...P.65 Toying with Success: The McFarlane Companies What personality traits do leaders like Todd McFarlane possess that distinguish them from other individuals? The McFarlane Toy Company Todd McFarlane, president and CEO of the McFarlane Companies, is an entrepreneur who understands the importance of product development. Comics, sports, toys, and rock-and-roll have all benefited from his creativity. While working many hours for low pay at Marvel Comics, he made a name for himself and became the highest paid comic book artist in the industry. But when his creativity was not been appreciated and differences arisen, not to mention his desire to own the rights to his characters, he quit and took six other artists with him and started his own company. McFarlane knew what he wanted and went for it. He knew where he wanted to be and through perseverance and hard work he stayed focused on his goal (Vision and ability). Although people predicted he would last less than a year, he kept going and first comic book sold 1.7 million copies. He had the confidence because he knew was he was good at and that drove his aspirations. He had the drive and determination to stick with his dream. He was determined to succeed. Even after he didn’t succeed as a major league baseball player he still was determined to be successful. He remained optimistic and believed he could become an entrepreneur (Self Confidence and Enthusiasm and Persistence). He had the courage to move forward and start his own...
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...acquired an initial ownership stake in the company in 1998 and then controlling interest in early 2000. In 2005 McDonald’s decided to take the company public and as a result the entire company was disposed of by McDonald’s in October of 2006. Steve remained at the helm through it all and convinced other top executives that the company needed to continue on their foundational strategy of improving throughput of their daily operations. In 2007 Chipotle had total revenues of $1,085,782 and by 2013 the amount had increased to almost three times that ($3,214,591). Part of the success of Chipotle was that they had a very simple menu. The concept of not having complicated menus only recently changed when the company started testing a vegetarian menu item called Sofritas in only 7 restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area. Despite some temptations, breakfast has remained off the menu for now, but Steve has been toying with the idea. As part of their strategy, Chipotle promoted that their food was prepared fresh and made to order. The kitchen was visible to the serving line and setup in a way that customers could actually see their orders being made fresh and on the spot. The design of the serving line and kitchen was all a part of reaching the desired throughput that set Chipotle apart from all of its competitors. The strategy for operating its restaurants was based on the “the front line is key.” The direct interaction and hospitality given to the customer and the speed in which...
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...* The sands of time 31 December 2013 The sands of time is another way of referring to time. It is more poetic and is often used when talking about how time passes. Examples: "I am always ready to score the winning goal," said the footballer, dismissing those who said the sands of time are running out on his long career. Plan for your retirement. The sands of time catch up with everyone. * Live in the present 24 December 2013 Present as a noun has two meanings. A present is a gift. The present is the time we are experiencing at this very moment. When you tell people to live in the present you want them to deal with current events and not be too concerned about the past or planning for the future. Examples: Don't worry if your former boyfriend cheated on you. Live in the present and find another person to love! Johnny was keen to save money to buy a house. His friends told him to live in the present and go on a holiday with them. * One in the eye 19 December 2013 If you say something is one in the eye for someone, it means that something is a big disappointment or a defeat for them - but you are pleased about their disappointment. Examples: I got the job! That's one in the eye for John – I've never liked him and I was sure he would get the position. Ha! Our winning the championship was one in the eye for our rival team – they are always boasting about their skills. * Get your skates on! 17 December 2013 If you tell someone to get your skates...
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...Love? Artiste: Jennifer Lopez Label: Island Def Jam Music Group Genre: POP/ Dance Release Date: May 3, 2011 About the Album: For many fans of Jennifer Lopez, Love? has been a long time coming. This being the seventh studio album may be her most personal to date, encompassing inspiration from the birth of her twins and her own experiences with love. The highlighted theme throughout the album courses the examination, questioning and discovery of the diverse sides and avenues of love and relationships. It's been a long and twisty road for Love?, having started recording the album in 2009 with an original release date for the project set for January 2010 to coincide with Lopez’s latest film “The Back-up Plan”. However following the lack of success with lead single Louboutins, Lopez and Sony Music Entertainment decided to end their ten year partnership leaving the fate of Love? with Island Def Jam, which boasts an impressive roster of A-list songwriters and producers (such as RedOne and Lady Gaga), as well as guest performers. Here’s a track-by-track rundown: 1. On the Floor (Ft. Pitbull) This moderately-catchy track, aimed for the dance floor, became J.Lo’s first Top 10 hit in eight years. It’s one of the album’s strongest singles, having a bit of a capricious vibe, containing a sample of Los Kjarkas’ song Llorando Se Fue, which was made popular in the Kaoma single Lambada. Lyrically, it follows the typical ‘get down and boogie’ formula but sound wise, it’s unlike anything on...
