...Summary Union Pacific is the largest freight railroad in North America. In 2007 they transported over one trillion ton-miles of freight earning revenues of $16.28 billion. They operate on 32,000 miles of rail covering the United States west of the Mississippi. Union Pacific is a successful firm both externally and organizationally. The Class I Freight Railroad industry encompasses the seven largest railroads in North America. In the U.S., where Union Pacific operates, Class I Freight Railroads move more than 40% of the freight transported per year, measured in ton-miles. The industry is in the maturity stage, experiencing slow consistent growth. For companies in this industry, it implies tightened operations and good human resource management are essential for success. The industry incumbents benefit from high barriers to entry due to the amount of capital requirements. Substitutes play a moderate role in the industry, while buyers and suppliers are on neutral ground with the railroads. Lastly, rivalry varies from area to area, but is average as a whole. This is shown in the analysis of captive versus noncaptive customers. Union Pacific mainly transports commodities in five primary industries; agriculture, automotive, chemical, energy, and industrial. These customers look for competitive pricing, on time delivery, and good customer service. In order to be successful in this industry, a railroad must have the resources to serve all the needs of these customers. Since Union Pacific...
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...Human Development Research Paper 2010/30 Dealing with employment risk: Policy options for emerging markets Simon Commander United Nations Development Programme Human Development Reports Research Paper November 2010 Human Development Research Paper 2010/30 Dealing with employment risk: Policy options for emerging markets Simon Commander United Nations Development Programme Human Development Reports Research Paper 2010/30 November 2010 Dealing with employment risk: Policy options for emerging markets1 Simon Commander Simon Commander is Managing Partner at the EBRD, IE Business School and Altura Advisers. Email: scommander@alturaadvisers.com Comments should be addressed by email to the author(s). 1 Thanks to Jeni Klugman for discussion and comments and to Ginette Azcona for help with data. Abstract The paper looks at the experience of advanced economies in dealing with employment volatility. It examines in detail the impact of labour market institutions on equilibrium unemployment and the p ossible le ssons f or e merging ma rket e conomies tr ying to d esign p olicy f or d ealing w ith unemployment and a wider, growing demand for social protection from their citizens. Part of the paper concentrates on t he t ransition e conomies whose i nstitutional c ontext m ay b e r elevant t o other emerging ma rkets. S ome leading principles in policy d esign a re elaborated th at take into account s ome o f t he co mmon f eatures o f em erging m arkets, n...
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...Unclassified Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Économiques Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development DAF/COMP(2014)14 06-Jun-2014 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ English - Or. English DIRECTORATE FOR FINANCIAL AND ENTERPRISE AFFAIRS COMPETITION COMMITTEE DAF/COMP(2014)14 Unclassified AIRLINE COMPETITION -- Background Paper by the Secretariat -18-19 June 2014 This document was prepared by the OECD Secretariat to serve as a background note for Item IX at the 121st meeting of OECD Competition Committee on 18-19 June 2014. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Organisation or of the governments of its member countries. More documents related to this discussion can be found at http://www.oecd.org/daf/competition/airlinecompetition.htm. English - Or. English JT03358883 Complete document available on OLIS in its original format This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. DAF/COMP(2014)14 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 3 1. Features of the airline industry .............................
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...Introduction The international monetary system is the structure of financial payments, settlements, practices, institutions and relations that govern international trade and investment around the world. To understand the international monetary system, we can start by looking at how a domestic monetary system is structured. The Canadian financial system, for instance, is composed of a) a currency; b) a central bank which issues that currency; c) financial deposit-taking and lending institutions such as commercial banks and d) the Canadian Payments Association. The currency used in Canada is the Canadian dollar. It is the means of payment, store of value and unit of account for all transactions conducted within Canada. It is the currency in which all assets and liabilities are measured. As such, exchange rates are not an issue in our domestic transactions. The country’s central bank, is the Bank of Canada. Its role is to issue the currency of the land, the Canadian dollar, to manage the supply of money to ensure that there is neither too much of it that could cause inflation, nor too little that could cause recession and to oversee the financial system, acting as a lender of last resort when the need arises. Commercial banks and other non-bank financial institutions are the main players in the financial system. They engage in the process of financial intermediation, which is the taking of deposits from the private public that has a surplus of money and making loans to the public that...
