surrounding Tamera was in fact calculated, the change from thoughts of scarceness to pictures of abundance effortlessly followed, and Tamera willingly accepted to work with the specialists to create such an ideal water landscape model for the whole world and Portugal in particular. Just a few months afterward, in August 2007, the construction of ‘Lake 1’ begun.

Visionary Mr Mineka Wickramasingh Essay Example for Free

Visionary Mr Mineka Wickramasingh Essay Brief background on CBL (Munchee) It was the visionary Mr Mineka Wickramasingha in 1960 who wanted to expand his family business from the chocolate market. It was at the same time that CARE looked at sources of nourishment for the poverty stricken. It was a substitute of a biscuit that Mr Wickramasinghe proposed looking to expand on those lines. At that time the market leaders were Maliban. They were the ones who were awarded the contract. Due to lack of space, CBL was first launched at Dehiwela in his own premises to produce a high protein biscuits for schools. From this footing Munchee, has marched forward to capture 80% of the market of the local market. For over 40 years the brand has developed a certain nostalgia that is irreplaceable by any other brand. The taste is enjoyed young and old alike. There vision is to become the number one biscuit in Asia. Product portfolio CBL now produces various food items which have become house hold names in Sri Lanka. CBL expansion is not only with biscuits to which consumers are more familiar, they also have chocolates under brand name ‘Ritzbury’ since 1990s. The other brands are Tiara and Lanka Soy. There are numerous subcategories under each product. There are jellies, soya base products, cereal products, herbal porridges, soups and much more. Sub Categories under the Munchee brand Sweet biscuitsCrackers Puffs Savory Biscuits Cream Biscuits Marie Cookies Assorted HerbalWafers These are premium and hand-moulded chocolates. They come in boxes and slabs. Can be as a coated biscuits or wafers or beans or candy bars. It is in different flavours, type, and size. Sub Categories Chocolate Coated Biscuits Chocolate Slabs Miniature Caterers RangeChocolate Coated Beans Chocolate Coated Balls Chocolate Coated Candy Bars Specialty ChocolatesChocolate Coated Wafers Soft sponge cake made to perfect texture and taste Layer Cake Portion Cake Butter Sponge Cake Swiss Roll Company performance Ceylon Biscuits is of undisputable quality. CBL has shown a growth both in sales and profit for the last 5 years. Revenue had doubled from Rs.1.9 to Rs 5,2 Billion by 2005. Group turnover grew by 48% that same year. Net profit that year was Rs.533 Mio. This was the highest recorded profit for this company. CBL profit gradually grew, as it caught on to an international market. By 2011 sales revenue has grown by 25% in comparison to 2010. The overall profit margin was around 9% for the recently past five years. If ever the company saw a small decline it was due to industrial unrest. This biscuit is spread over 95,000 retail outlets all around Sri Lanka. CBL exports to 36 international destinations. It has been able to spread it’s fame in South Asia as well. Some of the countries of export are USA, Canada, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, China, India, Maldives and even the Middle East countries. The annual export revenue is about US $ 4 to 5 million. CBL has many awards for its entrepr eneurship. These awards are Exports in the Gold Category, Product Brand of the Year for four consecutive years, Anugu International Food Fair award. The daily production is around 150 tons. The annual production is around 45,000 tons. The company’s labor force is about 3,500. Company sustainability relies on strict norms on quality, texture and taste. For this it uses the latest technology, innovative marketing, research and development. The three C analysis There are three phases that need to be carefully scrutinized in order get a total overview of the product. Customer analysis Of the main brand Munchee, the customer analysis will be done on a sub category -Marie widely known as â€Å"Tikiri Marie –or Munchee Tikiri Marie. It is a small sized biscuit. The market segment chosen were children. Presently it is packed in a ‘keep fresh pack’ sold at a economical price. The advertisement that was done on a range of media was presented in the most attractive way, backed by lyrics that set a smile on the lips of any child. It was later that Maliban put a Marie range into the market. But by then Munchee Tikiri Marie had taken the market by storm. Competitor analysis There has been great potential for a children’s biscuit in the market. CBL had limited resources, especially in production technology which restricted revenue. It was the consumer preference that motivated CBL to keep producing the Marie Biscuit. At one point in time 50% of the production was Marie. Yet, the company was unable to raise profits. Maliban held strong to its position. No advertising, trade promotions or merchandising was able take over the market share that Maliban held. Maliban Marie has an unique flavor that was unmatchable. Volume market share (Total Biscuit Market-February 2005) Communication analysis This is a (B2C) nature of business. The company has used campaigns such as Tikiri Marie scholarship program.-Munchee Tikiri Shishyadara. Expansion programs worth Rs. 500 million Rs. 300 million for state of the art plant. It was known as Plant 6 from Italy. CBL went to war using all types of media from TV, newspaper, radio, magazines, even websites to introduce a new Marie. There was a series of advertisement for Tikiri Marie- from ‘Kohomada Tikiri Mole’ to the first day in school. All campaigns had been embarked under their corporate moto-‘A crowning success’. This was CBL communication approach of tacking Maliban. Target market for Munchee Tikiri Marie The brand â€Å"Munchee† has not only spread over domestic market but also the export market. Munchee is now exported to over 36 countries. Munchee can be seen in Gourmet Shops in Australia, supermarket like Wal-Mart, K-mart worldwide in countries like UK, Germany , Italy , Middle-East , Canada and Japan. South East Asian region is spread over 11 countries. When Munchee is target marketed in this area, it must be the same target market as of the other South Asian countries. It is the high quality, texture and taste that captivate any child in any country. Because of this CBL must ensure that they do not loose the perception of ‘a biscuit for children.’ As it is not being partnered by any company as it was in UK the brand name can prevail. Here CBL needs to position its product, thus no private label will be needed either like NTUC of Singapore and Supreme brand in China. Segment for Marie Geographical segmentation-South Asia, Europe, America, UK Demographical Segmentation Age, taste, texture, income Behavioral segment- instant, nutritious Product positioning of Marie Brand Identity vs. Competition (Source- AC Neilson) Premium quality, Innovative and value for money brand available at arms length of desire. Scope of this Integrated Marketing Communications Plan It looks in to objectives, strategies, and tools in communication used to successfully bring about integrated marketing. The plan will discuss ways to launch a program to communicate product. Marketing objective Increase the sale of Munchee Buiscuits. CBL is looking to increase sales by 5% within the next two years. With this to increase the market share by 5% at the end of the second year. Increase the company profile while enhancing the product among the target market. Munchee also wishes to strengthen Brand image among South East Asian countries as a healthy, nutritious biscuit. Communication Objective Awareness program to reach 20% of target market through television, newspaper advertising and web promotions. At least 5% the target market must purchase the product. Issues and Challenges The target market may have other preferences in biscuits. This entirely depends on texture, flavor, taste, shape and size. Thus the promotions/advertising will have to be attractive, creative and innovative in order to reach the hearts and minds of South East Asian Children. Situational analysis Current problem facing product * The target audience may not be reached. * They may prefer other biscuits. * Difficult to build brand loyalty in the food industry. Identifying target * The target market is chosen taking taste and nutrition in to consideration. * Targeting people who looks for low price but has to be of quality. Selecting a Market to Target South East Asia Geographic segmentation Children of the age 1-16 , Middle class Demographic segmentation Target market Instant, nutritious Behavioral segmentation The target market that has been chosen is of the geographical location of South East Asia region among a demographic target of children between the ages of 1-16. In modern South East Asia food in freely available for purchases for people who are one the move. This biscuit provides nutrients that are good for children and is an easy snack in a keep fresh pack. It is instant food for hungry youngsters. Positioning through Marketing Strategies * Introductory price * Chance to taste Competition Product Comparison There are companies like DIMOs that offer discounts to Government servants but no company has offered it to Bankers. AMW is the first to get into this program. Barriers to Entry * The awareness in low. * Banks have tied with other automobile companies, on a separate basis for their leasing requirements and the staff gets their vehicles also leased through those companies. * Buyers may go for second hand as the economic situations are tough. Competitor Differentiation | Chery QQ| Micro Panda| Features | Small hatch back with comfortable interior, Three Cylinder DOHCMPI 12V Petrol 812 CC engine Chery is imported from China and marketed in Sri Lanka by David Peiris Motor Company| Micro car, Volvo tech, 1300 cc engine. Made in Sri Lanka. Comes with and without air bag.| Target Market| Working professionals| Working professionals| Strengths | Low price, Brand backing | Made in Sri Lanka| Weakness | Small range of customers, No discount| Small range of customersNo discount| Consumer Behaviour – problems faced in addressing communication message There is nothing extraordinarily attractive about the AMW Maruti. But the interior is appealing. It is economical on the fuel. There is a one year warranty on the car. These are some of the aspects in regards to the car that a consumer will look at. Then the consumer is going to look at the company that selling the car. Associated Motor Ways Ltd is one of the oldest automobile conglomerates in Sri Lanka. They are the sole distributors of Suzuki vehicles in Sri Lanka and are affiliated with several brand names in the motor industry such as Nissan, Yamaha, and Goodyear. Addressing the problems with the vehicle such as no extra ordinary beauty about the vehicle or that there is fume emission from the vehicles which is hazardous to the external environment, what AMW concentrates on is the interior of the car and how economical it is. The Maruti is good on fuel. The size makes it easy to handle. This car is val ue for money. Branding Bankers are likely for a discount program where the vehicles are leased giving a bank loan. Maruti is likely to stay in the minds of the buyer due to features of the vehicle, the interior and the engine capacity in relation to the other brands of this same model which where given under competitor analysis. The Maruti is a more durable and dependable brand. Position statement This promotion is available only for bankers that are permanent in their jobs and the loan facilities are available. Any other financing will not be permitted. The discount is available for all colours of Maruti. Promotion The promotion is done within Colombo and its near suburbs. For this promotion 50% of the budgeted funds are allocated. This was first circulated to family and friends, for the word of mouth is the cheapest and the best way of promoting a discount program. Gradually as the awareness starts to increase it will be circulated among banks, first on a personal basis to call whose contacts can be acquired. Then the leasing managers or the staff managers in charge of staff leasing will be approached. Depending on the geographical location, banks will be approached in regards to the promotion. Once the approval has been obtained by the management, posters will distribute to main branches. These are known as power position advertising. The dealership logo will be indicated in the poster. A list of the eligible staff members will be collected and a web based mailer will be sent out to them. Permission will be acquired to post the promotion on an intranet facility that is accessible only to the relevant bankers of the targeted bank. A car may be sent out to the main branch for display. Once the initial promotions have been done in and around the main branches where web may not be the best promotional attribute a news paper advertisement will be posted. The news paper will carry a pictureous depictation of the car with a Brand Ambassador. The Brand Ambassador can be a cricketer or any other sportsman who is working in a bank indicating that this is the best leasing offer ever. These adds will have to run every often and it must be made sure that the adds are not too small to see. It may be preferable to advertise in a Sinhalese paper when thinking of promoting the discount program among the suburbs. There has to be creativity, innovation and an even flow for an advertisement to catch the eyes of the reader. A Saturday or Sunday paper is preferable as people have more time than on a weekday