...American Greetings Exec Summary Tyler Reames October 14, 2013 American Greetings Executive Summary – FIN 3717 Executive Summary American Greetings is the second largest greeting card publisher in the U.S., behind Hallmark. The company is involved in retail and online sales. Hallmark is the main competition for American Greetings. In recent years, social media has caused a decline in the greeting card industry. Both American Greetings and Hallmark have begun creating electronic cards to take advantage of the digital revolution. Problem By the end of 2012, American Greetings was at the bottom of its peer group, with a low EV-EBITDA multiple, market-to-book below 1, a 6x PE ratio, and a share price of $12.51 that had dropped significantly in the months prior. American Greetings has historically used a share repurchase strategy in times of low equity. This is a good defense if the stock price is down temporarily, but the low valuation could also be a sign of larger trouble where it would be wise to preserve cash. Both S&P and Value Line anticipated modest growth for American Greetings in the coming years. Analysis We conducted an analysis for 2012 through 2015 to determine the value of the company. Our analysis began with calculating the operating cash flows (OCF = operating income * (1 – 0.4) - ∆NWC): Operating Cash Flow (millions) 2011 118 2012 83 2013 86 2014 88 2015 91 Operating Cash Flow (millions) 2011 118 2012 83 2013...
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...St Bartholomew the Great Marketing Plan 1. Rationale Since its founding in 1123, St Bartholomew the Great (SBG) has been a place of worship; providing spiritual guidance, solace and charity to the faithful and those in need. Today, the organisation has 2 primary functions: The teachings of Christianity and the preservation and restoration of the ancient fabric of the Church for the benefit of both the religious and secular. As a not-for-profit (NFP) organisation, income generation is about creating surplus which is directed back into the organisation rather than creating profit for shareholders. All income therefore is directed towards the charitable objectives (as set out on the Charity Commission website) and therefore the Church's activities, no matter how broad, lead back to the two primary functions. It is imperative that these are kept in mind as these are the foundation stones of the culture of the organisation. With the high overheads incurred by such an ancient building, it is important that the organisation can rely on its own enterprise to generate income. Traditionally it might have been able to survive by donations and legacies from wealthy, pious benefactors. However, in an ever-secularised society where recession has seen all charitable organisation battling for funds, this is increasingly unrealistic and the Church must find ways of becoming as financially independent as possible. SBG must expand its activities to attract a wider market segment and...
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...OF SMA L L B U S I N E S S BIG BOOK THE Y O U D O N ’ T H AV E T O R U N Y O U R B U S I N E S S B Y T H E S E AT O F Y O U R P A N T S TO M G E GAX with Phil Bolsta Previously published as By the Seat of Your Pants This book is dedicated to my father, Bill, an old soldier who battles every day to overcome a horrendous stroke. He was a model enlightened entrepreneur, a fact that took me years to appreciate. His compassion with his employees and dedication to service inspired me to be a better businessman and a better person. When I was growing up, he liked to say, “Son, the most important word in the English language is ‘empathy.’ ” When I told him I was starting a business, his first words were, “Always treat your employees right.” He learned that appreciation the hard way, losing his father at a young age and countless war buddies in the trenches. But his love for God, country, and his fellow citizens never wavered. This one’s for you, Dad. CONTENTS Foreword by Richard Schulze, Found er and Chair man, Best Buy ix Introduction: Living by the Seat of My Pants: A Jour ney from Clueless to Cashing In xi PART I Setting Up Shop: What Ever y Budding Entrepreneur Needs to Know 1 1. Make Up Your Mind: Uncommon Factors to Consider Before Quitting Your Day Job 2. Research the Market: Analyzing the Data to Determine Your Niche 3. Write the Business Plan: Building Your Blueprint for Success 4. Find Funding: Raising Capital Without Relinquishing...
