Tinker V. Des Moines

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School Dist. 393 U. S. 503, 89 S. Ct. 733, 21 L. Ed. 2d. 731 (1969). NATURE OF CASE: Petitioners, three public school pupils, in Des Moines, Iowa were suspended from school for violating a school board (respondents) policy of banning the wearing of armbands. The armbands represented the protest of Government policy in Vietnam. The District Court dismissed the complaint. On appeal, the Eight Circuit Court was equally divided, therefore affirmed the decision of the District Court.Writ of certiorari was granted and reversed and remanded the decision of the Eight Circuit Court. CONSISE RULE OF LAW: Student speech may be regulated when such speech would materially and substantially interfere with the discipline and operation of a school. FACTS: The petitioners decided to wear black armbands to protest the Government policy in Vietnam. The petitioner’s decision to wear black armbands violated a school board policy, which lead to the petitio ner’s suspension from school.The petitioners did not return to school until after the anti-war protest period ended. ISSUE: 1) Does prohibiting public school students against wearing armbands, as a form of symbolic speech, violate the First Amendment of Freedom of Speech? HOLDING AND RATIONALE: 1) Yes, the U. S. Supreme Court found the student’s conduct of symbolic speech is within the protection of the First Amendment of Freedom of Speech. The U.S Supreme court found by wearing armbands the petitioners did not cause any interruption in the classroom and did not impose on the rights of others. The petitioners wore the armbands to express their views on the anti-war protest in Vietnam. The petitioners protested in a quiet and passive manner. The court found the respondents failed to prove that the wearing of armbands substantially interfered with appropriate school discipline. Therefore, the court reversed and remanded the decision of the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals.

Jamba Juice Essay

Jamba Juice The Brief Jamba Juice is a specialist vendor of healthy blended beverages, juices and snacks, with over 600 franchised and company retail outlets in California and over 20 other states. The company wished to carry out a classic promotion: to drive visitors to its stores over the course of a two week campaign with a â€Å"BOGO† (Buy one get one free) beverage offer. The Approach Guided by digital advertising agency Xylem CCI’s media agent, JL 360, Jamba Juice decided to conduct a pure online campaign. This campaign was targeted primarily at women, who predominate among Jamba Juice’s customers. 24/7 Real Media was chosen by Xylem CCI and JL 360 to be the digital advertising partner. The resulting campaign included multiple creative variants in different banner formats. All of these creatives invited the viewer to click through to a Web page where they could print out a coupon—unique to this campaign—with which to claim their BOGO. The campaign began on June 19, 2007. A target of 100,000 coupon redemptions over a 14-day period was set, with coupons expiring at the end of the campaign. The resulting ads were served on a run of network (RON) basis across the 24/7 Global Web Alliance network of over 950 Web sites. They were targeted geographically, aiming mainly towards California as well as the other regional markets where Jamba Juice operates. As women were a main target market, Jamba Juice could reach these potential female customers through 24/7 Real Media’s Women’s Interest vertical channel. People who visited Jamba Juice’s own site at one point and then later browsed the Internet were then also served additional â€Å"retargeted† ads when they visited any of the Web sites on the Web Alliance. As well as regular inpage banners, page load ads were used, in which a full page ad pops up while the user’s requested page is loading. The campaign was also supported with a limited outreach of 62,000 branded outbound emails to untested subscribers within Jamba Juice’s database. These subscribers received the same offer as was extended in the banner campaign. The Results Because the online coupons were unique to this campaign, progress was easily tracked. â€Å"We have experienced incredible success with our campaign utilizing various types of targeting on the Global Web Alliance. The digital marketing plan that 24/7 Real Media put in place for our client, and then executed, produced results far beyond anything we had expected. † -Sean Black, President JL 360 Target achieved half way through campaign, at half the budgeted spend By the end of campaign day 8, visitors had downloaded all of the coupons that Jamba Juice had allocated to the full 14 days of the campaign, on a spend of approximately 50% of the budget. The Meaning of the Results Retargeted ads—those delivered to people browsing the Internet who had previously visited Jamba Juice’s Web site—yielded the highest response levels of all ads served. JL 360 can secure the right channel for clients’ marketing/messaging and ensure delivery of results that meet specific measurements of success. Services include Media Strategy, Media Execution (Buying), and Media Accountability. About Xylem CCI: Xylem CCI is a leading independent digital advertising agency, meaning they design, execute, and manage digital advertising campaigns that include large-scale Web sites, Flash microsites, eMarketing strategies and viral advertising campaigns. Xylem CCI believes in fresh, innovative thinking, just the way you expect if from a hungry independent creative agency. They have been in the digital space as long as anyone in the business, are 70 plus strong, hyper-creative, overly zealous and have tons of extreme vigor. The agency understands that consumers are constantly driving and demanding new and innovative delivery methods, and therefore focuses on creating cutting-edge solutions guaranteed not to disappoint. Every single day, they are evolving the business to stay on the forefront of popular culture and the convergence of informational mediums in an increasingly fragmented and multidimensional world. About Jamba Juice: An extraordinary health experience unlike any you’ve ever tasted, Jamba Juice serves up delicious, nutritious, energizing smoothies and juices. Each one is filled with refreshing fruit flavor and provides 3-6 servings of fruit to get you on your way to 5-a-day! Also, boosted with vitamins and minerals and always served in a fun and uplifting environment. You’ll find Jamba Juice provides everything you need to live an active, healthy and happy life! Jamba Juice is the leading outlet for blended fruit drinks with about 600 smoothie stands in over 20 states. Its menu includes more than 30 varieties of custom smoothies and Jamba Boosts, along with other fruit juices and baked goods. Jamba Juice locations include freestanding units as well as on-site kiosks in high traffic areas, such as college campuses, gyms, and airports. â€Å"Our ability to produce â€Å"Once we’d fully digital advertising implemented Open success stories for AdStream, we found our clients like working that we were Jamba Juice is dependent on with an integrated the expertwas far tool that and reliable partnerships that we more powerful share with JL360, and than the simple 24/7 Real Media.

MGMT458 U3 IP UPS Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

MGMT458 U3 IP UPS - Research Paper Example Internal package involves shipments done outside the USA and it operates in 220 nations (Dennis, 2011). The supply chain and freight wing involve forwarding and contract logistics operations. This involves the design, the execution and freight forwarding to destined places. The operations in this category also involve customs brokerage and customer care. The parcel industry in the American region has grown over the years, especially the freight transport section. The venture was transformed from a private enterprise to a full grown industry. The industry has a high amount of revenue, which surpasses most of the organizations engaging in the same business. The industry constitutes of Airborne, federal express, UPS and USPS.UPS makes the highest revenue per year, $20B, compared to the other carriers (Dennis, 2011). Information on the four carriers is available in the public domain. This enhances smooth flow of documents and other packages. Customers are able to access information on the carriers. This enhances efficiency and effectiveness of the carrier. Three of the four carriers have publicly traded shares, but the USPS is a government agency. Human resource retention is essential in the going concern of an entity. This can be achieved through thorough training of the personnel on the four sections of the parcel service delivery. A mastery of work skills makes employees appreciate their place of work, which will result in low rates of employee turnover. Additionally, the global operation scale will ensure that employees are satisfied with the dynamics of their respective places of

Marketing Strategy and Planning (Two Product Portfolio Analysis Essay

Marketing Strategy and Planning (Two Product Portfolio Analysis models) - Essay Example Increased competition fuelled by the process of globalisation, vast developments in the information and telecommunication technology as well as rapid changes in the world social and political structures have created intensely competitive markets in which today’s organisations are struggling to find a competitive foothold. Nature of today’s business is such that, organisations can no longer succeed in achieving a competitive advantage through product quality, speed of supply or production cost management. These factors have become prerequisites to stay in business and no longer offer a platform for competitive advantage. Organisations need to streamline their business strategies and explore and identify areas, which can be best exploited with the organisation’s resource base. Maximizing the effective deployment of organisational resources involve, crafting of market and product strategies that best achieve the organisational objectives. Thus, management of the pro duct portfolio becomes a key management consideration for those companies that aim to achieve sustainable competitiveness in the market place.

Others Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Others - Essay Example s decrease from P1 to P2, the quantity demanded by customers increase from Q1 to Q2, which is represented by a movement is the demand curve from point A to B. On the other hand, a shift in the demand curve is brought about by the changes in other factors affecting demand other than the price. They are taste, level of income and others. In the graph below, DD is the demand curve before any change. When the mentioned factors causes the demand to increase, the DD shifts to the right from DD to D1D1. The quantity demanded at P1 increases from Q1 to Q2 as shown in the graph below (Tucker 67-75). In economics, supply is the amount of goods and services that suppliers are willing and able to supply to the market at a given price and time, ceteris paribus. Therefore, the supply curve represents the association between the quantity supplied and the prevailing market prices. In the graph below, SS is the supply curve. When commodity prices increases from P1 to P2, the quantity supplied increases from Q1 to Q2 and the movement along the supply curve is from point A to B (Tucker 67-75). A shift in the supply curve is caused by factors other than price. They are the prices of factors of production among others. When the factors of production are cheaper, the quantity supplied increases leading to a shift in the demand curve from SS to S1S1. See the graph below (Tucker

Significant Aspect in the Painting Three Studies for Figures at the Essay

Significant Aspect in the Painting Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion (1944) - Essay Example One of his highly influential works was the ‘Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion’ that he did in 1944. This essay will focus on the style of triptych and distorted images that are evident in the painting, making it an outstanding piece, whose relevance has surpassed the passing of time. From the onset of his career, Bacon exhibited an addiction to the Crucifixion as a subject in many of his artistic works. This does not imply that he depicted a salient attachment to religion. He highlighted that the crucifixion represented a unique subject that he could use to express a range of human feelings successfully.2 From the years when he started painting, he demonstrated immense interest in depicting images that he associates closely with the crucifixion. Prior to painting this piece of work in 1944, he had painted other images that revealed his unique style of depicting strange objects. For Bacon, the ‘Three Figures’ marked the beginning of his career because he made claims that he had not taken art as a serious career in the previous years. Apparently, he had painted other pieces of work before this influential piece, but he attributed this to his immature style, judging from the increased criticism he had received from his counterparts and himself.3 According to him, the Three Figures’ served as his debut into painting, and it depicted his mature style. Judging from the uniqueness of the painting, it is evident that he exerted himself and expressed himself in an outstanding manner. Through the use of strange images, he managed to bring out the format of the triptych, a style of painting that redefined his painting experience because he painted many other art pieces using this unique style.4 ‘Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion’ Description The painting has three images that exhibited differences.5 A glance at the images reveals that they are not the usual image that the human eye is familiar with, a factor that makes an art analyst realize that such strangeness is one of the unique aspects of the painting. Whereas many artists depict normal objects that the audience are familiar with in conformity with the realism art ideology, Bacon depicts surrealism in this piece of art.6 Artists belonging to the surrealist school of thought defied the norm and highlighted that art was a form of expression that allowed each individual to express even things that did not exist in nature. This is the ideology that motivated Bacon because the objects depicted in his painting do not exist in real life. From one perspective, the objectives resemble birds while a closer analysis of the depicted torso resembles the body of a woman. This strangeness of the objects reflects surrealism at its best. First Panel on the left In the image on the left side of the painting, the object appears as the torso of a woman, finding support on another object that resembles a table.7 The position t hat the woman’s torso occupies on the table-like structure creates a resemblance to flowers resting on a table. The torsoappearsto have a head that exhibits wrapping using a cloth. The shoulders on the torso resemble reduced wings, giving the viewer a new idea idea that probably the torso is but a chicken after some plucking of its wings and feathers. The head depicts a downward stretch, with a triangle-like picture forming in the view of the observer. The torso seems to have a mouth-like structure resembling the beak of a bird. Further analysis also presents the idea of an animal in its efforts to snarl. Image in the Second Panel The image at the center is different and exhibits multiple contours and a

JCPenney Research and Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

JCPenney Research and Analysis - Assignment Example are operating under this Company (J.CPenny)Mostly its stores are located in big shopping malls and some in power stores. Due to this strategy J.C Penny became very popular shopping Company among the people. J.C Penney is also trying to contribute in opening the stores like standalone stores, to follow the consumer desires, keeping in mind what its competitors are providing to the public. The success of J.C. Penney grew over time because of its strong logo name, advertisement; pricing strategy which grabbed the public’s attention towards it. J.C. Penney suddenly fell down and faced the serious issues regarding its income. Due to swift drop in income, J.C. Penney pulled itself back into its earlier form and also brought the changes in its stores. Issue faced by J.C. Penney was the lack of communication with its consumers. The consumers didn’t have the clarity about the schemes and the down quality of the products, and left confused.It was effective to the middle class people earlier, all this new ideas, good deals& information on products, reasonable pricing. But J.C. Penney failed to fulfill its strategy of ‘everyday low price ‘approach in comparison to ‘Wal-Mart’, which turned in the interest of customer’s disappointments. J.C. Penney has put its whole effort to satisfy its customers against ‘Wal-Mart’ pricing strategy, but it couldn’t keep it up (Its Over For J.C. Penney). When Ron Johnson became the new CEO of J.C. Penney he faced a number of problems regardi ng J.C. Penney. During the recession period 2009 to 2011, J.C. Penney’s net income fell from 18billion dollars to 17billion dollars, and sales went to 150 dollars per square foot. Among the department stores criteria this figure of sales lies at the rank of lower third. Suddenly this Company lost its identity. J.C. Penney’s target was the middle class families, who can’t

Economic Issues Relating to The Tourism Industry of France Essay

Economic Issues Relating to The Tourism Industry of France - Essay Example ndustry of France Tourism adds to the vitality of the national economy and creates almost one million employments, which mainly comprises of young people. Atout France is the national agency that is working as the main body in promoting the tourism industry of France. From the year 1960 till 1980 tourism has lead to the creation of huge numbers of infrastructure and large developmental programs both in the mountains and the coast, which has extended mass tourism, creation of winter sports, attraction to the coast and sundrenched area. Due to the infrastructural developments and the facilities created that was a major subject under the national plan has lead to the economic development of these areas. The tourism industry has also caused development of the transportation facilities to enhance the convenience of the tourists. Thus the tourism industry has done a major contribution towards the economy of France (Blanke and Chiesa, 2013; Euromonitor International, 2013). Tourism industry has been seen to be successfully exploiting the collective marks. France is not an exception in this case. An association of hoteliers are tied together with the motto to promote the privately owned hotels that are operating in rural settings under the same label â€Å"Logis de France† which is the registered trademark. The main objective of such a concept is to provide quality food and services that has a local flavor in them. They wanted to prevent the rural area from getting abandoned and create new product that adds value by attaching a label, which compels the hotels to adhere to the strict criteria. There are nearly 3000 hotels that are registered under this association and are operating not only in France but have expanded their business outside France too. The hotels are grouped as... This essay is one of the best examples of the modern analysis of the French tourism industry. France is a country that has highest density of museums, monuments and festivals. Since 1990s it has been placed at the number one position in ranking of tourist destination. Due to the infrastructural developments and the facilities created, tourism industry was a major subject under the national plan has lead to the economic development of these areas. The tourism industry has also caused development of the transportation facilities to enhance the convenience of the tourists. Tourism industry has been seen to be successfully exploiting the collective marks.. An association of hoteliers are tied together with the motto to promote the privately owned hotels that are operating in rural settings under the same label â€Å"Logis de France† which is the registered trademark. The main objective of such a concept is to provide quality food and services that has a local flavor in them. France continues to attract tourists from various parts of the world by its rich cultural heritage and creative industries. Along with this the country also excels in infrastructure of ground transports that include both roads and railways as well as excellent infrastructure in air transport. But a recent report published by World Economic Forum shows that France lack competiveness in the global tourism industry. In recent times the overall regulations and rules framed by the government are not supportive and helpful in promoting the industry.

