...ASSESSING THE POWER OF PORTER'S DIAMOND MODEL IN THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY IN MEXICO AFTER TEN YEARS OF NAFTA SALVADOR BARRAGAN Master in Business Administration, IPADE Business School, 1996 BSc in Industrial Engineering, Universidad Panamericana, 1994 A Research Project Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of the University of Lethbridge in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF SCIENCE IN MANAGEMENT Faculty of Management University of Lethbridge LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA, CANADA © Salvador Barragán, 2005 ii Abstract It has been ten years since the signature of the NAFTA agreement among Canada, U.S., and Mexico. For Mexico, this was a decisive step away from a protectionism model toward a free trade market. One of the main purposes for Mexico in joining NAFTA was to increase the competitiveness of its manufacturing sector, especially the automotive industry. In this paper, Porter’s Diamond Model of national competitiveness and some critiques that attempt to extend the usefulness of the model are analyzed. The Doubled Diamond and the role of MNEs in a host country are both examined through a case study research of the foreign-owned automobile industry in Mexico. The findings of this study show evidence of a broader role of MNEs than in the original framework, as well as the usefulness of the doubled diamond extension to explain alternative sources of competitiveness in early stages of development. iii Acknowledgments...
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...Human Resource Practices In Hotel Industry Visit hrmba.blogspot.com allmbastuff.blogspot.com for more project reports, notes, presentations etc. INTRODUCTION TO HOTEL INDUSTRY One of the fastest growing sectors of the economy of our time is the hotel industry. The hotel industry alone is a multi-billion dollar and growing enterprise. It is exciting, never boring and offer unlimited opportunities. The hotel industry is diverse enough for people to work in different areas of interest and still be employed within the hotel industry. This trend is not just in India, but also globally. Modern hotels provide refined services to their guests. The customers or guests are always right. This principle necessitated application of management principles in the hotel industry and the hotel professionals realized the instrumentality of marketing principles in managing the hotel industry. The concept of total quality management is found getting an important place in the marketing management of hotels. The emerging positive trend in the tourism industry indicates that hotel industry is like a reservoir from where the foreign exchange flows. This naturally draws our attention on HOTEL MANAGEMENT. Like other industries, the hotel industry also needs to explore avenues for innovation, so that a fair blending of core and peripheral services is 1 Human Resource Practices In Hotel Industry made possible. It is not to be forgotten that the leading hotel companies of the ...
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...FINAL REPORT Impact of Trade and Economic Policy Reforms on Key Sectors of the Egyptian Economy PREPARED BY ATR Project SUBMITTED TO USAID/Cairo Ministry of Foreign Trade SUBMITTED BY Nathan Associates UNDER CONTRACT NO. PCE-I-00-98-00016-00 Task Order 827 2 April 2004 Contents Executive Summary Egypt’s Economy in Relation to the Global Marketplace Trade Policy and the International Trade Regime Impact of Trade Regime Changes on Subsectors Conclusions Next Steps 1. Introduction 2. Egypt’s Economy and Its Place in the Global Arena Egyptian Economy Today Structure of the Economy Labor force, Employment and Unemployment Macroeconomy and Balance of Payments Trade Patterns Macroeconomic and Trade Policy Reform Current Challenges Distinguishing Characteristics of Egypt’s Economy Water Resources and Growing Population Pressure Oil and Natural Gas Geographical Location Egyptian Culture Higher Education Socialism and Its Aftermath Egypt’s Comparative Advantage in the Global Economy Changing Global Economy Egypt’s Economy in Relation to Three Waves of Globalization Revealed Competitive Advantage Analysis v vi viii xi xiv xvi 1 5 5 5 7 8 10 12 13 14 14 16 16 16 17 18 19 19 22 25 II 3. Trade Policy and the International Trade Regime Current Trade Regime in Egypt Tariff Structure Non-tariff Barriers to Trade Multilateral, Regional, and Bilateral Agreements Multilateral Agreements Regional Agreements Bilateral Agreements Trade Regimes of Major Trading...
