Comparison of the U.S foreign policy in the Middle East under the Bush Essay

Comparison of the U.S foreign policy in the Middle East under the Bush Doctrine and Obama Administration - Essay Example In the words of Irving Kristol, the heralded ‘Godfather of Neoconservatism’, Neoconservatism â€Å"is not a movement but a persuasion, one that manifests itself over time, but erratically, and one who’s meaning we clearly glimpse only in retrospect.† Neoconservatism emerged as a dialogue with liberalism and these neoconservatives were driven to the right in the early 1970s when crime was increasing in the United States , the soviet Union was making a lot of progress in the cold war and the dominant wing of the Democratic party was not willing to get tough on their problem. With this, it bore another much broader concept: American exceptionalism. This discours according to Michael McKinley speaks of America as â€Å"embodying an inexpugnable uniqueness beyond the common conceits of national identity found universally.† In other words it is derived from the concept of manifest destiny and the declaration of independence. The Bush Doctrine lays its persistence upon the value of war culture as basis for maintaining strong nationalism and cultural unity. We see it creating the justification for the U.S to create a new enemy with the USSR. The presidents rhetoric â€Å"Either you are with us or you are against us† embodied the exceptionalist concept whereby the â€Å"terrorists† were characterized as â€Å"enemies of freedom†. It is a manipulation which serves to create an ‘us vs. ... The main difference however is the liberal approach on the Obama’s administration on the United Nations, where he embraces the importance of multilateral organizations and uses more diplomatic stunts and mediation between states. There is no punishment to the country that does not offer assistance to the U.S in the Obama’s administration which was in contrast to the Bush Doctrine. The other difference between the two was that the Bush Doctrine has disdain for international institutions and sees them as constraints to the US power while the latter actually sees them as a useful way to legitimate America dominance. With this it is clear that both of them exploit the virtues of American Democracy, both resort to military power as a vessel of change and both seek to ensure United States as the global dominant. In as much as we see a lot of similarities, Obama’s more liberal approach seems to be more effective compared to the Bush Doctrine. This is because in as much as the Obama administration is trying to uphold the externalization, it also makes all the other nations feel like allies since there is no force used and thus feel more willing to join hands. Comparisons between the US foreign policy towards Russia and towards the European Union One of the priorities of the Obama’s administration foreign policies was to see upon the change of certain international agendas but with great observation to a more diplomatic approach. He also stressed in multilateralism. In other words this is increased relation with the third world countries with which the former presidents regime were in constant logger heads with like Iran. This is something that has

Security Survey Essay Example for Free

Security Survey Essay A security survey at Reedy Recovery Company was conducted on September 15, 2011 by Amy Reedy who was invited and retained by DeVry University for a security assessment. Information in the report was obtained from James Write, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial officer, and Rhonda Forbes, Facilities Manager, personal observations were done by James Write during the inspection of the DeVry facility. The intentions of this report are a detailed audit of all security aspects and phases of the Reedy Recovery Company. Our company will review and evaluate areas and activities that are considered most vulnerable to theft and safety risks. It is not the intentions of Reedy Recovery Company or the writer of this report to evaluate DeVry’s employees or their integrity and this is not what this report will attempt to do. We are solely here for the security of the company alone. Summary Reedy Recovery Company is a business that acquires PC components from a number of sources, we then look them over and transform them to perform better and enhance security features on them and return them back to our clients. We are a company owned 80 percent by Pccorp and 20 percent byPCfix. com. Other services include building and assembly of Pc’s. We at Reedy Recovery Company are ranked number one in the market in the PC security industry. The Reedy Recovery Company has a great process in handling our clients merchandise and it is a very promising and satisfactory process. All of our products are equipped with ESN or model numbers, these can be scanned or imputed my hand by the receiver of the product. This insures that the product is imputed in to our computerized inventory tracking system and is safe and secure until ready for repair or production. When handled by each person in the process of repairs they are also required to scan or hand enter the model number so you the client can see where your merchandise is and it what stage it is at so you have an idea of the retrieval of your product. Before it is placed with the rest of the shipments it is scanned again so that the tracking of your device is easy for you to follow allowing you to know the date of delivery. Details General information The DeVry Center is located on a four-acre plot of land in downtown New York City. It is a 30-story corporate tower high-rise, which includes 1,250 underground parking garage spaces and a rooftop garden. Construction of the building was completed in December of 2008, and 27 of the 30 floors are occupied by tenants. Currently, there are 1,800 tenants in the building, which has a maximum capacity of 2,000. There are several computer rooms, a restricted control and observation room, a records room, human resource area which contains records, scanners and critical information. Since the end of construction in December of 2008 they have designed different access to areas to limit employees from entering an area in which they are not granted access. Due to the heavy and ongoing work of these employees, future or potential employees are processed by Reedy Recovery Company. In which we do back ground checks and drug screening. All employees present and future need sign a confidentially agreement stating that at any given time and without giving them a reason that their office space, computers, emails and files may be searched. And any employee not willing to sign this agreement may be asked to leave the company or can chose not to be hired as a direct result of not signing the agreement. Physical security DeVry is a 24 hour operating facility from the hours of 8am to 5pm there is a receptionist stationed at the front reception desk. Beginning at 5pm a security officer takes the place of the receptionist. Badges with bar codes are provided for every employee and visitor that contains their credentials, on it showing who they are what areas they are allowed to visit and what position they maintain at the company. A sign in log is also located on the desk and upon arrival the person must sign in and have their badge swiped for recognition that the person is who they claim to be and authorization to the facility. These badges are also used as swipe cards to gain access to an area, once swiped the doors will either open or give an error message that says access denied. Being that all doors are electronic and can only be opened with a badge swipe there is a 4 hour backup system that incase of fire or power outage will allow access to evacuate the premises if the power fails. In the head of security managers office there is a lock box which contains keys as well so if the system fails electronically it may be opened by key. From 8am to 5pm a security officer is patrolling the outside perimeter and the garage and garden area. A cleaning crew is also part of the DeVry facility however because of clearance issues they are accompanied by a security officer to every area they go to ensure they are cleaning and cleaning only. Alarm Systems DeVry is equipped with an alarm system by ADT however the system has never been armed and only the CEO knows the pass code. Out of the 30 stories there are only two emergency exists on the premises. There are two fire pull switches both located on the first floor, fire detectors are installed but no kind of sprinkler system is located in the building, only a single fire extinguisher. CCTV There are cctvs located on several of the floors totaling a count of 12 all together. The recordings of these can be viewed for a period of 30 days and after that are erased automatically. There are three locations these can be viewed, one is the reception desk, one is located in the facility managers office and the other in the control room at the shipping and receiving area. Visitors All visitors must check in at the receptions desk be given an id badge and sign in on the visitors log book. Inventory Control The access to the vault is limited to 6 employees. The CEO, Facility Manager, Security manager and the head of shipping and receiving along with 2 shipping and receiving employees. There is one camera located at the desk pointing at the vault itself. There is no log for the person entering it or if they have a visitor with them anything to sign or check before entering. Shipping and Receiving The shipping and receiving area is located inside the vault equipped with three doors for items to be dropped off or picked up. The access to this area is limited to the personnel listed above. Access is granted only by use of the swipe badge by the electronic system. There is no use of CCTV in the vault, but at the request of DeVry Reedy Recovery system has installed a lock box for additional security of the items. As items are processed in or out of the facility they are scanned in to the system for tracking insurance. Recommendations The security procedures of Reedy Recovery Company have proven to be thorough and extremely effective. As badges are used and swiped upon entry to the building and a sign in log used, it would be in the best interest for DeVry to also ask to see another form of ID such as a driver’s license to ensure that the person is who they claim to be. It is also in the best interest of DeVry to include in their badges tracking software that logs entry to areas and monitoring the persons activities while inside the facility. As for the reception desk it is recommended that a buzzer be placed on the outside of the entry door so that the person has to be allowed access to the facility, along with this another CCTV should be set on the outside of the door so that he or she can see the door and who is standing there before buzzing a person in. It is also recommended that the security officer who patrols the grounds while the receptionist is at her desk not only do it between the hours of 8am and 5pm, but that shift are made to patrol the grounds at all times, as anyone could find out this schedule and attempt to breach the facility when they know an officer is not patrolling after 5pm. As there are alarm systems available to the company but not being used it is recommended that these systems be armed at all times and employees be made aware of these alarms, what areas will set the alarms off, and how they should use them properly and safely as to not engage them and cause a scare that is not an actual threat. These can also be in correlation with the badge swipe system. The CCTV as it is good to have should be increased to one on every floor at each end of a hall way, placed inside the vault area for monitoring. Also the 30 days of saved recording times should be changed to a 60 day period in case something is found late it can be reviewed as needed. Also it is recommended that a CCTV be placed in the parking garages, and on the roof garden for better monitoring of the grounds, TV monitors should be placed at the reception desk, the Security Managers office and one in the control room or viewing of these areas as well. Access to visitors should not be so easy, when entering the building the receptionist or security officer whoever is on duty should log the signature of the visitor, make a copy of his or her driver’s license for security reasons and also compare the picture on the ID to the person giving it to them. Only after this should they be given a badge to allow them access to the facility. The person on duty should be aware that if a person who presents an ID that is not theirs or seems to be false, they should excuse themselves and call the security manager immediately so that proper action can be taken and local authorities notified. We spoke of fire alarms and emergency exists. As of now they are located only on the first floor. It is recommended that one fire exit be placed on each floor with access to a fire escape passage in case of a fire. Besides the two pull switches on the first floor one should be located in an easy to reach area on each floor. Also sprinkler systems should be installed on every floor and in the vault area so in case of a fire, the sprinkler systems can attempt to control the fire while the local fire department is on its way. This goes with using the security system also, when the security system provided by ADT is activated if a fire does break out ADT is notified and calls the local fire department for you, so you can rest assure help is on the way. The vault area should have CCTV on every door where the shipping and receiving goes on. A camera should be added to the hallway area monitoring employees there. Another CCTV should be monitoring the lobby outside the vault area and it should be able to be viewed by employees inside the vault area. Shipping and receiving should be more closely monitored especially when some of the items are being picked up by and external carrier. These people should also show ID for the company they are working for and along with signing the receiving slip also sign in to a log book with their name, time, date and what they are picking up and dropping off. Please be advised that these are the recommendations of Reedy Recovery Company and we take great pride in being given the opportunity to assist you in your security needs for your facility. You can rest assured that your company will be at little risk if you take these recommendations and put them to work for you. It has been a pleasure in assisting you in increasing the security of your company and if you have any other concerns or questions please feel free to contact our office and ask to speak to me directly.

Abortion Essay -- essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Does a mother have the right to take the life of her unborn child, never giving it a chance to walk this earth and fulfill its God given purpose? Or is it God’s will for that child to be taken at that time, to play an ever constant reminder to the mother of her past decisions, having God use that guilt or experience as a source to steer her life? We neither have the ability to create nor destroy life, as it is God who ultimately decides whether the person terminates that life. From a non-biblical standpoint, it is based on whether a woman finds it ethically right to terminate a pregnancy and what effect it would ultimately have on her happiness. Therefore, abortion is not philosophically incorrect. In this paper, we will discuss the cosmological argument, individual relativism, and act-utilitarianism, all as they pertain to abortion, and how natural law and ethical relativism cause opposition to these theories.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As humans, we cannot create nor destroy life, as nothing we do is of true free will. God is who dictates what comes into existence, and our actions, according to cosmological argument, are not self-caused. According to this argument, a person cannot kill what it didn’t create because is it ultimately the creation of God, not us, and it is up to Him as to how long each of his creations are in existence for. In this light, abortion cannot be viewed as wrong, as it is God who leads a woman to the decision to...

