Introduction to Linguistics Essays

Introduction to Linguistics Essays Introduction to Linguistics Essay Introduction to Linguistics Essay What is meant by the field of linguistics? This introductory chapter concerns some dimensions of linguistics. which give us a general thought of what linguistics is. including the history of lingual. grammar. and other subjects of linguistics survey. What does grammar consist of and what are the relationship between one and another? How many linguistic communications do human existences have the capacity to get? What other surveies are made in recent centuries? Each of these facets are clearly described. and other chapters will travel into farther inside informations. While in this chapter we will supply some less elaborate information on the assorted facets of linguistics mentioned so far. 1. 1 Specifying Linguisticss There is nil that can be said by mathematical symbols and dealingss which can non besides be said by words. The converse. nevertheless. is false. Much that can be and is said by words can non successfully be put into equations. because it is nonsensical. C. Truesdell Linguistics is a survey to depict and explicate the human module of linguistic communication. There is no uncertainty that linguistics has changed through human development. 1. 1. 1 History of linguistics. The history of linguistics can be divided into three periods: antiquity. in-between ages and modern linguistics. 1. 1. 1. 1 Antiquity Dating back to earlier period of linguistics. linguistics is frequently associated with a demand to disambiguate discourse. particularly for ritual texts or in statements. Ancient Indians made a large part to linguistics development. Similarly. ancient Chinese played a cardinal function in bettering linguistics development. Around the same clip as the Indian developed. ancient Grecian philosophers were besides debating the nature and beginnings of linguistic communication. During this period. sentence structure and the usage of atoms developed fast. In add-on. bookmans proposed that word significances are derived from sentential use. 1. 1. 1. 2 In-between Ages In Middle East. in footings of spread outing Islam in 8th century. a big figure of people learn Arabic. Because of this. the earliest grammar came to being bit by bit. At the same clip. Sibawayh. a celebrated bookman. wrote a book to separate phonetics from phonemics. In the thirteenth century. Europeans introduced the impression of cosmopolitan grammar. 1. 1. 1. 3 Modern Linguistics Modern linguistics’ get downing can day of the month back to the late eighteenth century. With clip passing by. the survey of linguistics contains increasing contents. Meanwhile. it is used in other Fieldss. computing machine. e. g. . has come to be called computational linguistics. The survey of applications ( as the recovery of address ability ) is by and large known as applied linguistics. But in a narrower sense. applied linguistics refers to the application of lingual rules and theories of linguistic communication instruction and acquisition. particularly the instruction of foreign and 2nd linguistic communication. Other related subdivisions include anthropological linguistics. neurological linguistics. mathematical linguistics. and computational linguistics. However. linguistics is merely a portion of a much larger academic subject. semiologies. It is the scientific survey of linguistic communication. It surveies non merely one individual linguistic communication of any one society. merely like Chinese or Gallic. but the linguistic communication of all human existences. A linguist. though. does non hold to cognize and utilize a big figure of linguistic communications. but to look into how each linguistic communication is constructed. In short. linguistics surveies the general rules whereupon all human linguistic communications are constructed and operated as systems of communicating in their societies or communities. 1. 1. 2 An Interesting Comparison Linguisticss is a wide field to analyze. hence. a linguist sometimes is merely able to cover with one facet of linguistic communication at a clip. and therefore assorted subdivisions arise: phonetics. phonemics. morphology. sentence structure. semantics. applied linguistics. pragmatics. psycholinguistics. lexicology. lexicography. etymology and so on. Suppose that the survey of linguistics can be considered to be a computing machine. so linguistics is equal to the CPU. which supports all the other parts. Furthermore. sound card would stand for phonetics and phonemics. and so morphology and semantics are like the memory of the computing machine. What’s more. sentence structure plays as an of import function to interpret individual words to a whole sentence which is full of intending. merely like a artworks card. which uses image to do sense of the thought of memory stick. Finally. everything is ready. it’ s clip to utilize computing machine and the same goes for linguistic communication acquisition. Very interestingly. the belongingss of computing machine are surprisingly similar to human linguistic communication. from World Wide Web. iflytek. com/english/Research-Introduction % 20to % 20TTS. htm Above all. linguistics is concerned with the survey of verbal language– peculiarly address and written linguistic communication. What’s more. linguistic communication is a system and there is a set of options of which 1 must be chosen depending on the intent and context. ( Marie E. A ; John P. . 1991. p. 64 ) . 1. 2 The wide survey of linguistic communication Language is a extremely complex system of communicating. so it sometimes will be called a system of systems’ . It is used to build. exchange. express. and record information and thoughts. It performs these maps efficaciously because it is based upon systems that are understood by those utilizing the linguistic communication. In this chapter. four subjects will be concerned. They are phonology. morphology. sentence structure. and semantics. In this subdivision. some overall definitions and interactions among the four parts will be talked about. 1. 2. 1 Phonology In order to help scholars at the early phases of literacy. it is really of import to understand the relationship between sounds and letters. The sounds of address are studied in phonetics and phonemics. ( Marie E. A ; John P. 1991 ) 1. 2. 1. 1 Definitions of phonemics and phonetics Phonology is the survey of sound systems- the innovation of typical address sounds that occurs in a linguistic communication and the forms wherein they fall. In other words. we study the abstract side of the sounds of linguistic communication. a related but different topic that we call phonemics ( Peter. 2000 ) . In short. it is about forms and roots. On the other manus. it is more rigorous linguistics. Phonetics is the scientific discipline which surveies the features of human sound-making. particularly sounds used in address. and provides methods for their description. categorization and written text. In common. address sound is used everyplace. and it can be divided into three parts: articulatory phonetics. audile phonetics. and acoustic phonetics. 1. 2. 1. 2 The difference between phonemics and phonetics It seems that phonemics and phonetics are similar. That is why both of them make scholars confused. In fact. they have great difference. Phonology pays attending to how speech sounds of a linguistic communication form are put together harmonizing to regular regulations. On the contrary. phonetics focuses chiefly on description of how speech sounds are made. For case. if person says we should acquire our two lips near together and so force them open with a strong air . that means he or she is relevant to phonetics field. Another illustration is no words should get down with the ng’/N/ sound. the sound merely occurs at the terminal of words . and this concerns phonology country. Plenty of footings are used to depict different forms of letters and sounds. Some of the common used footings are blend. digram. shwa. syllable and phonics. which are widely and often applied. 1. 2. 2 Morphology Morphology has been regarded as a needfully synchronic discipline . That means the regulations concentrating on the survey of word construction alternatively of the development of words ( Katamba. 1993. P. 3 ) . It is the basic component used in a linguistic communication. and the construct of morphemes’ is one of the chief facets in the survey of morphology’ ( Yule. 2006. p. 66 ) . Basically. it is the subdivision of linguistics that surveies the internal construction of words. In morphology. morphemes are the minimum units that have semantic significance. It is the lingual term for the most elemental units of grammatical form ( Fromkin. Rodman. A ; Hyams. 2006. p. 77 ) . 1. 2. 2. 1 The categorization of morphemes Morphemes are composed of free and bound morphemes. Free morphemes are the morphemes that can stand by themselves as individual words . while edge morphemes are those that can non usually stand alone . but that can be attached to affixes ( Yule. 2000. p. 75 ) . Free morphemes contain lexical and functional morphemes. The first class. free morphemes. is the set of ordinary nouns. adjectives. adverbs and verbs which carry the content of the conveyed messages ( Yule. 2000. p. 76 ) . and most English words refer to this class. The functional morphemes consist mostly of the functional words. including concurrences. prepositions. articles and pronouns ( Yule. 2000 ) . Bound morphemes can besides be divided into two classs. They are derivational and inflectional morphemes. Derivational morphemes are those which make new words in the linguistic communication and do words of a different grammatical class from the stem ( Yule. 2000. p. 76 ) . which means that it can alter the significance or the word category. whereas the inflectional morphemes are used to indicate facets of the grammatical map of a word ( Yule. 2000. p. 77 ) . 1. 2. 2. 2 The interaction with other facets Morphology has interactions with phonemics. The choice of the signifier that manifests given morpheme may be affected by the sounds that realize neighbouring morphemes ( Katamba. 1993 ) . For illustration. prefixes and postfixs will usually impact the emphasis. Meanwhile. there is interaction between morphology and sentence structure. The signifier of words may be influenced by the syntactic building in which the word is used ( Katamba. 1993. p. 13 ) . 1. 2. 3 Syntax So far in our survey of linguistic communication. we have made surveies of phonetics. phonemics and morphology. We have analyzed the construction of sounds and words. Therefore. we have been concentrated on the degree of little units of linguistic communication. After our analysis of words. we move to the consideration of larger structural units of linguistic communication: phrases and sentences. If we concentrate on the construction and ordination of constituents within a sentence. we are analyzing what is technically known as the sentence structure of a language ( Yule. 2000. p. 100 ) . Syntax can be merely defined as the scientific survey of sentence construction. Harmonizing to Geoffrey ( 2005 ) . sentence structure is a term used for the survey of the regulations regulating the manner words are combined to organize sentences. The beginning of this word is from Grecian and it means a puting out together’ or agreement ( Yule. 2000 ) . In the sentence The male child hits the door. we can detect that the words are related to each other in this order that it merely has one significance. If we change the order of the words The door hits the male child. the sentence’s significance has wholly changed and it is nonsensical. The ground is that the parts of the sentence are structurally related to each other. and this construction is reflected in the word order. In English. the word order is really necessary and of import for the significance of the sentence harmonizing to lingual regulations. In some linguistic communications. word order plays a less of import function. The significance of the sentence depends more on the signifier of the words themselves. In such instances. it is possible for sentences with wholly different word order to hold the same significance. English used to be one of these linguistic communications. The undermentioned illustrations are taken from Old English: Se cyning metech thone biscop- - -The male monarch meets the bishop Thone biscop meteth se cyning- - -The male monarch meets the bishop Although the words are arranged otherwise. they still mean the same. However. presents. the word order is really important for intending. As a effect. there is a great demand for us to research sentence structure. Some of import constructs are included in the survey of sentence structure. 1. 2. 3. 1Complex and compound sentence Three sentence types are basic in the sentence structure. There are simple sentence. compound sentence and complex sentence. A simple sentence includes one word. However. in some state of affairs. the simple sentence contains two words. A compound sentence contains at least two simple sentences. The sentences are linked with a concurrence. A Complex sentence composes of at least one chief clause and one subsidiary clause. 1. 2. 3. 2 Syntax Analysis The undermentioned illustration is provided for syntax analysis. The football squad won the lucifer last twelvemonth. S NP VP NP Det N Vt Det N Adv Ext ( clip ) The football squad won the lucifer last twelvemonth. The chart above is called tree diagram. The letters above each indicate: S = sentence. NP = noun phrase. VP = verb phrase. N = noun. V = verb. and so on. The grammarians use this method to analyse the sentences. 1. 2. 3. 3 Basic Syntactic Structure In English. the construction of sentence depends to a great extent on word order. The four basic constructions are listed as follows: S gt ; NP + Vc + NP ( NP gt ; N. NP gt ; Det + N ) S gt ; NP + VP ( NP gt ; N. VP gt ; Vc + Adj ) S gt ; NP + VP ( NP gt ; N. VP gt ; V ) S gt ; NP + VP ( NP gt ; N. VP gt ; Vt + NP. NP gt ; Det + N ) 1. 2. 3. 4 Basic Syntactic Generative Process There are four basic syntactic productive procedures: permutation. enlargement. extension. transmutation. Take the undermentioned sentence as an illustration to clear up these three constructs. Ken is a police officer. Substitution: Ken is a police officer. gt ; Tom is a police officer. Expansion: Ken is a police officer. gt ; Ken is a bad police officer. Extension: Ken is a police officer. gt ; Ken is a police officer at that clip. Transformation: Ken is a police officer. gt ; Is Ken a police officer? 1. 2. 4 Semantics Semantics. a subfield of linguistics. is the survey of actual significance. It is the recent add-on to the English linguistic communication. ( Palmer. 1976. p. 1 ) . Harmonizing to Matthews ( 2007 ) . during the early old ages the survey of intending focused on the vocabulary entirely. The range of the survey has expended since 1960s to include both semantics and pragmatics ( analyzed in 1. 3 ) . which come to the chief Fieldss of the survey of lingual significance ( Katamba. 2000 A ; Matthews. 1997 ) . Semantic significance is fixed and abstract. It can be understood by surface. However. it is de-contextualized. In another word. it is easy subverted by different gestures or modulations. Semnatics interacts with other facets of linguistics. For illustration. when equivalent word are used. they can be understood. so it fits the regulation of sentence structure. However. equivalent word are used to depict something similar. In a sentence. a equivalent word can be substituted by another equivalent word. However. the significance of synonyms talker or author determines or predicates have different grades. which indicates the significance is really different ( Alan. 2004 ) . Therefore. it is the interaction between sentence structure and semantics. As for the interaction with phonemics. the term tonic syllable in phonemics has three sorts of maps. The first 1 is the accentual map. which is to bespeak the focal point of the information. The 2nd 1 is the attitudinal map that is to bespeak the speaker’s attitude. And the last 1 is grammatical map. If talkers use these maps. the same sentence will turn out to hold assorted significances. To reason. in this subdivision. linguistics is analyzed from the facets of sounds. word construction. grammatical regulations and significance. Each of them is in charge of a certain system. Therefore linguistics can assist people to pass on. to show. and to be understood. 