to read the paper. Television can be used as last resort. This is expensive but can be the most influential method of advertising. This is a sure a way of information gathering for viewers. The television adds usually have a lasting impression on the viewer. This is a sure way of assuring results for IMC. There are many highly watched channels of those the cheapest but the most effective can be used. The TV add can play between programs. The programs after which the add will be aired will have to be carefully chosen. It will need to depend on viewer’s discretion. The advertisement can go on for a period of 6 months at least. The web based marketing is another method by which advisement can be done. This is the most modern method. Some of the websites frequently visited by banke rs are Facebook, ESPN, Google, YouTube, Digg.com, Myspace, and Perezhilton.com. The most popular of them all is Facebook, Google, and Youtube. All these websites focus on online advertisements. Websites like Facebook taps a large audience. This not only enables promoting to bankers but also lets others know the car sale. This is a good way to get other companies to tie up with the dealership of AMW. Communication Tactical Calendar | Jan| Feb| Mar| Apr| May| Jun| Jul| Aug| Sep| Oct| Nov| Dec| Poster| | | | | | | | | | | | | News paper| | | | | | | | | | | | | TV| | | | | | | | | | | | | Web| | | | | | | | | | | | | Display| | | | | | | | | | | | | Budget The largest potion that is 50% of the budget is for promotion. Of the 50% promotional budget 30% will be allocated for television commercials, the remainder 20% for news paper, posters, display and web. The remainder 50% will be allocated for Brand Ambassador and miscellaneous expenses. The total allocation for the budget is Rs. 2,000,000/- Measurement system Implementation Controls Monitoring, review and control will be done by the dealership company with the collaboration with the bank that is leasing the vehicle. The review to be done on a monthly basis. Progress against targets to be analyzed. For this a marketing plan has to be drawn out. A target market needs to be chosen and a pilot project done before, the discount program is advertised. Once the dealership feels that this can be a successfully implemented then monitoring has to be undertaken. This has to be done carefully. Gap analysis done on a regular basis. Correction actions need to be taken if there is no progress within the first three months of advertising. Dealership may go back to the drawing board and redo the marketing plan again. Quality Assurance Around this time the company was receiving a number of complaints regarding its biscuits breakages, poor taste, quality etc. Rather than ignore the issue, CBL decided to place an emphasis on investigating the cause of the complaints, and took corrective action, including formula changes, to reduce the high number of returns at the time. Setting up better procedures for packing, product handling and transportation, the company prepared for its future growth. It conducted daily taste tests of its own products and organized regular taste panels to compare its products with those of its competitors. It also methodically documented the specifications of all products being manufactured knowledge that had previously been passed on through practice and word of mouth. As the demands on the Quality Assurance department began to rise, the company decided in 1996 to seek ISO certification Today, quality assurance remains an area of particular pride for Munchee. The department plays a critical role in product testing and development of production process controls and systems. High hygiene standards for toilet habits and hair, together with regular swab tests of employees are strictly enforced. Every shipment of incoming materials is tested for quality and those that fail are rejected. Following a complaint, products are collected from customers and subject to laboratory analysis. In 2004, CBL received HACCP certification for food safety together with SLS certification for its biscuits23.. With these in hand CBL became the only confectionary company in Sri Lanka to acquire all relevant quality certifications for its line of business i.e. SLS, ISO 9001:2000, ISO 1400124 and HACCP. Product Development Product development also became an area of increased focus. While CBL had begun operations with a line of distinctive biscuits, along with some generics. However, in the recent years the push for higher turnover had resulted in innovation playing a secondary role. Some of the biscuits that had made Munchee distinctive, were neglected in favor of more mass consumer products. CBL began formulations and potential improvements to flavor and quality. The company also began to actively investigate and keep up with new technologies and machinery by participating regularly at trade exhibitions and through membership in industry associations. Distribution Around this time CBL took the decision to rethink its methods of distribution and undertook to overhaul its sales and distribution efforts in favor of a much bolder plan. Up to this point the company had depended almost completely on wholesalers to sell its products as a hassle free means of managing its distribution efforts. As a result, while CBL had the logistic and cost advantages of maintaining a lean sales team, the company suffered due to its dependence on the enthusiasm of its wholesalers to push its products. CBL decided to bite the bullet and invest heavily in its sales force. It expanded its distribution reach, increasing its number of distributors, changed the demarcation of sales regions into much smaller areas for more intensive sales efforts and recruited the regional and senior sales personnel required to cope with this new direction. 5.4.4 Customer Intimacy With the changes to its sales force, CBL was forced to face up to the fact that it was very removed from its consumers. The company recognized that it had been paralleling the moves and decisions made by Maliban rather than acting on real consumer insights. CBLs focus had been very much product centric concentrated on improvement of its formulation and production technology. It developed its products in isolation and once developed attempted to market them. Little attention had been paid to market research, even on an informal basis. Moreover, CBL began to understand that its customer was a new, youthful generation whose tastes and style were very different from the consumer of the previous ten years. Beginning in 1996, the Board itself acknowledged this changed attitude by beginning to go to the field on a regular basis to a top down attempt to gauge market perceptions and trends. The newly developed sales force provided feedback from consumers and distributors and the company took the further step of setting up a separate subsidiary to plan its marketing activities and to become more responsive to market needs an gaps. The holding company became primarily responsible for improving product quality and procedures. 