Silvio Napoli Schindler Case free essay sample

Schindler is a Switzerland based elevator manufacturing company founded by Robert Schindler in 1874. Since its inception, the company has generated billion dollar revenues and is regarded as the technology leader in elevator manufacturing. Alfred N. Schindler, who is the 4th generation of the family to lead the company, has seen growth potential for the company in India and is attracted by the growing demands for elevators in that particular part of the world. After negotiations for a joint venture with a local Indian firm BBL has failed, Schindler decides to establish its wholly owned subsidiary in India. To lead the implementation of this plan Schindler has appointed Silvio Napoli, a Harvard MBA graduate as the head of the Indian subsidiary project. With the appointment of Silvio Napoli as the Head, several issues come up as the reality of starting up a new subsidiary in a country that is culturally different proves to be more challenging than what was initially anticipated. We will write a custom essay sample on Silvio Napoli Schindler Case or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page From having to deal with the newly formed management team taking orders for customized elevators, which is not part of the business plan written out by Napoli emphasizing the sale of standardized elevators only, to not getting full support from the European plants in regards to the request for parts and design specifications for the elevators, implementation of Napoli’s business plan is proving to be more perplexing than initially planned. Such issues raise the questions of whether appointing Silvio Napoli as the Head of the project is the right decision and how Luc Bonnard, who is the vice chairman of Schindler, would evaluate Napoli’s performance on the project thus far. Was Silvio Napoli the right choice for general manager of Schindler’s India operations? Assessing whether Silvio Napoli was the right choice for general manager position will require looking at his strengths and weaknesses, accomplishments, as well as his compatibility with the new management team and the host country. In terms of professional qualifications, Napoli is no doubt the right choice. A Harvard MBA graduate with various accomplishments up his sleeve, Napoli has the necessary knowledge and experience to lead a new subsidiary. He reports directly to the CEO of Schindler and is the only â€Å"non-member to attend VRA meetings† (Fagan, Yoshino, Bartlett, 2006, p. 3), which are reserved exclusively for the corporate executive committee consisting of Alfred Schindler, Luc Bonnard, and Alfred Spoerri. In addition to this, Napoli has a proven success record with regards to the Swatch Project, which is the first major assignment that he took, in which he redesigned Schindler’s entire supply chain to bring costs down and increase profits as mentioned by Fagan et al. (2006, p. 3). In addition to this, since Napoli is the person who came up with this business plan, it may be best that he is the one who leads the realization of such plan. Moreover, although Napoli’s strict and demanding leadership style is often seen criticized for not being adaptive to the culturally different management styles of his newly formed team, it is effective in helping Napoli achieve the task at hand. As Fagan et al. (2006, p. 6) describes â€Å"Napoli expected things to be done yesterday, but in India things do not get done yesterday†. From this, Napoli’s bureaucratic leadership style is evident. According to Grayson (n. d. , Bureaucratic Leadership Style section) bureaucratic leadership style is most effective when you want things to be done precisely the way it is planned in an organized and timely manner. This means that such style of leadership is best suited for the task in hand at that time, as such tight control style of leadership has the ability to ensure efficiency in getting things done which in this case is to cut costs and increase productivity in the manufacturing of the elevators. Considering the partisan perspectives however, it also becomes clear that Napoli’s cultural and organizational background do not quite fit in with that of India’s which soon ends up leading to various cultural management issues within the newly formed subsidiary. To begin with, his Swiss-Italian background differs greatly from India from a cultural perspective. It goes without saying that the country of Switzerland, which is where the headquarter of Schindler company is located, lies on the opposite spectrum of cultural dimensions as identified by the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness) Study when compared to India. This study was conducted with the intent of finding out the relationship between culture and leadership. And according to a review of this study by Hoppe (2007), the major premise is that â€Å"leader effectiveness is contextual, that is, it is embedded in the societal and organizational norms, values, and beliefs of the people being led. † This means for Napoli, whose leadership and cultural background being different from that of the management team he is assigned to lead, creates conflicts and undermines Napoli’s potential ability to lead effectively. This factor is reinforced when we look at the country clusters resulting from the findings of the GLOBE study (refer to Appendix A). It can be clearly seen that India belongs to the ‘Southern Asia’ cluster whereas Switzerland belongs to the ‘Latin Europe’ cluster. And these two clusters are on polar opposite ends of the ‘Humane Orientation’ dimension (Appendix A). What this means is that for someone like Napoli, who comes from an individualist society where individual achievements are regarded as high priority, it may be hard to realize the power and importance of interpersonal relationships. But for a manager in India, the role of human interactions is regarded as very important, and hence the high value on humane orientation and in-group collectivism for India. This mismatch in cultural management can hurt the team’s potential to achieve their intended objectives. This discrepancy in management style can be seen when Fagan et al. (2006, p. 6) mentions that â€Å"Napoli’s Indian staff and colleagues described him as driving very hard, impulsive, impatient, and at times over-communicative†, which contrasted sharply for his colleague and co-leader M. K. Singh, whom â€Å"one manager saw as friendly and easygoing. † In addition to this mismatch in cultural management, there is also incongruity in the kind of organizational environment that Napoli has to work in within the Indian subsidiary. As stated in the case by Fagan et al. (2006, p. 7), the employees describe the new Indian subsidiary’s company culture as â€Å"informal, open, responsive, and proactive†. And for Napoli this is not something that he is used to as back in the Swiss headquarters, the company hierarchy â€Å"was clear, politeness important, and first names rarely used† (Fagan et al. , 2006, p. 3). Lastly, the strategy to reuse the Swatch Project formula of having standardized products does not seem feasible given that the Indian market is completely different and customers demand different needs. With the intentions of segmenting the market into low-rise and mid-rise elevators and targeting to hit low-rise segment with the standardized products (refer to Appendix B for detailed Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning strategy for Indian subsidiary) Napoli has taken the approach to apply the existing values and strategies of the company into a predetermined business plan. This does not work as for the culturally different Indian managers as they prefer to incorporate the needs and demands of the general customers with focus on relationships before applying any practices All things considered, it can be said that Silvio Napoli was the right person for the job. But what the Schindler headquarters back in Switzerland should have done is before deploying Napoli to India to implement the start-up plan, he should have received some kind of cultural management training or support from the European parent company. Initial research into the workings of Indian culture should have been carried out in addition to the research on the Indian elevator market. Such training and research could have prepared him better and teach him to prioritize relationship