All Quiet On The Western Front :: essays research papers

All Quiet on the Western Front, directed by Delbert Mann, is based on the novel written by Erich Maria Remarque. It tells the story of a German schoolboy, Paul Baumer, and a group of his classmates, who journey from fantasies of heroic glory to the real horror of actual soldiering. Their journey is a coming of age tale that centers on the consternation of war and emphasizes the moral, spiritual, emotional, and physical deterioration suffered by the young soldiers. Paul Baumer is a 19-year-old volunteer to the German army during World War I. He and his classmates charge fresh out of high school into military service, hounded by the nationalist ranting of a feverish schoolmaster, Kantorek. Though not all of them want to enlist, they do so in order to save face. Their first stop is boot camp, where life is still laughter and games. â€Å"Where are all the medals?† asks one. â€Å"Just wait a month and I’ll have them,† comes the boisterous response. This is their last vestige of boyhood. War slowly begins to strip away the ideals these boy-men once cherished. Their respect for authority is torn away by their disillusionment with their schoolteacher, Kantorek who pushed them to join. This is followed by their brief encounter with Corporal Himmelstoss at boot camp. The contemptible tactics that their superior officer Himmelstoss perpetrates in the name of discipline finally shatters their respect for authority. As the boys, fresh from boot camp, march toward the front for the first time, each one looks over his shoulder at the departing transport truck. They realize that they have now cast aside their lives as schoolboys and they feel the numbing reality of their uncertain futures. After their first two days of fighting, they return to their bunker, where they find neither safety nor comfort. A grizzled veteran, Kat, suggests these ‘fresh-faced boys’ should return to the classroom. The war steals their spiritual belief in the sanctity of human life with every man that they kill. This is best illustrated by Paul’s journey from anguish to rationalization of the killing of Gerard Duval; the printer turned enemy who leaps into the shell-hole already occupied by Paul. Paul struggles with the concept of killing a â€Å"brother†, not the enemy. He weeps despondently as war destroys his emotional being. War destroys Paul and his friends. Those who physically survive the bombing, the bullets and bayonets are annihilated by physical attacks on their sanity.

Prose Style

Action 3. 7 1. Although we use models in teaching prose style but it does not inprove the clarity and directed in student writing. 2. When we precisely plot the location of building foundations the possibility of enhance the accuracy of reconstruct the village. 3. If members of the established procedure depart it may terminate the membership by the board. 4. 5. To implement a new curriculum successfully depends on facility and students are cooperating in setting achievable goals within a reasonable time. CorrectedAction 3. 71. Although we use models in teaching prose style, it does not improve the clarity and directness in student writing. When students practice writing using models it does not improve the clarity and directness of their writing. Students don’t acquire clarity and directness in their writing by practicing models. Using models to improve the clarity and directness in student writing doesn’t work. 2. If we precisely plot the location of the building found ations, we might be able to accurately reconstruct the village.We might be able to accurately reconstruct the village if the building foundations were precisely plotted. The precise plotting of the building foundations might allow us to reconstruct the village accurately. 3. If members depart from established procedures, the Board may terminate their membership. The Board can terminate their memberships if members break the rules. If members break the rules then the Board can terminate their memberships. 4.When students are not socialized into a particular field by professionals they often have trouble writing effective arguments. When professionals don’t socialize students into their fields those students can’t create effective arguments. Only students that have been professionally socialized into a particular field can craft and employ effective arguments. 5. To implement a new curriculum, faculty and students must cooperate in setting achievable goals within a reaso nable time.

A Short History of the Nazi Party

A Short History of the Nazi Party The Nazi Party was a political party in Germany, led by Adolf Hitler from 1921 to 1945, whose central tenets included the supremacy of the Aryan people and blaming Jews and others for the problems within Germany. These extreme beliefs eventually led to World War II and the Holocaust. At the end of World War II, the Nazi Party was declared illegal by the occupying Allied Powers and officially ceased to exist in May 1945. (The name â€Å"Nazi† is actually a shortened version of the party’s full name: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP, which translates to â€Å"National Socialist German Workers’ Party.†) Party Beginnings In the immediate post-World War I period, Germany was the scene of widespread political infighting between groups representing the far left and far right. The Weimar Republic (the name of the German government from the end of WWI to 1933) was struggling as a result of its tarnished birth accompanied by the Treaty of Versailles and the fringe groups seeking to take advantage of this political unrest. It was in this environment that a locksmith, Anton Drexler, joined together with his journalist friend, Karl Harrer, and two other individuals (journalist Dietrich Eckhart and German economist Gottfried Feder) to create a right-wing political party, the German Workers’ Party, on January 5, 1919. The party’s founders had strong anti-Semitic and nationalist underpinnings and sought to promote a paramilitary Friekorps culture that would target the scourge of communism. Adolf Hitler Joins the Party After his service in the German Army (Reichswehr) during World War I, Adolf Hitler had difficulty reintegrating into civilian society. He eagerly accepted a job serving the Army as a civilian spy and informant, a task that required him to attend meetings of German political parties identified as subversive by the newly formed Weimar government. This job appealed to Hitler, particularly because it allowed him to feel that was still serving a purpose to the military for which he would have eagerly given his life. On September 12, 1919, this position took him to a meeting of the German Worker’s Party (DAP). Hitler’s superiors had previously instructed him to remain quiet and simply attend these meetings as a non-descript observer, a role he was able to accomplish with success until this meeting. Following a discussion on Feder’s views against capitalism, an audience member questioned Feder and Hitler quickly rose to his defense. No longer anonymous, Hitler was approached after the meeting by Drexler who asked Hitler to join the party. Hitler accepted, resigned from his position with the Reichswehr and became member #555 of the German Worker’s Party. (In reality, Hitler was the 55th member, Drexler added the 5 prefix to the early membership cards to make the party appear larger than it was in those years.) Hitler Becomes Party Leader Hitler quickly became a force to be reckoned within the party. He was appointed to be a member of the party’s central committee and in January 1920, he was appointed by Drexler to be the party’s Chief of Propaganda. A month later, Hitler organized a party rally in Munich that was attended by over 2000 people. Hitler made a famous speech at this event outlining the newly created, 25-point platform of the party. This platform was drawn up by Drexler, Hitler, and Feder. (Harrer, feeling increasingly left out, resigned from the party in February 1920.) The new platform emphasized the party’s volkisch nature of promoting a unified national community of pure Aryan Germans. It placed blame for the nation’s struggles on immigrants (mainly Jews and Eastern Europeans) and stressed excluding these groups from the benefits of a unified community that thrived under nationalized, profit-sharing enterprises instead of capitalism. The platform also called for over-turning the tenants of the Treaty of Versailles and reinstating the power of the German military that Versailles had severely restricted. With Harrer now out and the platform defined, the group decided to add in the word â€Å"Socialist† into their name, becoming the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) in 1920. Membership in party rose rapidly, reaching over 2,000 registered members by the end of 1920. Hitler’s powerful speeches were credited with attracting many of these new members. It was because of his impact that party members were deeply troubled by his resignation from the party in July 1921 following a movement within the group to merge with the German Socialist Party (a rival party who had some overlapping ideals with the DAP). When the dispute was resolved, Hitler rejoined the party at the end of July and was elected party leader two days later on July 28, 1921. Beer Hall Putsch Hitler’s influence on the Nazi Party continued to draw members. As the party grew, Hitler also began to shift his focus more strongly towards antisemitic views and German expansionism. Germany’s economy continued to decline and this helped increase party membership. By the fall of 1923, over 20,000 people were members of the Nazi Party. Despite Hitler’s success, other politicians within Germany did not respect him. Soon, Hitler would take action that they could not ignore. In the fall of 1923, Hitler decided to take the government by force through a putsch (coup). The plan was to first take over the Bavarian government and then the German federal government. On November 8, 1923, Hitler and his men attacked a beer hall where Bavarian-government leaders were meeting. Despite the element of surprise and machine guns, the plan was soon foiled. Hitler and his men then decided to march down the streets but were soon shot at by the German military. The group quickly disbanded, with a few dead and a number injured. Hitler was later caught, arrested, tried, and sentenced to five years at Landsberg Prison. Hitler, however, only served eight months, during which time he wrote Mein Kampf. As a result of the Beer Hall Putsch, the Nazi Party was also banned in Germany. The Party Begins Again Although the party was banned, members continued to operate under the mantle of the â€Å"German Party† between 1924 and 1925, with the ban officially ending on February 27, 1925. On that day, Hitler, who had been released from prison in December 1924, re-founded the Nazi Party. With this fresh start, Hitler redirected the party’s emphasis toward strengthening their power via the political arena rather than the paramilitary route. The party also now had a structured hierarchy with a section for â€Å"general† members and a more elite group known as the â€Å"Leadership Corps.† Admission into the latter group was through a special invitation from Hitler. The party re-structuring also created a new position of Gauleiter, which was regional leaders that were tasked with building party support in their specified areas of Germany. A second paramilitary group was also created, the Schutzstaffel (SS), which served as the special protection unit for Hitler and his inner circle. Collectively, the party sought success via the state and federal parliamentary elections, but this success was slow to come to fruition. National Depression Fuels Nazi Rise The burgeoning Great Depression in the United States soon spread throughout the world. Germany was one of the countries to be most affected by this economic domino effect and the Nazis benefitted from the rise in both inflation and unemployment in the Weimar Republic. These problems led Hitler and his followers to begin a broader campaign for public support of their economic and political strategies, blaming both the Jews and communists for their country’s backward slide. By 1930, with Joseph Goebbels working as the party’s chief of propaganda, the German populace was really starting to listen to Hitler and the Nazis. In September 1930, the Nazi Party captured 18.3% of the vote for the Reichstag (German parliament). This made the party the second-most influential political party in Germany, with only the Social Democratic Party holding more seats in the Reichstag. Over the course of the next year and a half, the Nazi Party’s influence continued to grow and in March 1932, Hitler ran a surprisingly successful presidential campaign against aged World War I hero, Paul Von Hindenburg. Although Hitler lost the election, he captured an impressive 30% of the vote in the first round of the elections, forcing a run-off election during which he captured 36.8%. Hitler Becomes Chancellor The Nazi Party’s strength within the Reichstag continued to grow following Hitler’s presidential run. In July 1932, an election was held following a coup on the Prussian state government. The Nazis captured their highest number of votes yet, winning 37.4% of the seats in the Reichstag. The party now held the majority of the seats in the parliament. The second-largest party, the German Communist Party (KPD), held only 14% of the seats. This made it difficult for the government to operate without the support of a majority coalition. From this point forward, the Weimar Republic began a rapid decline. In an attempt to rectify the difficult political situation, Chancellor Fritz von Papen dissolved the Reichstag in November 1932 and called for a new election. He hoped that support for both of these parties would drop below 50% total and that the government would then be able to form a majority coalition to strengthen itself. Although the support for the Nazis did decline to 33.1%, the NDSAP and KDP still retained over 50% of the seats in the Reichstag, much to Papen’s chagrin. This event also fueled the Nazis’ desire to seize power once and for all and set in motion the events that would lead to Hitler’s appointment as chancellor. A weakened and desperate Papen decided that his best strategy was to elevate the Nazi leader to the position of chancellor so that he, himself, could maintain a role in the disintegrating government. With the support of media magnate Alfred Hugenberg, and new chancellor Kurt von Schleicher, Papen convinced President Hindenburg that placing Hitler into the role of chancellor would be the best way to contain him. The group believed that if Hitler were given this position then they, as members of his cabinet, could keep his right-wing policies in check. Hindenburg reluctantly agreed to the political maneuvering and on January 30, 1933, officially appointed Adolf Hitler as the chancellor of Germany. The Dictatorship Begins On February 27, 1933, less than a month after Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor, a mysterious fire destroyed the Reichstag building. The government, under the influence of Hitler, was quick to label the fire arson and place the blame on the communists. Ultimately, five members of the Communist Party were put on trial for the fire and one, Marinus van der Lubbe, was executed in January 1934 for the crime. Today, many historians believe that the Nazis set the fire themselves so that Hitler would have a pretense for the events that followed the fire. On February 28, at the urging of Hitler, President Hindenburg passed the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State. This emergency legislation extended the Decree for the Protection of the German People, passed on February 4. It largely suspended the civil liberties of the German people claiming that this sacrifice was necessary for personal and state safety. Once this â€Å"Reichstag Fire Decree† was passed, Hitler used it as an excuse to raid the offices of the KPD and arrest their officials, rendering them nearly useless despite the results of the next election. The last â€Å"free† election in Germany took place on March 5, 1933. In that election, members of the SA flanked the entrances of polling stations, creating an atmosphere of intimidation that led to the Nazi Party capturing their highest vote total to-date, 43.9% of the votes. The Nazis were followed in the polls by the Social Democratic Party with 18.25% of the vote and the KPD, which received 12.32% of the vote. It was not surprising that the election, which occurred as a result of Hitler’s urging to dissolve and reorganize the Reichstag, garnered these results. This election was also significant because the Catholic Centre Party captured 11.9% and the German National People’s Party (DNVP), led by Alfred Hugenberg, won 8.3% of the vote. These parties joined together with Hitler and the Bavarian People’s Party, which held 2.7% of the seats in the Reichstag, to create the two-thirds majority that Hitler needed to pass the Enabling Act. Enacted on March 23, 1933, the Enabling Act was one of the final steps on Hitler’s path to becoming a dictator; it amended the Weimar constitution to allow Hitler and his cabinet to pass laws without Reichstag approval. From this point forward, the German government functioned without input from the other parties and the Reichstag, which now met in the Kroll Opera House, was rendered useless. Hitler was now fully in control of Germany. World War II and the Holocaust Conditions for minority political and ethnic groups continued to deteriorate in Germany. The situation worsened after President Hindenburg’s death in August 1934, which allowed Hitler to combine the positions of president and chancellor into the supreme position of Fà ¼hrer. With the official creation of the Third Reich, Germany was now on a path to war and attempted racial domination. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and World War II began. As the war spread throughout Europe, Hitler and his followers also increased their campaign against European Jewry and others that they had deemed undesirable. Occupation brought a large number of Jews under German control and as a result, the Final Solution was created and implemented; leading to the death of over six million Jews and five million others during an event known as the Holocaust. Although the events of the war initially went in Germany’s favor with the use of their powerful Blitzkrieg strategy, the tide changed in the winter of early 1943 when the Russians stopped their Eastern progress at the Battle of Stalingrad. Over 14 months later, German prowess in Western Europe ended with the Allied invasion at Normandy during D-Day. In May 1945, just eleven months after D-day, the war in Europe officially ended with the defeat of Nazi Germany and the death of its leader, Adolf Hitler. Conclusion At the end of World War II, the Allied Powers officially banned the Nazi Party in May 1945. Although many high-ranking Nazi officials were put on trial during a series of post-war trials in the years following the conflict, the vast majority of rank and file party members were never prosecuted for their beliefs. Today, the Nazi party remains illegal in Germany and several other European countries, but underground Neo-Nazi units have grown in number. In America, the Neo-Nazi movement is frowned upon but not illegal and it continues to attract members.

