Investment Portfolio Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Investment Portfolio - Assignment Example Both children also have 529 plans established, gifted to them by their grandparents ten years ago. Therefore, college tuition is not considered a financial objective, as higher education will be essentially paid for through these particular savings plans. Finally, the investor has ten years left on a 30-year mortgage note, thereby paying off the loan ten years before he enters retirement. The monthly mortgage payment is approximately $1125. Since the couple looks at their residence as their dream home, they have no intentions of ever selling their property nor do they intend to purchase a second home. They do not foresee any other significant expenses on the horizon; however, they do have an emergency fund valued at $10,500 to cover any problems that may creep into their financial picture. It can be assumed, then, that their objective will not include constructing an emergency reserve. They can, and will, focus solely on retirement savings. I. Investment Policy: A study conducted by Klein and Iammartino in 2010 states that Modern Portfolio Theory supports the notion that there are three main factors that must be considered when selecting the various investment vehicles that will comprise a sound portfolio: diversification, risk tolerance, and time horizon. In this particular situation, the investor’s age and risk tolerance reflects a need for a moderately conservative approach to building the portfolio. While the investor still has some time on his side for wealth accumulation, stocks traditionally perform rather inconsistently, making it virtually impossible to predict what direction the securities will take on any given day. Of course, most portfolio profits are made by investing in securities, as their sheer nature is to grow money. But like anything in life, there is give and take. While highly lucrative, stocks are also highly volatile, which increases the risk that an investor could lose all money put into a particular security if the company is ch anging management, losing its competitive edge in the industry, or even worse, headed for insolvency. As times goes on and retirement inches closer, an investor will have less reaction time to deal with any of the above circumstances that are adversely affecting the portfolio’s performance. Consequentially, it makes good financial sense to build in shock absorbers to help alleviate any additional burdens the investor takes by putting money into equities. These absorbers are referred to as fixed income, which is a more secure asset class because these investments pay out through fixed interest rates for a pre-determined time frame and, in some cases, are insured, should the debtor become insolvent. Fixed income is mainly comprised of bonds and CDs. They are not as profitable as equities and can bring their own element of danger simply because more conservative investments typically cannot outpace inflation (think of your investments flying down a freeway with inflation as the highway trooper clocking the speed at which the money is growing). Still yet, they do provide guarantee, which gives the investor peace of mind that the money will never be lost. It can be said then that the aforementioned investor will need to allocate a certain percentage of his money to stocks, bonds, and finally, cash to provide necessitated liquidity in his portfolio, should there be another global downturn in

Dipole Moment of 5- Fluorouracil Molecule

Dipole Moment of 5- Fluorouracil Molecule Computational Term Paper: Theoretical studies on 5- fluorouracil to calculate its dipole moment, and how the values compare with other pyrimidine analog (namely uracil and thymine) and that of literature. Name: Farzana Nushin Rezvi Abstract: In this experiment, the dipole moment of 5- Fluorouracil molecule was determined using the Gaussian software, and compared with literature values. The dipole moments of other pyrimidine analogs, namely Thymine and Uracil, were also calculated and compared with literature values. The experiment gave insight to typical dipole moment values of uracil derivatives, and how the dipole moment of aromatic molecules can be influenced in the presence of –F, or -CH3 substituent. Introduction: The purpose of this experiment is to calculate the dipole moment of the anticancer drug, 5- Fluorouracil, and compare the numerical value with that of two other pyrimidines, Thymine and Uracil. Fig 1: Molecular structure of 5- Fluoro uracil (drawn by ChemBioDraw). 