Swot Analysis of Toyota Essay Example for Free

Swot Analysis of Toyota Essay We have analyzed Porter’s Five Forces of Toyota and PESTEL Model of Toyota. Thus in this post, I will list the SWOT of Toyota. 1. Opportunities -Recovery of auto industry: The automotive industry showed the signs of recovery, which is predicted to be gradual. The market will reach a volume of 129. 9 million units in 2013 (Durbin, and Krisher, 2010). This provides positive information to the automotive manufacturers and stimulation to the investors. -Hybrid electric vehicles: The increasing energy costs and stringent emission regulations enhance the demand of the hybrid electric vehicles because of its high fuel efficiency. It is estimated it will reach 4. 0 million units by 2015. Besides US, Western Europe and Japan, China is estimated to be next large market. -Opportunities in Asian market: The Asian automotive market became the main increasing point and is estimated to increase in the following several years. Thus, the automotive corporations should concentrate on the Asian markets, such as China, and India. 2. Threats -Competition in the global automotive market: The worldwide automotive market is highly competitive, and becomes stronger due to the globalization, which is involved into every factor of automotive. The competition may lead to reduce the automobile unit sales, which may influence the company’s financial condition. -Tightening emission standards: The tightening emission standards adopted by the EU increase the additional costs for product development, testing and manufacturing operations for the automotive manufactures. 3. Strengths -Leading brand recognition: Toyota is one of the leading automotive brands in the world. And its brand Lexus values around $3. 1 billion. The other brands Corolla, Camry, Sienna, Prius and Scion are popular. The leading brand image gives it significant competitive advantage and charge premium prices. -Focus on RD activities: Toyota strongly focuses on RD to expand its product. The company’s strong focus on RD allows it to uphold the technological leadership in most of its product segments. It has also enabled Toyota to develop innovative products, leading to strong sales. -Strong distribution network: The company has a strong distribution network. Strong distribution network helps Toyota to improve its sales and to strengthen its market position all over the world. -Toyota production system: The Just-in-Time and Jidoka Production System will help Toyota to build quality with the low defects and costs. 4. Weaknesses -Lapses in product quality: Toyota announced two recalls recently that cover some of its most popular models, and recalled about 10 million vehicles across the world. These recalls not only reduce the share prices, but also impact the brand image and the consumer confidence. -The unfunded pension: In 2009, there was about $6537. 7 million unfunded for the projected pension and post-retirement benefit. There are some unfunded retirement pensions in Toyota, which may influence the cash flows.