Blindness in Invisible Man essays

Blindness in Invisible Man essays Blinded by blindfolds, lights, fog, and nature. From beginning to end, blindness shines through as a prominent theme. Throughout Invisible Man, the black community refuses to see the way the white man treats them. Rather, they view the way whites treat them as a positive thing. The souths following of Booker T. Washingtons way of advancing does not allow African Americans to see that by being a yes man they are continually fulfilling the stereotypes given to them. Even in the North, the narrator faces problems with not being able to see the prejudices put on him by the white man. For one man, it takes a lot of growth and experience to realize what is going on. Invisible Man teaches that not everything you see is real; much of it is covered in a gray mist that hinders you from understanding the realities of the world. At the Battle Royal, the black boys wear blindfolds, which are placed on them by white men. They wear them just for the fun of the white men watching. By doing this, they become powerless and they are demoralized. The Battle Royal deals with the black mans inability to see how the white men treat them. The white men tease the boys with a white female dancer, they blindfold them to fight each other, they trick them with the copper coins on the electric rug, but in the end everyone does not see how they were used as entertainment for the evening. The whites give the boys money for coming to the Battle Royal, and they allow the narrator to give his speech and reward him with a scholarship to college. By doing this, the white men keep their power over the blacks. While it seems that the scholarship should allow the narrator to advance to the level of the whites, it cannot. Whites and black men, who follow all of their requests, control the college he attends. The whites retai n their power because they are keeping him in the South in one of th...

White Noise Process Definition

White Noise Process Definition The term white noise in economics is derivative of its meaning in mathematics and in acoustics. To understand the economic significance of white noise, its helpful to look at its mathematical definition first.   White Noise in Mathematics Youve very probably heard white noise, either in a physics lab or, perhaps, at a sound check. Its that constant rushing noise like a waterfall. At times you may imagine youre hearing voices or pitches, but they only last an instant and in reality, you soon realize, the sound never varies.   One math encyclopedia defines white noise as A generalized  stationary stochastic process  Ã‚  with constant  spectral density. At first glance, this seems less helpful than daunting. Breaking it down into its parts, however, can be illuminating.   What is a stationary stochastic process? Stochastic means random, so a stationary stochastic process is a process that is both random and never varying its always random in the same way. A stationary stochastic process with constant spectral density is, to consider an acoustic example, a random conglomeration of pitches every possible pitch, in fact which is always perfectly random, not favoring one pitch or pitch area over another.   In more mathematical terms, we say that the nature of the random distribution of pitches in white noise is that the probability of any one pitch is no greater or less than the probability of another. Thus, we can analyze white noise statistically, but we cant say with any certainty when a given pitch may occur.   White Noise in Economics in the Stock Market White noise in economics means exactly the same thing. White noise is a random collection of variables that are uncorrelated. The presence or absence of any given phenomenon has no causal relationship with any other phenomenon.    The prevalence of white noise in economics is often underestimated by investors, who often ascribe meaning to events that purport to be predictive when in reality they are uncorrelated. A brief perusal of web articles on the direction of the stock market will indicate each writers great confidence in the future direction of the market, beginning with what will happen tomorrow to long-range estimates.   In fact, many statistical studies of the stock markets have concluded that although the direction of the market may not be entirely random, its present and future directions are very weakly correlated, with, according to one famous study by future Nobel Laureate economist Eugene Fama, a correlation of less than 0.05. To use an analogy from acoustics, the distribution may not be white noise exactly, but more like a focused kind of noise called pink noise. In other instances related to market behavior, investors have what is nearly the opposite problem: they want statistically uncorrelated investments to diversify portfolios, but such uncorrelated investments are difficult, perhaps close to impossible to find as world markets become more and more interconnected. Traditionally, brokers recommend ideal portfolio percentages in domestic and foreign stocks, further diversification into stocks in large economies and small economies and different market sectors, but in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, asset classes that were supposed to have highly uncorrelated results have proven to be correlated after all.

An Analytical report over Strategic planning for GigaSoft Pvt. Ltd Essay

An Analytical report over Strategic planning for GigaSoft Pvt. Ltd - Essay Example Modern day software market has multiple requirements along with essential factors like smooth user interface, quick and clear functionality, market sustainability and compatibility with other platforms and devices. Thus, Software market is becoming more and more specific onwards. The competition arises only between software that offer similar utilities and functionality. For a very ground example of word processor, before 2005 Microsoft Word had been a ruling word processors for all types of writing requirements such as letters, drafts, reports, stories, forms, graphic patterns, papers etc. However, taking a look of current word processing market, it is quite significant that every one of those patters have different specific software offering numerous specific utilities. There are options like Open Office, Word perfect, Adobe Story, PDF software, CeltX. Some of them like CeltX offer their services on I-phone and Android devices while Open Office offers a very small size as compared to Microsoft Word and is much easily portable. There are also online word processors like Office Web apps and Google docs which offer a facility of secure cloud storage free of data loss concerns. Accordingly, soft ware marketing and management is synchronized with user demands. While working on numerous word-processing and document management software GigaSoft faced a failure in competing with existing word-processors. Recent replacement strategies of development and marketing have shown unwanted lacking in providing full functionality over all supportive platforms. Also, there is tracked some inefficiency in coping with small gadgets and newly introduced platforms. Some frequent crashes due to the incompatibility with recent market demands are also noticed. Those indicative factors have incorporated a lack of proper management. Hence, an immediate strategic planning for upcoming management strategies is required to be generated and applied. Identifying the faults and loopholes Looking at the recent data sheets and amendments made by GigaSoft corporation. There are seen some specifically lower graphs after the new adjustment for current marketing strategies which involve developing the software over various platforms other than earlier Microsoft platforms. GigaSoft is using waterfall method for production while the twist in the company’s strategy had proved out to be unproductive. It is essential to first analyze the reasons for difficulties before going for a new structure (Gouws & Gouws, 2004). Some noticed reasons for the failure in marketing strategy hold: Drifting away from the most popular platform, which makes the products incompatible for many formats and devices. Failing in synchronizing with the modern devices which require an essential coordination with popular devices other than Windows PCs and Laptops. Failing in development of multi-operative software products Violating the norms of cost-effectiveness by misreading the market graphs, As those reasons are end-results of a long time malfunction in management and planning, basic structure of the company must provide some focus for what errors of management led to those ends. A lack of synchronization in finance, engineering and marketing streams led to produce over costly products. A lack of