1. 3 Other subjects Apart from the nucleus subparts of linguistics. which we have demonstrated before. for farther reading. we introduce some other exciting facets in the field of linguistics. There are a batch more to detect than those countries. 1. 3. 1 Sociolinguistics People may cognize something about you through the manner you speak. for illustration. where you come from. where you spend most of your life clip. your societal individuality and so on. Two people turning up in the same geographical country. at the same clip. may talk otherwise owing to a figure of societal factors ( Yule. 2000 ) . Consequently. it’s really of import to see the societal facets of linguistic communication. It’s because address is a signifier of societal individuality and is used. consciously or unconsciously ( Yule. 2000 ) . The survey of the societal facet of linguistic communication is known as sociolinguistic. Sociolinguistic is concerned with probe of the relationship between linguistic communication and society ( Ronald. 2006. p. 13 ) . It consists of cultural norms. outlooks. and context on the manner linguistic communication is used. The first linguists who studied the societal facet of linguistic communication are Indian and Nipponese in the 1930s. Another individual called Gauchat who came from Switzerland had a analysis of this in 1900s every bit good. However. these three people didn’t receive much attending in the West. Until the late nineteenth century. the survey of societal facets of linguistic communication laid its foundation. Sociolinguisticss bit by bit appeared in the sixtiess in the West. Linguisticss such as William Labov in the US and Basil Bernstein in the UK foremost brought out this construct and explored it. ( Wikipedia. 2007. parity. 1 ) 1. 3. 2 Neurolinguistics Though the nervous constructions of most carnal species are really distant from adult male. there are still resemblances between homo and animate being linguistic communications ( Marler. 1981 ; Nottebohm. 1970 ) . since nerve cells work in both. Human encephalon contains one million millions of nervous cells. and so far. the exact figure of those alleged nerve cells is still to be defined ( Fabbro. 1999. p. 21 ) . These bitty bantam nerve cells have close nexus with the production of linguistic communication. There can be unconditioned or learnt vocal vocalizations. Oral linguistic communication can be the unconditioned belongings of the human encephalon. written linguistic communication. nevertheless. is an innovation of world. Dogs can bark. cats can miaou. and adult male can shout even after the remotion of the mesencephalon. whereas parrots can non copy human sounds. and we can non bring forth human linguistic communication ( Fabbro. 1999. p. 21 ) . Therefore. the nervous centre of our encephalon is playing an unreplaceable function in the production of linguistic communication. How does the chief intellectual construction serve the production of human voices? The survey of neurolinguistic rely on the survey of neurology and neurophysiology. and in these Fieldss. all parts of the nervous system. each holding different maps in bring forthing linguistic communication. are discovered. Theories are found based on tonss of experiments refering the remotions of different subdivisions of the encephalon. The devastation of different linguistic communication countries destroys linguistic communication distinguishingly. 1. 3. 3 Historical linguistics Historical linguistics decidedly is non concerned with the history of linguistics. though historical linguistics has played an of import function in the development of linguistics. It is the chief sort of linguistics practiced in the nineteenth century ( Campbell. 1998. p. 5 ) . Historical linguistics concerns the probe and description of how languages alteration or keep their construction in the class of clip. Language alteration can be easy proved by paperss written in the same linguistic communication but at different periods of history. The differences of give voicing and construction of sentences can reflect the historical development of linguistic communication. From series of dateable paperss. Lord’s Prayer widely recorded the history of world. and different versions help us analyse the linguistic communication of each period ( Bynon. 1978. p. 7 ) . Meanwhile we can besides detect that certain construction regulations are still used in current linguistic communication. There are some concepts and regulation that link the grammars of two different but related linguistic communications. which descend from a individual original linguistic communication. sharing a common ascendant. More accurately. historical linguistics trades with the sorts of alterations. and the techniques and methods we have use to detect history. instead than the beginning of words themselves ( Campbell. 1998. p. 5 ) . 1. 3. 4 Anthropological linguistics Anthropological lingual is the survey of dealingss between linguistic communication and civilization. It is related to human biological science. knowledge and linguistic communication. It belongs to the field of lingual anthropology. which is a subdivision of anthropology that surveies human-beings through the linguistic communication they use ( Wikipedia. 2007. parity. 1 ) . Some Linguists who explore theanthropological linguistics consider these subjects such as chimpanzee communicating. pidgins and Creoles. structural linguistics. entire linguistic communications. whorf hypothesis. etc. 1. 3. 5 Pragmatics Harmonizing to Kate ( 2000 ) . pragmatics is one of the two chief Fieldss in the survey of lingual significance. Pragmaticss trades with natural linguistic communication. while linguistic communication is ever used in context for an intended intent. The hearers must seek to hold on the significance implied. enrich the thoughts. and eventually do out the sentiment that what the talkers meant when speaking about a peculiar look ( Kate. 2000 ) . Harmonizing to Yule ( 1996 ) . pragmatics surveies the context in which the vocalization is produced every bit good as the purpose of linguistic communication user. ’ That means matter-of-fact intending depends on context or state of affairs. Without context. significances can be obscure and may be misunderstood by people. Two of the subdivisions are: speech Acts of the Apostless that cover requesting’ . commanding’ . questioning’ and informing’ . and niceness that shows the consciousness of another person’s face. In short. sociolinguistics is the analysis of interrelatedness of linguistic communication and society. Neurolinguistics is the survey of the encephalon and how it functions in linguistic communication. Historical linguistics is the consideration of linguistic communication alteration and how different linguistic communications are related to each other. Anthropological linguistics is the survey of linguistic communication and civilization. There are some other subjects in linguistics. Pragmaticss trades with the speakers’ significance. The five mentioned above are some chief subjects in linguistics. Different subjects of linguistics enrich the content of lingual. The survey of linguistics tends to be more and more elaborate and completed. 1. 4 Language Acquisition This chapter began with a general debut to linguistic communication survey. It ends with a consideration of the acquisition of linguistic communication. incorporating first. 2nd and foreign linguistic communication. which is affected by the relationship between instructor and scholar. Some experient pedagogues advise that it is merely through larning to talk a linguistic communication that you can to the full analyse it ( Everett 2001 ) . Acquisition’ is described as happening in self-generated linguistic communication contexts ( Krashen. 1982 ) . is subconscious. and leads to colloquial eloquence. 1. 4. 1 First linguistic communication acquisition For a kid. larning first linguistic communication is automatic. non after get downing school. non in specific circumstance and non by great attempts ( Yule. 2006 ) . It requires merely basic physical capableness of directing and having sounds straight or indirectly. and interaction with others utilizing this linguistic communication. Children are brought up in peculiar environments. being affected by different milieus. particularly by those people whom they spend most of their clip interacting with. Babies start express themselves through some simple vocalization. such as some vowel-like sounds. Children addition increasing abilities at different development phases. from bring forthing single-unit vocalization to bring forthing address by pass oning through looks ( Yule. 2006 ) . since they are able to understand what others said. This a large measure frontward. like discontinuing toddling and being capable of walking steadily. forwards. or backwards. As kids are being progressively exposed to communicating and interaction. their linguistic communication accomplishments are developing quickly because of the enlargement of vocabulary. They are neer forced to talk first linguistic communication and rarely be corrected by others. but they correct themselves through interactions every twenty-four hours. Then kids learn to utilize verbs in different sentences. and how to utilize different words to organize a sentence ( Yule. 2006 ) . They bit by bit learn to inquire inquiries right and how to utilize the word no in their addresss to show negative significances. The last phase of first linguistic communication acquisition is the ability of doing meaningful sentence ( Yule. 2006 ) . There is monolithic fluctuation in the rate at which characteristics of one’s first linguistic communication are acquired. 1. 4. 2 Second linguistic communication acquisition. Bing able to talk first linguistic communication is one of the basic accomplishments of 2nd linguistic communication acquisition. Except for the minority of people who are bilingual talkers. most of the scholars have no entree to a 2nd linguistic communication until our late childhood. Actually most of the Chinese scholars are now larning English as a foreign linguistic communication. because it is instantly back to Chinese speech production clip out of the schoolroom. But subsequently on they may hold the opportunity of larning it as a foreign linguistic communication in a native speech production environment. during submergence semesters. when they will get this 2nd linguistic communication in fortunes similar to those of Chinese acquisition. There are evidently differences in foreign linguistic communication accomplishment. sometimes related to differences in aptitude ( Carroll. 1982 ) . sometimes to affectional factors ( Gardner A ; Lambert. 1972 ) . sometimes to learner schemes ( Naiman. Frohlicn. Stern A ; Tedesco. 1978 ) . sometimes to environmental factors such as chances for linguistic communication usage or instructional conditions ( Long. 1982 ) . and sometimes merely to clip ( Carroll. 1975 ) . Human existences have the ability to larn more than one linguistic communication all through one’s live. Farwell ( 1963 ) ( cited in Taylor. 1976 ) studies that a British adventurer in the nineteenth century claimed to hold spoken more than 40 linguistic communications and idioms. Normally. nevertheless. after the age of 10. the acquisition of 2nd linguistic communication is really different from the manner one acquired his first linguistic communication. which is comparatively slower and can non accomplish native-like proficiency. 1. 4. 3 Educational factors Most of us begin larning 2nd linguistic communication in teenage old ages. disbursement merely few hours on it every twenty-four hours and for most of the day-to-day activities we use our female parent lingua. Consequently. we will meet tonss of troubles in larning 2nd linguistic communication without adequate exposure to it. Therefore. the mostly distinguished portion of geting first and 2nd linguistic communication should be linguistic communication instructors. In order to larn a 2nd linguistic communication. we must larn from a instructor. or at least follow their counsel. The schoolroom is a really powerful instrument of direction and it can command linguistic communication larning in a really direct manner ( Richard. T. A ; Roger. H. ) . As linguistic communication instructors. we should concentrate on students’ demands and follow learner-centered attacks. We should leave cognition in a more practical manner so the pupils can have easy. Keep the category disciplined and orderly so that pupils can larn most efficaciously from the lessons. There are frequently the state of affairss that the pupils seldom voluntary replies. and the instructor sometimes has to name on person and delay for a long clip before a response is forthcoming. Why non seek interrupting off from typical Hong Kong schoolroom patterns in category? Like. pupils do non hold to stand up to recognize instructors. and they do non hold to raise their custodies or stand up when they answer inquiries. In a relaxed schoolroom atmosphere. pupils will experience free to interact. They will non fall silent when the instructor enters the room. so stand up and intone a choral salutation. If the students are put in this place in the schoolroom. they can be more efficaciously kept in their topographic point in societal life. During the category. we instructors should neer state like this: I am your instructor. By the authorization vested in me I have the right to inquire you to act in a certain manner. whether you like it or non. And you. in your function have the duty to obey ( Widdowson. H. G. ) . Whereas. we should state that in another manner: Make this because I am the instructor and I know what’s best for you. but non Do this because I am stating you and I am the instructor. This difference has the advantage of mostly increasing engagement in the usage and pattern of linguistic communication. 1. 4. 4 Drumhead Approachs to the acquisition of linguistic communication history for different backgrounds of learns’ first linguistic communication. and different conditions of exposure. In geting linguistic communication. scholars frequently go through transitional phases of development. which is at distinguished rates. Mentions Cruse. A. ( 2004 ) . Meaning in linguistic communication: an debut to semantics and pragmatics. Oxford. New York. Oxford University Press. Bynon. T. ( 1983 ) . Historical Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Campbell. L. ( 1998 ) . Historical Linguistics-An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Dechert. H. W. ( 1990 ) . Current tendencies in European 2nd linguistic communication. Great Britain: WBC Print. Bristol. Fabbro. F. ( 1999 ) . The Neurolinguistics of Bilingualism. Psychology Press Ltd. Fromkin. V. . Rodman. R. . A ; Hyams. N. ( 2006 ) . An debut to linguistic communication ( 8th ed. ) . Boston. MA: Heinle A ; Heinle. Palmer. F. R. ( 1976 ) . Semanticss: a new lineation. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press. Geoffrey. F. ( 2005 ) . Cardinal Concepts In Language And Linguistics. USA: Palgrave Macmillan. Kate. K. ( 2000 ) . Semantics. Basingstoke. England. Macmillan. Katamba. F. ( 2006 ) . Morphology. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press. Marie E. A ; John P. ( 1991 ) . Language and Learning. Melbourne: Oxford University Press O’ Mally. J. M. . A ; Chamot. A. U. ( 1990 ) . Learning schemes in 2nd linguistic communication acquisition. Cambridge University Press. Matthews. P. H. ( 1997 ) . Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics. Oxford. University Press. USA. Peter. R. ( 2000 ) . English Phonetics and Phonology. Cambridge University Press. Ronald. W. ( 2006 ) . An Introduct