Piracy Threat in Somalia

Piracy Threat in Somalia SGT Figueras, Diego Piracy has steadily been on the rise along the Horn of Africa primarily along the coast of Somalia. In recent years, piracy has gained the attention from the United States (U.S.) and the international community about its consistent and ever increasing threat. A well-known example of Somalias rampant piracy threat occur in April of 2009, when Somalian pirates forcibly captured the shipping vessel Maersk Alabamas skipper, Richard Phillips, as a hostage (Boot, 2009). The situation ended when U.S. Navy Seals, conducted a rescue operation that freed Captain Phillips. The media coverage that followed revealed to the U.S. that piracy is and will be continue to be a source of conflict without U.S. assistance and East African Naval cooperation. Second order of effects The Captain Phillips rescue led to the U.S. and East African nations (EAN) developing anti-piracy procedures. However, even with the new procedures the U.S. and EAN still failed to recognize piracy as a legitimate concern in the region. The lack of action from the U.S. and EAN allowed piracy to flourish. From 2009 through 2011, there was an estimated 850 attacks on military and commercial vessels costing $6.6 -$6.9 billion dollars in damage and ransoms. The Somali piracy threat reached its climax in 2011, where Somali pirates began affecting shipping lanes, causing the cost of goods, such as, (oil, food, technology) to rise worldwide (Mueller, 2013). At the end of 2011, the U.S. and EAN finally recognized the severity of the Somali piracy threat. Third order of effects In 2012, the U.S. Navy began being more active against the threat posed by Somali pirates. The U.S. sent naval ships such as, destroyers and cruises to begin patrolling and responding to ships under duress from Somali pirates. The increased presence and timely reaction by the U.S. Navy, has caused a significant decrease in piracy activity in the region. From 2012 through 2015, there were only estimated 264 attacks from Somali pirates (Fiorelli, 2014). That is a 68% decrease of pirate attacks since the height of Somali piracy from 2009 through 2011. The threat posed by the U.S. Navy to the Somali pirates has been a significant detergent against piracy. Predictive assessment The threat posed from Somali pirates is steadily decreasing each passing year. In order to eliminate the threat posed by Somali pirates, the U.S. Navy will require more assistance and cooperation from EAN. The U.S. Navy will not always be able to defend the international shipping lanes from Somali pirate attacks. In addition, because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. populace will not be supportive to another long-term U.S. military commitment. EAN and their naval forces must began taking a more active role and eventually spearhead the anti-piracy effort to effectively eliminate piracy. However, I assess that EAN will not be able to meet the demands require to effectively counter piracy along the Horn of Africa. Because, EAN does not have financial means, logistical support, equipment require nor the trained personnel to effectively sustain long-term anti-piracy operations unlike the U.S. If the U.S. Navy were to cease anti-piracy operations, piracy would reappear, potent ially return to its climax seen in 2011 and once again cause havoc in the international shipping lanes. The Al Shabaab threat to Somalia Al Shabaab is currently East Africas largest and most active terrorist organization. In the past decade, Al Shabaab has successfully gained an area of operations that covers the entire Horn of Africa. In 2014, Somali security forces and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) began conducting counter insurgency operations against Al Shabaab. However, three years of counterterrorism operations has yielded little results in disrupting Al Shabaab operations. Al Shabaab still controls a vast majority of southern and central Somalia and within the past year, has been becoming more active in Somalia. In January 2016, Al Shabaab conducted a complex attack that resulted in overrunning an AMISOM base near the Kenya-Somalia border. Al Shabaab claims to have killed more than 100 AMISOM Soldiers; however, that number has yet to be confirm even a one year later. In addition, in the past seven months, Al-Shabaab has successfully overran two additional AMISOM bases and plundered equipment, ve hicles and weaponry. The equipment and resources retrieved from AMISOM bases have not only strengthen Al Shabaab military capabilities, but also asserted themselves as a legitimate threat to Somalias sovereignty. Second order of effects Al Shabaabs recent success has increased their confidence to operate openly as a legitimate form of government in southern and central Somalia. However, their inability to act as a legitimate government has significant consequences to the Somali citizens within its territory. Southern and central Somalia suffer from extreme drought, which has cause a famine in the region. International surveys suggest that roughly, 3.6 million Somali citizens suffer from starvation and many more suffer from life threatening medical issues as a result. Al Shabaab government and leadership is not prepared to handle this current crisis let alone provide for the citizens basic needs. To make matters worse, the Al Shabaab government has banned all Western and United Nations humanitarian aid organizations access to its territory. Their Islamic counterparts, the Islamic Relief, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent are all limited in their capabilities to combat the spread of famine. In addition, are not able to provide the medical relief and food aid desperately required by the Somali citizens. References Boot, M., 2009. Pirates, Then and Now: How Piracy Was Defeated in the Past and Can Be Again. Foreign Affairs Journal. 88. no. 4: 94-107. Besley, T., Fetzer, T. and Mueller, H. 2013. The welfare cost of lawlessness: Evidence from Somali piracy. VOX: Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists. Retrieved 04 February 2017 (http://www.voxeu.org/article/welfare-cost-lawlessness-evidence-somali-piracy). Fiorelli, M., 2014. Piracy in Africa: The case of the Gulf of Guinea. Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center. No. 37: 1-16.

College :: essays papers

College College! Why is it such a big deal to go right in to collage! I understand, however I just don't know what I want to do yet. I know I want to do something that has to do with criminal justice. As in the FBI. I just think that would be so cool. It would make me happy and I'll get paid O.K. My plans were to graduate, then stay with my mom for a year and just work 2 jobs, maybe take a class at U.A.A. So, I can keep with the whole study thing. Oh, and I would go into the Air Guard also. They really help with collage. Then a friend and me would get an apartment and split the rent. I would then go to U.A.A for 2 years and after that I would transfer to the University of my Choice. I got all of these ideas from my sister. I look up to my sister a lot. I learn from her experiences. She never took her SAT's and she did really badly in high school. But, when she went to U.A.A she got really good grades then she transferred over to N.Y.U. It's the 3rd hardest college to get into for her field! So, ya know if she can do it so can I. My father on the other hand! He thinks I should go to Grays Harbor Community College. And if I do, then I can live with him and he will pay for my BOOKS! If you don't know, Grays Harbor is a really bad college, it is worse then U.A.A. Even if I wanted to go, my mom wouldn't let me! I mean come on; he will help me pay for my BOOKS that's a real help. I remember one day I was in the truck with my dad and we were talking about colleges and he said "you can't go to a good college like your sister, you just cant. You're not like her. And, I'm sure as hell I'm not going to pay that much!" I told him I don't expect him to pay for anything. My sister went through college without her dad's help, so I can do it to. Every time I try and talk to him about the university that I'm interested in or when I tell him I want to be in the law or psychology field, he just changes the subject!

