Racial Controversy Surrounding the Assassination of Martin Luther King,

The Racial Controversy Surrounding the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. The impact of Martin Luther King, Jr. today is no doubt revered. He is commonly called the â€Å"Father of Civil Rights,† and is looked upon as a national icon, in an almost presidential-type light. His achievements have not only begat a national holiday for his birthday, but also helped lead to the creation of Black History Month. However, his accomplishments were not so regaled in his own time. In fact, most Caucasian Americans refused to even recognize any ban or barrier he and his cohorts attempted to change. African-Americans were just simply not respected by most whites in the 1950s and 1960s because they were considered â€Å"inferior.† This resonates with Baldwin’s opinions of whites’ refusals to accept that they may have made a mistake, and instead of taking responsibility for that mistake, they dump it on African-Americans and other races. A good example of this â€Å"dumping† of responsibilities occurred with the assass ination of King. It may be a possibility that the many different conspiracy theories that evolved after King’s assassination were created in a way to avoid Caucasians admitting that a single white person shot and killed the head of the Civil Rights Movement. Along with the many different conspiracy theories, there has been an uncovering of faults in the FBI’s investigation, some of which include not taking African-Americans’ eyewitness testimony seriously. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s first step into the world of civil rights occurred in Montgomery, Alabama, in December of 1951. After she refused to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger, Rosa Parks was arrested for violating the city’s segregation ... ... Luther King, Jr.: Conspiracy Theory #4†. Infoplease. 8 Apr. 2004 . Frank, Gerold. An American Death: The True Story of the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Greatest Manhunt of Our Time. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1972. â€Å"King Report—Part 2†. U.S. Department of Justice. 8 Apr. 2004 . "Martin Luther King, Jr.". Encyclopedia Britannica. 2004. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 8 Apr. 2004. Library Gateway, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. . Ripley, Anthony. â€Å"Funeral Is Ignored by Whites But Some Atlanta Stores Close.† New York Times 9 Apr. 1968: 1-2. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times. Library Gateway, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. 11 Apr. 2004 .

Marriott Corporation Essay

While management was correct in some aspects of measuring debt capacity for Marriott Corporation, the method used to obtain the ratio of 6.64 did not include the debt from the previous repurchase, grossly overstating the ratio and leading to believe that Marriott Corporation had a large unsused portion of debt capacity. This is shown in Exhibit 5. After thorough analysis and a different approach to finding the debt capacity, it is concluded that the actual debt capacity for Marriott Corporation is 3.94 EBIT-adjusted/net interest. To come up with the actual debt capacity for Marriott Corporation, the EBIT-adjusted/net interest ratio was still used, but the numbers supporting the ratio were altered. From Exhibit 5, we get the total debt of Marriott at the end of 1979. Total debt is defined as the sum of short-term loan, current portion of long-term debt, senior debt and capital leases. The average market price of Marriott in 1979 was $14.9/share, and the interest rate for Baa corporate debt was 12%. It was assumed that Marriott repurchased stock at the price of $15/share using 12% debt financing. Using the net interest before the repurchase, which was $27.8 million, it is concluded that adjusted EBIT was $184.59 million. In 1979, additional debt from the repurchase of stock $159 million, adding this to the debt of the original figures, the new debt is totaled at $583.83 million. Using a 12% interest rate from the new debt and finding the new numbers for the ratio, the new adjusted EBIT-adjusted/net interest ratio is 3.94. This figure hits below Marriott Corporations benchmark of 5. Returning Shareholders’ Capitol A. New Debt Capacity And Repurchasing Shares If the firms stock is in a position to be affected by dilution, repurchasing shares may be a solution. This would allow Marriott Corporation to maintain its ability to make decisions utilizing all the available resources. This was previously one by Marriott in 1979 with the repurchase of 5 million shares. With the new debt capacity ratio at 3.94, a repurchase share alternative is not recommended as Marriott Corporation does not have the excess debt capacity previously thought to carry out this alternative. Performing a secondary scenario analysis, suppose Marriott had just enough debt capacity, which means new adjusted EBIT/Net interest ratio equals 5. Using this number, the repurchase price should be $7.17 so that Marriott Corporation could utilize its debt capacity fully. Using this number, only 10.6 million shares could be purchased resulting in the repurchase of stock alternative not taking place as expected. This would result in investors to believe that Marriott Corporation has hit its growth limit, as the repurchase strategy would not have enough depth to persuade investors through EPS and ROE that Marriott Corporation is still a growing company. It is concluded that repurchasing shares is not the correct alternative, even with a benchmark debt capacity of 5. B. Increasing Dividends While increasing dividends would be a good alternative to satisfy investors, it is not without its repercussions as well. If dividends were to be paid out, a gradual steady increase over many years would be the best alternative, as one lump sum payment does not resolve the debt capacity issue, as well as signify to