Johnson Beverage Inc Essay

As president and primary owner of Johnson Beverage, Inc. (JBI), Jack Johnson was beginning to realize that retaining long-term customers was becoming a challenge. During a delivery run yesterday, driver Joe Stevens had noticed a competitor’s sales manager talking with the general manager of Saver Superstore, one of JBI’s largest customers. Then, that morning, Johnson’s sales manager, Marsha Ketchum, had mentioned that, during her visit with the same general manager on Wednesday, he was starting to make some noises about wanting to negotiate a lower price. This could cause a dilemma because this customer had been one of the company’s largest and most loyal customers for years. Johnson leaned back in his chair. These things always seemed to come up on Friday— just in time to monopolize his thoughts over what otherwise would have been a restful weekend. Deciding to address the situation head on, he scheduled a meeting with Stevens, Ketchum, and several others for later that afternoon. Company Background JBI distributed beverages to retail customers. The company had been in business for two decades and had become a preferred distributor among several retail outlets in the local area. JBI primarily distributed bottled sports drinks made by small specialty beverage companies, and its business had grown steadily with the popularity of sports drinks over the past 10 to  20 years. Last year, JBI’s revenues totaled $12 million. The company serviced about 20 customers whose beverage purchases totaled anywhere from about $100,000 to over $1 million annually. The undiscounted list price on the sports drinks that JBI distributed was $15.20 per case of 24 bottles. The full cost (excluding customer service costs) of the bottled drinks was $13.10 per case. The company offered discounts to some of its customers, which varied by customer based on a number of factors, including the volume of drinks the customer purchased, the future potential of the customer, and the negotiating success of the company’s sales representative, among others. This case was prepared by Associate Professor Luann J. Lynch. It was written as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Copyright ïÆ' £ 2009 by the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation, Charlottesville, VA. All rights reserved. To order copies, send an e-mail to sales@dardenbusinesspublishing.com. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the Darden School Foundation. Rev. 6/09. This document is authorized for use only by madelene manu at Douglas College. Please do not copy or redistribute. Contact permissions@dardenbusinesspublishing.com for questions or additional permissions. The Meeting Johnson opened the meeting by summarizing what he had heard from Stevens and Ketchum over the past couple of days. â€Å"It looks like we’ve got some competition for one of our best customers: Saver Superstore. I guess I’m not too surprised. They’re a big customer.† â€Å"This isn’t the first time this has happened,† added Ketchum. â€Å"You might remember that this same competitor has approached Saver Superstore before. But that time, we were able to keep the business by offering a bit more of a discount. I think we’ll have to do more of that this time, or I’m afraid we’ll lose the customer.† Johnson responded quickly. â€Å"We can’t get into a price war on this. I know this is a big customer, and a loyal one too, but it’s certainly not one of our most profitable. I had Jim pull some numbers together on several of our accounts. Saver Superstore is one of our lowest-margin customers. Take a look.† Jim Thomas in accounting, who was also in the meeting, had prepared a report (Exhibit 1), which Johnson laid on the table for the others to look at. Thomas explained how the accounting group compiled the numbers: For each customer, we just pull the revenues right out of the accounting system. We know what they ordered and what we shipped, and we know what price we charge each customer, so that part is pretty easy. And we know that the cost per case, excluding our customer service costs, is $13.10. So we can multiply $13.10 per case by the number of cases we shipped to get our cost of goods. Then, we subtract our cost of goods from revenues for each customer and get a gross margin. Now, you may remember that we’ve talked about how hard it is to trace our customer service costs to any particular customer. Our customer service costs run about $1.2 million a year, roughly 10% of revenues. To make things easy, we allocate those to each customer based on its share of the company’s total revenues. So if a customer accounts for 5% of our revenues, we allocate it 5% of our customer service costs. Then, we calculate a customer margin for each customer. Johnson looked at the numbers and said: I don’t think we can lower our price to Saver Superstore much more and make any money on this one. And just think, if we offer a larger discount to them, then we’ll have our other customers wanting the same thing—especially the other big ones. I can see it now: Marsha is going to walk in here next  month and tell us that Oscar’s OddLots has heard about the deal we struck with Saver Superstore, has been talking with that competitor, and they want the same thing. This document is authorized for use only by madelene manu at Douglas College. Please do not copy or redistribute. Contact permissions@dardenbusinesspublishing.com for questions or additional permissions. Oscar’s OddLots, a large local retailer on the edge of town, was another of JBI’s large customers. Jason Rodgers, the operations manager for JBI, was listening carefully. This was the first he had heard of the situation, but to a careful observer, his nod would have revealed what he was thinking. He said: You know, I’m not a bit surprised to hear all this. Saver Superstore is a great customer. They buy lots of beverages, and they’re easy to deal with. They place their orders on a regular basis and almost never ask for anything special. I don’t remember the last time we had to run around in the warehouse pulling together a rush order from them. Who wouldn’t want that business? Stevens agreed, â€Å"You’re right. I almost never have to change my delivery schedule because they’ve asked for quick delivery. And they’re right around the corner, so they’re easy for us to get to.† Rodgers continued: I think about some of our other customers. They seem to never be able to  anticipate that they’ll be out of stock. Then they call us and make it our problem to deal with. It seems like we have some customers that we work on all day every day. Why can’t that competitor go after those customers? It’s hard for me to believe that some of those customers are more profitable than Saver Superstore. Maybe we ought to add what we guys in the warehouse call a â€Å"pain factor† onto those other customers and then see who is most profitable for us. As Johnson listened, he realized Rodgers might be onto something. â€Å"Jim, what types of costs are included in those customer service costs?† Thomas replied, â€Å"Well, that number includes several things.† He continued: It includes anything related to handling the beverages, like picking the beverages from the warehouse shelves according to the order instructions, moving the beverages over to the dock, and loading them on the delivery truck. It includes any costs related to taking, coordinating, and administering the orders, like what we pay the people in the sales office who take phone orders from customers, the supervisory costs to administer the order, and similar things. It includes anything related to delivering the beverages to the customer’s location, like the cost of the delivery trucks, truck maintenance, and what we pay Joe and people like him to drive the trucks. It includes anything related to all those rush orders you’re talking about, like overtime, extra scheduling, and stuff like that. And it includes what we pay Marsha for what she does, like visiting the customers to check in on them. So there’s quite a bit of stuff in there. Johnson thought about this. â€Å"So you’re telling me that there are some customers that you are spending a lot more time on than others? And it’s not Saver Superstore?† This document is authorized for use only by madelene manu at Douglas College. Please do not copy or redistribute. Contact permissions@dardenbusinesspublishing.com for questions or additional permissions. â€Å"That’s right,† Rodgers replied. Johnson continued, â€Å"But since our accounting system is allocating these customer service costs based on revenues, and since Saver Superstore is one of our biggest customers, it’s allocating a large share of those costs to Saver Superstore.† â€Å"Exactly,† Thomas said. Let me do this: Let me spend a couple of days collecting some information. I’ll need some help from each of you because I want to try to find out how much of your time you are spending on each of our customers. Maybe it’s time to get more sophisticated about how we look at these customer service costs. It may be worth the effort. Stevens, Ketchum, and Rodgers all agreed to spend some time with Thomas so he could summarize the amount of activity they devoted to each customer. They would meet again the following Friday. Thomas promised to compile an analysis that might help them determine how profitable each of their customers really was. Activity Analysis Before he left for the weekend, Thomas decided to pull together some information about the customer service costs he had described in the meeting: handling the product, taking the orders, delivering the product, expediting rush orders, and visiting the customer. He searched through the accounting system and determined how much of the annual $1.2 million in customer service costs was associated with each of those categories (Table 1). Table 1. Customer service costs during the prior year by area of activity. Area of activity Total $ Product handling Taking orders from customers Delivering the product Expediting deliveries (other than automobile) Sales visits to customers Total $ 672,000 100,000 140,000 198,000 90,000 $ 1,200,000 This document is authorized for use only by madelene manu at Douglas College. Please do not copy or redistribute. Contact permissions@dardenbusinesspublishing.com for questions or additional permissions. Then, on Monday, Thomas met individually with Stevens, Ketchum, and Rodgers. With their help, he determined what he thought to be the primary driver of the costs in each of those customer service categories (Table 2). Table 2. Cost drivers by area of activity. Area of activity Cost driver Product handling Taking orders from customers Delivering the product Expediting deliveries (other than automobile) Sales visits to customers Number of cases sold Number of purchase orders Number of miles traveled Number of expedited deliveries Number of sales visits Thomas determined from the company’s accounting records that the company sold 800,000 cases of beverages and processed 500 purchase orders the previous year. Stevens checked the mileage records for the delivery vehicles and determined that the vehicles had traveled a total of 44,800 miles. Rodgers was able to determine that the company made 4,480 deliveries, 2,500 of which were expedited deliveries. And finally, Ketchum checked her daily travel log to determine she had made a total of 360 sales visits to the company’s customers. Thomas’s next step was to determine how much of these cost drivers were attributable to each customer. Again, he was able to obtain some of that information (e.g., number of cases) relatively easily from the company’s records. Then his colleagues helped him determine customer numbers for the rest of the activities. Exhibit 2 presents this data for the four customers included in Thomas’s first report (Exhibit 1). Exhibit 1 JOHNSON BEVERAGE, INC. Report of Customer Profitability during the Previous Year for Four Customers Prepared by Jim Thomas Net revenues Cost of goods Gross margin Customer service costs Customer profit Customer profit (% of net revenues) Saver Superstore $ 1,168,000 1,048,000 $ 120,000 116,800 $ 3,200 0.3% Oscar’s OddLots $ 1,192,000 1,048,000 $ 144,000 119,200 $ 24,800 2.1% Midwellen Supermarket $ 121,520 104,800 $ 16,720 12,152 $ 4,568 3.8% Downtown Retail $ 454,500 393,000 $ 61,500 45,450 $ 16,050 3.5% Total for JBI $12,000,000 10,480,000 $ 1,520,000 1,200,000 $ 320,000 2.7% Exhibit 2 JOHNSON BEVERAGE, INC. Additional Information from Prior Year for Four Customers Price per case Number of cases Number of orders Number of deliveries1 Miles traveled per delivery Number of expedited deliveries Number of sales visits 1 Saver Superstore $14.60 80,000 16 110 5 10 12 Includes both expedited and regular deliveries. Oscar’s OddLots $14.90 80,000 40 400 19 250 25 Midwellen Supermarket $15.19 8,000 20 200 11 130 18 Downtown Retail $15.15 30,000 30 230 4 90 9 Total for JBI $15.00 800,000 500 4,480 10 2,500 360

My First Day at Collage

This was one hell of a day. On this day I had times when I felt like going back home. Embarrassing situations were also a part of this good and bad day. Nevertheless hope was still gained and a good laugh from the day that had events which were unexpected. I guess being new at a school is never always a good experience. When I arrived at Limkokwing University I was immediately filled with joy. This is because of design of the school that had a lot of high rising buildings which were encircled by an amazing garden. Also, when I stepped through the gate just as I thought the marvel was close to an end, I saw a shiny black Rolls-Royce Phantom for the first time in the parking lot and the pleasure continued. Then I arrived at the area that is called the Plaza. The Plaza is a place which has most of the school offices, restaurants and other facilities. The area looked nice and it had a lot of people who were from different regions who at the same time were also having different agendas . Some of the people were satisfying themselves with delicious food, others were in the gym burning calories from their bodies and the rest were going to different places. After the great viewing I looked at my watch and saw that I was ten minutes late for my lesson so I rushed out of the Plaza and asked someone where the Foundation in Business class was and that was when the problems began. The person told me that they had just dropped off their son in the foundation class and that the class is the one written number ninety-eight in the last building. This information relieved me and then I went to the exact place that I was told. As soon as I arrived in the class things went up side down, this is because the things that the lecturer was teaching us seemed to be complicated. I began questioning myself if I should carry on with school in my life because I was not grasping on what was being taught. As the lesson continued, despite the complex information that we were being given, I told myself that I am not a quitter and I will be able to manage. It was only when I went to see the timetable after the lesson that I realized that I realized that I was actually in a third year degree class. Being aware of this mistake it boosted my motivation and I was back on track in terms of my goals in life. After the situation I went through I was now hungry and I went to the Plaza. When I got there I saw a sign written Makan Lah! Restoran and it looked like a restaurant so I proceeded there. I got to the counter and told the person ho was attending to the customers that I would like to have quarter chicken with rice, this was understood. The problem came when I wanted to pay for the food and the attendant told me that I was supposed to give him a receipt instead then I was shocked. The lady who was standing beside me then told me that you have to pay for your order at the payment area first which was on the other side then I would receive my order. That issue was cleared, I got my food and began doing what I came there for. When I was done eating I did not know that we were supposed to leave our plates on the table when we were done eating, so I took it back to the restaurant and I felt embarrassed when I was told that we could just simply leave them on the table. So I had to walk back to my table and put it there. This was an interesting first day for me whereby I had to learn with people who were way older than me just because of wrong directions. Also, I got confused when I was ordering lunch. Otherwise the school to me is an interesting place that has interesting people. The environment is great for building peoples futures.