orientation over task-orientation in a culture such that of India’s. How should Silvio Napoli have approached the nonstandard glass wall elevator situation? One of the major challenges that Napoli faces during the implementation of his business plan is the management team accepting an order for a customized nonstandard glass wall elevator. As stated by Fagan et al. (2006, p. 10) Napoli â€Å"was at first just surprised, and then pretty angry† about the situation. To Napoli, this is a violation of what is written in the business plan which all of them have agreed to commit. However, Napoli should not have reacted the way he did. The business model that he has built upon is based on the previous success and learnings of the Swatch project. The plan is to ensure short-term success for Schindler in India so that this can motivate continued operations further down the line. What Napoli fails to realize is that this approach does not fit in well with the Indian counterparts who hold more of a long-term orientation. To them meeting the needs of the domestic customers is regarded as higher than ensuring short-term success through the standardized product strategy. Therefore, instead of stubbornly continuing the standardized product approach Napoli should adopt the customization strategy as this will align with Indian culture’s orientation towards relationships which involve listening to the demands of the general public. Napoli should take note of what the customers want rather than strictly following his business plan, as the focus on standardized products does not give any flexibility, and it has been made evident through the first four orders that customers would not accept the products without customization (Fagan et al. , 2006, p. 10). It is not like Napoli does not know the need to adapt and adjust to the demands of the domestic market. He himself mentions that â€Å"to survive in India you have to be half monk and half warrior† (Fagan et al. , 2006, p. 6). What he means by that is one should learn how to embrace the monk part and learn to accept things that cannot be changed (Silvio Napoli Interview Video shown in class). Now if he embraces what he has said, and accepts the customization strategy there may be potential for increase in sales and positive turnaround past this particular obstacle. How would Luc Bonnard evaluate Silvio Napoli’s first seven month as the general manager of the India operations? What advice/feedback should he offer? Silvio Napoli’s first seven months have seen ups and downs. And in order for Luc Bonnard to evaluate and advise on the progress that Napoli has made several factors will need to be considered. Bonnard will need to assess the progress as per the business plan, the challenges that Napoli is facing and how he has planned to deal with them, as well as the performance and effectiveness of the new management team that Napoli has put in place. To begin with, Napoli has done a good job of putting together a cohesive and experienced pool of individuals for his management team. It is wise of Napoli to pick a group of experienced individuals who have the local knowledge and the know-how in their respective fields. On top of that, all of the 4 recruits for the management team are under the age of 55 (Fagan et al. , 2006, Exhibit 3), which is one of the favorable factors mentioned by Bonnard in his explanation for choosing Napoli to be the head of the India project. As mentioned by Bonnard, he needs individuals who are â€Å"young and flexible† (Fagan et al. , 2006, p. 4), and because the entire management team including Napoli is under 55 years old it is easier for them to be cohesive and work together on the same page. Hence Napoli has done a job well done on selection of his key managers for the India subsidiary as they are all compatible to one another. Furthermore, the fact that Napoli organizes meetings between his management team members help him run the company better as such meetings strengthen the communication within the team and make the new managers feel inclusive. However, these positive achievements are not without the accompanying negatives. For instance, as far as the progress as per the business plan is concerned, Napoli has not been able to achieve his targeted sales nor meet the initially targeted level of cost allocations. Now although some of the contributing factors are out of his hands, such as the price of elevator parts going up, Napoli could have had some kind of contingency plan set up in the business plan. His original business plan is also seen flawed as he fails to prioritize the need to meet the demands of the domestic market, and instead models his plan to aggressively pursue success through the low cost strategy. Rather than relying on engineering-based manufacturing Napoli should adopt a more customer oriented approach in dealing with the obstacle of customers wanting to have customized elevators as opposed to the standardized units that Napoli has proposed in his business plan. Moreover, it hasn’t been wise for Napoli to have to deal with both family and business matters. Napoli should have taken the initiative to establish the company first in India before bringing his family to relocate in Mumbai. The decision to bring the family during the early stages of company development is not an ideal one and is a mistake on Napoli’s part. In terms of advice, it should be suggested that Napoli review his original business plan and make necessary amendments to better fit the needs of the local market. He should stop relying on the practices adopted in the Swatch Project and instead do a thorough background research into India’s culture and amend his business plan. His new business plan should try to meet more realistic goals and adopt a customization strategy as this will satisfy the demands for customized products and have more flexibility on sales (refer to Appendix C for how Customers influence Schindler through Porter’s 5 forces analysis). According to a research paper on â€Å"A competitive model of customization with lead-time effects† by Xia N and Rajogopalan S custom firms are more likely to survive and succeed in markets with large potential, such as India. It is stated that â€Å"profit margin and price of the custom product are likely to be higher than that of standard products in equilibrium under certain conditions† (Xia, N. Rajogopalan, S. , 2009). Hence by learning how to adjust his behavior according to the customization needs instead of continuing his aggressive pursuit of success through low-cost strategy, Napoli will be able to generate more sales and establish a more relationship oriented supply of products. It is prominent that Napoli aims to meet customer expectations as this is the key to success. Instead of relying solely on standardized products to achieve break-even at the committed time, maybe Napoli should consider other methods to cut costs such as reducing the day to day operation costs. Last but not least it should also be advised that Napoli communicate the inefficiency in support from the European plants to the headquarters back in Switzerland as it is one of the influential factors (suppliers) affecting the success of Schindler’s operations in India (refer to Appendix C for 5 Forces analysis). As described by Fagan et al. (2006, p. 10) in the case Napoli feels the burden of being the middle manager as he faces the multiple demands form the Switzerland headquarters as well as from the newly formed Indian subsidiary. It is essential that Napoli gets the necessary support and cooperation he needs from his European counterparts to be able to effectively lead and run the India subsidiary. Conclusion In conclusion, although Silvio Napoli is the right person for this job certain cultural preparations should have taken place prior to his deployment in India by Schindler to avoid unnecessary difficulties. In addition to this, although the initially proposed business plan is partly successful Napoli will need to amend his plan including changes in the approach towards dealing with the customer demands, inclusion of contingency plans for unforeseen circumstances that are out of his control and flexibility in the sales approach. If these measures are to be taken it is no doubt that Silvio Napoli will be able to overcome any challenges, cultural or organizational, and institute a successful subsidiary for Schindler in India.

