Industrial Raw Materials Resources Essay Example for Free

Industrial Raw Materials Resources Essay Renewable energy is derived from natural processes that are replenished constantly. In its various forms, it derives directly from the sun, or from heat generated deep within the earth. Included in the definition is electricity and heat generated from solar, wind, ocean, hydropower, biomass, geothermal resources, and biofuels and hydrogen derived from renewable resources. Considering Political problems and Economic growth and Development of the Country, The Nuclear Power Plant should be the most appropriate for Nigeria. Due to the factors above, and concentrating on the abundance of Natural Resources of the Country (presence of Natural water bodies), I’ll recommend for Nigeria, the Hydropower as source of energy. This is due to the fact that construction of newer Dams in specific locations with higher Water bodies will bring about job opportunity, Encouragement of Agriculture (in the area of irrigation), Fish rearing amongst others. And also, low cost of maintenance, compared to nuclear power Plants. HOW TO GENERATE HYDROPOWER ENERGY Hydro-electricity, or hydro-power, is usually generated by turbines in a dam in a river. The dam means that a great body of water builds up in the river valley behind the dam. This is released through the turbines when electricity is needed. Smaller than dams are barrages across the mouths of rivers which capture water from high tides and release it to generate electricity. Smaller still are turbines in river and tidal streams which do the same thing. MODE OF OPERATION According to Wood and Wollenberg (1996) and Batut and Renaud (1992), the complexity of hydropower plant operation is so high that so far there are no unique principles devised for their management that could be applicable in  all situations. The reasons for that are: The inflow of water into hydropower plants depends upon a series of parameters that are difficult to forecast, so the plants have to adapt quickly to the actual situation, Water is a resource that is not used only for electricity generation, but also for water supply, melioration and other purposes, Hydropower plant operation is coupled with numerous limitations related to the environmental protection, valuable objects in the vicinity of the storages and Watercourses etc. The role of hydropower plants in the electricity generation and transmission system often dictates their dynamic operation (relatively frequent starts and shutdowns of their operation). The main source of uncertainty in planning of development of an electricity generation and Transmission system is the stochastic nature of availability of the units in thermal-power plants, as well as the water inflow into hydropower plants. The value of 95% is assumed as the limit for the probability of the fulfillment of the demanded electricity generation plan, because the design of an electricity generation and transmission system that would have the probability of fulfillment of electricity generation plan equal to 100%, would be economically unjustified, (Milić, 2000). The greatest influence upon the fulfillment of the electricity generation plan has the usable discharge of the water flow, while the key factors regarding the fulfillment of the Demands related to power are rated discharge, head and, particularly, the size of the hydropower plant storage. Hydropower plants also have a great significance regarding the attaining of a stable operation of the electricity generation and transmission system. This is valid particularly for the formation of the operating reserve (covering of all non-planned ceases of electricity generation in the system before the start of the cold reserve) and a part of the cold reserve (covering of longer non-planned ceases of operation of the thermal-power plant units) in the system. ADVANTAGES †¢Does not depend on costs of uranium, oil, or other fuels †¢Pollution is rarely created †¢It doesnt require as many employees †¢It can be set up in many sizes †¢Stations can operate and run for long periods of time †¢Reduces greenhouse emissions †¢Relatively low maintenance costs †¢Can be used throughout the world †¢It is renewable †¢Hydroelectricity produces no gas emissions or waste. †¢Hydroelectric stations are inexpensive to operate. †¢Makes barely any pollution compare to other ways of creating electricity †¢Hydroelectric power is one of the most responsive (easy to start and stop) of any electric power generating source. †¢The conversion of the forces of water to electric energy can be up to 90 percent efficient. †¢Hydroelectric power produces no chemical or waste heat pollution. †¢Hydroelectric power plants require little maintenance. †¢Reservoir lakes can be used for recreation, and can provide considerable flood protection to downstream areas. †¢Groundwater reserves are increased by recharging from reservoirs. †¢Plants usually have an expected life span two to three times longer than conventional thermal power plants. †¢Hydroelectric installations can be used to breed fish and other aquatic products †¢It is more reliable than solar and wind power because water can be stored and there is more of it, more often. Once a dam is constructed, electricity can be produced at constant rate. †¢If electricity is not needed, the sluice gates can be shut, stopping electricity generation. The water can be saved for use another time when electricity demand is high. The build up of water in the lake means that energy can be stored until needed, when the water is released to produce electricity. †¢Dams are designed to last many decades and so can contribute to the generation of electricity for many years / decades. †¢The lake that forms behind the dam can be used for water sports  and leisure / pleasure activities. Often large dams become tourist attractions in their own right. †¢The lakes water can be used for irrigation purposes. †¢When in use, electricity produced by dam systems do not produce green house gases. They do not pollute the atmosphere. DISADVANTAGES †¢High investment costs †¢Dependent on precipitation †¢Sometimes messes up wildlife †¢Loss of fish species †¢Change in river or stream quality †¢Cost for construction †¢Hydroelectric power production require flooding of entire valleys and scenic areas. †¢Disrupts natural seasonal changes in he river, and ecosystems can be destroyed. †¢Ends flooding that help to clean out the silt in rivers, causing them to clog (Energy Laboratory). †¢The silt that usually flows down to the Beaches and Estuaries is block by the dam. †¢Studies show that the plant decay caused downstream of major dams produces as many greenhouse gasses as more conventional methods of producing electricity. †¢Dams are expensive to build, and due to drought may become useless, or produce much less power than originally planned. †¢A dam being build in Quebec will end up flooding an area as large as Switzerland (Energy Laboratory). †¢Dams can break in a massive flash flood †¢Construction costs of large-scale hydroelectric projects are high. †¢Damming rivers causes changes in ecological cycles and surrounding landscapes; self-regulating ecosystems are changed into ones that must be managed. †¢Sedimentation can progressively curtail a dams ability to store water and generate energy. †¢There are a limited number of feasible sites for large dams. †¢Damming can cause loss of land suitable for agriculture and recreation. †¢Drought can affect power production. †¢River channels downstream from dams are more susceptible to erosion. †¢A disadvantage of hydroelectric power stations is that it destroys wildlife and habitats of any creatures living in the area. †¢Dams are extremely  expensive to build and must be built to a very high standard. †¢The high cost of dam construction means that they must operate for many decades to become profitable. †¢The flooding of large areas of land means that the natural environment is destroyed. †¢People living in villages and towns that are in the valley to be flooded, must move out. This means that they lose their farms and businesses. In some countries, people are forcibly removed so that hydro-power schemes can go ahead. †¢The building of large dams can cause serious geological damage. For example, the building of the Hoover Dam in the USA triggered a number of earth quakes and has depressed the earths surface at its location. †¢Although modern planning and design of dams is good, in the past old dams have been known to be breached (the dam gives under the weight of water in the lake). This has led to deaths and flooding. †¢Dams built blocking the progress of a river in one country usually means that the water supply from the same river in the following country is out of their control. This can lead to serious problems between neighboring countries. †¢Building a large dam alters the natural water table level. E.g., the building of the Aswan Dam in Egypt has altered the level of the water table. This is slowly leading to damage of many of its ancient monuments as salts and destructive minerals are deposited in the stone work from rising damp caused by the changing water table level. †¢Hydropower dams can damage the surrounding environment and alter the quality of the water by creating low dissolved oxygen levels, which impacts fish and the surrounding ecosystems. They also take up a great deal of space and can impose on animal, plant, and even human environments. †¢Fish populations can be impacted if fish cannot migrate upstream past impoundment dams to spawning grounds or if they cannot migrate downstream to the ocean. Upstream fish passage can be aided using fish ladders or elevators, or by trapping and hauling the fish upstream by truck. Downstream fish passage is aided by diverting fish from turbine intakes using screens or racks or even underwater lights and sounds, and by maintaining a minimum spill flow past the turbine. CONCLUSION. Hydropower as a renewable Energy, which can be built and also comes with a low level of maintenance and with the presence of water bodies as a Natural resource of Nigeria, it is advisable to have more and encourage construction  of Dams for Hydropower Energy.