Implications For The Future Paper Essay

Environmental problems exist everywhere in this world today; whether it is in air, the water, traffic, crowding, or noise. Dubois, Pennsylvania which is known for its lumber and coal mining has 7, 794 people living here today. When this land was founded and cleared it was sold as one acre parcels, and each land owner had to determine their own road systems; which is why most of the roads in Dubois are narrow today. Dubois was known as â€Å"The Divided City† back in the very early stages of it growth. There was the Dubois side, and Rumbarger side, and separated by a low beaver damn. As population and business grows the town becomes one and is known as Dubois today. At first way of transportation in Dubois was railroads and then street cars, it was not until 1901 when Dubois got it first car called â€Å"Steamers.† As the area grows highway 219 was introduced through Dubois. This highway also known as Corridor 21 runs from Bluefield, West Virginia thru Dubois, Pennsylvania right down the main part of town to the South of Buffalo, New York. With this highway the traffic congestion through Dubois, Pennsylvania can become very chaotic at times. We have large amounts of trucks, and cars that use this route. As we continue on we will provide two strategies for promoting positive environmental behavior, how positive and negative consequences can increase pro-environmental behavior, describe one positive and one negative example how technology advances have impacted our environment, and talk about the influence of the environmental policies. Two Strategies for Promoting Positive Environmental Behavior One strategy that would help to promote a positive environmental behavior would be Positive Cueing. Cues are elements in the environment that convey important information or trigger an affective reaction. Steg, Van Den Berg, & DeGroot, (2013) stated, â€Å"By using positive cues from the environment such  as bicycling to work the individual will have provided a positive behavior towards the environment.† (p.120) Individuals who ride a bicycle to work, and to get around town will help cut down on the traffic congestion that goes through the town. Other cues such as walking, or if you have to drive finding other routes that are not congested would also help cut down on traffic congestion through the town. Another strategy that can be used to help positive environmental behavior is an individual’s attitude. An individual’s attitude can reflect whether their behavior is going to have a negative or positive outcome. Self-perception theory argues that people’s attitudes are formed from the perceptions of their own previous behavior. (Cornelissen, Pandelaere, Luk, & DeWitte, 2008). For example, if a person recycles in the past then their attitude for recycling in the future will be the same and will show positive environmental behavior. For the town of Dubois attitudes amongst these individuals seem to be divided. There are individuals who drive, one’s who walk, and others who like to ride a bike. Ways of promoting positive cues and better attitudes for a more positive environmental behavior is by educating individuals on how their behavior can affect their environment. Positive and Negative Consequences of Traffic can Increase Pro-environmental Behavior The positive and negative consequences of traffic have the ability of increasing pro-environmental behavior in certain ways. It may seem as if negative consequences of traffic cannot increase pro-environmental behavior but it can. The negative consequences of traffic are delays, the burning of fossil fuels and amount of pollution being into the air by vehicles, and road rage. Steg, Van Den Berg, & DeGroot, (2013) stated, â€Å"High levels of traffic congestion may lead to elevated physiological stress and negative affect.† (p.33) These negative effects not only affect an individual’s health and can cause many numerous respiratory problems, but also can affect our environment as well, by causing not only traffic congestion, but also can cause air pollution, and noise pollution. These kind of negative consequences can lead to positive pro-environmental behavior in regards to raising gas prices, building alternate routes around town, keeping sidewalks clean for individuals to walk on, and putting in bike lanes. By raising gas prices individuals do not travel as much so less traffic congestion and  pollution, adding alternate routes around the town can help break up the flow of traffic, and adding bicycle lanes, and keeping sidewalks clean will help encourage individuals who live in town to ride bicycles, and walk. Positive consequences of traffic is that it encourages motorist to re-time their road trip to when the traffic is not as congested, and also by reducing speeds can cause less road accidents. One Positive and Negative Example how Technology Advances have Impacted Our Environment Technology is making distribution, processing, production, development, and exploration of natural resources and alternative resources more cost effective, and protective in regard to the environment. The Technology that we have today has given humans a way of reducing negative effects on the environment that we have caused; such as the depletion of natural resources, the burning of fossil fuels, and other behaviors which have caused negative environmental effects. One effective way for technology to have a positive impact on our environment is what they call â€Å"Smart Technology† this technology can help ease traffic congestion. This smart technology helps reduce travel delays, provides a more convenient access to transportation alternatives, it can customize routes on real-time traffic conditions, also can reduces the carbon dioxide emissions going into the air, and at the same time save individuals on the cost of fuel. Steg, Van Den Berg, & DeGroot, (2013) stated, â€Å"Despite remarkably improved car technology, the total negative environmental impact of car use has risen over the last 100 years.† (p.244) Because of such advance technology, cars are more fuel efficient so individuals go out to buy larger vehicles, and take longer trips which in the end produces more carbon dioxide emissions, causing more pollution, and with the increase of buying cars causes traffic congestion to get worse. Influence of Environmental Policies Environmental policies are put into effect at all levels in our society from individual, group, large companies, and even municipal. These policies can have a positive outcome, or a negative outcome based on the individuals or group of people. There are policies that taxe things such as fuel, electric bill, water bills, so they can encourage individuals or groups to conserve our natural resources. These policies can also encourage individuals to  change their behavior towards the environment by using energy efficient items such as; light bulbs, televisions, and computers to name a few. Also by having policies we can implement other energy sources such as solar panels, or wind turbines. For these policies to have a positive outcome on our environment the individual or group of people would have to have acceptability of the policy so it would have a strong influence on implementing these policies. Acceptability of any policies outcome is based on the attitude of the individual or group of people about the policy. If an individual does not like the policy that is being implemented, for example recycling then most likely this individual will not recycle. If individuals have a good attitude about the policy for the environment then this can influence change in their behavior towards the environment. Conclusion Traffic congestion is an environmental problem that has existed for many years, and many to come. Not only does it cause delays to where you need to be, but can also cause air pollution, noise pollution, and from that many health issues to the human race as well. Technology has improved traffic congestion by reducing delays, finding alternate routes around, reducing carbon dioxide emissions and lower fuel cost. Though, there have been many positive outcomes with technology and things that benefit our environment technology can have negative impacts on the environment as well. The negative impacts from technology could be things such cars that are more fuel efficient having individuals buying larger vehicles, taking longer trips which will eventually increase traffic congestion and cause more air pollution. With environmental policies in place we can change our behavior towards the environment by using more energy efficient items such as lights, computers, and televisions. These policies that we implement can use more natural resources such as solar or wind energy, and this type of natural resource does not hurt the environment as much as burning fossil fuels. By utilize resources provided in the environment, setting up polices, and having positive attitudes we can change our behavior towards the environment, and make traffic congestion through Dubois, Pennsylvania less stress and less hurtful to the environment. References Steg, L., Van Den Berg, A., & DeGroot, J. I.M. (2013). Environmental Psychology: In Introduction [University of Phoenix Custom Edition eBook]. West Sussex, UK: British Psychological Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, PSY460 website. Cornelissen, G., Pandelaere, M., Luk, W., & DeWitte, S., (2008, February). Positive Cueing: Promoting Sustainable Consumer Behavior by Cueing Common Environmental Behaviors as Environmental. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 25(1), 46-55. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/science/article/pii/S0167811607000699 Steg, L., Van Den Berg, A., & DeGroot, J. I.M. (2013). Environmental Psychology: In Introduction [University of Phoenix Custom Edition eBook]. West Sussex, UK: British Psychological Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, PSY460 website. Steg, L., Van Den Berg, A., & DeGroot, J. I.M. (2013). Environmental Psychology: In Introduction [University of Phoenix Custom Edition eBook]. West Sussex, UK: British Psychological Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, PSY460 website.

Political socialization is a very important process that creates and Essay

Political socialization is a very important process that creates and conveys the political culture of a society. Examine one of - Essay Example The primary source of that information comes from the media. While the media in most western countries runs independently from government regulation within boundaries, it increasingly seems that they are not communicating all sides of any given story. When it comes to politics, the media becomes critical. Messages and information are disseminated through various media outlets including the television, Internet, and newspapers. Consumers, or private citizens, depend on this information since it allows them to formulate important decisions about who they feel should best govern the nation. As such, in recent years it appears that media has been more and more important to the political landscape of a country. They can shape policy and see to it that certain people are elected to office. It is indeed a big task, and media companies need to realize their responsibility to balanced and fair reporting of all of the facts, not just those that they feel will shape the course of the country in the direction they want to head. The media should provide reliable information, faithful reporting, and neutral guidance through the television, Internet, and newspapers because it is important that they convey positive information and do not misguide or leave out important information that the population needs to hear. The Influence of Television Since the days of black and white television, the media has had a profound impact on the political life in society. Television was the format where politicians were able to speak to the country. In fact, it was back in 1960 that America had its first Presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Millions of people tuned in to hear what each candidate had to say. The impact should be obvious. In countries as populated at the United States, or as spread out geographically as Canada, people running for political office depend on the television to get their message out to the masses quickly. In addition, political parties and action groups depend on television advertising to point out their particular policies and why they feel the public should support their agenda. Another way that television impacts the political socialization of a country is through the actual political news that they choose to report and the spin that they put on certain topics. All three of these aspects combine to dictate the shape of politics, to a large degree, throughout much of the world. Let us analyze that first presidential debate. Many considered Richard Nixon a near certainty to win the election, but Kennedy dominated the series of debates broadcast on television. In addition, his campaign instituted a series of catchy jingles that caught the nation’s attention from coast to coast. Television enabled the charisma that was Kennedy to be displayed to the entire nation, rather then simply being delegated to a series of political rallies in select locations. At the same time, Nixon could not do the same. Television di d not display him well, he underperformed in the debates, and his campaign never seemed to generate the same media attention that Kennedy’s did. In this manner, the media, in the form of television, almost single handedly delivered the election to Kennedy. He did not win a landslide victory, to be certain, but the amount of victory can largely be attributed to the influence of television (Mayer, 2007, p. 32). It is not only individual

Consulting Scenario Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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Non Profit Taxes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Greek Mythology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Organisation behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Organisation behavior - Essay Example They, consequently, should perform as well as possible in order for the company to succeed in the market. Therefore, an idea that employee performance is better if those employees are emotionally intelligent is becoming more and more popular among businesses that will to be more adaptive to the ever changing market conditions and more competitive marketplace (Cherniss and Goleman 2001, 159). Since emotional intelligence has become such a popular concept among HR specialists, it is worth finding out whether this term is really related to employee performance. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to critically analyze some of the most recent works on the relation between emotional intelligence and employee performance with the purpose of determining whether there exists a strong dependence. The given work will try to determine whether it is really important for modern businesses to invest their resources in emotional intelligence and whether such investments will bring any profit. For this purpose, of course, the term itself should be defined in the first place. Definition A scientific study of emotional intelligence began, according to Ciarrochi, Forgas and Mayer (2001, 4), in 1900s. However, up until 1970, when intelligence and emotion were integrated in the field of ‘cognition and affect†, the studies of intelligence and emotions were separate. Finally, only in 1990s emotional intelligence became a subject of more profound research. The concept got popularized between 1994 and 1997 (Ciarrochi, Forgas and Mayer 2001, 4). However, several definitions of emotional intelligence have emerged in the process of the studies. Goleman (1998, 317), for instance, defines emotional intelligence as a â€Å"capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those in others, for motivating ourselves, for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships." As such, emotional intelligence, according to this author, involves a person to have the following comp etencies: self- awareness, self- regulation, self-motivation, social awareness, and social skills. Self- awareness, self- regulation, self-motivation are, in this case, person’s ability to understand and manage own feelings and emotions. Social awareness and social skills, consequently, refer to the individual’s ability to understand emotions of the other and respond correctly. Another definition is given by Mayer and Solloway (1997, 3), who state that emotional intelligence is an ability â€Å" to perceive emotions in the self and in others, use emotions to facilitate performance, understand emotions and emotional knowledge, and regulate emotions in the self and in others.† So, it can be said that emotional intelligence refers to a person’s ability to understand the feelings of oneself and the others, as well as react and respond to those emotions in the most proper for a particular situation way. The next issue to find out is whether this ability really has a significant impact on job performance. Literature Review The opinion that emotional intelligence is related to job performance is supported by Nikolaou and Tsaousis (2002). These scientists conducted a research with the purpose of determining the relation between emotional intelligence, occupational stress and organizational commitment. The results showed that the higher emotional intelligence of an individual is, the lower is one’

Cyber Security Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Cyber Security - Term Paper Example With the development of science and technology, the possibility of cyber threat increases. Cyber criminals vary from organized group of hackers supported by various kinds of political, ethical or retaliatory motives to virtual robbery activities, inspired by financial gain. It is vital for organizations to understand the profile and mode of operations of targeted areas. According to Martin (2013), â€Å"Targeted, organized and long-term threats categorized as â€Å"advanced persistent threats† can be a significant problem due to sophisticated technology, expert attackers and potentially Nation State sponsorship† (p.1). The main objective of this paper is to analyze the concept of cyber security in association with a recent international event. It analyses the possible threats that people may face in cyberspace. The paper seeks to answer questions related to cyber security such as: who is been harmed and by whom, what is the harm/causation, what is the broader implication of the harm and what is the major moral issue on hand. Most importantly, it will discuss how companies use such as rights theory, justice theory, an ethics of character, and an ethics of care while relating the same about the particular incident. The concept of cyber security in modern world is important to understand cyber threat. Cyber security is developed to protect the individual users as well as companies. The term cyber threat can be defined as an outsiders attempt to hamper the normal operation of any particular system which is designed to help the normal activities of the people in a society. Cyber threats can be a great danger for the financial sector, government, and the army. In countries such as USA, the statistics associated with the cyber-crime is increasing rapidly. With the situation so alarming, the President of USA, Barack Obama forced to declare the month of

Florida's Multicultural Community And Political Processes In Cuba Research Proposal

Florida's Multicultural Community And Political Processes In Cuba - Research Proposal Example Authorities in Cuba emphasize the significance of developing appropriate political relationship and formulation of excellent foreign policies (Buffington 2012). This facilitates exemplary performance and international trade relations especially in the exchange of sugar that the nation produces in large quantities. Although Cuba had cordial political and foreign relations with the Soviet Union, the nation had antagonistic relations with the US. The distance and antagonistic relations were evident due to differences in political policies (Buffington 2012). The US was against the nation’s growing relations with the Soviet Union and the adoption of communism. The policies failed to promote democratic electoral process and tolerance for emerging opposition leaders. The unconventional policies prompted the US under the leadership of John F. Kennedy to impose trade sanctions against Cuba (Buffington 2012). The sanctions were meant to cut foreign engagement between the nations and ensure that the Cuban leaders adopt favorable economic policies that are sustainable. Authorities in Florida have adopted stringent measures to ensure that the intentions of the sanctions are attained. The authorities engaged in deliberations to compel Cuban officials to eradicate communist policies and encourage democratic political processes. The authority’s state that operations between the two regions will be further jeopardized if Cuba fails to adopt modern democratic practices (Clendinning 2008). The officials are categorical that Cuban immigrants will not be allowed in California. The unconventional democratic practices and the communist guidelines severely affected the nation’s economic advancement. The practices also halted the realization of cordial relations that are achievable through the adoption of friendly foreign policies.This paper evaluates the role of Florida's multi-cultural c ommunity in maintaining America's sanctions against Cuba.