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...CENTRE FOR EMEA BANKING, FINANCE & ECONOMICS Efficiency and Risk-taking in Pre-crisis Investment Banks Nemanja Radić, Franco Fiordelisi, Claudia Girardone Working Paper Series No 08/11 Efficiency and risk-taking in pre-crisis investment banks Nemanja Radić1, Franco Fiordelisi2, Claudia Girardone3 Abstract Investment banks’ core functions expose them to a wide array of risks. This paper analyses cost and profit efficiency for a sample of investment banks for the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and US) and Switzerland prior to the recent financial crisis. We follow Coelli et al. (1999)’s methodology to adjust the estimated cost and profit efficiency scores for environmental influences including key banks’ risks, bank- and industry specific factors and macroeconomic conditions. Our evidence suggests that failing to account for environmental factors can considerably bias the efficiency scores for investment banks. Specifically, bank-risk taking factors (including liquidity and capital risk exposures) are found particularly important to accurately assess profit efficiency: i.e. profit efficiency estimates are consistently underestimated without accounting for bank risktaking. Interestingly, our evidence suggests that size matters for both cost and profit efficiency, however this does not imply that more concentrated markets are more efficient. JEL classification: D2, G24, G32, L25 Key words: Investment Banking;Stochastic Frontier Analysis;...
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...Cemex: High Tech Cement Report title page +names of team members To be done Executive Summary To be done Question A. Based on case data outline the strategy followed by Cemex to achieve its position of prominence in the cement industry. What factors and resources equipped the company to grow so successfully over the period described in the case? Also, compare Cemex with Cisco. Where are they similar and where do they differ? Cemex utilized four key strategies to achieve a position of prominence in the cement industry. First, Cemex innovated state of the art technology to outperform competitors. Cemex leaders challenged the operations groups to develop more efficient ways ways to produce concrete and bought technology through acquisitions. A telecommunications network between 11 plants was established as early as 1988. The IT consulting group, Cemtec, was spun off which utilized online surveys to manage customer relations. Second, Cemex converted the commodity business into a specialty business by helping their end users improve profitability. E.g. in Mexico City, by guaranteeing delivery times of 20 minutes or less, the contractors maximize the cost effectiveness of the crews working on the site. Third, Cemex bought out competition in markets they wanted to expand influence. In some geographies, such as Mexico, Cemex owned >70% market share through acquisitions. Lastly, Cemex embraced risk management as one of its core competencies...
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...MARKET NEWS SERVICE MNS Medicinal Plants & Extracts North America Africa Western Europe India Eastern Europe China No. 18 March 2006 This note has b een prepared, without formal editing as a service to exporters and industries in developing countries by the Market News Service (MNS), Division of Product and Market Development, International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO. No part of this report may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the MNS/ITC Geneva. Copyright © MNS/ITC 2006. All rights reserved Prepared by Mr. Josef Brinckmann, ITC Consultant brink@sonic.net International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO 54-56 rue de Montbrillant, CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland. Tel : (4122) 730 01 11 - Fax: (4122) 733 44 39 E-mail: itcreg@intracen.org ; URL: http://www.intracen.org Postal address: International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland 2 EDITORS NOTE MNS Medicinal Plant and Extracts report is a formatted version of a news and information bulletin prepared by the International Trade Centre to promote international trade in medicinal plants and botanical extracts. The revised version of the report includes substantially more information on the structure and function of the market. These additional features have been included after extensive consultation with existing subscribers and trade experts. For subscription details please contact MNS...
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...Dictionary of Travel, Tourism and Hospitality By the same author Britain – Workshop or Service Centre to the World? The British Hotel and Catering Industry The Business of Hotels (with H. Ingram) Europeans on Holiday Higher Education and Research in Tourism in Western Europe Historical Development of Tourism (with A.J. Burkart) Holiday Surveys Examined The Management of Tourism (with A.J. Burkart eds) Managing Tourism (ed.) A Manual of Hotel Reception (with J.R.S. Beavis) Paying Guests Profile of the Hotel and Catering Industry (with D.W. Airey) Tourism and Hospitality in the 21st Century (with A. Lockwood eds) Tourism and Productivity Tourism Council of the South Pacific Corporate Plan Tourism Employment in Wales Tourism: Past, Present and Future (with A.J. Burkart) Trends in Tourism: World Experience and England’s Prospects Trends in World Tourism Understanding Tourism Your Manpower (with J. Denton) Dictionary of Travel, Tourism and Hospitality S. Medlik Third edition OXFORD AMSTERDAM BOSTON LONDON NEW YORK PARIS SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SINGAPORE SYDNEY TOKYO Butterworth-Heinemann An imprint of Elsevier Science Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP 200 Wheeler Road, Burlington MA 01803 First published 1993 Reprinted (with amendments) 1994 Second edition 1996 Third edition 2003 Copyright © 1993, 1996, 2003, S. Medlik. All rights reserved The right of S. Medlik to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted...