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...19/01/2015 40 Young People Who Became Millionaires Before They Were 20 | Inc.com PEOPLE 40 Young People Who Became Millionaires Before They Were 20 It is often awe-inspiring to think about how early some of the world's most famous entrepreneurs got their start. Many of them simply had a fantastic idea and then just worked their butts off to make it reality. BY JOHN BOITNOTT @jboitnott IMAGE: Getty Images We all know that some entrepreneurs get rich quick, but still others do it even while they're young. Quite a few of them are making their first million before they're even of legal drinking age. http://www.inc.com/johnboitnott/40youngpeoplewhobecamemillionairesbeforetheywere20.html 1/6 19/01/2015 40 Young People Who Became Millionaires Before They Were 20 | Inc.com While most teens spend their youth honing work skills in entry-level jobs, whether that's slinging fast food or working retail, others get that spark to succeed at an early age. There's no shortage of useful advice out there to help even the very young make strong business decisions. There is also no minimum age to become a millionaire, as these "kids" know firsthand. From playing the stock market to starting up their own companies, check out these 40 teens who made millions before turning 20. 1. Ashley Qualls: The founder of WhateverLife.com got her ingenious idea back in 2004 when she was just 14. Meant to showcase her design skills, the site really took off when Qualls started...
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...Joseph Andolina Kris Boustedt Cinema 201: Introduction to Cinema History 1/21/13 Chaplin’s “The Gold Rush” If there’s one film that should be considered the quintessential representation of triumph in Charlie Chaplin’s large body of work, I would have to say that is The Gold Rush released in 1925. This film was a victory not only for Chaplin as a filmmaker, but also for his beloved character The Tramp. He often mentioned that this was the film “by which he would most like to be remembered”. ( Robinson 334). Prior to The Gold Rush, it was two years since a Charlie Chaplin film release. The film, A Woman of Paris, directed by him and starring Adolphe Menjou, was missing one key element that made up the kind of Chaplin film his fans flocked to see: there was no Chaplin in the guise of his Tramp character anywhere to be seen. Not only was the film a large disappointment to his many fans, it was a box office failure. Author Kenneth Lynn in his book Charlie Chaplin and his Times said it well. “For the first time ever, Chaplin had concocted a flop d’estime that failed to recover its production costs.” (Lynn 277-278). This failure “was too bitter a pill for Chaplin, by now a full-fledged addict of adulation.” (Louvish 196). It’s no wonder why this was a blow to him as artist and filmmaker and a catalyst to make The Gold Rush into one of his most memorable and beloved classics. Watching The Gold Rush, it is easy to see why Chaplin said in a 1925 interview for the New York Times, “I have...
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...life. However, as long as some RM techniques produce technically superfluous pre-embryos, RM has to deal with life and death decisions about inchoate human beings that are in a developmental phase about whose moral status hardly anyone has well-grounded intuitions or generalizable beliefs (Human Reproduction Update 1996, Vol. 2, No. 5 pp. 447–456). The ethics of reproductive medicine have added complexity due to the natural desire and the conscious or even sub-conscious need for us humans to reproduce. Just like any other primate our raw function is to give life and pass our genes onto our offspring. Reproductive medicine therefore provides a solution for those who are unfortunate enough to not be able to procreate. On the other hand, this ´toying´ with human life may cause others some discomfort, mostly due to their personal beliefs. Should therefore fertility problems be seen as any other condition or disease, and be considered as such? How do we decide to whom the treatment should be made available; separate those desperate with no other option from those who see it as a side benefit and choose this path for comfort elsewhere? And lastly, where do we draw the line? IVF is the process of fertilization by manually combining an egg and sperm in a laboratory dish, and then transferring the embryo to the uterus. IVF begins with fertility medication, that is prescribed to stimulate maturation of oocytes and hence production of eggs. This is required as unfortunately some eggs will not...