Listening and Paraphrasing Essay Example for Free

Listening and Paraphrasing Essay The first person I interviewed was my sister’s friend who is nineteen years old and is in college. She works part-time a crew in a coffee shop just outside our village. I asked her about her job and how she was able to manage her time juggling work and studies. According to her, what she is doing is tiresome but she was able to do both activities since it is not simultaneous and that, she really has to be able to do so. She mentioned how she prioritizes work over her studies. She attends to her class regularly but admits that, most of the time, she isn’t attentive. She said that she had to miss some of her morning classes because she’s too tired to get up in the morning. She gets to miss several classes but never miss even a minute of work. She told me that she doesn’t resent having to work while studying unlike other students because she believes that she is learning more and is getting personally better when she is forced to work and study at the same time. She takes everything as a training for what else worse that could happen. She said she feels like there’s nothing that she won’t be able to get through because she has gotten stronger after all the early struggles in her life. She also said that her job as a crew is not all about the money she is earning. She said that she is also enjoying the work because she wants to put up business someday and she is planning to pursue food business. She has been learning a lot by working and feels more unfortunate than other students because she was able to directly apply what she learns from school. In this interview, I would have to repeat some of her answers to make it appear that I am deeply interested in what she is saying. I have learned that paraphrasing also eliminates bars between two communicating parties because it makes one believe one is interested with the other’s tales (USDVA, 2004). When I repeat what she tells me, I say it in a different manner like this one time when she said, â€Å"I really don’t mind if I don’t get too good grades. Passing is enough for me. I just know that I am more knowledgeable than them and I understand exactly what the principles are saying. They only know it by words! † I would say, â€Å"You are no longer after the high grades because you know you understand the subject very well and school grades are just evaluation of school performance. † And I would follow it immediately with a question to keep our conversation going. The next person I interviewed is my grandfather who is already seventy-eight. We’ve talked about his life as part of the navy, how he met my grandmother and who is his favorite among his children. The talked about who is his favorite child is the most interesting part of our conversation. He said, â€Å"Your father wouldn’t lift a hand to reach something and would wait for his siblings or his mother or me to pass by so we could reach it for him. † I said, â€Å"My dad wouldn’t bother himself trying to reach something and would have to rely on someone else so he could get that something. † Having to repeat their words would mean understanding the matter more clearly (RMIT, 2005). It is also a tool for clarifying ideas. In communication, it is very effective because when one feels that the other understands him, he feels more comfortable to talk about anything without any hesitations (Rowley, 2002). I was able to demonstrate it when I was able to extract information from my sister’s friend that is in a more personal level and when I was able to let my grandfather to bring back the memories he had with my father. References: RMIT University. 2005. Paraphrasing. Study and Learning Center, RMIT. Retrieved February 10, 2009 from http://www. dlsweb. rmit. edu. au/lsu/content/4_WritingSkills/writing_tuts /paraphrase_LL/index. html. Rowley, Richard. 2002. Active Listening. Retrieved February 10, 2009 from http://www. aligningaction. com/activeli. htm. U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 2004. Listening to Paraphrase. Retrieved February 10, 2009 from http://www1. va. gov/adr/page. cfm? pg=46.

Theories of Morality in Punishment Essay Example for Free

Theories of Morality in Punishment Essay As a society, we have different responses to treating untoward incidences and behaviors. We have different means in which we sanction or punish the doers of the action; yet these mean are all reflected on various theories of morality. Different countries or cultures have different systems of punishment as according to what they conform as morally acceptable to people of their kind. Some sanction death penalty, others rehabilitation, imprisonment or other ways like public humiliation and the like. The following are some theories of morality where such systems of punishments are grounded. Stoicism considers passionate emotions like fear or envy as results of errors in judgment and that a person of moral and intellectual perfection would not have to exhibit such emotions. This theory has something to do with giving verdict to people who have committed criminal case. For example, after court hearings, the jury finds that the accused has done the crime while he was not in the proper line of thinking or was insane, the sanction would be different from those who have found guilty of the same crime. The judge might recommend for rehabilitation or medical treatment instead of imprisonment or death penalty that might jeopardize the rationality of the person. Egoism, on the other hand, claims that persons act in response to self-interest. That is, the verdict to a case can be motivated by the interest of the jury to satisfy his own self or if he will be benefited from the result of the punishment. For example, the judge has been paid to overturn his verdict on a certain case; if the judge is thinking of his personal interest, he will do such in the name of money. Who would not want to get money for just a single court decision? Concurrent to egoism is hedonism, which states that only pleasure or its opposite, pain, motivates persons in their decision. Our responses to certain bad behavior done to us or to others depends whether we can get pleasure or we experienced pain. The response could be brutal when it is motivated by pain or the other way around when it is motivated by pleasure. In these three theories, the central subject is the self; where the measure for morality depends on what is most acceptable to the â€Å"self†. Other theories that affect decisions about morality include a gender-based one. Carol Gilligan on his work In a Different Voice states that men and women use different approaches to morality. According to her, the male approach is that individuals have certain basic rights and you are respecting those rights. Morality in this case imposes restrictions on what you can do to punish a person; while female approach is that people have responsibilities toward others; thus giving judgment depends on the care for others. On the other hand, Lawrence Kohlberg theorized about the stages of moral development that includes: punishment and obedience, instrumental exchange, interpersonal conformity, law and order, prior rights and social contract, and universal ethical principles. All these have something to do respect to laws and conformity to individual rights. The first stage for instance is the opposite of each other, meaning, when anyone breaks the rule or law or disobeys it, he or she will be punished according to the fifth stage prior rights and social contract. Social contract could be written or unwritten but these are contracts that state the punishments of any untoward behavior as a violation to the individual rights of persons. The above theories stipulate that justice systems are products of moral judgment anchored to the rights of individuals or the interest of people to the rights of others — either exploitation or preservation. References: Cory, Rachel. (2006). Kolhberg’s Stages of Moral Development. Retrieved December 2, 2008 from http://www. aggelia. com/htdocs/kohlberg. shtml Cypher, Allen. (____). Notes on In a Different Voice by Carol Gilligan. Retrieved December 2, 2008 from http://acypher. com/BookNotes/Gilligan. html Stoicism, Egoism and Hedonism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/