The Conflic of Hong Kong vs China

The Conflic of Hong Kong vs China Hong Kong is a part of China, but it has a unique history that affects the way people from Hong Kong (also known as Hong Kongers) interact with and perceive the mainland today. To understand why Hong Kongers and mainland Chinese often don’t get along, you need to first understand the basics of Hong Kong’s modern history. Heres a breakdown to help you understand the longstanding feud. The History of Hong Kong Hong Kong was occupied by the British army and then subsequently ceded to England as a colony as a result of the Opium Wars in the mid-19th century. While it had previously been considered a part of the Qing dynasty empire, it was ceded to the Brits in perpetuity in 1842. And although there were some minor changes and periods of upheaval, the city remained a British colony, in essence, up until 1997 when control was formally handed over to the People’s Republic of China. Because it had been a British colony during the formative years of the People Republic of China, Hong Kong was quite different from mainland China. It had a democratic system of local government, a free press, and a culture that was deeply influenced by England. Many Hong Kongers were suspicious or even fearful of the PRC’s intentions for the city, and indeed some fled to Western countries prior to the takeover in 1997. The Peoples Republic of China, for its part, has assured Hong Kong that it will be allowed to retain its self-governing democratic system for at least 50 years, and it is currently considered a â€Å"Special Administrative Region† and not subject to the same laws or restrictions as the rest of the People’s Republic of China. Hong Kong vs. China Controversies The sharp contrast in system and culture between Hong Kong and the mainland has caused a fair amount of tension in the years since the handover in 1997. Politically, many Hong Kongers have grown increasingly resentful of what they see as increasing mainland meddling in their political system. Hong Kong still has a free press, but pro-mainland voices have also taken control of some of the city’s major media outlets, and in some cases have caused controversy by censoring or downplaying negative stories about China’s central government. Culturally, Hong Kongers and mainland tourists frequently come into conflict when the mainlanders’ behavior doesn’t live up to Hong Konger’s strict British-influenced standards. Mainlanders are sometimes derogatorily called â€Å"locusts,† a reference to the idea that they come to Hong Kong, consume its resources, and leave a mess behind when they leave. Many of the things Hong Kongers complain about- spitting in public and eating on the subway, for exaple- are considered socially acceptable on the mainland. Hong Kongers have been especially annoyed by mainland mothers, some of whom come to Hong Kong to give birth so that their children can have access to the relative freedom and the superior schools and economic conditions in the city as compared to the rest of China. In past years, mothers also sometimes came to Hong Kong to buy massive quantities of milk power for their infants, as the supply on the mainland was distrusted by many following the tainted  milk powder scandal. Mainlanders, for their part, have been known to lash back and what some of them see as â€Å"ungrateful† Hong Kong. Peoples Republic of China nationalist commentator Kong Qingdong, for example, caused a major controversy in 2012 when he called Hong Kong people â€Å"dogs,† a reference to their alleged nature as submissive colonial subjects, which led to protests in Hong Kong. Can Hong Kong and China Ever Get Along? Trust in mainland food supplies is low, and Chinese tourists are not likely to change their behavior significantly in the immediate future, nor is the Peoples Republic of China government likely to lose interest in influencing Hong Kong politics. Given the significant differences in political culture and systems of government, it is likely that tension between Hong Kongers and some mainland Chinese will remain for some time to come.

Some botanists argue that in some cases the extraction of starch from Essay

Some botanists argue that in some cases the extraction of starch from sago palm is an easier alternative to traditional agricult - Essay Example One conclusion drawn from the research include the idea of using traditional sago palm as a source of starch proves to require more research before it can be implemented at a wider scale. According to Ellen, â€Å"†¦because variability in ecology, management, methods of working, and productivity are intrinsic to all individual sago-harvesting populations, it is, therefore a crucial parameter in understanding its adaptive features as a mode of subsistence and a source of food.† There is therefore a need for further study of the sago palm before it can be used as a substitute to traditional sources of starch. Another conclusion drawn from the research is that the skills and procedure needed in the extraction of starch from sago palm is more like â€Å"deliberately socially transmitted knowledge† (Ellen). This means that in order for one to perfect the extraction process, there must first be a knowledge of the culture that produces it, for sago extraction in the Pacif ic Islands and Southeast Asia is clearly interwoven in the culture of the people involved in it. Is this an interdisciplinary study? Explain your answer.   Ellen’s study is one which is interdisciplinary in nature. The reason is that the process of starch extraction from the traditional sago palm required the author to delve into the culture of the people of South Central Seram in Indonesia, who first developed the process. Without a knowledge of how the people incorporated the starch extraction process in their culture and without enough information on the traditional steps in starch extraction undertaken by the Seram natives, perfect use and further development of the technology would be impossible. Moreover, Ellen mentions a little bit the impact of the utilization of sago palm trees on the environment and the ecological balance of the area. Ellen’s study therefore combines biology, ecology and anthropology. Why is the number of structural components of the extrac tion apparatus not necessarily a gauge of the complexity or efficiency of the process?   The number of structural components of the basic extraction apparatus does not determine the efficiency of the process because the apparatus â€Å"can be modified and elaborated in numerous ways† depending on the overall desired result of the extraction process (Ellen). For example, the troughs can be arranged in many ways or more troughs can be added depending on what the priority of the extraction is, such as maximizing the amount of extracted starch. It is clear that no matter how many variations are done in this part of the process, the principle is still simple. What basic principles had to have been known to develop the technology?   Among the principles that need to have been known before the technology can be developed would include the seven core operations of sago extraction itself: â€Å"cutting, excavating, pounding, pressing or filtering with water, sedimentation and dra ining† (Ellen). Without a knowledge of such basic operations, one would not be able to exactly determine which part of the starch extraction technology needs the most improvement and development in order to maximize yield. Moreover, owing to the fact that sago palm starch extraction requires an interdiscipli

De Beers Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

De Beers - Case Study Example This $400 million employs 760 people, working day and night. De Beers is at present being faced with a quantity of new challenges that are making it essential for us to believe a change in the way that they do business. With new chaos in Western Africa, where illegal diamonds are starting to come from war torn villages, as well as other sources of diamonds are being discovered in Russia as well as Australia, it is obvious that they seriously need to start to move into the U.S. market. Antitrust law permits the imposition of a maximum fine of $10 million, or twice the gain or loss caused by a price-fixing scheme. The indictment does not specify how much the scheme cost purchasers of industrial diamonds. (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/10/business/worldbusiness/10diamond.htmlex=1247112000&en=20aa08705cd558b8&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland) A PEST analysis has been performed on the current situation facing De Beers. In the following section, I will focus on the most important problems identified in the PEST analysis for which we must find solutions and also on the most important positive forces that we must leverage to our advantage in order to maintain or gain market share. Please see Exhibit 1 for details on the PEST analysis and additional information on other issues we are facing and forces that might help or hinder our market share in the U.S. The most important of the problems we are faced with are due to Political issues in the United States and elsewhere. Due to war in western Africa, diamonds are beginning to flow from the war torn fields of Sierra Leone and Angola, and in Russia, mines are being controlled locally as opposed to in collaboration with De Beers. These challenges alone pose a threat to the power that De Beers currently holds over the diamond industry. Due to these challenges, we initiated a branding campaign attempting to brand De Beers diamonds to the consumers. This campaign was cantered in the U.S., where "legally, the entire De Beers group - its officers, its operations, its marketing structure - was in violation of the U.S. antitrust law" .This prohibited De Beers from directly selling in the United States. Additionally, a political issue that we need to leverage to our advantage is the U.S. foreign policy towards helping to rebuild Africa. These political issues will be further addressed in the reco mmendations section. Economically, there is an expected surge in diamond sales expected to occur in the U.S. this year. This emphasizes