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...Standard 1: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community. The effective administrator: 1.1 Uses research about best professional practice. Cooperative Learning "Cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other's learning." WHAT IS IT? Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement. WHY USE IT? Documented results include improved academic achievement, improved behavior and attendance, increased self-confidence and motivation, and increased liking of school and classmates. Cooperative learning is also relatively easy to implement and is inexpensive. HOW DOES IT WORK? Here are some typical strategies that can be used with any subject, in almost any grade, and without a special curriculum: Group Investigations are structured to emphasize higher-order thinking skills such as analysis and evaluation. Students work to produce a group project, which they may have a hand...
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...Business Plans Handbook Business Plans A COMPILATION OF BUSINESS PLANS DEVELOPED BY INDIVIDUALS NORTH THROUGHOUT AMERICA Handbook VOLUME 16 Lynn M. Pearce, Project Editor Business Plans Handbook, Volume 16 Project Editor: Lynn M. Pearce Product Manager: Jenai Drouillard Product Design: Jennifer Wahi Composition and Electronic Prepress: Evi Seoud Manufacturing: Rita Wimberley Editorial: Erin Braun ª 2010 Gale, Cengage Learning ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution, information networks, or information storage and retrieval systems, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the publisher. This publication is a creative work fully protected by all applicable copyright laws, as well as by misappropriation, trade secret, unfair competition, and other applicable laws. The authors and editors of this work have added value to the underlying factual material herein through one or more of the following: unique and original selection, coordination, expression, arrangement, and classification of the information. For product information and technology assistance, contact us at Gale Customer Support, 1-800-877-4253. For permission to use material...
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...Bloodlines of Illuminati by: Fritz Springmeier, 1995 Introduction: I am pleased & honored to present this book to those in the world who love the truth. This is a book for lovers of the Truth. This is a book for those who are already familiar with my past writings. An Illuminati Grand Master once said that the world is a stage and we are all actors. Of course this was not an original thought, but it certainly is a way of describing the Illuminati view of how the world works. The people of the world are an audience to which the Illuminati entertain with propaganda. Just one of the thousands of recent examples of this type of acting done for the public was President Bill Clinton’s 1995 State of the Union address. The speech was designed to push all of the warm fuzzy buttons of his listening audience that he could. All the green lights for acceptance were systematically pushed by the President’s speech with the help of a controlled congressional audience. The truth on the other hand doesn’t always tickle the ear and warm the ego of its listeners. The light of truth in this book will be too bright for some people who will want to return to the safe comfort of their darkness. I am not a conspiracy theorist. I deal with real facts, not theory. Some of the people I write about, I have met. Some of the people I expose are alive and very dangerous. The darkness has never liked the light. Yet, many of the secrets of the Illuminati are locked up tightly simply because secrecy is a way...
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...edhat® ® Te r r y C o l l i n g s & K u r t W a l l UR ON IT OOLS IN Y T C E CD-R L TH O ED UD M Linux Solutions from the Experts at Red Hat ® ® P R E S S™ SEC Red Hat® Linux® Networking and System Administration Red Hat® Linux® Networking and System Administration Terry Collings and Kurt Wall M&T Books An imprint of Hungry Minds, Inc. Best-Selling Books G Digital Downloads G e-Books G Answer Networks e-Newsletters G Branded Web Sites G e-Learning New York, NY G Cleveland, OH G Indianapolis, IN Red Hat® Linux® Networking and System Administration Published by Hungry Minds, Inc. 909 Third Avenue New York, NY 10022 www.hungryminds.com Copyright © 2002 Hungry Minds, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book, including interior design, cover design, and icons, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Library of Congress Control Number: 2001093591 ISBN: 0-7645-3632-X Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1O/RT/QT/QS/IN Distributed in the United States by Hungry Minds, Inc. Distributed by CDG Books Canada Inc. for Canada; by Transworld Publishers Limited in the United Kingdom; by IDG Norge Books for Norway; by IDG Sweden Books for Sweden; by IDG Books Australia Publishing Corporation Pty. Ltd. for Australia and New Zealand; by TransQuest Publishers Pte Ltd. for Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand...
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...HOW TO Prepare Your Curriculum Vitae Revised Edition Acy L. Jackson and C. Kathleen Geckeis Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. 0-07-142626-4 The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: 0-07-139044-8 All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps. McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, or for use in corporate training programs. For more information, please contact George Hoare, Special Sales, at george_hoare@mcgraw-hill.com or (212) 904-4069. TERMS OF USE This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“McGraw-Hill”) and its licensors reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these terms. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve...