International Product Life Cycle model (IPLC) theory

International Product Life Cycle model (IPLC) theory I strongly agree with the statement The product life cycle theory is out of date in the todays global business environment. I partially disagree with the statement Nowadays, firms should immediately manufacture new products in low-wage countries that offer lower wages. This would enable them to: experience low production costs, and sell the large quantities of the new goods immediately International Product Life Cycle model (IPLC) theory The intent of Vernon, International Product Life Cycle model (IPLC) was to advance trade theory beyond David Ricardos static framework of comparative advantages. In 1817, Ricardo came up with a simple economic experiment to explain the benefits to any country that was engaged in international trade even if it could produce all products at the lowest cost and would seem to have no need to trade with foreign partners. He showed that it was advantageous for a country with an absolute advantage in all product categories to trade and allows its work force to specialise in those categories with the highest added value. Vernon focused on the dynamics of comparative advantage and drew inspiration from the product life cycle to explain how trade patterns change over time. The IPLC international trade cycle consists of three stages: 1. NEW PRODUCT 2. MATURING PRODUCT 3. STANDARDISED PRODUCT New products are manufactured, produced and consumed in the developed (inventing) countries. Then, other high-income countries import it. Production spreads to other advanced countries. The standardised product begins to be produced out of advanced countries into low-wage nation. Advanced countries import it from the low wage countries and Next generation product invented in the advanced countries. Globalisation- Business Environment The tremendous growth of international trade over the past several decades has been both a primary cause and effect of globalization. The volume of world trade since 1950 has increased twenty-fold from $320 billion to $6.8 trillion.1 This increase in the trade of manufactured goods exceeds the increase in the rate of the production of these goods by three times. As a result, consumers around the world now enjoy a broader selection of products than ever before. Additionally, a whole host of U.S. government agencies and international institutions has been established to help manage the ever-growing flow of goods, services, and capital. Although increased international trade has spurred tremendous economic growth across the globe - raising incomes, creating jobs, reducing prices, and increasing workers earning power trade can also bring about certain kinds of economic, political, and social disruption. Because the global economy is so interconnected, when large economies suffer recessions, the effects are felt around the world. Trade decreases, and domestic jobs and businesses are lost. In the same way that globalization can be a boon for international trade; it can also have a crushing impact(www.globalization101.org) Offshoreing trend lower wages The shift of productive capacity from the advanced countries to poor countries can be viewed as a commonality of interest among advanced country business groups and Third World elites, who act in concert against workers both in the U. S. and in developing countries. It can also be viewed as a strategy to change the balance of power between Capital and Labour. By shifting production to jurisdictions which favour Capital, owners gain a larger share of revenue and power, while workers everywhere suffer Multinational enterprises (MNEs) had provided huge number of the employment in countries like Indonesian, Vietnam. It not only solves the countries unemployment rate furthermore it will increase the country GDP and lead to the industrialization process of the country by learning the technical know-hows and other industrial automation process. Countries Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flow will increase; it will improve the exchange and currency rates .Good Employment opportunities directs to better living standard and high purchasing power. Nevertheless, the poor wages, Vietnam and low wage nations can welcome the offshore trend and implement the foreign policies accordingly. Over the last two decades, the advanced economies experienced a boom in off shoring and a doubling of imports of manufactured goods from low-wage countries. Over this same period, approximately 6 million jobs were lost in manufacturing and income inequality increased sharply.These parallel developments led many critics of globalisation to conclude that good manufacturing jobs were being shipped overseas at the expense of the domestic labour force, putting downward pressure on wages of American workers. Concern over these developments led the US Congress to pass the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. Yet whether these changes in the US labour market are a result of rising import competition or relocation by multinationals to other countries (known as off shoring) is not clear. Paul Krugman (2008) claims that we will never know. He asks How can we quantify the actual effect of rising trade on wages?, and then answers: The answer, given the current state of the data, is that we cant. Yet Krugman suspects that the dramatic increase in manufactured imports from developing countries since the early 1990s has contributed to increasing income inequality. Earlier studies explained rising inequality as a result of technological change which favours skilled workers, a falling minimum wage, or weaker unions (Autor, Katz and Kearney 2008). Larry Katz and David Autor agree with Krugman, arguing that international trade and offshoring will be increasingly important rivers of wages in the future. Theoretically capital mobility should result in higher wages for workers in the developing world, but often it does not. An egregious example of this phenomenon is Nike, the sports shoe manufacturer. Nike makes shoes by contracting with producers in Asian countries. Aggressively seeking the lowest cost, Nike recently moved production from Korea to Indonesia, a military dictatorship which violently represses union activity. The shoes you pay $80 for in the United States are assembled by Indonesian women, working in squalid factories, who receive approximately twelve cents per pair http://home.home.pacbell.net/jfcowan) Benefits of relocating to poor countries For certain occupations there is a greater availability of highly skilled and experienced employees overseas for example manufacturing skills in china and Information technology, Bangalore, India. Cost advantage Companies can save 30-50% compared to the cost of a U.S.-based employee for the same level of performance, and of ten times the offshore employees are more committed, grateful for the work. By using an offshore employee, you eliminate the time you would normally spend on searching job boards, recruiting, interviewing, orientation, managing vacation time and absenteeism, career coaching, and managing employee morale and motivation. Employee issues can be time-consuming and can escalate into legal liabilities. Using offshore staff eliminates certain legal exposure to employment liabilities. Flexibility Unlike traditional employee relationships, off shoring eliminates hiring and termination costs, allowing companies to quickly expand and contract their overseas staff in accordance with business needs. Challenges and considerations Before deciding the relocation plant, the firm has to address the key challenges with respect to cultural, Tax policy, cost savings. Different cultures have different life styles, different attitudes toward conflict resolution and simply different ways of getting work done. Offshore outsourcing is a politically charged issue nowadays, for example the current US government has passed the bill against outsourcing. Expected cost savings might not result from offshore outsourcing. The offshore staff might not turn out to be as productive as expected. Quality of the product also matters for the firm Brand equity. Off shoring can lead to low production cost, if the firm can address all the above mentioned challenges. But, selling the large quantities of the new goods immediately in the poor and low wages countries are always uncertain and it is a risky process also. Every firm has their unique marketing plan and strategy of their products. But, in general poor countries Gross Domestic Product(GDP), Income per captia, and purchasing power of the consumers very less when compare with advanced countries like UK,USA,Germany,France.Canada. Selling a new product in the market requires lot of marketing research and sampling. Due to the uncertain market environment, political disability and consumer behaviour firms are finding difficulties in implementing marketing plan and strategies for the poor countries. In my opinion selling the new goods in the poor countries