Economic effects of globalisation in singapore

Economic effects of globalisation in singapore Globalization is defined as the free movements of goods, services and capital across borders. It is a contentious process by which the western market economies have effectively spread across the globe. Although it does not constitute a new phenomenon, it is viewed as an inexorable integration of markets, nations and technologies to a degree never witnessed before in a way that is enabling individuals, and corporations to reach around the world further, faster, deeper and more economically than ever before (Heshmati, 2003). Today, globalisation is evident in every aspect of our life and society. Globalisation has impacted us in many ways, most evidently in communication and interaction between different people. Globalisation has brought about the Internet and advanced technology. This has allowed for ease in facilitation of which many aspects of the world are run and work. People are able to use the Internet to communicate with people from the other side of the world and interact and discuss about issues in the market etc. Through globalisation, people are able to communicate and interact easily, in doing so causing the ease of disseminating information and even in the way that facilitated trade. Especially with regards to trade, globalisation has enabled many countries around the world to take advantage of the aspect of globalisation which improves communication and interaction between people. Many countries used this aspect to help expand and advance their economies and trade markets. The year 2007 to 2008 witnessed a movement of goods and services worth $132 trillion from the Peoples Republic of China across the globe. This led to a 5.4% increase or rise in the Chinese economy as compared from the previous economic growth of a rate of 3.4% (Moore Lewis, 2009). Economic globalization is defined as the rise in economic interdependence of different nations economies of the world and it entails a dramatic rise in movement of goods, technology, capital and service across nations borders (Justin, 2001). Economic globalization has also provided opportunities for developing countries in that it expands the size of their markets for export and attracts foreign capital, which aids development. Foreign investment is conducive to a transfer of technologies and knowhow, which increases productivity (Bertucci and Alberti, 2010). In the same way, Singapore has also used the aspect of globalisation which increases communication in her own advantage to improve the economy and trade. One of the industries affected positively from globalisation in Singapore is the tourism industry. With globalisation, people are able to move from one place to another easily and quickly, through the use of aeroplanes etc. This allows people to travel regularly to Singapore, from places as far as Africa and United States of America. With easier traveling, more people can come to Singapore to tour and enjoy the attractions such as the Marina Bay Sands, Sentosa, etc. With more people in Singapore, the tourism industry is able to earn more money through the expenditure of these tourists, from food and beverages to entrance fees of attractions. Thus, through globalisation, Singapores tourist industry is able to expand and advance. This table of statistics shows the number of visitor arrivals by region/country of residence from the year 1999 and 2004 to 2009. Through this table, it can be seen that a large amount of people from the United States of America come to visit Singapore every year, in 2009 totalling to 370.7 thousand. This shows how globalisation has affected the tourism industry. People from countries like the United States of America which is in the other side of the world is able to come over to Singapore in such large numbers. This can also be seen in Europe, where 1,307.4 thousand people arrived to Singapore in 2009. It can be seen that globalisation has improved the tourism industry through the increase of tourist arrivals over the years. Take the Commonwealth of Independent States and Eastern Europe for example. The number of people who have visited Singapore have risen from 42.8 thousand in 1999 to 114.3 thousand in 2008. This shows the influence of globalisation has on the tourism industry in Singapore. With a greater influence, globalisation makes the tourist industry to have more and more tourists every year due to the easier transportation and movement from one country to another. With globalisation helping the countrys economy to become wealthier, this in turn would affect the people positively, allowing them to have a better standard of living. There are many benefits that citizens will have through a booming economy. One positive effect is that globalization causes rapid changes in trade relations, financial flows, and mobility of labour across the world. The development has brought the economies of developed countries closer together and more strongly interrelated. Trade is more common across countries and people are able to move from one place to another more conveniently and frequently than before. With globalization, companies have forayed into the developing countries and hence generated employment for them. But it is one of the positive and negative effects of globalization, depending on the point of view you wish to see it from. It has given an opportunity to invest in the emerging markets and tap up the talent which is available there. In developing countries, there is often a lack of capital which hinders the growth of domestic companies and hence, employment. In such cases, due to global nature of the businesses, people of developing countries too can obtain gainful employment opportunities. But the developed countries have lost jobs on account of this movement of jobs to the developing world and hence it is a pinch felt by people in the First World. One of the most visible positive effects of globalization in India is the flow of foreign capital. A lot of companies have directly invested in India, by starting production units in India, but what we also need to see is the amount of FII that flows into the developing countries. Indian companies which have been performing well, both in India and off the shores, will attract a lot of foreign investment, and thus pushes up the reserve of foreign exchange available in India. This is also one of the positive effects of globalization in US and other developed countries as developing countries give them a good investment proposition. The last effect is the impact of foreign trade on an economy. Comparative advantage has always been a factor even in the old times. While trade originated in the times of early kingdoms, it has been institutionalized due to globalization. Previously, people had to resort to unfair means and destruction of kingdoms and countries to get what they wanted. Today, it is done in a more humane way, with mutual cooperation. People who operate in uncivilized ways, now have to face the WTO and other world organizations that have been established with a view to control and regulate the trade activities of the countries. With all these benefits, the incomes of Singaporeans have increased over the last few years. In Singapore, the household income from work in 2010 increased due to strong economic growth. Median monthly household income from work in 2010 recovered to above the level before the economic downturn in 2009. Among resident households, median monthly income from work increased by 3.1 per cent from $4,850 in 2009 to $5,000 in 2010 (Table 1); in real terms, the increase was 0.3 per cent (Department of Statistics Singapore, 2010). Table 1 Monthly Household Income from Work Among Resident Households Year Median Household Income Average Household Income Dollar Nominal Change (%) Real Change (%) Dollar Nominal Change (%) 2000 3,638 3.9 2.6 4,988 5.7 2001 3,860 6.1 5.0 5,338 7.0 2002 3,628 -6.0 -5.6 5,069 -5.0 2003 3,601 -0.7 -1.2 5,075 0.1 2004 3,689 2.4 0.8 5,194 2.3 2005 3,860 4.6 4.1 5,447 4.9 2006 4,000 3.6 2.6 5,715 4.9 2007 4,375 9.4 7.1 6,295 10.1 2008 4,946 13.1 6.0 7,086 12.6 2009 4,850 -1.9 -2.5 6,826 -3.7 2010 5,000 3.1 0.3 7,214 5.7 Source: Department of Statistics Singapore (2011) Key Household Income Trends, 2010 Among employed household, with at least one working person, median monthly income from work increased by 5.7 per cent in nominal terms (from $5,400 in 2009 to $5,700 in 2010) and 2.8 per cent in real terms (Table 2). Table 2 Monthly Household Income from Work Among Employed Households Year Median Household Income Average Household Income Dollar Nominal Change (%) Real Change (%) Dollar Nominal Change (%) 2000 4,000 5.3 3.9 5,456 7.0 2001 4,141 3.5 2.5 5,736 5.1 2002 4,038 -2.5 -2.1 5,572 -2.9 2003 4,050 0.3 -0.2 5,618 0.8 2004 4,106 1.4 -0.3 5,761 2.5 2005 4,345 5.8 5.3 6,052 5.1 2006 4,495 3.5 2.5 6,280 3.8 2007 4,883 8.6 6.4 6,889 9.7 2008 5,475 12.1 5.2 7,752 12.5 2009 5,398 -1.4 -2.0 7,549 -2.6 2010 5,704 5.7 2.8 8,058 6.7 Source: Department of Statistics Singapore (2011) Key Household Income Trends, 2010 Even though the income levels have risen among employed Singaporeans, we have found through our research that not every Singaporean enjoys these perks of having higher income through globalisation. This is the one effect of globalisation in Singapore that we would like to discuss in this paper. The phenomenon of widening income gap in Singapore, between the period of 2000 2010. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Sources of Information In this research paper, we used mainly secondary sources of information. The sources of information that we used are: Newspaper Articles The newspaper articles we used were from The Straits Times. We decided to use articles from our local newspaper as it leans more towards our country and hence, the articles would be more apt especially since our research is about the effects of globalisation in Singapore. The Straits Times is also a acclaimed worldwide as one of the best newspapers, hence, it would be more reliable. Research papers The research papers that we used, such as the article Reducing Singapores Income Disparity: Looking Forward is by professors from Singapore. Hence, it is more reliable as they have lived in Singapore and studied the trends over the years. It would also be more appropriate for them to comment on the findings that they have collated Magazines We used The Economist because our topic focused mainly on the economy, hence, since The Economist looks at the global market, it would be a good judge of the economy in the various parts of the world. One issue that we looked at was Volume 398, Number 8717 of The Economist, which had a special report called The rich and the rest. This was relevant because it talks about the issue of widening income gap and the income discrepancies in the world today, which is one of our main focuses in our research paper. Statistics Our statistics were taken from research papers (results were collected by the author of the research paper) and studies conducted by the government. Since the statistics were taken from reliable sources, it would be more accurate in showing trends over the years. Rationale of using the sources of Information In our research paper, we only used secondary sources. This is because our topic is mainly on the effects of globalisation, hence it would be more appropriate to analyse the trends and research instead of conducting an interview. It was also quite hard to find an interviewee because globalisation is a wide topic and many people might have their different opinions on it. Through conducting extensive research using newspaper articles, research papers, et cetera, we could generally find the trends and information that we needed for our paper. Hence, we found that it was not necessary to conduct interviews or surveys as information that we needed could be found. Limitations of Research The limitation of using solely secondary sources is that we are unable to get first-hand opinions of the globalisation trends that we see in Singapore. Even though the opinions might be subjective, it would be a helpful source in knowing more about globalisation through the interviewees. Limitation of Newspaper Articles: The newspaper articles had only touched lightly on either the topic of widening income gap or globalisation, hence we had to conduct more research in order to find more information about the topic. Limitation of Research Papers: Research papers were useful in providing us with extensive information, however, each research paper was very focused on the particular topic that the professor was working on, and hence, we had to combine various research papers in order to find the trends and information that we required for our own research paper. Limitation of Magazines: The Economist was mainly on general statistics in the world, and hence, many of the information were not pertaining to Singapore and we could not use it for our information. The magazines were only a good guide in showing us the effects of globalisation to the world in general. Limitation of Statistics: The statistics given were mainly not interpreted; hence, even though we had the statistics by the government and research papers, we had to interpret and tweak the information in the way that it suits our topic and supports our points in our research paper. FINDINGS: HOW GLOBALIZATION LED TO THE WIDENING INCOME GAP IN SINGAPORE Globalisation has caused many changes in the world that we live in today. There are many effects of globalisation in our society, both good and bad. Globalisation is the continuous tendency towards the free flow of business and monetary infusions across nations which help in the formation of international financial system (mapsofindia, 2011). Higher living standards Through globalisation, the standard of living around the world has improved considerably. This is due to the want for financial independence and thus, people are triggered to become competitive, elevating the living standard of people in the nations that offer themselves to the world trade (mapsofindia, 2011). With increased economic stability, countries are able to have faster economic growth, which will also improve the standard of living in the country and reduce poverty. India has cut its poverty rate in half in the past two decades. China has reduced the number of rural poor from 250 million in 1978 to 34 million in 1999. Cheaper imports also make a wider range of products accessible to more people and, through competition, can help promote efficiency and productivity (global education, 2011). The rich are also able to splurge on their extravagant lifestyle, hence heightening the income discrepancies, as while people on the higher end of the income ladder are living a luxurious lifestyle, the lower-skilled workers are worried about keeping their jobs. This increased standard of living is thus clearly unbeneficial to some pockets of the population, especially the lower-skilled and lower-income people. Development of technology Over the years, technology has advanced in many ways that were thought impossible. The development of technology is rapid, persistent and ever-changing. With the introduction of technology to global markets, the demand for commodities has increased. Products and services are also increasing constantly. This has led to increase in usage around the world. Through the introduction of technology, technological gadgets are more easily available and affordable, allowing people to use technology to look into the investment and financial sector. With the help of computers, more and more people can be connected to the events happening in the financial sector. As per statistics, everyday more than $1.5 trillion is now swapped in the worlds currency markets and around one-fifth of products and services are generated per year are bought and sold. Technological advancement and productivity expansion are the other benefits of globalization because since 1970s growing international rivalry has trig gered the industries to improvise increasingly (mapsofindia, 2011). Increased inter-communication With globalisation, it is now easier for people all around the world to move from place to place. People have the ability to move from country to country in a short amount of time as compared to before when there was no globalisation. For the purpose of commerce and pleasure, more and more people are crossing national borders. Globally, on average nations in 1950 witnessed just one overseas visitor for every 100 citizens. By the mid-1980s it increased to six and ever since the number has doubled to 12. Commerce as a percentage of gross world product has increased in 1986 from 15% to nearly 27% in recent years. Worldwide telephone traffic has tripled since 1991. The number of mobile subscribers has elevated from almost zero to 1.8 billion indicating around 30% of the world population. Internet users will quickly touch 1 billion. With improved telecommunications, information and goods are available easily across countries. Costs are lowered and information is more reliable and accurate than ever. With such changes to the global market, workers are not just dependant on their own countrys economy anymore. Old jobs and skills are outsourced to meet the increasing demands of the global economy, thus many lower-skilled workers get lower income or get laid-off. Effects of Globalisation Influx of immigrants Globalization has made the world very close and small because of the ease of transport and lower cost of travel, and thus also increases the immigration in Singapore. Based on the study of Singapore Population Overview (Table 1), it can be seen that the number of immigrants and PRs in Singapore was 31.7% in 2007 whereas in 2008, the number has risen to 34.6%. This means that the number of immigrants and PRs is growing at a faster rate than the citizen population. The foreign workforce in Singapore is 30% (in 2010) not counting those who are newly converted citizens and PRs.( Diary of A Singaporean Mind, Monday, August 30, 2010) The government has offered scholarships, jobs and assistance for people in many other countries to settle in Singapore. Table 1. Singapore Population Overview (source: SingStat) Singapore Population Statistics Currently, there are 4.8 million people residing in Singapore, and about 478,000 are PRs. (On April 1, 2009, in Life in Singapore) Among them, the students, professionals entrepreneurs want to stay in Singapore after finishing their studies or own businesses , and establishing their careers. Table 2. Persons Granted PR (source: SingStat) Persons Granted PR post Singapore Immigration Table 3. Persons Granted Citizenship (source: SingStat)Persons Granted Citizenship post Singapore Immigration The tables show that each year, there are about 60,000 foreigners granted as PR. In contrast, only 15-17,000 citizenship status was approved yearly. Despise Singapores economic advantages; foreigners main motivators are citing tax incentives as well as health and education benefits which come from being a citizen or PR. Singapore is a very small island and has limited land and housing. Singaporeans have always welcomed immigrants in the past from Malaysia or Indonesia but nowadays the influx immigrants in the recent waves strains our infrastructure and leads to income inequality. Singapores economy now depends heavily on foreign labour which took up 58,300 new jobs, and over half of the 112,500 new jobs which are created in the year. Assuming one third or half of the locals are PRs, the proportion of new jobs which belong to foreigners is likely to be as high as two thirds or three quarters. (Tan Jee Say, Creating Jobs and Enterprisein a New Singapore Economy) These immigrants are taking jobs away from the locals and hence living some jobless. The Unemployment Rate (SA) in Singapore was 1.9% in Mar 2011. (Statistics Singapore)On top of that, they are driving down the income levels for the low-skilled jobs and hence even if locals were to work in it, they will be paid only a small amount. This would not be sufficient for the citizens especially since the standard of living in Singapore is high  ¼Ã‹â€ refer to the Higher Living Standard ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °and thus they might not be able to afford to pay for some needs. Ultimately, income gap will grow wider. In the past, the workers economic fate was only relevant to the national economic fate. However, globalization and improvements in communication, as well as influx immigrants changed the case. Now workers have to compete in a global market, and their wages are not so dependent on the individual economies success or failure of. The mind workers such as engineers, scientists, executives can compete successfully in the global market and receive high wages. However, the production and service works industrialized countries are not able to compete with those from third world countries. The workflow changes, thus poor countries get the low-value-added element of work which is formerly done in rich countries; however, higher-value work is maintained. (Economics focus: Cash machines. 2011-04-16.) This is a main effect on widening income gap. The population has increased to 5.5 million; a big part of it is made up of immigrants. Seventy-eight percent of Channel News Asia/Gallup polled felt that Singapore should limit the number of foreign workers when the population increases. (Journal of Alternative Perspectives in the Social Sciences ( 2009) Vol 1, No 3, 982-1002982)The management of the consequences of attracting more talented immigrants has become a challenge both in political and economic aspect. Globalization results in more acute income inequalities and meanwhile places a high premium on talent. Those people who stand at both ends of the skills spectrum are worried about their future.((Journal of Alternative Perspectives in the Social Sciences ( 2009) Vol 1, No 3, 982-1002982)) The cheaper labour from neighboring countries has forced the lower end to improve skills more efficiently. At the other end, Singapores industries has also storm skills deficit which has been pushed into higher value-added. Those Singaporean s who are better educated now have become being placed at a disadvantage in a more and more competitive job market. There is growing concern on the influence of fairly large immigration on the establishment of Singapores cultural and national identity, and on the states management of racial diversity as well. (Koh, 2003: 230-256). Effect of Globalization: Opening of New Economy and its effect on the unskilled, leading to widening income gap Globalization has become crucial for economic growth and prosperity in Singapore in recent decades, though the gains main spread unequally. Its magnitude and speed increase the free mobility of the products, services, as well as the factors of production across national borders. Globalization has made it possible for the transition form heavy industry or manufacturing-based economy to a new technology based one, thus leads to the opening of new economies. However, like most by-products of globalization, it has been a double-edged sword. The high growth, low inflation and high employment of this period led to overly optimistic predictions and many flawed business plans. (Newsweek article (January 2001) on the false claims of the new economy) Business in developed countries process outsourcing enables cheaper labour and services, however, meanwhile, displaces some of the service-sector jobs. One the one hand, accessing to the global market by attracting Direct Foreign Investment (FDI) and foreign investments has promoted Singapores economic development. On the other hand, the blue-collars jobs in the city-state were forced to run away to low-costs countries such as China and India. Thus it has a main effect on the widening income gap. Figure 1 QQà ¦Ã‹â€ Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ¾Ãƒ ¦Ã…“ ªÃƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ½Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ Ã‚  Figure 2. Wage inequality between Skilled Professionals and Unskilled ones. Source: Ministry of Manpower Singapore (2007). Report on Wages in Singapore 2006 Figure 1 indicates about 52.0% of Singaporeans are skilled workers in 2010. Figure2 shows the ratio of the skilled occupations wages to the unskilled ones wages. Regarding the income inequality between occupations, the collectively defined skilled workers continue to earn more than unskilled workers such as the cleaners, labourers and related workers. And the income gap has widened further since 1996.Therefore, the wage growths relative stagnation among the unskilled workers would unquestionably have influence on the widening income gap between the two ends of the occupational spectrum as indicated in Figure 2. Due to globalization, with the internet and airplanes, the distance between countries is getting shorter. The international communication on technologies and science has been more interactive and immediate. Therefore, companies nowadays set different parts of their plants in different countries and locations, saving the delivery time but not sacrificing the quality of the products and. The outsourcing of old jobs makes the companies greater profit due to low exchange rates of the countries and lower costs. However, meanwhile, the new technologies will make the old skills obsolete and increase the rate of unemployment in Singapore. The new economy is not only the high technology and the Internet, but also the work is now being supported by technology and evolving with technology. The new economy consists of new organizational models as well, emphasizing teamwork which means the decision making is no longer dominated by a single boss. The old economy just focused on local, state or national markets, but the new economy focused towards global market. The new economy showed a change in how the nation tried to draw business and industry. In the old economy, the industry was attracted to the nation because of low priced labor, cheap land, low tax, convenient transportation and other physical infrastructures. In the new economy, outsourcing is becoming more and more popular. Such phenomenon is due to a period of transition to the new economies which is knowledge or idea-based from the old ones. The key of the new economy is the utilized technology and high quality of production, as well as new ideas and innovation which can be embedded in all aspects of the economy. In 1950, 60% of the jobs needed unskilled workers; however, today only about 15% of jobs require them. The need for professionals has been around 20%. (Dr. Jacquelyn P. Robinson, A L A B A M A C O O P E R A T I V E E X T E N S I O N S Y S T EM, Volume 1, Issue 4 September 22, 2000)The requirement of skilled jobs which needs education and training has grown. Real wages for high school graduated without technical training decreased 18% over the last 18 years and those without high school diploma dropped 40%.((Dr. Jacquelyn P. Robinson). Therefore, the well-off march towards the global market and make more profit while the poor and uneducated become obsolete and unemployment, leading to the widening income diversity. CONCLUSION In this paper, we have discussed more about globalization: its role and the effects it has on Singapore, more specifically, the widening income gap. As can be seen, globalization has affected the way things work and old skills and jobs are gradually being outsourced. Although we cannot do anything to prevent it, it is important than we are aware of the consequences and try to improve Singapores current situation. Hence, Singaporeans should jump at the chance to improve their skills, so as to have a better future in exchange. Indeed, the Singapore government faces a tough challenge in trying to achieve this trinity of social goals income equality, economic growth and fiscal discipline (Yeoh 2007/2008). Even though this is hard to put into practice, the Singapore government has to adopt specific actions and measures to address the spiraling income inequality. This will help to prevent social discontentment and continue the wealth and prosperity that Singapore has been achieving over the years. However, the Singapore government has the responsibility to pay close attention to the needs of the people, especially those falling through the cracks with the rising cost of living. It is important that the government continues to care for the needs of the people and ensure that effective measures are carried out to ease their burdens. Unhappiness among the people leading to widespread discontentment can cause policies to fail; hence, political leaders must be capable of directing these emotions towards productive uses that benefit the economy, rather than allowing these emotions to develop into civil strife. Besides the economic policies to reverse income disparity, most importantly, the government needs to demonstrate empathetic leadership and win the hearts of Singaporeans so that the future will continue with a better Singapore.