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...Cost Control Conte nts Pref ace to the New Edition The Cost Manager’s Toolkit – PDA-size Summary 1 GOOD COST MANAGEMENT The Unsung Hero Cheaper and Better Managing and Cutting Costs – Intelligently 2 COST LEADERSHIP A Challenging Base Case Indiv idual Accountability Persistence A Continuous Improv ement Culture Short Timef rames Feedback Loops Strategic Skepticism Top Team: Finance Top Team: Human Resources Role Models Toolkit – Cost Leadership 3 TECHNIQUES AND TACTICS Understanding Cost Dy namics Management Accounts and Metrics Bang f or Buck Slice and Dice Understanding Natural Cost Trends Cash Cost Not P&L Cost Best Practice (and Lev el Play ing Fields) Competitiv e Analy sis Toolkit – Techniques and Tactics 4 PEOPLE Why Is People Cost So Problematic? Hiring Pay ing Technology and Productiv ity Firing Managing the Av erage Perf ormer Minimizing the Core Organization Toolkit – People 5 SUPPLIERS Who Manages Supplier Costs? Understand the Balance of Power Consolidate to Fewer Better Suppliers Negotiate Intelligently Don’t Get Locked In Manage Total Cost of Ownership Get Tough on the Costs of Serv ices Toolkit – Suppliers 6 COST CUTTING CASE STUDY Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 7 WIRED AND GLOBAL The Internet Globalization Toolkit – Wired and Global 8 LATERAL THINKING Indirect Cost Generators Let the Customers Do the Work Cost into Rev enue Toolkit – Lateral Thinking ...
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...American Ways American Ways A Guide for Foreigners in the United States GARY ALTHEN with Amanda R. Doran and Susan J. Szmania First published by Intercultural Press. For information contact: Intercultural Press, Inc. Nicholas Brealey Publishing PO Box 700 3-5 Spafield Street Yarmouth, Maine 04096 USA London, EC1R 4QB, UK Tel: 207-846-5168 Tel: +44-207-239-0360 Fax: 207-846-5181 Fax: +44-207-239-0370 www.interculturalpress.com www.nbrealey-books.com © 1988, 2003 by Gary Althen Production and cover design by Patty J. Topel All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Printed in the United States of America 06 05 04 03 02 1 2 3 4 5 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Althen, Gary. American ways: a guide for foreigners in the United States/ Gary Althen.—2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) ISBN: 1-877864-99-4 (alk. paper) 1. United States—Guidebooks. 2. United States—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. Visitors, Foreign—United States—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 4. Aliens—United States—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 5. Intercultural communication—United States—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 6. United States—Social life and customs—1971– I. Title. E158.A46 2002 973—dc21 2002032741 ✰ ✰ ✰ Table of Contents Preface to the Second Edition........................................
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...This book has been optimized for viewing at a monitor setting of 1024 x 768 pixels. MADE TO STICK random house a new york MADE TO STICK Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die • • • C H I P H E AT H & D A N H E AT H Copyright © 2007 by Chip Heath and Dan Heath All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Random House and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Heath, Chip. Made to stick : why some ideas survive and others die / Chip Heath & Dan Heath p. cm. Includes index. eISBN: 978-1-58836-596-5 1. Social psychology. 2. Contagion (Social psychology). 3. Context effects (Psychology). I. Heath, Dan. II. Title. HM1033.H43 2007 302'.13—dc22 2006046467 www.atrandom.com Designed by Stephanie Huntwork v1.0 To Dad, for driving an old tan Chevette while putting us through college. To Mom, for making us breakfast every day for eighteen years. Each. C O N T E N T S INTRODUCTION WHAT STICKS? 3 Kidney heist. Movie popcorn. Sticky = understandable, memorable, and effective in changing thought or behavior. Halloween candy. Six principles: SUCCESs. The villain: Curse of Knowledge. It’s hard to be a tapper. Creativity starts with templates. CHAPTER 1 SIMPLE 25 Commander’s Intent. THE low-fare airline. Burying the lead and the inverted pyramid. It’s the...