5- Fluorouracil is apyrimidine analog (nucleoside analogs that mimic the molecular structure of pyrimidines) of uracil molecule that functions as an anti-cancer drug; it is used in the treatment of several types of cancer, including that of rectum, colon, head and neck cancer.10 5- Fluorouracil belongs to the family of drugs called theantimetabolites. Antimetabolite drugs function by impeding vital biosynthetic processes or by being assimilated into macromolecules, and inhibiting their normal functioning. The fluoro pyrimidine drug, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) does both.9Cancer cells often use more uracil than normal cells, which indicates that uracil metabolism is a potential target for antimetabolite chemotherapy.9 â€Å"The mechanism of cytotoxicity of 5-FU has been ascribed to the misincorporation of fluoronucleotides into RNA and DNA and to the inhibition of the nucleotide synthetic enzyme thymidylate synthase.†9 Thymidylate synthase is an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion o f deoxyuridine monophosphate (dUMP) to deoxythymidine monophosphate (dTMP). dTMP is one of the three nucleotides (dTMP, dTTP, and dTDP) that eventually produce a thymine molecule. With inhibition of Thymidylate synthase, an imbalance of nucleotides results and increased levels of dUTP arise. Both of these factors cause DNA damage, therefore ultimately inhibiting cell replication. 5 FU is also seldom found in skin creams used for other conditions. However, it should be used in moderate/regulated amounts since the side effects of unregulated exposure can be severe.10 5-Fluorouracil is a derivative of Uracil. Another structural analog of Uracil is Thymine. As can be seen from the figure below, the molecules only differ in what substituent each has on C-5. Fig 2: Molecular structures of Uracil, 5-Fluorouracil, and Thymine. Thymine is one of the four nucleobases of DNA. Uracil is the RNA analogue of Thymine. Unlike Fluorouracil, these bases are regularly used by a healthy cell to construct new nucleotides (for multiplication, repair, etc.) The dipole moment is considered to be an elementary physiochemical property of a molecule. Interpretation of dipole moments by electronic charge distribution contributes to the understanding the molecular electronic structure and helps us gain deeper insight. The numerical values of the dipole moments also help us in evaluating the quantum mechanical calculations of electronic charge distribution, particularly in a series of homologous compounds, as in our experiment. Our experiment helps us understand the effects of substituents at C5 dipole moment of uracil. The dipole moment is a of these three molecules is an interesting study because in each case, the dipole moment is primarily influenced by the presence of electronegative atoms. The dipole moment of a molecule influences many of its properties and features (such as its colligtaive properties, how it interacts with other molecules, its behavior in compounds, etc.) In the molecules under consideration, the dipole moment(s) work as in the following figure (the dipole moment of uracil directed inbetween N3 and C4, with the substituent ‘X’ either strengthening, or weakening the dipole in the illustrated vectors)6: Fig 3: Vector scheme of dipole moments in uracil and in its derivatives6 (reproduced using ChemBioDraw) Experimental: For this Lab, the Gaussian software was used in calculating the dipole moment. At first, the molecule of concern was drawn using the software. Then ‘Edit’ option is selected to ‘Symmetrize’ our subject molecule. After that is done, we perform Gaussian Calculation Setup, by selecting Job Type as ‘Energy’, and under Methods changing the Basis set. The numerical value of the dipole moment is obtained from the ‘Results’ of the .chk file. The Gaussian calculation is repeated by selecting other Basis sets. The whole process is repeated for the molecules Thymine and Uracil. The molecule is drawn using Gaussian, and the Gaussian calculations repeated by selecting different ‘job types’ and ‘basis sets’. Results: The results obtained are represented in tabular form. The screenshots of the molecules as drawn in the Gaussian software are also given. Tables: Table 1: The theoretical and Literature values of 5-Fluorouracil dipole moment Table 2: The theoretical and Literature values of Uracil dipole moment Table 3: The theoretical and Literature values of Thymine dipole moment. Images obtained from Gaussian: 5-Fluorouracil Fig 4: Image of 5-Fluorouracil molecule as drawn using Gaussian software Uracil: Fig 5: Image of uracil molecule as drawn using Gaussian software Thymine: Fig 6: Image of thymine molecule as drawn using Gaussian software Discussion: The purpose of this experiment was to calculate the numerical values of dipole moments of the anticancer drug, 5- fluorouracil, and two