Effects of Hydraulic Fracturing :: Energy

Advanced technology created the possibility to extract a natural gas beneath the earth which has never been possible before. Oil industries are once again booming deploying hydraulic fracturing method to access the natural gas lies beneath the earth, specifically the Marcellus Formation which contains limestone beds that is black shale or black rock due to presence of iron pyrite and siderites. Marcellus shale formation lie under New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio and other parts of the US states according to Parks & Recreation Journal (Dolesh 57). Its vast richness of natural gas is no doubt that it will help America’s energy demand but using hydraulic fracturing to bring that energy to the surface is disturbing the already troubled environment. Although my opponents claim that hydrocracking create jobs and reduce oil imports but it also poses environmental disaster that outweighs its profits which could be irreversible. Environmental disaster such as pollu tion increase, water contamination and risk to the public health in inevitable if gas companies are allowed to continue for drilling America’s soil. As energy demand is increasing throughout the world, America is not least, its demand for energy is increasing and energy supply dependability is at risk. The calls for cleaner energy is at its momentum with production of natural gas using hydrocracking method are deployed vast major cities across America. According to Analysis environment journal released on May 2011 has stated that new Environmental Protection Agency have â€Å"found that greenhouse gas emissions from fracturing are almost 9,000 times higher than previously calculated† this is no surprising because there are no federal regulation on hydraulic fracturing techniques (Nelson 24). Fracking products account 25% in oil industries which will increase in the near future as we are turning to other sources of alternative energy. According to EPA on â€Å"recent research into the complete life cycle of natural gas emissions raises questions about its relative cleanliness† which means as we see the increase of extracting natural gas as means of hydrocracking the pollution will drastically increase. The main component of natural gas is methane â€Å"which leaks from fractured wells or is otherwise released during natural gas drilling, transportation and power-plant accord to CQ Researcher (McGlynn 1054). It’s clear and not concise that emission of methane escaped to the earth’s atmosphere will increase as drilling of hydraulic fracture increases which will create havoc to our already ailing environment. Our existence depends on the accessibility of clean water which our life depends on.

Journalism and Social Media Essay -- Journalism News

Because I am a journalism student, I have talked, researched and discussed with many of my fellow students and faculty members about the topics above. I am choosing to talk about this because I think it is important and they are pertinent issues in the journalism field. I am also very interested in this topic, so I thought it would be fun to take the opportunity you gave us to design our own multi-part question and write about something in journalism that is appealing to me. I recently read an article somewhere, in which BBC journalist Sigrun Rottman said that objectivity in journalism is an illusion and the media should think more of being balanced than being objective. According to her, objectivity in the media does not really exist. This hit home for me because before being a journalism student I believed that objectivity in journalism was undoubtedly the focal point of the profession and that the business of every journalist was to be objective. The truth and the reality of this belief as we know it and as I have come to understand is that objectivity in journalism really doesn’t exist or to put it in better terms, it doesn’t exist to the extent that we perceive it should. So, the oft-stated and exceedingly desired goal of modern journalism is objectivity - the ‘disconnected’ gathering and dissemination of news and information; this allows people to arrive at decisions about the world and events occurring in it without the journalist’s subjective views influencing the acceptance and/or rejection of the information. It’s a pity that such a goal is impossible to achieve! As long as humans gather and disseminate news and information, objectivity is an unrealizable dream. Okay, so what does journalism require? How are journal... ...hat will help you build your journalistic toolkit. I have talked a lot about social media in several of journalism classes and have learned a lot about it, so I thought it would be fun to inject my thoughts behind it in relation to how journalists’ can and should use it for their benefit. Works Cited 1. "Journalism Ethics Online Journalism Ethics Gatekeeping." Journalism Ethics for the Global Citizen. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. . 2. "Journalists and Social Media | The Changing Newsroom." The Changing Newsroom | New Media. Enduring Values. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. . 3. Corbett, Julia B. Communicating Nature: How We Create and Understand Environmental Messages. Washington, DC: Island, 2006. Print.

Clear Channel: Music Entertainment :: Radio Stations Songs Papers

Clear Channel: Music Entertainment After scanning over the frequencies offered on the FM dial, radio listeners today quickly become bored, annoyed, and frustrated at what they hear.As they flip from station to station, listeners usually hear the same songs, often songs they do not especially like, repeated on multiple stations despite a change in frequency.Few of these songs are not that month's best-selling singles, unless they are listening to older music, which often only reflects the several dozen most popular tunes of previous generations.Amidst the repetitious music, listeners must also hear advertisements on many of the stations they turn to, waiting through several minutes of annoying sales plugs at each station before hearing more low-quality music. Perhaps these irritations are the reasons that fewer people have been tuning in to radio in the last several years.Over the last decade, the amount of radio listening in the U.S. has declined by 13%.Between 1998 and 2001, the amount of listening among teenagers dropped by 10% (Kot, "What's Wrong" sc.2).Excessive commercials was the reason one-third of listeners between the ages 12-24 gave for listening to radio less, amidst other complaints about the lack of variety in the songs and programs they were hearing (Boehlert, "Radio's Big" 5).Many music fans and critics from within the music industry blame the decrease in radio's popularity on the large corporate conglomerates that now own and control much of the music entertainment industry.Driven by the desire for profits, Clear Channel, the largest of these conglomerates, deserves most of the blame for mass-producing low quality, inaccessible radio and concerts across the U.S. After the Telecommunications Act of 1996 deregulated the radio industry, radio-owning corporations began rapidly consolidating.The National Association of Broadcasters lobbied Congress to pass this bill (Boehlert, "One Big Happy" 4), which would effectively eliminate all governmental restrictions on how many national radio stations one company could own and would loosen the limits on how many local radio stations companies could own.When the act was passed, the Federal Communications Commission allowed large radio companies to own up to eight local stations in any market, a large increase from the previous limit of two stations (Compaine 297). This government deregulation revolutionized radio by allowing larger radio companies to begin a spree of radio station buyouts.The more powerful companies that emerged further consolidated over the next few years through mergers that created radio giants with "vast empires" of media control. Clear Channel: Music Entertainment :: Radio Stations Songs Papers Clear Channel: Music Entertainment After scanning over the frequencies offered on the FM dial, radio listeners today quickly become bored, annoyed, and frustrated at what they hear.As they flip from station to station, listeners usually hear the same songs, often songs they do not especially like, repeated on multiple stations despite a change in frequency.Few of these songs are not that month's best-selling singles, unless they are listening to older music, which often only reflects the several dozen most popular tunes of previous generations.Amidst the repetitious music, listeners must also hear advertisements on many of the stations they turn to, waiting through several minutes of annoying sales plugs at each station before hearing more low-quality music. Perhaps these irritations are the reasons that fewer people have been tuning in to radio in the last several years.Over the last decade, the amount of radio listening in the U.S. has declined by 13%.Between 1998 and 2001, the amount of listening among teenagers dropped by 10% (Kot, "What's Wrong" sc.2).Excessive commercials was the reason one-third of listeners between the ages 12-24 gave for listening to radio less, amidst other complaints about the lack of variety in the songs and programs they were hearing (Boehlert, "Radio's Big" 5).Many music fans and critics from within the music industry blame the decrease in radio's popularity on the large corporate conglomerates that now own and control much of the music entertainment industry.Driven by the desire for profits, Clear Channel, the largest of these conglomerates, deserves most of the blame for mass-producing low quality, inaccessible radio and concerts across the U.S. After the Telecommunications Act of 1996 deregulated the radio industry, radio-owning corporations began rapidly consolidating.The National Association of Broadcasters lobbied Congress to pass this bill (Boehlert, "One Big Happy" 4), which would effectively eliminate all governmental restrictions on how many national radio stations one company could own and would loosen the limits on how many local radio stations companies could own.When the act was passed, the Federal Communications Commission allowed large radio companies to own up to eight local stations in any market, a large increase from the previous limit of two stations (Compaine 297). This government deregulation revolutionized radio by allowing larger radio companies to begin a spree of radio station buyouts.The more powerful companies that emerged further consolidated over the next few years through mergers that created radio giants with "vast empires" of media control.

Swot of Mamee

MAMEE Double-Decker has many things going for it, among them, a good financial track record, a strong balance sheet, great brands and reasonably good dividend payouts, which definitely makes it worth noting. MOST KIDS PROBABLY KNOW the `blue monster' and most adults have probably met them as well. Fear not as we are just talking about the ever-famous Mamee Monster snack food, which comes mainly in small packets that are consumed daily by its ardent fans. That probably sums up the public face of listed Mamee Double-Decker Bhd, the company which produces this classic snack food. But while the blue monster remains the ever-lovable monster, the company has outgrown it and today, Mamee is actually one of the leading snack manufacturers in the country with a strong presence in the export market as well. And it has certainly more than enough snack food brand names in its current stable, and in noodles and cultured milk production as well. Do Mamee Monster, Mamee Instant, Mister Potato and Sllrrp! Noodles and Double Decker sound familiar? How about Cheers and Nutrigen? These are the company's famous brands, which are likely to strike a chord with most consumers who consume them frequently. Still, the company itself – despite being listed since 1992 – is probably less familiar to investors than consumers. So, it is rather interesting somewhat to know that Mamee is actually a fundamentally strong and healthy company with growth potential as it expands its distribution network further and invests in new potato crisp lines to broaden its range of snacks. This is true for at least local research house, OSK Research, which initiated coverage on the company recently and pegged an RM4. 00 target price for the stock. It cites that Mamee is worth a `BUY' despite the stock having almost rallied 30% of late, citing the current strong sentiment on consumer counters.