requires deep understanding of local market and consumer tastes. As per the WTO and ILO reports, more than 3.5 billion people are living in the poor countries. So, firms should understand the culture, life style, of the people to market and sell their products. The plant location and country alone cant decide the success of their products. Findings and recommendations Todays globalization and dynamic business environment has made Production life cycle Theory out of date. Global trade has increased significantly in the last 10- 15 years, thanks to the globalisation world but in the same time inequalities are also increasing. Shifting the production facility or off shoring the manufacturing jobs can increase the profit of the firm due to talent pool, low wages in the poor countries but to achieve this, it has to addresses the challenges of off shoring and draft the business strategies and plans effectively. But quality of the product /service and productivity are the major concern to be addresses by the off shore industry. GDP, income per captia, purchasing power, consumer behaviours are the major deciding factors for buying a new product in any part of the world. All poor countries above mentioned ratios are very less when compare to advanced countries .So launching a new product in poor countries is risky and uncertain even though the product is m anufactured in the same country. Firms should analyze the marketing plans strategy for the poor countries and apply in the poor counties with respect to the market and other demographic factors. Conclusion Globalisation phenomenon gaining across the globe. Trade and culture are exchanging rapidly, thaks, to the advance technology. Shifting the production jobs or off shoring the manufactured jobs has their own advantage and disadvantages. Off shoring has lot of benefits to their own or home country (capital abundant) and new host country (labour abundant) as well. in the same time it has to address the lot of issue in both host and home country with respect to culture, tax policy , environment and other factors. In the open market world firms have the rights to maximize the profits doing offshoreing if obey the terms and condition of the both own and host countries and it should be follow the framework of WTO and ILO

Freedom Essay -- essays research papers

I believe rationality is incorrectly dictated by society. Generally when one is irrational he or she is contradicting the "normal" or what everyone is programmed to do. Kant says "Can you also will that your maxim should become a universal law."1 In part I agree to the theory of universal law where "rational" is judged by universality or what everyone should do. In fact we know that primitive societies were not built on rationality. I believe that we are intrinsically rational and irrational. In my opinion , taking the daouist view, having the ability to be rational and irrational, a hybrid of both, gives an individual the ability to be rational. Kant says "These, so far from hiding a good will or disguising it, rather bring it out by contrast and make it shine forth more brightly."2 I like what Kant thinks here but I think the good will should be substituted with irrationality. For example in order to maintain the title rational while conformi ng to society's dictated rationality, one must do the following. Allow our irrational thoughts and ideas to manifest themselves in private and then refine and hide them for public display. When an individual is accepted or titled as rational they are universally accepted (universal law). Irrationality must be well disguised at first to gain universal acceptance along with the sister word "credibility." Once credibility has been established, undress the irrational. This first step to ...

Servant Leadership in Romantic Relationships Essay -- servant-leadersh

When two people come together and form a relationship the question of who should wear the pants in the relationship may come to light. Should the man be the head of the relationship? But why cant the woman be the leader? My perspective on a relationship is two people going through this crazy journey we call life side by side. The servant-leadership theory supports my perspective that a leader can effectively lead by serving first his followers. The servant-leadership theory does not place the leader above the followers. It rather puts the attention of the leader on emphasizing the concerns of the followers, empathizing with them and nurturing them (Northouse, 2013). This theory focuses on the followers first. The leader must empower those he/she is serving so that the person can reach their full potential. The leader focuses on the greater good of the group. Northouse (2013) explains that Greenleaf identified 10 characteristics that are central to the development of servant-leadership. The ten characteristic include listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community. Following these characteristics we can begin to explain the servant leadership role in a relationship. In order for a relationship to be successful each member will need to take on the role of servant-leader. The important aspect is that the two individuals are looking out for each other. They both are nurturing the relationship and doing what will be best for the greater good of the relationship. Listening is very important in order for this to occur. There is a difference between hearing and actively listening. When one actively listens, they can pick out the... ...thers life together. Each person now has a new family, a new group of friends, and will even create a family of their own. As a servant-leader one should encourage their partner to continue their old friendships and make new friends together in the process. This will help the relationship feel safe and connected with others. Meeting someone who you’d like to share every moment with is a wonderful experience. Being a leader does not mean taking charge of the other person or being bossy in order to get your way. Successful relationships are those where both individuals serve each other and know when it is appropriate to lead. Servant-leadership shows that leading side by side in order to grow together and nurture the relationship can be an effective way to lead. Reference Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Famine Relief Essay -- Article Analysis

In response to the recent failure of the international community to prevent the famine crisis in the Horn of Africa since July 2011, Suzanne Dvorak the chief executive of Save the Children wrote that, â€Å"We need to provide help now. But we cannot forget that these children are wasting away in a disaster that we could - and should - have prevented† she added, â€Å"The UN estimates that every $1 spent in prevention saves $7 in emergency spending.† (Dvorak, 2011). Many people who read such statement wonder about our obligation towards famine relief, and ask, whether we are morally obliged to spend one dollar in order to prevent such a crisis or not. Forty years ago, Peter Singer answered this question in his article Famine, Affluence, and Morality; Singer suggested, â€Å"we should prevent bad occurrences unless, to do so, we had to sacrifice something morally significant† (C&M, 827). However, different philosophers and writers have criticized his view and the general idea to help the poor. In this paper, I will argue against two articles which were written against Singer’s view, and against helping the poor countries in general. I will argue against John Arthur’s article Famine Relief and the Ideal Moral Code (1974 ) ,and Garrett Hardin’s article Lifeboat Ethics: the Case Against Helping the Poor ( 1976); I will show that both articles are exaggerating the negative consequences of aiding the poor, as well as building them on false assumptions. Both Arthur and Hardin are promoting the self-interest without considering the rights of others, and without considering that giving for famine relief means giving life to many children. A Case against John Arthur In the article Famine Relief and the Ideal Moral Cod... ... Friedman, U. (2011, July 19). What It took for the U.N to declare famine in Somalia. Retrieved from http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/07/what-it-took-un-declare-famine-somalia/40152/ Hardin, G. (1974, September ). Lifeboat Ethics: the Case Against Helping the Poor. Retrieved fromhttp://www.garretthardinsociety.org/articles/art_lifeboat_ethics_case_against_helping_poor.html Montgomery, K. (n.d.). The Demographic Transition. Retrieved on August 4, 2011 from http://www.marathon.uwc.edu/geography/demotrans/demtran.htm. White, J. (2009). Contemporary Moral Problems [pp360]. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=dcK6-h1ngtcC&pg=PA357&dq=Consumption+,+global+warming+and+famine&hl=en&ei=diw7TsOyGoSisQLK_N35Dw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&sqi=2&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Consumption%20%2C%20global%20warming%20and%20famine&f=false.