State Education Standards (my state is Florida) Essay

State Education Standards (my state is Florida) - Essay Example The standards that have been mentioned in each of the documents are logical, realistic and attainable. For student achievement standards the bureau of student development has provided a thorough analysis of the standard. The best part that makes the state department’s claim commendable is the practicality of the standards it expects of its students. A detail report in the stream of Language Art shows how scientifically and strategically the standards are fixed for each grade. Specific requirements of standard for each grade are mentioned like â€Å"Grades 11-12: Reading----Standards/Benchmark†. As the document is in the form of a table based on class grades one can easily navigate through it. Standards seem to be listed as objectives though it is not mentioned specifically. The performance standard of teachers is mentioned in detail. Florida stresses on recruitment of teachers with the skill and resource of teaching non-English speaking students. The requirements in terms of teaching standard are described distinctly especially for ESOL teachers. The document is presented in point form and the objectives are mentioned in specific terms. As there are no sub-headings and as the analysis is content based navigation becomes a little cumbersome to reach a specific detail. The document of the national standards of education of the state of Florida is comprehensive and inclusive of all the different departments of education. It provides a concise but complete view of the standards fixed for each of the different branches. The document presents the content in a very systematic pattern in bullet points with headings and sub-headings for each point. Adopting this technical approach has not only made the document to the point but has also made it easy for one to navigate through it for related points or links. There are no specifications of the standards being regarded as objectives but it seems so in

Macro3B Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Macro3B - Essay Example The expenditure multiplier is a constant that gives the value (a ratio) to what you will put in the economy and what you will get out of it as a result. It is an increased (multiplied) value because once money comes into the economy; it changes many hands and gradually multiplies. We first need to know the value of the multiplier before determining the amount by which we ought to increase government spending. Multiplier = 1 / MPS We know what the MPC is because MPC + MPS = 1 We can find out the value of MPS that is: 0.8 + MPS = 1 MPS = 1 – 0-.8 MPS = 0.2 Since MPS = 0.2, Multiplier = 1 / MPS Multiplier = 1 / 0.2 Multiplier = 5 At present, the economy lacks behind full employment by $2000 as the full employment level is $10,000 and we are currently at $8,000 (10,000 – 80000), to fulfill this gap, we will not increase government spending by 2000 as that would increase the total output to a large extent owing to the presence of the Expenditure multiplier, therefore we woul d increase it by: 2000 / Multiplier 2000 / 5 = $400 A $400 increase in Government spending would automatically trigger an increase of $2000 in the economy owing to the presence of the multiplier (i.e. 400 * 5 = $2000) Question 2: The other aspect of Fiscal tool that the government has on its disposal is the â€Å"taxes† which it can alter depending on the state of the economy. Since the President has asked me to work on the fiscal measure owing to popular public demand, we can work with it as well. First of all, it is important to understand that taxes are not a direct component of the GDP unlike government expenditure; they influence consumption. Also, tax cuts are feared to be saved to an extent depending on the public’s expectations (example, if there is more employment in the economy, GDP is likely to rise greatly, however, decreases in tax rates might even be saved by the households), therefore, the value of the tax multiplier is less than that of the expenditure multiplier; which means I would have to reduce taxes to a greater extent as compared to government expenditure to get the $2000 increase in GDP. Tax Multiplier: MPC / MPC Since MPC = 0.8 and MPS = 0.2 Tax Multiplier = 0.8 / 0.2 Tax Multiplier = 4 (Which is one less than the expenditure multiplier that was â€Å"5†) For the economy to boost to full employment, tax cuts would have to be given in accordance with the multiplier: 2000 / Tax Multiplier 2000/4 = $500 Therefore, it is evident, for the economy to go to the full employment level of $10,000, tax cuts worth 500 have to be given (which are 100 more than the expenditure if the government were to use that). This makes the government spending policy more attractive as compared to giving tax incentives to people. Question 3: If the president were to match increases in federal government expenditures with the offsetting increases in taxation, it would never give out a balanced budget. It is important to note that because of a leakage i.e. saving, a tax cut never gives out its full multiplier effect; tax cuts affect consumption and are not a direct part of the GDP. On the other hand, government expenditure is direct component of GDP as shown: Taking closer looks at the formula of tax multiplier (i.e. MPC/MPS) and comparing it to the expenditure multiplier, one would realize that the tax multiplier would always be â€Å"1† less than the government expenditure multiplier; therefore equal increases or decreases in both would not give out a balanc

General Taxes Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

General Taxes - Coursework Example The holiday excludes all taxpayers regardless of their wealth. The budget of these households (the wealthiest) is more flexible and they can effortlessly time their purchases in order to take advantage of the limited-time offering (Sirot, 2011). North Carolina state administration has failed to collect enough revenues to support its collective commitment to educating the children, protecting the neighborhoods and supporting the elders. The big challenge is that the revenue collected by the state is from those who have the least capability to pay (Sirot, 2011). The sales tax produces nearly a third of the North Carolina’s revenues. However, the sales tax holiday leads in a loss of close to $12 million per year; this is the money that can fund early childhood education or enhance the educational attainment level of North Carolina young workforce. The sales tax holiday undermines the capability of the revenue system to offer support to the shared investments (Sirot,

Only conduct a paragraph(250words) for a topic given Coursework

Only conduct a paragraph(250words) for a topic given - Coursework Example or example teachers, during tutoring sessions, can give feedback to students verbally, which in turn, enables students improve on their accuracy and nurture their confidence (Smith, 1997, Ferris and Robert, 2001) . Peers can also make significant contributions to the students’ writing development , by proving the student writers with a glimpse of reader-based feedback on their writing efforts (Black et al., 2003, Yang et al., 2006). Without feedback, there is little learning. Ferris and Roberts (2001) reported that students who received feedback, whichever form, improved their writing. However, the worth of teacher feedback in writing, particularly, in second language writing classes, has been subject to controversy (Ferris, 2004). If feedback is given students at the end of students’ writing, the students do not find the comments invaluable, as intended by the teacher(s). Few students are interested in incorporating the feedback to already graded work (Black et al., 20 03, Peterson, 2010). Therefore, feedback only becomes significant to writing development, if it is given in the beginning and middle stages (Peterson, 2010). A study has revealed that most students rely on teacher feedback, without necessarily understand their significance, in part, because the teachers are authoritative (Yang et al., 2006). In some cases, the teacher’s written comments are illegible (Lee, 2008),making it hard for the students to understand. FERRIS, D., R. 2004. The ‘‘Grammar Correction’’ Debate in L2 Writing :Where are we, and where do we go from here?(and what do we do in the meantime...?). Journal of Second Language Writing 13, 49-62. PETERSON, S. S. 2010. Improving Stdent Writing: Using Feedback as a Teaching Tool. What Works: Research Into Practice. A research-into-practice series produced by a partnership between the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat and the Ontario Association of Deans of

General Taxes Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

General Taxes - Coursework Example The holiday excludes all taxpayers regardless of their wealth. The budget of these households (the wealthiest) is more flexible and they can effortlessly time their purchases in order to take advantage of the limited-time offering (Sirot, 2011). North Carolina state administration has failed to collect enough revenues to support its collective commitment to educating the children, protecting the neighborhoods and supporting the elders. The big challenge is that the revenue collected by the state is from those who have the least capability to pay (Sirot, 2011). The sales tax produces nearly a third of the North Carolina’s revenues. However, the sales tax holiday leads in a loss of close to $12 million per year; this is the money that can fund early childhood education or enhance the educational attainment level of North Carolina young workforce. The sales tax holiday undermines the capability of the revenue system to offer support to the shared investments (Sirot,

Software Project Management and Quality Assurance Essay

Software Project Management and Quality Assurance - Essay Example This essay stresses that the paradigm shift in embracing technological changes that take place has changed the face of banking system leading to the introduction of various features in the banking industry through an intermarriage of market factors like competition and customer loyalty. It is through this that banks have had to go along technological track by introducing features like Remote Deposit Capture, Check 21 and many other efficiency-oriented technology-based attributes. Blue Bank Ltd does not want to be left behind the trail but to compete effectively with others in the industry. This paper makes a conclusion that remote deposit capture systems operate in a more or less patent-like mode. In general, instead of customers going physically to the banking halls, the RDC system, in its most simple terms, allows the customer to scan the relevant documents e.g. checks and transmit the scanned images or records to the provided portals. They obtain portal accounts from the bank and use the account for transactions and transmitting the scanned data whenever need arises. In this case, the banks took advantage of the proliferation of business method patents in the late 90s; a fact they claim eliminated any element of risk and uncertainty in the banking industry and allowed them to fully dedicate valuable resources to focusing upon their core business. The adoption and use of RDC system by banks and other banking institutions resulted from the threats that were posed by the previous systems like check-over-the-counter and cash deposit culture. In order for the banks and t he institutions to avoid being thrown out of business out of competition, they had to embrace the culture which would give them a better competitive edge over the other competitors in the industry. (RDC Articles, June 2007, RDC Fraud Threats in RDC Error) There was a serious threat of likelihood of fraud which could be as a result of human mistake or racket made willingly. The RDC system does not reduce part of this threat either. Inn the case of cash deposit system, the check would be presented to the party giving payment, but when the check is in the very hands of the public or businesses that should be receiving them it poses a danger of duplication by being scanned in and or redeposit into the bank especially if the original check numbers and figures or amounts are changed. Another case would be where criminals take advantage of the new RDC environment thus taking checks away from the original payee, or presentment of the scanned checks through other banks which may lead to omission or change of vital information. When millions of checks are in the hands of the public, it is easier for criminals to create fraudulent checks, by scanning and editing the original ones.

Laws Special Education Essay Example for Free

Laws Special Education Essay Prior to 1969, there was no special education or related services offered to learning-disabled children. By providing funds, the Public Law of 1969 known as the Children with Specific Learning Disabilities Act has recognized children with learning disabilities (Berger, 2008, p. 302) and enabled them to receive special education and other services such as physical therapy, speech, transportation, etc. In addition, by enforcing mandated education for all children, the Public Law has protected children with disabilities from being rejected or forced out of school as it used to happen before 1960s (Berger, 2008, p.302). By requiring local educational agencies to offer special education services for students with disabilities (Dunlap, 2009, p. 5), the Public Law provided parents/guardians with the opportunity to receive necessary assistance. As of 1975, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) required each child with disabilities to have the Individual Education Plan (IEP) written by the multidisciplinary team working with the student, which allowed specifying educational goals according to childs unique needs. Also, by placing children with special needs in least restrictive environment (a setting as close as possible to a setting designed for children without disabilities), the EAHCA has helped the students with learning disabilities to advance their academic achievement and social skills (Berger, 2008, p. 302). Since the integration of EAHCA in 1975, the parental participation in the writing, approval, and evaluation of each child’s IEP has become mandatory (Dunlap, 2009, p. 91). The EAHCA also guarantees parents the right to sue a district if they feel that the best interest of their child is not being met or if they disagree with decisions regarding services provided to their child (Dunlap, 2009, p. 7). Since 1990, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has worked in favor of â€Å"individuals† (previously referred to as children) to assist them with their â€Å"disabilities† (previously referred to as handicaps) (Berger, 2008, p. 302). IDEA emphasized parents right and collaboration in educational placement, IEP, and assessment of their child (Dunlap, 2009, p. 11). This law allowed parents to have advocates in schools (trained individuals to work for the welfare of their children). Updated in 1997 and 2004, IDEA strengthened the role of parents and their rights to be involved in educational decisions affecting their children. As these laws have contributed to the present status of Special Education in the U. S. , they continue being crucial in ensuring the help that individuals with disabilities need. While the public law makers have incorporated numerous special services, they keep modifying previously integrated laws to ensure that each child’s unique needs are met. The IDEA of 1990, for example, added autism as classification category to address current disability (Dunlap, 2009, p. 9). Its amendment of 1997 listed AD/HD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) as a â€Å"separate disability category, making children with AD/HD eligible for services under the health-impairment category Other† (Dunlap, 2009, p. 11). Bibliography Berger, K. S. (2008) The developing person: Through the life span (7th ed. ) (pp. 301-305). New York, NY: Worth Publishers. Dunlap, L. L. (2009). An introduction to early childhood special education: Birth to age five. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc..