5.4.5 Image Building CBL also recognized that in order to grow it had to become a better known name as a company. Partly as a result of its multiple brand names, CBL itself was relatively unknown as a corporate entity. Embarking on a campaign to raise the profile of the company, CBL engaged the services of a consultant, and set out to gain greater corporate recognition for itself among both consumers and the business community. The publics lack of knowledge of the breadth of the companys activities was hindering its activities as a holding company, particularly for purposes such as tapping the capital market. With the help of its consultant, CBL set about establishing a public image for itself. This was done primarily through the print media. Every week or so, an article regarding the company and its various corporate activities and Latest initiatives, including its export plans and CSR, appeared in the newspapers. Competitiveness Behaviour The Biscuit Wars Around 1995, CBL had hit a wall in terms of increasing its turnover. Limited by its existing production technology and consumer tastes, t its highest growth opportunity lay in the Marie biscuit market. While CBLs Marie25 biscuits now made up 50% of total production, the company was unable to meaningfully increase its sales and market share of the Marie category. It had attempted a variety of marketing activities including extensive advertising, merchandising and trade promotions, but was still not able to take sufficient market share away from Maliban. The Munchee Marie biscuit was at this time essentially a knockoff of Malibans Marie and used very similar packaging. However, despite much effort and testing, eBL was not able to exactly reproduce the Maliban Marie flavor. Although market share was a (then) respectable 10% and despite fervent urgings from its own sales team to the contrary to be more like Maliban, CBL decided that the time had come to change tactics and be different in order to try to break through the turnover barrier. The Tikiri Marie Campaign Munchee hit on the winning concept of launching its own Marie as Tikiri Marie – a petit sized Marie biscuit using an aggressive campaign entitled Tikiri Mole†, to bring the little biscuit to the attention of consumers. The campaign targeted children with the use of attractive advertising and proved a real turning point in Munchees growth and image. The biscuit was so successful that the smaller sized Tikiri Marie became the number one Marie biscuit in the Sri Lankan market, with a phenomenal 50 per cent of Marie market share and eventually forced the giant Maliban to acknowledge Munchee as a significant market player by playing copy cat and resizing its own Marie. 7 Part of Munchees success with Tikiri Marie stemmed from Malibans complacency and its failure to react to this attack on the Marie category. The Tikiri Marie campaign brought into effect other changes at CBL such as the introduction of Munchees keep fresh pack, which ensured better product freshness. Followin g its success with Tikiri Marie CBL expanded the use of the fresh pack to the entire Munchee biscuit range. The company also commenced a Tikiri Marie scholarship program for school children in 1997 entitled Munchee Tikiri Shishyadara which it continues to this day. Now in its eighth year, the program provides 120 deserving children with scholarships of Rs. 1000 per month for one year with fresh applicants being selected annually. By 1998, the cumulative effect of the changes made through the 1990s, resulted in CBL achieving a 30% market share of the biscuit market (up from 20% at the start of the 1990s) and topping the Rs. 1 billion turnover mark. This was a major milestone for CBL, both internally and externally. The company was becoming better known, both to consumers for its brands and quality products and to the industry for its investments in good technology. CBL reinforced this reputation by committing to a Rs. 500 million expansion program Rs. 300 million of which was spent on a large state of the art plant from Italy. Plant 6 as it was known, was CBLs largest capacity plant thus far with five lines that could handle both hard and fermented dough. This action by CBL sent a strong message, to its staff and associates, about CBLs optimism and confidence in the companys future growth commercialization of this new plant, CBL planned to introduce a new range of biscuits to tackle Maliban head-on. 6.1.2 The Lemon Puff Battle CBLs next strategic attack on Maliban came in 2001 with its Lemon Puff. The Munchee Lemon Puff had a solid 30% market share but as was the case with Marie, failed at growing sales further as a me too product. CBL decided to re-Launch Lemon Puff, by promoting it as a sandwich biscuit with a higher quantity of lemon cream. The campaign was heralded by an intensive television campaign directed at capturing the attention of a new market. What the company did not reveal in its advertising was that the cracker itself had been vastly improved, through a new formula and upgraded technology. It was in fact a noticeably better overall sandwich biscuit than Malibans Lemon Puff rather than just being a look alike with more cream. Going against the advice of its advertising company, Munchee replaced the traditional yellow packaging, synonymous with the Lemon Puff category, with a white wrapper. The superior moisture and odour barriers of the new metalized wrapper combined with the new pillow pack technology, which used only two seals to achieve increased air-tightness, better preserved the crispness and freshness of the sandwich biscuit. This had been a problem that had plagued both companies puffs for decades. Consumers who tasted the Munchee Lemon Puff for its extra cream (not enough cream was a complaint associated with both Lemon Puffs for years) were pleasantly surprised and rapidly switched loyalty to the Munchee Lemon Puffs. Thus Munchee demonstrated that it was in touch with tastes of its consumers and used their feedback to improve its biscuits. The impact of the product changes were felt immediately. Munchees market share in puffs went up from 30% to over 50% within a mere four months following this relaunch, and grew the entire puff category from 12 to 16%. As a result, Malibans share of Lemon Puff which had been a staggering 70% plummeted to 29%. By now Munchee had 45% of the local biscuit market and was vying with Maliban for market leadership. CBLs next big ch allenge was clear take on Maliban in the cream cracker market. Despite Munchees success at growing its sales, Maliban still had nearly 75% of the lucrative cracker market while Munchee was at a meager 23%. The Maliban cream cracker was well accepted and entrenched in the market. CBL had to find a way of breaking through with an innovative cream cracker to take on this market. 