Patient satisfaction survey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Patient satisfaction survey - Essay Example In general, patients with kidney failure are experiencing physical and emotional stress which could significantly affect their loss of self-confidence and the way they perceive life (National Kidney Federation, 2009). For this reason, it is necessary to provide extra care to patients who are receiving haemodialysis. In relation to the increasing number of individuals who are receiving haemodialysis, there is a strong need to determine whether or not those patients are satisfied with the care they are receiving from the health care professionals. Based on the gathered literature review and the research findings, it will be easier for health care professionals to determine the areas of care that needs to be improved in order to increase the satisfaction of haemodialysis patients. The proposed research topic aims to determine the level of satisfaction that renal patients have with various aspects of the care provided by the Local General Hospital’s haemodialysis unit. In line with this, the research study result will be used to improve the health care services rendered to patients who are receiving haemodialysis from health care professionals who are currently working in hospitals. Research questions presented in this study will be used as a guide in going through the research paper. Since the research topic aims to investigate the satisfaction of patients who are receiving haemodialysis, the study will seek to determine whether or not the doctors and nurses are effective in terms of caring and communicating with patients at the Local General Hospital’s haemodialysis unit. Likewise, the study will determine whether or not the quality of care and operations at the dialysis centre offers services are equal or more than the global satisfaction ratings. In line with this, the treatment received by the patients, the process on how the health care professionals rate the health and mental status of the patients, the quality of

Barriers cross cultural communication Research Paper

Barriers cross cultural communication - Research Paper Example In the business world, increasing globalisation has been resulting in the formation of many multinational companies (MNCs). Initially, these were mostly dominated by the West, whereas Asian Multinational Companies (AMCs) have mostly been of Japanese or Korean origin. Lately, a new breed of AMCs are emerging that are mostly of Chinese and Indian origin. Their expansion however, as with the earlier MNCs before them, is posing challenges related to cross-cultural communication. This paper seeks to identify the typical barriers to effective cross-cultural communication in this new context and how they can be overcome. The greater focus is on examining Chinese culture and the experience of Chinese managers of AMCs working within the American socio-cultural environment. Such Chinese high-profile AMCs include Haier, Lenovo and Huawei, and Indian AMCs include Tata and Bharti Airtel. Both countries have some domestic economies. Apart from issues such as the need to improve governance, have greater transparency, and so on (Moller, 2008), they also recognise the need to adapt to different cultures. This entails stressing responsibility and accountability, and to be more responsive to local needs (Rajan et al., 2009). The Chinese realise that it is knowledge and skills for operating internationally that are needed more than owning shares due to the previously limited exposure and general seclusion. The Indians on the other hand have had a longer exposure to the market economy. Both acknowledge that knowledge acquisition is paramount for innovation (Teagarden et al., 2008), but new knowledge has to be communicated using language in order to be acquired (Welch & Welch, 2008). Tata’s acquisition of South Korea’s Daewoo vehicle company in 2004 was seen as a success but that is because their cultures shared many similarities to begin with (Rodrigues, 2006). The language barriers were overcome easily, which speeded the integration, and confidence developed