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...Baby Bloomers Baby Bloomers is a family enterprise specializing in floral arrangements. With its reputation as a high-quality florist, it has been immensely profitable. The success of the company led the family to expand into several businesses: restaurant, automobile. Dealership, wine importation, and other unrelated ventures. Saddled with debt problems, Baby Bloomers sought the services of Gabby Fernando, a management consultant. For more details on the company’s operations beyond the family circle, Gabby decided to pursue some “detective work” by having casual chats with the office secretary. Author: Arturo Benedicto M. Ilano Discipline: Strategic Management Industry: Flower Shops Issues: Expansion Strategy, mission and vision, rightsizing strategy Setting: Philippines 1987 Level of Difficulty: Undergraduate/MBA Case Number: 7-1994-02 Teaching Note: 7-1994-02T Prepared by Arturo Benedicto M. Ilano, Assistant Professor, University of the Philippines, as a basis for class discussion. The case is not designed to illustrate effective or ineffective handling of managerial situations. Names of persons and places have been change. The University of the Philippines Business Research Foundation, Inc. supported the writing of this case study. Baby Bloomers is a family enterprise specializing in floral arrangements. Having successfully established itself as a high-quality florist, it is widely known to the market and has been immensely profitable. However, problems...
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...The announcement is significant for a company that had long marketed itself as the golden child of a direct sales model. According to analysts ZDNet Asia spoke to, it was a move that was inevitable particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, where consumers like to physically handle a product before they buy it. Bryan Ma, IDC's Asia-Pacific director of personal systems research, described the move as "necessary" because Dell was often criticized for pushing its direct model in a region where consumers prefer to "feel and touch" their products and pay in cash. "[The direct model] worked very well for them in the past because the bulk of their business has been in the enterprise and public sectors," Ma explained. However, Dell has had limited success in the Asia-Pacific consumer market, where its lack of physical retail presence was a disadvantage particularly against competitors such as Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Acer. Diptarup Chakraborti, Gartner India's principal analyst of Asia-Pacific client computing markets, said Dell has been facing some resistance from users who do not buy or make advance payments for expensive products such as a notebook, without first seeing the product. Chakraborti noted that this has compelled Dell to change its strategy and enter the retail space. In addition, Ma noted that a lot of growth in the last few years had centered on the consumer market, with Acer and HP gaining a fair bit of market from their notebook shipments. "That's where Dell has been left...
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...statement. Assuming that this holds true for the majority of people, employers and employees alike, we have to ask ourselves whether material success is enough? Can a company retain its proficient and conscientious employees by offering them mere monetary incentives? Can human resources be stirred or inspired to achieve for the organization by something as ephemeral as money? The history and present of the business world will answer with a resounding “NO”. In that case, what is the formula, in a system driven by human beings, whose minds are swayed by objects, emotions and thoughts, to create a harmonious organization, which endeavors for excellence together? Pixar appears to be one of the rare organizations whose methods resolve this question. They have managed to attain a global reputation for their employees’ satisfaction and assiduousness. This report delves into some of Pixar’s secrets of creating an environment that is incalculably favorable to innovation. It begins by introducing Pixar to the readers and advances to an analysis of some of the Pixar’s philosophies that have contributed to their success. The first theoretical analysis section begins with an evaluation from the perspective of employee empowerment. The report reveals the features of Pixar’s empowerment management and creativity practices and their contribution to Pixar’s success. It proceeds to assess Pixar’s productivity from the viewpoint of emotional intelligence, attitudes and behaviors. The second section...
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...Content Business Ethics Introduction Business Ethics are moral principles that guide the way a business behaves. The same principles that determine an individual’s actions also apply to business. Business ethics also defined as what is right and wrong, and outline the kind of behavior to know that which businesses should not engage in. For responsible decision making in a business environment, a good set of ethics is main key of trust and success. Business ethics are often guided by law, while other times provide a basic framework that businesses may choose to follow in order to gain public acceptance. Business ethics are implemented in order to ensure that a certain required level of trust exists between consumers and various forms of market participants with businesses. For example, a portfolio manager must give the same consideration to the portfolios of family members and small individual investors. Such practices ensure that the public is treated fairly. The benefits of running an ethical businesses includes helps to attract new customers, builds higher customer loyalty, improve company efficiency, avoid negative impacts and others which beneficial to the company and third parties. To run a sustainable business, having a high set of ethics is critical and there can be serious consequences if poor ethical decisions are made. About the assignment, the topic that we selected among the four category which is ‘Sexual Harassment offences at workplace’ which brings negative...