6.1.3 The Cream Cracker Assault The following year, in 2002, CBL re-Iaunched its cracker as a Super Cream Cracker, enriched with vitamins in a bold campaign, with live broadcast of two music shows held simultaneously in Colombo and Anuradhapura before massive crowds As they had done with the Lemon Puff, CBL used a new metalized pillow-pack with a contemporary look to break away from the traditional solid red Maliban packaging synonymous s with cream cracker and re-formulated the cracker to deliver a crisper and tastier product. The Munchee strategy of delivering a superior quality product that convinced consumers to switch brands proved a success and the results were phenomenal. Cracker sales grew, expanding its own market not merely taking over competitor share. Growth in sales nearly tripled and Munchees market share in cream cracker immediately doubled to 40%, reaching 50% the foHowing year. Today, of the total cream cracker category, which makes up 20% of the total domestic biscuit market, Munchee owns a 60% sh are. Super Cream Cracker accounts for 30% of the companys turnover, with a profit margin of over 25%. Munchee continues to fight aggressively for market share. Its most recent marketing campaign entitled Podi Badaginne† targets the large 500 gm pack market, previously serviced by loose crackers. The focus is to use the cracker as a substitute for a full meal for chummary factory workers who are already provided with two meals from their work place. The company has again demonstrated its knowledge of customer needs and changing trends and lifestyles in Sri Lanka as the record 128% growth of this heavy use pack from 2004 to 2005 shows. Business Expansion Beginning from the 1990s, CBL began looking at other areas in the food and confectionary industry to expand its businesses activities. 6.2.1 Ritzbury One of the first areas CBL explored was one naturally complementary to its existing line of business: chocolate. At one time, the company had produced chocolate for Nestle and had some exposure to Nestles chocolate operations. Launched in 1991, Ritzbury chocolates began with chocolate coated (enrobed) biscuits. The company went through much teething pain in developing the right quality chocolate for its use. It struggled to develop a workable formulation one that tasted good while withstanding the melting and rancidity caused by the tropical Sri Lankan weather. Ritzbury gradually developed its market by first growing its range of coated biscuits, then expanding to chocolate candies and hand made chocolates, and only recently moving into the traditional slabs the largest market category. The companys strategy is to provide innovative eye-catching products to its consumers and thus differentiate from its competition. Ritzburys first entry was Chunky Choc (chocolate covered biscuits sandwich with butterscotch cream filling), followed by Chit Chat (chocolate coated wafer with hazelnut cream) and Chocolate Fingers (chocolate coated finger biscuit). Another innovation for Sri Lanka was Pebbles (brightly colore d, sugar coated chocolate candies). The Ritzbury range includes Nik Nak, (chocolate coated vanilla cream wafer), Go Nuts (colored chocolate coated peanuts), Choosy (liquid chocolate stick) and Choco-La individual nuggets. Although it started out originally as a poor number four, Ritzbury recently beat Kandos (Ceylon Chocolates) to the number two spot in the chocolate market. However, at 21 % vs. 42% Ritzbury has only half the market share of market leader Edna and a long way to go to become number one. Further, Edna has itself shown to be very aggressive and quick in bringing out innovative products to the chocolate market. Ritzbury for its part, offers over 60 differentiated items, at the full range of price points and with a dedicated sales force certainly provides its consumers affordability and access. Despite being a small local brand, it offers consumers a complete range of chocolates and chocolate coated products and for other products frequently provides comparable alternati ves to more expensive imported products. Examples are Pebbles as an alternative to Smarties, Chit Chat to Kit Kat and Go Nuts to MMs. Yet, apart from the hand molded specialty chocolates and coated biscuits products, the company has yet to fully convince local consumers that the quality of its slab range is on par with that of imports or Kandos. By 1997, following its first biscuit war and having grown its market share in the biscuit market to a respectable 30%, CBL began to focus on sales of Ritzbury. One hindrance to improving growth CBL realized was the then single chain of distribution it used for both biscuits and chocolates. In practical terms what this implied was that once a retailer had gone through purchases of the more established Munchee list of biscuits they would have little money left for Ritzbury chocolates. Ritzbury sales were materially affected and it became evident that an alternative would have to be sought out. One option was to increase the breadth of the CBL range in order to afford to maintain a second line of distribution. 6.2.2 Pancho Snacks With this in mind, CBL decided to enter the snack food market in 1998 under Ritzbury. Named Pancho, this snack range was made up primarily of extruded snacks. However, despite the companys sustained efforts with Pancho and the separate sales force, the impulse buy snack market proved a disappointing arena for CBL. Despite the introduction of two products under a new line named Catch Me together with a re-Launch of Pancho in 2000, the company found that it could only succeed in this market with a near continuous stream of promotions. Although CBL persevered in snack foods for nearly five years, it was eventually forced to close up this operation and admit failure. With the aim of an expansion of its range still in mind, CBL next entered a completely unfamiliar food market. In 2000 due to its own financial difficulties, Yanik Incorporated, an investment bank, was selling its 79% stake in Soy Foods (Lanka) Limited, a public listed company manufacturing textured vegetable protein (TVP) n uggets. Soy Foods was a loss making number four player in the market but had pioneered a number of soy products under the brand Lanka Soy. CBL seized this opportunity to expand its range, encouraged by its present Managing Director who had experience in the soya area. CBL purchased the stake in Soy Foods at Rs.9/share and took over operations in September 2000; by 2002 the company had been successfully turned around and had become a viable entity. This was the success story that CBL had been searching for. The Soy Foods line allowed CBL to maintain a dual distribution network, one for its biscuits and another for chocolates and soy. The effects of this isolation of chocolate sales from biscuits were immediate and notable. By 2002 Ritzbury had made impressive inroads into its competition and grown market share to over 15%. 