Hamlet :: essays research papers

In Hamlet, Shakespeare follows regular convention for a large part of the play. In the beginning, Shakespeare sets up the scene, having a ghost on a dark night. Everyone is working and something strange is happening in Denmark. It is as if Shakespeare is saying that some kind of foul play has been committed. This sets up for the major theme in the play which is of course revenge. The ghost appears to talk to Hamlet. It is quite obvious that the play had a gruesome, violent death and the sexual aspect of the play was clearly introduced when Claudius married Hamlet’s mother Gertrude. The ghost tells Hamlet that he has been given the role of the person who will take revenge upon Claudius. Hamlet must now think of how to take revenge on Claudius, although he doesn’t know what to do about it. He ponders his thoughts for a long period of time, expecting to do the deed immediately, but instead he drags it on until the end of the play. Although what was important to note was that all tragic heroes of plays at that time delayed their actual revenge until the end of the play. In most revenge plays, the revenger was often anonymous and well disguised, stalking the enemy about to be killed, but Hamlet started a battle of wits with Claudius by acting mad and calling it his â€Å"antic disposition†, although the whole thing was a ploy to get closer to Claudius to be able to avenge his father’s death more easily. The tactic was a disadvantage in that it drew all attention upon himself. More importantly though it was an advantage that his â€Å"antic disposition†, isolated him from the rest of the court because of the people not paying attention to what he thought or did because of his craziness. One important part of all revenge plays is that after the revenge is finally decided upon, the tragic hero delays the actual revenge until the end of the play. Hamlet’s delay of killing Claudius takes on three distinct stages. Firstly he had to prove that the ghost was actually telling the truth, and he did this by staging the play â€Å"The Mousetrap† at court. When Claudius stormed out in rage, Hamlet knew that he was guilty. The second stage was when Hamlet could have killed Claudius while he was confessing to god. If Hamlet had done it here then Claudius would have gone to heaven because he confessed while Hamlet’s father was in purgatory because he did not get the opportunity to confess. So Hamlet therefore decided not to murder Claudius at this

Poe Compare to Manson :: essays research papers

Though born at different times and in different places Edgar Allen Poe and Bryan Warner (Marilyn Manson) are surprising social and ideological doppelgangers. Starting as early as their childhood you can notice notable similarities. Bryan spent the majority of his time at his grandparent’s house. It was a generally hostile area for young children, leaving little access to parental supervision or interaction. Poe on the other hand had no father around to begin with and his mother died when he was two. He went on to live with his mother’s business associate who turned out to be quite abusive. Now due to personal problems Poe was unable to attend school any longer and didn’t finish his education which had been a aspiration of Poe’s to be removed. This seemed to be a similar trend between Poe and Bryan, because Manson did it as well. Both writers were similar in there choice of work as well, and how they delivered them. Both Poe and Bryan published many works before there writing became popular. The macabre story of â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† by Edgar A. P. is quite similar to Bryan’s first published work about himself ending up murdering and raping his sister. Obviously the chosen tone by both of these individuals is similar because they desire to put out a persona. This persona is a general feeling that each Artist expresses as a discontentment with life and society, and leads to there morbid works. Poe wrote â€Å"Poe’s Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque†, where Bryan published a CD â€Å"The Golden Age of Grotesque† which both turned out to be fairly similar. On an ideological level they both consider the modern man to not be that modern. They were both haunted by something internal possibly even external that drove them nearly insane and tainted there view of all of society. Both of them had very low morality and on many accounts lusted after family members and the same sex on occasion. Poe left the Army and West Point which had been the next step in his life, he enjoyed the army in many ways ideologically speaking but still loved writing too much to not follow it. He married his first cousin against the wishes of his family and decided to make a life. Bryan decided not to go into military but still always struggled with organized religion, he also had a sexual fascination with family members.