investors negative signs if Marriot Corporation were to one year pay a high divided and the next decrease that same dividend. Typically, when a firm increases dividends, that level of dividends must be maintained to satisfy shareholders, as well as institutional investors and prospect investors. Another factor to consider when analyzing this alternative, is that although Marriott Corporation has had high growth is recent years, compared to competitors, the stock price, return on equity, as well as earnings per share are low, as seen in Exhibit 11 and Exhibit 12. Although paying dividends in conjunction with a more value creating alternative could be used, solely paying out dividends is not recommended. Promote Growth A. Diversify Through Acquisition Marriott also has the alternative to invest in a new firm. Marriott  Corporation has a competitive advantage that could be passed along if they were to acquire existing companies. This competitive advantage is obtained through their competitive expertise of the industry, as well as proven higher occupancy rate than their competition. The company’s assets are mainly real-estate based which means that they should put a premium on the land that they can get by acquiring a new firm. There is relatively little risk in acquiring another firm as well, because their sales can be seen and analyzed before Marriott Corporation makes an offer. According to Exhibit 10 there is a very high price to be paid for a new hotel. Prices paid for hotels, however, did not rise at all from 1975-1978 and number of offers stayed relatively reasonable. From 1977-1978 acquiring another hotel chain actually became a better deal at several data points. Market price/book value dropped considerably meaning that hotels became a much better value for the amount of assets they had. Market price/cash flow is lower as well, with average return on equity rising as well. One caveat is that buying hotel chains in the market value of $25-$250 million had a much higher tender offer/ market value in 1978 up from 39.64% to 60.05%, while hotel chains over 250 million dropped by almost as much. Although there is a risk involved with buying any company or hotel, hotels which are thoroughly analyzed beforehand could be excellent ways to promote growth in the Marriott Corporation. Hotels that would be purchased would be proven to succeed in their respective locations. B. Accerlerate Expansion of Existing Business Marriot has two options about the operation of hotel chains. First, it can own the hotel and enjoy the profit margin. Second, it can sell the hotel but retain management contracts so it controls the operation of such units. Following is the detailed decomposition of costs associated with two options. According to Exhibit 9, in 1978 the typical cost for a hotel room consists of improvement cost, furniture, fixtures and equipment cost, land cost, pre-opening cost and operating cost. For an owned hotel, Marriot had to pay the total cost for running the property, but if it is managed, Marriot only had operating cost because the buyer was responsible for the maintenance. In an attempt to emphasize more on return on invested capital rather than margins, Marriot sold some of their existing hotels and retained  management contract to free up capital. Managed hotels had operating margin of 8%-10%, while owned had 15%. We assume 10% margin for managed hotels and 15% for owned hotels. To deci de when to sell the property, we analyze the remaining present value of future cash flow of a hotel at different point of time in its life cycle. We further assume that when the hotel is sold, the selling price is set so that present value of future cash flow equals the 10% margin. We assume $50 revenue per room night of a typical 150-room hotel, and one year has 360 days. Sales level for each year in the life cycle connects to the occupancy rate. From the graph in Exhibit 9, we get different occupancy rate for the whole life cycle. It reaches the peak 100% at year 8, and after year 10, it declines almost linearly to 10% in year 30. We can see that if Marriot sells the hotel before opening, the selling price would be $1.63 million at time 0. After the peak, assuming year 9, the selling price would be $ 1.55 million. The max value of PV is at year 4, which has $2.85 million in PV at 15% margin. Marriot Corporation would free up more capital if it sells the hotel before opening, but instead it would lose more operating profit. If Marriot is short of capital, it could sell the hotel up-front so that the freed up capital can be invested in other profitable projects. Selling after the peak is a good choice if Marriot wants to enjoy the increasing operating profit before the peak. Shareholder value can be added if the return on freed-up capital exceeds the profit loss from selling the property. Recommendation After the analysis of the different alternatives, and correctly measuring debt capacity, it is concluded that Marriott Corporation does not return shareholder capital but instead promotes growth of the existing company. This provides benefits in a couple of ways. By promoting growth, Marriott Corporation can signal to investors that the firm is still growing, providing incentives for institutional investors as well as individual investors, resulting in a positive market outlook for Marriott Corporation. Also, with the actual debt capacity measured, it is shown that Marriott Corporation does not have the additional capacity to undertake those alternatives, resulting in even more negatives in the future. By promoting the existing business, Marriott Corporation has more control over their financial prospects, through the possibilities of merging or opening or  building more hotels. This would provide positive NPV for Marriott Corporation, and perhaps in the future when cash flows continue to be positive as well as debt continues to shrink, Marriott Corporation can look into returning shareholders’ capital.