6.2.3 Lanka Soy In 2000 when CBL bought over management of Soy Foods (Lanka) Ltd. from Yanik it was a loss making company. Despite being the pioneer in the local soy market, Lanka Soy was at the time selling only 50% of the volumes of the market leader Raigam, with a 15% market share. The companys growth was stagnating in a rapidly growing market, and many smaller competitors were cashing on its market with lookalike products. The ambitious strategy set out for a turnaround of the company was to aim to make it not merely profitable but the market leader. CBL decided that not only was it necessary to grow Lanka Soys market share, through a fresh look and product, it was going to grow the total product market through a change in positioning. Thinking very innovatively, the company decided what was needed was to position soya not just as a vegetarian food, but as a more economical substitute for the protein content of a main meal. Touting advantages such as convenience, price and the lack of freezer requirements together with newly introduced catchy features such as interesting shapes and flavors, a whole range of new branded soy products were launched under the Lanka Soy umbrella. Given that at the time, chicken flavored soya was the most popular soya product the company decided it would introduce interesting flavors to accompany new presentation efforts. In order to take the competition head on, it improved the taste of its traditional range, while also increasing its product range. It developed not one but a range of chicken flavors, under the brand Chikosoy, consisting of tandoori, masala, roast and chilli chicken flavors. For the traditional vegetarian market, it introduced the Vegesoy range a further four flavors of mushroom, hot and spicy, Chinese chop suey and Indian rasam. But its piece de resistance was a completely new entrant Malusoy. This range of not merely fish but also seafood flavors truly tapped into a very strong local preference for seafood. Malusoy comprised spratts, devilled prawns, cuttlefish and ambul thiyal flavors. Packaging for the four new sub brands was done using a range of appealing eye-catching colors, with a unique logo designed for each. Advertising again interestingly was carried out individually on a sub brand basis. For example, Malusoy used a two column poster conveying the advantages over canned fish. The company also took the extra step of providing a sauce sachet to provide a one step cooking process. Emphasis was placed to introduce the cooked product to consumers by way of cookery demonstrations and street promotions. In particular, Malusoy was aimed at areas with little coastal access. Sales efforts were overhauled, re-demarcating a network to reach 35,000 outlets with designated representatives for supermarkets, catering and restaurant sectors. The results were strong. By early 2002 Lanka Soys market share had jumped to 25% hitting 30% and market leadership a year later. Malusoy to eBLs surprise turned out to be Lanka Soys front runner in sales. The strategy to offer consumers, as a household, their daily main dish at a price less than half the price of canned or fresh sea food was highly successful. Within 24 months Malusoy sales exceeded 500,000 packets a month, making up over 14% of the total soy market. Due to the sudden launch of many interesting products at the same time Lankasoy established itself as trend setter and frontrunner of the soya product market. 6.2.4 Tiara Cakes eBLs next expansion was within the local confectionary business -the lucrative Rs. 4 billion plus local cake market. eBLs main biscuit and chocolate operations had traditionally taken place at its home factory located along with its head office in Pannipitiya. However in 2002, the company invested Rs. 1.5 billion to set up eBL Foods International (eBL Foods), a Board of Investment (BOI) approved company in Rannala, about one hour away. Awarded a 10 year tax holiday, eBL Foods has a mandate to manufacture bakery products and chocolates the former includes a new line of cakes under the brand name Tiara. The new venture commenced operations in September 2004 with a new line of portion cakes individually wrapped sponge layer cakes, marketed under the Tiara sub brand Okay, The product line also includes swiss rolls. CBL Foods boasts a state of the art plant intended primarily for cakes and a Clean Room,,33 to guarantee freshness for a shelf life of up to eight months. Due to production constraints faced elsewhere however the 110,000 square foot modern facility also includes manufacturing and packing for chocolates, wafers and biscuits the latter including both hard and soft dough. CBL expects that its group tax slab will come down to 32.5% as a result of CBL Foods tax advantaged status and the shifting of these manufacturing of chocolates, wafers and biscuits, which previously came under Ceylon Biscuits tax slab. The company uses a formula to determine profit and is taxed at the preferential rate of 15% on its export. 6.2.5 Other Snacks In 2004, CBL invested Rs. 50 million to acquire a 60% stake in Cecil Food (Pvt) Limited (Cecil Food) an organic manufacturer of dehydrated fruit products, fruit juices, desiccated coconut and cashews primarily for the export market. Though the company had been in existence for 10 years and exported to 20 countries, it was facing financial difficulties. CBL brought to Cecil Foods the financial strength and management experience that it needed, while the founder retained a 25% stake. CBLs main interest in Cecil Food was its exposure to rural agriculture and its export and local market potential. The company presently exports to countries including the US, UK, Germany, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Malta, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain. Armed with CBLs financial backing the company has overcome its working capital needs. CBLs infusion of capital has enabled the purchase of new equipment and is now looking at expanding sales to tap the local market. Cecil Foods also has a 100% o wned subsidiary Cecil Fruit Canneries which concentrates on natural fruit juices for both the domestic and export markets. CBL intends to launch this range to the domestic market by introducing a line of fruit juices in novelty pouches. Export Markets CBL has also set its sights on growing its revenues through tapping sales in overseas markets. Although CBL had been exporting biscuits from inception, around 1997, the company began to export regular container loads to the United States, Canada, Australia and India, while also investigating at lucrative export markets such as the Middle East. India became a particular focus, with the company