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...how far saying things like “Look” in a stern voice was necessarily going to get him, and time was not on his side. What the hell, he thought, you’re only young once, and threw himself out of the window. That would at least keep the element of surprise on his side. ... In a spirit of scientific inquiry he hurled himself out of the window again. Douglas Adams Mostly Harmless Strangely, the thing that least intrigued me was how they’d managed to get it all done. I suppose I sort of knew. If I’d learned one thing from traveling, it was that the way to get things done was to go ahead and do them. Don’t talk about going to Borneo. Book a ticket, get a visa, pack a bag, and it just happens. Alex Garland The Beach vi Chapter Summary 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Computing Sub-basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....
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...Customer Relationship Management VSF This book is dedicated to my children Emma and Lewis of whom I am enormously proud. Customer Relationship Management Concepts and Technologies Second edition Francis Buttle AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON • NEW YORK • OXFORD PARIS • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP 30 Corporate Drive, Suite 400, Burlington, MA 01803, USA First edition 2009 Copyright © 2009, Francis Buttle Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. The right of Francis Buttle to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Science & Technology Rights Department in Oxford, UK: phone ( 44) (0) 1865 843830; fax: ( 44) (0) 1865 853333; email: permissions@elsevier.com. Alternatively you can submit your request online by visiting the Elsevier web site at http://elsevier.com/locate/ permissions, and selecting Obtaining permission to use Elsevier material. Notice No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage...
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...Marketing Management, Millenium Edition Philip Kotler Custom Edition for University of Phoenix Excerpts taken from: A Framework for Marketing Management, by Philip Kotler Copyright © 2001by Prentice-Hall, Inc. A Pearson Education Company Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 Marketing Management Millenium Edition, Tenth Edition, by Philip Kotler Copyright © 2000 by Prentice-Hall, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher. Compilation Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Custom Publishing. This copyright covers material written expressly for this volume by the editor/s as well as the compilation itself. It does not cover the individual selections herein that first appeared elsewhere. Permission to reprint these has been obtained by Pearson Custom Publishing for this edition only. Further reproduction by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, must be arranged with the individual copyright holders noted. This special edition published in cooperation with Pearson Custom Publishing Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Please visit our web site at www.pearsoncustom.com ISBN 0–536–63099-2 BA 993095 PEARSON CUSTOM PUBLISHING 75 Arlington Street, Suite 300, Boston, MA 02116 A Pearson Education Company SECTION ONE Understanding Marketing Management Marketing in...
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...The World is Flat Thomas L Friedman Kq p K To Matt and Kay and to Ron Kq p K Contents How the World Became Flat One: While I Was Sleeping / 3 Two: The Ten Forces That Flattened the World / 48 Flattener#l. 11/9/89 Flattener #2. 8/9/95 Flattener #3. Work Flow Software Flattener #4. Open-Sourcing Flattener #5. Outsourcing Flattener #6. Offshoring Flattener #7. Supply-Chaining Flattener #8. Insourcing Flattener #9. In-forming Flattener #10. The Steroids Three: The Triple Convergence / 173 Four: The Great Sorting Out / 201 America and the Flat World Five: America and Free Trade / 225 Six: The Untouchables / 237 Seven: The Quiet Crisis / 250 Eight: This Is Not a Test / 276 Developing Countries and the Flat World Nine: The Virgin of Guadalupe / 309 Companies and the Flat World Geopolitics and the Flat World Eleven: The Unflat World / 371 Twelve: The Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention / 414 Conclusion: Imagination Thirteen: 11/9 Versus 9/11 / 441 Acknowledgments I 471 Index I 475 Kq p K :::::How the World Became Flat ::::: ONE While I Was Sleeping Your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians, and princes who love and promote the holy Christian faith, and are enemies of the doctrine of Mahomet, and of all idolatry and heresy, determined to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the above-mentioned countries of India, to see the said princes, people, and territories, and to learn their disposition and the proper method of converting them to our...
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