Seven Great Virtues Benjamin Franklin Presentation Essay

Presentation 9/24/12 Essay #6 Jessica Brooks Pd. 2 The essay Citizen Ben: A worldly American’s Seven Great Virtues by Walter Isaacson is an essay begins talking about Benjamin Franklin. When we think of Benjamin Franklin our minds automatically turn to the story about him flying a kite in a lightening storm with a rod on to prove that lightening was electricity. This is one thing that Franklin did but he did many more as well, in fact it says that he was an inventor diplomat, writer and business strategist. He helped bring the country that we live in today about. There are many views on him that show him in a good light and some that show him in a bad light. There are some that saw that he was shallow and didn’t show great†¦show more content†¦Franklin saw that using humor was the best way to make political points. He also saw that â€Å"America would always be strongest when it was confident enough and self-aware enough, to laugh at itself.† In this essay it also talked about Franklins views on humility and how he found humility to be very useful throughout his life. He believes that one can never have too much humility because if you have too much than that can cause you to be proud of the humility you have and will cause you to start all over in your need to be more humble. I believe that this is true. Having humility can help in all aspects of life, if you aren’t going on about your own accomplishments in life and let the person you are talking to tell you all about their accomplishments it will make them feel like you are a great friend and in turn will want to do more for you. Franklin used this tactic when he wanted to launch the first subscription lending library in America. He used his club Junto to do this, during the clubs existence he always thought it best to hear everyone’s point of view so when he came up with this idea he began to put it into everyone’s head to it seemed like their ow n idea and it worked. To many this seems like a sort of manipulation but this is the way people think. If you want something that requires the help of others making them feel like they came up with the idea by themselves will only help your case,Show MoreRelatedA Picatrix Miscellany52019 Words   |  209 Pages343)-. and there is a great deal more to make the reader’s task more difficult. This manner of writing may well be intentional, whether to make the magical sections appear less suspect by interlarding them with theoretical passages, or to make certain doctrines seem less strange by administering them in small doses, or to demonstrate the equal validity of the magical and philosophical material, or for a combination of all three reasons. At all events, a similar method of presentation is apparent in oneRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesConflict 373 PART III GROUP SKILLS 438 8 Empowering and Delegating 439 9 Building Effective Teams and Teamwork 489 10 Leading Positive Change 533 PART IV SPECIFIC COMMUNICATION SKILLS 590 591 Supplement A Making Oral and Written Presentations Supplement B Conducting Interviews 619 Supplement C Conducting Meetings 651 Appendix I Glossary 673 Appendix II References 683 Name Index 705 Subject Index 709 Combined Index 713 iii This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS PrefaceRead MoreImpact of Science on Society38427 Words   |  154 Pagesuniverse becomes a chicken and egg problem, doesn’t it? Now, this definition of terms (like omelette universe) happens all the time. The reason that we today refer to electricity in terms of current is because in the eighteenth century people like Ben Franklin thought it was a fluid and tied all their experiments to that so-called fact. At the same time, in the eighteenth century, they thought all disease was caused by bad smells. Malaria is mal aria-bad air. We laugh at that, but for them, as for everybodyRead MoreImpact of Science on Society38421 Words   |  154 Pagesuniverse becomes a chicken and egg problem, doesn’t it? Now, this definition of terms (like omelette universe) happens all the time. The reason that we today refer to electricity in terms of current is because in the eighteenth century people like Ben Franklin thought it was a fluid and tied all their experiments to that so-calle d fact. At the same time, in the eighteenth century, they thought all disease was caused by bad smells. Malaria is mal aria-bad air. 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Some astute investors and managers long ago figured out thisRead MoreThe Essentials of Project Management65719 Words   |  263 PagesCataloging-in-PublicationData Lock, Dennis. The essentials of project management / Dennis Lock.- 2nd ed. p. cm. ISBN 0-566-08224-1 (pbk) 1.Industrial project management. I. Title. Typeset in lJalatinoby IMI. Typographers, Chester and printed in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin Contents List of figures Preface Acknowledgements 1 Introduction ix xiii xv 1 Projects-Project management processes- Project objectives- The time/cost relationship- Balancing time, cost and quality -Read MoreProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 Pages 18 Career p aths Modern Project Management What Is a Project? The Importance of Project Management Project Management Today—An Integrative Approach Summary Text Overview 2 All of mankind’s greatest accomplishments—from building the great pyramids to discovering a cure for polio to putting a man on the moon—began as a project. This is a good time to be reading a book about project management. Business leaders and experts have proclaimed that project management is a strategic imperativeRead MoreInstructor’s Manual Fundamentals of Financial Management60779 Words   |  244 Pagesthrough your Prentice Hall sales representative. In addition, Professor Kuhlemeyer has done a wonderful job in preparing an extensive collection of Microsoft PowerPoint slides as outlines (with examples) to go along with the text. The PowerPoint presentation graphics are available for downloading through the following Pearson Education Website: http://www.booksites.net/wachowicz All text figures and tables are available as transparency masters through the same web site listed above. Finally, computer

