Buzzard LTD Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Buzzard LTD - Essay Example Accordingly, the SWOT will not be a comprehensive treatment of strategic position, but will speak to a few of the known specifics. We can use the financial information provided to offer some accurate shareholder analysis. It has been noted that the purpose of preparing "financial reports on a regular basis..." is to "influence the decisions of users of the information produced" (Atrill and McLaney, 1997: 2); and through the use of standard ratio analysis, we will be able to evaluate the provided statements to come to a reasonable understanding of the company's financial strength. That analysis will permit us to report the current financial condition to shareholders and evaluate Buzzard LTD's operational efficiencies in light of its quality and customer satisfaction achievements. Any company that wishes to remain successfully in business must engage in strategic thinking. This concept is particularly true in the modern marketplace, where information technologies and other manufacturing efficiencies have increased the need for competitive intelligence. Fleisher and Bensoussan make a compelling case for this when they state: Strategic thinking is necessary today because our organizations compete in an increasingly global, postindustrial, knowledge- and information-based competitive environment as opposed to the slower paced, domestic, industrial competitive environment of only a few decades ago. The hierarchical, linear models that dominated management thinking, and in some cases still do, have given way to newer, more flexible, perpetually self-reorganizing, network-based arrangements. No senior executive can reasonably be expected to know the entire competitive terrain well enough to correctly strategize in the same was as the great industrial and military leaders of the past. This pressing need for strategic thinking is why organizations need to improve and enhance their competitive intelligence. (2002: 5) The primary component used for informing the competitive intelligence process is predicated upon analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) facing the organization. The limited information provided does not permit a comprehensive analysis of these elements, but we will be able to focus on key parts of each segment and derive some competitive intelligence regarding the market position of the company. SWOT TABLE FOR BUZZARD LTD. Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Reputation for Innovation R & D Efforts New Facilities High Cost Structure Firefly Reputation New Market Expansion New Technology New Plant Competitor Emergence Regulatory Changes Buzzard LTD has some important strengths. Their reputation for innovation is the most important of these as they have achieved high levels of pleased customers and are regarded as "one of the world's leaders in design, manufacture and supply of innovative automotive

How did the hurricane Katarina impact the reservation price on the Term Paper

How did the hurricane Katarina impact the reservation price on the housing market in New Orleans, before and after the catastrop - Term Paper Example Almost 80% of New Orleans city was covered with floods. About 1800 people lost their lives to the hurricane; property of $80 billion worth belonging to the Orleanais was damaged, and in August 2005, after the floods swept in, millions of civilians were left with no homes. Hurricane Katrina was graded the sixth among the strongest storms that had ever been experienced and was the costliest. The strength of this storm waved to over 30 deep sea miles and when it was at its extreme, the winds from the hurricane covered more that 75 deep sea miles from the central point moving on to the east side. Over 400,000 employees lost their jobs following hurricane Katrina and this led to the financial crisis suffered by the Gulf Coast. This paper will discuss the effects and impacts on the reservation price on the housing market in New Orleans before and after the catastrophe (Bergal, 2007). Katrina engendered storm outpours and deluges, which in turn led to a 75% area flooding in the metropolitan of New Orleans. More than half of the embankment and failures in the floodwalls were brought into being by overlapping in that, as the storm outpours aggravated farther up the acmes of either or both the embankments and their floodwalls, the subsequent erosions fructified than expected and gave rise to breaches/failures. The most articulate and coherent missteps included the failures that took place on the banks adjacent to the 17th street and London avenue estuaries. These three failures could have resulted from the implosion and inadequacy in part of the basal foundation soil concealing the levees, conjointly with sand boils and sinkholes. According to analysts, Hurricane Katrina caused the death of more than 1,100 Louisiana residents. One third of the incidences of death took place in hospitals and shelters in flooded areas. The drowned victims made up to two thirds and the most of the casualties were elderly people because 60% of the reported cases were those of people aged 65 and over. The number of deaths was higher in areas with large water depths. Hurricane Katrina and the Social Contract Game theory Arguably, if the destruction that New Orleans went through resulted from terrorist attacks, it would have been ranked highest historically (Miller, 2006). This is not as a result of the many innocent lives that were lost or the valuable property that went into destruction, but because of the evident social order destruction in the region. A terrorist envision would bring nothing better than planting seed of hatred and watering them with the blood of innocent citizens, and increasing the mistrust among the government and the citizens in fulfilling their respective duties in the â€Å"social contract†. Socrates arguments gives a clear trace of the social contract concept though scholars like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and the likes of Rousseau later modernized the concept (Binmore, 1998). To analyses the concept, late 20th century scholars used game-t heoretic reasoning. In this, they concentrated on thee 2*2 matrix games. The most accurate 2*2 game is the â€Å"Stag Hunt†. Taking after Rousseau, it gives a description of developing cooperative effort ideas among human generations. Player 2 Hunt Stag (Cooperate) Hunt Hare (Defect) Player 1 Hunt Stag (Cooperate) 4,4 1,3 Hunt Hare (Defect) 3,1 2,2 What the above Table on Stag Hunt elaborates is the fact that with cooperation, it is easier to realize excellent results that