Acct. Term Paper

Acct. Term Paper Acct. Term Paper Kelly Okamura U57912123 SM 323 (A4) Core Pre-Assignment Part I Health Consciousness We live in an entirely progressive generation where we are bombarded by a plethora of newly emerging social trends. In fact, it seems that as soon as we are made aware of what is currently â€Å"trending,† a new social trend is discovered. However, what has seemed to steadfastly hold as trends are the fitness and health related ones. A few years ago, Atkins and the South Beach Diet were the most promising diet regimens. Now, we hear the terms â€Å"paleo† and â€Å"raw vegan† being thrown around daily. While these diet regimens have certainly made some headway towards more restrictive and extreme measures, the underlying purpose remains unchanged; that is, Americans who follow these dietary trends do so as a means of weight loss or maintaining a healthy body weight. As of this year, as many as two-thirds of Americans are categorized as overweight, whereby a third are considerably obese. We, as Americans, are becoming increasingly aware of the dangers of ma intaining unhealthy body weights, thereby offsetting a surge of diet regimens, workout routines, and the like; each â€Å"scientifically proven† to restore your health and bring you back to a healthy weight level. For anyone who has gone forth with one of these health trends, they can attest to the fact that it is not, in fact, an easy feat. Had it been so, we would not be faced with this sort of epidemic of American obesity. That being said, weight loss is not something that simply happens at the snap of the fingers or on a whim: more so if our genetics are not wired in such a way. Bearing this in mind, I believe it is safe to conclude that the social trend of health consciousness and diet will remain intact for years to come. Something that many Americans consistently struggle with is the ability to exercise self-control, specifically when it comes to food. We’ve all been there: lurking in front of the snack cabinet, making compromises with ourselves and promis ing that we’ll stop after one cookie. Yet in most cases, stopping after just one morsel is simply wishful thinking. The product that I have thought up for the market for the health conscious is called the Moral Support. In essence, it is a contraption that helps to promote a healthier lifestyle by exercising self-control and portion control for those who need the assistance of an external factor. The Moral Support is a programmable food dispenser, whereby users would put their favorite junk foods in and set a time and day whence the Moral Support will dispense a single serving of the food item. Upon dispensing the snack, the container will lock itself so as to prevent binge eating. It would also have an air tight seal on the lid, which would help keep the food items from being exposed to excessive moisture and becoming stale. Grooming/Hygiene Many of us start our days off by washing our faces as a means to wake up. For those of us who do so, we have all experienced the inevitable annoyance that comes from washing our faces: the trickle of water that streams down our elbows, wetting our shirtsleeves and our countertops. However small this annoyance may be, it is still an undesirable experience the first thing in the morning. It doesn’t make sense, though, to do away with proper hygiene because of this. A product that may appeal to those who run into this problem is some sort of wristband or wrist attachment that catches water right at the bottom of the palm. The market for this is promising, as nearly everyone undertakes this simple act of good hygiene, and this product may also be used for dishwashing. Part II Williams Sonoma Location: 100 Huntington Ave, #9C Boston, MA 02116 Phone: (617) 262-3080 Clerk: Rachel Date: 08/01/2013 Many of the clerks at Williams Sonoma were stuck in the same conundrum, after I had approached them with this pre-assignment: most clerks were used to being asked very

How to Build a Content Marketing Strategy Youll Actually Use (Template)

How to Build a Content Marketing Strategy Youll Actually Use (Template) Does it feel like youve spent tons of time creating a thoughtful content marketing strategy, only to have it fall to pieces in a month or two because of shifting priorities? This is the problem with most content marketing strategies they arent flexible. After all, it’s impossible to know in January what your organization’s situation will look like in June. So, your team needs to be agile. And your strategy needs to be adaptable. In this post, we’ll cover exactly how to create a content marketing strategy that will: Keep your team focused and organized, so you can plan your work, then work your plan. Ensure your content is aligned with real goals that’ll make an actual impact on your business. Stay flexible and adjust according to what’s working (and what isn’t). Plus, well touch on how makes it easy to plan and execute your entire content marketing strategy with the best marketing suite on the Internet. Start With Your Free Content Marketing Strategy Template Best of all, we won’t just tell you what to do. We’ll actually show you how to document your content marketing strategy. And well even give the template youll need to get it done completely free! Download it quick below, and then well move onto planning your strategy.How To Build A Content Marketing Strategy You'll Actually Use Table of Contents: What is Content Marketing Strategy? Why Should My Business Do Content Marketing? Which Content Marketing Tools Do I Need? Ten Steps To Creating Your Content Marketing Strategy Assemble Your Content Marketing Team Establish Your Mission Statement Establish Your Content Marketing Goals Audience and Persona Development Determine Content Types Choosing Content Promotion Channels Writing and Designing Your Content Define Your Content Creation Process Create Your Content Promotion Strategy Make a Plan to Measure Your ResultsWhat is Content Marketing Strategy A content marketing strategy is: â€Å"An in-depth marketing plan that highlights the topics, processes, and standards that each piece of content a marketing team creates must meet.† How do you define content marketing strategy? Why Should My Business Create a Content Marketing Strategy? Creating a content marketing strategy is vital to the success of your overall content marketing. Why? Because it gives your content team the direction they need to create remarkable content, measure your success (and failures) and stick to the plan you’ve designed. Still don’t believe a documented strategy works? According to our own data, marketers who document their strategy are 538%  more likely to report success. According to data from @, marketers who document their strategy are 538% more likely to...And that’s just the beginning. Check out this infographic for more statistics and data to help convince you to add content marketing to your overall marketing strategy: Sources: 1-2. https://.com/marketing-statistics 3-4. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/blogging-frequency-benchmarks 5-9. https://.com/marketing-statistics 10-12. oracle.com/webfolder/mediaeloqua/documents/Content+Marketing+Kapost+Eloqua+ebook.pdf 13-14. http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2017/10/know-like-trust-content/ 15.   https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics Some of the statistics and data from the infographic above can help you begin to fill in the content marketing strategy template that you downloaded earlier. Which Content Marketing Tools Do I Need? The fact of the matter is, content marketing can be a bear to handle. Using the right tools can help your team stay on track and organized. The question is, which tools does your team need? Content Management System A content management system is a must for managing and publishing content. WordPress is one of the most popular options out there, especially for creating company blogs. However, here are some other options you may consider: ExpressionEngine. Great for managing content on small websites. Drupal. Another option similar to WordPress, but with a less blogging-heavy focus. Sitecore. A powerful feature-rich enterprise solution. Joomla.  A free and open-source content management system for publishing web content. Squarespace. A software as a service provider for website building and hosting. Wix. A cloud-based web development platform Analytics Platform Analytics platforms make it easy to gather data and measure performance for your content and social media marketing efforts. Google Analytics is one obvious option here. However, there are tons more out there you might want to consider, too. They include: Matomo (formerly Piwik). This is an open-source alternative to Google Analytics. Open Web Analytics. Similar to Piwik. Clicky. Another option that's popular with bloggers. Adobe Analytics. An enterprise analytics solution. Angelfish Actual Metrics. A more affordable, alternative to Adobe. Chartbeat. Analytics for Editors. CoreMetric. Used by e-commerce websites. Content Marketing Editorial Calendar Calendars are essential for planning ahead, managing deadlines, and giving your team full visibility on all the content you're publishing. We recommend The Content Organizer (as you may have guessed) as the top choice for a content marketing platform. Here's a quick look at what we're all about: Social Media Scheduling Tool Social media is an important part of any content marketing strategy. That's both for promoting content  and creating awesome native social content. 