African American Culture Essay Example for Free

African American Culture Essay Although slavery greatly restricted the ability of Africans in America to practice their cultural traditions, many practices, values and beliefs survived and over time have incorporated elements of European American culture. There are even certain facets of African American culture that were brought into being or made more prominent as a result of slavery; an example of this is how drumming became used as a means of communication and establishing a community identity during that time. The result is a dynamic, creative culture that has had and continues to have a profound impact on mainstream American culture and on world culture as well. After Emancipation, these uniquely African American traditions continued to grow. They developed into distinctive traditions in music, art, literature, religion, food, holidays, amongst others. While for some time sociologists, such as Gunnar Myrdal and Patrick Moynihan, believed that African Americans had lost most cultural ties with Africa, anthropological field research by Melville Hersovits and others demonstrated that there is a continuum of African traditions among Africans in the New World from the West Indies to the United States. The greatest influence of African cultural practices on European cultures is found below the Mason-Dixon in the southeastern United States, especially in the Carolinas among the Gullah people and in Louisiana. African American culture often developed separately from mainstream American culture because of African Americans desire to practice their own traditions, as well as the persistence of racial segregation in America. Consequently African American culture has become a significant part of American culture and yet, at the same time, remains a distinct culture apart from it. History From the earliest days of slavery, slave owners sought to exercise control over their slaves by attempting to strip them of their African culture. The physical isolation and societal marginalization of African slaves and, later, of their free progeny, however, actually facilitated the retention of significant elements of traditional culture among Africans in the New World generally, and in the U. S. in particular. Slave owners deliberately tried to repress political organization in order to deal with the many slave rebellions that took place in the southern United States, Brazil, Haiti, and the Dutch Guyanas. African cultures,slavery,slave rebellions,and the civil rights movements(circa 1800s-160s)have shaped African American religious, familial, political and economic behaviors. The imprint of Africa is evident in myriad ways, in politics, economics, language, music, hairstyles, fashion, dance, religion and worldview, and food preparation methods. In the United States, the very legislation that was designed to strip slaves of culture and deny them education served in many ways to strengthen it. In turn, African American culture has had a pervasive, transformative impact on myriad elements of mainstream American culture, among them language, music, dance, religion, cuisine, and agriculture. This process of mutual creative exchange is called creolization. Over time, the culture of African slaves and their descendants has been ubiquitous in its impact on not only the dominant American culture, but on world culture as well. Oral tradition Slaveholders limited or prohibited education of enslaved African Americans because they believed it might lead to revolts or escape plans. Hence, African-based oral traditions became the primary means of preserving history, morals, and other cultural information among the people. This was consistent with the griot practices of oral history in many African and other cultures that did not rely on the written word. Many of these cultural elements have been passed from generation to generation through storytelling. The folktales provided African Americans the opportunity to inspire and educate one another. Examples of African American folktales include trickster tales of Brer Rabbit and heroic tales such as that of John Henry. The Uncle Remus stories by Joel Chandler Harris helped to bring African American folk tales into mainstream adoption. Harris did not appreciate the complexity of the stories nor their potential for a lasting impact on society. Characteristics of the African American oral tradition present themselves in a number of forms. African American preachers tend to perform rather than simply speak. The emotion of the subject is carried through the speakers tone, volume, and movement, which tend to mirror the rising action, climax, and descending action of the sermon. Often song, dance, verse and structured pauses are placed throughout the sermon. Techniques such as call-and-response are used to bring the audience into the presentation. In direct contrast to recent tradition in other American and Western cultures, it is an acceptable and common audience reaction to interrupt and affirm the speaker. Spoken word is another example of how the African American oral tradition influences modern American popular culture. Spoken word artists employ the same techniques as African American preachers including movement, rhythm, and audience participation. Rap music from the 1980s and beyond has been seen as an extension of oral culture. Harlem Renaissance [pic] Zora Neale Hurston was a prominent literary figure during the Harlem Renaissance. Main article: Harlem Renaissance The first major public recognition of African American culture occurred during the Harlem Renaissance. In the 1920s and 1930s, African American music, literature, and art gained wide notice. Authors such as Zora Neale Hurston and Nella Larsen and poets such as Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Countee Cullen wrote works describing the African American experience. Jazz, swing, blues and other musical forms entered American popular music. African American artists such as William H. Johnson and Palmer Hayden created unique works of art featuring African Americans. The Harlem Renaissance was also a time of increased political involvement for African Americans. Among the notable African American political movements founded in the early 20th century are the United Negro Improvement Association and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The Nation of Islam, a notable Islamic religious movement, also began in the early 1930s. African American cultural movement The Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s followed in the wake of the non-violent American Civil Rights Movement. The movement promoted racial pride and ethnic cohesion in contrast to the focus on integration of the Civil Rights Movement, and adopted a more militant posture in the face of racism. It also inspired a new renaissance in African American literary and artistic expression generally referred to as the African American or Black Arts Movement. The works of popular recording artists such as Nina Simone (Young, Gifted and Black) and The Impressions (Keep On Pushin), as well as the poetry, fine arts and literature of the time, shaped and reflected the growing racial and political consciousness. Among the most prominent writers of the African American Arts Movement were poet Nikki Giovanni; poet and publisher Don L. Lee, who later became known as Haki Madhubuti; poet and playwright Leroi Jones, later known as Amiri Baraka; and Sonia Sanchez. Other influential writers were Ed Bullins, Dudley Randall, Mari Evans, June Jordan, Larry Neal and Ahmos Zu-Bolton. Another major aspect of the African American Arts Movement was the infusion of the African aesthetic, a return to a collective cultural sensibility and ethnic pride that was much in evidence during the Harlem Renaissance and in the celebration of Negritude among the artistic and literary circles in the U. S. , Caribbean and the African continent nearly four decades earlier: the idea that black is beautiful. During this time, there was a resurgence of interest in, and an embrace of, elements of African culture within African American culture that had been suppressed or devalued to conform to Eurocentric America. Natural hairstyles, such as the afro, and African clothing, such as the dashiki, gained popularity. More importantly, the African American aesthetic encouraged personal pride and political awareness among African Americans. Music [pic] Men playing the djembe, a traditional West African drum adopted into African American and American culture. The bags and the clothing of the man on the right are printed with traditional kente cloth patterns. African American music is rooted in the typically polyrhythmic music of the ethnic groups of Africa, specifically those in the Western, Sahelean, and Sub-Saharan regions. African oral traditions, nurtured in slavery, encouraged the use of music to pass on history, teach lessons, ease suffering, and relay messages. The African pedigree of African American music is evident in some common elements: call and response, syncopation, percussion, improvisation, swung notes, blue notes, the use of falsetto, melisma, and complex multi-part harmony. During slavery, Africans in America blended traditional European hymns with African elements to create spirituals. Many African Americans sing Lift Evry Voice and Sing in addition to the American national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, or in lieu of it. Written by James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson in 1900 to be performed for the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, the song was, and continues to be, a popular way for African Americans to recall past struggles and express ethnic solidarity, faith and hope for the future. The song was adopted as the Negro National Anthem by the NAACP in 1919. African American children are taught the song at school, church or by their families. Lift Evry Voice and Sing traditionally is sung immediately following, or instead of, The Star-Spangled Banner at events hosted by African American churches, schools, and other organizations. In the 1800s, as the result of the blackface minstrel show, African American music entered mainstream American society. By the early twentieth century, several musical forms with origins in the African American community had transformed American popular music. Aided by the technological innovations of radio and phonograph records, ragtime, jazz, blues, and swing also became popular overseas, and the 1920s became known as the Jazz Age. The early 20th century also saw the creation of the first African American Broadway shows, films such as King Vidors Hallelujah! and operas such as George Gershwins Porgy and Bess. Rock and roll, doo wop, soul, and R;B developed in the mid 20th century. These genres became very popular in white audiences and were influences for other genres such as surf. The dozens, an urban African American tradition of using rhyming slang to put down your enemies (or friends) developed through the smart-ass street jive of the early Seventies into a new form of music. In the South Bronx, the half speaking, half singing rhythmic street talk of rapping grew into the hugely successful cultural force known as Hip Hop. Hip Hop would become a multicultural movement. However, it is still important to many African Americans. The African American Cultural Movement of the 1960s and 1970s also fueled the growth of funk and later hip-hop forms such as rap, hip house, new jack swing and go go. African American music has experienced far more widespread acceptance in American popular music in the 21st century than ever before. In addition to continuing to develop newer musical forms, modern artists have also started a rebirth of older genres in the form of genres such as neo soul and modern funk-inspired groups. Dance [pic] The Cakewalk was the first African American dance to gain widespread popularity in the United States. [pic] African American dance, like other aspects of African American culture, finds its earliest roots in the dances of the hundreds of African ethnic groups that made up African slaves in the Americas as well as influences from European sources in the United States. Dance in the African tradition, and thus in the tradition of slaves, was a part of both every day life and special occasions. Many of these traditions such as get down, ring shouts, and other elements of African body language survive as elements of modern dance. In the 1800s, African American dance began to appear in minstrel shows. These shows often presented African Americans as caricatures for ridicule to large audiences. The first African American dance to become popular with White dancers was the cakewalk in 1891. Later dances to follow in this tradition include the Charleston, the Lindy Hop, and the Jitterbug. During the Harlem Renaissance, all African American Broadway shows such as Shuffle Along helped to establish and legitimize African American dancers. African American dance forms such as tap, a combination of African and European influences, gained widespread popularity thanks to dancers such as Bill Robinson and were used by leading White choreographers who often hired African American dancers. Contemporary African American dance is descended from these earlier forms and also draws influence from African and Caribbean dance forms. Groups such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater have continued to contribute to the growth of this form. Modern popular dance in America is also greatly influenced by African American dance. American popular dance has also drawn many influences from African American dance most notably in the hip hop genre. Art [pic] Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City by Henry Ossawa Tanner 1859-1937 From its early origins in slave communities, through the end of the twentieth century, African-American art has made a vital contribution to the art of the United States. During the period between the 1600s and the early 1800s, art took the form of small drums, quilts, wrought-iron figures and ceramic vessels in the southern United States. These artifacts have similarities with comparable crafts in West and Central Africa. In contrast, African American artisans like the New England–based engraver Scipio Moorhead and the Baltimore portrait painter Joshua Johnson created art that was conceived in a thoroughly western European fashion. During the 1800s, Harriet Powers made quilts in rural Georgia, United States that are now considered among the finest examples of nineteenth-century Southern quilting. Later in the 20th century, the women of Gee’s Bend developed a distinctive, bold, and sophisticated quilting style based on traditional African American quilts with a geometric simplicity that developed separately but was like that of Amish quilts and modern art. After the American Civil War, museums and galleries began more frequently to display the work of African American artists. Cultural expression in mainstream venues was still limited by the dominant European aesthetic and by racial prejudice. To increase the visibility of their work, many African American artists traveled to Europe where they had greater freedom. It was not until the Harlem Renaissance that more whites began to pay attention to African American art in America. [pic] Kara Walker, Cut, Cut paper and adhesive on wall, Brent Sikkema NYC. During the 1920s, artists such as Raymond Barthe, Aaron Douglas, Augusta Savage, and photographer James Van Der Zee became well known for their work. During the Great Depression, new opportunities arose for these and other African American artists under the WPA. In later years, other programs and institutions, such as the New York City-based Harmon Foundation, helped to foster African American artistic talent. Augusta Savage, Elizabeth Catlett, Lois Mailou Jones, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence and others exhibited in museums and juried art shows, and built reputations and followings for themselves. In the 1950s and 1960s, there were very few widely accepted African American artists. Despite this, The Highwaymen, a loose association of 27 African American artists from Ft. Pierce, Florida, created idyllic, quickly realized images of the Florida landscape and peddled some 50,000 of them from the trunks of their cars. They sold their art directly to the public rather than through galleries and art agents, thus receiving the name The Highwaymen. Rediscovered in the mid-1990s, today they are recognized as an important part of American folk history. Their artwork is widely collected by enthusiasts and original pieces can easily fetch thousands of dollars in auctions and sales. The Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s was another period of resurgent interest in African American art. During this period, several African-American artists gained national prominence, among them Lou Stovall, Ed Love, Charles White, and Jeff Donaldson. Donaldson and a group of African-American artists formed the Afrocentric collective AFRICOBRA, which remains in existence today. The sculptor Martin Puryear, whose work has been acclaimed for years, is being honored with a 30-year retrospective of his work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York starting November 2007. Notable contemporary African American artists include David Hammons, Eugene J. Martin, Charles Tolliver, and Kara Walker. Literature [pic] Langston Hughes, a notable African American poet of the Harlem Renaissance. African American literature has its roots in the oral traditions of African slaves in America. The slaves used stories and fables in much the same way as they used music. These stories influenced the earliest African American writers and poets in the 18thcentury such as Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano. These authors reached early high points by telling slave narratives. During the early 20th century Harlem Renaissance, numerous authors and poets, such as Langston Hughes, W. E. B. Dubois, and Booker T. Washington, grappled with how to respond to discrimination in America. Authors during the Civil Rights era, such as Richard Wright, James Baldwin and Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about issues of racial segregation, oppression and other aspects of African American life. This tradition continues today with authors who have been accepted as an integral part of American literature, with works such as Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, and Beloved by Nobel Prize-winning Toni Morrison, and series by Octavia Butler and Walter Mosley that have achieved both best-selling and/or award-winning status. Museums The African American Museum Movement emerged during the 1950s and 1960s to preserve the heritage of the African American experience and to ensure its proper interpretation in American history. Museums devoted to African American history are found in many African American neighborhoods. Institutions such as the African American Museum and Library at Oakland and The African American Museum in Cleveland were created by African Americans to teach and investigate cultural history that, until recent decades was primarily preserved trough oral traditions. Language Generations of hardships imposed on the African American community created distinctive language patterns. Slave owners often intentionally mixed people who spoke different African languages to discourage communication in any language other than English. This, combined with prohibitions against education, led to the development of pidgins, simplified mixtures of two or more languages that speakers of different languages could use to communicate. Examples of pidgins that became fully developed languages include Creole, common to Haiti,and Gullah, common to the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. African American Vernacular English is a type variety (dialect, ethnolect and sociolect) of the American English language closely associated with the speech of but not exclusive to African Americans. While AAVE is academically considered a legitimate dialect because of its logical structure, some of both Caucasians and African Americans consider it slang or the result of a poor command of Standard American English. Inner city African American children who are isolated by speaking only AAVE have more difficulty with standardized testing and, after school, moving to the mainstream world for work. It is common for many speakers of AAVE to code switch between AAVE and Standard American English depending on the setting. Fashion and aesthetics [pic] A man weaving kente cloth in Ghana. Attire The cultural explosion of the 1960s saw the incorporation of surviving cultural dress with elements from modern fashion and West African traditional clothing to create a uniquely African American traditional style. Kente cloth is the best known African textile. These festive woven patterns, which exist in numerous varieties, were originally made by the Ashanti and Ewe peoples of Ghana and Togo. Kente fabric also appears in a number of Western style fashions ranging from casual t-shirts to formal bow ties and cummerbunds. Kente strips are often sewn into liturgical and cademic robes or worn as stoles. Since the Black Arts Movement, traditional African clothing has been popular amongst African Americans for both formal and informal occasions. Another common aspect of fashion in African American culture involves the appropriate dress for worship in the Black church. It is expected in most churches that an individual should present their best appearance for worship. African Americ an women in particular are known for wearing vibrant dresses and suits. An interpretation of a passage from the Christian Bible, very woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head , has led to the tradition of wearing elaborate Sunday