The Olympic Games Essay Example for Free

The Olympic Games Essay There were many factors that helped shape the Olympic Games from 1892 to 2002. Originally, Olympic Games were conducted in Ancient Greece in hopes of uniting its city-states Athens and Sparta and to promote peace through sports activity. When Olympic Games were resurrected in 1892, they had the same goal of promoting peace in the world. Over time factors such as nationalism, The Cold War, changes in global economy and a rise in feminism facilitated changes in the Olympic Games. However, a great additional document to add would be a personal letter from one of the German athletes or a bar graph before the world wars had taken place. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, World War I and World War II occurred followed by The Cold War. Countries entered the Olympic Games in hopes of finding peace through friendly competition, while leaving their individual problems behind. In document 1, Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic movement in 1892 thought, â€Å"Reduction of the chances of war helps promote peace†. This quote means that when the countries came together for friendly competition at the Olympic Games, wars weren’t taking place. Pierre de Coubertin also believed that the Olympics Games helped promote peace and as founder, he wanted everyone to feel a sense of unity within them. The author of document 6 shares the same belief. The Soviet Union committee believed that, â€Å"a consistent and peaceful foreign policy† had a dramatic influence on the 1980 Olympics. The Soviet Union/USSR believed this because in 1980 the pressure on Soviet Union to end the Cold War was increasing. By hosting Olympic Games in 1980, USSR was eager to show their will to come together with the world in a peaceful manner. Although Pierre de Coubertin and the Soviet Union Committee believed that the Olympic Games would help promote peace, some nations and countries just wanted to win out of pride and return home with glory. Nationalism is another factor that played part in shaping the Olympic Games. In document 3, Arnold Lunn, a British Olympic team official at the 1936 games believed, â€Å"The Nazis had to prove that they were the best at skiing† and that â€Å"Nazism is better than democracy. † However, because the 1936 games were held before World War II, it brought the conflict of various ideologies. Due to their belief in their supremacy, the German athletes were forced to cheat such as using closed course for practice. They just couldn’t afford to lose. Also, in document 4, Bob Matthias, a United States competitor from the 1952 games, expressed his point of view. Bob Matthias stated, â€Å"There were many pressures on the American athletes to defeat the Soviet team†¦ they were in real sense the enemy†. Because he was a USA competitor, it was the natural feeling of patriotism towards his country to feel this way towards the USSR, USA’s enemy. This also made the Olympic Games seem like a battle between countries, capitalist and communist ideologies, instead of a friendly competition between countries. In addition, document 10 expresses national pride. Ali Kabir, a sports writer for the newspaper Dawn states, â€Å"our team finished 2nd to India in the 1956 Olympics†¦ the current national team tarnished the country’s name†. Ali believed that the Pakistan’s men’s field hockey team won at the 1956 and the 1960 Olympics because they felt pride towards their country. He also believes that the current national team lost pride in their country, therefore they didn’t prevail. As you can see, documents 3, 4 and 10 show how nationalism affected the Olympic Games. Another factor that had major influence on the Olympic Games in addition to nationalism was the global economy. Many countries wanted to host the Olympics to attract visitors to their country and to demonstrate their power. The Olympic Games were also beneficial for the economy. Ryotaro Azuma, mayor of Tokyo and chairman of 1964 games committee stated, â€Å"Without the magic of the Olympics, we might not have gotten what we needed to rise as a world power†. Ryotaro believed this, because as a Mayor he saw firsthand the important role of tourism for the city of Tokyo, which has become one of the top economic cities in the world. Ryotaro Azuma also believed that the Olympic Games helped Tokyo achieve this economic success. Furthermore, document 7 was written from a Japanese economist stating his point of view. This person states, â€Å"Korea failed to display its industrial and economic power worldwide. † He believed that although Seoul was hosting the Olympics of 1988, they did not use the opportunity to benefit economically. He also believed that other countries such as Japan and USA dominant over South Korea on political, industrial and economic terms because they were actively sponsoring the Games. Yet another document, document 9, is a bar graph representing the amount of money spent for broadcasting different Olympic Games. Since it is clear that this amount increased by hundreds of millions from Game to Game, one could infer that the Olympic Games could be used by the host countries to â€Å"show off† through publicity and broadcasting and to also bring in huge revenues . Lastly, a major driving factor shaping the Olympic Games was the feminist movement. Document 2 is a picture of Sybil Newall, a British competitor in the 1908 games. At that time, only two percent of women were athletes. Sybil was one of the few women who was able to participate in the Olympic Games. In Document 8, a female Algerian athlete by the name Hassiba Boulmerka was greatly involved in the feminist movement. She participated in the 1992 games. Hassiba believed that all women were very capable of being athletes just as well as any other man even though at that time in her society women were turned down. She also believed women had potential; she wanted to see women rise up in the world and be equal to any man. Her belief materialized in the rate of participating female athletes, which grew to twenty-nine percent. This growth is ongoing as many more females participate in Olympic Games each year. Factors such as nationalism, a rise in feminism and the global economy allowed the Olympic Games movement to become what it is today. Today, the Olympics promote the importance of the feminist movement, importance of religious and national freedom and peaceful co-existence of various cultures. From Ancient Greece to modern day Olympic Games, the transformation is incredible!

Essay --

Pomacea insularum Pomacea insularum commonly known as the apple snail is a species of snail from the class Gastropoda. P. insularum are found in warm wetlands habitats. They are capable of fast growth rates and reproduce many offspring which increases their capability to quickly invade different ranges. Recently this species has been spreading through southern United States and altering the environments in which they are found. The Pomacea insularum species in round in shape and is usually brown, black, and yellowish tan. P. insularum may reach 150 mm in length or the size of an apple. Their offspring are large egg masses that are a bright pink color. Pomacea insularum look very similar to Pomacea canaliculata making it difficult to properly identify. To better control the invasive species P. insularum it is important to understand the native range, invasive range, and related species. The known native range of this species is Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil. The Apple Snail generally inhabit areas with slow moving or stagnant waters in lowland swamps, marshes, irrigation canals, streams, ponds, lakes and rivers. Currently the species is invading in several areas of the world including several countries in the Asian and European continents. Another continent that P. insularum is found in is North America specifically the southern United States. States that have the species are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Texas. The first sighting of P. insularum in many of these states were in the 2000’s while in Texas the first sited was 1989. A study done by Howell surveyed 393 sites in Texas and P. insularum was found in 53 of the sites. The snail was found in low densities in ponds and streams but in agr... ...dling age from two to five weeks resulted in significant reductions in snail damage. Management of the apple snails may have to target the entire genus of Pomacea since there are so many invasive species of Pomacea in the United States. Forecasting the potential range of the Pomacea insularum is important for management of the species. Pomacea insularum lives in habits that are generally warm and composed of wetlands. Currently P. insularum is found in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Texas. These states all have areas that are warm and have wetlands. Under current climate conditions Pomacea insularum should not spread much farther through the United States. Along with the right climate P. insularum needs the waters to be ph that is greater than 5.5. If the ph levels are lower than this number the snail’s survival and persistence declines.