other pyrimidines, thymine and uracil, and compare the obtained values with that of literature values. The dipole moment of a bond is defined as the mathematical product of the magnitude of the charges and distance between atoms under consideration11. The numerical value of the dipole moment can be calculated for each bond, as well as for the entire molecule. In this experiment, we use the Gaussian software for the calculation of dipole moments. The calculation of dipole moment is based on the allocation of atomic charges to the atoms in the molecule in a reasonable way.4 In the hands on experiment, this consists of assigning electronegativity values to the atoms and experimental structural information of the bonds. Topological methods, however, do not take in information about the molecular geometry or the conformational status of the molecule. The topological method currently in use is the Gasteiger-Hà ¼ckelmethod, which has the disadvantage of omitting the validation procedure. This renders the study impractical.11 The method of computation of partial charges employed in this experiment is based on the quantum mechanical calculation of wavefunction.11 For this report, wavefunctions were obtained using the ab initio method. Ab initio means based on first principles, these methods are based on quantum mechanics and attempt to solve the Schrà ¶dinger equation. â€Å"Ab initio methods use no experimental parameters in their calculations, although they use some mathematical approximations. The major disadvantage of Ab Initio quantum chemistry is the heavy demands on computer power.†12 The choice of basis set is one of the most important aspects of this computation, as our results depend vastly on the basis set employed. Basis sets are quantum chemical units of energy; basis set contains mathematical functions that can be used to determine the dipole moment, energy, and other quantum mechanical properties of an atom/molecule of study. Basis sets are considered to represent the wavefunctions of the electrons in the species.12 On the basis of atomic point charges, a molecular dipole moment can be calculated in a quite simple and fast way, and compared with literature values. To get reliable results using this method, one must select small and rigid structures.11 As the dipole moment is a property defined by quantum mechanics, wavefunctions can be used to directly calculate its values. Results derived with large basis sets (such as those reported in this paper) are in good agreement with experimental values. As we can see, our calculated values of the dipole moment align quite closely with the experimental values. One fact, however, stands out: the values of dipole moment get closer to the ‘literature values’ as the basis set is increased. However, quantum mechanical methods are not very useful when obtaining information about larger molecules.11 The dipole moments of uracil, as well as of its respective derivatives are listed in Table 1, Table 2 and Table 3. First of all, it can be noticed that all these molecules have pretty high values for dipole moments, compared to other aromatic molecules.4 This increase seems to be mainly due to the large electronegativity of the O atoms (resulting in large numerical values of the dipole moments of carbonyl groups) which amount to 4 Debye units in thiouracils, according to Schneider and Halverstadt 13 This value can be contributed to the relatively high polarity of the secondary amide carbonyl group in these compounds, as compared with the generally observed value of 2.23 Debye units.4 A pronounced change in the dipole moment is observed only upon the introduction of a substituent of a different polarity, such as Fluorine and Methyl group. In order to examine the effects of substituent on C5 on the electronic charge distribution in greater detail, many factors have to be taken into consideration. The first is that of electronegativity. Halogens are famously electronegative, with F atom being the most. The electronegativity of Fluorine atom pulls away electrons towards itself (and away from the ring) (Refer to Fig 3). As the dipole moment direction of –F atom is directed towards itself, it somewhat cancels the dipole moment of N3. This explains why 5-Fluorouracil has a lower overall dipole moment compared to uracil. Thymine differs from uracil in having a methyl group (-CH3) on C5. The main chemistry to understand here is that of the inductive and mesomeric effect. â€Å"Methylation at C5 and C6 mainly causes changes in the polarity of the C5C6 bond by way of increasing the ~-electronic charge on the atom at which substitution takes place.