The Night and Fugitive Two Impressive Books - 1266 Words

At the beginning of 19th century, the form of anti-Semitism becomes more serious. Germanys seems to isolate and eliminate Jews. When the Nazi Party, led by Adolf Hitler, comes to power in Germany in 1933, it wants to set up the Perfect Nazi state. The Nazi wants to stamp out any opposition to their rule, so they set up a system of camps, for instance, concentration camps, death camps for holding people that they see as â€Å"undesirable†. Lots of those â€Å"undesirable† people are Jews. From 1933 to 1945, about six million Jews are murdered and it is called the Holocaust. The Holocaust is the greatest single case of mass murder in history and is difficult to ignore. After World War II, survivors of the Holocaust tell their†¦show more content†¦Faith is the strongest support. Life is full of ups and down, people cannot change the world but they can, hold onto their faith to be able to go through the bad times. As a young boy Elie is a devout Jew and only lives with God. He is taught that God is everywhere in the world, that nothing exists without God. After Elie experiences how Jews are exterminate inhumanly by Nazis, he losses confidence of God. â€Å"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke†¦Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never† (Wiesel 34). This famous quote reflects that Elie’s faith is destroyed. He wants to know why the merciful God could just stand beside to look those horrible behaviors to his people. But soon he returns back to his faith. â€Å"Behind me, I heard the same man asking: Where is God now? And I heard a voice within me answer him: ... Here He is—He is hanging here on this gallows† (Wiesel 65). W hen his sick and would die in any moment, Elie prays to God. God always stays inside Elie’s heart and she forces him to go forward, to sweep a road through the thistles and thorns. In addition, religion gathers people together. Elie comes from a deeply religious JewishShow MoreRelated Survive by Love, Faith and Will1719 Words   |  7 PagesWiesel, a Noble Peace Prize winner in 1986 who wrote the novel Night based on his experience as a Holocaust survivor. Night is the record of Elie Wiesel’s memories of the Holocaust. This work of literature is about his experience with his father, Chlomo, in the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald between 1944 and 1945. Another book that effectively describes the theme of the Holocaust by Canadian poet Anne Michaels is Fugitive Pieces, for which she received many prizes such as, OrangeRead MoreGood Night And Good Luck And Badlands Compare And Contrast970 Words   |  4 Pages Good Night and Good Luck, and Badlands are two very unique movies. Both poses very interesting narratives, with underlying messages and symbolism. But, what makes them stand out the most, is their artistic and technically driven visuals. One is full of beautiful and romanticized colors. The other uses black and white to portray depth and struggle. Two vastly different approaches, but equally powerful in their own ways. Good Night and Good Luck and Badlands, both use their visual ascetics to motivateRead MoreThe Civil War And Abolition Of Slavery2509 Words   |  11 Pagesammunition, artillery harnesses, and carts to carry ammunition. 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Yeats and â€Å"A Vision:† The Arab Mansions of the Moon On Ritual and Talismans Picatrix Astrological Magic Aphorisms Extracts on Planetary Ritual Clothing Twenty Two Benefic Astrological Talismans Astrology, Magical Talismans and the Mansions of the Moon Ritual of Jupiter An Astrological Election of Mercury in the First Face of Virgo for Wealth and Growth XIV. Invocation of Mercury On the Decans and Tarot XV. XVIRead MoreShort Story11492 Words   |  46 Pagesout was a business card with an address on it. Joel was sure he could even see a smile begin to break out upon the stony face of Jack as he handed the card to him. â€Å"Seven thirty tonight, dont be late. Mr Davi doesnt tolerate lateness.† Scene Two Unhappy Hour It was approaching dusk and business had returned to its usual dire self at OBriens Irish Fun Bar. Yesterdays events now seemed like a distant and surreal dream. Nonetheless, Mike Stein still displayed a beaming smile as the image heRead MoreAuditing Cases22626 Words   |  91 Pagescompany. Conditions for Nonconsolidation of SPEs A company was not required to consolldate both assets and liabilities of the SPE into those contained on its own balance sheet, and it could record gains and losses on transactions with the SPE, if two conditions were met: 1. An owner independent of the company had to own a â€Å"substantive† equity interest (at least 3 percent of the SPE’s assets, and that 3 percent remain at risk throughout the transaction). 2. The independent owner had to exercise controlRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pages. Organization Theory Challenges and Perspectives John McAuley, Joanne Duberley and Phil Johnson . This book is, to my knowledge, the most comprehensive and reliable guide to organisational theory currently available. What is needed is a text that will give a good idea of the breadth and complexity of this important subject, and this is precisely what McAuley, Duberley and Johnson have provided. They have done some sterling service in bringing together the very diverse strands of work