Synergies of Product Diversification Strategy

Synergies of Product Diversification Strategy Introduction Nowadays large firms have to survive in the face of economic competition. They have to keep an eye on the competitors performance. Managers try to progress and run their businesses well in order to grow and be competitive. When a large firm has reached a mature life-cycle stage it often has to explore the possibility of how to still grow. Ansoff (cited by Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 1998) presents four basic growth alternatives: a) increased market penetration, b) market development, c) product development and d) diversification. Choosing the right path is major decision for managers. Finding out if there are reasons which may lead a large firm to prefer diversification, more specific, product diversification as the growth alternative strategy instead of other strategies is a main question. Firms who spread their activities and businesses across different product markets that are more or less related between each other are said to follow a product diversification strategy. (Pils, 2009, p.10) Product diversification strategy definition has evolved during the last decades. Some definitions are evolutional and complementary but some others contradict each other (Goold and Luchs, 1993). Therefore, it is important for managers to have a clear definition. The benefits of product diversification have been divided into two categories depending on the type of diversification: related or unrelated. Related product diversification refers to entries into new products or service businesses that have a connection to the firms existing markets (Peng, 2008). Researches (Hoskisson, 2007) and business experiences (such as Mondi AG, Procter Gamble, CHR plc., etc.) have proven that some of the benefits of this type of diversification are: Operational synergy: economies of scale Utilizing excess productive capacity Reinvesting earnings Unrelated product diversification refers to the development of products or services beyond the current capabilities and value network (Johnson et al. 2008). Some of the benefits and reasons for this type of diversification are: Financial synergy: economies of scope Increasing market power Spreading risk across a range of businesses The challenge for any large firm, once product diversification is chosen as the growth path, is to decide which type of diversification is most appropriate and what strategic plan to follow. Product diversification gives also other challenges to managers such as the need of new skills to manage a wider group of businesses, new techniques, sometimes new facilities, large capital to test the viability of the new product, produce it and market the product, hire and train new employees, etc. Therefore, diversification has some inconveniences as it involves taking a step into a territory where the parameters are unknown to the firm (Peng, 2008). Product diversification can be achieved by acquiring an existing firm in the business it wants to enter, starting up a new business subsidiary or entering into joint ventures. For large firms knowing the different growth strategies including its benefits and inconveniences is fundamental to giving managers practical recommendations. For a better understanding of these fundamental issues this research will analyze whether related or unrelated product diversification strategy leads large firms to exploit more synergies and creates more value for the firm. Based on this research question, the following sub-questions are going to be addressed in this research: Should large firms, such as Mondi AG, aim to focus on related or unrelated businesses to exploit operational synergies? How is Mondis life cycle related to the right time of diversifying? Which recommendations on product diversification strategy can be given to large firms regarding financial synergy? To answer the above questions, I will present a detailed and methodical literature review on product diversification strategy concept, categories, synergies, its relation with large firms life cycle and explore the effects of a financial crisis on large firms who have chosen this type of diversification to identify the appropriate strategy for the research goal. This research is based on the hypothesis that related product diversification is the right strategy to be chosen if operational synergies are to be achieved while for financial synergies, unrelated product diversification strategies are more appropriate. The strength of this hypothesis is tested through a case study of a large firm: The Mondi Group. The Mondi Group has been chosen as the large firm to be explored in this research because it is an international firm with one of its largest teams and headquarters in Austria. Trend, an Austrian financial magazine, ranked Mondi as the 13th top Austrian large firm out of 500 firms in 2008 having 5.159,00 Mio. Euro net sales and 26.425 employees worldwide. Product Diversification In the 20th century many researchers have written about product diversification strategy (PDS). This research will analyse how PDS is seen by managers because of the larger experience there is nowadays. Diversification has been specially growing after the whole post-war period. Whereas in 1950 only around one third of large firms in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom were diversified, by the 1990s it increased to two thirds or more (Whittington and Mayer 2003). Size and Product diversification strategy This research is focused on how large firms have reacted to the different paths of growth. The firm size: small, medium or large is an important parameter while analysing a firm strategy. In the financial and economical studies and researches the relation between size and firm variables remains a controversial subject. Some argue that size is the primary factor that determines structure whether others say that size is irrelevant (Jackson and Morgan, 1978). In my opinion, it is true that product diversification can be applied both by small and large firms, but I believe that a small firm has more limitations and can not fully develop this strategy in its organization due to limited resources: human, financial and technological. I also believe that as a consequence a firm applying product diversification strategy will increase its size. With larger number of products, the complexity of processes and production is greater. Therefore the craft needed is greater. As mentioned before, some researchers agree with this point of view like the study realized by Dewar and Hage (n.d., cited by Jackson and Morgan, 1978) which suggests that large firms facilitate changes in structure in a way that small firms can not afford. On the other hand, Woodward, Zwerman and Harvey (n.d., cited by Jackson and Morgan, 1978) concluded that instead of size, the production systems used by the firms are more connected and explain better the firm structure and feature. In other words, an efficient production system can explain the success of one large or small firm and therefore the relationship between size and differentiation is not linear. Diversification and Product Diversification Strategy Terminology Diversification The root of the word is, obviously, diverse. Pitts and Hopkins (1982) define it as literally meaning different, unlike, distinct, and separate (p.620). Therefore, if this definition is applied to the context of product diversification, we can say that it means firms having their products in various and different lines. Pils (2009) also confirms this definition as he points out that product diversified firms are understood to be active in multiple, distinct product-markets (p.10). The various definitions, forms and ways of managing diversification are the main topics of this research. Product diversification strategy There is a common denominator in the way product diversification is defined in the literature. For instance, Pils (2009) defines it as firms spreading their activities and products across different product-markets that are more or less related between each other. He also affirms that product diversification strategy determines which businesses a corporation should be in, defining the scope of the firms activities and being of high relevance for creating value for the firm. Berry (1971, p.380) defines product diversification as an increase in the number of industries in which firms are active. However, he does not point out that it can be also increasing the number of products in the current industry. Pitts and Hopkins (1982, p.620) consider firms product diversification if operating multiple different businesses at the same time. Hoskisson (2007), on the other hand, says that the firms level of diversification is a function of decisions about the number and type of businesses in whic h it will compete as well as how it will manage the business. These definitions have surely been influenced by the work of Ansoff (1957) in which he presented diversification as a possible growth strategy as mentioned in the introduction. Ansoff presented two ways of diversification: market diversification and product diversification. Although this research only focuses on the product diversification side, few lines are dedicated to explain the difference and characteristics of these two strategies. Market diversification is a strategy that takes the firm from its existing market to new ones. It exploits the current products and capabilities in new markets looking for geographical spread. This strategy is more and more used in the current times where globalization is facilitating the firms internationalisation. It also presents some challenges like cultural barriers, adding management costs and government restrictions among others. Product diversification is about adding new product to the firms portfolio whereas market diversification is about entering in new markets offering the firms current products. Reasons and Challenges Reasons and Motivations for Diversification: Any firm has a start. Normally starting as a small business it focuses on a single product. This is known as a single business strategy. The natural reasons are commonly due to a lack of cash, experience and know-how. Over time, the resources, capabilities and core competences are rooted and stabilized. At that point, firms may choose product diversified strategy, with two broad categories (related or unrelated). Large firms use product diversification strategy for a variety of reasons. Pearce and Robinson, (2005) and Hoskisson ( 2007) mention among others, the following reasons: To increase the growth rate of the firm For a better use of the companies funds than investing them into internal growth To balance the product line Diversifying the product line when the firm has reached its mature life cycle To increase efficiency and profitability, especially, if there is operational or financial synergy To increase the firms value by improving its overall performance To increase revenues or reduce costs To match and neutralize competitors market power To reduce managerial risk To increase the firms size and thus managerial compensation Product diversification challenges The above mentioned reasons and motivations for PDS can also bring along challenges and costs. One could say that PDS needs new facilities, technologies, skills, know-how, employee and managerial training, etc. It is important to know that it can have a great negative impact on the firms current products if a new product is launched with the firms brand name and the product is not well accepted in the market. The reasons for the market rejection can be e.g. lower quality than expected from the firm, high price, poor distribution, etc. At that point, the whole company will be negatively affected by a bad move. This argument is also supported by various authors such as Hoskisson, (2007); Grant, Jammine, and Thomas (1998); Goold and Luchs (1993), (cited by Pils, 2009). They state that some of the challenges are information processing, coordination, and control problems due to increase of information asymmetries difficult for a single business to deal with. In case of applying a PDS a fi rm has to change its structure and adopt new systems. Moreover Hoskisson (2007) elaborates that the data and information a firm using PDS requires is substantially greater. Furthermore increasing portfolio diversity may involve inefficiencies due to growing conflict on top management and a lack of adaptability to environmental change. Product Diversification Strategy Categories: Related Unrelated Product Diversification Strategy As mentioned before, there are two broad categories of PDS: Related and Unrelated. Some authors such as Richard Rumel (cited by Lovallo and Mendoca, 2007), Peng (2008) also categorize PDS as: focused, moderately and highly diversified. These three categories are not deeply explored in this research. But to dedicate some words, it should be mentioned that Richard Rumelt, in 1972, was the first person to statistically prove the linkage between corporate strategy and profitability. He concluded that moderately diversified firms outperform more diversified ones. Lovallo and Mendoca (2007) sustain that this finding has been valid more than 30 years of research. Moreover, a contemporary author, Peng (2008), also points out that some moderate level of diversification is the most optimal. The main focus of this research is whether a related or unrelated strategy is more suitable for large firms while diversifying. Therefore, in the following lines a definition and a detailed explanation of both is presented. Related product diversification can be defined as a strategy that firms can choose as a growing path. As the word related signals, this diversification strategy is focused on products that have a correlation between each other and are related in some way, especially in their core competences. Normally, firms that choose related product diversification as a strategy are sharing a common factor such as the raw material, the technology or the know-how needed to produce different products. Moreover, the products offered by the firm do not necessarily need to be similar. For instance, a firm running a cinema complex and also offering soft-drinks to be sold at the movie theatres is using a related PDS. Even if their products may not be related, they must share some common ground on their value or supply chain. In this case, the customers targeted are the same. Pearce and Robinson,(2005) confirm this by defining related businesses as those relying on same or similar capabilities in order to have success and achieve competitive advantage in their product markets. Major advantages of related PDS are: concentration of strength, exploitation of a market niche, and the development of synergies. A good example, of a firm applying this strategy is CRH, an Irish company who operates in 35 countries with more than 93.500 employees. The CRH Corporate Social Responsibility Report (2007) states that the firm is a diversified building materials group which manufactures and distributes building material products from the fundamentals of heavy materials and elements to construct the frame, through value added products that complete the building envelope, to distribution channels which service construction fit-out and renewal. CRH has three closely related core businesses: primary materials (aggregates, cement, asphalt and ready mixed concrete); value-added building products (pre-cast, architectural, construction accessories, clay, gas, insulation, building envelope products); and specialist building materials (CRH, 2009). CRH initially decided to diversify