Sealed Air Company Hbs Case

For the exclusive use of M. HUSSAIN Harvard Business School 9-582-103 Rev. September 24, 1985 Sealed Air Corporation The president and chief executive officer of Sealed Air Corporation, T. J. Dermot Dunphy, explained the firm’s 25% average annual growth in net sales and net earnings from 1971 to 1980: The company’s history has been characterized by technical accomplishment and market leadership. During the last 10 years we built on our development of the first closed-cell, lightweight cushioning material, introduced the first foam-in-place packaging system, and engineered the first complete solar heating system for swimming pools.We intend to follow the same management guidelines in the 1980s. We intend to seek market leadership because market leadership optimizes profit, and foster technological leadership because it is the only long-term guarantee of market leadership. In July 1981 Barrett Hauser, product manager of Sealed Air’s Air Cellular Products, was refle cting on Dunphy’s management philosophy as he considered how Sealed Air should respond to some unanticipated competition in the protective packaging market.As product manager, Hauser was responsible for the closed-cell, light-weight cushioning material that Dunphy had mentioned. Sealed Air’s registered trademark name for this product was AirCap. 1 AirCap cushioning materials had always faced a variety of competitors in the protective packaging market. More recently, however, several small regional producers had invented around Sealed Air’s manufacturing process patents and begun to market cheap imitations of AirCap in the United States. AirCap Cushioning and Its CompetitorsAirCap cushioning was a clear, laminated plastic sheet containing air bubbles of uniform size (see Exhibit 1). The feature that differentiated AirCap cushioning from all other bubble products was its â€Å"barrier-coating†: each AirCap bubble was coated on the inside with saran. This gr eatly increased air retention, meaning less compression of the material during shipment and, consequently, better protection. Barrier-coating and its customer benefits had been the central theme of Sealed Air’s AirCap cushioning selling effort for 10 years. Sealed Air, AirCap, and Instapak are registered  ® trademarks of Sealed Air Corporation. Solar Pool Blanket is a TM trademark of the same corporation. Robert J. Dolan, associate professor, prepared this case as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Certain nonpublic data have been disguised. Copyright  © 1982 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685 or write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163.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 Harvard Business School. 1 This document is authorized for use only by Md. Saquib Hussain in marketing ? nal taught by Suresh Ramanathan from October 2012 to October 2012. For the exclusive use of M. HUSSAIN 582-103 Sealed Air Corporation Between 1971 and 1980 Sealed Air and Astro Packaging of Hawthorne, New Jersey, were the only air bubble packaging material producers in the United States.Sealed Air licensed Astro to use Sealed Air’s patented technology. Astro produced two types of bubbles: a barrier bubble similar to AirCap,2 and an uncoated bubble. Its sales were split about evenly between the two. In 1980 Astro’s total U. S. sales were approximately $10. 5 million, compared with $25. 35 million in U. S. sales for AirCap cushioning. Sealed Air’s market education had made customers aware of the advantages of coated bubbles; consequently, uncoated bu bbles had never achieved greater than a 15% dollar share of the U.S. market before 1980. In July 1981 uncoated bubble operations were being set up in Ohio, California, and New York. GAFCEL, which served the metropolitan New York market, was the only competitor yet to achieve significant sales volume. Two GAFCEL salespeople—one full time, the other about half time—had reached a $1 million annual sales rate. Several of AirCap’s distributors had taken on the GAFCEL line. Hauser was preparing to recommend Sealed Air’s reaction to these somewhat unanticipated competitors.The firm could produce an uncoated bubble as cheaply as GAFCEL within a month with no major capital investment; it could run on machines used for another Sealed Air product. If Hauser were to recommend that the historic champion of barrier-coating offer an uncoated bubble, he would have to specify timing, the marketing program for the new product, and any adjustments in policies for AirCap cus hioning and Sealed Air’s other products. As Hauser thought about his options, he again flipped through the training manual recently distributed to Sealed Air’s sales force: â€Å"How to Sell against Uncoated Bubbles. †The Protective Packaging Market The three major use segments of the protective packaging market were: 1. Positioning, blocking, and bracing: These protective materials had to secure large, heavy, usually semirugged items in a container. Typical applications included shipment of motors and computer peripherals. 2. Flexible wraps: These materials came under less pressure per square foot. Applications included glassware, small spare parts, and light medical instruments. 3. Void fill: These materials were added to prevent movement during shipping when an item and its protective wrap (if any) did not fill its carton.The positioning, blocking, and bracing market was unique because of the heavier weights of items shipped. Flexible wrap and void fill were sometimes hard to separate because it was convenient to use the same product for both functions. The key distinction was that loose fills (for instance, polystyrene beads) dominated the void fill market but provided no cushioning protection and, hence, did not qualify as flexible wrap. Until 1970 most materials used for protective packaging were produced primarily for other purposes. Heavy, paper-based products had dominated the market. Sealed Air was one of the first Astro’s barrier bubble and the AirCap bubble differed in both manufacturing process and coating material. Astro used nylon rather than saran. The basic idea of reinforcing the polyethylene bubbles to improve air retention was, however, the same. 2 This document is authorized for use only by Md. Saquib Hussain in marketing ? nal taught by Suresh Ramanathan from October 2012 to October 2012. For the exclusive use of M. HUSSAIN Sealed Air Corporation 582-103 companies to approach the market with a customer orientat ion, i. e. , it began product development with an assessment of packagers’ needs.Since then a variety of products specifically designed for protective packaging had appeared. Sealed Air served these markets with two products: 1. Instapak ® foam-in-place systems (1980 worldwide sales of $38. 8 million) could accommodate any application, though their most advantageous use was for heavy items. In this process two liquid chemicals were pumped into a shipping container. The chemicals rapidly expanded to form a foam cushion around the product. Instapak’s comparative advantage resulted in a majority of applications in positioning, blocking, and bracing. . AirCap bubbles (1980 worldwide sales of $34. 3 million) primarily served the flexible wrap and void fill markets. In addition to coated and uncoated polyethylene air bubbles, there were two major competitors in these markets: paper-based products (cellulose wadding, single-face corrugated, and indented kraft), and foams (p olyurethane, polypropylene, and polyethylene). An excerpt from an AirCap promotional brochure in Exhibit 2 shows how Sealed Air positioned AirCap as a cost-effective substitute for these competitive products and loose fills.The brochure first pointed out the cost savings from AirCap cushioning, then presented results of â€Å"fatigue† and â€Å"original thickness retention† tests to demonstrate AirCap’s protective superiority. Exhibit 3 compares products competitive with AirCap cushioning and Exhibit 4 gives their U. S. Iist prices, which represent relative costs for any order size from an end user. Quantity discounts were offered on all materials. Buying Influences The proliferation of packaging products and the lack of easily demonstrable universal superiority caused confusion among end users.For example, products such as pewter mugs were shipped around the United States in AirCap cushioning, Astro coated bubbles, or even old newspapers. Users were a varied lo t. Some bought on a scientific price/performance basis. They understood â€Å"cushioning curves† such as those in Exhibit 5. Sealed Air could provide independently measured cushioning curves for competitive products as well as its own. Regardless, many firms did their own testing. At the other end of the spectrum were firms with â€Å"a purchasing-department mentality,† as some packaging materials suppliers put it.Price per square foot was their first consideration, delivery their second. As one Sealed Air executive commented, â€Å"To these people, cushioning curves are like accounting numbers. They think you can make them say anything you want. † There were no systematically collected data on the buying process or the extent to which price dominated performance in the purchase decision. Based on his experience as a district sales manager and now product manager, Hauser guessed that a packaging engineer influenced about 40% of the material purchase decisions. 3 This document is authorized for use only by Md.Saquib Hussain in marketing ? nal taught by Suresh Ramanathan from October 2012 to October 2012. For the exclusive use of M. HUSSAIN 582-103 Sealed Air Corporation The U. S. Market In 1980, dollar sales by segment in the U. S. protective packaging market were: †¢ †¢ †¢ Positioning, blocking, and bracing: $585 million Flexible wrap: $126 million Void fill: $15. 6 million Exhibit 6 breaks down total sales for the flexible wrap market by product type for 1975, 1978, and 1980. AirCap cushioning annual sales in the United States since 1972 were: Year 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 Gross Sales (in millions) $7. 10. 0 13. 0 12. 8 14. 6 Year 1977 1978 1979 1980 Gross Sales (in millions) $16. 4 18. 4 21. 2 25. 3 Despite the high cost of coated bubbles relative to the uncoated product, Sealed Air had kept most of the U. S. air bubble market. Key factors were Sealed Air’s patent protection and licensing of only one competitor, ext ensive market education, and the packaging mentality in the United States. Packaging engineers enjoyed a status in U. S. organizations not accorded them elsewhere. Packaging supplies were viewed as a productive, cost-saving resource.In contrast, recent research by Sealed Air indicated that many European firms viewed packaging supplies as â€Å"expendable commodities. † The European Market Sealed Air had manufacturing operations in England and France and a sales organization in Germany. 3 It was the only company selling a coated product in these countries. Sales figures for 1980 were: Country England France Germany Total Bubble Sales $3,649,000 4,480,000 7,688,000 AirCap Sales $2,488,500 592,200 404,600 3 The firm also had a manufacturing facility in Canada and a sales organization in Japan.Sealed Air licensees operated manufacturing facilities in Australia, Mexico, South Africa, and Spain. 4 This document is authorized for use only by Md. Saquib Hussain in marketing ? nal tau ght by Suresh Ramanathan from October 2012 to October 2012. For the exclusive use of M. HUSSAIN Sealed Air Corporation 582-103 Table A Differing Grades of AirCap Cushioning Bubble Heights SB: SC: ST: SD: 1 8 / in. high, used for surface protection when cushioning requirements were minimal. 3/16 in. high, used primarily for wrapping small, intricate items, possibly for larger items if not very fragile. 5 16 / in. igh, used in same kinds of applications as SC grade, except with slightly greater cushioning requirements. Also used as a void fill. / in. high, used for large, heavy, or fragile items or as a void fill. 1 2 Plastic Film Thicknesses Light duty (110): each layer of film was 1 mil (1/1,000 of an inch) thick; used for light loads. Regular duty (120): one layer of 1 mil and one layer of 2 mils; for loads up to 50 lbs. per sq. ft. Heavy duty (240): one layer of 2 mils and one of 4 mils; for loads up to 100 lbs. per sq. ft. Super duty (480): one layer of 4 mils and one of 8; for l oads over 100 lbs. er sq. ft. England. Sealed Air had developed the protective packaging market here and had good distribution. Later on, Sansetsu, a Japanese firm, began marketing a high-quality uncoated product made in Germany. Prices for the uncoated bubble were 50% less than the cost of comparably sized AirCap cushioning. Sansetsu and other uncoated bubble manufacturers had chipped away at Sealed Air’s one-time 90% market share. The most pessimistic Sealed Air distributors estimated that the firm would lose 50% of its current market share to uncoated bubbles within three years. France.Here, Sealed Air owned an uncoated bubble manufacturer SIBCO, with sales of $750,000 in 1980. In 1972 SIBCO was the only marketer of uncoated bubbles in France. Two major competitors, one with superior production facilities, had entered the market. Uncoated bubbles were priced about 40% lower than AirCap, and price was the key buying determinant. The major French distributor of AirCap cushio ning had a 50-50 mix of coated and uncoated sales in 1978. In 1980 the mix had changed to 70-30 (uncoated over coated), with 90% of new bubble applications being uncoated. Germany.AirCap cushioning was a late entrant (1973) to the German market and never held commanding share. Moreover, from 1978 to 1980, it had lost share at a rate of 20% to 30% per year. Sansetsu had an efficient manufacturing facility in Germany and sold approximately $6 million of uncoated product in 1980. (The price for uncoated was about 35% less than for coated. ) AirCap Cushioning Grades and Sales AirCap cushioning grades differed in bubble height and thickness of the plastic films. Bubble heights were designated by a letter code, and the plastic films came in four thicknesses (see Table A).Sealed Air produced eight different height/thickness combinations (see Table B). Some of the known end uses for each grade are shown in Exhibit 7. 