†6 Due to the positive inductive effect of the –CH3 group, electrons are pushed towards the aromatic ring. This adds to the ‘electron pull’ of N3 and contributes to the overall polarity of the molecule. It can be noted that substitution at C5 does not alter the dipole moment of uracil as much as a substituent on C6 would. (Since the substituents at C5 and C6 are differently oriented). For uracil, the dipole moment is directed in the N atom inbetween the carbonyl groups (as shown in Fig 3). However, the dipole moment is a more complicated calculation than can be inferred from a diagram as simple, lots of other data (such as bond angles) also have to be taken into account. Conclusion: The purpose of this experiment is to calculate the dipole moment of the anticancer drug, 5- fluorouracil, and compare its value with that of literature, and two other pyrimidines, thymine and uracil. Based on the data obtained with 5 FU, the experiment can be deemed to be successful, as it contains about 1-2 % error with respect to literature. In summary, we have demonstrated that these Gaussian calculations is an easy and convenient way to determine many physical and spectroscopic properties of these molecules in solution and can give an additional insight into their in vivo properties.1 Citations: Theoretical DFT and experimental NMR studies on uracil and 5- fluorouracil , B. Blicharska, T. Kupka / Journal of Molecular Structure 613 (2002) 153–166 Frisch, M. J.et al. Gaussian Development Version, Revision D.02. In Gaussian Development Version, Revision D.02; Gaussian, Inc.: Wallingford CT, 2005 5-Fluorouracil and thymine form a crystalline solid solution, Sarah A. Barnett, Ashley T. Hulme* and Derek A. Tocher, Acta Crystallographica Section CVolume 62, Issue 7, Article first published online: 10 JUL 2006 L.A. Curtiss, M.S. Gordon Computational Material Chemistry: Methods and Applications, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2004 Structures of the Molecular Components in DNA and RNA with Bond Lengths Interpreted as Sums of Atomic Covalent Radii Institute of Biophysics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Krà ¡lovopolskà ¡ 135, 61265 Brno, Czech Republic. Dipole moments of 2,4-diketopyrimidines: Part II: Uracil, thymine and their derivatives I. Kulakowskaa, M. Gellerb, B. Lesyngb, K.L. Wierzchowskia, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) Nucleic Acids and Protein Synthesis Volume 361, Issue 2, 29 August 1974, Pages 119–130 Chapter chemotherapy cancer http://www.oncoprof.net/Generale2000/g09_Chimiotherapie/Complements/g09_comp11.php (accessed Nov 19, 2014) Cole Parmer http://www.coleparmer.com/Product/5_Fluorouracil_99_5g/EW-88244-97 (accessed Nov 19, 2014) 5-Fluorouracil: mechanisms of action and clinical strategies, Daniel B. Longley1, D. Paul Harkin1 Patrick G. Johnston, Nature Reviews Cancer 3, 330-338 (May 2003) Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorouracil (accessed 3rd December 2014) Hans-Dieter Hà ¶ltje, Gerd Folker, Molecular Modeling: Basic Principles and Applications, VCH Publishers, 1997 Vol. 5 Samakhvalov A, Lab Manual for Physical Chemistry I, Rutgers University Camden 2014 Schneider, W.C. and Halverstadt, I.F. (1948) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 70, 262626 1

HALO:The Flood :: essays research papers fc

HALO:The Flood   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Today I am going to tell you about a great book I read lately. It is called HALO:The Flood. The Flood is based on the award-winning Xbox game, Halo. This book was interesting because it tells the story through several different perspectives. Some of the perspectives include: the super-soldier, Master Chief, an alien, another alien, a sergeant, and a few soldiers. Although some new character perspectives are introduced in some chapters, the characters die later in the chapter.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The story opens with the marines aboard their battle cruiser, The Pillar of Autumn. Suddenly, an alarm sounds because an alien race, known as the Covenant, has invaded the ship. Then the marines open up a cryo-tube. [a tube one can sleep frozen in] Inside the tube is the genetically enhanced super-soldier, known as the Master Chief. The Chief then defeats the aliens aboard the ship. After the invasion, the marines discover the ancient ring-world, called Halo. They then decide to search for weapons and other supplies on Halo. Unfortunately, the Covenant is also searching for something: Halo’s control room, which can activate a weapon capable of wiping the universe clean of all life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When the marines crash land on Halo, they discover a deadly parasite called Flood living under the surface of the ring. But instead of being carried