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...Alaska Brand Audit Brand Inventory History Alaska has been a unique brand for many years. Originally known as Russian America because it was owned by Russia, the origin of the name Alaska is a misconception from the first Russian explorers to venture into Alaskan waters (the original Aleut word "alaxsxaq" literally meaning "object toward which the action of the sea is directed"[Alaska]). When the United States bought Alaska, even though the price was only two cents an acre, it was known for many years as “Seward’s Folly” or “Seward’s Icebox”, after William Seward, the Secretary of State who was primarily responsible for pushing the purchase from Russia through Congress. In the early days Alaska’s brand image was mostly negative. It was known as the “Frozen North”, the “land of ice and snow”, the “land without summer”. Many of these images are from the stories and poetry of Robert Service, Jack London and their contemporaries. A good example of this writing is the poem “Cremation of Sam McGee”— see appendix II, (Service). All these extreme brand images dominated perceptions of Alaska prior to the discovery of gold in the Klondike in the late 1800s. After gold was discovered these negative perceptions were softened somewhat, though they remained rather negative—in large part due to the difficulty of living in the far north. Our Brand Survey We did a brand audit of Alaska to see how well Alaska has worked past these harsh criticisms. To accomplish this we surveyed...
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...SUBSTITUTION OF PLASTIC BAG BY JUTE BAGCASE COMPANY REDQ Support on Sustainable Environment Thesis Tania Afrin Degree Programme in International Business International Marketing Management Accepted ___.___._____ __________________________________ SAVONIA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES Business and Administration, Varkaus Degree Programme, option Degree Programme in International Business. BBA, International Marketing Management. Author(s) Tania Afrin Title of study SUBSTITUTION OF PLASTIC BAG BY JUTE BAG -CASE COMPANY redQ Support on sustainable development Type of project Date Pages Thesis April 2011 70 + 5 Supervisor(s) of study Executive organisation Anneli Savolainen Business and Administration Abstract Sustainable development is one of the most important issues in the world today. People can play an important role in the sustainable development in different ways regardless of their own position. This study focuses on finding out how plastic bags could be substituted by jute bags and how it would contribute to the sustainable development. In addition, the study focuses on answering the question if the idea of substituting plastic bags by jute bags would be a profitable business innovation. For the study, it was examined how some Finnish customers liked the jute bag as a shopping bag and what was their attitude towards sustainable issues. The information collected in connection with this thesis work will...
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...Germany Demographics Profile 2013 Home > Factbook > Countries > Germany Population 81,305,856 (July 2012 est.) Age structure 0-14 years: 13.2% (male 5,499,555/female 5,216,066) 15-24 years: 10.9% (male 4,539,977/female 4,339,221) 25-54 years: 42.2% (male 17,397,266/female 16,893,585) 55-64 years: 13% (male 5,236,617/female 5,354,262) 65 years and over: 20.7% (male 7,273,915/female 9,555,392) (2012 est.) Median age total: 45.3 years male: 44.2 years female: 46.3 years (2012 est.) Population growth rate -0.2% (2012 est.) Birth rate 8.33 births/1,000 population (2012 est.) Death rate 11.04 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.) Net migration rate 0.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.) Urbanization urban population: 74% of total population (2010) rate of urbanization: 0% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.) Major cities - population BERLIN (capital) 3.438 million; Hamburg 1.786 million; Munich 1.349 million; Cologne 1.001 million (2009) Sex ratio at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2011 est.) Infant mortality rate total: 3.51 deaths/1,000 live births male: 3.81 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2012 est.) Life expectancy at birth total population: 80.19 years male: 77.93 years female: 82.58 years (2012 est.) Total fertility rate 1.41 children born/woman...
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...PART 1 Introduction CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Global Marketing Case 1-1 The Global Marketplace Is Also Local onsider the following proposition: We live in a global marketplace. McDonald’s restaurants, Sony digital TVs, LEGO toys, Swatch watches, Burberry trench coats, and Caterpillar earthmoving equipment are found practically everywhere on the planet. Global companies are fierce rivals in key markets. For example, American auto industry giants General Motors and Ford are locked in a competitive struggle with Toyota,Hyundai,and other global Asian rivals as well as European companies such as Volkswagen. U.S.based Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, competes with South Korea’s Samsung. In the global cell phone market, Nokia (Finland), Ericsson (Sweden), Motorola (United C States), and Samsung are key players. Appliances from Whirlpool and Electrolux compete for precious retail space with products manufactured and marketed by China’s Haier Group and LG of South Korea. Now consider a second proposition: We live in a world in which markets are local. In China, for example, Yum Brands’ new East Dawning fast-food chain competes with local restaurants such as New Asia Snack.1 France’s domestic film industry generates about 40 percent of local motion picture box office receipts; U.S.-made movies account for about 50 percent. In Turkey, local artists such as Sertab account for more than 80 percent of recorded Exhibit 1-1: England’s Burberry Group celebrated its...