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...January 1997, after the spin-off of most of its non-warehouse assets to Price Enterprises, Inc., the Company changed its name to Costco Companies, Inc. On August 30, 1999, the Company reincorporated from Delaware to Washington and changed its name to Costco Wholesale Corporation, which trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “COST”. As of December 2012, the Company operated a chain of 622 warehouses in 41 states and Puerto Rico (448 locations), nine Canadian provinces (85 locations), Mexico (32 locations), the United Kingdom (23 locations), Japan (13 locations), Korea (nine locations), Taiwan (nine locations, through a 55%-owned subsidiary) and Australia (three locations). The Company also operates Costco Online, electronic commerce web sites, at www.costco.com (U.S.), www.costco.ca (Canada), and www.costco.co.uk (United Kingdom). CONTENTS Financial Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Letter to Shareholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Map of Warehouse Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Business Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Risk Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....
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...PROSTITUTION IS NOT A CHOICE LEARN A BOUT TH E TRA FFI CKING OF WOMEN AND GIRLS WORLDWIDE, AND FIND OUT WHAT CAN BE DONE TO END THIS WID ESPR EAD PROBLEM … Soroptimist International of the Americas-1709 Spruce Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 - 215 893 9000 - www.soroptimist.org SOROPTIMIST WHITE PAPER Prostitution is Not a Choice I think so much about what has happened to me. Why these men did what they did to me. Old, disgusting men. It was horrible. They knew I did not want to be there, but they paid their money. They used me. I was their property for the night. They destroyed me. (14-year-old girl at Casa Hogar, a shelter in Costa Rica for children rescued from the country’s sex trade1) OVERVIEW Prostitution has been called the world’s oldest “profession.” In reality, it is the world’s oldest “oppression” and continues to be one of the most overlooked human rights abuses of women on the planet today. 2 Prostitution of women is a particularly lethal form of violence against women, and a violation of a woman’s most basic human rights. While society attempts to normalize prostitution on a variety of levels (discussed later in this paper), prostituted women are subjected to violence and abuse at the hands of paying “clients.” For the vast majority of prostituted women, “prostitution is the experience of being hunted, dominated, harassed, assaulted and battered.” 3 It is “sexual terrorism against women at the hands of men and little is being done to stop the carnage...
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...The Story of the Fourth of July The Declaration of Independence We celebrate American Independence Day on the Fourth of July every year. We think of July 4, 1776, as a day that represents the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America as an independent nation. But July 4, 1776 wasn't the day that the Continental Congress decided to declare independence (they did that on July 2, 1776). It wasn’t the day we started the American Revolution either (that had happened back in April 1775). And it wasn't the day Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence (that was in June 1776). Or the date on which the Declaration was delivered to Great Britain (that didn't happen until November 1776). Or the date it was signed (that was August 2, 1776). So what did happen on July 4, 1776? The Continental Congress approved the final wording of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. They'd been working on it for a couple of days after the draft was submitted on July 2nd and finally agreed on all of the edits and changes. July 4, 1776, became the date that was included on the Declaration of Independence, and the fancy handwritten copy that was signed in August (the copy now displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.) It’s also the date that was printed on the Dunlap Broadsides, the original printed copies of the Declaration that were circulated throughout the new nation. So when people thought of the Declaration of Independence...
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...Growing in Motion: The Circulation of Used Things on Second‐hand Markets1 By Staffan Appelgren & Anna Bohlin Abstract From having been associated with poverty and low status, the commerce with second-hand goods in retro shops, flea markets, vintage boutiques and trade via Internet is expanding in Sweden as in many countries in the Global North. This article argues that a significant aspect of the recent interest in second-hand and reuse concerns the meaningfulness of circulation in social life. Using classic anthropological theory on how the circulation of material culture generates sociality, it focuses on how second-hand things are transformed by their circulation. Rather than merely having cultural biographies, second-hand things are reconfigured through their shifts between different social contexts in a process that here is understood as a form of growing. Similar to that of an organism, this growth is continuous, irreversible and dependent on forces both internal and external to it. What emerges is a category of things that combine elements of both commodities and gifts, as these have been theorized within anthropology. While first cycle commodities are purified of their sociality, the hybrid second-hand thing derives its ontological status as well as social and commercial value precisely from retaining ‘gift qualities’, produced by its circulation. Keywords: Second-hand, circulation, material culture, retro, vintage, growing, gifts, commodities Appelgren...