Island of the Sequined Love Nun Chapter 42~43

PART THREE Coconut Angel 42 Bedfellows Just before dawn, Tuck crawled through the bottom of the shower like a homesick cockroach, scuttled out of the bathroom under the mosquito netting and into bed. There were things to do, big things, important things, maybe even dangerous things, but he had no idea what they were and he was too tired and too drunk to figure them out now. He had tried, he had really tried to convince the Shark men that the doctor and his wife were doing horrible things to them, but the islanders always came back with the same answer: â€Å"It is what Vincent wants. Vincent will take care of us.† To hell with them, Tuck thought. Dumb bastards deserve what happens to them. He rolled over and pushed the coconut-headed dummy aside. The dummy pushed back. Tuck leaped out of bed, tripped in the mosquito netting, and scooted on his butt like a man backing away from a snake. And the dummy sat up. Tuck couldn't see the face in the predawn light filtering into the bungalow, just a silhouette behind the mosquito netting, a shadow. And the shadow wore a captain's hat. â€Å"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking because I'll give you six to five I do.† The accent was somewhere out of a Bowery Boys movie, and Tuck recognized the voice. He'd heard it in his head, he'd heard it in the voice of a talking bat, and he'd heard it twice from a young flyer. â€Å"You do?† â€Å"Yeah, you're thinking, ‘Hey, I never wanted to find a guy in my bed, but if you got to find a guy in your bed, this is the guy I'd want it to be,' right?† â€Å"That's not what I was thinking.† â€Å"Then you shoulda taken odds, ya mook.† â€Å"Who are you?† The flyer threw back the mosquito netting and tossed something across the room. Tuck flinched as it landed with a thump on the floor next to him. â€Å"Pick it up.† Tuck could just see an object shining by his knee. He picked up what felt like a cigarette lighter. â€Å"Read what it says,† the shadow said. â€Å"I can't. It's dark.† Tuck could see the flyer shaking his head dolefully. â€Å"You know, I saw a guy in the war that got his head shot off about the hat line. Docs did some hammering on some stainless steel and riveted it on his noggin and saved his life, but the guy didn't do nothing from that day forward but walk around in a circle yanking his hamster and singing just the ‘row' part of ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat.' They had to tape oven mitts on him to keep him from rubbing himself raw. Now, I'm not saying that the guy didn't know how to have a good time, but he wasn't much for conversation, if you know what I mean.† â€Å"That was a beautiful story,† Tuck said. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Because the steelhead hamster-pulling ‘row' guy was a genius compared to you. Light the fuckin' lighter, ya mook.† â€Å"Oh,† Tuck said and he flipped open the lighter and sparked it. By the firelight he could read the engraving: VINCENT BENNIDETTI, CAPTAIN U.S.A.F. Tuck looked back at the flyer, who was still caged in shadow, even though the rest of the room had started to lighten. â€Å"You're Vincent?† The shadow gave a slight bow. â€Å"Not exactly in the flesh, but at your fuckin' service.† â€Å"You're Malink's Vincent?† â€Å"The same. I gave the chief the original of that lighter.† â€Å"You could have just said so. You didn't have to be so dramatic.† Tuck was glad he was a little drunk. He didn't feel frightened. As strange as it all was, he felt safe. This guy – this thing, this spirit – had more or less saved his life at least twice, maybe three times. â€Å"I got responsibilities, kid, and so do you.† â€Å"Responsibilities?† Now Tuck was frightened. It was a conditioned response. â€Å"Yeah, so when you get up later today, don't go storming into the doc's office demanding the facts. Just go swimming. Cool off.† â€Å"Go swimming?† â€Å"Yeah, go to the far side of the reef and swim away from the direction of the village about five hundred yards. Keep an eye out for sharks outside of the reef.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"A guy appears out of nowhere in the middle of the night saying all kinds of mystical shit and you ask why?† â€Å"Yeah. Why?† â€Å"Because I said so,† Vincent said. â€Å"My dad always said that. Are you the ghost of my dad?† The shade slapped his forehead. â€Å"Repeat after me – and don't be getting any on you, now – one and two and three and ‘Row, row, row, row, row†¦'† He started to fade away with the chant. â€Å"Wait,† Tuck said. â€Å"I need to know more than that.† â€Å"Stay on the sly, kid. You don't know as much as you think you do.† â€Å"But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You owe me.† Two armed ninjas followed Tuck to the water. He watched them, looking for signs of microwave poisoning from the radar blasts, but he wasn't sure exactly what the signs would be. Would they plump noticeably, perhaps explode without fork holes to release the inner pressure? That would be cool. Maybe they'd fall asleep on the beach and wake up a hundred times larger, yearning to do battle with Godzilla while tiny people whose words didn't match their mouth movements scrambled in the flaming rubble be-low? (It happened all the time in Japanese movies, didn't it?) Too good for them. He pulled on his fins and bowed to them as he backed into the water. â€Å"May your nads shrivel like raisins,† he said with a smile. They bowed back, more out of reflex than respect. The far side of the reef and five hundred yards down: The ninjas were going to have a fit. He'd never gone to the ocean side of the reef. Inside was a warm clear aquamarine where you could always see the bottom and the fish seemed, if not friendly, at least not dan gerous. But the ocean side, past the surf, was a dark cobalt blue, as deep and liquid as a clear night sky. The colorful reef fish must look like M to the hunters of the deep blue, Tuck thought. The outer edge of the reef is the candy dish of monsters. He kicked slowly out to the reef, letting the light surge lift and drop him as he watched the multicolored links in the food chain dart around the bottom. A trigger fish, painted in tans and blues that seemed more at home in the desert, was crunching the legs off of a crab while smaller fish darted in to steal the floating crumbs. He pulled up and looked at the only visible break in the reef, a deep blue channel, and headed toward it. He'd have to go out to the ocean side and swim the five hundred yards there, otherwise the breaking surf would dash him against the coral when he tried to swim over the reef. He put his face in the water and kicked out of the channel until the bottom disappeared, then, once past the surf line, turned and swam parallel to the reef. It was like swimming in space at the edge of a canyon. He could see the reef sloping down a hundred and fifty feet to disappear into a blue blur. He tried to keep his bearing on the reef, let his eye bounce from coral fan to anemone to nudibranch to eel, like visual stepping-stones, because to his left there was no reference, nothing but empty blue, and when he looked there he felt like a child watching for a strange face at the window, so convinced and terrified it would come that any shape, any movement, any play of light becomes a horror. He saw a flash out the side of his mask and whipped around in time to see a harmless green parrot fish munching coral. He sucked a mouthful of water into his submerged snorkel and choked. He hovered in a dead man's float for a full minute before he could breathe normally and start kicking his way up the reef again, this time resolved to faith. Whatever, whoever Vincent was, he had saved Tuck's life, and he knew things. He wouldn't have gone to the trouble to have Tuck eaten by barracudas. Tuck ticked off his stepping-stones, trying to gauge how far he had come. He would have to go out farther to see past the rising surf and use the shore as a reference, and besides, what was above the water's surface was irrelevant. This was a foreign world, and he was an uninvited guest. Then another flash, but this time he fought the panic. Sunlight on something metal about thirty feet down the slope of the reef. Something waving in the surge near the flash. He rested a second, gathered his breath, and dove, swooping down to grab the object just as he recognized what it was: a set of military dog tags on a beaded metal chain. He shot to the surface and hovered as he caught his breath and read: SOMMERS, JAMES W. James Sommers was a Presbyterian, according to the dog tag. Somehow Tuck didn't think that a thousand-yard swim was worth finding a pair of dog tags. But there was the swath of fabric still down there. Tuck hadn't gotten a good look at it. He tucked the tags into the inside pocket of his trunks and dove again. He kicked down to the swath of cloth, holding his nose and blowing to equalize the pressure on his ears, even as the air in his lungs tried to pull him to the surface, away from his prize. It was some kind of printed cotton. He grasped at it and a piece came away in his hand. He pulled again, but the cloth was wedged into a crevice in the reef. He yanked and the cloth came away, revealing something white. Out of breath, he shot to the surface and examined the cloth. Flying piggies. Oh, good. He'd risked his life for Presbyterian dog tags and a flying piggies print. One more dive and he saw what it was that had wedged into the crevice: a human pelvic bone. Whatever else had been here had been carried away, but this bone had wedged and been picked clean. Someone wearing flying piggies boxers had become part of the food chain. The swim back to the channel seemed longer and slower, but this time Tuck forgot his fear of what might lurk behind the vasty blue. The real danger lay back on shore. And how does one, over dinner, proffer the opinion that one's employers are murdering organ thieves? â€Å"Stay on the sly,† Vincent had said. And so far he seemed to know what he was talking about. 