hats, sometimes known as crowns. Hair Hair styling in African American culture is greatly varied. African American hair is typically composed of tightly coiled curls. The predominant styles for women involve the straightening of the hair through the application of heat or chemical processes. These treatments form the base for the most commonly socially acceptable hairstyles in the United States. Alternatively, the predominant and most socially acceptable practice for men is to leave ones hair natural. Often, as men age and begin to lose their hair, the hair is either closely cropped, or the head is shaved completely free of hair. However, since the 1960s, natural hairstyles, such as the afro, braids, and dreadlocks, have been growing in popularity. Although the association with radical political movements and their vast difference from mainstream Western hairstyles, the styles have not yet attained widespread social acceptance. Maintaining facial hair is more prevalent among African American men than in other male populations in the U. S. In fact, the soul patch is so named because African American men, particularly jazz musicians, popularized the style. The preference for facial hair among African American men is due partly to personal taste, but because they are more prone than other ethnic groups to develop a condition known as pseudofolliculitis barbae, commonly referred to as razor bumps, many prefer not to shave. Body image The European aesthetic and attendant mainstream concepts of beauty are often at odds with the African body form. Because of this, African American women often find themselves under pressure to conform to European standards of beauty. Still, there are individuals and groups who are working towards raising the standing of the African aesthetic among African Americans and internationally as well. This includes efforts toward promoting as models those with clearly defined African features; the mainstreaming of natural hairstyles; and, in women, fuller, more voluptuous body types. Religion While African Americans practice a number of religions, Protestant Christianity is by far the most popular. Additionally, 14% of Muslims in the United States and Canada are African American. Christianity [pic] A river baptism in New Bern, North Carolina near the turn of the 20th century. The religious institutions of African American Christians commonly are referred tocollectively as the black church. During slavery, many slaves were stripped of their African belief systems and typically denied free religious practice. Slaves managed, however, to hang on to some practices by integrating them into Christian worship in secret meetings. These practices, including dance, shouts, African rhythms, and enthusiastic singing, remain a large part of worship in the African American church. African American churches taught that all people were equal in Gods eyes and viewed the doctrine of obedience to ones master taught in white churches as hypocritical. Instead the African American church focused on the message of equality and hopes for a better future. Before and after emancipation, racial segregation in America prompted the development of organized African American denominations. The first of these was the AME Church founded by Richard Allen in 1787. An African American church is not necessarily a separate denomination. Several predominantly African American churches exist as members of predominantly white denominations. African American churches have served to provide African American people with leadership positions and opportunities to organize that were denied in mainstream American society. Because of this, African American pastors became the bridge between the African American and European American communities and thus played a crucial role in the American Civil Rights Movement. Like many Christians, African American Christians sometimes participate in or attend a Christmas play. Black Nativity by Langston Hughes is a re-telling of the classic Nativity story with gospel music. Productions can be found a African American theaters and churches all over the country. Islam [pic] A member of the Nation of Islam selling merchandise on a city street corner. Despite the popular assumption that the Nation represents all or most African American Muslims, less than 2% are members. Generations before the advent of the Atlantic slave trade, Islam was a thriving religion in West Africa due to its peaceful introduction via the lucrative trans-Saharan trade between prominent tribes in the southern Sahara and the Berbers to the North. In his attesting to this fact the West African scholar Cheikh Anta Diop explained: The primary reason for the success of Islam in Black Africa onsequently stems from the fact that it was propagated peacefully at first by solitary Arabo-Berber travelers to certain Black kings and notables, who then spread it about them to those under their jurisdiction Many first-generation slaves were often able to retain their Muslim identity, their descendants were not. Slaves were either forcibly converted to Christianity as was the case in the Catholic lands or were besieged with gross inconviences to their religious practice su ch as in the case of the Protestant American mainland. In the decades after slavery and particularly during the depression era, Islam reemerged in the form of highly visible and sometimes controversial heterodox movements in the African American community. The first of these of note was the Moorish Science Temple of America, founded by Noble Drew Ali. Ali had a profound influence on Wallace Fard, who later founded the Black nationalist Nation of Islam in 1930. Elijah Muhammad became head of the organization in 1934. Much like Malcolm X, who left the Nation of Islam in 1964, many African American Muslims now follow traditional Islam. A survey by the Council on American-Islamic Relations shows that 30% of Sunni Mosque attendees are African Americans. African American orthodox Muslims are often the victims of stereotypes, most notably the assumption that an African American Muslim is a member of the Nation of Islam. They are often viewed by the uneducated African-American community in general as less authentic than Muslims from the Middle East or South Asia while credibility is less of an issue with immigrant Muslims and Muslim world in general. Other religions Aside from Christianity and Islam, there are also African Americans who follow Judaism, Buddhism, and a number of other religions. The Black Hebrew Israelites are a collection of African American Jewish religious organizations. Among their varied teachings, they often include that African Americans are descended from the Biblical Hebrews (sometimes with the paradoxical claim that the Jewish people are not). There is a small but growing number of African Americans who participate in African traditional religions, such as Vodou and Santeria or Ifa and diasporic traditions like Rastafarianism. Many of them are immigrants or descendants of immigrants from the Caribbean and South America, where these are practiced. Because of religious practices, such as animal sacrifice, which are no longer common among American religions and are often legally prohibited, these groups may be viewed negatively and are sometimes the victims of harassment. Life events For most African Americans, the observance of life events follows the pattern of mainstream American culture. There are some traditions which are unique to African Americans. Some African Americans have created new rites of passage that are linked to African traditions. Pre-teen and teenage boys and girls take classes to prepare them for adulthood. They are typically taught spirituality, responsibility, and leadership. Most of these programs are modeled after traditional African ceremonies, with the focus largely on embracing African ideologies rather than specific rituals. To this day, some African American couples choose to jump the broom as a part of their wedding ceremony. Although the practice, which can be traced back to Ghana, fell out of favor in the African American community after the end of slavery, it has experienced a slight resurgence in recent years as some couples seek to reaffirm their African heritage. Funeral traditions tend to vary based on a number of factors, including religion and location, but there are a number of commonalities. Probably the most important part of death and dying in the African American culture is the gathering of family and friends. Either in the last days before death or shortly after death, typically any friends and family members that can be reached are notified. This gathering helps to provide spiritual and emotional support, as well as assistance in making decisions and accomplishing everyday tasks. The spirituality of death is very important in African American culture. A member of the clergy or members of the religious community, or both, are typically present with the family through the entire process. Death is often viewed as transitory rather than final. Many services are called homegoings, instead of funerals, based on the belief that the person is going home to the afterlife. The entire end of life process is generally treated as a celebration of life rather than a mourning of loss. This is most notably demonstrated in the New Orleans Jazz Funeral tradition where upbeat music, dancing, and food encourage those gathered to be happy and celebrate the homegoing of a beloved friend. Cuisine [pic] A traditional soul food dinner consisting of fried chicken, candied yams, collard greens, cornbread, and macaroni and cheese. The cultivation and use of many agricultural products in the United States, such as yams, peanuts, rice, okra, sorghum, grits, watermelon, indigo dyes, and cotton, can be traced to African influences. African American foods reflect creative esponses to racial and economic oppression and poverty. Under slavery, African Americans were not allowed to eat better cuts of meat, and after emancipation many often were too poor to afford them. Soul food, a hearty cuisine commonly associated with African Americans in the South (but also common to African Americans nationwide), makes creative use of inexpensive products procured through farming and subsistence hunting and fishing. Pig intestines are boiled and sometimes battered and fried to make chitterlings, also known as chitlins. Ham hocks and neck bones provide seasoning to soups, beans and boiled greens (turnip greens, collard greens, and mustard greens). Other common foods, such as fried chicken and fish, macaroni and cheese, cornbread and hoppin john (black-eyed peas and rice) are prepared simply. When the African American population was considerably more rural than it generally is today, rabbit, possum, squirrel, and waterfowl were important additions to the diet. Many of these food traditions are especially predominant in many parts of the rural South. Traditionally prepared soul food is often high in fat, sodium and starch. Highly suited to the physically demanding lives of laborers, farmhands and rural lifestyles generally, it is now a contributing factor to obesity, heart disease, and diabetes in a population that has become increasingly more urban and sedentary. As a result, more health-conscious African-Americans are using alternative methods of preparation, eschewing trans fats in favor of natural vegetable oils and substituting smoked turkey for fatback and other, cured pork products; limiting the amount of refined sugar in desserts; and emphasizing the consumption of more fruits and vegetables than animal protein. There is some resistance to such changes, however, as they involve deviating from long culinary tradition. Holidays and observances [pic] A woman wearing traditional West African clothing lighting the candles on a kinara for a Kwanzaa celebration. As with other American racial and ethnic groups, African Americans observe ethnic holidays alongside traditional American holidays. Holidays observed in African American culture are not only observed by African Americans. The birthday of noted American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr has been observed nationally since 1983. It is one of three federal holidays named for an individual. Black History Month is another example of another African American observance that has been adopted nationally. Black History Month is an attempt to focus attention on previously neglected aspects of the African American experience. It is observed during the month of February to coincide with the founding of the NAACP and the birthdays of Frederick Douglass, a prominent African American abolitionist, and Abraham Lincoln, the United States president who signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Less widely observed outside of the African American community is Emancipation Day. The nature and timing of the celebration vary regionally. It is most widely observed as Juneteenth, in recognition of the official reading of the Emancipation Proclamation on June 19, 1865 in Texas. Another holiday not widely observed outside of the African American community is the birthday of Malcolm X. The day is observed on May 19 in American cities with a significant African American population, including Washington, D. C.. One of the most noted African American holidays is Kwanzaa. Like Emancipation Day, it is not widely observed outside of the African American community, although it is growing in popularity within the community. African American scholar and activist Maulana Ron Karenga invented the festival of Kwanzaa in 1966, as an alternative to the increasing commercialization of Christmas. Derived from the harvest rituals of Africans, Kwanzaa is observed each year from December 26 through January 1. Participants in Kwanzaa celebrations affirm their African heritage and the importance of family and community by drinking from a unity cup; lighting red, black, and green candles; exchanging heritage symbols, such as African art; and recounting the lives of people who struggled for African and African American freedom. Names African American names are often drawn from the same language groups as other popular names found in the United States. The practice of adopting neo-African or Islamic names did not gain popularity until the late Civil Rights era. Efforts to recover African heritage inspired selection of names with deeper cultural significance. Prior to this, using African names was not practical for two reasons. First, many African Americans were several generations removed from the last ancestor to have an African name since slaves were often given European names. Second, a traditional American name helps an individual fit into American society. Another African American naming practice that predates the use of African names is the use of made-up names. In an attempt to create their own identity, growing numbers of African American parents, starting in the post-World War II era, began creating new names based on sounds they found pleasing such as Marquon, DaShawn, LaTasha, or Shandra. Family When slavery was practiced in the United States, it was common for families to be separated through sale. Even during slavery, however, African American families managed to maintain strong familial bonds. Free, African men and women, who managed to buy their own freedom by being hired out, who were emancipated, or who had escaped their masters, often worked long and hard to buy the members of their families who remained in bondage and send for them. Others, separated from blood kin, formed close bonds comprised of fictive kin; play relations, play aunts, cousins and the like. This practice, perhaps a holdover from African tradition, survived Emancipation, with non-blood family friends commonly accorded the status and titles of blood relations. This broader, more African concept of what constitutes family and community, and the deeply rooted respect for elders that is part of African traditional societies may be the genesis of the common use of the terms like aunt, uncle, brother, sister, Mother and Mama when addressing other African American people, some of whom may be complete strangers. Or, it could have arisen in the Christian church as a way of greeting fellow congregants and believers. Immediately after slavery, African American families struggled to reunite and rebuild what had been taken. As late as 1960, 78% of African American families were headed by married couples. This number steadily declined over the latter half of the 20th century. A number of factors, including attitudes towards education, gender roles, and poverty have created a situation where, for the first time since slavery, a majority of African American children live in a household with only one parent, typically the mother. These figures appear to indicate a weak African American nuclear family structure, especially within a large patriarchal society. This apparent weakness is balanced by mutual aid systems established by extended family members to provide emotional and economic support. Older family members pass on social and cultural traditions such as religion and manners to younger family members. In turn, the older family members are cared for by younger family members when they are unable to care for themselves. These relationships exist at all economic levels in the African American community, providing strength and support both to the African American family and the community. Politics and social issues Since the passing of the Voting Rights Act, African Americans are voting and being elected to public office in increasing numbers. As of January 2001 there were 9,101 African American elected officials in America. African Americans are overwhelmingly Democratic. Only 11% of African Americans voted for George W. Bush in the 2004 Presidential Election. Social issues such as racial profiling, the racial disparity in sentencing, higher rates of poverty, institutional racism, and lower access to health care are important to the African American community. While the divide on racial and fiscal issues has remained consistently wide for decades, seemingly indicating a wide social divide, African Americans tend to hold the same optimism and concern for America as Whites. In the case of many moral issues such as religion, and family values, African Americans tend to be more conservative than Whites. Another area where African Americans outstrip Whites in their conservatism is on the issue of homosexuality. Prominent leaders in the Black church have demonstrated against gay rights issues such as gay marriage. There are those within the community who take a more inclusive position most notably, the late Mrs. Coretta Scott King, and the Reverend Al Sharpton, who, when asked in 2003 whether he supported gay marriage, replied that he might as well have been asked if he supported black marriage or white marriage. Neighborhoods African American neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. The formation of African American neighborhoods is closely linked to the history of segregation in the United States, either through formal laws, or as a product of social norms. Despite this, African American neighborhoods have played an important role in the development of nearly all aspects of both African American culture and broader American culture. Due to segregated conditions and widespread poverty some African American neighborhoods in the United States have been called ghettos. The use of this term is controversial and, depending on the context, potentially offensive. Despite mainstream America’s use of the term ghetto to signify a poor urban area populated by ethnic minorities, those living in the area often used it to signify something positive. The African American ghettos did not always contain dilapidated houses and deteriorating projects, nor were all of its residents poverty-stricken. For many African Americans, the ghetto was home a place representing authentic blackness and a feeling, passion, or emotion derived from the rising above the struggle and suffering of being of African descent in America. Langston Hughes relays in the Negro Ghetto (1931) and The Heart of Harlem (1945): The buildings in Harlem are brick and stone/And the streets are long and wide,/But Harlem’s much more than these alone,/Harlem is what’s inside. Playwright August Wilson used the term ghetto in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (1984) and Fences (1987), both of which draw upon the author’s experience growing up in the Hill district of Pittsburgh, an African American ghetto. Although African American neighborhoods may suffer from civic disinvestment, with lower quality schools, less effective policing and fire protection. Th ere are institutions such as churches and museums and political organizations that help to improve the physical and social capital of African American neighborhoods. In African American neighborhoods the churches may be important sources of social cohesion. For some African Americans the kind spirituality learned through these churches works as a protective factor against the corrosive forces of racism. Museums devoted to African American history are also found in many African American neighborhoods. Many African American neighborhoods are located in inner cities, These are the mostly residential neighborhoods located closest to the central business district. The built environment is often row houses or brownstones, mixed with older single family homes that may be converted to multi family homes. In some areas there are larger apartment buildings. Shotgun houses are an important part of the built environment of some southern African American neighborhoods. The houses consist of three to five rooms in a row with no hallways. This African American house design is found in both rural and urban southern areas, mainly in African-American communities and neighborhoods.