by bacteria, it is carried by bulbous, blob-like things. When a living organism [including the Covenant] gets infected by it, they quickly start to mutate into rotting, deadlier versions of their former selves. The entire human exploration squad, including their captain, Captain Keyes, gets infected, and mutate into Flood combat forms. All except for, that is, Captain Keyes, who mutates into a huge, stationary Flood form, and later dies. When the rest of the marines lose contact of Captain Keyes and his crew, they suspect something is wrong and send the Chief off to investigate. Like the exploration squad, he soon encounters the Flood. After dispatching the first wave, he then fights his way through Halo to get to its control room so he can disable Halo. After doing that, he finds and fights his way through the wreck of The Pillar of Autumn so he can detonate its engines and destroy Halo for good.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When the Chief gets to the engine room, he cracks open the opening to the ship’s fusion core. After he drops a grenade down the opening and disrupts the fusion core, he has 15 short minutes to get off Halo before it explodes.

Real Estate Reservation System Essay

And helps to easily check the availability status of various properties. The assence of system is really important to be realized by each and every business. Giving importance to it makes a big difference of somehow uplifting of improving the process of the company. Floyd and Allen (2008), In recent years, many economists have recognized that the lack of effective real estate laws can be a significant barrier to investigate in many developing countries. In most societies, rich and poor, a significant fraction of the total wealth is in the form of land and buildings. Real Estate is a piece of land, including the air above, the ground below, and any buildings of structures on it. Real Estate can include business and or residential properties and are generally sold either by a relator or directly by individual who owns property. In the Philippines, one of the growing businesses is Real Estate development. Aside from the development and rising of tall buildings and establishment in the metropolitan area, nearby provinces are now on the stage of land development with its continuous expansion in the provinces such as, Laguna, Cavite, Rizal, Bulacan, Pampanga and Batangas. Some people may benefits from knowing about Real Estate when faced with personal and business decisions relating to housing, investment and other business activities. The researchers chose this topic because it will help the Employed Citizen of †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦City to know the effectiveness of Online Reservation System. Theoretical/Conceptual Framework Roosevelt (2008), Every person who invests in well-selected real estate in a growing section of a prosperous community adopts the surest and safest method of becoming independent, for real estate is the basis of wealth. The researchers chose the paradigm thru Floyd and Allen (2008) words that coordinated with the problems of this study. In order to understand the flow of the study, the researchers prepared a research paradigm. Employed Citizen of †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. City Hall Yr. 2012-2013 Effectiveness Accessibility Availability Uses Investment Housing Business Activities Fig 1. Research Paradigm The purpose of this is to illustrate the effectiveness of Online Reservation System in the Employed Citizen of †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. City Hall. Statement of the Problem This study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Online Reservation System to the Real Estate Company, especially this study is sought to answer the following questions. 1. What are the uses of Real Estate Online Reservation System in terms of: 1. 1 Investment; 1. 2 Housing; 1. 3 Business activities? 2. Does the effectiveness of the study corresponds with the following: 2. 1 Accessibility; 2. 2 Availability? 3. Is there an effectiveness in using Online Reservation system the Employed Citizen of †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. City Hall? Hypothesis

Bad Habits: Attitudes of Filipinos That Need to Change Essay