43 Boiling the Puppets â€Å"Oh, come in, Mr. Case. Sebastian is out on the lanai.† She wore a white raw silk pant suit, cut loose in the legs and low at the neck, a rope of pearls with matching earrings. Her hair was tied back with a white satin bow and she moved before him like the ghost of good housekeeping. â€Å"How do you feel about Pacific lobster?† â€Å"I like it,† Tuck said, looking for some sign from her that she knew that he knew. There was no acknowledgment of her appearance in his room last night or that she had any suspicion of him at all. Tuck said, â€Å"I feel like I'm taking advantage coming to dinner empty-handed. I ought to have you and the doc over to my place some evening.† â€Å"Oh, do you cook too, Mr. Case?† â€Å"A few things. My specialty is blackened Pez.† â€Å"A Cajun dish?† â€Å"I learned to make it in Texas, actually.† â€Å"A Tex-Mex specialty, then.† â€Å"Well, a fifth of tequila does make it taste a little better.† She laughed, a polite hostess laugh, and said, â€Å"Can I get you something to drink?† â€Å"You mean a drink or some liquid?† â€Å"I'm sorry. It does seem constraining, I'm sure, but you understand, you might have to fly.† She had a large glass of white wine on the counter where she had been working. Tuck looked at it and said, â€Å"But performing major surgery under the influence is no problem, right?† That was subtle, Tuck thought. Very smooth. I am a dead man. Her eyes narrowed, but the polite smile never left her lips. â€Å"Sebastian,† she called, â€Å"you'd better come in, dear. I think Mr. Case has something he wants to discuss with us.† Sebastian Curtis came through the french doors looking tall and dignified, his gray hair brushed back, his tan face striking against the gray. To Tuck he looked like any number of executives one might see at a yacht club, a retired male model perhaps, a Shakespearean actor finally finished with the young prince and lover roles, seasoned and ready to play Caesar, Lear, or more appropriately, Prospero, the banished wizard of The Tempest. Tuck, still in his borrowed clothes, baggy and rolled at the cuffs, felt like a beggar. He fought to hold on to his righteous indignation, which was an unfamiliar emotion to him anyway. Sebastian Curtis said, â€Å"Mr. Case. Nice to see you. Beth and I were just talking about how pleased we are with your work. I'm sure these impromptu flights are difficult.† â€Å"Mr. Case was just suggesting that we keep an eye on our alcohol consumption,† Beth Curtis said. â€Å"Just in case we might have to perform an emergency surgery.† The jovial manner dropped from the doctor like a veil. â€Å"And just what kind of surgery might you be referring to?† Tuck looked at the floor. He should have thought this through a little more. He fingered the dog tags in his pocket. The plan was to throw them on the table and demand an explanation. What had happened to the skel-eton, the owner of the tags? And for that matter, what would happen to Tucker Case if he threw this in their faces? Mary Jean used to say, â€Å"In ne-gotiations, always leave yourself a way out. You can always come back later.† Go slow, Tuck told himself. He said, â€Å"Doc, I'm concerned about the flights. I should know what we're carrying in case we're detained by the authorities. What's in the cooler?† â€Å"But I told you, you're carrying research samples.† â€Å"What kind of samples?† It was time to play a card. â€Å"I'm not flying again until I know.† Sebastian Curtis shot a glance at his wife, then looked back to Tucker. â€Å"Perhaps we should sit down and have a talk.† He pulled a chair out for Tucker. â€Å"Please.† Tuck sat. The doctor repeated the gesture for his wife and then sat down next to her, across the table from Tuck. â€Å"I've been on Alualu for twenty-eight years, Mr. Case.† â€Å"What does that have to do†¦?† Curtis held up a hand. â€Å"Hear me out. If you want answers, you have to take them in the context that I give them.† â€Å"Okay.† â€Å"My family didn't have the money for medical school, so I took a scholarship from the Methodist Missions, on the condition that I work for them when I graduated and go where they sent me. They sent me here. I was full of myself and full of the Spirit of the Lord. I was going to bring God and healing to the heathens of the Pacific. There hadn't been a Christian missionary on the island since World War II, and I was warned that there might be a residual Catholic influence, but the Methodists have liberal ideas about spreading the Word of God. A Methodist missionary works with the culture he finds. But I didn't find a Catholic population here. What I found was a population that worshipped the memory of an American pilot and his bomber.† â€Å"A cargo cult,† Tuck said, hoping to move things along. â€Å"Then you know about them. Yes, a cargo cult. The strongest I'd ever heard of. Fortunately for me, it wasn't based on the hatred of whites like the cargo cults in New Guinea. They loved Americans and everything that came from America. They took my medicine, the tools I brought, food, reading material, everything I offered them, except, of course, the Word of God. And I was good to them. The natives on this island are the health-iest in the Pacific. Partly because they are so isolated that communicable diseases don't reach them, but I take some credit for it as well.† â€Å"So that's why you don't let them have any contact with the ship when it arrives?† â€Å"No, well, that is one of the reasons, but mainly I wanted to keep them away from the ship's store.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Because the store offered them things that I couldn't or wouldn't give them, and the store only accepted money. Money was becoming an icon in their religion. I heard drums in the village one night and went into the village to find all the women crouched around a fire holding wooden bowls with a few coins in the bottom. They were oiled and waving their heads as if in a trance, and as the drummers played, the men, wearing masks fashioned to look like the faces on American currency, moved around be-hind the women, copulating with them and chanting. It was a fertility ce-remony to make the money in the bowls multiply so they could buy things from the ship's store.† â€Å"Well, it does sound better than getting a job,† Tuck said. Curtis didn't see the humor. â€Å"By forbidding them to have contact with the ship, I thought I could kill the cargo cult, but it didn't work. I would talk of Jesus, and the miracles that he performed, and how he would save them, and they would ask me if I had seen him. Because they had seen their savior. Their pilot had saved them from the Japanese. Jesus had just told them that they had to give up their customs and taboos. Christianity couldn't compete. But I still tried. I gave them the best care I could. But after five years, the Methodist Missions sent a group of officials to check on my progress. They cut my funding and wanted to send me home, but I decided to stay and try to do the best I could without their support.† â€Å"He was afraid to leave,† Beth Curtis said. Sebastian Curtis looked as if he was going to strike his wife. â€Å"That's not true, Beth.† â€Å"Sure it is. You hadn't been off this island in years. You forgot how to live with real people.† â€Å"They are real people.† As amusing as it was to watch the perfect couple illusion go up in flames before his eyes, Tuck put out the fire. â€Å"A Learjet and millions in electronics. Looks like you did pretty good with no funding, Doc.† â€Å"I'm sorry.† And he looked as if he was. â€Å"I tried to make it on what the islanders could raise by selling copra, but it wasn't enough. I lost one of my patients, a little boy, because I didn't have the funds to fly him to a hospital that could give him the care he needed. I tried harder to convert the natives, thinking I might get another mission to sponsor us, but how can you compete with a Messiah people have actually spoken to?