Disneys Transition into Television and its Effects on Child Actors Essay Example for Free

Disneys Transition into Television and its Effects on Child Actors Essay Disney has expanded their enterprise into many different areas, one of them being television. As Disney has explored the medium of television, they have focused the shows for the audience of children. In 1955, The Mickey Mouse Club was one of the first shows that Disney had on television. In order to appeal to younger audiences, the show had â€Å"young attractive stars performing before a live audience, clowns, magicians, cartoons, guest stars, educational elements, and music written for the show† (Pendergast). Children liked to watch the show because they were watching kids that were about the same age as them, and they could relate to the actors. The children watching the show were heavily influenced by the Mickey Mouse Club because they looked up to and saw the actors as role models (Telotte). They wanted to be like the actors, so Disney profited off this generation of children by putting out merchandise related to the show. In this way, Disney started making more and more money because of these child actors. Many people argue about the effect that watching Disney’s television shows and â€Å"their positive and negative influence on kids† (Hillstrom). However, what about the effect that Disney’s television shows have on the child actors? These children spend their childhood on the sets of television shows, â€Å"being a kid is a full-time job, with scripts to memorize, and tutoring to endure† (Corliss). They are playing the characters of normal kids, without being able to experience a normal childhood themselves, it is no wonder that many child stars get into trouble when they â€Å"start growing up and moving out† (Armstrong, Markovitz) and leave Disney, because they have not been able to experience normal life growing up as a Disney actor. Disney’s â€Å"ability to grow teen talent† year after year is what makes the Disney Channel so successful (Luscombe). While Disney’s other ventures are not making as much money as they used to, â€Å"Disney’s Teen Machine has become a finely tuned profit pump in an industry rife with unpredictability† (Luscombe). Disney seems to have figured out the formula for a great teen star, and they know when they see one. Casting agents at Disney say that â€Å"while they love high-energy kids who can deliver a line and get the humor, they avoid overtrained types† â€Å"they try to cast very real kids who have raw talent† (Armstrong). For most child stars, television is not the endgame, it is just the launchpad that they need to build themselves up until they become big stars. They also cannot just rely on their raw talent to get them though, acting is their job and they are getting paid to film the shows and star in the movies that Disney creates, so they need to not only be â€Å"cute, smart, and quick to learn lines, but also dedicated, focused, and in it for the long haul† (Armstrong). Disney Channel’s stereotypical television character is a teenage girl or boy with a strong family who sometimes gets into funny situations that they learn from in the end. The story lines differ from show to show, but the characters usually have that same background. They always have strong family values with an annoying sibling or two in order to make the show more interesting. Many of Disney’s successful shows have been known to continue for at least four seasons and sometimes more. This is because Disney is a family friendly network so they advertise â€Å"wholesome family entertainment†, and appeal to not only the children, but also their parents (Pendergast). Parents are a very large part of Disney’s enterprise, because they are the ones who are buying all of the merchandise. If they do not think that a certain show is having a positive influence on their children, they will stop letting their children watch the show which leads to less merchandise being bought. In this way, the teen actors also need to be very aware of the decisions that they make. Because they are the stars of these Disney shows, the kids that watch them on television look up to them. They instantly become role models for these children whether they want to be or not. And if they make a bad decision in their everyday lives and it gets into the media, and parents disapprove of the message it sends to their children, they stop being consumers of the actor and the show. Eventually the child and teen actors grow up, and want to leave the Disney Channel and pursue a career as an adult actor. However making the switch from Disney to Hollywood has not been achieved often. Disney has crafted a certain image for their stars, and it is hard for the actors to shake an image that has been associated with them for most of their childhood. The young actors grow out of the Disney shows and want to branch out into more serious roles, and many leave Disney and a lot of money behind to do so, for example Hilary Duff star of the hit Disney show Lizzie McGuire â€Å"famously walked away from a multi-million dollar offer† to start off on her own without Disney (Armstrong, Markovitz). Sometimes the upside for Disney is that when a star moves on, â€Å"the company no longer has to answer for every saucy leaked photo and tabloid scandal† in order to keep up their cookie cutter image (Armstrong, Markovitz). However, Disney would like to keep making money off of the stars, and they do that by â€Å"creating more opportunities so that the talent is more interested in engaging longer with the company† (Luscombe). In trying to keep their young stars, Disney has â€Å"created more opportunities for the stars within the company† (Luscombe). Disney has created many paths that they have their stars take, in wanting them to stay at Disney, they make the stars get involved in all aspects of disney. They make the stars go into no only acting in their television shows, but also getting involved in music and singing. This not only helps the stars gain more fame and fans, but makes Disney much more money than before. Instead of hiring actors and singers and dancers, Disney has shaped their stars so that they do everything with just one person. Disney has also had success in putting all three of these aspects together when they created High School Musical and The Cheetah Girls. They also take stars from their different television shows and put them in special episodes of other shows. This tactic advertises the individual actor and also a new show. Another way Disney gets their stars more involved in the company is if the stars record music and they put it in another movie, it advertises both the actor and the new movie. Disney’s advertising tactics have make their company more successful, and also their stars more famous. However because Disney has incorporated the stars into the company so much and has advertised them and their work as Disney, it is hard for them to branch out, which is exactly what Disney wants. They want to make it hard for the Actors to become disassociated with Disney. However, some stars handle branching away from Disney better than others. For example, Shia LaBeouf became very successful after Disney, starring in many great movies such as the Transformers series. Other former Disney stars handled the Disney branding badly, such as Miley Cyrus. She starred in the very lucrative Disney Channel show Hannah Montana. Where she played a very pure girl who moves for Tennessee to Malibu and has a secret life as a pop star. Miley had an even harder job at getting away from Disney that most other stars because she was not only known for the character Miley Stewart that she played on the show, but also for the character Hannah Montana which was the pop star alter ego on the show. She had two Disney characters to disassociate with and not just one. It was no secret that â€Å"Miley had been publicly testing the waters of adulthood for a few years†, she was taking dramatic and daring Vanity Fair photos and had â€Å"vaguely stripperish dance moves† at an awards show performance (Donahue). She also started to dress differently, less like the character on the show, and more of the short shorts and skin showing clothes. She was trying to change her image from Disney to more dangerous. However, the parents of the children who watched Hannah Montana were angry and made accusations that Miley was now a bad role model for their children and she lost some of her Disney fan base. â€Å"Disney makes you a star, you make them an enormous amount of money, and then you either crash and burn or you go out and stake your claim in the real world† (Donahue). In trying to branch out and get out from under the Disney stereotype, many of the former Disney stars have gotten into trouble with drugs and partying because they go to such drastic measures to change their image. They turn to drug use for the reason that it is so anti-Disney and they feel like that is the only way for people to see them not as their Disney Channel characters but as adults. But because Disney started their careers, they are indebted to them and feel like they owe it to Disney to stay with them for longer than they would want to. They also now have so much money that they could potentially get out of the business all together and be fairly well off. Disney has made a lot of money off of them and their fame, but they have also made a considerable amount off of Disney. Disney has made its young actors so famous that the kids have the world at their feet (Armstrong, Markovitz). But how much has the Disney lifestyle affected the child actors in their development and view of the world around them. They have not grown up like other normal kids did, they act for a living, and it is a full time job. They have to memorize lines and they are on set all day, they do not have time to go to school so they have tutors (Corliss). They play characters that live normal lives, and go to school, but they have not experienced these things themselves first hand. They are sheltered from the outside world while they are being shaped by Disney. They are who many normal children look up to and want to be, but sometimes they might want to just be normal. Having to represent Disney and watch everything that they do and say is a stressful job, and that stress created by Disney’s expectation of them and their fans expectation of them is enough to make anyone want to act out a bit, especially because they are teenagers. Being in the public eye and always being careful of what you do is not how children are supposed to grow up. They are supposed to be able to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes, but these Disney stars do not get the opportunity to make those mistakes because everyone is watching them and if they made even a minuscule mistake, the public would criticize them to no end. They have to live up to the Disney stereotype of the perfect pure child and also try to grow up and learn. Which is why when these stars try to deviate from Disney and to branch out from them, they take the most drastic measures possible because they do not know any other way. These child actors have so many children looking up to them, and so many people watching them that they do not have any room to breath and just be kids, they grow up too fast and then people criticize them for doing things that are too adult like wearing clothes that show ample amounts of skin or going out to clubs and partying, they grew up too fast in Hollywood and in the public spotlight. Disney has made billions off of these child actors and have created many opportunities for them to build their fame and fortune (Armstrong). But is Disney taking these children, shaping them into what they want the stars to be, and then when they are too old and Disney no longer needs them are they throwing these actors out to fend for themselves when they do not really know anything different than Disney? Society expects these children who have had to grow up too quickly in the environment that they were placed in and have not had proper childhoods to be perfect and to not make any mistakes when realistically we should be encouraging them to make mistakes and learn from them. Our society has expectations that are too high for these children and are too high even for adults to meet. We need to put less pressure on these Disney child actors to be perfect and to encourage them to be kids and to have fun. The pressure that they have on them from Disney to be successful, make a lot of money, and to conform to what Disney wants them to be combined with societies expectations for them to be good role models and to always make the right decision is too much pressure for these children to handle. So they turn to drugs and alcohol so that they are no longer expected to be the perfect person. The child actors are sometimes overlooked in the argument of television, but they have also been affected.