beginning its own marketing effort there. By 2000 CBL was also exporting to the US, Canada, Australia, UK, Sweden, the Middle East, Hong Kong, Mauritius, Fiji Islands and the Maldives. Although the export sector took a long time to stabilize, export orders now go out to 36 countries, exceeding Rs. 110 million in value (USD$ 1 million) in 2004/5. Exports to the UK, Middle East and Canada are mainly to the so called ethnic markets catering to the Sri Lankan diaspora, but in other countries demand is slowly establishing into in the established biscuit market through chain distributors. While most e xports are under private labels that it, outsourcing for foreign biscuit companies CBL has managed in some instances to establish its own brand. This is particularly the case in Australia where the company has taken the additional step, as it did in India, of setting up its own marketing effort by establishing a company representative as market manager. Australia is now the main export market for CBL, having overtaken the United States. CBL also enjoyed some recent success making inroads into western Africa. 6.3.1 Entry into India There are four accepted methods for a company to enter a foreign market: exports, licensing, joint ventures and direct investment, which often represent an evolution in the degree of interest the company develops once it is present in the market. Beginning with straightforward exports from the mid 1990s and early exports of containers to India in 1999 CBL took the next step in developing the Indian market by investing Indian Rupees 3.6 crores (36 million) to purchase Parrys Confectionary based in Pondicherry, about an hour from Chennai. Setting up a 100% owned subsidiary Ritzbury India, CBL began manufacturing operations for the first time outside Sri Lanka. The acquisition provided CBL with a six line 350 ton a month manufacturing plant. The company entered the Indian market with the Munchee and Ritzbury brands, for distribution in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. While the chocolates were manufactured in Sri Lanka, most of the Munchee range was baked in India. CBL produced nine varieties of biscuits including Marie, Glucose biscuits and several creams at the Pondicherry plant. This manufacturing base in India proved to be both a blessing and a distress to CBL. On the one hand, it became a strong negotiating tool for CBL at a time of labour unrest. CBL was able to take a tough stance, threatening closure and the moving of its entire manufacturing operations to its base in India. However, on the other hand, distribution arrangements provided by Parrys proved to be less than satisfactory. The company began a losing battle in trying to distribute its products. Revenues were far below expectations and Ritzbury India further faced a number of detrimental tariffs in South India. Despite a Free Trade Agreement with India, and a reduction of duty to 3%, the state sales tax in Tamil Nadu was increased by 8% for imported goods effectively nullifying any duty concessions. Following a second acquisition in India, CBL decided to completely dispose of its Chennai operations at a loss , dissolving Ritzbury India. In 2003 CBL heard about the sale through court auction of Bakemans, once the third largest biscuit manufacturer in India with a market share high of 13% of the total Indian market. Outbidding its Indian competition in July 2004 CBL successfully acquired the assets of Bake mans at a cost ofRs .. 300 million. Along with the premises the company also gained six biscuit lines from the acquisition, two of which it chose to bring to Sri Lanka for installation at CBL foods to allay its present capacity constraints. Based in Patiala in the state of Punjab, CBL set up CBL India with plans to commence commercial production in the near future, using one biscuit line. Having recruited Bakemans former CEO, who had been directly involved in the companys rise to its one time number three position, CBL has ambitious plans for India and its manufacturing operations there in the future. Tentatively speaking of a Munchee-Bakemans brand name, CBL aspires to become number three in India within two years of operations and have the same type of success at retail that Dilmah has achieved in India CBLs challenge in India is to find a mass consume r line of biscuits similar to Marie and Cream Cracker in Sri Lanka. Glucose biscuits are an area that the company will have to examine, given their present popularity in India, but to compete with established players such as Parle-G and Britannia, CBL will need both a reliable distribution network and an attractive proposition for the Indian consumers to give it a try. The use of the Bakeman name, which would certainly aid the latter, is presently an issue. If CBL is able to use the Bakeman brand name in some form it will cut down market establishment time considerably. CBLs strength is that it has the innovation to develop a product to suit this market and it has proved in Sri Lanka that it has the quality and taste to convince consumers to switch to its brand. What remains to be seen is whether it will have sufficient insight into the Indian market to correctly select what that winning product and distribution strategy should be. Other Indian Ventures In 2004 CBL entered into an agreement with Ferrero of Italy to distribute and undertake manufacturing on Ferreros behalf. Ferrero is the world renowned producer of Nutella, Tic Tac and Ferrero Rocher and Mon Cherie brands of chocolate and another family owned business. Presently the agreement entails the manufacture of boxes for Tic Tac, Ferreros signature mini mint, intended to be extended to the manufacture or finishing of the mint pill also. CBL distributes Ferrero Rochers foil wrapped boxed chocolates, Nutella and Tic Tac for Ferrero in Sri Lanka and India. Manufacturing commenced in August 2005, packing pills imported from Australia into the boxes. Distribution is intended for Sri Lanka, Africa, India and Pakistan. The linkup with Ferrero is another example of CBLs chairmans dynamic personality and relationship building skills. Following initial contact in India, CBLs directors visited Ferreros head quarters in Alba, Italy, which Ferrero reciprocated with a visit to Sri Lanka. The company has expressed an interest in using Sri Lanka as a base for South Asian activities, moving its present activities from India, convinced of CBLsabilities as a business partner. CBL in turn hopes the association will expand its knowledge base through contact with the 60 year old Italian family business. Business Unit Contribution Biscuits Turnover from Munchee biscuits, the biggest contributor to group turnover, grew 30% in the financial year 2004/5 and early results for 2005 show this trend continuing. Past years sales have grown at a similar overall pace, although specific products have shown