to gain economies of scope and also to stretch the corporate parenting capabilities. While CRH diversified its market its power i ncreased and consequently it could afford to cross-subsidise one business from the surpluses earned by another, in a way that competitors could not. As an effect, it could drive out competitors. Before going into further details regarding related PDS, a definition of Unrelated Product Diversification is given. In this case, as the word unrelated points out this diversification strategy focuses on firms offering products that have no relation, are not complementary between each other and do not have necessarily the same raw material as their prime and main composition. Moreover, they do not need to share any part of their supply chain (customers, distributor, manufacturer, logistics, etc). For instance, the Easy Group Company is present in several industries and services that have actually no relation. Some of them are: travel companies, car rentals, internet-cafes, cinemas, cosmetics, etc. Stelio Haji-Ionannou, the founder of the company has developed a cost strategy that pretends to apply in all its businesses. It seems that he believes that his formula is valid for any business. Normally the reason why firms choose this path is known to reduce their financial risks. Peng (2008) refers to unrelated PDS as firms entering into industries new lines that have no evident connections to the present firm line of businesses. Furthermore, Hoskisson (2007) says that unrelated PDS occurs when there are no overlapping capabilities other than financial resources. This strategy is also known in the financial literature as conglomerates (Hoskisson, 2007; Peng, 2008; Pearce and Robinson, 2005) It has been widely discussed whether related is more successful or unrelated. To be able to answer this fundamental question the following pros and cons are explored: Human resources: Related product diversification is characterized by the ease of human resources relocation because the skills and capabilities needed for the introduction of the new products are very similar. On the other hand, unrelated PDS requires recruiting new personnel or training current employees in the new fields. (Tallman, 2003) Technologies Obviously, if a firm chooses unrelated PDS, it will probably not be able to share technologies. Therefore, the investment needed to apply this kind of diversification is greater than by applying a related one. Related PDS is characterised by sharing technologies needed to produce the new products. For example, a firm which produces shampoo and introduces hair conditioner may use the same technology. In that way it reduces the investment costs for the new production and gain economies of scope (also see 2.5). Tallman (2003) confirms that related products can increase the use of existing fixed investments and existing capacity for more purposes and more intensively, gaining efficiencies that reduce costs. Additionally, he says that it can improve the efficiency of its existing resource infrastructure by increasing the flow of product to a wider range of customers. Management For managers it is easier to introduce related products than unrelated ones because they are familiar to the industry and can apply the same or similar strategies. For unrelated ones, managers have to learn about the new products and often the strategy used for the current products is not applicable for the new ones. Therefore, managers should experience new strategies which at the beginning may fail. Prahalad and Hamel (1990), said that it is likely that firm managers of unrelated products may be ineffective because the routines and capabilities they have already developed are not applicable one to one to the entire range of businesses. On the other hand it could be argued that it can be effective as top management can concentrate on financial management and costs controls while leaving operational control with each business unit. Competitors It is easier for competitors to imitate the financial economies of a firm than the operational synergies derived from a related PDS. This is due to the fact that operational synergies derived from the use of current know-how, facilities, capabilities and experiences are more difficult to imitate than realizing that a firm is diversifying into new unrelated products based on the percentage of the revenue it can gain. Therefore, it is less likely that competitors will imitate a firm which introduces new related products. Peng and Delios, (2006), and Khanna and Palepu, (2005), (cited by Hoskisson, 2007) sustain that competitors find it easier to imitate financial economies than replicating the value gained by related PDS from the economies of scope developed through operational relatedness. Control Mechanism The principle control mechanism for related diversification is strategic control with rich communication between corporate and business units managers. Financial results are obviously not a fair means to measure the functioning of each business unit. One business unit may have low revenues but its main function is to support the others. For unrelated products, the best way to control is exactly the opposite. The emphasis has to be on financial control (return and investment) to evaluate the units performance. (Peng, 2008) Market saturation When the product a firm is offering is close to a market saturation or obsolescence, the best thing a firm can do is to enter into another market offering unrelated products. In that way the company has an opportunity to grow. It would be a great mistake in a saturated market to introduce related products because the competition is already very high and to get a profitable market share is unlikely. Stabilize Earnings Another reason would be to stabilize the earnings and dividends of a firm in a cyclical industry. In that case, the firm should diversify into an industry with complementary cycles independent of the relation with the current products. Independency Firms that are uncomfortable to be dependent on one product line should diversify into other businesses or industries. In that way the risk is spread and all the weight is not in one product line. All in all the benefits of both categories of diversification do not appear as the result of a magic formula that just happens but as Tallman (2003) and Peng (2008) also sustain it is the result of an active management of resources and capabilities with potential for broader application. Product diversification synergies need to be explored in more detail. Therefore the following section is dedicated. Product Diversification Synergies Pils (2009) explains that the word synergy is derived from the Greek word synergos and literally means working together. In business terminology, synergy is used to describe the ability of two or more business units or firms to make greater value working together than they would do independently (Goold and Campbell, 1998, p.133). Diversifying a large firm is considered economically positive only if synergetic effects between the different businesses units are achieved. As a consequence, the idea of maximizing synergies as the main objective of diversification strategy is presented below. Operational Synergies The emphasis of product related diversification is on operational synergies because in this strategy production resources are shared to have a cost competitive advantage. In the financial literature, the term operational synergy has been used as a synonym for economies of scope (Tanriverdi and Vendkatraman, 2005). Economies of scope and/or operational synergies are the result of two or more business units that share and transfer factors of production, its resources and capabilities. As a consequence the shared production costs will be lower than production costs of each one separately. Peng (2008) defines it as competitiveness increase beyond what can be achieved by engaging in two product markets separately. In other words, firms benefit from lowering unit costs by gaining advantage from product relatedness, i.e. 2+2=5. Some sources of operational synergy are (Peng, 2008): Technologies, such as common platforms Marketing, such as common brands, and Manufacturing, such as common logistics Conscious of these possible synergies, Zodiac a French large firm who in 1930 was focused on inflatable boats and had strong ties to the French army started to introduce new related products to its portfolio. Zodiac created 5 different divisions having inflatable materials as a common denominator. These divisions have been: marine division (recreation, military, professional, safety of life at sea, environmental solutions); pool division (pool sector and pool care and water cleaning, heating, pumps, filters); airline equipment division (passenger seats and on-board toilets and sanitation systems); aerosafety systems division (aircraft escape slides, parachute systems, helicopter floats, and flexible fuel tanks); technology division and aircraft system division. (Zodiac Aerospace, 2009) Zodiac has benefited from the operational synergies through the use of inflatable products technology and has also used market synergies because it has supplied the same customers with different produc ts. Conversely, unrelated diversification does not need to have advanced levels of operational relatedness. Rather, each business unit has its own strategic and operational responsibility and the management can focus on the financial synergies. (Tallman, 2003) Investment synergies are very much related to the operational synergies. It can be argued that one is the consequence of the other or that they are developed hand in hand. Investment synergies are the result of products sharing the same plant, resource and development (RD) and machinery. This is more probable to happen with a related product diversification because of the previous explanations. For unrelated products, the machinery is improbable the same and each product need its own RD. Financial Synergies The means obtaining financial synergy is different from obtaining operational synergies. The key role of firms is to identify and find profitable investment opportunities. The parameter to measure if financial synergies are to be achieved is whether managers can exceed the job of identifying and taking advantage of profitable opportunities compared to external capital markets (Peng, 2008). Hoskisson (2007) defines financial synergies as cost savings realized through a better use of financial assets based on investments inside or outside the firm. Competent internal capital distribution can lead to financial synergies and reduces risk between the firms businesses (Higgings and Schall, 1975). A firm using unrelated PDS may grow, but only internally in each business unit and will not reach operational efficiencies but financial ones. That means, the revenue of each business unit will be greater when functioning as a conglomerate rather than functioning independently. This idea is supported by Peng (2008) who states that competitiveness increases for each unit financially further than what can be achieved by each unit competing independently as an individual firm. Many different products that are not necessarily related offer opportunities of high returns. If a firm is only interested in the returns, unrelated product diversification may be a right path of growth. Sales synergies: These occur from sharing salespeople, warehouses, distribution channels, and advertising. Salespeople have more chances to be able to sell to the same customer a wide range of related products than unrelated ones. Salespeople will try to sell a complete pack of product to the same customer and in that way take advantage of the sales synergies that related product diversification presents. Imagine a company selling sport shoes and refrigerators, in a selling process it is more unlikely to be able to sell both products to the same customer than if he would offer sport shoes and sport clothes. On the other hand, if a firm has developed a well-known brand, the use of the brand-name in other products, related or unrelated, can increase and facilitate sales because it can have build before customer loyalty to the brand. For example, Mars chocolate confectionery successful launched ice-creams. Much of it success could be related to the brand name. So, sales synergies do not occur only withi n related products but also within unrelated ones if the brand name is positively perceived and recognized by the customers. Management synergies It arises from managers accumulating experiences from handling problems in one business unit that can be applied and used to solve problems in a related business unit. Even more, the accumulated experience and know-how allows answering faster to the industry trends and challenges. Managers are able to transfer their skills, experiences and strategies (Enz, 2009, p.222). Contrarily, unrelated product managers can not apply the experience gained from solving the problems of one unit to the other in most cases because the problems are specific for each product. All these synergies can be undermine due to additional layers of management, delays due to organization and information complexity, communication costs for coordination, imaginary synergies that in fact do not exist, incompatible production processes, etc. Therefore while choosing between related and unrelated PDS the mentioned synergy risks have to be taken into account. Research Methodology In this section an explanation of how the data for the case study was collected and how it was analyzed is presented. It is important to know how the data was collected because the method chosen affects the final findings. The information and content of The Mondi Group Case Study was obtained through an expert interview with Mr. Wolfgang Kropiunik, Mondis Marketing Manager of Uncoated Fine Paper. A questionnaire was sent as a guide and overview of the face-to-face interview questions. A meeting for a 40 minutes exploratory semi-structured interview was organized on the 24th of November 2009 at Mondi Headquarter, Vienna. Mondi Group was chosen as the large firm to be analyzed as it is a large firm with more than 33.000 employees worldwide and has its headquarter in Vienna (Mondi, 2009). Therefore the results presented in this research are very much related to Mondis functioning and successful method. It might be possible that if the studied firm had been another one, the results of the research question could have been different. The interview was recorded and the data obtained was transcribed (see appendix). The transcription of the interview allowed a deeper comprehension of Mondis product diversification strategy, synergies and challenges. Moreover, the recommendations presented to the company (see 4.7) are inspired from the challenges Mr. Kropiunik mentioned during the interview. The interview gave a number of information about Mondis life cycle, PDS and challenges especially during the current financial crisis The Mondi Group Case Study Mondi is a large and international packaging and paper firm represented in around 35 countries. In 2008, it had revenues of 6.3 billion EUR and about 33.400 employees (Mondi, 2009). It has a strong presence in Western Europe, Russia and South Africa. Mondis Europe and International Division has its headquarter in Vienna while the corporate headquarter is located in Johannesburg. In Vienna, there are three businesses: Uncoated Fine Paper, Corrugated and Bags Specialties. Mondi has reached to be fully integrated having the control of its supply chain. It grows trees, manufactures pulp and paper and converts packaging paper into corrugated packaging an