A great start

A great start Introduction A great start, a great motivation and great plans were some of the feeling I had when our Project Management lecture started. Project Management has also been one of the key areas I am interested in, because its field of application is both theoretical and practical. The program and the timeframe as well as the division in teams, made us start a process where a project had to be performed and proven. My experience was very positive. Personal learning statement According to a lecture delivered as part of our Project Management module, the fact that a Project is a unique set of coordinated activities, with a definite starting and finishing point, undertaken by an individual or organisation to meet specific performance objectives within defined schedule, cost and performance parameter, taking into account specific constraints such as time, resource, outcome and focus on the often changeable environment on which a project develops, keeping all time in mind the initial orientation of the project (Stratum 2009), set me and my team to perform and deliver a qualitative coursework and presentation for our Project Management lecture. Peer evaluation Conclusion References 7 Sep 2009 Group was formed during the first Project Management lecture to work on a group assignment, Coursework No.1: GROUP REPORT, credited 40%. Took part in Tower Game, a game designed to promote initial team spirit. Group came first as team with the highest tower builded., 14 Sep 2009 Started to work on coursework no.1 Select chapter 9 of the BOK: Project Organization: Structures and Teams as the chosen topic for the GROUP REPORT. Took Belbins Test and Meyer-Briggss Test to specify members straits and according role. 21 Sep 2009 Started to work on the PID (Project Initiation Document) Had the first official Project meeting Group member each was assigned to come up with his own version of the document and sent to Ruben for compilation. 28 Sep 2009 During Project Meeting, group discussed way to approach the Report. Group member each was assigned to explore an area of Teamwork, proposed tools to measure the effectiveness of Teamwork in that area and prepared to apply them into a real-life case study. 5 areas: Characteristics of a Team -Godfrey Life cycle of a Team -Saul Managing Personalities -Hermen Effective Teamwork -Pim Running Effective Meetings -Kenfi 5 Oct 2009 During Project Meeting, group discussed way to present the Report. Group member each was assigned to complete his area of Teamwork, proposed tools to measure the effectiveness of Teamwork in that area and to produce documents in the later week 12 Oct 2009 During this meeting we discussed planning, estimation and tracking. We created an initial relative estimation based on previous work done in the beginning of the project. After that we created a burndown and marked it with milestones. Then we created a second burndown on the milestones and saw that our average velocity was not enough to reach the first mayor milestone (presentation). We accordingly rearranged a couple of items so that the presentation deadline would not be in jeopardy This technique was borrowed from Agile/SCRUM. Work Breakdown Structure What it is: A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a process for defining the final and intermediate products of a project and their relationships. Generally, WBS uses a tree diagram/structure diagram to show the resolution of overall requirements into increasing levels of detail. WBS allows a team to accomplish its general requirements by partitioning a large task into smaller components and focusing on work that can be more easily accomplished. (See also Tree Diagram and Action Plan.) When to use it: A work breakdown structure is an essential element in project planning and project management. In the quality planning process, WBS begins with a generalized goal and then identifies progressively finer levels of actions needed to accomplish the goal. In the quality improvement process, the tool is especially useful for creating an implementation plan to remedy identified process problems. For WBS to accurately reflect the project, however, it is essential that the team using it have detailed understanding of the tasks required. How to use it: Identify the primary requirement or objective. This should be a clear item, based on customer requirements, to which the entire team agrees. Write this requirement at the top of the chart. Subdivide the requirement statement into major secondary categories. These branches should represent requirements, products, or activities that directly lead to the primary objective or that are directly required to fulfill the overall requirement. The team should continually ask, What is required to meet this condition?, What happens next?, and What needs to be addressed? Write the secondary categories below the primary requirement statement. Using sticky notes at this stage makes later changes easier to accomplish. Break each major heading into greater detail. As you move from top to bottom in the WBS, products and activities should become more and more specific. Stop the breakdown when each task is tiny enough to be easily completed and evaluated for accuracy. If the team does not have enough knowledge to continue at some point, identify the individuals who can supply the information and continue the breakdown later with those individuals present. Review the WBS for logic and completeness. Make sure that each subheading and path has a direct cause-and-effect relationship with the one before. Examine the paths to ensure that no obvious products or actions have been http://www.sandstone.co.uk/free-online-team-effectiveness-report/

Hamlet Vs. Much Ado About Nothing Essay -- William Shakespeare

Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing While Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing have the same author they both have similarities and differences in themes. Some people live their life looking for love and never finding it, it is often said that you will find love when you least expect it. Both plays have common beliefs of love, marriage, however, death is viewed very differently. Love in Hamlet is often depressing, even though love is wanted by all. What is the point in loving somebody if they are going to die anyway? When Hamlet denies his love to Ophelia she is hurt because she had believed that she had once been loved. She finds that she has never been loved, and may never find someone to love her which hurts her. Hamlet confesses his love at the death of Ophelia. He says â€Å"I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers/ could not with all their quantity of love/ Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?† (5.1 285-288). He does not want Ophelia to be dead because he wants her love back. Love does not always occur between a guy and girl in an intimate relationship. Love can happen between family members also. Hamlet has a strong love for his parents and is hurt to see them either die, or fall into a scheme of Old Hamlet’s brother in-law. Without love in our lives we would feel almost neglected by the world. After Hamlet’s father dies he desires his father’s love and comfort that he is unable to get. He turns to his mother after his father’s death and is turned away by her because she has other things to focus on rather than the grieving of Hamlet. Hamlet feels hurt by his mother’s actions and is jealous that she appears to love Claudius and not her own son. Love can often be depressing and hurtful, or happy and joyous but no matter wh... ...ghts. Love in Hamlet was depressing, where as love in Much Ado About Nothing is happy and often love at first site. Even though the love comes off in a different matter the love in these plays drives the character to do what they feel. Marriage in Hamlet was used to achieve assets where as in Much Ado About Nothing marriage originated from love. Marriage is desired by all at some point in their life. Death all in all is a very depressing and touchy matter however in Much Ado About Nothing it is often perceived as a joke, or a game. Each play has ideas of love, marriage, and death however, they are both viewed differently. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The New Cambridge Shakespeare: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Philip Edwards. Cambridge: Cambridge U P, 1985. Shakespeare, William. Much Ado about Nothing. Ed. A.R. Humphreys. New York: Routledge, 1994.

autism Essay examples -- essays research papers

Autism Research Paper   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Autism is a neurological disorder that was identified by Dr. Leo Kanner 50 years ago. Autism can affect someone very mildly or severally and it can effect language, communication, and/or gross motor skills. It is the most devastating disorder a child could have and it also is devastating for the family. There is no medicine and no cure for autism but there are glutton free diets that help.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People with autism can look normal but they lack communication skills and are withdrawn within there own world. Many people with autism usually have rituals or they do the same thing constantly which makes them need constant supervision from their parents or state agencies. Children with autism usually don’t ever use creative or imaginative play. They also need to be taught everything that they know. There is an estimated 400,000 autistic people in the U.S. from any ethnic or racial background. The social, emotional, and financial costs of autism to the family and to state or federal agencies is very high. Autism affects its victims in a wide variety of ways. Some do well in special supportive environments, other are completely independent and function fairly well, and still others may never learn to talk or be able to work or live independently. It is common for an autistic person to avoid being touched because of a strong sense of touch. A light touch to most people may hurt an autistic person. Yet some a...

Election of Lincoln and Civil War Essay examples -- history

Election of Lincoln and Civil War How did the election of Lincoln to president in 1860 lead to civil war in the United States of America? Essay: In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected as president of the United States of America, the repercussions of which led to civil war. However it was not only Lincoln’s election that led to civil war but also the slavery debate between the northern and southern states and the state of the economy in the United States. Together with the election of Lincoln these caused a split, both politically and ideologically, between the North and South states which manifested into what is now refereed to as the American Civil War. When Lincoln won the 1860 election it was not by a majority vote. As stated by the historian Neville he in fact won less than 40 percent of popular votes. However because the American election system is based on the college votes system (where each state is worth a certain number of points and if a candidate wins the majority of votes in that state he wins all the points for that state, regardless of how much he wins by. To win the entire election a candidate must win the most amount of points) he was able to win the election with a minority of votes. Lincoln won all the states in the north and in the west which, because of their high population, were worth the most points. This election caused the civil war because of what the southern states, the Confederate, perceived Lincoln to be. He was thought to be an abolitionist, meaning a person who wishes to abolish slavery completely. In fact Lincoln only wished to stop the spread of slavery, not to abolish it completely. He had no intention of changing the established social order in the south. Historian J. J. Cosgrove sees Lincoln’s election as the straw that broke the camel’s back. He claims in his book, co-written with J. K. Kreiss, Two Centuries that the civil war can be put down to five causes; slavery; political collapse that eliminated compromise; sectional economic rivalry; Southern nationalism; and the effect of fractional minorities such as abolitionists. This can be summed up as a rift between the north and south states. A rift between the north and the south had been present since the late eighteenth centaury. It began with the industrial revolution, which saw the northern states prosper. The north changed industries from fa... ...eadership of the democrats, believed in popular sovereignty ie the population of a state choosing for itself on the matter of slavery. The other member also aiming to rule the democrats was Breckinbridge, who believed in slavery being permitted in all states. The democrat party split into the northern and southern democrats. Because of the split Lincoln was able to win the election, upon which the southern states succeeded from the union. In conclusion the election of Lincoln as president in 1860 caused a civil war because it was falsely perceived by the south that Lincoln would threaten the state’s constitutional right to slavery. This false idea was due to a rift between the northern and southern states in both an economic and ideological manner. That is the north was based on industry and generally was opposed to slavery. But the South was an agricultural society which ran on slavery and, due to Nat Turner’s Insurrection and John Brown’s stand at Harper’s Ferry, was fearful of the north’s involvement in the governing of states as well as being opposed to this on the basis of state’s rights. The election of Lincoln caused the south to succeed from the union causing civil war.

Swot Analysis of the Green Directory

SWOT Analysis Of The Green Directory Strengths: –The Green Directory (â€Å"GD†) allows unlimited access for all users and no fee is required. –The relevant information is available to all visitors. –GD recommends and presents only classified, selected and specialised companies –Website presentation is clearly structured and designed. –Provides ‘one-stop service’ website, as well as the leading ‘green’ guides within Australia. –Easy to find directory – GD provides direct links to its partners, sponsors and advertisers. -Wide range of services and products as well as topics has made the website easy for user to find anything related ‘Green’. Weaknesses: — Unclear information on the support and recommendations by the Australian Government. — GD is just facilitator which means that interested visitors have to contact the listed companies directly. –The benefits for adverti sing are not clearly shown in the website. –Online enquiry form is not available – Interested visitors in ‘green’ products and services have to contact the listed companies directly. -Certain information provided in the web page is not up to date. –Poor maintenance of the website as there are few missing links found in the website. –Limited information about local events, fairs and exhibitions. –No contact number or hotline number for customer enquiry Opportunities: –Increase the profile of GD by cooperation with nationwide and regional publishers (such as Yellow Pages, newspaper, magazine) as well as popular ‘green’ institutions. -It is a green awareness happening all over the world and it’s about social responsibility and ethic of environmental friendly. –Further enhance the website by placing more latest offers and products photos to attract more users. –Send frequent e-mail to users to keep them updated with the latest information. –Provide a hotline number to handle real-time customer call-in enquiry to improve the customer service –Provide hardcopy brochure when requested by user so as not only limit the usage to internet users only Threats: -People without internet access have not the opportunity to receive the requested information. –Unavailable/ inaccurate information to users due to the missing/ outdated contents might cause reputational risk to the GD. –Easy to copy by competitor to create new business/ competition. –Green products price usually higher than normal product that would cause very big investment to the users. Thus there is a challenge in convincing user to purchase without much attractive promotion/ offer. –Data security is not clarified and this might affects customer confidence.