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...and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street NW Washington, DC 20433 Telephone 202-473-1000 Internet www.worldbank.org All rights reserved. 1 2 3 4 08 07 06 05 A copublication of The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation. This volume is a product of the staff of the World Bank Group. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in this volume do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. Rights and Permissions The material in this publication is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions or all of this work without permission may be a violation of applicable law. The World Bank encourages dissemination of its work and will normally grant permission to reproduce portions of the work promptly. For permission to photocopy or reprint any part of this work, please send a request with complete information to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; telephone: 978-750-8400; fax: 978-750-4470; Internet: www.copyright.com. All other queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to the Office of the Publisher, The World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; fax: 202-5222422; e-mail: pubrights@worldbank.org. Additional copies of Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent World, Doing Business 2011: Making...
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...2012 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R40924 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress China’s Auto Sector Development and Policies: Issues and Implications Summary The automobile industry, a key sector in China’s industrialization and modernization efforts, has been developing rapidly since the 1990s. In recent years, China has become the world’s largest automotive producer, with annual vehicle output of over 18 million units in 2011. China is now also the world’s biggest market for automobile sales. Meanwhile, China’s auto sector development and policies have caused concerns in the United States, from automotive trade, China’s failure to effectively enforce trade agreements and laws, to market barriers and government policies that increasingly favor Chinese manufacturers, which could affect business operations and prospects of international companies doing business in (or with) China. China’s auto industry has developed extensively through foreign direct investment, which has come in the form of alliances and joint ventures between international automobile manufacturers and Chinese partners. These international automobile manufacturers, who generally dominate the higher end of the Chinese market, have focused on making cars for China’s large and fastgrowing market. The domestic Chinese automakers, who occupy the lower end of the market, struggle to improve design and quality to expand sales overseas. China exports and...
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...JOSÉ LUIS MACHINEA Executive Secretary ALICIA BÁRCENA Deputy Executive Secretary Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean economic commission for latin america and the caribbean C E P A L Review NUMBER 85 APRIL 2005 SANTIAGO, CHILE OSCAR ALTIMIR Director REYNALDO BAJRAJ Deputy Director The CEPAL Review was founded in 1976 and is published three times a year by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, which has its headquarters in Santiago, Chile. The Review, however, has full editorial independence and follows the usual academic procedures and criteria, including the review of articles by independent external referees. The Review is distributed to universities, research institutes and other international organizations, as well as to individual subscribers, and is also consulted extensively on the Internet. The purpose of the Review is to contribute to the discussion of socio-economic development issues in the region by offering analytical and policy approaches and articles by economists and other social scientists working both within and outside the United Nations. Accordingly, the editorial board of the Review extends its readers an open invitation to submit for publication articles analysing various aspects of economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The opinions expressed in the signed articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the...
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...476.294 billion (2014) * US$ 468.651 billion (2013) | Operating income | * US$ 26.872 billion (2014) * US$ 27.725 billion (2013) | Net income | * US$ 16.022 billion (2014) * US$ 16.999 billion (2013) | Total assets | * US$ 204.751 billion (2014) * US$ 203.105 billion (2013) | Total equity | * US$ 81.339 billion (2014) * US$ 81.738 billion (2013) | Owner(s) | Walton family | Employees | 2.2 million (2013) | Divisions | Walmart Canada | Subsidiaries | Asda, Sam's Club, Seiyu Group,Walmex, @WalmartLabs, Walmart eCommerce | Website | Corporate.Walmart.com Walmart.com | Executive Summary: Wal-Mart has shown continued success in their use of information technology with e-commerce, a system that allows managers to view point-of-sale information, and the possible use of RFID chips in the near future. After reviewing the 2005 Harvard Business School study of Wal-Mart, it is evident that this company has been successful in expanding its operations in several foreign markets. Wal-Mart had established itself as the largest retailer in both Canada in 2003 and Mexico in 2004. Through acquisitions, partnerships, and go-it-alone strategies, Wal-Mart began the expansion of large-scale operations in other countries...