† Tuck didn't answer. Having spoken to the â€Å"Messiah† himself, he was convinced already. Sebastian Curtis drained his glass of wine and continued. â€Å"I sent letters to churches, foundations, and corporations all over the world. Then one day a plane landed out on the airstrip and some Japanese businessmen got out. They wouldn't fund the clinic out of charity, but if I could get every able-bodied islander to give blood every two weeks, then they would help. And every two weeks the plane came and picked up three hundred pints of blood. I got twenty-five American dollars for every pint.† â€Å"How'd you talk the natives into it? I've given blood. It's not that pleasant.† â€Å"They were coming on a plane, remember? Airplanes are a big part of these people's religion.† â€Å"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, huh?† â€Å"They always brought something on the plane for the natives. Rice, machetes, cooking pots. I got all the medicines I needed and I was able to get the materials to build most of this compound.† Beth Curtis stood up. â€Å"Oh, as much as I love hearing this story, I think we should eat. Excuse me.† She went to the kitchen area, where a large pot was boiling on the stove, reached into a wooden crate on the floor, and came up with a large live lobster in each hand. The giant sea bugs waved their legs and antennae around looking for purchase. Beth Curtis held them over the pot, puppeting them. â€Å"Oh, Steve, you got us a room with a hot tub. How wonderful,† she made the left lobster say. â€Å"Yes, I'm very romantic,† she said in a deeper voice, bouncing the bug with the words. â€Å"Let's go in now. I'm a little tense.† â€Å"Oh, you're wonderful.† Then she dropped the lobsters into the boiling water. A high-pitched squeal came from the pot and Beth Curtis went to the crate for another victim. â€Å"Beth, please,† the doctor said. â€Å"I'm just trying to lighten things up a little, ‘Bastian. Be still.† She held the second lobster over the pot, then looked at Tucker as she began her narration. â€Å"This is the crazed doctor talking. There's always a crazed megalomaniacal doctor. It's traditional.† Sebastian Curtis stood up. â€Å"Stop it, Beth!† She affected a German accent. â€Å"You see, Mr. Bond, a man spends too much time on an island alone, he changes. He loses his faith. He begins to think of ways to improve his lot. My associates in Japan came to me with a proposal. They would send me to a seminar in San Francisco to brush up on organ transplant surgery. I would no longer be selling blood for pocket change. They would send me specific orders for kidneys, and I could deliver them within hours for a cool half-million apiece. A dying man will pay a lot for a healthy kidney. In San Francisco I met a woman, a beautiful wo-man.† Beth came out of character for a moment, grinned, and bowed quickly, then went back to terrorizing the lobster. â€Å"I brought her here, and it was she who devised the plan to get the natives to comply with having their organs removed. Not only beautiful, but a genius as well, and she had a degree as a surgical nurse. She used her abundant charms on the natives† – she held the lobster where it could have a good view of her cleavage – â€Å"and the savages were more than happy to donate a kidney. Meanwhile, I have become rich beyond my wildest dreams, and as for you, Mr. Bond, now it's time for you to die.† She dropped the lobster into the pot and began to shake with a diabolical laugh. She stopped laughing abruptly and said, â€Å"They should be ready in about ten minutes. Salad, Mr. Case?† Tuck couldn't think. Somewhere in that little puppet show of the damned was a confession to cutting out people's organs and selling them like so much meat, and the doctor's wife not only didn't seem to have any regrets about it, she was absolutely gleeful. Sebastian Curtis, on the other hand, had his head down on the table, and when he did look up, he couldn't make eye contact with Tuck. A minute passed in uncomfortable silence. Beth Curtis seemed to be waiting for someone to shout â€Å"Encore!† while the good doctor gathered his wits. â€Å"What I'd like you to understand, Mr. Case, is that I – we – couldn't have taken care of these people without the funds we've received for what we do. They would have no modern medical care at all.† Tuck was thinking again, trying to measure what he could say and what he wasn't willing to reveal. He couldn't let them know that he knew any-thing at all about the Shark People, and, as Vincent had implied, he'd better find out more before he threw down the dog tags and Pardee's notebook. The doc was obviously stretched pretty tight by the situation, and Mrs. Curtis – well, Mrs. Curtis was just fucking scary. Play it chilly. They'd brought him here because they thought he was as twisted as they were. No sense in ruining his image. â€Å"I understand.† Tuck said. â€Å"I wish you'd been a little more up front about it, but I think I get all the secrecy now. But what I want to know is: Why can't I drink if you guys do? I mean, if you guys can perform major surgery when you're half in the bag, then I can fly a plane.† Beth said, â€Å"We wanted to help you with your substance abuse problem. We thought that if you weren't exposed to other drinkers that you'd relapse when you went back home.† â€Å"Very thoughtful of you,† Tuck said. â€Å"But when exactly am I supposed to go home?† â€Å"When we're finished,† she said. The doctor nodded. â€Å"Yes, we were going to tell you, but we wanted you to become used to the routine. We wanted to see if you could handle the job first. We're going to do the operations until we have a hundred million, then we will invest it on behalf of the islanders. The proceeds will assure we can continue our work and that the Shark People will be taken care of as long as they are here.† Tuck laughed. â€Å"Right. You're not taking anything for yourself. This is all a mercy mission.† â€Å"No, we may leave, but there'll be enough to keep someone running this clinic and shipping in food and supplies forever. And then there's your bonus.† â€Å"Go,† Tuck said. â€Å"Go ahead.† â€Å"The plane.† Tuck raised an eyebrow. â€Å"The plane?† â€Å"If you stay until we finish our work, we will sign the plane over to you, plus your salary and any other bonuses you've accumulated. You can go anywhere in the world you want, start a charter business if you want, or just sell it and live comfortably for the rest of your life.† Tuck shook his head. Of all the weirdness that had gone on so far, this seemed like the weirdest, if only because the doctor seemed so earnest. It might have had something to do with the fact that it was one of those things that a guy hopes all his life he is going to hear, but convinces himself that it's never going to happen. These people were going to give him his own Learjet. He didn't want to do it, he fought not to do it, he strained, but nevertheless, Tuck couldn't stop himself from asking. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Because we can't do it without you, and this is something that you can't get any other way. And because we'd rather keep you than have to find another pilot and lose the time.† â€Å"What if I say no?† â€Å"Then, you understand, we'd have to ask you to leave and you would keep the money that you've already earned.† â€Å"And I can just go?† â€Å"Of course. As you know, you are not our first pilot. He decided to move on. But then again, we didn't make him this offer.† â€Å"What was your first pilot's name?† The doctor shot a look at his wife. She said, â€Å"Giordano, he was Italian. Why?† â€Å"The aviation community is pretty small. I thought I might know him.† â€Å"Do you?† she said and there was too much sincerity in the question for Tuck to believe that she didn't know the answer. â€Å"No.† Sebastian Curtis cleared his throat and forced a smile. â€Å"So what do you think? How would you like to own your own Learjet, Mr. Case?† Tuck sat staring at the open wine bottle, measuring what he could say, what answer they not only wanted to hear, but had to hear if he was going to leave the island alive. He extended his hand for the doctor to shake. â€Å"I think you've got yourself a pilot. Let's drink to the deal.† An electronic bell trilled from the bedroom and the doctor and his wife exchanged glances. â€Å"I'll take care of it,† Beth Curtis said. She stood and put her napkin on the table. â€Å"Excuse me, Mr. Case, but we have a patient in the clinic who requires my attention.† Then the whiplash mood swing from officious to acid. â€Å"She presses that buzzer so much you'd think it was attached to her clit.† Sebastian Curtis looked at Tuck and shrugged apologetically.