Synergies of Product Diversification Strategy Synergies of Product Diversification Strategy Introduction Nowadays large firms have to survive in the face of economic competition. They have to keep an eye on the competitors performance. Managers try to progress and run their businesses well in order to grow and be competitive. When a large firm has reached a mature life-cycle stage it often has to explore the possibility of how to still grow. Ansoff (cited by Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 1998) presents four basic growth alternatives: a) increased market penetration, b) market development, c) product development and d) diversification. Choosing the right path is major decision for managers. Finding out if there are reasons which may lead a large firm to prefer diversification, more specific, product diversification as the growth alternative strategy instead of other strategies is a main question. Firms who spread their activities and businesses across different product markets that are more or less related between each other are said to follow a product diversification strategy. (Pils, 2009, p.10) Product diversification strategy definition has evolved during the last decades. Some definitions are evolutional and complementary but some others contradict each other (Goold and Luchs, 1993). Therefore, it is important for managers to have a clear definition. The benefits of product diversification have been divided into two categories depending on the type of diversification: related or unrelated. Related product diversification refers to entries into new products or service businesses that have a connection to the firms existing markets (Peng, 2008). Researches (Hoskisson, 2007) and business experiences (such as Mondi AG, Procter Gamble, CHR plc., etc.) have proven that some of the benefits of this type of diversification are: Operational synergy: economies of scale Utilizing excess productive capacity Reinvesting earnings Unrelated product diversification refers to the development of products or services beyond the current capabilities and value network (Johnson et al. 2008). Some of the benefits and reasons for this type of diversification are: Financial synergy: economies of scope Increasing market power Spreading risk across a range of businesses The challenge for any large firm, once product diversification is chosen as the growth path, is to decide which type of diversification is most appropriate and what strategic plan to follow. Product diversification gives also other challenges to managers such as the need of new skills to manage a wider group of businesses, new techniques, sometimes new facilities, large capital to test the viability of the new product, produce it and market the product, hire and train new employees, etc. Therefore, diversification has some inconveniences as it involves taking a step into a territory where the parameters are unknown to the firm (Peng, 2008). Product diversification can be achieved by acquiring an existing firm in the business it wants to enter, starting up a new business subsidiary or entering into joint ventures. For large firms knowing the different growth strategies including its benefits and inconveniences is fundamental to giving managers practical recommendations. For a better understanding of these fundamental issues this research will analyze whether related or unrelated product diversification strategy leads large firms to exploit more synergies and creates more value for the firm. Based on this research question, the following sub-questions are going to be addressed in this research: Should large firms, such as Mondi AG, aim to focus on related or unrelated businesses to exploit operational synergies? How is Mondis life cycle related to the right time of diversifying? Which recommendations on product diversification strategy can be given to large firms regarding financial synergy? To answer the above questions, I will present a detailed and methodical literature review on product diversification strategy concept, categories, synergies, its relation with large firms life cycle and explore the effects of a financial crisis on large firms who have chosen this type of diversification to identify the appropriate strategy for the research goal. This research is based on the hypothesis that related product diversification is the right strategy to be chosen if operational synergies are to be achieved while for financial synergies, unrelated product diversification strategies are more appropriate. The strength of this hypothesis is tested through a case study of a large firm: The Mondi Group. The Mondi Group has been chosen as the large firm to be explored in this research because it is an international firm with one of its largest teams and headquarters in Austria. Trend, an Austrian financial magazine, ranked Mondi as the 13th top Austrian large firm out of 500 firms in 2008 having 5.159,00 Mio. Euro net sales and 26.425 employees worldwide. Product Diversification In the 20th century many researchers have written about product diversification strategy (PDS). This research will analyse how PDS is seen by managers because of the larger experience there is nowadays. Diversification has been specially growing after the whole post-war period. Whereas in 1950 only around one third of large firms in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom were diversified, by the 1990s it increased to two thirds or more (Whittington and Mayer 2003). Size and Product diversification strategy This research is focused on how large firms have reacted to the different paths of growth. The firm size: small, medium or large is an important parameter while analysing a firm strategy. In the financial and economical studies and researches the relation between size and firm variables remains a controversial subject. Some argue that size is the primary factor that determines structure whether others say that size is irrelevant (Jackson and Morgan, 1978). In my opinion, it is true that product diversification can be applied both by small and large firms, but I believe that a small firm has more limitations and can not fully develop this strategy in its organization due to limited resources: human, financial and technological. I also believe that as a consequence a firm applying product diversification strategy will increase its size. With larger number of products, the complexity of processes and production is greater. Therefore the craft needed is greater. As mentioned before, some researchers agree with this point of view like the study realized by Dewar and Hage (n.d., cited by Jackson and Morgan, 1978) which suggests that large firms facilitate changes in structure in a way that small firms can not afford. On the other hand, Woodward, Zwerman and Harvey (n.d., cited by Jackson and Morgan, 1978) concluded that instead of size, the production systems used by the firms are more connected and explain better the firm structure and feature. In other words, an efficient production system can explain the success of one large or small firm and therefore the relationship between size and differentiation is not linear. Diversification and Product Diversification Strategy Terminology Diversification The root of the word is, obviously, diverse. Pitts and Hopkins (1982) define it as literally meaning different, unlike, distinct, and separate (p.620). Therefore, if this definition is applied to the context of product diversification, we can say that it means firms having their products in various and different lines. Pils (2009) also confirms this definition as he points out that product diversified firms are understood to be active in multiple, distinct product-markets (p.10). The various definitions, forms and ways of managing diversification are the main topics of this research. Product diversification strategy There is a common denominator in the way product diversification is defined in the literature. For instance, Pils (2009) defines it as firms spreading their activities and products across different product-markets that are more or less related between each other. He also affirms that product diversification strategy determines which businesses a corporation should be in, defining the scope of the firms activities and being of high relevance for creating value for the firm. Berry (1971, p.380) defines product diversification as an increase in the number of industries in which firms are active. However, he does not point out that it can be also increasing the number of products in the current industry. Pitts and Hopkins (1982, p.620) consider firms product diversification if operating multiple different businesses at the same time. Hoskisson (2007), on the other hand, says that the firms level of diversification is a function of decisions about the number and type of businesses in whic h it will compete as well as how it will manage the business. These definitions have surely been influenced by the work of Ansoff (1957) in which he presented diversification as a possible growth strategy as mentioned in the introduction. Ansoff presented two ways of diversification: market diversification and product diversification. Although this research only focuses on the product diversification side, few lines are dedicated to explain the difference and characteristics of these two strategies. Market diversification is a strategy that takes the firm from its existing market to new ones. It exploits the current products and capabilities in new markets looking for geographical spread. This strategy is more and more used in the current times where globalization is facilitating the firms internationalisation. It also presents some challenges like cultural barriers, adding management costs and government restrictions among others. Product diversification is about adding new product to the firms portfolio whereas market diversification is about entering in new markets offering the firms current products. Reasons and Challenges Reasons and Motivations for Diversification: Any firm has a start. Normally starting as a small business it focuses on a single product. This is known as a single business strategy. The natural reasons are commonly due to a lack of cash, experience and know-how. Over time, the resources, capabilities and core competences are rooted and stabilized. At that point, firms may choose product diversified strategy, with two broad categories (related or unrelated). Large firms use product diversification strategy for a variety of reasons. Pearce and Robinson, (2005) and Hoskisson ( 2007) mention among others, the following reasons: To increase the growth rate of the firm For a better use of the companies funds than investing them into internal growth To balance the product line Diversifying the product line when the firm has reached its mature life cycle To increase efficiency and profitability, especially, if there is operational or financial synergy To increase the firms value by improving its overall performance To increase revenues or reduce costs To match and neutralize competitors market power To reduce managerial risk To increase the firms size and thus managerial compensation Product diversification challenges The above mentioned reasons and motivations for PDS can also bring along challenges and costs. One could say that PDS needs new facilities, technologies, skills, know-how, employee and managerial training, etc. It is important to know that it can have a great negative impact on the firms current products if a new product is launched with the firms brand name and the product is not well accepted in the market. The reasons for the market rejection can be e.g. lower quality than expected from the firm, high price, poor distribution, etc. At that point, the whole company will be negatively affected by a bad move. This argument is also supported by various authors such as Hoskisson, (2007); Grant, Jammine, and Thomas (1998); Goold and Luchs (1993), (cited by Pils, 2009). They state that some of the challenges are information processing, coordination, and control problems due to increase of information asymmetries difficult for a single business to deal with. In case of applying a PDS a fi rm has to change its structure and adopt new systems. Moreover Hoskisson (2007) elaborates that the data and information a firm using PDS requires is substantially greater. Furthermore increasing portfolio diversity may involve inefficiencies due to growing conflict on top management and a lack of adaptability to environmental change. Product Diversification Strategy Categories: Related Unrelated Product Diversification Strategy As mentioned before, there are two broad categories of PDS: Related and Unrelated. Some authors such as Richard Rumel (cited by Lovallo and Mendoca, 2007), Peng (2008) also categorize PDS as: focused, moderately and highly diversified. These three categories are not deeply explored in this research. But to dedicate some words, it should be mentioned that Richard Rumelt, in 1972, was the first person to statistically prove the linkage between corporate strategy and profitability. He concluded that moderately diversified firms outperform more diversified ones. Lovallo and Mendoca (2007) sustain that this finding has been valid more than 30 years of research. Moreover, a contemporary author, Peng (2008), also points out that some moderate level of diversification is the most optimal. The main focus of this research is whether a related or unrelated strategy is more suitable for large firms while diversifying. Therefore, in the following lines a definition and a detailed explanation of both is presented. Related product diversification can be defined as a strategy that firms can choose as a growing path. As the word related signals, this diversification strategy is focused on products that have a correlation between each other and are related in some way, especially in their core competences. Normally, firms that choose related product diversification as a strategy are sharing a common factor such as the raw material, the technology or the know-how needed to produce different products. Moreover, the products offered by the firm do not necessarily need to be similar. For instance, a firm running a cinema complex and also offering soft-drinks to be sold at the movie theatres is using a related PDS. Even if their products may not be related, they must share some common ground on their value or supply chain. In this case, the customers targeted are the same. Pearce and Robinson,(2005) confirm this by defining related businesses as those relying on same or similar capabilities in order to have success and achieve competitive advantage in their product markets. Major advantages of related PDS are: concentration of strength, exploitation of a market niche, and the development of synergies. A good example, of a firm applying this strategy is CRH, an Irish company who operates in 35 countries with more than 93.500 employees. The CRH Corporate Social Responsibility Report (2007) states that the firm is a diversified building materials group which manufactures and distributes building material products from the fundamentals of heavy materials and elements to construct the frame, through value added products that complete the building envelope, to distribution channels which service construction fit-out and renewal. CRH has three closely related core businesses: primary materials (aggregates, cement, asphalt and ready mixed concrete); value-added building products (pre-cast, architectural, construction accessories, clay, gas, insulation, building envelope products); and specialist building materials (CRH, 2009). CRH initially decided to diversify