Assignment for Resort Management Essay

The key areas requiring coverage will be the following: What factors influenced Disney to internationalize and why, please discuss thoroughly What were Disney’s ownership specific advantages (what did they have to trade/what areas were they expert in?) What were Disney’s location specific factors (the Where) – why did they select France? – Discuss and thoroughly evaluate and discuss using factors in the text What were Disney’s internationalization advantages (the how), how were they going to achieve such a complex move to a European culture and why? Assess the relationship between two parties (Disney & the French Government), who holds the most powerful position, discuss and evaluate What are the multiplier’s effects for France and Disney? Evaluate, analyze and compare Conclusion No additional research is necessary for this assignment. All details are included in the text given to you. Reproduced by permission of John Wiley & Sons, LTD from Progress in Tourism and Hospitality Research Vol. 3 No 1, 1997 Disneyland Resort Paris: a permanent economic growth poll in the Francilian landscape Anne- Marie d’Hauteserre Department of Geography, Southern Connecticut State University, 501 Crescent Street, New Haven CT06515 USA Disneyland Resort Paris was located in the Francilian landscape to increase the capital accumulation of the Walt Disney Company. It has settled there permanently, thanks in part to the convention signed by the company with the French government who needed an economic growth pole in the eastern part of the Paris Basin. Disney accepted the partnership and it’s constraints because it had ambitious real estate development plans. The French government, with it’s New Town policy, was the only European country that could provide such a large acreage which it used to lever Disney’s presence. Keywords: capital circuits; new towns; economic growth pole; landscape formation; public/private partnership Introduction The arrival of the Magic Kingdom in the Francilian1 landscape ignited a vituperative press campaign by French intellectuals who stood adamantly opposed to American cultural imperialism. It is the latest (although only) international theme park venture by Disney Company. Why did this highly successful company, selling an American specific cultural product that would not benefit from production cost reduction, decide to internationalize? It certainly would not reduce labor costs as illustrated by the migration of European car factories to the United States, while it would require major construction costs. Was the prospect of a widened European market by the  time of the opening of Disneyland Resort Paris in April 1992 the main incentive for foreign foray, and why? Was it established to act as an economic growth pole, complementing the French state’s policy of urban development of the Eastern suburbs of Paris? Large theme parks, like megaevents, promise potential economic development of the areas they localize in. This new geographic landscape was produce not just by private capital, to be dismantled at capital’s whim (Harvey, 1989), but by the synergic action of several different agents. This paper will demonstrate how the continued economic success of Disneyland Resort Paris is not simply just the result of it’s capacity to create profits through it’s consumption in a new locale, however semiotically explained, and/or the result of the judicious choice of the localization of this cultural capital circuit at the apex of European accessibility. Its success is circumscribed by and dependent on the French government’s development strategies and judicial structures. Capital has had to negotiate with government the design of it’s commodified landscape, the continued organization of which has also been subject to pressure by its potential customers. The convergence of these agents’ guarantees that Disneyland Resort Paris will remain embedded in Marne-la-Vallee in spite of all the difficulties it has faced until now such as financial restructuring in March 1994. The paper will first discuss how different approaches to economic globalization explain the Disney Company’s move to internationalize and how the choice of the site was based more on traditionally geographic reasons such as accessibility and availability of land. It will then demonstrate how the Company’s designs to ensure continued growth in the far future could only be accommodated by France with it’s New Town development strategy. This allowed the state to impose constraints on this private venture to ensure that it would remain a permanent part of the Francilian landscape whose new design the company had to negotiate. The paper will then show how Disneyland Resort Paris is not the white elephant that the French government was accused of subsidizing but will continue to act as a major economic growth pole. Causes of Disney Company’s move to internationalize The circuits of capital approach emphasize the totally interconnected nature of finance, production, commodity trade and consumption. ‘Capitalism is a process of reproduction of social life through commodity production. The laws of capital circulation are consistent’ (Harvey, 1989:343). The primary requisite of a capitalist economy is a continuous circulation of capital. Jean-Paul Sartre had noticed already in 1945 that ‘over and above greed, a genuine economic principle motivates Americans: â€Å"Money is supposed to circulate† (Combat)’. As capital circulates it is transferred from one investment to another. It follows only one cardinal rule: value be increased. Competition has become increasingly global. Disney Company, like all TNCs, is essentially a capitalist enterprise driven by profit. ‘The odd thing about post-modern cultural production is how much sheer profit seeking is determinant in the first instance’ (Harvey, 1989:336). The domestication of fantasy in visual consumption is inseparable from centralized structures of economic power. Disneyland Resort Paris is a private instrumental space designed for the efficient circulation of commodities, which is itself a commodity produced for profit. Cultural capital may represent an infinitely more expendable resource for capital accumulation than traditional investment capital, both for private companies and for governments. Cultural capital is considered here as a form of economic capital invested in the production of culture, rather than a symbolic capital, a person’s or group’s knowledge. These circuits of capital are not abstract notions; they are anchored in space where they create geographical landscapes. The company and its imagineers have been pushed by investors to create more and more circuits. The Bass brothers controlled nearly 25% of equity and so named Michael Eisner as the new company chairman in 1984, following other hostile takeover attempts, because the company was not exploiting it’s full potential to create more circuits of capital (Wallace, 1985; Taylor, 1987). The company, in 1984, was already a powerful brand name with annual revenues of $1B. Disney’s profits had soared to $783M in 1989 and its revenues had reached  $8.5B in 1991 thanks to a very successful theme park in Japan, through enlarging the Orlando area and through other ventures. It’s new directors wanted to capture more of the surplus value the name generated by entering the real estate business. They wanted to collect more than just royalties, as in Japan, to control more hotel development (they own only a small portion in Orlando), and to draw in more potential customers. ‘They are banking on Eurodisney as the principal engine of Disney’s growth in the 90’s’(Business Week, 1990). Disneyland Resort Paris was considered a major investment potential by 1984 because of the worldwide shift in capitalism from an emphasis on production to consumption. The organization of consumption has just as important an effect on economic and social structure as the organization of production (Lash, 1993; Zukin, 1991). Shopping, consuming is the most important contemporary social activity on North America (Levine, 1990; Williamson, 1986). The consumption landscape can be viewed as a by-product of the changes in the distribution of income in the constant struggle of labor and capital over economic surplus. Consumption is also emphasized inside the parks. The Magic Kingdoms represents a fantasy landscape constructed around an entirely fictive nexus based on highly selective memory and mediated by mass consumption. In the United States â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.the Disney landscape has become a model for establishing both the economic value of cultural goods and the cultural value of consumer products† (Zukin, 1991: 231) and has legitimized investment in them. In the over crowded market place (even or especially that of theme parks – see Figure 2) imagery has become increasingly critical as a way of attracting particular publics and facilitating acts of consumption. The decision to internationalize is a major strategic decision. Disney was looking for economies of scope and co-ordination (Dicken, 1992: 143). Although the process of knowledge accumulation obtained from locating in new markets generates endogenously productivity gains that can sustain long run growth, the company had to ‘compare anticipated streams of monopoly profits with expected costs of product relocation’ (Grossman and Helpman, 1992:335). The innovation phase of its entertainment product (‘Magic Kingdom’)  required it’s location in California, close to the movie and television studios it’s inception and survival depended on (W.Disney in Schikel, 1968). As the product matured, the company reacted to the actions of major competitors. To prevent further entry by competitors it developed the resort in Florida and licensed the ‘Magic Kingdom’ to a Japanese company (Lanquar, 1992). The dynamic nature of economic and social processes finally led to the direct penetration of foreign markets, penetration of foreign markets, penetration limited in Europe exclusively for the next ten years to it’s French site (Convention, 1987.) Disney Company developed a globally integrated competitive strategy to focus on it’s know-how in resort development which had taken it thirty years to develop and refine and which would differentiate it from it’s competitors. In North America, Disney World had remained the most frequented tourist site, as of 1995. Las Vegas is disputing this ranking today. Dunning (1980, 1991)2 indicates that, at the micro (firm specific) level, to internationalize, companies need to fulfill three conditions: ownership specific advantages, internationalization of the use of these advantages, and location specific factors, all of which characterize the Disney Company if not always in the traditional manner. Disney’s ownership specific advantages reside in intangible assets, it’s perfected knowledge in resort development, it’s ability to create new imaginative visual consumption products, it’s sophisticated imagineering skills, inscribed in it’s brand image. Disney’s pursuit of an intentional accumulation of knowledge to respond to anticipated market conditions (for example, by engineering new themes for consumption, since the company has vowed to forever renew it’s parks, cf. Flower, 1991: 186-8, 205-6, 279, 285) requires an allocation of resources and investment of the same magnitude as for creating new technology. ‘Internationalization of this knowledge will require [Disney] to operate a network of [parks] on a world-wide basis’ (Grossman & Helpman, 1991:82). The application of these skills is limited to theme park creation although the idea has been replicated in other arenas of consumption: mega-malls, for  example, seek to attract and retain customers for the longest time by presenting Disney-like attractions. Steve Wynn salutes Disney’s imagineering with his pirate shows performed against the backdrop of a ‘Treasure Island’ sidewalk dà ©cor in Las Vegas. Copycat theme parks have burgeoned too, like Busch Gardens. This socio-spatial complex of production cannot be geographically separated from its consumers. It has needed to locate (i.e. to move outside of the US to where the consumers are) this new form of consumption as well as to localize it’s specific features (creating it’s own landscape within another cultural landscape, both at a geographic site and in the business and consumption world). The very localized consumption space offered by its theme parks limited it’s possibility for expansion. Disney needed to serve new markets in different locations directly even though the product is virtually identical. Marginal increases in numbers of visitors would have been minimal even if the parks in the United States were enlarged (this was one of the main reasons for Disney’s original move to Florida). This potential number of tourists from Europe would not increase either much above the 2 million now visiting the theme parks in the United States, considering the slow growth of European population and of it’s wealth. Time and cost space convergence have not been significant enough at the international level for pleasure travelling and it has not dissolved the psychic distance (language barrier for travelling to the United States, if not inside the Disney theme parks). Geographic reasons for choosing a location in Europe and a Francilian site. The Disney Company has mentioned two major reasons, or more traditional location specific factors (Euro Disney SCA, 1992). It can draw on 350 million customers (almost one and half times the size of the population of the United States) over an area half it’s size (Figure 1). Such a geographic move was to enable it to take advantage of the growth of short break holidays in Europe, together with the growth in numbers and sophistication of tourists while finding it’s niche in the increasing  tourist market segmentation. Four groups of tourists have been identified in Europe: 52% still travel attractive coastlines in warmer climes, 13% buy tourist packages, 25% prefer rural tourism and the rest practice urban tourism (Straw & Williams, 1990: 241). It founded its strategy on the notion that new consumption practices can take place anywhere and are eminently transportable. The company wanted to insure that it would remain the industry leader while it captured more of the world’s market share and augmented the size of the firm (Grover, 1991). Their target, for some sectors, is up to a 20% yearly increase (Lanquar, 1992:73). Long holidays occur over the summer months whereas shortest trips (their targeted travel niche) are taken year round. In 1985, more than %19 had taken a second holiday in the European Community, 27% in France. Unfortunately, that kind of travelling could not maintain it’s early fast growth: it had increased 10% yearly in Great Britain between 1976 and 1985. France was also then the European leader in international conferences (Straw & Williams, 1990: 242). The recession, combined with the staging of several mega-events in Europe in 1992, absorbed much of the disposable income for that year and beyond (Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France; World Fair in Sevilla, Spain; Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain). Disney Company also relied on the fact that its products-division received 50% of its worldwide revenues from Europe. Fifty-five million copies of The Journal Mickey are published yearly in Europe, including now a Russian version, but only 13 million in the United States. At least 250 European societies have signed licensing contracts with the Disney Company (Rencontres, 1992: 89). Walt Disney Animation, one of the largest European studios for the production of cartoons had been implanted in France earlier (Saffarian, 1992). European consumption habits already included Mickey Mouse paraphernalia. Disney Company’s organizational apparatus leads, now across the world, to an increasing consumption synergy as its merchandise acts as both commodity and advertisement. In 1990, one third of its revenues were generated from foreign sales (Grover, 1991: 200). Name recognition is crucial even if often taken for granted in the consumer world (Flower, 1991: 21, Grover,  1991: 187). ‘Disney’ has become a shared term in world culture. Disney Company’s megadesigns (‘Dream, diversify†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦and never miss an angle’, W.Disney, 1988: 7), part of the dynamism and growth of transnationals, boosted competition for the park between European countries where it was considered a potential economic growth pole by itself and because it co-operates with other large multi-nationals. Cultural consumption contributes to capital accumulation by enhancing profits on entrepreneurial investment in production and distribution. European governments were anxious to anchor this new circuit of capital on their soil where it wold spawn more circuits. In the first ten years of Disneyland’s existence in California, the Disney company took in $273M, the peripherals $555M (Sorkin, 1992: 224). What distressed Walt Disney even more than the loss of surplus value was the disorderly and sullying form of this growth. In Orlando it has led to the construction of 76,800 hotel rooms, 5000 of which are under direct Disney management, 12,000 under licensing agreement (Rencontres, 1992). All the others are the result of spillover effects which include the implantation of 23 attraction parks around Disney World (Figure 2) The two other main contending countries besides France were Spain, for it’s sunshine (access, however was very constricted) and Great Britain because of the successful entertainment complex of Blackpool. The creation of Disneyland Resort Paris opened new spaces for the service economy where it should have a positive effect on capital accumulation in real estate development. Cultural goods and services gain economic significance through their role in interacting