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...The Role of Accounting Accounting is often called “the language of business.” Why? Because it communicates so much of the information that owners, managers, and investors need to evaluate a company’s financial performance. These people are all stakeholders in the business—they’re interested in its activities because they’re affected by them. In fact, the purpose of accounting is to help stakeholders make better business decisions by providing them with financial information. Obviously, you wouldn’t try to run an organization or make investment decisions without accurate and timely financial information, and it’s the accountant who prepares this information. More importantly, accountants make sure that stakeholders understand the meaning of financial information, and they work with both individuals and organizations to help them use financial information to deal with business problems. Actually, collecting all the numbers is the easy part—today, all you have to do is start up your accounting software. The hard part is analyzing, interpreting, and communicating the information. Of course, you also have to present everything clearly while effectively interacting with people from every business discipline. In any case, we’re now ready to define accounting as the process of measuring and summarizing business activities, interpreting financial information, and communicating the results to management and other decision makers. Fields of Accounting Accountants typically work in...
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...Genetically Modified Organisms Group E- Chrystalyn Northcutt-Warden LAS 432- Technology, Society & Culture Kira Leavens DeVry University December 7, 2013 Table of Contents Abstract Introduction Political Influences Economic Questions and Considerations Psychological Affects Moral and Ethical Implication Conclusion Works Cited Appendix Abstract Introduction The Hunger Games trilogy dwells upon genetic modification. With genetically engineered animals such as the jabberjay, mockingjay, tracker jacker and wolf mutts, monkey mutts and even genetically engineered roses, the trilogy explores the ethics and consequences of toying with Nature. This paper will discuss the pros and cons of genetically modified organisms. Also the economic, psychological effect on society as well as the moral and ethical implications that this technology can have on today’s society. History Genetically modified organisms have continually been around but have recently evolved and came to light in the past 10 years. Genetically modified organisms are described as “An organism whose genetic characteristics have been altered by the insertion of a modified gene or a gene from another organism using the techniques of genetic engineering (www.medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com, 2013).” genetically modified organism (GMO) is used to refer to any microorganism, plant, or animal in which genetic engineering techniques have been used to introduce, remove, or modify specific parts...
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...Google Case Study Taylor Anderson, Trenton Moses, Jacob Pyeatte, and Nicole Simon Southeast Missouri State University Abstract Google is a large corporation that leads the business world in providing a high-quality work environment for its employees. This paper will discuss the benefits Google provides to its employees, how the company is able to provide said benefits, and the human resource policies and strategies implemented within the company. Furthermore, this piece will offer answers to several questions asked at the conclusion of the textbook article as well as provide facts and suggestions regarding Google’s corporate structure and policies by referencing primary sources and using personal feedback from the authors. Google Case Study In the textbook, Human Resource Management by Gary Dessler (2011), an article on the powerhouse corporation, Google, was written regarding the company’s benefits, human resource strategies and policies, and how the company is able to provide such a work environment. Research will show whether or not Google’s new job candidate screening process is effective, how Google affords to give out such elaborate benefits, how Google recruits its employees, and more. Google has implemented a new candidate screening process that correlates personal traits from current employee’s answers on a survey regarding employee performance (Dessler, 2011, pp. 712-715). Some believe that this strategy limits Google’s ability to find the right candidate, but...
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...MCDONALD’S CORPORATION: THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE Table of Contents A. Introduction 3 B. Company Analysis: 1. Beginning of an Empire 2. InDepth Financials 3. Charitable Contributions C. Expansion Into Global Markets: 1. China 2. South Africa 3. Brazil 4. Saudi Arabia D. SWOT’S E. Recommendation F. Conclusion G. Sources 4 5 7 7 8 9 10 10 14 15 16 2 A. Introduction In beginning a new century the McDonald’s Corporation is looking towards the future, more specially in the area of global expansion. Gone is the traditional style McDonald’s that many people are accustomed with, McDonald’s are focusing on new innovative modifications to their menu, depending upon the regions culture, customs, and traditions. Opening coffee bars in the United States is also on the agenda for the world’s largest fast- food behemoth. McDonald’s, realizing a need for global expansion, diversified into other areas of the fast- food industry. Some of the company’s most recent and notable acquisitions were the Boston Market restaurant chain and taking a 33% stake in the United Kingdom’s Pret A Manger, a sandwich bar chain with more than 100 outlets across the United Kingdom (). When a firm decides to do business internationally, there are many considerations the entity McDonald’s weighed to choose the best strategy in going overseas. Some of the cross-cultural issues facing McDonald’s management are similar, however many practices vary depending upon which country the global...
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