to gain economies of scope and also to stretch the corporate parenting capabilities. While CRH diversified its market its power i ncreased and consequently it could afford to cross-subsidise one business from the surpluses earned by another, in a way that competitors could not. As an effect, it could drive out competitors. Before going into further details regarding related PDS, a definition of Unrelated Product Diversification is given. In this case, as the word unrelated points out this diversification strategy focuses on firms offering products that have no relation, are not complementary between each other and do not have necessarily the same raw material as their prime and main composition. Moreover, they do not need to share any part of their supply chain (customers, distributor, manufacturer, logistics, etc). For instance, the Easy Group Company is present in several industries and services that have actually no relation. Some of them are: travel companies, car rentals, internet-cafes, cinemas, cosmetics, etc. Stelio Haji-Ionannou, the founder of the company has developed a cost strategy that pretends to apply in all its businesses. It seems that he believes that his formula is valid for any business. Normally the reason why firms choose this path is known to reduce their financial risks. Peng (2008) refers to unrelated PDS as firms entering into industries new lines that have no evident connections to the present firm line of businesses. Furthermore, Hoskisson (2007) says that unrelated PDS occurs when there are no overlapping capabilities other than financial resources. This strategy is also known in the financial literature as conglomerates (Hoskisson, 2007; Peng, 2008; Pearce and Robinson, 2005) It has been widely discussed whether related is more successful or unrelated. To be able to answer this fundamental question the following pros and cons are explored: Human resources: Related product diversification is characterized by the ease of human resources relocation because the skills and capabilities needed for the introduction of the new products are very similar. On the other hand, unrelated PDS requires recruiting new personnel or training current employees in the new fields. (Tallman, 2003) Technologies Obviously, if a firm chooses unrelated PDS, it will probably not be able to share technologies. Therefore, the investment needed to apply this kind of diversification is greater than by applying a related one. Related PDS is characterised by sharing technologies needed to produce the new products. For example, a firm which produces shampoo and introduces hair conditioner may use the same technology. In that way it reduces the investment costs for the new production and gain economies of scope (also see 2.5). Tallman (2003) confirms that related products can increase the use of existing fixed investments and existing capacity for more purposes and more intensively, gaining efficiencies that reduce costs. Additionally, he says that it can improve the efficiency of its existing resource infrastructure by increasing the flow of product to a wider range of customers. Management For managers it is easier to introduce related products than unrelated ones because they are familiar to the industry and can apply the same or similar strategies. For unrelated ones, managers have to learn about the new products and often the strategy used for the current products is not applicable for the new ones. Therefore, managers should experience new strategies which at the beginning may fail. Prahalad and Hamel (1990), said that it is likely that firm managers of unrelated products may be ineffective because the routines and capabilities they have already developed are not applicable one to one to the entire range of businesses. On the other hand it could be argued that it can be effective as top management can concentrate on financial management and costs controls while leaving operational control with each business unit. Competitors It is easier for competitors to imitate the financial economies of a firm than the operational synergies derived from a related PDS. This is due to the fact that operational synergies derived from the use of current know-how, facilities, capabilities and experiences are more difficult to imitate than realizing that a firm is diversifying into new unrelated products based on the percentage of the revenue it can gain. Therefore, it is less likely that competitors will imitate a firm which introduces new related products. Peng and Delios, (2006), and Khanna and Palepu, (2005), (cited by Hoskisson, 2007) sustain that competitors find it easier to imitate financial economies than replicating the value gained by related PDS from the economies of scope developed through operational relatedness. Control Mechanism The principle control mechanism for related diversification is strategic control with rich communication between corporate and business units managers. Financial results are obviously not a fair means to measure the functioning of each business unit. One business unit may have low revenues but its main function is to support the others. For unrelated products, the best way to control is exactly the opposite. The emphasis has to be on financial control (return and investment) to evaluate the units performance. (Peng, 2008) Market saturation When the product a firm is offering is close to a market saturation or obsolescence, the best thing a firm can do is to enter into another market offering unrelated products. In that way the company has an opportunity to grow. It would be a great mistake in a saturated market to introduce related products because the competition is already very high and to get a profitable market share is unlikely. Stabilize Earnings Another reason would be to stabilize the earnings and dividends of a firm in a cyclical industry. In that case, the firm should diversify into an industry with complementary cycles independent of the relation with the current products. Independency Firms that are uncomfortable to be dependent on one product line should diversify into other businesses or industries. In that way the risk is spread and all the weight is not in one product line. All in all the benefits of both categories of diversification do not appear as the result of a magic formula that just happens but as Tallman (2003) and Peng (2008) also sustain it is the result of an active management of resources and capabilities with potential for broader application. Product diversification synergies need to be explored in more detail. Therefore the following section is dedicated. Product Diversification Synergies Pils (2009) explains that the word synergy is derived from the Greek word synergos and literally means working together. In business terminology, synergy is used to describe the ability of two or more business units or firms to make greater value working together than they would do independently (Goold and Campbell, 1998, p.133). Diversifying a large firm is considered economically positive only if synergetic effects between the different businesses units are achieved. As a consequence, the idea of maximizing synergies as the main objective of diversification strategy is presented below. Operational Synergies The emphasis of product related diversification is on operational synergies because in this strategy production resources are shared to have a cost competitive advantage. In the financial literature, the term operational synergy has been used as a synonym for economies of scope (Tanriverdi and Vendkatraman, 2005). Economies of scope and/or operational synergies are the result of two or more business units that share and transfer factors of production, its resources and capabilities. As a consequence the shared production costs will be lower than production costs of each one separately. Peng (2008) defines it as competitiveness increase beyond what can be achieved by engaging in two product markets separately. In other words, firms benefit from lowering unit costs by gaining advantage from product relatedness, i.e. 2+2=5. Some sources of operational synergy are (Peng, 2008): Technologies, such as common platforms Marketing, such as common brands, and Manufacturing, such as common logistics Conscious of these possible synergies, Zodiac a French large firm who in 1930 was focused on inflatable boats and had strong ties to the French army started to introduce new related products to its portfolio. Zodiac created 5 different divisions having inflatable materials as a common denominator. These divisions have been: marine division (recreation, military, professional, safety of life at sea, environmental solutions); pool division (pool sector and pool care and water cleaning, heating, pumps, filters); airline equipment division (passenger seats and on-board toilets and sanitation systems); aerosafety systems division (aircraft escape slides, parachute systems, helicopter floats, and flexible fuel tanks); technology division and aircraft system division. (Zodiac Aerospace, 2009) Zodiac has benefited from the operational synergies through the use of inflatable products technology and has also used market synergies because it has supplied the same customers with different produc ts. Conversely, unrelated diversification does not need to have advanced levels of operational relatedness. Rather, each business unit has its own strategic and operational responsibility and the management can focus on the financial synergies. (Tallman, 2003) Investment synergies are very much related to the operational synergies. It can be argued that one is the consequence of the other or that they are developed hand in hand. Investment synergies are the result of products sharing the same plant, resource and development (RD) and machinery. This is more probable to happen with a related product diversification because of the previous explanations. For unrelated products, the machinery is improbable the same and each product need its own RD. Financial Synergies The means obtaining financial synergy is different from obtaining operational synergies. The key role of firms is to identify and find profitable investment opportunities. The parameter to measure if financial synergies are to be achieved is whether managers can exceed the job of identifying and taking advantage of profitable opportunities compared to external capital markets (Peng, 2008). Hoskisson (2007) defines financial synergies as cost savings realized through a better use of financial assets based on investments inside or outside the firm. Competent internal capital distribution can lead to financial synergies and reduces risk between the firms businesses (Higgings and Schall, 1975). A firm using unrelated PDS may grow, but only internally in each business unit and will not reach operational efficiencies but financial ones. That means, the revenue of each business unit will be greater when functioning as a conglomerate rather than functioning independently. This idea is supported by Peng (2008) who states that competitiveness increases for each unit financially further than what can be achieved by each unit competing independently as an individual firm. Many different products that are not necessarily related offer opportunities of high returns. If a firm is only interested in the returns, unrelated product diversification may be a right path of growth. Sales synergies: These occur from sharing salespeople, warehouses, distribution channels, and advertising. Salespeople have more chances to be able to sell to the same customer a wide range of related products than unrelated ones. Salespeople will try to sell a complete pack of product to the same customer and in that way take advantage of the sales synergies that related product diversification presents. Imagine a company selling sport shoes and refrigerators, in a selling process it is more unlikely to be able to sell both products to the same customer than if he would offer sport shoes and sport clothes. On the other hand, if a firm has developed a well-known brand, the use of the brand-name in other products, related or unrelated, can increase and facilitate sales because it can have build before customer loyalty to the brand. For example, Mars chocolate confectionery successful launched ice-creams. Much of it success could be related to the brand name. So, sales synergies do not occur only withi n related products but also within unrelated ones if the brand name is positively perceived and recognized by the customers. Management synergies It arises from managers accumulating experiences from handling problems in one business unit that can be applied and used to solve problems in a related business unit. Even more, the accumulated experience and know-how allows answering faster to the industry trends and challenges. Managers are able to transfer their skills, experiences and strategies (Enz, 2009, p.222). Contrarily, unrelated product managers can not apply the experience gained from solving the problems of one unit to the other in most cases because the problems are specific for each product. All these synergies can be undermine due to additional layers of management, delays due to organization and information complexity, communication costs for coordination, imaginary synergies that in fact do not exist, incompatible production processes, etc. Therefore while choosing between related and unrelated PDS the mentioned synergy risks have to be taken into account. Research Methodology In this section an explanation of how the data for the case study was collected and how it was analyzed is presented. It is important to know how the data was collected because the method chosen affects the final findings. The information and content of The Mondi Group Case Study was obtained through an expert interview with Mr. Wolfgang Kropiunik, Mondis Marketing Manager of Uncoated Fine Paper. A questionnaire was sent as a guide and overview of the face-to-face interview questions. A meeting for a 40 minutes exploratory semi-structured interview was organized on the 24th of November 2009 at Mondi Headquarter, Vienna. Mondi Group was chosen as the large firm to be analyzed as it is a large firm with more than 33.000 employees worldwide and has its headquarter in Vienna (Mondi, 2009). Therefore the results presented in this research are very much related to Mondis functioning and successful method. It might be possible that if the studied firm had been another one, the results of the research question could have been different. The interview was recorded and the data obtained was transcribed (see appendix). The transcription of the interview allowed a deeper comprehension of Mondis product diversification strategy, synergies and challenges. Moreover, the recommendations presented to the company (see 4.7) are inspired from the challenges Mr. Kropiunik mentioned during the interview. The interview gave a number of information about Mondis life cycle, PDS and challenges especially during the current financial crisis The Mondi Group Case Study Mondi is a large and international packaging and paper firm represented in around 35 countries. In 2008, it had revenues of 6.3 billion EUR and about 33.400 employees (Mondi, 2009). It has a strong presence in Western Europe, Russia and South Africa. Mondis Europe and International Division has its headquarter in Vienna while the corporate headquarter is located in Johannesburg. In Vienna, there are three businesses: Uncoated Fine Paper, Corrugated and Bags Specialties. Mondi has reached to be fully integrated having the control of its supply chain. It grows trees, manufactures pulp and paper and converts packaging paper into corrugated packaging an