Coca-Cola Management Strategy

Assessment 1 Case Study Report of Coca Cola Company Hang LU S81293 Executive Summary The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:  KO) is the world's largest beverage company, largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups in the world and is one of the largest corporations in the United States. The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola, invented by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in 1886. The Coca-Cola formula and brand was bought in 1889 by Asa Candler who incorporated The Coca-Cola Company in 1892. Besides its namesake Coca-Cola beverage, Coca-Cola currently offers nearly 400 brands in over 200 countries or territories and serves 1. 6 billion servings each day. [4] The company operates a franchised distribution system dating from 1889 where The Coca-Cola Company only produces syrup concentrate which is then sold to various bottlers throughout the world who hold an exclusive territory. The Coca-Cola Company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Its stock is listed on the NYSE and is part of DJIA and S 500. Its current chairman and CEO is Muhtar Kent. CONTENTS Introduction Company Background Mission and Vision Goals The Competitive Advantage of Coca-Cola Brands Five Forces Analysis Intensity of the Competitive Forces Generic Business Strategy Conclusion Introduction Coca-Cola has sold more than one billion servings every day. More than 10,450 beverages are consumed every second. It is present on all seven continents and is recognized by 94% of the world population. Coca-Cola grow from its humble roots as a home-brewed Georgia-based patent medicine to be the international soft drink powerhouse today. Coca-Cola used many technologies to achieve its rise to the top of the soft drink industry, defining new technologies and establishing paradigms that popped the status quo like a cap from a soda bottle. Through technology, Coca-Cola perfected Coke as a beverage and spread it throughout the world. Even today, the US soft drink industry is organized on this principle. â€Å"The Coca-Cola Company† is now the largest soft drink company in the world with products that include Coca- Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite, and Fanta etc.. It is employing about 71,000 people worldwide in over 200 countries. Coke produces about 400 brands consisting of over 2. 600 beverage products, such as water, juice and juice drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, teas, and coffees. Coke products are distributed though restaurants, grocery market, street vendors, and others, all of which sell to the end users: consumers, who consume in excess of 1. 4 billion servings daily. Company Background The Coca-Cola Company is now the largest soft drink company in the world. Coca- Cola became the largest manufacturer, distributor, and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups which operate in more than 200 countries. Coca- Cola was invented on May 1886 by Dr. John Stith Pemberton in Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia. The name Coca-Cola was suggested by Pemberton's book-keeper, Frank Robinson. He penned the name Coca-Cola in the flowing script that is famous today. Vision & Mission Coca-Cola has been marketed with catching marketing themes such as â€Å"Drink Coca- Cola† and â€Å"Delicious and Refreshing†. After years of globalization and brand building, Coca-Cola proudly pronounces its Mission Statement â€Å"The Coca-Cola Company exists to benefit and refresh everyone who is touched by our business†. And their goals: The basic proposition of our business is simple, solid and timeless. When we bring refreshment, value, joy and fun to our stakeholders, then we successfully nurture and protect our brands, particularly Coca-Cola. That is the key to fulfilling our ultimate obligation to provide consistently attractive returns to the owners of our business. Indeed, it was! Coca-cola's mission â€Å"our people and our promise† mainly focuses in Coca-Cola world is to celebrate, refresh, strengthen and protect. Coca-Cola feels that they should offer a soft-drink to the entire global community, which is environmentally safe and accepted. The company's mission is directed towards its soft drink business and the strategy management changes that will be forthcoming. Coca-Cola appeals to the long term interests of stakeholders particularly shareowners, employees and customers. This helps to support the local populations by offering job opportunities, and it also helps out the local and global economies in which the employees live. Woodruff's vision that coca-cola to be placed within â€Å"arm's reach of desire† came true from the mid 1940s until 1960, the number of countries with bottling operations nearly doubled. It is so feasible that the company can reasonably expect to achieve in due time. Coca-Cola strives to find new innovations to better its products and to stay a step ahead of its competitors as what is mentioned in the mission â€Å"the action we will take†. This is a key element in the company's drive to be number one in the industry. Also it is constantly looking for improvements in everything that it does, both in the production and the manner in which the company is run daily. Goals â€Å"That combination infuses all the elements of the strategy that we are implementing to deliver value to our share owners in the year to come, and well into the future: a) Accelerate carbonated soft-drink growth, led by Coca-Cola; b) Selectively broaden our family of beverage brands to drive profitable growth; c) Grow system profitability and capability together with our bottling partners; ) Serve customers with creativity and consistency to generate growth across all channels; e) Direct investments to highest potential areas across markets; and f) Drive efficiency and cost-effectiveness everywhere. † The Competitive Advantage of Coca-Cola Brands The company's sharp focus on its business also gives it a cost advantage. Although Coke earned less than five cents per 8oz serving last year, it did manage to sell about 380 bil lion servings! That kind of volume has advantages. The Coca-Cola Company has invested in building its trademark for over 113 years. Consumers worldwide recognize the Coca-Cola trademark and icons as symbols of quality and refreshment. Because Coca-Cola is the â€Å"ideal† soft drink that sets the benchmark for consumers' expectations, businesses that display and associate with the trademark immediately signal that they are committed to serving the most preferred soft drinks in the industry. The advantages of coca cola in adopting globalization trends are first of all with the economic scale that is bigger (talking about the whole entire world instead of one country, as mass marketing) it help coca cola to actually reduce the cost of producing adjusting to the country where the product is manufactured and price (cutting the cost of transportation, export and import cost as well as tax). It also helps coca cola to gain competitive advantages of a high quality product. The localize system or management help the company to expand the local network with the value creation functions and also established in low c ost markets, instead of the country of origins. They also can have a tight bound of long term contract with the low cost supplier in each country. Five Forces Analysis Today, soft drink industry is a very competitive industry to be in. Porter's five forces model shows us that there is already a strong barrier to entry established by the traditional concentrate producers such as Coca-Cola, suppliers' bargaining power is strong, buyers' power is weak, substitutes for beverage products are easy to produce, and the intensity of rivalry is strong since the industry is already facing a slow