The Outsiders Essay - 1418 Words

The Outsiders Essay – Describe an interesting theme from a text you have studied. Explain why this theme is interesting. In the novel â€Å"The Outsiders† by S.E Hinton an important theme is family and friendship. This theme is interesting because it shows us how when you’re family you come together to look after each other no matter what. The theme of friendship is also interesting because when your friends you support each other through everything and anything no matter what the consequences are. In â€Å"The Outsiders† the theme of friendship is also a main interest because despite peoples differences they can come together through a common interest or factor, which is what happens in â€Å"The Outsiders†. The Curtis boys have no parents as†¦show more content†¦The theme of family is interesting in â€Å"The Outsiders† because it shows us that family cares about each other can a family will do anything too keep it together even if that means having massive consequences and that family is forever and will always support you no matter what the circumstances are. The Greasers go to extreme lengths to help and protect their friends. When Johnny killed Bob to save Pony-Boys life it was an instinct that Johnny had. He said â€Å"They were drowning you pony, I had no choice.† Johnny saw that his friend was in trouble so on instinct his priority was to save Pony-Boy which meant killing Bob, but he did it anyway to save Pony’s life. This shows us that Johnny cares so much about Pony-Boy that he would do anything to save him even if it meant murdering someone and possibly going to jail. When Pony, Johnny and Dally went back to the church and saw that there was a fire Pony felt responsible so he went to rescue the kids then Johnny went after Pony-Boy when Pony-Boy was out and was waiting for Johnny to come out the church the roof collapsed on him and Dally went in to save Johnny even though it meant risking his life. Both of these examples show the theme of friendship. This theme was important because friends will do anything to help each other and be there for each other, and tell each other everything and anything. Friends will always be there to the end. S.E Hinton wasShow MoreRelatedOutsiders The Outsider Essay1005 Words   |  5 Pages How does it feel to be an outsider? You might not know how it feels, but Ponyboy does for sure. S.E. Hinton writes The Outsiders. The Outsiders takes place in the mid 1960’s in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In The Outsiders, the theme of the story is to not judge people based on their appearance. A teen gang in Tulsa, the Greasers, who are constantly on bad terms with the Socs. When one of the rumbles turns into a bad situation, involving Johnny killing a Soc, Ponyboy and Johnny take off to live in a churchRead MoreThe Outsiders Essay1092 Words   |  5 Pages The Outsiders Essay: The Hero’s Journey â€Å"Fear has two meanings-forget everything and run or face everything and rise. The choice is yours†(Quotations and Quotes). Johnny Cade chose to forget everything and run, but soon realized running didn’t help him forget the past. In The Outsiders, Johnny goes through the heroic journey by the fact that he faces a harsh reality that brings him to committing an act he never thought he would, which in the end led him to becoming a hero. His story starts withRead MoreThe Outsiders Essay1036 Words   |  5 PagesAccording to a study by Professor David Pyrooz conducted at Sam Houston State University about adolescent health in the U.S., nearly 1.5 million youth in the U.S. are gang members. This shows that the book, The Outsiders, written by S. E. Hinton is more relevant to modern society than one may think. The story takes place in the 1960s and is about Ponyboy Curtis, a member of a low class gang of kids from age 14 to around 20 who call themselves the Greasers. They are in constant struggle with the upperRead MoreEssay On The Outsiders1313 Words   |  6 PagesWell then. After spending three months getting beaten up by an old goblin, I’m gonna get beat up by a buff orc. â€Å"Larek and Garul,† Glitsnab announced, â€Å"prepare to fight.† The other trainees snickered and laughed as I shambled around with a wooden sword. Garul†¦ he was the strongest of us orphans. A giant of an orc, over seven feet tall and with bulging muscles. They say he’s a bastard of the Mountain King himself†¦ and it was a fact that he had never suffered defeat. â€Å"Well, Larek,† the orc snortedRead MoreEssay on The Outsiders1554 Words   |  7 PagesThe Outsiders ‘The Outsiders’ is written by S.E. Hinton. It is set in the 1960s in a town in the USA. It is about the conflict of the two main teenager gangs called the Socs (short for Socials) and the Greasers. The Socs live on the West side where they live a supposedly better life with everything that they want and the Greasers live on the East side with nothing much but anger and jealousy about the Socs who always seem to be privileged in every way. 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Determinants and Policy Implications