Challenges faced by the Allies in their Germany Advance

The establishment of empires and the countries that exist today was not an easy undertaking. There were always battles associated with this, and this led to bloodshed and destruction of cities. The world has always had incidences of wars, which most of the times are initiated by the strong countries, as they try to win the smaller ones. From the colonization battles to the wars like the First and Second World Wars, there have always been defeats and conquests. Even the strongest leaders have at times surrendered because of the extremes of the war. However, those who win are also affected, as their conquest is most of the times associated with several difficulties. The advancing of the allies into Germany in 1945 will be discussed with close reference to the scale and the nature of the problems that they faced. The crossing of the Rhine The Allies had targeted Germany after they conquered in the Battle of the Bulge. All the citizens were aware that once the Allies set foot in Germany, it would be the end of war. However, the Allies faced great challenges from some fanatical Nazis; Hitler included. Throughout the second and third months of 1945, there was a great battle by the allies in a bid to pass the Siegfried lane. They were faced with a great problem because the Germans had set up antitank fortifications, artillery and pillboxes which stretched from the western German border. This was quite a big hindrance to the allies as they sought for the best way to enter Germany. Additionally, this was an area which was always manned by old men and young boys, so that they could ensure that no enemy passed that point. Since time immemorial, the allies had not had the ability to pass through the Siegfried Line because of these hindrances. However they managed to conquer this small town in 1945 through the use of gasoline aids (World War II, 2010). When they set in, they advanced to Cologne, which was considered as the major German city. However, they were faced with a challenge because the US Army commander referred to as General Dwight D. Eisenhower gave orders to the allied forces to instead advance towards Ruhr. This is after he had realized that if Berlin was captured, then the industrial machine of Germany could be destroyed. There was a conflict between the leaders because the desire of Churchill was for the allies to overcome Berlin, but Eisenhower ordered the Allies to advance towards the Ruhr after crossing the Rhine (World War II, 2010). Crossing the Rhine for the Allies was quite an achievement because for the past one hundred and forty years before this time, there is no single group which had successfully crossed it. Hitler considered the Rhine as one of the important symbols of Germany. The only time the Rhine was crossed successfully was during the times of Napoleon, in 1805. This is because all the people who tried to do so would be shot down (World War II, 2010). However, the allies succeeded crossing the Rhine, amidst the challenges, because all the bridges had been blown up to restrict their advance. This also happened before they managed to capture Cologne city. This was indeed a great challenge. They had to cross the Rhine on special bridge units, which were often segregated. They also went ahead and constructed a bridge whose depth was twelve miles and thirty five miles width. Even though they managed, all these crossings were most of the times on fire, which was lit by the German forces. All this happened before March 23, 1945 (World War II, 2010). The Allies had set up an undertaking referred to as Operation Varsity which took place in 1945. It was considered as the last operation of the allies in Europe, and although the allies conquered, they were still faced with challenges. The Germans had prepared themselves as there were anti aircrafts units which were set strategically against the allies. All the bridges were blown up again, and Hitler was unable to restrict the allies who had settled in the west. The Red army had targeted Berlin, and it set forth to the West (World War II, 2010). Blitzkrieg Since time immemorial, Germany had always been known for using the trick known as ‘Blitzkrieg’. This was also referred to as the lightning war. This was an operation which involved the constant use of mass planes which would be ordered to break through the defenses of the enemy on a very close range. The enemy could not be allowed at any moment to invade Germany. Ordinarily, the German forces would successfully surround the opposing troops, where they would be forced to surrender (USHMM, 2010). This trick had proved effective since in the previous years, Germany had defeated Poland, Belgium, France and the Netherlands. However, they had never managed to defeat Great Britain. The allied forces also faced the same challenge, as the Germans tried to oppose their entrance to their territory. However, the allied forces managed to cross the Rhine, and consequently, the Nazi Germany surrendered (USHMM, 2010). When the war had advanced, it reached a point where the Germans felt defeated and they were therefore looking for ways in which they could surrender. This was indeed what the allies wanted. However, it was not an easy task, as there was a major challenge. There were so many deaths associated with the march. The last important German unit, which was referred to as Army Group B has all its men surrender, which totaled to two hundred thousand on April 24. The Germans were trying their best to ensure that the refugees were not a distraction so that they could surrender to the Allies from the west. Therefore, there was a delay in the Germans surrendering as most of the refugees refused to give way (World War II, 2007). German secret dealings The allied forces were constantly attacked by the refugees. There were guards who were assigned so as to force the people to move away from the fighting ground. However, most of the refugees resisted the orders and as a result, there were so many deaths which resulted. The guards continued to kill these people secretly (World War II, 2007). There was the collaboration of the allies and the Russians on the concentration camps. However, they faced another challenge as the Germans had tried to conceal their crime by hiding the bodies of the people who had been killed. They were presented with very horrific facts, as there were very many corpses which had been piled in a large heap. This revealed how the Germans had continued killing the people. In one of the camps, referred to as the Ohrdruf Concentration Camp, all the civilians of this place were ordered by Eisenhower to see what used to happen in secret. This proved a great challenge to the Allies because they had to first search for all the guards that were hiding in all their ranks (World War II, 2007) As a result, the Gestapo officers and the guards realized that their dirty dealings had been revealed by the Allies. Therefore, they tried all they could so as to escape. However, most of them, including some Nazis of the high ranks were captured as they were escaping. Some of these included Fritz Von Papen, Herman Goering, and Albert Speer. There had looted art treasures which were later discovered. Additionally, there were very many hidden caches of jewelry and gold which were found in all parts of Germany. These had been stripped off from different countries and had been sent to Germany (World War II, 2007) Persecution of collaborators All the German leaders who tried to make secret alliances with the allies were persecuted and this was another problem that the allies encountered. One of these leaders was Heinrich Himmler, who tried to make a separate armistice with the allies from the west. However, he was too unfortunate because as soon as Hitler realized this, he ordered his soldiers to execute him. Additionally, Goering also tried to do the same, and even tried to take over from Hitler, but did not succeed. Therefore, the allies were in constant wrangle with Hitler as he never allowed any of his men to collaborate with them. All the same, this did not prevent the allies from excelling (World War II, 2007) When the then U. S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt died Hitler had hopes, that this would affect the operations of the allies. However, this was not the case, as the allies continued with their resolve, unaffected by anything. As a result, Hitler became a very depressed man, and vowed to fight the allies the best he could. He started by ensuring that the sewers were flooded, in a bid to stop both the Russian and the Western allies to continue their advance in Germany. The allies were constantly threatened by his actions. However, his efforts proved fruitless because most of the people who were wounded and killed were the refugees. He set battles by moving trapped or nonexistent armies. All the commanders that defied his orders were executed. Even though he tried all this, the Allies still won the battle, and the Nazis surrendered (World War II, 2007). Conclusion Though the allies were faced with great challenges as they tried to invade Germany, they successfully won. However, they were constantly faced with the German attacks through the tricks that it had used over the years so as to defend itself from its enemies. Some of the leaders of the German armies collaborated with the allies so that they could defeat Hitler and his forces. Eventually, the might of the Allies only left Hitler a depress man, who even chose his successor before he committed suicide. References USHMM. (2010).World War II in Europe. Retrieved from http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007681 World War II. (2007).The German surrender April 25-May8, 1945. Retrieved from http://worldwar2database.com/html/germanysurrender.htm World War II. (2010). Crossing the Rhine. Retrieved from   http://worldwar2database.com/html/rhine.htm