growth and high industry concentration. †¢ Suppliers' Bargaining Power Suppliers' bargaining power in this beverage industry is strong. For example, the soft drink ingredient producer – NutraSweet who specializes in producing concentrate sweeteners. Since there is a rising concern in health and safety issues in the soft drink drinking within the consumer market, the healthier sweetener, aspartame, that NutraSweet markets allowed it to have a high impact and input on costs of each bottler's product costs. Since NutraSweet was the only marketer that marketed the standard aspartame the costs of using NutraSweet's aspartame is relatively high compare to other substitutes such as sugar. Buyers' Bargaining Power The Buyers of the soft drink industry are the concentrate bottlers. Bottlers of the soft drink industry have a low bargaining power since they form the largest base (the greatest number) of all the elements of Porter's five forces. Most of the bottlers are Coca-Cola owned before 1980, and almost all of them are under some sort of contractual agreement stating that bottlers must accommodate the programs set u p by the concentrate producers' for the products that they have franchised. High fees are required of the bottlers re such as high start-up costs ranging from $100,000 to several million dollars, paying for two-third of promotional costs, while costs were typically split fifty/fifty for doing consumer promotion and trade. It is also hard for bottlers to identify their own brand identity since their products are made of concentrates and the names that they use are the names of the concentrate manufacturer . Coca-Cola, hence discouraging their own product differentiation. †¢ Rivalry Among Competing Sellers There is a strong barrier setup by the traditional concentrate producers. For new rivalry to enter into the market is extremely difficult since the two soft drink giants such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola have already created a soft drink tradition and branding. Also since the soft drink giants have already created their bottler network and also owned majority of them, it is even harder for new entrants to be gain an absolute cost and competitive advantage. Governmental policies also create obstacles to the new entrants in the cola industry since the word â€Å"Coke† is strictly mean Coca-cola. Current rivalry within the soft drink industry is mainly evolved around the two giants who are Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. The two giants owned most of the spacing for the vending machines, developed most the flavors for the popular products within the market, and occupied most of the soft drink market shares within the industry. They are able to utilize and plane well ahead of other smaller companies within the industry. Other smaller firms are mainly there for competition between the two firms. One example would be PepsiCo's purchase of Seven-Up's to expand its product line. Once Coca-Cola is aware of PepsiCo's expansion, readily they are also willing to purchase Dr Pepper. However since the buyout of Seven-Up's domestic operations was blocked by the Federal Trade, Coca- Cola also dropped its pursuit on Dr Pepper. In the current soft drink industry, there is a constant battle between Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. †¢ Substitute Products Threats of substitutes are high since soft drink industry is a highly unstable industry. Switching costs for the consumers are extremely low since the pricing of soft drinks is cheap and consumer's taste is ever changing. There is no tradeoff for the consumers to switch to other products so it is easy for consumers to change their loyalties. One example would be the Pepsi Challenge rose by PepsiCo over the states. The challenged had blinded people over the states tasted different brands of soft drinks and found out that majority of them liked Pepsi over Coke, thus PepsiCo's Pepsi-Cola was able to gain market share and attracted a larger market share. †¢ Potential New Entrants The soft drink industry is an extremely difficult industry to get into. The existing soft drink industry is already dominated by experienced dominant players with over century-long experience, new entrants would have to be truly unique to be able to gain an absolute competitive advantage within this industry. If their products are unique, they would not have to worry about the fear of product substitution. Once the new entrants have gained an absolute advantage within the industry, they would have to deal with the suppliers who may have a strong bargaining power over pricing on the ingredients they need. Apart from that, they would need buyers, which are bottlers in this case. Once they have a base of bottlers with them, then only they have a chance of success in this industry. Intensity of the Competitive Forces Coca-Cola created a very strong barrier to entry for its competitors. New entry into the market is extremely difficult. The two soft drink giants, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo controlled the whole market. In addition, Coca-Cola has already created its bottler network and also owned majority of them, it is even harder for new entrants to gain an absolute cost and competitive advantage. The threats of substitutes are high since soft drink industry is a highly unstable industry. Switching costs for the consumers are extremely low and there is no trade-off for the consumers to switch to other products so it is easy for consumers to change their loyalties. Generic Business Strategy In order to gain competitive edge in the consumer market, other than responding quickly to the external forces and its internal environment, Coca-cola also looks into its position within the industry. The generic competitive strategies pursued by Coca-Cola are: Low Cost Strategy & Broad Differentiation Strategy Coca-Cola is seen to have employed these two competitive strategies: Focused Low Cost and Broad Differentiation. The company has chosen to serve the consumer drink market and achieved cost savings by means of: ) Achieving economies of scale in the mass production of all Coca-Cola products lowers its unit cost. ii) Long learning, knowledge and experience in production and process, as the company existed more than a century. iii) Efficiency and effectiveness in manufacturing and distribution network. iv) Sharing of research and development, advertising and promotions cost among the brands carried by Coca-Cola has enabled to achieve economies of scope. C oca-Cola uses Broad Differentiation strategy on the basis of: i) Offering of wide range of its drink products . round 230 brands are currently being offered in the global market. ii) High brand image and recognition have resulted in superior product perception among consumers. iii) Packaging and bottling . The use of contoured shape bottle and the slim curly font have made Coca-Cola an easily recognized symbol. Conclusion Nowadays, Coca-Cola is not just a brand. It’s already a part of people’s life. It leads carbonated soft-drink industry growth. The company is monopolize the beverage market over a century. However, People are becoming increasingly health conscious, this has led to a decrease in the consumption of soft drink. It is the big challenge for coca-cola company in the future. References 1. ^ â€Å"Board of Directors Elects Muhtar Kent Chairman†. The Coca-Cola Company. April 23, 2009. http://www. thecoca-colacompany. com/presscenter/nr_20090423_muhtar_kent. html. Retrieved 2009-05-02. 2. ^ Coca-Cola Products: New Coca-Cola Products, Brands of Beverages & More 3. ^ â€Å"2009 Form 10-K Annual Report†. Form 10-K. The Coca-Cola Company. 2009. http://www. thecoca-colacompany. com/investors/form_10K_2008. html. Retrieved 2009-08-31. 4. Cola Wars : Five Forces  Analysis October 18, 2007