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...│ CREDIT RESEARCH │ Wednesday │ 20 September │ 2006 Summary Financials (USD mn) 2003 Sales Gross Profit EBITDA Net Profit Fin Debt Equity Operating CF Free CF 160.3 32.8 14.8 8.4 9.7 43.4 12.3 (2.9) 2004 204.7 69.2 47.4 29.9 16.9 82.4 7.7 (11.3) 2005 249.7 82.8 52.1 30.9 50.7 96.3 21.1 2006E 279.6 94.0 61.0 34.8 153.9 129.2 45.4 No. 1 in the Russian ball bearing industry European Bearing Corporation (EBC) controls 37% of the Russian ball bearing market. EBC operates five ball bearing plants in Russia and one in Kazakhstan and produces more than 2,700 types of ball bearings for more than 500 customers. EBC controls 98% of Russia’s high-precision (aviation) ball bearing market and 95% of the railroad ball bearing market. These two business segments accounted for 65% of EBC’s revenues in 2005. Long-term relationship with Russian Railroads The company has a supply contract worth USD560 mn with Russian Railroads that secures EBC average annual revenue of USD100 mn to 2010. (23.2) 19.3 Source: Company data 2004 34% 23% 15% 0.4 35.0 2005 33% 21% 12% 0.9 13.7 Ratios 2003 Gross Margin EBITDA Margin Net Margin Debt/EBITDA EBITDA/Int. Expense Financial Debt/Equity 20% 9% 5% 0.7 22.8 0.22 Solid financial standing, moderate leverage In 2005, EBC reported revenues of USD250mn, up 22% y-o-y. EBITDA margin stood at 21%, while the debt/EBITDA ratio was only 0.9. Factoring in the planned CLN issue, debt/EBITDA should not exceed 2.5 at year-end 2006, and gradually decline...
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...ECONOMICS _____________________________________________________________________________________ WEEK 1: HOW ECONOMISTS THINK * What are preferences? Preferences refer to all of the objectives an individual wants to achieve that might motivate a choice among a set of alternatives. * What does it mean for an individual’s preferences to be rational? Please explain the concepts of costs and benefits and the reasoning process used by a rational individual. A rational individual will try to make the best possible use of his/her scarce resources, usually choosing an activity that has the highest utility. Rational preferences possess 2 properties, which are completeness and transitivity. Completeness means that choices can be ranked in an order of preference. For instance, an individual will have a preference when faced with two choices. Transitivity means actions can be compared with other actions. As an example, if action a is preferred to b, and action b is preferred to c, then a is preferred to c. A benefit is the maximum unit of currency amount you would be willing to pay to do x, while the cost is the value of all the resources you must give up in order to do x. The cost-benefit approach to decisions states that an individual should do an activity x if the benefit exceeds the cost. Relating to cost, in the process of coming up with a decision, a rational individual will take into account opportunity costs and ignore sunk costs. * New theories argue that...
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... The structure of this thesis 16 3.2. Theory on strategy and competitive advantage 3.2.1. The Positioning School 3.1.1.1. Theory on Porter´s Five Forces model 3.2.1.2. Theory of Generic Strategies 3.2.2. The Resource-based School 3.2.2.1. Theory on SWOT analysis 18 24 20 23 25 27 4. The low fare airline business model 4.1. Introduction 28 4.2. Differences between the LFA model and the FSA model 4.2.1. The service factor 29 29 2 4.2.2. Turnaround times 4.2.3. Homogenous fleet 4.2.4. Point-to-point travel vs hub-and-spoke travel 4.2.5. Higher seat density 4.2.6. Choice of airports 4.2.7. Distribution system 4.2.8. Frequent flyer programmes 30 31 31 32 32 33 34 5. Analysis of the macro environment 5.1. Introduction to the theoretical framework – PEST Analysis 34 5.2. Political/legal issues 5.2.1. Liberalising the European airline industry 5.2.2 State aid 5.2.3. Commision vs Ryanair/Charleroi Airport 5.2.4. Passenger rights in...
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