5 This document is authorized for use only by Md. Saquib Hussain in market ing ? nal taught by Suresh Ramanathan from October 2012 to October 2012. For the exclusive use of M. HUSSAIN 582-103 Sealed Air Corporation Table B Eight Different Height/Thicknesses by Sealed Air Thickness Height (inches) SB-1 8 110 X 120 X X X 240 X X X 480 / SC-3/16 ST-5 16 SD-1 2 / / X Table C AirCap Sales by Grade Sales in 1,000 Square Feet Grade 1/8 in.SB-110 3/16 in. SC-120 SC-240 5/16 in. ST-120 ST-240 1/2 in. SD-120 SD-240 SD-480 Total sales July–December 1979 59,128 76,349 5,036 31,912 4,369 44,252 25,202 3,138 249,386 January–June1980 48,513 81,014 4,426 42,234 3,914 43,624 21,799 1,358 246,882 Note: In addition, because SB-110 could not compete in price against foams for many surface protection applications, Sealed Air introduced an A-100 grade in January 1980. The A-100 bubble was 3/32 in. high—the shortest coated bubble Sealed Air could make with available technology. January to June 1980 sales of A-100 were 17,802,000 sq. ft.Sales by grade for the last six months of 1979 and the first six months of 1980 are shown in Table C. Pricing All AirCap cushioning was sold through distributors. Prices reflected Sealed Air’s costs and the prices of competitive products. Variable costs and prices to the distributor are shown in Table D. Sealed Air’s suggested resale price list is shown in Exhibit 8. Largely because of its selective distribution policy, distributors generally followed this list. The price schedule entailed quantity discounts for end users. Thus, distributor margins varied with the size of the customer’s individual order. Quantity price was determined by the total square footage of a single order, combining all grades, ordered for shipment at one time to a single destination. ) In some major metropolitan areas, up to 50% of AirCap business was truckload/railcar orders by end users. In this event Sealed Air shipped the material from its plant directly to the end user; the distributor received a 10% mar gin and handled user credit and technical service. In some markets the percentage of direct shipments was as low as 10%. 6 This document is authorized for use only by Md. Saquib Hussain in marketing ? al taught by Suresh Ramanathan from October 2012 to October 2012. For the exclusive use of M. HUSSAIN Sealed Air Corporation 582-103 Selling Effort Sealed Air’s U. S. operation consisted of 7 regional manufacturing operations, 62 salespeople (each selling AirCap cushioning, Instapak, and other Sealed Air products), and 370 distributors. To control the shipping cost of its bulky product, Sealed Air had regional manufacturing operations in three eastern states, Ohio, Illinois, Texas, and California. The regional presence, however, had proven to be an effective sales promotion device as well.Table D AirCap Variable Costs and Distributor Prices (in dollars per 1,000 sq. ft. ) (1) Total Variable Cost $13. 78 16. 01 20. 56 32. 47 30. 65 38. 12 36. 31 44. 45 70. 81 (2) Price to Distrib utor for Truckload Deliverya $20. 60 30. 25 43. 50 56. 30 51. 40 65. 35 65. 35 78. 60 140. 90 (2) – (1) Sealed Air Dollar Margin $6. 82 14. 24 22. 94 23. 83 20. 75 27. 23 29. 04 34. 15 70. 09 Grade A-100 (3/32 in. ) SB-110 (1/8 in. ) SC-120 (3/16 in. ) SC-240 (3/16 in. ) ST-120 (5/16 in. ) ST-240 (5/16 in. ) SD-120 (1/2 in. ) SD-240 (1/2 in. ) SD-480 (1/2 in. ) Manufacturing $12. 46 14. 02 17. 92 29. 83 25. 36 32. 83 28. 38 36. 52 62. 88Freight $1. 32 1. 99 2. 64 2. 64 5. 29 5. 29 7. 93 7. 93 7. 93 a Less than truckload shipments were priced 15% to 20% higher. Consequently, distributors almost always ordered in truckload quantities. They were allowed to mix grades within an order. Depending on the grade ordered, a truckload could contain 70,000 sq. ft. (all SD-480) to 420,000 sq. ft. (all A-100). Before Instapak was acquired in 1976, 28 salespeople devoted 90% of their time to AirCap cushioning products. In 1981 the 62-person force was expected to allocate time as follows: 60 % to Instapak systems, 35% to AirCap cushioning, and 5% to other Sealed Air products. Exhibit 9 shows Sealed Air sales by product line and other financial data. ) Part of Sealed Air’s market share leadership philosophy was a consultative selling approach. Salespeople spent about half their time making cost studies at end-user locations. With the help of Sealed Air’s packaging labs, salespeople attempted to show how their products could save on material and labor cost and reduce damage in the end user’s particular situation. Distributors’ salespeople took orders on AirCap cushioning but did little to demonstrate AirCap use and application to customers.If a distributor’s salesperson identified a potential AirCap account, he or she would inform the Sealed Air salesperson and a joint call would be arranged. In this way the potential account learned about the product and ordering procedures simultaneously. Distributors sometimes complained to Sealed Air about the level of AirCap selling effort. Since distributor’s margins on AirCap cushioning were generally higher than the 10% to 12% for Instapak sales, distributors were not happy with Sealed Air’s greater allocation of salesperson time to Instapak.Some distributors said they would be content if the salesperson in their area really allocated 35% to AirCap; some claimed the actual AirCap selling effort amounted to only 20%. Instapak’s sales growth had been impressive, but some Sealed Air executives felt this had cost them some distributor satisfaction. Both distributors and end users regarded Sealed Air’s salespeople as among the best trained and most knowledgeable in the packaging industry. Sales force salaries were above average. They were composed of a base salary plus commissions of 2% on net AirCap sales and 1% on net sales of all other products, including Instapak. As an added incentive Sealed Air gave salespeople $75 for each Instapak dispenser pl aced. It took back $75 for each one removed. ) In a typical week a salesperson called on 20 end users and checked in with two or three distributors. 7 This document is authorized for use only by Md. Saquib Hussain in marketing ? nal taught by Suresh Ramanathan from October 2012 to October 2012. For the exclusive use of M. HUSSAIN 582-103 Sealed Air Corporation U. S. Distributors During the 1970s Sealed Air invested heavily in developing a selected distributor network. The firm had 370 distributors by 1980.Sealed Air considered 135 of these their â€Å"first-line distributors† because they collectively handled over 80% of its business. The 20 largest AirCap distributors handled about 35% of the business. Larger distributors typically carried both Instapak foam-in-place and AirCap cushioning. The largest distributor of Sealed Air products had 1980 Sealed Air sales of approximately $2 million, just about half of which were AirCap. Distributors traditionally tried to be full-line houses—capable of meeting each customer’s complete packaging needs—so they carried a broad range of products.A survey of Sealed Air’s firstline distributors showed that 83% carried loose fills, 65% carried polyethylene foam, and 29% carried Du Pont’s polypropylene foam. Although most carried competitive products, distributors had displayed loyalty to Sealed Air and AirCap cushioning. Sealed Air, in turn, had kept to its selective distribution policy. Competing Uncoated Bubble Cushioning Sealed Air considered both types of bubbles made by Astro as inferior products. GAFCEL, the new regional producer, made a â€Å"decent product† in Hauser’s estimation; he felt that its success to date came largely at Astro’s expense.The New York metropolitan market was ideal for the new producer. It was not customer- or distributor-loyal, and price was a key variable. Sealed Air’s estimate of GAFCEL sales rates was $750,000 per year for the 1/2-in. -high uncoated bubble and $250,000 per year for the 3/16-in. bubble. Both had two layers of film 2 mils each. GAFCEL’s distributor prices for truckload shipments and suggested resale prices to end users for the metropolitan New York market are shown in Table E. (Astro’s uncoated bubble prices are in Exhibit 4. ) Sealed Air had not yet extensively tested the GAFCEL uncoated bubble.Although it was better than Astro’s uncoated, its performance would not be dramatically different from that found in previous uncoated testing (see Exhibit 2). In terms of cushioning curves, the l/2 in. GAFCEL bubble was comparable to Sealed Air’s ST-120 or SD-120 for very light loads, not greater than 0. 15 lbs. /sq. in. pressure. At greater loads, however, the acceleration curve would increase rapidly, moving above even the SB-110 by pressures of 0. 25 lbs. /sq. in. (see Exhibit 5). 8 This document is authorized for use only by Md. Saquib Hussain in marketing ? nal taught by Suresh Ramanathan from October 2012 to October 2012.For the exclusive use of M. HUSSAIN Sealed Air Corporation 582-103 Table E GAFCEL’s Distributor Prices per 1,000 Sq. Ft. SO-22 (3/16 in. ) LO-22 (1/2 in. ) $36. 03 Distributor truckload Suggested resale by order size: 1,000 sq. ft 20,000 sq. ft 40,000 sq. ft 100,000 sq. ft Truckload $31. 63 $56. 54 47. 12 42. 84 39. 40 34. 79 $75. 24 62. 70 57. 07 44. 68 39. 63 Sealed Air Decisions Sealed Air had conducted a good deal of research on manufacturing uncoated bubble products. It knew the best production process would be similar to that currently used for its Solar Pool Blanketsâ„ ¢.Thus, the firm could begin manufacture of an uncoated product quickly in its New Jersey plant. Likely distributor response to a Sealed Air uncoated product was difficult to predict. Some distributors had requested it, but others regularly complained that there were already too many coated grades. Preliminary estimates of the variable cost s for producing Sealed Air uncoated bubbles were $19 per 1,000 sq. ft. for 3/16 in. height, $20 per 1,000 sq. ft. for 5/16 in. , and $21 per 1,000 sq. ft. for 1/2 in. Freight cost depended on bubble height and distance shipped.Although GAFCEL’s production process was completely different, its production costs were believed to be comparable. Hauser now had to decide whether to recommend that Sealed Air enter the uncoated bubble market (with an about-face on its previous exclusive emphasis on coated bubbles), or whether to suggest some other reaction to its new competitors. 9 This document is authorized for use only by Md. Saquib Hussain in marketing ? nal taught by Suresh Ramanathan from October 2012 to October 2012. For the exclusive use of M. HUSSAIN 582-103 Sealed Air Corporation Exhibit 1 AirCap ® Products and UsesCushioning AirCap ® air bubble cushioning protects products against shock and vibration during handling and shipping by literally floating them on a cushion of air. This material offers consistent performance because our unique barrier-coating guarantees air retention. AirCap withstands repeated impact since it will not fatigue or take a compression set. Cushioning applications include a range of products from lightweight retail items to delicate power supplies weighing several hundred pounds. Choose the grade that best fits your cushioning application! Protective Wrap/InterleavingAirCap is an excellent â€Å"protective wrap† material and ideal for â€Å"interleaving† between similarly shaped items. It is clean, non-abrasive, easy to use and provides superior surface protection. Lay your product on AirCap sheeting, fold it over and your product is fully protected! Typical protective wrap/interleaving applications include china, glassware, printed circuit boards, and spare parts. Void Fill When a void in a package is not completely filled, the cushioned product may migrate within the shipping container. This movement is a m ajor cause of damage in transit.Since large regular-duty AirCap bubbles do not compress, they fill voids effectively and eliminate product movement. Simply stuff AirCap sheeting into the carton, (left) or use an economical rolled â€Å"log. † It’s easy, clean, lightweight, and cost efficient! 10 This document is authorized for use only by Md. Saquib Hussain in marketing ? nal taught by Suresh Ramanathan from October 2012 to October 2012. 582-103 -11- Exhibit 2 Sealed Air Presents AirCap as Cost-Effective Substitute Typical Cost-Savings Comparisons 60 Cellulose Wadding Rubberized Hair Type IV Resists Fatigue 50 40 0 Uncoated Bubbles Urethane Foam Polypropolene Foam AirCap % Increase in Shock 20 In the transportation environment packages are subjected to many jolts, bumps, and shocks that can potentially cause damage. To function effectively a cushioning material must retain its ability to protect over a series of repeated impacts. The loss of protective ability during r epeated impact is termed ‘material fatigue. ’ This graph (left) indicates the increased shock an average procut (0. 25 psi) will receive during a ten drop sequence from 24 inches. Test results show barrier-coated AirCap ® outperforms all materials tested. 