's Social Organizer makes it easy to create and schedule social media posts for each of the top networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, and Google+). Plus, here are some other cool things you might not know about: With ReQueue, you can reshare your best posts automatically. And with Best Time Scheduling, you can make sure every post publishes at the ideal time, too. Plus, with our WordPress + social integrations, you can create and share content all in one place. even has a monitoring tool to help you stay on top of all your social media conversations. Every time we create a piece of content, we use each of the features above to spread it to our audience (and beyond). SEO Tools To get your content found in organic search and measure its performance, you'll need a solid set of SEO tools. Here's what we use at : Ahrefs. This platform is awesome for keyword research, link analysis, rank tracking, site auditing, and more. Moz. This platform is similar to Ahrefs and offers powerful functionality. Google Keyword Planner. It's more of a PPC tool, but still useful for keyword research in a pinch. Google Search Console: This free tool is vital for monitoring the health of your website. Marketing Project Management Tools Keeping a content marketing team in line can feel like herding cats. That's where project management tools come into play. Tools like Wrike and Asana are popular options. Here at , we use the Work Organizer to: Wrangle tasks  with Task Templates (which are reusable project checklists). Measure team productivity with Team Performance Reports. Discussions (built-in comment threads right inside our marketing calendar) to make communication and project management super easy. See and track daily tasks of the whole team with the Team Management Dashboard. Overall, what separates is that it's built specifically for marketing teams. That's why we use it ourselves (and the results speak for themselves). Once you have your tools selected, record them in your template: Which content marketing tools do you use to plan and execute your strategy? Ten Steps to Building Your Content Marketing Strategy The next ten steps are going to walk you through how to fill in the template you downloaded earlier and create your content marketing strategy. Step One: Assemble Your Content Marketing Team The first step in your content marketing strategy process is to document the team that will be working on the content from start to finish. Each team may look a little different, but some familiar roles are: Each member of your content team has a vital role to play. Remember that the role a person plays on a content marketing team may not necessarily match up to their title. Record your team members, their role and their responsibilities in your template: Recommended Reading: How To Structure Your Marketing Team To Create The Best Content Step Two: Establish Your Mission Statement The first part of the template that you need to fill out is the mission statement of your company. Your mission statement should be the promise that your organization wants to fulfill for your audience. Here’s a template to help you get started: The mission of [Insert Organization Name] is to provide our customers with [service one] and [service two] through [action one], [action two] and [action three].

Discussion Responses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Discussion Responses - Essay Example The manager of Human Resources however, failed to implement the changes in accordance with the guidelines. He neglected the most important step – to inform all employees that changes were about to be made – instead he told them when they were being made. Obviously the repercussions were terrible. 3. The manager needs to ensure that decisions are made within certain time lines. I think that like all people working within a schedule they keep working to the limits and constraints provided, so if the manager provides a strict time frame, that is in fact longer than that really required, he/she will attain what he/she wants within the ‘real’ time schedule. I don’t think you will ever come to the situation where you need to consider giving up. 4. Obviously management needs to follow up on the outcomes of made decisions but this should be done in such a way as not to undermine middle management personnel. Feedback should be sought from them rather than embarking on their own inspection. Trust and autonomy are paramount and if not considered by employees as provided, will impact negatively on future decision making. 5. One way to deal with change resistance is to organize a group of personnel to determine who are the protagonists and advocates of the change and to determine who are the most influential among the protagonists. Concentration should then be placed on convincing that person of his/her personal gain with the change and the disadvantages for them without the change. 6. Ethics are in the eye of the beholder. If we believe the decision is truly right then we should have made it in consideration of everyone involved. If there is an employee who stands to lose by that decision then this needs to be acknowledged and dealt with my offering alternatives for that employee. The ethical option is not to lie and deceive but to be honest. 7. I know that business is undertaken in very different ways within

Managerial Accounting Paper Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Managerial Accounting Paper - Coursework Example An investor would invest in the company when he finds it profitable for the long term or the short-term period. A company is profitable for the long term or the short term if it uses the available resources efficiently. To find that whether a company is using the resources efficiently or not, a researcher has to analyze the financial statements of the company. Along with this, the strategies taken by the company will also need to analyze. The vision, mission and goals of the company tell about the strategies that they are going to take in the future. Analyzing the financial position and the strategies taken by the company, an analyst can suggest the investor about his investing strategies in future. For investing in a company, the investor has to check the current trends in the industry. ... The researcher will analyze the performance of the company of past few years, the strategies taken by the company and the company’s performance from the industry perspective. The Investor’s Objective There are many types of investors in the market and their objectives are not same all the time. Some investors only aim for the short-term growth. For short-term gain the investors may trade inside a single day, i.e. they may buy and sell the stock in a single day. They can trade the stocks monthly basis. Their decision mainly based upon the movement of the stocks prices in a short term and the decision of the mass. When a huge number of investors sell a stock then these type of investors speculate that the stock price is likely to decrease and he also sells the stock. However, there are also other types of investors, who invest in a company for the long term. The objective of the investors is growth of the stock. They invest in a company for the long term. In this case, th e client of the researcher is the second type of investor. He prefers to invest for the long term. The researcher has selected the company BHP Billiton for analyze whether to invest more in the company or not. The researcher will analyze two situations i.e. the investor already holds the share of the company and the investor has not invested in the company until now. It will be recommend to the investor whether or not to invest in the company. BHP Billiton BHP Billiton is a company, which has formed in the year 2001, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. The company was the merger of Anglo-Dutch Billiton Plc and the Australian Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited. The company has a major office in the United Kingdom for the management purpose. The company is in the metals and mining

Airlines In Aviation Industry Of Malaysia Marketing Essay