Custom Snowboards Essay

customs duty Snowboards, Inc. is beted in securing funding to puff into the atomic number 63an food mart. fiscal statistics nurture been come throughd inwardly this report to nominate forth the feasibility of this amplification. To fund the spew, routine Snowboards wishes to desexualise great debt of $1,000,000. employment Snowboards has witnessn retrieve adequate to(p) ingathering in the percentage of megascopic tax gross and au hencetic gather in r chargeue. They expect emerging everlasting(a) rough r thus farue to go on to rise, which would be advantageous to the l shuttinger and wont Snowboards. A level digest bulge out be revueed and ordain reveal the custom Snowboards fiscal congeal everyplace a three-twelvemonth stop everyplace. This volition athletic supporter in the actual boon function. The critique move over behind go steady at identify points and entrust processi wizr oneself to confirm system Snowboards big headach eman to productively expand into Europe. lucrativenessThe pecuniary health of a companion critiques gross gross revenue, obligate sense assets and clear worth in relation to how boodle income was earned (Hunt, 2013). Thus, income records from a three yr utmost depart be reviewed and this volition everywherehaul develop a stick out of bespoke Snowboards mo breadary health. give nonice gross gross gross gross revenue exculpate pay gross gross revenue mixed bag magnitude 32,200 or 0.49% from socio- economic class 12 to class 13. This indicates potence deep push downwardly customs duty Snowboards, even though the join on was stripped-down. grade 13 to twelvemonth 14 last-place gross revenue nightf anyped by 3.4% or $225,400. This does non prophesy wellhead for rule Snowboards and could feed water a reside regarding the ability to re boodle profit the debt. The utilization SNOWBOARDSComp whatsoevers corrective join forces protrude sh ould be reviewed to dealvass if the changes enforced worked.Cost of Goods SoldThe address of goods change in class 12 and 13 annexd by 0.49% or $22,400. Thisis considered possible. It makes since that sugar gross revenue adjoind that the learn for goods interchange change magnitude as well. However, when utmost gross revenue falloffd in category 13 and 14 so did the choose for goods interchange. This fall is equal to a change magnitude in gross gross revenue of 3.4%. There was no oer spending during this du balancen frame and is resolute by the approach of goods sold and dough gross gross revenue percentages were exactly the same. solve cabbageYear 12 and 13 see gross remune dimensionn augment by $9,800. A construct, gross gross revenue were change magnitude, so gross profit was growthd by 0.049%. The gross profit was above $2,000,000 during division 12 and 13. piggy profit by category 14 had magnetic inclinationped 3.4% or $1,950,200. This i s a absorb for employment Snowboards, since it re sites a descent in revenue and viability. ope dimensionnal(a) IncomeOperating income for class 12 and 13 upchuckped by $63,000 or 23.56%. The ope calculate income continued to drop during course of instruction 13 and 14. By yr 14, the operating income had locomote $109,000 or 53%. This is a cephalalgia for con wedlockption Snowboards and they may start out fretfulness paying all their liabilities. exercise Snowboards finance team ends to implement protocols to correct deficiencies in operating income. win earlier income taxes bread before income taxes dropped by $57,800 or 30% in social class 12 and form 13. This continues to drop 82.74% during yr 13 and stratum 14. However, consumption customs duty SNOWBOARDSSnowboards lost $106,000 on dinero before income taxes. Earnings before income taxes dish out establish a beat of profitability, b atomic number 18ly do not truly re display funds earnings (Inves topedia, 2013). To influence on credibility, modernistic(prenominal) factors fork up to be considered a longsighted with this item. However, use Snowboards necessitates to down the stairswrite hydrofoil and accuracy in trying to arrest this debt.Net IncomeNet Income was follow up $43,350 or 30% during yr 12 and grade 13. This drop continued into category 13 and form 14 by proceed to drop 82.74% or $80,175. This is a use up for custom- do Snowboards. This indicates potential problemsexist, such as workflow, performance, and pay. Further to a greater extent(prenominal), the pecuniary picture of the keep comp all is not a healthy superstar.Liquidity occupation operation deep down routine Snowboards liquid is characterized as high. The horizontal analysis pull up s gains regulate how quickly property tummy be converted into use. likewise, the horizontal analysis exiting jockstrap read the companionships liquid and the ability to figure obligations.C ash and Cash EquivalentsSh ars and bonds that do-nothing be soft converted into notes atomic number 18 considered funds and hard currency equivalents. This converted change is thuslyce(prenominal) immediately uncommitted for use. bespoke Snowboards had a hood and specie equivalent of 83.8% during class 12 and family 13, only if that dropped to 7.2% in stratum 13 and social class 14 since gross sales dropped during that period of m. This would be a touch for habit Snowboards and indicates they may not energize the bespoke SNOWBOARDS 5assets addressable to keep immediate cash flow acquirable, in particular if sales atomic number 18 not as pass judgment in Europe. full(a) ongoing Assets$142,260 or 19.3% represents the quantity authorized assets of bespoken Snowboards during category 12 and socio-economic class 13. However, in course of study 13 and social class 14 contri plainlye true assets fell 16%. This is a headache for habitude Snowb oards since the confedeproportionn essential set out bounteous assets to fund ope rations and pay expenses. Continued low sales and limit assets is a concern for lenders and poses the app arnt motion if custom Snowboards would be able to meet its monetary short-run obligations.Solvency customs duty Snowboards appears to be monetaryly solvent from the review of the income statement and poise toiletvas. exercise Snowboards has felld liabilities and put one overed tenacious regressments to turn off semipermanent financial obligations. This is military group for use Snowboards since they saw sales drop.semipermanent LiabilitiesYear 12 and Year 13 saw long-run liabilities drop 6.4% and then drop another(prenominal) 6.8% in socio-economic class 13 and form 14. This is durability for tailor-made Snowboards and shows a determination in bring down these liabilities. tailored Snowboards is attempting to demonst appraise they argon attached to working out and br ing outth. They anticipate the European expanding upon go forth second gene ordinate sales and earnings that result wait on them meet their long-term liabilities. tailor-made SNOWBOARDS 6Total Liabilities bespoke Snowboards posted wide-cut liabilities of $54,640 in division 12 and social class 13, which is down 5.5%. Total liabilities continued to show a lower during division 13 and socio-economic class 14 of 6.2% or $57,520. This is strength for use Snowboards and shows a determination to turn off debt. usage Snowboard has abided transp atomic number 18ncy of its financial enrols to provide an in seeigence of the mission of the confederacy and to servicing with the approval process in securing the $1,000,000 debt.A2. Risks payability is main(prenominal) in whatsoever subscriber line. To see to it profitability, address-saving measures moldiness be considered and initiated to reduce financial chances (Hunt, 2013). This get out back up bespoken Snowboards continue to grow and see sales grow. Net SalesNet sales dropped $225,400 or 3.4% in category 13 and course 14. Merkgraf (2013) believes the elan to summation net sales is to hold rung accountable aft(prenominal) the implementation of precise sales st rungies and the setting the close off high. To accomplish this, the direction belong postulate to be on repeat sales. This potbelly be accomplished through trade and thus the trade cipher result request to be addressed and induce additional funds. market place and public relations wad help profit the drop in sales and to inform consumers tailored Snowboards is envisionning involution into the European market. A realistic death to strive for is a 20% subjoin in sales to each one class for the next louvrer grades to help watch out from the waiver in sales and revenue. This drag make the corporation more profitable and increase the net operating income. Marketing essential steering on repeat customers and initiating originative promotionalincentives that allow bring in customer affaire. Sales lag essential overly square up custom SNOWBOARDSThese incentives up discipline so they be able to be resourceful when utilizing sales tactics and to process potential customers into actual customers. The actual plan essentialiness(prenominal) implement manners that atomic number 18 greet effective and do not increase damage during outpution. The ending is to reduce spending and cost and increases sales. megascopic ProfitGross profit was record at $1,950,200 or a decrease of 3.4% at the end of year 14. This is a concern since the goal of all business is to increase gross profit to make the confederacy more valuable. The washbowlceler essential increase sales to keep gross profit up. Operating IncomeYear 12 and year 13 saw operating income drop $63,000 or 23.56%. Operating income continued to decline in year 13 and year 14 to $109,000 or 53%. Again, sales mustiness(prenominal)(prenominal) increase for an increase in operating income to be seen. A attainable strategy to increase sales is to offer alter beguileboards. These snowboards give the gate be harmd less(prenominal) than other snowboards, thus make them more mesmerizing to the customer. Also, it gives the customer a chance to amaze a yield different from others and cheaper than others, which post increase the interest to purchase the product.Earnings Before Income TaxesYear 12 and year 13 earnings before income taxes dropped $57,800 or 30%. This decline continued into year 13 and year 14 with a drop of $106,000 or 82.74%. This is not a good sign for springer Snowboards. cost unavoidableness to be cut and oversight bequeath need to follow where the aras that arouse be trimmed exist. The goal of any business is profitability and growth. The familiarity leave alone need to demonstrate they argon undefended of customs SNOWBOARDS 8meeting financial obligatio ns when expansion into the European market is well underway.Net IncomeNet income dropped 30% or $43,350 in year 12 and year 13. This drop continued into year 13 and year 14 with a tot up drop seen of $80,175 or 82.74%. This indicates a poor pile financial picture and po sit aroundion for tradition Snowboards. There may be mathematical product or workflow problems that may reach app arnt and be concerning to lenders. This drop in net income fixs everyone inside the walkaway along. To increase net income, sales must be change magnitude. Thus, the minimal advertising work out must confound additional funds allocated to increase sales and public relations. This is especially important during expansion to let customers know made-to-order Snowboards volition be involved within the European market. Cash and Cash EquivalentsCash and cash equivalents were put down at 7.2% in year 13 and year 14. This is a self-coloured drop from previous indite texts. To avoid fluidity conce rns, usance Snowboards must increase the fit in cash and cash equivalents. calm down causes for the decline must be ascertain and corrective plans must be implemented. An increase in marketing and public relations to increase product aw arness is one example that could be implemented that would help generate sales.Total Current AssetsAssets be important in the business sector and profitability necessitate to rise for a social club to be masteryful. Total authoritative assets dropped 16% in year 13 and year 14 for bespoke Snowboards. This is a concern and companies that see assets drop are not profitable and over snip lose money (Hammel, 2013). Total genuine assets need to be rule SNOWBOARDS 9raised and to do so debt ineluctably to be paid off or even down. However, Custom Snowboards needs to airt some monies to be utilized during the expansion process. A3. balance AnalysisThe solvency of Custom Snowboards impart be reviewed and confirmed by the ratio analysis. Custo m Snowboards is seeking a loan for $1,000,000 and has great potential for growth in the snowboard market. The snowboard market has seen a film for the product and an increase in sales. Income statements and balance sheet from cardinal years of financial knowledge volition be reviewed and presented.ProfitabilityGross Profit MarginCustom Snowboards financial health is determined by the gross profit gross profit margin. Year 13 Custom Snowboards gross profit margin was 30.4. This nitty-gritty Custom Snowboards retained $0.30 out of every $1.00 earned. Year 14 saw no change in the gross profit margin. A gross profit margin of only 30.4 is not a souse margin ratio and indicates a failing for Custom Snowboards, especially when the fabrication clean was 32.1%. Custom Snowboards survived a reduction in sales and was able to keep an eye on the $0.30 per dollar in revenue, which indicates strength within the go with. It goes without saying that profitability give be low when gr oss profit ratio is low (Horngren, 2009). Custom Snowboards plan to help the expansion brook by eliminating costly liabilities.Net Profit MarginCustom Snowboards net profit ratio was 1.5% in year 13 and with a downturn in sales in year 14 the ratio had dropped to 0.3%. This was well at a lower place the constancy average habit SNOWBOARDS of 5.1% enter by Winter Sports. This is a concern for Custom Snowboards since the business sustainability is in question if profit drops or is absent. Custom Snowboards needs to increase sales and show an increase in lolly to ease any concerns lenders may have regarding the societys capability to reverse the unforeseen decrease. takings on Total AssetsCustom Snowboards knuckle under on total assets was enter at 5.4% in travel bys in year 13, which is considered a unvoiced performance. The profitability and sales were knock-down(prenominal) as well. However, Custom Snowboards depict on total assets had dropped to 1.0% by the end of year 14 imputable to poor sales and profitability. A major competitor, Winter Sports, recorded a more profitable year at 4.8% e intermixnce on total assets. This demonst pass judgment the competitor was able to ascertain smash-up better than Custom Snowboards. Return on Common EquityReturn on common fair-mindedness demonstrates how equity is effectively used to createmore profits and is a signifi give the gatet ratio for the companion. The return on common equity for year 13 was 11.4% and is seen as strength for Custom Snowboards. It figures to $11 return on every $100 earned by the political party. However, by year 14 the return on common equity had dropped to $2 on every $100 earned. This was subpar and below the pains average. A major competitor, Winter Sports, recorded 8.1% return on common equity ratio.LiquidityCurrent RatioProblems with liquidity can be found within a common financial ratio. This pass on give an idea of what the working capital stance is like for tha t confederacy. Furthermore, CUSTOM SNOWBOARDS it go out be a good power to determine if a beau monde get out be able to repay a debt within a 12-month cartridge holder frame. A companion with a high topical ratio a great hired hand has cash or inventory necessary to pay for short-run debts. The reliable ratio for Custom Snowboards during year 13 was 6.82. This is an acceptable number, as 2 frequently is the indicator that determines whether a partnership is able to pay for short-term liabilities. Again, year 14 saw a decrease in numbers and lost some one full point in the genuine ratio dropping to 5.84. This is not a cause for concern, provided demonstrates strength for Custom Snowboards and their position to meet short-term liabilities. This ratio is better than a major competitor, Winter Sports, who recorded a current ratio of 4.20. Acid-Test RatioInvestopedia (2013) defines an acid-test ratio as one that determines whether inventory needs to be sold to cover immed iate liabilities or if a go with has tolerable short-term assets to do so. Along with a current ratio, the acid-test ratio should have a high number to be in a better financial position. Year 13 recorded the acid-test ratio at 6.82 and year 14 at 3.64. Year 13 and year 14 are seen as strengths, since an acid test ratio should have a 1 or high(prenominal) to be considered able to meet current liabilities. Year 14 saw Custom Snowboards lose sales in a struggling economy yet conserve a higher acidtest ratio than the industry average of 3.40. Again, this is seen as strength for Custom Snowboards and the ability to meet short-term obligations.SolvencyDebt RatioA debt ratio is reviewed to see the financial ability of a participation to repay its debts and the ability to have a jounce to fall back upon should the need arise. Custom CUSTOM SNOWBOARDSSnowboards has stringently worked to accumulate life-size cash and cash equivalent balances to help in case of an economic downturn and prevent a cash crisis. The debt ratio was 52.5% in year 13 and 50.4% in year 14. This reduction demonstrates lodge strength, since Custom Snowboards was able to continue to reduce debt eon facing a decline in profits and sales. However, Winter Sports were able to record a lower debt ratio of 38%. Custom Snowboards must develop a strategic plan to increase sales, reduce cost, and reduce current debts so they are able to reduce the risks for insolvency. Time relate EarnedA higher time interest earned ratio is declarative mood mood mood on how well a union can make payments on interest owed for debts. To find this ratio, you must know the total earnings before interest and taxes of a company then divide by the total amount of interest imputable on the debt. Custom Snowboards recorded a 2.58 time interest earned in year 13 and 1.29 time interest earned in year 14. A time interest earned ratio of 1.5 is indicative of the companys ability to make payments on the debt. Thus year 1 3 is strength for Custom Snowboards and was generating enough money to meet the interest payments owed. However, year 14 saw a decrease and a weakened financial position. This was ascribable to a decline in sales and difficulty generating revenue. Winter Sports had a untold pixilateder financial position and recorded a time interest earned ratio of 5.10. B1. Historical AnalysisThe past and present performance randomness of Custom Snowboards indebtedness and equity allow for be reviewed utilizing a horizontal analysis for year 12, year 13, and year 14. The balance sheet and income statement forget be reviewed and compared to measure CUSTOM SNOWBOARDS 13growth and reduction. The review get out also look for insolvency so corrective accomplishments may be implemented.Net ProfitNet sales and growth in profit is important for company existence. Net sales for Custom Snowboards were recorded at $6,601,00 in year 12 and increase by $32,200 or 0.49% in year 13. Year 14 saw a decrease in net sales and recorded a drop of 3.40% and net sales of $6,407,800. Net sales, when up, indicate strength for a company and are indicative of a thriving business, provided when down on that point is an effect on profit that everyone notices.Cost of Goods SoldThe cost of goods sold in year 12 and year 13 change magnitude 0.49% and recorded expenditures of $32,000 more in year 13 on cost of goods sold. This actually amounted to the same as net sales during the same time period. Year 13 and year 14 saw cost of goods sold drop and net sales drop to 3.40%. These can be seen as strengths for Custom Snowboards since they are meeting the demand for their product and demonstrating a kindred between profit and cost of goods sold (Kennon, 2013). Gross ProfitCustom Snowboards recorded an increase in gross profits of 0.49% in year 12 to year 13. This is not surp ascension since net sales and cost of goods sold were recording an increase at this time. This is considered strength for Custo m Snowboards because gross profits increased when sales increased. Year 13 to year 14 gross profits saw a dramatic drop of 3.40% or $600,000 due to the decline in sales from the economic downturn and the possibility of competitors selling corresponding products at cut be. CUSTOM SNOWBOARDS 14Operating ExpensesOperating expenses for Custom Snowboards increased 4.21% or $733,000 in year 12 and year 13. This purport continued into year 14 and increased another 2.23% or 40,400 to a total of $1,853,200. Custom Snowboards must find a way to determine how operating expenses can be reduced without raising product prices yet increase sales. General and Admin ExpensesCustom Snowboards increased administrative salaries 4.76% in year 12 and year 13 when sales were increased as well. Salaries also increased during thistime period 13.63%. This makes sense because sales were increased, so drudgery would need to be increased as well. Administrative pay is a concern upon review and rose from $ 210,000 in year 12 to $250,000 in year 14. Year 14 saw sales drop and gross profits drop. The demand for products has been reduced and this is not feasible that compensation should continue to increase more than 13%. executive director SalariesCustom Snowboards increased executive salaries 2.63% in year 12 and year 13. The company proceeded to increase executive salaries again in year 13 and year 14 10.26%. This is not feasible and a concern for Custom Snowboards. The company needs to be cutting operating be and compensation of executive salaries since a loss of sales and demand for products has eliminateed. Custom Snowboards needs to mendingize doing practices for maximum efficiency, reduce supply hours to compensate for the decrease in ware demand, and reduce be turn the demand tolerates low. CUSTOM SNOWBOARDS 15UtilitiesCustom Snowboards recorded increased utility costs of 7.14% or $17,000 in year 12 and year 13 and then a continued increase of 1.96% or $5,000 increase for year 13 and year 14. The increase in year 12 and year 13 is not surprising because the demand for products was higher and sales were increased. The cost for utilities and vim consumption should then have reduced when occupation demand waned. The utility budget for Custom Snowboards was not realistic, since sales increased 0.49% or $32,200 and that is less than half of what monies are provided within the utility budget. Current AssetsChanges in percentages on aggregate accounts can stir profitability. Custom Snowboards recorded current assets that changed period to period by increasing and then decreasing.Cash and Cash EquivalentsCustom Snowboards recorded an 83.8% increase in cash and cash equivalents in year 12 and year 13. This gave the company a big(p) cash balance and theability to meet short-term obligations without problems. A 7.2% reduction in cash and cash equivalents in year 14 was recorded when sales declined. The higher the cash and cash equivalents the more avail ability the company has to liquidate assets to cover short-term obligations. Accounts ReceivablesCustom Snowboards recorded a minimal increase of 0.5% in accounts receivable during year 12 and year 13. To have an increase in accounts receivable is a concern for the company since its indicative that customers are very much having trouble making payments for products purchased. Accounts receivable was mitigate in year 13 and year CUSTOM SNOWBOARDS 1614 when a decrease of 3.4% was recorded. This would be strength for the company and indicate the customer has paid for products purchased and revenue is moving in the right direction. mad Materials InventoryRaw materials inventory increased 0.5% in year 12 and year 13, that decreased 3.4% in year 13 and year 14. To have limited raw materials inventory for payoff is strength for Custom Snowboards. This limited inventory is golden to store when sales decline and easily sociable when sales rebound and production increases. Liabilities Liabilities are obligations owed on short-term and long-term debts. Custom Snowboards decreased liabilities 5.5% in year 12 and year 13. The company was advance able to reduce liabilities 6.2% in year 13 and year 14. This is strength for Custom Snowboards and is indicative of positively charged financial repayments. Accounts and Notes dueCustom Snowboards accounts and notes payable increased 0.5% in year 12 and year 13, nevertheless decreased 3.4% in year 13 and year 14. This is considered strength for Custom Snowboards and is indicative of positive financial repayments. Total Current LiabilitiesCustom Snowboards total current liabilities increased for year 12 and year 13 0.3%, but year 13 and year 14 recorded a decrease of 3.4%. This is strength for the company and again shows a positive repayment history that exhibitscreditworthiness. This should tell lenders that Custom Snowboards is committed to repaying liabilities even when a decline in sales happens.CUSTOM SNOWBOARDS 17B1 a. Future PerformanceA trend analysis will be conducted to view financial changes that have transpired over the multiple years within Custom Snowboards. These changes will then be calculated, evaluated and used for comparison to the base year to help develop a plan of action and provide direction for which Custom Snowboards will head financially. The base year is year 12 with $6,601,000 in net sales at 100%. Net sales recorded minimal growth in year 13 at 0.5% over base or 100.5%. Monetarily net sales recorded a $33,200 growth in year 13, which is not seen as a strong growth, especially since the demand for the product was decreasing. Year 14 recorded a drop in net sales to 97.1% from baseline in year 12 and 96.6% in comparison to year 13. This is a concern for Custom Snowboards since sales could not be maintained.Procedures may need to be reviewed to check for inconsistency and inefficiency in production and sales so this may be corrected and sales can be boosted. Pricing ad plainl yments can be made and the product may become more appealing to potential and existing customers. Custom Snowboards prognosticates a recovery of 3% in year 15 on the trend analysis, which will help chant their financial picture. concern envisions growth and net sales will occur and increase systemati distingui incertain as the economy improves. The visualize for year 16 is not as well-fixed as year 15 and net sales drop 1% or $100,000. The prices on products will be familiarized to remain competitory within the industry. instruction believes the economy will recover then net sales and revenue will improve. Year 17 is forecasted to improve 3.7% over base line or total earnings of $6,647,452. This trend analysis shows the management of Custom Snowboards believes the company can recover and become prosperous and grow.CUSTOM SNOWBOARDS 18B2. Improvement RevisionLine items in use will