On Saying Please Essay

Alfred George Gardiner (1865–1946), a British journalist and author, is highly regarded in the literary arena. From 1915 he contributed to The Star under the pseudonym (pen name) Alpha of the Plough. At the time, The Star had several anonymous essayists whose pseudonyms were the names of stars. Invited to choose the name of a star as a pseudonym he chose the name of the brightest (alpha) star in the constellation ‘the Plough’. His essays are uniformly elegant, graceful and humorous. His uniqueness lay in his ability to teach the basic truths of life in an easy and amusing manner. The Pillars of Society, Pebbles on the Shore, Many Furrows and Leaves in the Wind are some of his best known writings. Let’s read a highly edifying essay touching upon a very basic principle of life. Introduction Good Manners are of great value in human life. Bad manners are not a legal crime. But everybody dislikes a man with bad manners. Small courtesies win us a lot of friends. Words like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ helps us in making our passage through life smooth. The law does not permit us to hit back if we are the victims of bad manners. But if we are threatened with physical violence, the law permits us some liberty of action. Bad manners create a chain reaction. Social practice demands politeness from us. A good mannered person will find that his work becomes e person will find that his work becomes easier by the ready co-operation that he gets from others. Summary This essay deals with little but socially important incident from daily life. It shows us the importance of word like please or thank you in our everyday life. They settle bitter quarrels and soften bad tempers. The damage done by an unkind word is more painful than physical injury. A lift-man in an office threw a passenger out of the lift as the latter was impolite. He did not use the word please while asking him to take him to the top. The author is of the opinion that discourtesy is not a legal offence. If a person knocks another person down because he has broken the law, the former will be  acquitted .But the liftman was in wrong because the law does not permit anybody to use violence, if another person is discourteous. Conclusion If we are uncivil, others also become uncivil. If we show good manners others will also behave well. A cheerful person can make a gloomiest person cheerful. The author feels that it is always better to be on the bus of that conductor when going from one place to another. It is sound investment to poses good manners. If words worth could get a lesson from the poor-leech gatherer, there is no harm in getting lessons from adperson like bus conductor who has good manners .War has affected civilities of life. But they must be got back to make life sweet, kindly and tolerable for each other. The law cannot help us to get them back, but it can only protect us against physical attack. We should be polite towards others so as to have a spiritual victory.