Airlines In Aviation Industry Of Malaysia Marketing Essay Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is the government-owned flag carrier of Malaysia. It is the largest and last long airlines in aviation industry of Malaysia. There are two factors that are affecting the performance of MAS which are Macro and Micro Business Environment. Macro environment factors will be the beginning. Firstly, the political environment are newly set or amended by the government. Malaysia has a Civil Aviation Act 1969 [Act 3]  [1]  that makes better provision in the law relating to Civil Aviation and for matters connected therewith and ancillary to it. Secondly is the social cultural environment. The social and cultural dimensions of the environment consist of customs, lifestyles, and values that characterize the society in which the firm operates. MAS have take action to fulfill their social responsibility to participate in the carbon offset program and the Kyoto Protocol. Carbon offset program is one of the efforts made by people to slow down global warming and Kyoto Protocol is to stabilized the atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations at an appropriate level, thus preventing severe damage of climate change on human. Next will be the technological environment. MAS airline had advanced their technology to meet their customer needs in information technology such as provide online services. Demographic play an important role in affecting sales of MAS. As the population increase, the number of potential customers will also increase. The last one will be the economic environment. MAS have many connections throughout the world and it will give a big impact to the company if there are any changes in economy level. Second main factors will be the micro environment factors. Competitors are the main issue in the highly competitive market, thus MAS keep an eye on their competitors and try to predict their likely next moves in order to survive. Other than that, customers are the main resources of revenue to the airlines. MAS have to be able to find out the customers needs on the flight services. The quality of employees services has been upgraded to a different level by having the training program and academy the provided by MAS. Besides, the intermediaries are also playing an important role. Access to effective intermediaries can be decisive for marketing success. MAS got their own intermediaries to help them sell the flight tickets. The media helps MAS to create awareness to the public about the MAS and its activities or promotions. We have undertaken SWOT analysis to identify the company strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Our recommendations had been based upon the analysis. Business Environment in Malaysia According to World Bank, Malaysia ranks 24th in the Ease of doing business. Malaysia is an excellent destination to do business. Malaysia has a favorable demographic structure and geographically advantages. Meanwhile, the economy condition is stable at the moment. Malaysia government are welcoming foreign investment in Malaysia and establish legal requirement to guide and protect foreign investment  [2]  .  (Malaysia Business Environment, 2010) The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Malaysia expanded at an annual rate of 2.40 percent in the second quarter of 2010 from the previous quarter. From 2000 until 2010, Malaysias average quarterly GDP Growth was 1.18 percent reaching an historical high of 5.70 percent in September of 2009 and a record low of -7.80 percent in March of 2009 (Refer appendix 1.1). The inflation rate in Malaysia was last reported at 1.90 percent in July of 2010. From 2005 until 2010, the average inflation rate in Malaysia was 2.77 percent reaching an historical high of 8.50 percent in July of 2008 and a record low of -2.40 percent in July of 2009. Inflation rate refers to a general rise in prices measured against a standard level of purchasing power  [3]  (Refer appendix 1.2). (Trading Economics, 2010) Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Malaysia is set up following the holding of at least 10% of the total equity in a resident company by a non-resident investor.  Malaysia has been one of the most successful Southeast Asian countries in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).  Malaysia has been an encouraging economy to foreign investors. The FDI movement is derived from financial institutions and non transaction factors like foreign exchanges, price changes, and other changes during the reference period  [4]  . (Trade Chakra Website, 2010) Foreign envoys have commended Malaysias Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), an action plan that will see the country becoming a high-income economy by 2020.The comprehensive ETP, which was launched on 25 October, has 131 entry-point projects (EPPs), 12 reporting labs and 60 business opportunities, which will eventually create some 3.3 million new jobs  [5]  . (MIDA Official Website, 2010) The unemployment rate in Malaysia was last reported at 3.70 percent in March of 2010. From 1998 until 2010, Malaysias Unemployment Rate averaged 3.43 percent reaching an historical high of 4.50 percent in March of 1999 and a record low of 2.90 percent in March of 1998  [6]  (Refer appendix 1.3).  (Trading Economics, 2010) Malaysia is now moving-up the value chain and is currently focusing on attracting high-technology, high value-added, knowledge-based and skills intensive industries, incorporating activities such as design and development and research and development. The last decade has seen a deepening and widening of Malaysias industrial base as well as the further development of its services sector. As such, a strong foundation has been laid for the economy to move forward into the new globalised environment. Company Background Malaysian Airline System Berhad, also known as Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is the government-owned flag carrier of Malaysia. Malaysia Airlines operates flights from its home base, Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and its secondary hub in Kota Kinabalu. It has its headquarters on the grounds of Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Selangor. Malaysia Airlines had its humble beginning in the golden age of travel. A joint initiative of the Ocean Steamship Company of Liverpool, the Straits Steamship of Singapore and Imperial Airways led to a proposal to the government of the Colonial Straits Settlement to run an air service between Penang and Singapore. The result was the incorporation of Malayan Airways Limited (MAL) on 12 October 1937. On 2 April 1947, MAL took to the skies with its first commercial flight as the national airline. Fuelled by a young and dynamic team of visionaries, the domestic carrier turned into an international airline in less than a decade. With the formation of Malaysia in 1963, the airline changed its name to Malaysian Airlines Limited and soon after, Borneo Airways was incorporated into MAL. Within 20 years, MAL grew from a single aircraft operator into a company with 2,400 employees and a fleet operator using the then latest Comet IV jet aircraft, 6 F27s, 8 DCs and 2 Pioneers. In 1965, with the separation of Singapore from Malaysia, MAL became a bi-national airline and was renamed Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MSA). A new logo was introduced and the airline grew exponentially with new services to Perth, Taipei, Rome and London. However, in 1973, the partners went separate ways; Malaysia introduced Malaysian Airline Limited, which was subsequently renamed Malaysian Airline System, or simply known as Malaysia Airlines. Today, Malaysia Airlines flies nearly 50,000 passengers daily to some 100 destinations worldwide.   The airline holds a lengthy record of service and best practices excellence, having received more than 100 awards in the last 10 years. The most notable ones include being the first airline with the Worlds Best Cabin Crew by Skytrax UK consecutively from 2001 until 2004, 5-star Airline in 2005 and 2006, as well as No.1 for Economy Class Onboard Excellence 2006 also by Skytrax UK. It is one of only six airlines to be given a 5-star status airline by Skytrax (the other 5 are Asiana Airlines from South Korea, Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong, Qatar Airways from Qatar, Singapore Airlines from Singapore and Kingfisher Airlines from India).  [7]  (Malaysia Airlines Home Page, 2010) Macro Environment Political and legal environment The political environment is one of the less predictable elements in an organizations business environment. Political environment has a great impact on the opportunity and threats of Malaysia Airlines. The ASEAN open sky agreement took effect in December 2008 and is scheduled to be fully implemented by 2015  [8]  (Wikipedia, 2010). The agreement will allow regional air carriers to make unlimited flights to all 10 ASEAN member states. According to Minister of Transport Malaysia Dato Seri Kong Cho Ha, the agreement will further expand and open cities in ASEAN member nations and from all routes, and he also believes that it will bring regions positive development of the aviation industry. This development plan is including flight liberalization, aviation safety, air traffic management, aviation technology, aviation environmental protection, air management framework and human resources development. As the biggest government owned flag carrier of Malaysia, MAS also be protected and to consolidate its international image in the ASEAN. The Malaysian government has never had a clear written commercial air transport policy. The national carrier MAS was asked to operate both domestic and international services but in the early years, more emphasis was placed on domestic services. The case of the emergence of AirAsias approval to operate low-fare services both for domestic and international services cause a ridiculous situation where MAS had to compete with AirAsia which was charging low fares, being a low-cost carrier as MAS fares and rates were controlled by the government. However, since 2007, MAS has been allowed to charge its own domestic fares. By this, MAS can meet the demand of the public for low fares with a fair and balanced consideration  [9]  . (The Malay Mail Homepage, 2010) Besides, the policy of the other countries will also affect MAS performance. For example, the airport tax of Changi Airport in Singapore will be rise in 2011. The airlines and travelers using Changi Airport will have to pay more start from April next year. The travelers subjected to a passenger service charge and a security service charge which will be added to the price of the air ticket. This will result in budget travelers also paying more. This might reduce the number of customers to take flight with MAS to go to Singapore as they need to pay more on the tickets price  [10]  . (Airport Charge Website, 2010) The legal environment serves to define what organizations can and cannot do at a particular point in time. Normally acts and regulations are not directly affected MAS daily operation; it is only a way to decease the criminal. The following are Aviation Acts and Regulations: Civil Aviation Act 1969 [Act 3] An act to make better provision in the law relating to Civil Aviation and for matters connected therewith and ancillary to it. Carriage By Air Act 1974 [Act 148] An act to give effect to certain Conventions relating to carriage by air and to provide for matters connected therewith and ancillary thereto. Civil Aviation Offences Act 1984 [Act 307] An act to give effect to the Convention on Offences and Certain other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft signed at Tokyo on 14 September 1963, the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft signed at The Hague on 16 December 1970, the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation signed at Montreal on 23 September 1971, and the Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports Serving International Civil Aviation, concluded at Montreal on 24 February 1988 and for purposes connected therewith. Airport and Aviation Services (Operating Company) Act 1991 [Act 467] An act to provide for the vesting of property, rights and liabilities of the Government of Malaysia relating to civil aviation in a company, to make financial arrangements for that company, to provide for matters relating to staff and for other matters connected therewith. International Interest In Mobile Equipment (Aircraft) Act 2006 [Act 659] An Act to implement the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and the Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on Matters Specific to Aircraft Equipment. Social and cultural environment The social and cultural dimensions of the environment consist of customs, lifestyles, and values that characterize the society in which the firm operates. Social and cultural components of the environment influence the ability of the firm to obtain resources, make its goods and services, and function within the society. Social and cultural factors include anything within the context of society that has the potential to affect an organization. Population demographics, rising educational levels, norms and values, and attitudes toward social responsibility are examples of Social and cultural variables. MAS airline are not only do their business on Malaysia and also on other countries, especially Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Middle East and on the Kangaroo Route between Europe and Australasia. Every social and cultural factor of those countries may affect MAS airlines operation. MAS airline are trying many way to match all different cultural and social factors to gain their profit. And now MAS airline was co-operation with 31 airlines those from different countries to know more about the local cultural and social. As we know MAS airline has more 50 years doing their business in Malaysia, so they are always no forget the Malaysia people. We can know that from their uniform, female flight attendants are wearing Sarong Kebaya which are superimposed on the kelarai motif is a mixture of Malaysian flora, such as the cempaka, jasmine and the leaves of the hibiscus. Recently, MAS airline was launched some new services and promotions for their lovely Malaysia local people. Such as Balik Kampung, it means going back to hometown, the super low fares are also perfect for customer business and holiday trips with 5-star airline come standard at no extra charge. MAS have take action to fulfill their social responsibility to participate in the carbon offset program and the Kyoto Protocol. Carbon offset program is one of the efforts made by people to slow down global warming  [11]  (Refer appendix 2.1). With this environmentally friendly manner, MAS calculates the required economic cost to offset these carbon dioxide emissions, and then contribute to the specialized enterprises or institutions after aware that 2% of the worlds carbon emissions of greenhouse gases are contributed by the aviation industry. (Wikipedia, 2010) The purpose of the Kyoto Protocol is stabilized the atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations at an appropriate level, thus preventing severe damage of climate change on human  [12]  . Malaysia as one of the signatories, MAS also has an obligation to perform their responsibilities to restore the harsh environment of earth. Besides that, MAS also implement the Green Plan Concept in their operation and management that consist of Reduce, Recycle, and Re-use. The plan not only focuses to reduce material and energy consumption, reduce emissions of harmful substances, but also concerned in make products and components to facilitate the separate collection and recycling or re-use. (Wikipedia, 2010) Technology environment Technology is another aspect of the environment a firm should consider in developing strategic plans. Changing technology may affect the demand for a firms products and services, its production processes, and raw materials. Technological changes may create new opportunities for the firm, or threaten the survival of a product, firm, or industry. Technological innovation continues to move at an increasingly rapid rate. MAS airline had advanced their technology to meet their customer needs in information technology such as provide online services (tickets selling) that able to reserve the seats their needs (Refer appendix 2.2). MAS airline was providing e-ticketing, its an easy way for their customer to purchase ticket but only can allow a party of 9 passengers and below in a single booking. There is a 6 alphanumeric character given during booking and also printed on your E-Ticket. It is also referred to as Booking Reference, Reloc MH etc. This information technology has a certain role in promoting the number of airline passenger. MAS continue to improve airport facilities technology such as airport construction and equipment installation, new energy and environmental technologies airport, airport lighting, airport barrier-free facilities and technology, airport construction steel, ground support equipment and services etc to promote the development of the airport and increase the satisfaction of passengers. Most of Malaysia Airlines aircraft are made by Boeing Company (Refer appendix 2.3); Boeing Company is the world leader in the aerospace industry company and the worlds largest manufacturer of civil and military aircraft. It also increases the confidence of passengers on MAS airplanes. In addition, the rotor design and manufacture, electronic systems and advanced information and communications systems of Boeing aircraft are effective in helping Malaysia Airlines to provide the best in-flight services. Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is considering an additional aircraft type for its new fleet plan- the A350, B787 Dreamliner or Boeings latest B777 variant, B777-300. MAS already have three B737-800s on lease. The airline, in an effort to lock in its financing costs early, has also issued out request for financing proposals to cover its deliveries until 2012. MAS plan to receive 14 B737-800s, eight A330-300s and five A380s by the end of 2012. Economy environment Economic factors refer to the character and direction of the economic system within which the firm operates. Economic factors include the balance of payments, the state of the business cycle, the distribution of income within the population, and governmental monetary and fiscal policies. The impact of economic factors may also differ between industries. From the perspective of the world economy, world trade growth will slow down; the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis has caused turmoil in international financial markets and the slowing U.S. economy, and to some degree of drag on the global economic growth. This also affected the MAS must holding a conservative approach in decision making to reduce the risk. But according to optimistic forecasts by senior economist at HSBC Global Research, economic growth in Malaysia is expected up 7.3% this year supported by the strong rebound in exports and soaring commodity prices. The overall level of consumer prices rise about 8% and domestic economic development will benefit the entire aviation industry. As one of the company airlines, MAS airline has many connections throughout the world and it will give a big impact to the company if there are any changes in economy level. As we know economy of Malaysia are growing slightly, people purchasing power are growing slightly also. More and more people are spending their money for travelling either out of Malaysia or in Malaysia. Normally, people will purchase more during some season especially the school holiday. MAS was providing some promotion to increase their revenue, such as ASEAN Pass, Balik Kampung, MAS Holidays Packages, etc. Demographic Environment The population growth has a great impact on the sales of Malaysia Airlines. The population in Malaysia was increasing from 23,274,690 (2000) to 28,306,700 (2009)(Refer appendix 2.4). The increasing numbers of population in Malaysia will affect MAS sales indirectly. As the population increase, the number of potential customers will also increase. At the same time, the demand for MAS services and products will also increase. Due to this reason, MAS should satisfy the needs of the future customers in order to increase the sales. Based on the statistic, the population of East Malaysia in year 2009 is 5,793,700 and the population of West Malaysia in year 2009 is 22,513,000 (Refer appendix 2.4). This shows that the population of West Malaysia is more than East Malaysia. Therefore, MAS should pay more attention to the West Malaysia because there has a higher opportunity and faster growth for MAS. Micro Environment There are some factors or elements in an organizations immediate area of operations that affect its performance and decision making freedom. These factors include competitors, customers, intermediaries, employees, media and shareholders. Competitors Competitors exist in all the industry. In airlines industry, MAS have many competitors such as Air Asia, Tiger airway, Jetstar and others. The major competitor for MAS is Air Asia. In this highly competitive market, MAS should keep an eye on their competitors and try to predict their likely next moves. Air Asia offers a device called e-player that allow customers to select and switch between movies, tv shows, music and games by pressing the screen (Refer appendix 3.1). Due to this, MAS also offer customers their very own 10.4 LCD touch screen monitor to watch any one of 12 video channels of their choice in their personal space (Refer appendix 3.2). The screen monitor also becomes a video game console if the customer needs extra excitement  [13]  . (The business environment 6th edition ,Adrian Palmer Bob Hartley 1.3.4 ,pg15) Although they have many competitors, but MAS also can outstanding. This is because MAS use the non-price decision strategy. They use this strategy to remove themselves from the price competition. MAS competes their competitors by providing the best services to the customers. For examples, MAS provides a comfortable seat (versatile new flat bed seat) to their customer (Refer appendix 3.3). Besides that, MAS and their competitors also got provide the online services like purchase tickets or check the schedule of the flight to the customers (Refer appendix 2.2). But MAS always upgrade their website to ensure the customers can browse their website faster and not waste the consumer time. At the other sides, MAS also provide the high quality of food and drinks to the customers. All the food that they provide is clean and healthy. Customers Malaysia Airline System (MAS) is the largest airline in Malaysia. The target market for MAS is frequent travelers, businessmen, families with young children and new marriage couples. The airline industry is full of operators that fly to many locations form many other locations. Therefore it is possible for a customer wanting to travel to be able to select from a whole range of companies. No one company has a monopoly on flights to a country. This means that the customer will have a lot of power and be able to select when they want to fly at the price that they are willing to pay. Hence, MAS should pay attention on the behaviors and demand of the customers. Businessmen always travel around the world to do businesses. There is a statistic shows that businessmen are the most frequent people that taking flight. It is important for MAS to do research about the businessmens demand on flight services as businessmen are the biggest group of customers for them. MAS introduce a frequent flyer program called Enrich by Malaysia Airlines (Refer appendix 3.4). This program is for frequent travelers that comprises a variety of airlines, banks, credit-card issuers, hotels and lifestyle retailers around the world. Therefore, the businessmens demand can be fulfilled by this program. Additionally, research shows that the number of teenagers taking flight is increasing. Nowadays, teenagers are doing everything online include buying stuff, checking for information and so on. Since teenagers are the future potential customer, thus, MAS provide online services such as online tickets booking, online schedule checking, tickets price checking, hotel booking and so on (Refer appendix 2.2). Intermediaries Access to effective intermediaries can be decisive for marketing success. MAS got their own intermediaries to help them sell the flight tickets. Travel agency is one of the intermediaries of MAS. The travel agency provides many packages of tour to customers and the ticket of MAS. Travel agency introduced some tour packages with flight tickets. Most customers will buy the whole packages include the tickets from the travel agency directly because the price of the tickets are cheaper. This can also helps the customers to save their time to go book or buy tickets online. Besides that, MAS also established the ticket office in many place. The ticket office will help MAS to sell the tickets to customers. It will convenient the customer that live far away from the airport. Other than that, hotel also considers as an intermediary for MAS. MAS also provided hotel booking services to the customers for their convenient and benefits them such as will get cash refund with term and condition (Refer appendix 3.5). Transportation service is also provided in the packages to customers between airport and hotel when they reach their destination. At the other sides, MAS also hire the agents to help them sell the tickets. The agents will sell the ticket in Matta Travel Fair and others. Many customers will buy the tickets from agents because it is cheaper and easy to get. Employees An employee contribution to an organization is very important. Employees are one of the main reasons for MAS to obtain the achievement for today. Employing the right staff and keeping these staff motivated is a necessary move for an organization. MAS give academy for the employees to provide the training program to their employees and train their employee become professional (Refer appendix 3.6). The academy includes operations management, business and finance, people and technology, jeppesen training, service training and so on. Like this, the customers will get the professional services from the employees of MAS. And MAS can gain competitive advantages from doing this  [14]  . (Malaysia Airlines Homepage, 2010) Besides that, MAS also provide many offers to their employees. They will give free tickets to their employees and travel to other country. On the other hands, MAS also will give more discounts to the family members of their employees. MAS also give the high salary and allowance to their