1. Thoughtless When someone celebrates birthday, graduation or winning the lotto in the neighborhood, the party lasts through deep in the night, keeping neighbors awake by the noise of an out of tune videoke singer. 2. Inconsiderate Even after agreeing to meet at a certain time, some Filipinos manage to fail this initial agreement, using alibis as traffic, got caught up with something or lost in the way, disregarding the feeling of someone who just complied with agreed time. If these folks can’t fulfill simple tasks, can we trust them when it comes to, say lending them our prized books or CDs, loaning them money or anything they promise? 3. Racist Many Filipinos complain of being racially profiled (Filipinas in Middle East are easy to get or gullible) but some of us look down on other people such as Indians as fellows with strange body odor who live off through usury. Or on Chinese neighbors who own bigger stores in the market as penny-pinchers. But we can’t look at ourselves and fix our flaws. Worse, see #6. 4. Too self-conscious Wants to know who are his or her stalkers at social media. Installs ‘who are my top viewers’ application which turns out as a link to a malicious website. Wants to get everybody’s attention to the point that they post celebrity, semi-naked or suggestive profile photos 5. Religious fanaticism While admittedly deeply religious people, many of us Filipinos are also living a life of hypocricy/inconsistency. Outside of the Quiapo church are shops that sell abortion formula and the island of Siquijor becomes a haven of faith healers who practice black magic. 6. Onion skinned We easily go ballistic whenever the word Filipino is used as dark humor in a script of an American sitcom or acelebrity mocking our â€Å"presumed† perfect accent. We are quick to call for apology even if they’re all meant as a joke. That may be a reason we become a topic of humor. 7. Short-sighted Some Filipinos prefer to receive a few hundred pesos in exchange of favors to a politician running for office rather than resist temptation and bond together for a better society and governance. Poor tricycle drivers are allowed to ply on dangerous streets — risking the lives and limbs of passengers — just to earn a living. 8. Laziness When going to the market, some Filipinos prefer to take the motorized bike and pay a premium instead of a 20-minute walk — to ensure a favorite TV show will not be missed. At the end of the day they lament how a hundred peso bill could no longer be stretched. Or they spend the whole day staring at the television, sending SMS on shows that offer prizes to ‘home text partners’. 9. Gossipmonger Many Filipinos live off talking about affairs of other people. Maybe that’s because it’s a major function of the Filipino culture. Who impregnated a neighbor’s teenage daughter? A barrio councilor has bad breathe. The baby of a close friend has a striking resemblance of the family driver. No wonder many families are broken, trust lost and friendships gone awry because of people trying to get in the way. 10. Undisciplined Pass laws that are easily broken: no smoking on jeepneys, no jaywalking on streets, picking flowers in the park or peeing on fences, trees or truck tires. Even wearing prescribed attire (‘please wear semi-formal wear’) when attending wedding ceremonies becomes a task difficult to. When we’re overseas we find it necessary to follow rules, but we seem to take our country and its simple laws for granted. 11. Crab Mentality Once a fledgling banana cue business becomes the talk of the barrio, everyone is riding the bandwagon and put up the same business. Eventually, every single banana cue business in the neighborhood fails and shuts down operation. If someone gets promoted at work, some Filipinos are good at making up stories; did he date the supervisor? Did she sleep with the manager? It also exists in the form of protectionism. Insecurity or lack of creativity drives this attitude. 12. Nepotism A bright yet not well-connected job applicant never gets the job position because it was reserved for a family member of an incumbent official or a reward for supporters of a candidate who just won in the elections. A well-connected passenger gets the airport’s special lane while hard-working OFWs sweat it out on a long line. 13. Freebie hunters Some Filipinos have got the nerve to crash into wedding parties uninvited or show up at a birthday party because they were brought along by a friend of an invited friend. They enjoy free electricity supply through illegal connections or enjoying a bonanza of free water from busted pipes instead of reporting the apparent waste or scarce resources. Often visits the house of a balikbayan/OFW who just arrived and ask — they don’t wait — for presents. 14. Allegiance by convenience Filipino politicians often change parties not because they found a better principled group, but to gain something — power, money or fame. When momentum shifts, be prepared to jump ship and switch loyalty. Read their biographies and be not surprised they’ve been into various alliances with no real accomplishment to show. 15. Rarely punctual Appointments are never meant to be on time as many Filipinos make it a habit of not making it on time. Meetings, parties, and so on. Teachers didn’t lack the motivation to make us punctual as tardy ones were meted with appropriate punishment. Shall we blame others for this? Traffic congestion, slow jeepney driver, hard to find location, ‘I was robbed’, and others in an endless list of alibis and excuses. 