even higher growth rates at times of changes and innovation. Profit margins on biscuits range from 20-25% with products such as Super Cream Cracker, Tiffin and Chocolate Puff being the most profitable. Biscuit sales are presently constrained primarily by production capability, with demand strong and the company intending to increase its production lines in 2005/6. To try to keep up with demand, CBL has brought down two lines already from its recent acquisition in India and plans to import a new 2 ton per hour machine from Italy, expected to be installed in early 2006. Group Performance While CBLs overall growth has been strong over the past five years with revenues more than doubling from Rs. 1.9 to Rs. 5.2 billion over the period, profit increases have been even higher due to various tax benefits. In 2005 CBLs group turnover grew 48% to Rs. 5.2 billion and net profit after tax grew 63% to Rs. 533 million, the highest ever in the companys 36 year history. Sales surpassed the previous year across all areas of biscuits, chocolates, Soya and exports. The tremendous bottom line growth clearly indicates the contribution accrued from CBL Foods tax advantaged status. In comparison the 2004 figures were 11% top line and 23% bottom line growth. On average, overall profit margin has been near 9% over the five year period. This is taking into account FlY 200112 which differs due to both the industrial unrest that CBL faced for two months of that financial year as well as the exhaustion of the tax benefits afforded by the 1988 Investment Tax Allowance. The companys latest earning per share figure (EPS) is an astonishing Rs. 53.12 and more impressively has grown from Rs. 36.75 in 2003. This EPS figure reflects the extraordinary growth that CBL has experienced over the last 10 years. EPS in the late 1990s was actually in the Rs. 3000 range on the companys original ordinary share capital of Rs. 390,000 (made up of 39,000 Rs. 10 shares). Path Forward Ceylon Biscuits faced with production capacity constraints for its biscuits, as demand has grown well beyond forecasts. It has adopted the following three pronged approach to increase capacity: a) bringing down two biscuit lines from India from its Bakemans operation for immediate capacity expansion, b) importing a brand new large capacity plant from Italy and c) future capacity expansion of its Indian manufacturing operations. CBLs future growth will come from increasing exports of its established products and diversifying by leveraging its domestic logistics and distribution capabilities to market its other products. The company is also increasingly open to looking at new opportunities, an example being manufacturing for Italian chocolate maker Ferrero. The companys core competencies for the future will be investment in technology, financial strength, sales and marketing competency and focused management. Key challenges will be dealing with its production restrictions and becoming able to compete on a global basis by 2007. CBLs greatest test will be when the Indo Lanka FTA final phase permits Indian biscuits to be imported duty free beginning 2007. CBL intends to examine becoming listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange over the next few years. Since the desire for listing does not seem to be driven by financial needs only, it is still unclear what CBL will gain from this step. The company wishes to formalize its procedures in order to firm up its financial transparency and professionalize its organization structure and operations to ensure future continuity and success. There is a sentiment that going public will enforce the discipline required to ensure this. CBL is well poised with a business model to ensure ongoing value creation. It has spent time building strong brands that have future earnings potential. The brands have proven their competencies in that they have been replicated across new markets with success. However there are some concerns that need to be explored. Managing export markets Export marketing could be more aggressive the model adopted by Munchee for Australia of establishing a marketing office seems the proven route to establish and develop key markets. We see some amazing possibilities for synergies for CBL in inviting someone of the caliber of Merrill 1. Fernando Chairman Dilmah to its board, perhaps even offering Dilmah some equity in an export division or forming a separate export company, who could help with establishing relationships with some of Dilmahs retailers and distributors in Australia. One way or another, the use of a different model to fast track export market expansion is advisable. 5. Managing Indian market entry This is the second greatest challenge facing the company. India is an amazingly dissimilar market to Sri Lanka despite certain cultural similarities. It is fragmented with over 15 million retail entities, the largest number in the world. The organized retail sector in India is only 3%. However, over 51 % of its population is under 25 years of age and the fastest growing sector is the retail high-end supermarkets -expected to grow over three fold in the next five years (from US$8 billion to US$25 billion). Beginning with three malls in 2003, India had 25 by 2005 and is building 200 more. The pace of change is phenomenal. It makes sense to enter this high-end retail Focus on core competencieslRefocus on Sales and Marketing CBLs passion for quality, capacity to build brands and technological and production innovativeness are great competencies to be retained. Skills like marketing and sales are always unstable. Such skills are in demand, pressures are great and often new challenges are looked for in different cycles of growth. No proper product management system or category management is in place. It is important to have some depth to the marketing department. And while CBLs success speaks volumes for the capabilities of its current Director of marketing there is a need for a diversity of approaches and opinions so that marketing efforts do not grow stale. Key mid level appointments need to be made. Customer intimacy! Product leadership / Managing brand TOM In spite of CBL making all the right moves, and succeeding in achieving higher scores than Maliban in most of the consumer research categories (see chart below), Munchee is still behind in brand Top-Of-Mind (TOM) recall. This is despite Munchee having strong market noise levels in share of voice and especially with the competition making so many mistakes. Part of the gap between Munchee and Maliban in top of mind recall can be explained by the long history of Maliban as a market leader, and that it was the dominant player for a very long time. Part of the gap between Munchee and Maliban in top of mind recall can be explained by the long history of Maliban as a market leader, and that it was the dominant player for a very long time.