Question: Discuss about the Determinants and Policy Implications. Answer: Introduction A supermarket is a huge form of self-served shop providing diverse varieties of household commodities including food, medicines, clothes etc. The difficulty of certain factors across the food industry and its magnitude of competition lead to the insight that the link between farm and retail prices is meaningless. So between the local farming retailers these supermarket giants must co-exist to create greater diversity and allow a fair amount of competition. The Australian supermarket industry is essentially dominated by certain entities like Coles, Woolworths and ALDI with around 1000 supermarkets and other malls and retail outlets. Over few decades, though the development of the Australian agricultural sector is largely led by the supermarket industry, at the same time, one must always keep in mind that there has to exist some level of protection which would allow the operation of small agricultural businesses unaffected. This will inject competition in the agriculture market. They are diverse entities. Woolworths owns a conglomerate of retail businesses across general discount retail, groceries, electronics, hardware, liquor and hospitality. Coles also operates in the same businesses and extends in insurance products, industrial safety, coal mining, chemical and fertilizer operations. There has been substantial contribution of Coles and Woolworths on the Australian economy via huge employment and other opportunities that facilitate local farmers by providing broader access to end-customers. Australian customers have also gained substantial benefits from the growth of Coles and Woolworths because bigger range of products is accessible to them at affordable prices now. This is mainly due to large size of their operations that helps them to negotiate with manufacturers a substantial amount of production at low cost. In spite of all these advantages it is observed that the rising operation of these entities in the retail sector has resulted in some drastic negative externalities. Findings There exist immense competition between Coles and Woolworths has bipolar effects. It lowers the prices charged on consumers and promotes innovation of their product base. On the other hand, forces the suppliers to find efficient techniques of production. But it is observed that the highest-growing products in Australian grocery sector are cigarettes, pharmaceutical commodities, nicotine and certain stimulants like caffeine (IRI-Aztec research report 2014). This reflects the fact why Australians are having growing obesity and declining health due to bad non-nutritious diet. Market power means a disproportionate effect on the terms of trade. As the market share of retailers increases, their participation becomes gradually important in market supply. This comprises of expansion in manufacture, distribution etc. Both Coles and Woolworths are expanding their duopoly throughout the country. This is pressurizing smaller businesses in rural areas as they are not capable to compete with these giants. Hence there is a loss of income and employment of the family-owned businesses. In order to avoid competition, both these entities are practicing Bargain-price marketing by decreasing the prices of commodities substantially lower than the ongoing market rate. This increases their sales enormously at the expense of the livelihood of numerous small farmers. This is mainly because the favorable effects that farmers experience from larger market exposure, may not be enough to generate their expenses and re-investment in their businesses. In the long run, if the cost of advertisements of these entities increases then it may threaten complete non existence of small farming class in the agricultural sector. The Australian agri-businesses are already facing the problems of high debt levels and climate change. In addition to it, the strategies of Coles and Woolworths on the food market is imposing drastic effects on small farmers, as they realize enormous reduction in margin of profit. Lowering cost and typical manufacture demands from Coles and Woolworths, force farmers to decrease their prices. In order to survive in this market, the farmers will install economies of scale to decrease cost of production. This gives rise to centralization of food production which in turn diminishes bio-diversity among cultivated crops. This further leads to loss of food quality, water stresses, diseases etc. This makes the food supply highly prone to environmental shocks. Distributional network of supermarkets also imposes risks on the economy. Concentration of stock in certain warehouses is prone to security risks. It may also result in lack of fresh and nutritious food supply in the rural areas. All these things create an unstable food supply with increased vulnerable to price and supply shocks. Both Coles and Woolworths are using celebrity chefs to broadcast their slogan of fresh and local food to consumers which in turn increases their costs. But this cost burden is passed mostly to the cultivators thus decreasing their farm gate profits. The significant importance of Coles and Woolworths in consumer accessibility is forcing the domestic suppliers to produce some ideal commodity which matches their specifications and standards. This pressurizes them to use capital-intensive production technology. When these commodities fail to meet the particulars stated by Coles and Woolworths, it leads to substantial amount of food wastage due to its perishable nature. Predominant continuation of this process may drastically affect the economies food security in the future (Food Waste in Australia - Future Directions International, 2012). Coles and Woolworths are increasing their range of Home-brand items (RSPCA-approved chicken and eggs products), produced joint venture with certain manufacturers. Huge amount of these products are produced and sold at cheap rates. As these goods are cheaper than branded merchandise, it is making extremely critical for independent brands