16. Propensity for ‘good time’ Gathering of friends isn’t bad. But if it always meant 20 bottles of hard liquor meant to be consumed overnight, that’s something. Just got the job? Let’s celebrate and have a drink. Just got the paycheck, let’s have a drink. When someone starts reminding them to be frugal and slow down on alcohol spending, they reason out, â€Å"it’s my money, you have no business interfering†, â€Å"this is just once in a while† or â€Å"I need to drink to forget my problems†. Yeah, right. 17. Treat OFWs as ATMs Some Filipinos are overly dependent on relatives working overseas that they don’t look for jobs or don’t attend classes because they are in â€Å"abundant supply of financial aid†. Worse, money remittance from OFWs are often spent only on luxuries like mobile phones and jewelry they can brag to friends. In many cases, nothing was allocated for savings or investment. When OFWs come home, families find it hard to explain where money was spent.

Nitendo Case Essay Example

Nitendo Case Essay Example Nitendo Case Essay Nitendo Case Essay ORAL TEAM PRESENTATION 1 Case No. 2 (text page C-17): Competition in energy drinks, sports drinks, and vitaminenhanced beverages. Suggested Questions: 1) What are the strategically relevant components of the global and U. S. beverage industry macro-environment? How do the economic characteristics of the alternative beverage segment of the industry differ from that of other beverage categories? Explain. 2) What is competition like in the alternative beverage industry? Which of the five competitive forces is strongest? Which is weakest? What competitive forces seem o have the greatest effect on industry attractiveness and the potential profitability of new entrants? 3) How is the market for energy drinks, sports drinks and vitamin-enhanced beverages changing? What are the underlying drivers of change and how might those forces individually or collectively make the industry more or less attractive? What key factors determine the success of alternative beverage producers? 4) What does your strategic group map of the energy drink, sports drink, and vitaminenhanced beverage industry look like? Which strategic groups do you think are in the best positions? The worst positions? 5) What key factors determine the success of alternative beverage producers? 6) What recommendations would you make to Coca-Cola to improve its competitiveness in the global alternative beverage industry? to PepsiCo? to Red Bull GmbH? ORAL TEAM PRESENTATION 2 Case No. 6 (text page C-95): Nintendos strategy in 2009 The ongoing battle with Microsoft and Sony. Suggested Questions: 1) What is competition like in the video game console industry? Do a five-force analysis to support your answer. Which of the five competitive forces is strongest? Which is weakest? Would you characterize the overall strength of competition in ideo game consoles as fierce, strong, moderate to normal or weak? Why? 2) What forces are driving changes in the video game console industry? Are these driving forces acting to make the industry more or less competitively intense? Are the driving forces acting to make the industry more or less profitable in future years? 3) What 3-5 key factors determine the success of video game console developers like Nintendo? 4) What is Nintendos strategy? Which of the five generic strategies discussed in Chapter 5 is Nintendo using? What are some of the recent offensive and/or defensive strategies that Nintendo has employed? Have these tactics been successful? 5) Is it fair to characterize Nintendos introduction of the Wii as a blue ocean strategy? Why or why not? 6) How well is Nintendos strategy working in terms of the financial performance it is delivering? Should shareholders be pleased? Why or why not? What 2-3 weaknesses? 7) What does a SWOT analysis reveal about the attractiveness of Nintendos overall situation? Is the companys competitive position as solid as top management seems to believe? Does the company have a competitive advantage? If so, what is the basis for this competitive advantage and is the advantage sustainable? 8) What does a competitive strength assessment (as per the methodology in Table 4. 2 of Chapter 4) reveal about whether Nintendo has a competitive advantage? 