0 0 1 Number of Impacts 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 BARRIER-COATING Each individual AirCap bubble is barriercoated to retain the air. AirCap Vs. Corrugated Inserts A distributing firm found that it needed an excessive amount of flowable to prevent product migration. A new AirCap package (left) using a simple criss-cross technique resulted in reduced material, shipping, labor and carton costs. Item Carton Inner packaging Labor Freight Total Cost Savings w/ AirCap IMMEDIATE THICKNESS LOSS AirCap retains its original thickness upon the immediate application of a load (See Below).Loose Fill Package $ . 73 . 75 . 42 3. 02 $4. 92 AirCap Vs. Loose Fills Material Tested A manufacturer using corrugated inserts, cellulose wadding and p olyethylene bags eliminated the need to inventory many packaging components (right) and reduced labor 84% by switching to AirCap (left). Total Thickness Loss Retains Original Thickness Item Carton Inner Packaging Labor Freight Total Cost Savings w/ AirCap Corrugated Package $ . 55 . 80 . 83 2. 60 $4. 78 AirCap Package $ . 55 1. 05 . 13 2. 40 $4. 13 $ . 65 AirCap Package $ . 47 . 54 . 25 2. 72 $3. 98 $ . 94AirCap SD 240 14% Polypropylene Foam 30% Polyethylene Foam 40% Cellulose Wadding 38% Rubberized Hair IV 51% Uncoated Bubbles 64% (Large) Urethane Foam (1. 25 53% * * pct) Embossed 54% * * Polyethylene (Hex) *30 day evaluation not conducted due to excessive initial thickness loss. Initial Thickness Loss Upon 04 psi Load 7% 19% 16% 26% 24% 14% Gradual Thickness Loss After 30 Days 7% 11% 24% 12% 27% 50% When a load is placed on a cushioning material two things occur that may contribute to a deterioration in its performance. First, is the immediate compression of the material.Second, i s the additional, more gradual loss of thickness termed ‘creep. ’ Generally excessive thickness loss of a material results in increased material usage in cushioning and dunnage applications. Creep may contribute to product damage as the loss of thickness creates a void in a package, allowing the product to move, shift, or migrate. This chart (left) demonstrates how barrier-coated AirCap retains its original thickness better than all materials tested and provides product protection throughout the entire packaging, shipping, handling, and storage cycle.GRADUAL THICKNESS LOSS (CREEP) AirCap’s unique barrier-coating retains the air more effectively than uncoated bubbles, eliminating creep. AirCap Vs. Thin-Grade Foams AirCap Vs. Cellulose Wadding A metering firm discovered it needed only half as much AirCap to achieve the same performance that cellulose wadding provided (right). In addition to lowering material costs, AirCap (left) is clean, lint free, non-abrasive, a nd lightweight. Item AirCap Package An electronic service center employing the use of a thin-grade foam (right) required many layers of wrapping to protect against shock and vibration.Large AirCap bubbles (left) provided superior performance and lower packaging costs. This document is authorized for use only by Md. Saquib Hussain in marketing ?nal taught by Suresh Ramanathan from October 2012 to October 2012. Carton Inner Packaging Labor Freight Total Cost Savings w/ AirCap Cellulose Wadding Package $ . 30 . 22 . 25 1. 35 $2. 12 $ . 22 . 12 . 08 1. 20 $1. 62 $ . 50 CONVENTIONAL CELLULOSE MATERIAL UNCOATED BUBBLES Item Foam Package For the exclusive use of M. HUSSAIN Carton Inner Packaging Labor Freight Total Cost Savings w/ AirCap $ . 46 1. 33 . 66 4. 09 $6. 4 AirCap Package $ . 38 . 87 . 33 3. 94 $5. 52 $1. 02 For the exclusive use of M. HUSSAIN 582-103 Sealed Air Corporation Exhibit 3 1. Competitive Product Information Cellulose wadding (a paper-based product which tries to trap a ir between piles of sheeting) †¢ Major suppliers: Jiffy Packaging, Hillside, N. J. CelluProducts Co. , Patterson, N. C. †¢ Sizes available: Thickness of 0. 17 in. , 0. 25 in. , 0. 37 in. , 0. 50 in. †¢ Advantages/disadvantages: Much cheaper than AirCap in thin grades; will not mark item wrapped; heavier than AirCap (3–4 Ibs. per cu. ft. vs. less than 1 lb. or AirCap) meaning higher shipping cost; excessive compression under heavy loads (see test results, Exhibit 2). Corrugated products (sheets of ribbed cardboard, often cut and perforated to specific sizes) †¢ Major suppliers: About 800 firms manufacturing in 47 states, including larger paper companies. †¢ Advantages/disadvantages: Single face (cardboard with ribs on one side) appreciably cheaper than AirCap on square-foot basis; labor cost of using corrugated usually very high; poor cushioning. Polyethylene foam (thin, smooth, rigid sheets of low-density foam) †¢ Major suppliers: Sentinel Foam P roducts, Hyannis, Mass.CelluProducts Co. , Patterson, N. C. Jiffy Packaging, Hillside, N. J. †¢ Sizes available: 48 or 68 in. wide rolls of thickness 1/16, 3/32, 3/16, 1/4 in. †¢ Advantages/disadvantages: Appreciably cheaper than AirCap in thin grades on square-foot basis; does not mark item wrapped; rigid product means hard to work with; tendency to tear; cushioning inferior to AirCap; more expensive than AirCap in thicker grades. Polypropylene foam (thin, coarse, rigid sheets of low-density foam) †¢ Major supplier: Du Pont Microfoam †¢ Sizes available: Standard 72 in. wide rolls of thickness 1/16, 3/32, 3/16, 1/4 in. Advantages/disadvantages: Basically the same as for polyethylene foam. Loose fills (expanded polystyrene beads, peanuts, etc. ) †¢ Major suppliers: Many small firms †¢ Advantages/disadvantages: 50% cheaper than AirCap on cubic foot basis; messy; poor cushioning. Uncoated bubbles (sheets of small air bubbles made of polyethylene film) â₠¬ ¢ Major producer: Astro, Hawthorne, N. J. (Sealed Air licensee) †¢ Sizes available: 48 in. wide roll standard, bubble heights 3/16, 1/4, 1/2 in. Bubbles also varied in the thickness of the films used. Generally, thicknesses were 1, 2, 3, or 4 mils with increasing film thickness giving greater strength. Advantages/disadvantages: Cheaper than comparable height coated bubble; excessive air loss over time (about 65% height loss under 50 Ibs. per sq. ft. pressure over 30 days vs. 15% for AirCap). Competitive coated bubble (essentially the same as uncoated bubble except nylon film coating added) †¢ Major supplier: Astro, Hawthorne, N. J. (Sealed Air licensee) †¢ Sizes available: 48 in. wide roll standard, bubble heights 1/8, 3/16, 1/4, 1/2, 1 in. †¢ Advantages/disadvantages: Under heavy loading, nylon barrier holds up better than Sealed Air’s saran barrier; poor quality control (bubble heights generally 13% less than specified). . 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 12 This docume nt is authorized for use only by Md. Saquib Hussain in marketing ? nal taught by Suresh Ramanathan from October 2012 to October 2012. For the exclusive use of M. HUSSAIN Sealed Air Corporation 582-103 Exhibit 4 Suggested End User Prices (in dollars) for Major Competitive Products 1. Paper-Based Cellulose Wadding (Jiffy Packaging) Thickness (in. ) 0. 17 0. 25 0. 37 0. 50 2. Foams Thickness (in. ) 1 16 Price $27. 70 37. 40 50. 60 65. 00 Single-Face Corrugated $22. 75 Jiffy Packaging (polyethylene) $20. 30 25. 90 34. 15 53. 35 na Sentinel Products (polyethylene) $18. 20 24. 00 32. 70 49. 40 naDu Pont Microfoam (polypropylene) $17. 20 25. 17 34. 90 53. 86 109. 72 / / 1/8 3/16 3/8 3 32 3. Competitive Bubbles (Astro) Coated Nylon Bubble Height (in. ) 1 8 3 16 Uncoated—Polyethylene a Film Thickness (mils) 1 and 1 1 and 2 1 and 2 1 and 2 2 and 4 1 and 2 2 and 4 Price $35. 25 49. 50 57. 00 71. 75 87. 75 90. 00 110. 00 Bubble Height (in. ) 3 16 Film Thicknessa (mils) 2 and 3 2 and 3 2 and 4 Price $47. 00 54. 50 65. 75 / / 1/4 1/2 1/2 1 1 / / 1/2 1 4 Note: Prices are per 1,000 sq. ft. based on a 50,000 sq. ft. order. a. Each bubble is made of two layers of film. Thicknesses shown are for individual layers in mils.Thicker film produces a stronger product. 13 This document is authorized for use only by Md. Saquib Hussain in marketing ? nal taught by Suresh Ramanathan from October 2012 to October 2012. For the exclusive use of M. HUSSAIN 582-103 Sealed Air Corporation Exhibit 5 Comparative Cushioning Performance by Grade Engineered To Provide Superior Cushioning The test data on the graph below was developed by the Lansmont Corporation, an independent testing laboratory. The test method used closely simulates actual shipping conditions, and employs the use of an enclosed test block and shock machine.Five bottom drops were executed from 24 inches at each static stress. The last four drops were averaged to arrive at data points used to develop each cushioning effective ness curve. This data illustrates AirCap’s superior performance over a wide range of loadings, and may be used for comparison and to specify the best AirCap grade and thickness for your cushioning requirements. (SD-240 curves taken from data provided in Military Handbook 304-A). 300 SB-110 SC-120 250 SC-120 (2 layers) Peak Acceleration (G’s) 200 SCT-120 150 SD-120 100 ST-120 (2 layers) SD-120 (2 layers) SD-120 (3 layers) SD-240 (4 layers) 50 SD-240 (6 layers) . 05 . 1 . 15 . 2 . 25 . 3 . 35 . 4 Static Stress (psi) Source: AirCap brochure. Note: To be read: For a product exerting 0. 25 Ibs. per sq. in. of pressure on the packaging material while at rest, the peak acceleration (a measure of shock to the product) when dropped from 2 ft. is 118 g. if SD-120 is used, 260 g. if SB-110 is used. 14 This document is authorized for use only by Md. Saquib Hussain in marketing ? nal taught by Suresh Ramanathan from October 2012 to October 2012. For the exclusive use of M. HUSSAIN Sealed Air Corporation 582-103 Exhibit 6 U. S.Market—Flexible Wraps by Product Type (in millions of manufacturers’ dollars) 1975 1978 23 25 1 49 11 5 6 22 22 93 1980 23 27 1 51 12 7 25 44 31 126 Paper-based Cellulose wadding Single-face corrugated Indented kraft Foamsa Polyurethane Polypropylene Polyethylene Polyethylene air bubbles Coated and uncoated (combined) Total Source: Company records. b 20 20 1 41 10 4 1 15 15 71 a. Sales figures exclude nonpackaging uses, such as construction and furniture industries. b. Figures are for flexible wrap market only and are therefore less than AirCap’s and Astro’s total U. S. sales. Exhibit 7 Grade SB-110AirCap Applications by Grade Package Contents Furnace thermostats Shorthand machines Taco shells Tempered glass sheets Clocks Wooden picture frames Light fixtures Overhead projector lenses Computer components Telephone bell ringers Amplifiers Saucepans Two-way radios Exit alarms Mixers Fryers Carbonless paper rolls Oven burners Pharmaceutical bottles Candleholders Recorders Carburetors Lamps Gallon jugs Computer terminals Printed circuit boards Foil wallpaper Blood coagulation timers Leaded glass windows Custom motorcycle seats Motor controls Shredded paper Packaging Material Displaced (if known) 16-in. Corrugated / polypropylene foam SC-120 SC-240 ST-120 Shredded paper Corrugated Corrugated Corrugated / polyethylene foam Corrugated Urethane foam pads 3 32-in. ST-240 SD-120 Polypropylene foam SD-240 Corrugated Foam pads and corrugated Corrugated Astro uncoated bubble LP-24 SD-480 15 This document is authorized for use only by Md. Saquib Hussain in marketing ? nal taught by Suresh Ramanathan from October 2012 to October 2012. For the exclusive use of M. HUSSAIN 582-103 Sealed Air CorporationExhibit 8 Suggested U. S. Resale Price List, Effective March 1980 Sq. Ft. per Order per Single Destination 1,000 or more 5,000 † † 10,000 † † 30,000 † † 50,000 † â⠂¬  Truckload/railcar 1,000 or more 5,000 † † 10,000 † † 30,000 † † 50,000 † † Truckload/railcar 1,000 or more 5,000 † † 10,000 † † 30,000 † † 50,000 † † Truckload/railcar 1,000 or more 5,000 † † 10,000 † † 30,000 † † 50,000 † † Truckload/railcar 1,000 or more 5,000 † † 10,000 † † 30,000 † † 50,000 † † Truckload/railcar Same price per 1,000 sq. t. as SD-120 1,000 or more 5,000 † † 10,000 † † 30,000 † † 50,000 † † Truckload/railcar 1,000 or more 5,000 † † 10,000 † † 30,000 † † 50,000 † † Truckload/railcar 1,000 or more 5,000 † † 10,000 † † 30,000 † † 50,000 † † Truckload/railcar $107. 85 97. 70 87. 55 81. 40 79. 35 72. 40 130. 75 118. 30 105. 95 98. 55 95. 70 87. 25 232. 75 210. 55 188. 35 175. 55 171. 25 $155. 60 Price per 1,000 Sq. Ft. $34. 30 30. 85 27. 45 25. 70 24. 75 22. 80 50. 00 45. 40 40. 90 38. 10 37. 05 33. 50 71. 0 64. 55 57. 40 53. 75 52. 60 47. 65 93. 40 84. 40 74. 95 70. 20 68. 60 62. 25 85. 30 77. 10 68. 50 64. 25 62. 75 $57. 25 Item (thickness in inches) A-100 (3/32) SB-110 (1/8) SC-120 (3/16) SC-240 (3/16 ) ST-120 (5/16) ST-240 (5/16) SD-120 (1/2) SD-240 (1/2) SD-480 (1/2) 16 This document is authorized for use only by Md. Saquib Hussain in marketing ? nal taught by Suresh Ramanathan from October 2012 to October 2012. For the exclusive use of M. HUSSAIN Sealed Air Corporation 582-103Exhibit 9 Selected Financial Data ($ thousands) 1976 1977 $21,422 15,489 3,595 2,682 $43,188 35,765 $24,270 12,093 (816) 6,009 1978 $25,028 21,133 3,453 4,644 $54,258 43,410 $31,111 14,527 (738) 7,882 1979 $29,996 29,056 3,432 7,951 $70,435 54,325 $43,199 16,855 (278) 10,103 1980 $34,330 38,802 3,688 11,777 $88,597 67,344 $54,125 21,4 85 (119) 12,868 Net sales by class of product Air cellular packaging Foam-in-place packaging Other packaging Recreational and energy prod.Total worldwide United States Costs and expenses Cost of sales Marketing, administration, development Other income (expense) Earnings before income tax $18,872 3,049 4,553 $26,474 – $16,451 6,696 32 3,359 Source: Sealed Air Annual Reports 1979, 1980. 17 This document is authorized for use only by Md. Saquib Hussain in marketing ? nal taught by Suresh Ramanathan from October 2012 to October 2012.