employees. At the other sides, MAS also give high bonus to their employees. Like this, their employees will more hardworking to work and also provide the best services to the consumers. Media Malaysia Airlines (MAS) advertising campaign designed to create awareness to public about the MAS and its activities or promotions. The media is use to improve the communication between MAS and public. MAS internet website is update frequently in order to update customer knowledge about MAS services and activities.MAS also hired advertising agency to design a series of ads to promote their flight plans and catches the attention of customers (Refer appendix 3.7). MAS also advertise on the television to emphasize the quality of services provided by the crew cabin on the plane. This strategy can increase interest of the customers to take a flight with MAS. MAS were on television to promote their Air Bus A380 one kind of their airplane to their customers to build confidence on five-star air services. SWOT Analysis SWOT stand for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. SWOT analysis is an instrumental for examining the overall strategic position of a business and its environment. In other words, SWOT analysis is use to analyze the Strengths and Weaknesses of your organization, as well as the Opportunities and Threats revealed by the information you have gathered on the external environment. Strengths MAS Has World Class Image Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is a well-known government-owned flag carrier of Malaysia. It is the pride of a nation, their success is important to the country. This means that they are funded by the government. Based on the statistic from Sep 15, 2010 through Nov 15, 2010, the current on-time performance of MAS is 96% which is one of the highest in worldwide (Refer appendix 4.1). MAS have an average delay of 11.0 minutes and it is a better performance than other flights (Refer appendix 4.1). Unless there is terrorism or disease burst out, otherwise MAS market prospects are better with growth of tourism and increase in disposable incomes. The benefits can only be easily gained if both Changi and KL International Airport maintain similar facilities and procedures. Besides, Malaysia Airlines is being ranked as the worlds top 10 airlines. And it is also one of the only six airlines to be given a 5-star status airline by Skytrax  [15]  . (Flight Stats Website) MAS Has Good Facilities MAS have invested a large amount of money on IT and they use this IT to the benefits of satisfied their customers needs and enhanced their overall performance. MAS provide comfortable seats, safeties, and food and beverage supplies. The versatile new flat bed seat that MAS provide allow the customers to enjoy the comfort afforded by several preset positions accessible just at the touch of a button (Refer appendix 3.3). The headrest is adjustable and the massage elements provide maximum comfort to customers. In addition, the best part about MAS versatile new flat bed seat was that each chair had a liquid crystal display television (Refer appendix 3.2). The 10.4 LCD touch screen monitor had video game console and it allows customers to watch any one of 12 video channels of your choice in your personal

My worldview as a Christian Essay

This essay is for the purpose of formally stating my worldview as a Christian and demonstrating how I perceive reality when it pertains to certain issues. While this will not have changed much from my original worldview outline, it serves to expand on the issues and give intelligent analysis to my beliefs. As this semester draws to a close, and I re-evaluate my worldview outline, I a consistency between my beliefs and those presented in the course material. After analyzing the major questions, I have been able to find academic support for each belief that I hold. The first question we were asked was ‘Who is God, and what is he like?’ my initial answer was that God is the creator of heaven and earth, the supreme celestial being that oversees and influences everyday events. As to His characteristics, I believe that he is absolutely just while being full of grace. He is absolute power, under perfect control. He has intense emotions, but perfect reactions to them. That is who God is to me. The second question was about humans, what they were, and what happened when they died. A human is a being created in the image of God, with capabilities for reason, and an innate understanding of right and wrong. When a human dies, they go to one of two places. Those who have chosen to follow God will go to heaven. Those who don’t will go to hell. The third question was ‘what is the nature of the universe?’ When I hear that, I have to ask what they mean by nature. I have to look around and say ‘is it the actual physical world, and how it fits into a bigger picture? I would assume so, and say that by nature, what God created was good, And was later polluted by sin. The most confusing question was ‘how do I know what I know, and how do I know it’s true?’ I know what I know because of what I’ve been told, and what I’ve experienced, and how I apply it through the filter of my faith and values. And I kn ow that I know because if I didn’t know that I knew I wouldn’t be able to analyze this question about knowing. The next question was the only one that my answer changed slightly. What is right and wrong, or does it exist? Right exists, but wrong is only the absence of right, not something in and of itself. And the only way we can discover it is through the experiences, of ourselves and others, and through the filter of God’s word. Is life pointless or is there a purpose? If we believe God creates us, we must believe that there is a reason. I believe my purpose is to help people through hard times, since I have gone through enough hard times that I can empathize with them. Each person has a unique attribute that helps them glorify God in some way. What core commitments are consistent with my worldview, and how do they impact my life? I’m still not exactly sure about what is meant by core commitments, but the actions and values that I hold myself to identify key aspects of my worldview. I would say that the things I do are very consistent with my moral and spiritual beliefs. My worldview is based a lot on faith, and I try to find reason for what I believe. I do need to evaluate if the beliefs that I have actually have base in reality, scientifically and morally. I have very strong beliefs and opinions, as a result of coming from a very opinionated family. My worldview is very consistent with the perspectives expressed in the coursework. I have a fairly weighty background in biblical studies from other schools, and so have been exposed to this subject more than the average student. As a result, my worldview has been shaped by what I have learned, and there were few if any contradictions between what I believe and what was presented. My worldview passes (to my knowledge) all of the four tests of a worldview. In the test of evidence, my worldview draws from personal experience and scientific reason, and assumes (if not proves) the existence of a God who embodies the characteristics I have identified. In the test of logical consistency there is no reason to doubt what I have seen or read, and I try not to act outside of my beliefs in a way that would cause any inconsistency to be evident. In the test of existential repugnance, it is possible to live the life that I am attempting to live in the ‘outside’ world. Anyone can live a moral life and follow specific rules about how we should govern ourselves, but not on their own. And the test of human nature is consistent with my belief on the nature of humanity. Nothing about humanity suggests that we are not designed by a higher being, and everything points to inherent value that other creatures do not and can not possess. My worldview affects everything about my actions, because I will not leave that frame of reference without changing part of my worldview. I cannot act outside of my worldview, because I will always analyze things based on what I assume to be right information, and will act accordingly. My worldview has stayed consistent throughout this course, and if it has changed at all it has been a subconscious change. I have had a good upbringing and a solid background in biblical studies, so I did not hear anything that was shockingly new or revolutionary. Cosgrove, M. P. (2006). Foundations of Christian thought: faith, learning, and the Christian worldview. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications. Strobel, L. (2000). The case for faith: a journalist investigates the toughest objections to Christianity. Grand Rapids, Mich.: ZondervanPublishingHouse. Wilkens, S., & Sanford, M. L. (2009). Hidden worldviews: eight cultural stories that shape our lives. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academi