9) What recommendations would you make to Nintendo to improve its competitiveness in the video game console industry and to maintain its favorable positioning vis-? ¤-vis Microsoft and Sony? ORAL TEAM PRESENTATION 3 Case No. 10 (text page C-1 56): Research in Motion Managing explosive growth. 1) What are the dominant economic characteristics of the wireless communications industry? What are the distinguishing features of the market for smart phones? 2) What is competition like in the wireless phone industry? Which of the five competitive forces is strongest? Which is weakest? What competitive forces seem to have the greatest effect on industry attractiveness? 3) How is the wireless phone industry changing? What are the underlying drivers of change and how might those driving forces change the industry? 4) What strategic approach has Research in Motion chosen to employ in international markets? Would you characterize its strategy as a global strategy or a localized multicountry strategy? How has it utilized location to build competitive advantage? 5) How important is it for Research in Motion to increase the size of its pool of software developers? What are the different options for substantially increasing its R staff? 6) Which option for increasing the number of software developers should Research in Motion pursue? Explain how your recommended course of action is consistent with Research in Motions resources, organizational capabilities, and management preferences. ORAL TEAM PRESENTATION 4 CASE 17 (PAGE C-270): Adidas in 2009 Has corporate restructuring increased shareholder value? 1 . What is adidas corporate strategy? Was there a common strategic approach utilized in managing the companys lineup of sporting goods businesses prior to its 2005-2006 restructuring? Has the corporate strategy changed with restructuring? 2. What is your evaluation of adidas line-up of businesses in 2009? What does a 9-cell industry attractiveness/business strength matrix displaying adidas business units look like? 3. Does adidas business line-up exhibit good strategic fit? What value-chain match- evident? Prior to its divestiture, what kind of strategic fl ts existed between adidas core business and its Salomon business unit? 4. Has adidas business line-up exhibited good resource fit between 1998 and 2008? What have been the financial characteristics of its major business segments during that time period? Which businesses might have been considered cash hogs and cash cows? 5. Based on your analysis of adidas businesses, did the restructuring undertaken in 2005 and 2006 make sense? Does it appear the acquisition of Reebok International will produce higher returns for shareholders? What strategic actions should adidas top management initiate to improve the companys financial and market performance now that restructuring is complete?

Lovely People do Stupid things essays

Lovely People do Stupid things essays How is love to influence our lives? Love-struck people do crazy things to express how they care for that particular person yet it is a long and windy road to these actions. It is down this path that experience spawns and trouble and happiness are felt. Janie Crawford of Zora Neale Hurstons Their Eyes Were Watching God, shows the road through the steps of her three relationships. These relationships, though not fulfilling ones, conclude in bettering Janies search and understanding of life. Johnny Taylor, Janies first kiss and gatekeeper to her future, When Janie was sixteen, she embarked on a sexual awakening. Johnny Taylor was a poor young man who lived in the Florida area. Janie allowed him to kiss her over the fence. Unfortunately, Nanny saw everything. With Nannys horrendous background of sinful deeds done to her, she wanted the best for Janie. As she saw the kiss, the doors of life opened for Janie and Nanny wasnt going to have her make the same mistakes that she had. Yet, Nanny had been impregnated under the circumstances of being a slave and this was not the case for Janie. Nanny stated that black women were the mules of the world, but she didn't want Janie to be a mule. She wanted to see Janie in a secure situation before she died, and Logan Killicks could provide that. Janie did not want to marry Logan, but she did so because Nanny told her that she would eventually come to love him. Ironically, Logan wanted to force Janie into the servitude that Nanny feared. Also, he was disappointed that Janie never returned his affection and attraction. If he could not possess her through love, he would possess her by demanding her submission. At heart, his actions arose from the fear that Janie would leave him. Two months after her marriage to Logan, Janie visited Nanny to ask when she would start loving him. Nanny berated Janie for not appreciat ...