Analyses the leadership of Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan Motor Corporation Essay

Introduction This paper analyses the leadership of Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan Motor Corporation. Carlos has been recognised as a successful leader whose leadership managed to rescue Nissan from its financial crisis in the late 90s. His contribution to the company, industry and society is significant. I will start by giving an idea about the history of Nissan followed by introducing Carlos Ghosn as an individual and analysing his leadership style using various leadership theories and models. We will also assess the effectiveness and efficiency as well as the business value added to Nissan through his leadership. The Company Nissan company was established in Yokohama in the year 1933 to take over the manufacturing of Datsun Ltd. It was renamed as â€Å"Nissan† the following year. In 1935, the company started to produce sub-compact cars, named Datsun and started exporting to Australia. In the year 1936, Nissan bought a new production line which was intended for small passenger cars but because of  the war, the company had to shift to military vehicles and ships (The Short History of Nissan Motor Company, 2013). The war had a huge impact on the company as half of the plant was taken by the occupation forces for a decade which delayed the company’s growth and by the time war ended; many customer had already switched to Toyota. To recover from that, Nissan collaborated with Austin Motors and launched a new car in the year 1958 which lead them to win The Deming prize in 1960. Nissan launched two manufacturing operations in the United States and in the United Kingdom in the years 1980, 1984 res pectively. It also established new headquarters in North America and Europe with a vision to make the decisions of design, production and marketing locally. The company which had been under debts for the previous seven years signed an agreement with Renault in the year 1999 and both companies formed an alliance for mutual benefit and growth for both. Nissan Revival Plan (NRP) for restructuring which was announced in 1999 aimed to reaching sustainable and continuous global growth. The objectives of this plan were met by the end of 2001. The company currently manufactures cars in twenty locations globally. Worldwide number of sold units in 2011 exceeded 4.800 million. In addition to cars, Nissan develops and produces marine equipment as well (The Short History of Nissan Motor Company, 2013). Carlos as a person Carlos Ghosn was born in Brazil in 1954 to Lebanese-Brazilian parents. The family moved to Lebanon in 1960. He completed his secondary school in Lebanon before travelling to France for university study. He got his engineering degrees from the École Polytechnique in the year 1978. After graduation, Carlos worked for Michelin & Cie. for eighteen years. At the age of thirty, he became the Chief Operating Officer of Michelin’s South America’s operations which operated at a budget of $300 Million. He succeeded in turning over the South American operation from losses to profits. After that he became the Chief Executive Officer of Michelin in North America. Carlos joined Renault in 1996 as an Executive Vice President for advanced research. Renault purchased 36.3 of Nissan’s shares in 1999 and Carlos MOVED TO Japan and joined Nissan as a COO and was named CEO two years later (Millikin, J and Dean, Fu, 2004: 121-125). Carlos and Nissan When Carlos joined Nissan in 1999, the company was suffering from losses and it had large debts which represented high risks for the investors. It was clear that the company could not have sustained in the market for long with this operating rate. Moreover, it appeared that Renault’s future is dependent on Nissan’s recovery from this bad position after the acquisition of a large portion of Nissan. Carlos realised that a radical change had to happen and he proposed a three-year revival plan which was later known as â€Å"Nissan Revival Plan†. â€Å"When the NRP was first announced, Nissan’s executive committee announced three bold commitments; if any of these were not met, the members promised to resign: †¢ A return to net profitability in fiscal year 2000 †¢ A minimum operating income to sales margin of 4.5 per cent by fiscal year 2002 †¢ Consolidated net automotive debt reduced to less than  ¥700 billion by fiscal year 2002† (Nissan Revival Plan, 2013). In his revival plan, Carlos identified the root cause for the poor performance of Nissan in the past years. These were: â€Å"1) Lack of profit orientation 2) Not enough focus on customers 3) Lack of cross-functional, cross-border, intra-hierarchical lines work 4) Lack of a sense of urgency 5) No shared vision or common long-term plan† (Nissan Revival Plan, 2013). Carlos believed that the opportunity to improve did actually exist. He identified some success factors that would allow Nissan to recover from its crisis and occupy a high ranking in the automobile market. Nissan had a global presence. It had markets in different continents with a diverse customer base. The company also excelled in its manufacturing system and the quality of the products was never a subject of a complaint. He believed in people of Nissan as a key asset in addition to other organizational assets such as know-how, policies, procedure, customers and partners. Nissan had a leading edge in some field of the technology and its new alliance with a big and reputable company like Renault represented- according to his vision- a further success factor. All of that made Carlos believe that his  plan would succeed and that he could lead Nissan back to retain its ranking in the industry. The Revival Plan: The revival plan was based on cross-functional groups. These groups were formed by the executive committee and they included two hundred people from Japan, The United States and Europe. The cross functional teams focused on different areas. These areas were: â€Å" Business Development Marketing & Sales Purchasing SG & A Manufacturing Financial Management R & D Product Phasing Out Organization & Decision Making Process â€Å"(Nissan Revival Plan, 2013). The cross-functional teams assessed two thousand ideas and proposed four hundred proposals to the executive committee. The plan aimed at growth with increased profits and reduced debts. Business development portion of the plan aimed at developing new products and models, reducing the lead time which could be achieved by reducing the product development cycle and order delivery periods as well as the time to start selling in new markets. The plan had to target twenty per cent reduction in costs by the end of the third year. The plan suggested to centralize procurement and to shorten the list of suppliers as well as including services as a buying strategy. The plan also suggested increasing the utilization of the manufacturing capacity by shutting down three assembly plants and forcing the rest to work in two shifts. The industrial organisation was also changed into a simpler and more efficient way. Cost reducti on was an important aspect of the plan and for this purpose several action were made such as reducing incentives and emphasising more on the power of the brand name, closing 10% of retail outlets and opening for longer hours, utilizing the alliance with Renault and employing E-commerce. R&D costs were cut down by leveraging with Renault as well. Carlos has changed the model of the company from being  multi-regional to being a global organisation. That required a global head quarter, worldwide strategy, centralized planning and the global control of several function of the Nissan. Carlos realized that this could not have been achieved without the key asset of the company, its people. For that, he empowered the directors for cross-functionality and orientation towards profit. He also introduced compensations for performance which included bonuses and shares options. The opportunity for career promotion existed for those as well (Nissan Revival Plan, 2013). By implementing this plan, Carlos achieved the goals a year earlier than what was initially proposed. He managed to save the company two hundred billion Yen. On the other hand, the plan had an impact on people. Twenty one thousand people lost their jobs as a result of the cost headcount reduction he embraced and t herefore, Carlos was subject to criticism by media in Japan and worldwide. Nevertheless, Carlos has been recognized as a leader of change whose leadership and management not only turned losses back into profits but also contributed to a structural and cultural change within the company. His method and vision has been adopted by many leadership schools. Therefore, his contribution exceeds Nissan to other businesses and fields worldwide (Nissan Revival Plan, 2013). Carlos the leader Carlos’s personal and career profiles allowed him to be a successful leader. This can be illustrated by analysing different dimensions as suggested by Kotter (1990). Carlos learned from his experience with Renault as a vice president of advanced research to keep looking at the horizon while creating and executing strategies. An example of this visionary leadership is his empathy to the new generation of cars which runs on electric power as he anticipated that this is the future trend of the industry and wanted Nissan to lead it. He managed to have his followers share his vision and opened the door for them to grow and advance in their career. His revival plan relied on having the cross-functional teams brainstorm and share thoughts away from the bureaucracy and structural limitations. The plan also suggested a large number of thoughts to be assessed and presented to the board which reflects his openness and willing to listen to others’ thoughts rather than directing the m to adopt his own (Nissan Revival Plan, 2013). One of the success  factors for Carlos is that he believes in having no perception of the organisation or the culture before he actually gets exposed to it. He wanted to learn by experience: â€Å"†¦I asked people what they thought was going right, what they thought was going wrong, and what they would suggest to make things better. I was trying to arrive at an analysis of the situation that would not be static but would identify what we could do to improve the company’s performance. It was a period of intensive, active listening. I took notes, I accumulated documents that contained very precise assessments of the different situations we had to deal with, and I drew up my own personal summaries of what I learned. In the course of those three months, I must have met more than a thousand people. During that time I constructed, bit by bit, my image of the company based on hundreds of meetings and discussions† (Ghosn C , 2006: 93-94). His leadership created a radical change to the company that lead the company towards restoring its position in the market, a mission that would have seemed to be impossible to many. Carlos also believes in sharing knowledge and experience that may help other firms grow and succeed. This is clearly depicted by the new service introduced by Nissan, the consulting services which allow the transfer of Nissan’s Production Way (NPW) which relies on Kaizen (improvements) to other firms. â€Å"Nissan Production Way is a key ingredient of our success. I hope that you will make it part of yours† (Nissan production way, 2013). Nissan consulting services also represents a radical change from a company that adopts continuous improvement theories to a consulting company that help others adopt them. Theories of leadership vary in their approach toward the analysis of a leader’s style. Some of these theories emphasise on the behaviour of the leader. In other words, they suggest that individuals are considered leaders when they act as such rather that by their personal characteristics. This is a more realistic approach than trait theories which assume that leaders are born not made (University of Leicester, 2011: 247-254). Lewin et al (1939, cited in University of Leicester, 2011:250) identified three styles of leaders, autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire. We can think of Carlos as a democratic leader who demonstrated a sound level of engagement to the team during critical decision making. The cross-functional teams were asked to  think, discuss and assess ideas and present a reasonable number of thoughts to the management. This level of engagement to the team boosted their spirit and improved the quality of the decisions made. Fleishman’s (1953 cited in University of Leicester, 2011:251) two factor theory of leadership emphasises on two dimensions, consideration and initiating structure. Carlos managed to achieve efficient balance between these two dimensions, allowing employees to communicate their thoughts and ideas and respecting them without losing the lines of responsibilities which are required to manage such a multi-cultural and a multi-national organization. In other words, he stands in the middle between being people-centred and task oriented; this is referred to by Blake and Mouton (1964 cited in University of Leicester, 2011:253), as â€Å"Middle of the road†. Carlos believed that the solution for the company’s problems existed within the cross-functional teams and he shared this with them. On the other hand, he set the process, targets and timelines for his plan which represented a high level of task-orientation. Contingency theories suggest that leadership style may vary based on the situation in which the leader works (University of Leicester, 2011:255-262).They also relate to various parameters such as the leader, his/her followers and the nature of the tasks which the leader is trying to complete. It is clear that Carlos possessed many characteristics that allowed him to lead efficiently. He is Lebanese by origin, was brought up in Brazil, got educated in France and has worked in different countries. All of that enhanced his capability to lead in a diverse environment and overcome the challenge of being one of few non-Japanese leading a Japanese company. His work experience gave him exposure to various areas of the business ranging from business development to top level management including research. This allowed him to bring back Nissan to its financially healthy position and- at the same time- make advancements in other business areas. Carlos believed in Nissan as a company, in its people as assets and in Japan’s culture as a platform. For him to succeed, he had to secure the cooperation of those under his leadership. He had to make them see him as an efficient leader. He believed that this cannot be achieved without bridging the cultural gap between his origin, experience and the new environment he had to work within. He started learning about Japan, its culture, language  and even the food. He believed in respecting and understanding the culture of these people while trying to make a contribution. â€Å"I would say even though the term today is not very popular, love the country and love the culture in which you are in. And try to learn about its strengths, don’t focus on the weaknesses, and make sure that all the people you are transferring with you are of the same opinion† (The transcultural leader, 2013). Carlos benefitted from the culture of Japan. In an interview with MTV channel, he s tated that the commitment he and the committee will resign if the revival plan objectives were unmet, had been inspired by the culture of the Samurai who would defend his land and would kill himself in case of failure. He realised that importance of commitment to Japanese (Interview with Carlos Ghosn – MTV Lebanon, 2012). One of the reasons for his effective leadership in Nissan relates to the nature of his mission. It was obvious that the future of the two allied companies depended on his success in leading Nissan out of its crisis. He also tried to use urgency as a motivation factor therefore; he committed dates for his tasks to be accomplished and held himself as well as the team accountable for achieving them. The Path-goal theory of Robert House(1971 cited in University of Leicester, 2011:259) suggests that a leader can motivate his/her subordinates towards reaching the goals by helping them draw a clear path to those objectives and by giving more recognition to members who achieve those goals. When Carlos first formed the cross-functional teams, the team felt lost as of what is required from them and how to achieve it. Carlos realized this and he invited them to a meeting in which he explained the purpose of forming these teams and his expectations from them. He also promised his directors rewards and incentives for achieving the goals of his plan. In fact, before Carlos came up with his revival plan, he spent some time meeting with people at different levels of the organisation in order to understand the culture and the challenges he was going to face. The establishment of the cross-functional teams allowed him to engage large number of the company’s staff in idea generation, ref lecting a participative leadership style. As a Chief Executive Officer of the two companies, Renault and Nissan Carlos  enjoyed a high level of authority on his subordinates which allowed his ideas to be easily adopted. The leadership of Carlos during crisis is seen as a good example of what Bass (1985 cited in University of Leicester, 2011:264) identified as â€Å"Transformational Leader†. He managed to raise the awareness, commitment and enthusiasm among his team. He envisioned a new future of Nissan, broke the frame that existed before him and personally committed towards this new vision. Carlos emphasised on team diversity and gender equality. Under his leadership, Nissan reached twice the rate of competitors in terms of number of female managers within the company. â€Å"On gender equality, the CEO says that when he started at Nissan, only one per cent of the top management at Nissan were women. While that was twice as good as his competitors, he was determined to increase the number of women in management still further. Today the number of women in management is five per cent, and the objective is to raise that figure to ten per cent. Ghosn says that although such targets are good, it’s more important to set a lasting, achievable trend for women that will prove that diversity delivers.† (The transcultural leader, 2013). Transactional leadership is based on transactions and exchange. It usually occurs in stable and predictable situations (Bass 1985, cited in University of Leicester, 2011:263-265). Carlos’s style is more transformational than transactional due to the dynamic and unpredictable nature of the industry as well as his personal characteristics. We can think of few people who are willing to relocate to a new country whose language and culture were totally new to him and lead a crisis recovery. The notion of a transformational leader has been criticised by Khurana (2002) who believed that transformational leaders can become over convinced of their charisma and may drive the company towards instability in order to allow a room for radical changes. However, these concerns seem to be invalid in the case of Carlos Ghosn whose interviews and public speeches show a greater emphasis on skills and techniques rather than personal charisma. Although he believes in changes and he directs his team to keep an eye on the horizon, he makes decisions based on rationality. Summary In this paper we have analysed the leadership of Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Renault and Nissan companies. Having joined Nissan in the year 1999, when the company was suffering from a severe financial crisis, Carlos managed to rescue the company and turn it back into a profit generating firm. Carlos presented a successful leadership based on vision, participation, and passion about his employees as well as contribution to the culture of Nissan. We have used different theories and models for this analysis including behavioural theories, contingency theories as well as transformations theory of Bass. In my opinion, these theories and models are complementary rather than exclusive. They can all be used to analyse the leadership model and obtain a better understanding as of what made Carlos a successful leader of a change. Carlos’s leadership has been the subject of many researches in management and his method has been adopted by many schools. Cross-cultural dimensions have a high im portance in leadership. Carlos succeeded in leading people in different countries and organizations that varied in power distance, uncertainty avoidance and differed from his own culture, overcoming what was identified by Hofstede (1992, cited in Linstead et.al, 2009: 254) as challenges. Carlos managed to cut the costs by shutting down plants which made many people redundant. Some analysts argue that he could have achieved his goals by a different strategy. The fact that Carlos enjoyed high power being the CEO of both companies raises a question as to whether he would have succeeded had he been the CEO of Nissan only. Wouldn’t he have faced additional challenges from the main shareholder of Nissan, Renaut. References Bass, B. (1985), Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations, New York: Free Press Burns, J.M. (1978), Leadership, New  ­York: Harper & Row 278 Organisational Behaviour Fielder F.E. (1967), A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness, New York: McGraw-Hill Fleishman, E.A. 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