to obtain market exposure and compete with these home brands. These privately-labeled goods have also decreased the product range offered by the conglomerates (Deloitte Research Report, 2013). The trend in standardization is moving towards banning food supply from certain farming systems (Victorian Farmers Federation). The Australian Farm Institute argued that these strategies will kill the Australian productivity and will incur new costs in the society. All these practices actually restrict the capability of small domestic farmers to make their decisions diverse and diminish the competitiveness in the domestic food market. Recommendations In order to enrich the survival of small businesses where these imperfect market conditions, the government should step in. The courts should be assigned the power to enforce divestiture in required fields. At the same time there must be prevention of the influence of bureaucrats over the industry for bribes. This requires strict financial audits by the government. The small independent farmers should be empowered and protected financially such that market control is more evenly allocated, so that local farmers gets more space to access consumers. Though privatization is an easy ladder to technological growth and commercializing higher proportion of output and input gives higher returns but all these favours the large supermarket entities at the expense of the small farmers. It is evident that investment on agricultural research and development has given immense returns all over the world. Therefore these small farmers require more space to compete with the large players in terms of input, irrigation, technology, finance and marketing. So the Australian government authorities should emphasize more on the construction of rural roads knowledge generation and other infrastructure because sustainable agriculture growth and food security in Australia depends on the performance of small and marginal farmers. Contract farming is a crucial proponent that would help marginal cultivators to overpower the problems of finance, marketing and inputs. The agricultural sector being the most trade-exposed component of the Australian economy should be protected from currency fluctuations and volatile prices. To hedge the risks of climatic change and low soil fertility, the agricultural lands should be well irrigated. The government should launch various competition policies that would keep up the competitive nature of the market. The models of self help groups and co-operative societies can also be used as promising tools to help the marginal farmers. The gap between the consumers prices can also reduced through these processes. Conclusion Market power is the main concern in Australian domestic food market. Intense duopoly power of Coles and Woolworths possess tremendous challenges to small local farmers, which forces them to struggle hard to exist among these giant entities. Due to the persistence of deflation and higher demand for production makes the small food businesses non-sustainable and possess potential threat to domestic food security. Though in the short run, these market conditions benefits consumers but in the long run the situation may differ. Government should take actions to ensure that retail market does not crash the market power balance between the economic agents of the food chain. If the growth of these giant retailers is unrestrained, then it may destabilize the food sector and damage the food security of Australia. However, it should also see that the interests of the shareholders of these companies are also served because they are the employers to more than 400000 people in Australia. Thus the government should optimize its priorities over both the dimensions by preventing price wars in the economy and expanding the economic pie simultaneously. But in recent time we see that ALDIs growth in enormously increasing. This is even a bigger threat to the Australian economy because in either way it will offer no positive impact on the domestic farmers. This is because ALDI being a foreign (German) brand will promote its own domestic products in the market. This will lead to huge flow of profit from the Australian economy thus drastically effecting potential to invest in the future. The domestic investment will wither away and imported commodities will thrive in the market. References Ali J., Singh S.P. Ekanem E. 2009, Efficiency and productivity changes in the Indian food processing industry: Determinants and policy implications, International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, vol. 12, pp. 43-66. Chakravarty K., Sridhar V., Bhardwaj P. Bhattacharjee N., 2007, Rural Retailing The next phase in retailing, confederation of Indian industry, YES Bank, New Delhi. Farhoomand A. Choupal E., 2008, Corporate Social Responsibility: Case HKU 765, University of Hong Kong, Asia Research centre, Hong Kong. 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What is a Product Hierarchy and Why Does it Matter