circuits of economic and cultural capital (Zukin, 1991: 260). In the contemporary (European, French) market economy investment in cultural capital would offset cyclical devaluation in other parts of the same circuit or in other circuits. European governments regard tourism as having an important economic role through its impact on foreign earnings, employment creation and regional development, because the activity is labor-intensive and employment can be generated relatively cheaply by those governments. In the United Kingdom  tourism supports 1.4 million jobs (Urry, 1990). Urban tourism is being used as a spur to regeneration in many de-industrialized(zing) areas in spite of the strong dependence of tourist activities on part-time and seasonal as well as low-skilled, and this low-waged, labor (Straw and Williams, 1990, Urry, 1990). Man governments were desperate to stem unemployment. In the mid 1980’s, 16 million workers were unemployed in the European Union. The unemployment rate hovered around 10% between 1983 and 1992 with highs of 12% in France and 21.2% in Spain. The rate for young people was 18% across the Union but reached %30 in Spain and Italy(Commission des Communautes Europeenes, 1992). Many of the recruits of Disneyland Resort Paris are young and unskilled (Lanquar, 1992:117). Cultural and environmental problems can also be exaggerated by the introduction of mass tourism (e.g. Disney World’s problem with sewage effluents in the Orlando area, Flower, 1991: 252). Such economic development can occur only if it does not put undue pressure on vulnerable natural resources. European governments are involved in tourism development because of its multiple impacts. Tourism, in turn, has commercialized ‘civilization’: in France, the transformation of ‘the places of memory’ into ‘places to visit’ has returned handsome benefits. The French government takes a broad perspective on tourism: it is more socially and culturally informed and less biased toward economic issues (OCDE, 1992, Rencontres, 1992:157). Why did Disney Company choose a rainy site close to Paris? It is one of three major population concentration poles in Western Europe, the other two being London and the Rhine Valley, and it is the most accessible to these other two (see Figure 1). Spain or the London area would have given access to the European Union market but from a peripheral location. Accessibility underpins the pull of centrality. The Paris Basin is at the juncture of northern and southern Europe: it is an unavoidable thoroughfare. Paris is also one of the most attractive cities with 25 million foreign visitors throughout the year. It is fewer than the 60 million visitors of London, but the majority of these are domestic (Straw & Williams, 1990). Those who will come to Disneyland Resort Paris, the company reasoned, will remain in the Eurodisney hotels 2 or 3 nights to visit Paris too. Studies conducted in 1985 determined there was great demand potential for theme parks in Europe (only one in ten people had even been to a theme park) that was largely unfulfilled (Rencontres EPA, 1992). ‘The large Paris metropolitan area is missing a theme park that could restore it’s tradition as a center for recreation’ (Ousset, 1986). He felt that Disneyland Paris would fulfill that role. There existed only two large recreational complexes in Europe: Blackpool Pleasure Beach in England (7 million visitors a year) and more than one hundred-year-old Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagan (3.8 millions) (Urry, 1990). Its site (in Marne-la-Vallee) illustrates the importance of geographical location (Figure 3) in it’s traditional materialist interpretation, which is even more critical at the microlevel. The company had definitely opted for the French site in 1985, in spite of it’s unfavorable weather conditions, following studies conducted since the 1970’s in several European countries on the feasibility of a number of sites (Grover, 1991: 187-8). Disney Company was looking for a site that was easily accessible to a large number of potential customers year round. When the company returned to court French authorities in the early 1980’s it had also realized that it’s projects needed a minimum critical mass to allow them to function as resorts. They were thus looking for a site that would guarantee the land area needed not only for it’s theme parks (a total of three are planned into 2017) but also for the hotels, restaurants, residences, office that would be built because of the demands generated by the parks (Figure 4). At the same time, social practices are structured in time as well as in space as they structure that space. Spain has offered the Walt Disney Company a better deal than France, but it was not able to put together a large enough parcel of land (Grover, 1991: 188). The Paris area was the best equipped to handle such a large real estate project thanks to the state’s ‘New Towns Policy† initiated 30 years ago: large virgin plots of land were ready for  rapid urbanization, minimizing the cost of infrastructure provision and of the environmental disruption caused by such construction (Roullier, 1993). Four million cubic meters of land were moved, 68,000 cubic meters of rocks were molded and 85,000 trees planted, while work on sanitation and drainage was equivalent to that required by a town of fifty to sixty thousand inhabitants during the construction of the Disney park (Nouveau Courrie, 1992). This readiness includes not just the transport and other physical infrastructure, but also the judicial and administrative mechanisms for integrated project developments conducted by both the state and private companies. New town development strategy and the constraints of the ‘convention’ New Towns were created by the French Government in 1964 to guarantee a more harmonious economic development of the Ile de France by emphasizing the eastern side until then neglected (Bastie, 1991: 88). Major industries had located on the western and southern side of Paris, while their pollutants blew east. The French government’s planned office center, La Defense, was built on the western fringes of Paris. These new towns were to offer a dynamic urban life within an architecturally stimulating environment and to remedy the earlier uniformity of suburban high rising apartment projects constructed to house the lower French classes, and little else (Roullier, 1993) The government chose suburban locations for the new towns (Figure 5) to counteract the main characteristics of all suburbs: their distance from town renters which turns suburban dwellers in Europe into second-class citizens (Merlin, 1989). More than a million people now live and work in these new towns, 225,300 in Marne-la-Vallee alone in 1993 (Figure 6, EpaMarne/EpaFrance, 1994). Their exact location as well as their layout was to respect the physical characteristics of the area and to take advantage of its environment amenities. Disney Company came on board when the third section (Bussy-St-Georges: 7000 housing units, 600,000 square meters of offices and 90-hectare technological industrial park) was just started (Etablissments Publics, 1991). The park’s size made it an ideal addition to the new town.  Disneyland Resort Paris was not just an amusement, but a large urban development, supported by major improvements in the transport network finance by the French government. (Boyer, 1994). In the French Government’s view, for the French new towns to really develop – i.e. grow beyond the need for constant state subsidies and to successfully change into old towns – attracting private investment was as important as constructing subsidized housing. The implantation of Disneyland Resort Paris crowned a development strategy conceived many years before (Roullier, 1993). The long-term objective was to make this area on of the main economic pivots of Europe, as revealed by it’s name ‘Val d’Europe’. This objective was based on the improvements in transport systems that would restore freedom of choice to town dwellers, provide access to the labor force and offer distribution networks for businesses. Transportation has been a key to new town development from its inception. The existing transport network is capable of draining towards Disneyland Resort Paris all those millions of anticipated visitors (Figure 3). All main communication routes in Europe or within France converge towards this area. Even if the Magic Kingdom were to fail (close it’s doors), these transport improvements would remain as the basis for attracting other private investors to an area that has always been designated for urban growth. Continuous urbanization from the other three sectors had been planned for this area, for some indefinite time in the future. The park only accelerated the process. There are two main themes to the development of Marne-la-Vallee as a new town. One is an office complex ten kilometers from Paris, with direct links to the capital. The other is the complex of Val d’Europe centered around Disneyland, one of it’s featured attractions, with a large number of offices serving as headquarters for Disney in Europe (100,000m2) that should attract other offices functions to occupy another 200.000m2. (EPA, Marne/EPA France, 1994; Boyer, 1994). By attracting large numbers of tourists, Disneyland Resort Paris will act as an investment magnet on other circuits of capital, based on the provision of hotels, tourist and leisure facilities and office buildings, that the French government will channel precisely through it’s new town of Marne-la-Vallee and as per the 173-page accord signed by two on 24 March 1987 after 27 months of arduous negotiations. The complete document with it’s appendices totals more than 400 pages (Convention, 1987). Results in real estate values remain way below predictions because Europe has been mired in an economic recession since the opening of the park. Although the French government seems to have given in to Disney Company’s demands (Grover, 1991), for example by agreeing to an international rather than a French court to settle disagreements, the detailed contract attributes obligations to both sides. The French government spent 2.7 billion FF to provide first rate transportation links, but it has meant added jobs for the area (4,500 for the rail line, 1,300 for the RER). Disney Company must, in turn, guarantee a minimum number of rides for the Regie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP) on the extended regional metro (RER) ‘A’ line, or pay for the difference (Convention, 1987, Article 11). A detailed program of development of the land offered to Disney schedules each step. It was not given all 1,945 hectares to speculate with at will, contrary to some press accounts (Business Week, 1990; Smadja, 1988). Disney Company spent only 500M FF to acquire the land necessary for the it’s first theme park (covering the costs of the infrastructure provided with the land) but it led to private investments of 10B FF (Lanquarm, 1992:109). Other major projects, such as international soccer stadium and centers of higher learning, are being erected in the area, encouraged in part by the presence of Disneyland in Paris (Boyer, 1994). Disney Company also appreciated dealing with one main negotiating team, the EPA (Etablissement Public d’Amenagement), whose existence was permitted by the new town judicial structure (Rencontres, 1992: 99-122). This is a public development corporation that fulfills both commercial and financial functions. It is established by government decree and has powers of pre-emptive and compulsory purchase, as well as legal and financial autonomy. It can thus function as developer in the new town, while it also  represents the government. Communication remains remarkably static-free between this private company and French authorities, thanks to the single government voice and thanks to the detailed blueprint that indicates who does what, when, and how (Convention, 1987). The company also underlines the importance of continuity on the French side, adhered to through the years, since the first negotiations in 1985, by the French government in spite of political changes at the helm (Rencontres, 1992:100). The French state did require that this development occur within guidelines set up in a ‘Projet d’Interet General’ (EPAMarne, 1987, Limery, 1996) that seeks to insure a coherent approach that will, for example, enable the villages in the area to maintain their present specific characteristics. The requirement was not made in a spirit of simulated heritage but to maintain architectural variety while enabling new construction to be fully integrated in the new town’s landscape. This evolution will transform the living conditions of the residents of the old villages of the area who thought they could maintain a rural lifestyle only thirty minutes away from Paris and who are going to be invaded by millions of tourists. Agriculturists and ecologists have joined forces to fight for the preservation of agricultural areas within the new town to counterbalance this mounting urbanization. (See Roullier, 1993; Bastie, 1991). The departement of Seine-et-Marne has seen an increase of 18,000 hotel rooms between 1985 and 1992. This includes the 5,200 rooms constructed by Disney Company (Rencontres, 1992: 165). It wants to develop the potential attraction of the southern part of the departement, i.e. the region farthest from the park that includes Fontainebleau, from Melua to Chateau-Landon and from Barbizon to Montereau. It’s cultural and natural landscapes are rather exceptional since they include a number of famous castles (Fontainebleau and it’s museum. Vaux-le-Vicomte, Moret-sur-Loing) and beautiful natural forests. It is also an area frequented by locals (9 million per year) and by many foreign visitors (Maison Departementale, 1994). Disneyland Resort Paris is a wonderful opportunity to increase the level of visits by outsiders to the area which has suffered until now from it’s location in the shadow of Paris (25 million foreigners visit the capital, less than a  million come to this area). The convention that Disney Company signed includes the obligation for it to advertise other tourist sites in the area besides it’s own, as per Article 10 of the 1987 Convention (see, for example, the Michelin Guide to the Magical Kingdom). Tourist operators who do not have exclusive contracts with Disneyland Paris are also solicited to include these other stops in their packages. The departement is also trying to increase partnership agreements with a variety of service providers. Europcar, the official car rental agency of Disneyland Resort Paris, will put inside each vehicle a tourist map of the whole departement, as well as discount coupons for castles and restaurants in the area (Convention, 1987, Conseil General, 1991). Negotiating the design of the Francilian landscape The French government must have recognized that behind the vitriolic cultural debate about Disneyland Resort Paris stood a high level of capitalist investment in performance, in the machinery of reproduction, investment designed to create a ‘product’. The French government did not bow to capitalism which, like technology ‘does not invite a close examination of it’s consequences. It asks for trust and obedience†¦.because it’s gifts are truly bountiful’ (Postman, 1993: xiii). Contrary to popular opinion which accused it of caving in to the bullish tactics of Disney and the lure of many jobs, the French government had already resisted approaches by the company in 1976. French negotiators needed proof that this product could be exported. Tokyo Disneyland could not serve as a model in European negotiations and development, because the Disney Company was not a direct participant. It sold the exploitation rights to a Japanese company (Oriental Land Company) who financed, owns and runs the park. It did, however, serve the purpose of proving that the Magic Kingdom could be successfully transplanted onto foreign soil. ‘We’re finally able to convince the French negotiators that we really meant business.’ (Recontres, 1992:113). Because of the cultural capital are formed in real spaces, they suggest how space in an advanced service economy is really formed. ‘Capital creates and  destroys it’s own landscapes’ (Harvey, 1989). Space is structured by circuits of capital as they leave messages embedded in their surroundings. ‘Since the nineteenth century, shifting from one landscape to another has depended less on individual mobility than on a broad scale varied remaking of landscape itself.’ (Zukin, 1991: 18). Landscapes sometimes grow by accretion; they do not seem as historically and culturally bound as in the past as they are constantly reinvented by ‘footloose’ capital. The French government could not have forced Disney Company to choose a location in France. Some incentives to influence it might have over come any benefit government intervention could command. Tax concessions may eliminate any gains or lead to a transitory gains trap. The wages obtained from the supplementary jobs might be very low, leading to minimal tax and spillover gains, while increasing the need for services. The landscape is broader, has deeper roots and relies on more interconnections than government alone can control, especially on the international scene, since government intervention is restricted to it’s territory. Strategies of cultural consumption may only complement, rather than contradict, strategies of capital accumulation. The competitive edge of the French government to capture the Disney investors was by means of product differentiation, offering a space they enhanced through design and designation. The linkage between cultural capital and real estate development enables new economic structures to be localized and to acquire specific geographic locations: Marne-la-Valle for Disneyland Resort Paris. Disneyland Resort Paris demanded specific efforts to insert this large international project into a suburban new town within which it is to evolve rapidly. These are efforts of co-ordination in planning strategies, in capturing spillovers and in image development (Rencontres, 1992). Disneyland Resort Paris could not, by itself have acted as a growth pole that would economically resuscitate the eastern suburbs of Paris. The circuit of cultural capital it represented fizzled out within two years: Disneyland Resort Paris was ready to close it’s doors in March 1994 because it was bankrupt due to blunders before and at the time of the opening cultural, financial and economic matters. A capital asset that cannot earn income has  no value; it becomes a liability. It did subject Disney Company to some ridicule by the press (Solomon, 1994). The tension between globalization forces that led to it’s expansion in Europe and localization forces, the result of local differences in production and marketing techniques has forced Disney Company to change and adapt it’s much prized know-how: for example, it has had to accept the sale of alcohol in the park. Losses were mounting too dangerously to ignore subtly different cultural practices. It was assumed that traditional status systems and parochial loyalties would wither away in the course of economic growth. Globalization has not done away with culture-specific modes of consumption. One of Disney Company’s continued problems is the minimal amount spent by these millions of Europeans within the park: an average, in 1992, of 310FF instead of the expected 333 (Commission du Tourisme, 1993), down to 224FF in 1995 (Revenu, 1996). These spectators (Disney Company’s terms for the visitors of it’s parks) have chosen other non-pecuniary forms of participation in Disney’s spectacle. The resort was, however, integrated in a long-term project of the French government, dedicated to the balanced economic growth of the Parisian Basin. The short-term effect of Disney Company’s capital venture was counteracted by the long term (30 year) ‘convention; signed by both parties. Disney Company could not withdraw, especially if the circuit was no longer profitable. This convergence, in Marne-la-Vallee, of capitalist action and social action created the synergy for Disneyland Resort Paris to be financially restructured in March 1994 so that it could again generate profits. Mutual effects of economics (circuits of capital pushing Disney Company to find new investment opportunities), politics (the French government looking for economic growth poles), and culture (the acceptance of a not-so-foreign popular cultural trait) are restructuring the Francilian landscape. Landscape includes the geographical meaning of ‘physical surroundings’ and the ensemble of material and social practices: it is the entire panorama. It connotes a contentious, compromised product of society, but on which powerful institutions have a pre-eminent capacity to impose their view: both  the French government and Disney Company in this case, not just the private company Disney (i.e. capital). In the United States, potential investments that are not targeted on short-term gain are often criticized as ‘social’ investments, but all investment takes place in a social context. Although it is believed that the role of sovereign states is being eroded in favor of international organizations, agencies and/or associations, private or political, that of France used it’s ‘strategic’ position to direct the development and prosperity of the Parisian Basin. The French government tried to avoid that public value be held captive to private value. It wanted to avoid that improvement explicitly reject the social variety of habitation of explicitly seek security by exclusion. Capitalism’s most lasting product is landscape (new geographies) which in many places it had rendered impermanent, forever exhibiting a new repertoire. Such shifting landscapes illustrate the structural charges of the global economy (Harvey, 1989; Zukin, 1991; Dicken, 1992). The spatial mediation of cultural consumption affects the redistribution of benefits among social classes and explains the direct interest of the French government in a Disney theme park, and it’s offer of the Marne-la-Vallee location. Space does make material form for the differentiation of a market economy but places can be selectively configured to promote community goals. The French government’s intervention of land in Marne-la-Vallee from matter to property so that development (localized economic growth) would not lead to obsolescence and dereliction here or in other parts of the Paris basin. It demonstrates that capitalism is not a monolithic force operating alone at the universalizing level to carve up the world according to it’s sole designs. Spillover effects of partnership Both parties emphasize positive results in spite of the vituperative press campaign which accompanied the arrival of Disneyland in the Francilian landscape (a ‘cultural Chernobyl!’). Such a large attraction was recognized as both a chance and a challenge: ‘The chance we grabbed, and together with our American partners we have worked to make the park a success so the 12 million visitors will bring wealth to this whole eastern region. The challenge we are facing is to become a strong pole of attraction culturally and economically’ (Rencontres, 1992: 196) Daniel Robert (of Bison Fute fame) added: ‘Marne-la-Vallee is blessed with an extra-ordinary opportunity to sell it’s millions of square meters of office space, it’s ideal of an urban area, it’s strategic position’ (Rencontres, 1992: 55). The presence of such a large investment has emboldened Marne-la-Vallee to combat the skepticism that smaller potential private investors show when solicited by New Towns. Visitors poured into Eurodisney: 6.8 millions by October 1992, 19.5 millions by February 1994 (Eurodisney SCA, 1992, 1994). It’s basic allurement is it’s Americanness. It has been the best received park ever in Europe and it is the number one paid admission attraction there: Beaubourg Centre received only 8.2 million visitors in 1993, 3.8 million of which were free entries to the library; La Villette saw 5.8 million entries, the Effiel Tower 5.4; the Louvre welcomes 5 million visitors per year (Eurodisney Resort, 1993: 5). These numbers are insufficient, however, for the park to break even, since it needs 11 million per year to do so and reached just that number only it’s first year of operation. Number of visitors followed a downtrend until 1994: 6,708,551 averaged 1.45 visits in 1993. In 1994, only 5,574,059 (-16.9%) pushed the turnstiles 1.61 times. Visits by residents of the Parisian Basin had dropped by 31.3&. In 1995, however, the park registered a 21.5% increase in attendance. The percentage of foreign visitors had dropped by 15% between 1992 and 1993 down to 56% of the visits but it was back up to 61% in 1994. The majority of the customers (93.3% of the 5,777 hotel rooms and bungalows – more than are available in the city of Cannes) are tourists, versus less than a two-thirds average for the Ile de France, but here too the number of foreigners has dropped (72% in 1994, 75% in 1993, vs. 82% in 1992). The occupancy rate of hotels has remained way below Orlando’s rate of 79% even if it did not increase from 55% in 1992 and 1993 to 61% in 1994 and 68.5% in 1995. Every hotel night sold by Disneyland Resort Paris engenders the sale of at least one other hotel night in the area. In 1994, Eurodisney hotels stared welcoming guests who were not necessarily attracted by the theme park (EPAMarne, 1994, EPA-France, 1995). Marne-la-Vallee is a creation in progress and it needs to become credible in the eyes of private investors. Although a negative image of Disneyland Resort Paris was diffused by the press during the construction phase, based on it’s American cultural attributes, it’s business of selling false reality for pleasure and it’s bullish negotiating tactics with the French government and later with private companies and labor, the more positive one of leisure and festivities and of successful business know-how has since been emphasized. Disneyland Resort Paris is more than the Magic Kingdom because of the hotels, leisure resources, offices and residences it plans to construct (Figure 4). It has developed an image as a solid capitalist enterprise, the kind Marne-la-Vallee wants to attract. Know-how can be applied to both Disneyland Resort Paris and Marne-la-Vallee, so that Mickey’s notoriety in Europe can increase that of Marne-la-Vallee, it’s present location. There does exist the danger that it becomes ‘Disney Vallee’. The social construction of the regional identity of Marne-la-Vallee will be dominated by Disney’s cultural capital and the various other capital circuits it will engender. Two strategies have been suggested to counteract such a danger. At the national level, the state should put in place structures that define the identity of Marne-la-Vallee separate from the company’s trademark. At the local level, endogenous and original solution need to be found to allow each and every inhabitant to identify culturally with the specific part of the Brie plateau s/he lives in. Disneyland Resort Paris has fulfilled it’s role as an economic growth pole both directly and indirectly, distributing spillover effects in the eastern suburbs of the Paris Basin while bringing economic benefits to the country. Within the perimeter of Disneyland Resort Paris, the ratio between public and private investment is 1 to 8, similar to the one found in most new towns. The French government invested 2.7B FF in public infrastructure while private companies and individuals disbursed 23B FF (Eurodisney Resort, 1993: 2). Construction employed 5,100 local workers and 180 companies for a cost of 13B FF 47% of which went to Ile de France companies, 76% in the case  of residential developments. The company also had to construct 1,800 housing units occupied by 3,500 of its employees. In 1992, Disneyland Resort Paris paid 81M FF in local taxes and 250M FF in sales taxes. On opening day it employed 11,500 people, two thirds of whom were French (70% by 1995), one fifth of other European origin. There are now 9,700 employee representing a saving of 7% in operating costs. The downsizing came as part of the financial restructuring of March 1994. They were paid 2B FF in salaries and benefits, a substantial addition to the revenue stream of the new town. They generated with Disneyland, another 25,000 jobs in the area. The fifty tons of laundry produced daily by the resort, for example, led to the construction of two plants in the area. A little over 40% of these employees live in the Seine-et-Marne departement and thus consume within the area. There are another 5,000 seasonal jobs, 10% of which are filled by local residents. The economic activities of Disneyland Resort Paris in 1993 generated 9.2% less revenue than in 1992, although visitor spending outside of Disneyland Resort Paris increased by 3.8%. Another decrease of 6/9% was registered in 1994. In the fiscal year 1991-2, the company spent 2.7B FF, but only 2.2 in 1993, a decrease of 20% in goods and services (insurance, laundry, electricity†¦). Purchases registered a gain of 14% in 1994, and investments for improvements and maintenance, of 22%. Much of the income from these purchases remains in the area. 93% of food products are bought in France, 65% in Ile de France. Statistics were culled from Eurodisney Resort, 1993, EPAMarne, 1994, EPAFrance, 1995, Eurodisney SCA 1992, 1993, 1994. The French government received 4BFF in foreign currency (3.4% of foreign currency earnings through tourism in France in 1993), 812MFF in taxes and 9 to 15,000 jobs, depending on the season. Although totals fluctuate from year to year, they remain a plus for the economy. Disneyland Resort Paris led to a more than 3% increase in the total number of foreign tourists in France, 60.1M in 1993, 61.3M in 1994. The combined activities and purchases of all 61.3 million tourists provide 5.1% of the French GNP and 7.1% of it’s foreign currency earnings. The park is placed seventh as a major tourist operator in France, with 4.9BFF in revenues, behind Air France, SNCF, Accor, Club Med, Aeroports de Paris and Nouvelles Frontieres (EPAMarne, 1994, EPAFrance, 1995). Other theme parks come way behind: Futuroscope earned only 300MFF, Asterix 194MFF. The financial restructuring of it’s annual debt, which amounted to $370M in Marhc 1994, allowed the park to announce a profit of $35 million in the second quarter of 1995 and increased attendance helped consolidate profits for the remaining of the fiscal year†¦. at least prior to debt payments (New York Times, 1995: D7). There was wide-spread optimism that Disney’s presence in Europe would enhance the attraction sector’s image, help improve standards of presentation and raise consumer expectations and especially willingness to pay. It has increased investment in smaller-scale attractions in France Asterix park (25 miles north of Paris) which had required an investment of $208 million receives 1.5 million visitors per year. The comic books it represents three-dimensionally have been translated in 40 languages. It conquered 7% of the potential market in the Paris Basin in three years. Disneyland Resort Paris aims for 17%. Under the influence of Disneyland Resort Paris it has begun a five-year refurbishment program. It has also been forced to define it’s product more clearly (Saffarian, 1992). Futuroscope, ‘an intelligently entertaining’ park, has revitalized the region that surrounds it. It opened in June 1987 and boasted profits of 15M FF from revenues of 300M FF paid by 2 million visitors in 1994. It’s theme is moving images. When innovators must compete in integrated product markets, they have reason to pursue distinctive ideas, and thereby contribute to the global accumulation of knowledge. ‘Dynamic Cinema’, one of the most sought-after attractions at Futuroscope, thrills, awes and panics spectators through the use of a 60/second flow of images and hydraulically controlled seats with computerized links to the pictures (Tresch, 1994). It has also had repercussions in other European countries. Port Aventura opened in May 1995 near Barcelona. Four hundred million dollars were invested, 20% of which by Annheuaer Busch, over 20 hectares, i.e. 50 acres (Tagliabue, 1995). Conclusion Both sides have benefited from this partnership between a private multinational corporation and public authorities. Disneyland Paris has maintained the momentum of development in Marne-la-Vallee that the French government wanted to stimulate. ‘The success of the office centers of Marne-la-Vallee, of the Cite Descartes (and area of higher learning) and the presence of Disneyland Resort Paris demonstrate that betting on Marne-la-Vallee to assure the economic development of the eastern part of Paris Basin was the way to go, even if success was long in coming’ (Merlin, 1989: 77). New large projects are being constructed and jobs and their multiplier effect, taxes, new transport lines are increasing. In 1995 attendance numbers were on the rebound and hotel revenue and occupancy rates augmented. Even Orlando had rocky beginnings before returning it’s investment many times over and the two American parks suffered from lulls (Grover, 1991, Flower, 1991). Both the company and the French government had remained optimistic since talks for the next stage of development are right on schedule. Disneyland Resort Paris obtained a site it can grow in, with the necessary communication links to one of the most densely (in numbers and in purchasing power) settled areas in the world while it provides the French government with a major economic growth pole. The contract binding the two parties distributes obligations to limit the ability of private companies to speculate on investments made by public bodies financed by the general public, while it guarantees the timely completion of these investments. Optimism was justified when Disneyland Resort Paris opened as scheduled on 12 April 1992. It is still justified today as attendance numbers and spillover effects are on the increase. (Revenu, 1996: 9). Proving that public/private partnerships can enhance social benefits and capital accumulation. Endnotes 1 ‘Francilian’ refers to Ile de France, also called the Paris Basin 2 A National Public Radio report in June 1996 indicated that Las Vegas had become the number one tourist destination among travelers who booked through travel agents. In a private communication, J. Brett of the Nevada Commission on Tourism mentioned that 30 million visitors were welcomed in the past twelve months in Las Vegas. Although slightly more than the 30 million who visit Disney World, the numbers quoted are of turnstile pushes rather than of head counts. I was not told how the total number of visitors to Las Vegas was arrived at. 3 All forms of knowledge (all products based on knowledge) have peculiar properties as economic commodities. Know-how is a ‘non-rival’ good: using it does not preclude others from doing it, of, other theme parks. It also ‘non-excludable’: the very use of information in any productive way is bound to reveal it in part (Grossman & Helpman, 1991: 15). Preventing unauthorized use of it depends on property laws and their enforcement. One can understand Disney Company’s sensitivity to any copyright infringements. 4 The first theme park in the Western world was built at the end of 1200’s by Robert II of Artois at Vieil Hesdin. It included a revolving castle, a grotto within which rain or snow could be willed, animated marionettes, collapsing bridges, as well as exotic plants and animals that symbolized paradise. Charles V destroyed the park 300 years later. References Bastie, Jenn (1991), La Seine-et-Marne dans le schema directeur de I’Ile de France, Cahier du CREPIF, 36 Boyer, Jean-Marie (1994). Marne-La-Vallee, Paris, Ile de France, EPAMarne. Business Week (1990). 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