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...Marketing Channel Strategy This page intentionally left blank Eighth Edition Marketing Channel Strategy Robert W. Palmatier University of Washington’s Foster School of Business Louis W. Stern Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management Adel I. El-Ansary University of North Florida’s Coggin College of Business Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Upper Saddle River Amsterdam Cape Town Dubai London Madrid Milan Munich Paris Montréal Toronto Delhi Mexico City São Paulo Sydney Hong Kong Seoul Singapore Taipei Tokyo Editor in Chief: Stephanie Wall Acquisitions Editor: Mark Gaffney Program Manager Team Lead: Ashley Santora Program Manager: Jennifer M. Collins Director of Marketing: Maggie Moylen Executive Marketing Manager: Anne Fahlgren Project Manager Team Lead: Judy Leale Project Manager: Thomas Benfatti Operations Specialist: Nancy Maneri Cover Designer: Suzanne Behnke Creative Director: Jayne Conte Digital Production Project Manager: Lisa Rinaldi Full Service Vendor: Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd. Full Service Project Manager: Anandakrishnan Natarajan/Integra Software Services Printer/Binder: Courier/Westford Cover Printer: Lehigh-Phoenix Text Font: 10/12, ITC Garamond Credits and acknowledgments borrowed from other sources and reproduced, with permission, in this textbook appear on appropriate page within text (or on page xix). Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice...
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...commercial sales program that provides commercial credit and prompt delivery of parts and other products to local, regional and national repair garages, dealers, service stations, and public sector accounts. AutoZone also sells the ALLDATA brand of diagnostic and repair software through www.alldata.com. Additionally, we sell automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, non-automotive products and subscriptions to ALLDATAdiy product through www.autozone.com, and our commercial customers can make purchases through www.autozonepro.com. AutoZone does not derive revenue from automotive repair or installation. 279 27 4,534 stores in 48 states in the United States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico 279 stores in 31 Mexican states and the Federal District. Selected Financial Data (Dollars in millions, except per share data) 2007 $6,170 $1,055 $ 8.53 23.2 % 0.1 % 17.1 % $ 845 2008 $6,523 $1,124 $10.04 23.9 % 0.4 % 17.2 % $ 921 2009 $6,817 $1,176 $11.73 24.4 % 4.4 % 17.3 % $ 924 2010 $7,363 $1,319 $14.97 27.6 % 5.4 % 17.9 % $1,196 2011 $8,073 $1,495 $19.47 31.3 % 6.3 % 18.5 % $1,292 Net Sales Operating Profit Diluted Earnings per Share...
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...CONNECT FEATURES Interactive Applications Interactive Applications offer a variety of automatically graded exercises that require students to apply key concepts. Whether the assignment includes a click and drag, video case, or decision generator, these applications provide instant feedback and progress tracking for students and detailed results for the instructor. Case Exercises The Connect platform also includes author-developed case exercises for all 12 cases in this edition that require students to work through answers to assignment questions for each case. These exercises have multiple components and can include: calculating assorted financial ratios to assess a company’s financial performance and balance sheet strength, identifying a company’s strategy, doing five-forces and driving-forces analysis, doing a SWOT analysis, and recommending actions to improve company performance. The content of these case exercises is tailored to match the circumstances presented in each case, calling upon students to do whatever strategic thinking and strategic analysis is called for to arrive at a pragmatic, analysis-based action recommendation for improving company performance. eBook Connect Plus includes a media-rich eBook that allows you to share your notes with your students. Your students can insert and review their own notes, highlight the text, search for specific information, and interact with media resources. Using an eBook with Connect Plus gives your...
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...stoAnnual Report 2010 2010 year ended august 29, 2010 THE COMPANY Costco Wholesale Corporation and its subsidiaries (“Costco” or the “Company”) began operations in 1983 in Seattle, Washington. In October 1993, Costco merged with The Price Company, which had pioneered the membership warehouse concept, to form Price/Costco, Inc., a Delaware corporation. In January 1997, after the spin-off of most of its non-warehouse assets to Price Enterprises, Inc., the Company changed its name to Costco Companies, Inc. On August 30, 1999, the Company reincorporated from Delaware to Washington and changed its name to Costco Wholesale Corporation, which trades on the NASDAQ under the symbol “COST.” As of December 2010, the Company operated a chain of 582 warehouses in 40 states and Puerto Rico (425 locations), nine Canadian provinces (80 locations), the United Kingdom (22 locations), Korea (seven locations), Taiwan (six locations, through a 55%-owned subsidiary), Japan (nine locations) and Australia (one location), as well as 32 warehouses in Mexico through a 50%-owned joint venture. CONTENTS Financial Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Letter to Shareholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Map of Warehouse Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...
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