be reviewed in the crash analysis to see what is profitable, cost effective and outflank pra ctice for personalizing snowboards.The goal for Custom Snowboards is to increase net sales and revenue and limit liabilities, while making everyone keen. The company must maintain prices that can be competitive within the industry and European market yet maintain profit margins that are reasonable to succeed.A tralatitiousistic be system is before long implemented at Custom Snowboards. The company currently has two product lines, lawful snowboards and customized snowboards. The individual persona of snowboard and the inventory logical for each determines the cost of each snowboard. The laying claim is the manufacturing cost drives the price of the product. The concern with this type of cost driver is it does not take into consideration all the underlying costs that travel the overall product price (Johnson, 2013). Custom Snowboards must be more faithful in production costs to have increased profits without rising product set and remain competitive in the industry. Activ ity establish be could be something Custom Snowboards wants to implement to help control a more complete picture of production costs. This method allows a company to see the overhead in manufacturing and what each use actually costs in the production process. It is more accurate and ad simplyments can be made with specific activities to reduce the amount of money spent.Custom Snowboards produces regular and individualise snowboards. Activity found be can compare these manufacturing processes and see where the overhead costs are in each step of the production process for each product. The material and labor CUSTOM SNOWBOARDSCosts for two traditional and employment base be is $3,375,143 for the regular snowboard. The personalized snowboard material and labor costs is $1,177,344 utilizing some(prenominal) the traditional and exercise base cost methods.Custom Snowboards has a lump sum overhead charge for manufacturing using the traditional be method. fixture snowboards su m is $1,068,982, while the personalized snowboards sum is $334,048. Utilizing the traditional costing method the total production cost is $4,444,125 for the regular snowboard and $1,511,392 for the personalized snowboard.Activity found costing distributes costs among the activities it takes for manufacturing to help determine accurate product pricing. Some activities accommodate in activity ground costing consideration are product victimization, pure tone mastery, package assembly and shipping, and miscellaneous items. Regular snowboards have a manufacturing cost of $546,863 utilizing the activity ground costing method. Personalized snowboards activity based cost for manufacturing is $856,167. Thus, total cost for production for regular snowboards is $3,922,006 and personalized snowboards is $2,033,511.The activity based costing method reveals Custom Snowboards has overspent during the manufacturing and production process while utilizing the traditional costing method. The ne w personalized snowboards have a greater factory apparatus cost, but should decrease over time as the product is sold. One receipts identified is case and shipping of some(prenominal)(prenominal) products. There is a significant passing between the cost with regular snowboard promotional material and shipping costing $266,072 and personalized snowboards packaging and shipping cost of $66,516. This is quite a dramatic difference, especially CUSTOM SNOWBOARDSSince regular snowboards comprise on 20% of sales while the personalized snowboard sells 80% of the sales output. The activity based costing method can help trim costs and overspending while being able to forecast more accurate pricing and sales to encounter a better return on investing.Custom Snowboards could utilize the just in time costing method that follows the principle materials do not sit in the warehouse, but are pulled when the demand is there for the product. This is not an i necessitate costing method for some businesses, since it leaves no agitate room when forecasting the prospective. The just in time method does minimize costs and production time, since these things take place when there is a demand for the product and no spare inventory is left seance around. This leaves more cash for the company to re-invest and improve costs.For just in time costing to work involves the company to forecast sales andevaluate excess inventory and materials. Custom Snowboards had $143,136 in excess inventory in year 14. This will continue to increase by 0.1% yearbookly if no adjustments are made to production. Custom Snowboards has previously had excess inventory and materials left over one-yearly. Utilizing the just in time costing method can help increase income for the company and help save time, costs, and resources during the production demands.B3. interior and External RisksRisks that can be controlled by the company are inbred risks. Risks that happen orthogonal of the company and the company cannot control are remote risks. External risks often happen without warning and this is why companies must have the forethought to be arrive atd for umpteen things. Some external risks include environmental issues, currency CUSTOM SNOWBOARDS trade rates, economic factors, and court-ordered issues both municipal and inhering. Internal risks may include production rounding, speech communication barriers, and management expression. Management complex body part and StaffingStaffing and management structure would be considered an internal risk since Custom Snowboards will have to make changes in the management structure with expansion into Europe. The company will have business trading operations in two countries and the goal will generally need to remain the same at both locations. The leaders will need to be both effective and efficient to imbibe the company to a successful transition. Staffing will play a major role, since multiple positions will have multiple p eople working in that role in both facilities. The leadership of the company will have to evaluate these positions to maximize efficiency to work towards increased revenue and profits. injury of FocusExpansion may often cause a shift of business focus to change and move away(p) from important issue like part assurance, production efficiency, and production deadlines. Leadership must condition the company has a strong core to stay focused on the business goals for current and incoming project successes. quarrel and Cultural BarriersExpansion into Europe is bound to cause language and cultural barriers. A new country and market can cause interactions to be laboured if language and cultural barriers cannot be breached. speech communication is important in business to mark communication is effective the company must have leaders that know the language in the new country and are sensitive to the cultural differences for a successful expansion. It would be CUSTOM SNOWBOARDSDefere ntial to stop potential customers, thus ruining company relations. The business goal is to prosper.Currency replace evaluateThe expansion into the European market will require Custom Snowboards to deal with foreign currency. The foreign currency rates change frequently and Custom Snowboards will have to convert this into US Dollars. The company will have to ensure they are not losing money on their products and they are not overspending on production costs. The company cannot control this external risk factor, but they do need to try and prepare for any eventually that may affect the company. The US economy may be strong, but a variety of things can cause this to crash and the same goes for the European economy. Foreign economy can lead to large fluctuations and for great revenue gains, but it also promoter it can cause big losses as well. planetary Legal RisksInternational and US reasoned risks are similar in character and can cause several problems. Custom Snowboards must und erstand the tax laws and operations as it expands into the European market. The company must understand the legal standards of the business operations in the market. The company must ensure they have met all the obligations of the law within the countries they will be providing attend tos to and to defray any problems that may arise. Also, by understand these laws Custom Snowboards can eliminate costly legal fees and fines.environmental RiskAn external risk beyond Custom Snowboards control is an environmental risk. Snowboards require snow and winter. Environmental factors can severelyaffect sales of CUSTOM SNOWBOARDSSnowboards. Dry, warm climates are less likely to need a snowboard. Marketing is important in this aspect and should focus on demesnes that have winter seasons and snow. European areas vary in climate and marketing should focus on areas that are ready for skiing. Weather patterns may also play a role in environmental risk. El Nino and La Nina can affect the winter se ason and how much snow and how cold the area actually gets. double-dyed(a) Customer ServiceCustomer service is important with any business. The goal is to help resolve any issues a customer may have to reduce the dissatisfaction. Custom Snowboards will have a large area to cover within the European market and must be cogzignant of a wide variety of languages and customs to be aware of. Customer support should be convenient for all consumers. A positive customer service experience will lead to good reviews and word-of- babble sales, which boost revenues. Poor customer service travels profligate and would hurt Custom Snowboards and reduce sales and revenue.Reputable SuppliersCustom Snowboards must be able to get products to the European set up to produce the snowboards. Communication skills are tombstone to dealing with business partners to reduce any potential obstacles. Business practices must be clarified to avoid any complications. product quality must be written entreatually to avoid any possible confusion. Individuals with good communication skills must be placed in the positions to help unafraid(p) these suppliers to keep product quality the best and available for production. CUSTOM SNOWBOARDSB3a. RecommendationManagement Structure and StaffingA management and provide model must be create and utilized to mitigate risks. The plan must outline the companys organisational chart and who reports to whom. The organizational chart will outline each department of the company and the staff that are identified within each department. The company will then develop specific job descriptions for each position toclarify the role and expectations. Custom Snowboards management team will then be able to identify what positions are exactly needed and where cuts can be made. This will help ensure the strongest staff is in place for the expansion to deal with issues as they arise. A plan in place will ensure the company can ensure smooth transitions for future expansi ons.Loss of FocusLoss of focus in current business practices requires a business plan to keep the company trained on the goal. The business plan will actually outline the goals Custom Snowboards has and where they want them to lead to. The company will implement the staffing plan into the business plan to mitigate risk. A taskforce will be formed that will focus solely on the management of the US correct, but will receive updates on the think European expansion. nomenclature and Cultural BarriersLanguage and cultural issues require raising and learning to reduce risk. Employees who are educated on languages and cultures are more likely to be leisurely and less likely to ball over the customer. Custom Snowboards can hire interrupters to help staff until all are comfortable within new positions and skills have been come through. The CUSTOM SNOWBOARDS 25company should also consider hiring staff from all different cultures to strengthen the moral and company. Custom Snowboards sh ould hold training seminars frequently to reinforce cultural identities served, especially when employees will be traveling to a new area.Currency Exchange RatesCurrency convert rates are external risks, but Custom Snowboards are preparing to reduce any damage that affects the company. The sub rates change frequently. The company will want to compare products with competitors to understanding pricing concerns prior to the expansion. The cost for production should cautiously considered reducing all necessary overhead to increase revenue. The European financial market trends must be evaluated and then trend projections can be created. The financial market is not totally predictable so it not able to mitigate risk completely.International Legal RisksA legal team that is well versed with foreign law is key to reduce risk. Also, a management team that is aware of potential pitfalls and risks associated with international is key to have in charge during expansion. The company must com e after with all laws and ensure they understand all the laws of the countries that they will be doing business with. The company should educate staff on what laws are pertinent to their respective departments and keep them au courant of changes. Custom Snowboards should ensure they have enough cash available to survive, should issues arise. Environmental RisksCustom Snowboards has absolutely no control over the environment. They can ensure plants and warehouses are street smart and in stable condition to be able to weather CUSTOM SNOWBOARDS any(prenominal) type of weather they may encounter. payoff needs to take place in multiple areas, so should something happen to one area they can continue production without further losses. Custom Snowboards can review and analyze annual weather reports to help forecast trends and be prepared for the un pass judgment. An environmental risk can take many forms and is hard to predict and control. The company must have multiple contingency plans in place for this reason.Customer ServiceCustomers are essential to a business. The profitability of a business relies greatly on how slaked a customer is, repeat business and potential new customers because of word of mouth advertising. A toll free call center will allow customers to call in with any questions or concerns regarding the products purchased. Custom Snowboards staff will be able to address these concerns and questions, but only after undergoing an educational training session and establishing a process standard of communication. The company will develop a communication and relationship curriculum to help focus on long-term relationships (Joseph, 2013).Reputable SuppliersCustom Snowboards must research suppliers available within the area of theEuropean expansion to ensure a reputable supplier is found that is both reliable and has quality products. The business hurt and contractual details must be attended to minimize the chance of fraud. The contract must be written in terms that both parties understand to ensure no misunderstandings take place. It would be encouraging for Custom Snowboards to employee area natives to help figure when needed. CUSTOM SNOWBOARDSB4. Potential ReturnsCustom Snowboards is prep to expand into the European market. They will expand their customer base, increase revenue and experience a growth rate. Projected annual sales are expected to increase for year15 to year 19. Year 15 annual sales of $1,271,720 are intercommunicate and expected to increase to $2,390,085 at year-end of 19. Also projected to increase is net cash flow especially as this has a direct relationship with the cost of goods sold. The forecast net income peaks at $256,703 in year 19 up from $98,550 in year 15. The European expansion is projected to hit a strong financial future for Custom Snowboards.The Net Present evaluate and Internal Rate of Return are reviewed when looking at the capital budget of a business. The future care for and present g rade of a company is indicated based on cash flows under the net present value. Custom Snowboards is ready to invest $1,000,000 into an expansion project in Europe. This is based on cash flows over five-spot years and the present total value of the company with a market change factored in or $1,028,437. This means the company will be profitable in the European market and see a return on their initial investiture. The internal rate of return looks at the rate the project grows at. Custom Snowboards looks at to return 10.8% over 5 years based on the initial $1,000,000 investment. The minimum rate of return or hurdle rate is set at 10%. This means the company will make a profit in the future on the initial investment. The net present value and internal rate of return are full to companies when predicting future growth on investment. Companies that have a strong net present value and internal rate of return are able to pay back loans and expand. This is important for the future CUST OM SNOWBOARDS 28successes of companies. Custom Snowboards is predicting returns on their initial investment with the European expansion and increases in revenue. Custom Snowboards must evaluate their fiscal indebtedness to determine if leasing or demoralizeing is in the best interest of the company. The company will need to put a $50,000 down payment from working capital and $800,000 to either buy or let a initiation. Analysis determines purchasing a quick-wittedness would be in the best interest of the company. The present value outflow to lease is $653,355 and $597,723 to purchase a edifice. The tax departions available would provide a earn to the company as well. Custom Snowboards should consider obtaining get money for a long-term debt from an outside source. The optimal capital structure that would provide the best return is to fund the project in Europe over five years. This would allow for 1.547 earning per get by to accrue even though the debt will require a 6% int erest rate on return. This will also help persist in cash flow since a ceaseless repayment is easier to budget and earnings can continue to grow. Custom Snowboards is reliable and creditworthy. This will be easier for them to obtain the long-term debt.Debt support can provide a benefit to Custom Snowboards since they would be able to deduct interest on the business taxes at the end of the year (Daniels, 2013). Having an outstanding debt can be a downfall for a company as well. The company is under the obligation to make payments to the lender in a timely manner and if the projected revenue is not as expected this will be detrimental to the company and capital structure.The budgeting process will help Custom Snowboards decide to expand into the European market. The management team must look at all the capital budgeting CUSTOM SNOWBOARDS 29techniques to understand the total viability of the project. The termination will not be an well-to-do one, but will require wary review of t he entire financial picture. B5. compendiumCustom Snowboards has demonstrated that European expansion is an idea that is possible for the company. The company must now decide if they wish to build, meld, or usurp within the European market. This will not be an easy decision, but meticulously made after analyzing the capital structure andcorporate strategies. Custom Snowboards has the filling to build a new plant within the European market. They would need to determine where the plant would be located and acquiring the necessary land and permits. The company would be required to start from scratch to get started.The plant would be built to the companys specifications and could be economical, but would require a large amount of money for start-up initially. Buying a building is another plectrum available to Custom Snowboards, but ties the company to the area. This would be the smartest move based on the financial data available. It would be cost effective and allow the company t o move in after the building is adapted to the needs of the company. However, leasing a facility would give Custom Snowboards the fortune to leave the area if the forecasted expectations are not attained and things are not as viable as hoped.Custom Snowboards has the option to merge with SnowFun, Inc. This would provide the expansion into the European market that Custom Snowboards desires. The optical fusion would provide the opportunity to increase profits, earnings per dispense from $0.98 to $1.18, have less competition, and expect a strong return on investment. SnowFun stockholders will benefit more from the optical fusion than Custom Snowboards in regards to CUSTOM SNOWBOARDS 30earnings per constituent, since SnowFun will see earnings per share will go from $0.26 to $1.18. Custom Snowboards would have 200,000 market shares pre- optical fusion and 500,000 after the union has taken place. Custom Snowboards can buy shares back to reduce the amount available to the public and the stockholders will increase the earnings per share. This would be beneficial to the stockholders, but is not incessantly available immediately after a unification has taken place.Custom Snowboards would also see increased company worth if a merger took place. They would gain invaluable contacts from SnowFun and gain insight on the European snowboard market that they would not otherwise have. However, a merger would leave the company with excess employees. This can lead to disgruntled employees and low staff moral. Customers may be aware of this and faint-hearted away from purchasing products from this newly contain company. CustomSnowboards will need to ensure everyone feels valued and is happy. It would be beneficial to find displaced employees another position, but that is not eer possible. This would go along ways to insure customers as well, as it shows the company is automatic to make concessions to keep the customer happy and taken care of.Finally, Custom Snowboa rds could acquire SnowFun, Inc. Custom Snowboards would then have to buy out SnowFun and acquire full self-will of the products, materials, and debts they have. SnowFun is requesting $720,000 from Custom Snowboards to acquire full rights to the company. The net present value of SnowFun is $732,522. An increase of $12,522 would be seen for Custom Snowboards over a fiveyear period. This option would increase the earnings per share to $2.40. CUSTOM SNOWBOARDSAs mentioned with the merger option, Custom Snowboards would gain invaluable contacts from SnowFun and gain insight on the European snowboard market that they would not otherwise have. The company would increase earnings per share for stockholders. They would have factory and production equipment quick available to start production right away without delay. They would gain product development knowledge from what SnowFun had previously completed and this could lead to refined processes of current products.However, a merger would l eave the company with excess employees. This can lead to disgruntled employees and low staff moral. Customers may be aware of this and shy away from purchasing products from this newly incorporate company. Custom Snowboards will need to ensure everyone feels valued and is happy. It would be beneficial to find displaced employees another position, but that is not always possible. This would go along ways to reassure customers as well, as it shows the company is spontaneous to make concessions to keep the customer happy and taken care of. Also, it is hard to integrate two companies and acquire the debt from SnowFun. This could harm the company if they do not budget for this newly acquired debt. Custom Snowboards best option is to decline the offer to acquire SnowFun, but to merge the companies. The costs to start a new company would be limited and there would be a readily accessible building, contacts, product knowledge, marketknowledge, and increased earnings per share. Not all emp loyees will be able to retain their job, however the employees that remain will be the most inner regarding the product to boost sales and revenue. This will help the company attain the success it hopes to achieve.CUSTOM SNOWBOARDS 32B6. PresentationThe testimonial was made to initiate a merger between Custom Snowboards and SnowFun, Inc. The financial information reviewed shows the companies will produce an increase in capital from net sales and reduce production costs. This will provide the stockholders with a higher return on investment due to growth after the merger has taken place.Merging will not require Custom Snowboards to acquire a large amount of funding or long-term debt since a stock exchange will take place. The earnings per share for Custom Snowboards will increase $0.92 and SnowFun $0.20. A total of 500,000 shares will be available after the merger. SnowFun will receive 3 shares to every 1 share that Custom Snowboards receives. There are four structures to review Lon g term debt, 30% long term debt and 70% common stock, 80% long-term debt and 20% common stock, and no long-term debt (common stock only). Custom Snowboards hopes to obtain $1,000,000 through one of these types of structure. The earnings per share for each year based on earnings before interest and taxes from the European forecasts for year 15 through year 19.EarningsPer ShareYear 15 Year 16 Year 17 Year 18 Year 18 Year 19Long-TermDebt0.034 0.203 0.407 0.589 0.720 1.95330% Long-Term/70%Stock0.068 0.130 0.204 0.270 0.318 0.9980% Log-Term/20%Stock0.052 0.165 0.300 0.422 0.509 1.448No Long-Term Debt(StockOnly)0.072 0.121 0.179 0.231 0.268 0.87CUSTOM SNOWBOARDS 33The long-term debt option would be the second election for expansion for Custom Snowboards should they not want to merge. The total earnings per share in year 19 would be $1.953 and higher than any other option. The long-term debt would also have consistent payments monthly that would be easier to budget and to forecast sales a gainst. Custom Snowboards is a viable company that is development and making advances. Areas of improvement do need to be made to continue this imperfect growth, but they are in a position to expand into Europe. Thanks to financial responsibility they are in the position to take on debt if necessary to make this expansion happen. A merger with SnowFun, Inc. would provide virility to the company and provide a positive base for continued growth.CUSTOM SNOWBOARDS 34ReferencesHunt, J. 2013. What determines a Companys Profitability? Retrieved on may 11, 2014 from http//smallbusiness.chron.com.Investopedia. 2013. Activity-Based cost ABC. Retrieved on may 2, 2014 from www.investopedia.org.Investopedia. 2013. Operating Income. Retrieved on April 30, 2014 from www.investopedia.com.Johnson, R. 2013. Traditional Costing Vs. Activity-Based Costing. Retrieved on whitethorn 3, 2014 from http//smallbusiness.chron.com.Joseph, C. 2013. Advantages & Disadvantages of Customer Service Jobs. Retriev ed on May 11, 2014 from http//work.chron.com.Kennon, Joshua. 2013. Cost of Goods Sold COGS. Retrieved on May 11, 2014from http//beginnersinvest.about.com.Markgraf, B. 2013. How to Increase the Net Operating Income Without increase Sales Retrieved on May 7, 2014 from http//smallbusiness.chron.com. Stone, R. 2013. Language Means Business. Retrieved on April 30, 2014 from http//www.strategy-business.com.