A product hierarchy is a method of classifying your company’s products and services by their essential components into a logical structure. There’s a good chance you’ve encountered a one while shopping online: Women’s – Fall Collection – Jacket – Wind Breaker – Blue But product hierarchies aren’t just for fashion brands. They’re equally important for any businesses, even if you only have one core product. Free Actionable Bonus: Looking to elevate your content strategy? Get our our complete guide to creating a content strategy, plus a free content planning template and a list of 30+ places to distribute content What is a Product Hierarchy? Here is a simple hypothetical example of what a hierarchy might look like for a computer store: Looking at the picture this may seem like an obvious and simple concept. However, the impact is quite profound: it establishes a common language across your entire organization. An effective product hierarchy establishes a common language across your entire organization. Click To Tweet Why Does a Product Hierarchy Matter? Walmart, Costco, The Home Depot. These companies all have a hand full of subsidiaries, hundreds of product lines, and millions of products. With so many moving parts, you may think it’s a bit of an organizational dumpster fire. Yet, thanks to their intuitive and well-planned product hierarchy, it’s any but. But that’s not all. When done well they can also support the user experience, SEO, and internal search. User Experience The best user experiences let people complete their task quickly and effortlessly. You or I could visit The Home Depot’s website and find a 50-pack of stainless steel finishing nails in seconds. When shoppers can follow intuitive and helpful product structures, they will have a much easier time navigating to where they are trying to go. SEO The SEO value of product and category pages has been well established. A robust hierarchy offers multiple opportunities to create keyword rich content. Over the years we’ve written more than 1,000,000 product and category pages for big brands. We’ve seen first-hand how well-written hierarchy pages can support SEO. Internal Benefits One final benefit that shouldn’t be overlooked is how a hierarchy supports your employees by allowing anyone in your organization to be a product advocate and deliver a consistent message about what your product does, who it’s for, and its value. An effective product hierarchy allows anyone in your organization to be a product advocate and deliver a consistent message about what your product does, who it’s for, and its value. Click To Tweet How to Develop a Product Hierarchy Developing a product hierarchy isn’t an easy task. That’s because it can be difficult to drill down to the core need and key features. Step 1: Drill Down to the Core Focusing in on the core product need can be difficult. One approach that may help with step 1 is to start with your company mission statement. For example, Salesforce’s is a â€Å"Customer Success Platform that empowers companies to connect with their customers in a whole new way.† On the surface, this mission may seem simple, but it’s packed with useful information. â€Å"Platform† – Salesforce is an integrated ecosystem of software. They wouldn’t create a new product that doesn’t fit within the larger platform. â€Å"Connect with their customers† – Salesforce is about connection. So, add-ons like email marketing automation and community building software fit perfectly within that mission. â€Å"In a whole new way† – Salesforce is focused on innovation. The platform incorporates artificial intelligence and modern design that lets users work smarter and faster. This is purely an example, but it illustrates the point. Step 2: Choose Your Key Categories or Features For companies with lots of products, the next step is to build out your hierarchy with your key categories. For companies with just one product, this step is about highlight key features. While there is no â€Å"right way† to structure a hierarchy, I encourage you to err on the side of simplicity. Ideally, your categories should also reflect how the product is positioned to the customer. Step 3: Optimize for the New Hierarchy Once you’ve agreed on the core product and key features, you can begin to optimize it. There are 2 main things I’d like to highlight here: 1. Optimizing product titles 2. Optimizing category pages 1. Optimizing Product Titles With your new hierarchy in place, you can create a naming convention based on the tiers. Create standardized product titles makes it easier for both customers and staff to search for products. 2. Optimizing Category Pages A product tree offers several opportunities to create highly targeted web content for each category page. While the length and design of these pages will be determined by the types of business you’re in, these pages can offer plenty of SEO opportunities. Step 4: Scale Your Product Hierarchy As the business grows, so too will your hierarchy. If you’re planning on adding a new product line or feature, think about how it fits within the hierarchy. If it doesn’t fit, that may be an indication that the product isn’t a good fit for your business. That said, your hierarchy doesn’t need to be completely static. There’s nothing wrong with expanding the categories if they support the overall mission. Product Hierarchy Examples Example 1: Shopify Shopify’s product hierarchy centers around their main product, an ecommerce platform. Features such as payments and shipping support the core product. Example 2: MailChimp MailChimp is â€Å"an always-on marketing platform for small businesses.† They base their product hierarchy on customer needs (create, connect, automate, optimize) with more specific products and product features below those. This illustrates how a product hierarchy can guide future product decisions. MailChimp only recently released their landing page builder, but you can immediately see how it supports the overall hierarchy. Conclusion Product hierarchies are useful ways of classifying and categorizing your products. An effective product hierarchy can help guide product decisions, help staff articulate your product’s value, encourage positive user experiences, and even support your SEO strategy. Do you need a website content partner to support your product hierarchy with category page content and product titles? We can help.