Using the concepts of class, gender and ‘race’, show how sport in Britain is affected by patterns of social inequality

Each society established its own set of norms, values and beliefs. It is these that have caused societies to change and develop over time creating ideologies of inequality, prejudice and segregation. Often the beliefs of a population stem from the hegemonic group within that society, and others possessing less social status are pressured into conforming as a result. This process is evident within the sporting world as society repeatedly forces discrimination and segregation based on socio-economic or physical differences as dictated by the hegemonic group. Class is possibly the greatest creator of inequality. We have seen how several mainstream sports can be analysed in terms of shifts and continuities in the social context in which they have emerged, prospered or declined. Their fate has been determined essentially due to material social and economic factors, and the human cultural response to those influences (Horne, Tomlinson & Whannel, 1999). Sports participation is not a matter of personal choice, of individual preference. It depends upon the financial resources available to the potential participant, the social status of those prominent in that activity, and the cultural meaning of a sport and the individual's relationship to those meanings. The recruitment and induction processes into, say, golf and tennis clubs bear testimony to this. Take the apparently open-minded and egalitarian basis of a newcomer presenting herself at a tennis club. In order to do this the aspirant must communicate competently with the gate-keepers of a club; read the social interactions and etiquette and conventions of a club; comply with the dress code; be equipped with relatively sophisticated technology (she would be unlikely to get far with a wooden Dunlop Maxply in 2001); and be able to play at a level of acceptable competence (Horne, Tomlinson & Whannel, 1999). While it is evident that upper classes thrive on being members of exclusive clubs that for others were financially inaccessible such as the England Tennis Club at Wimbledon (Sleap, 1998). The middle classes established their own clubs, although they experienced less leisure time in which to enjoy the activities. However, they did receive subsidised sporting access via the old boy network. The working class endured the roughest deal. For them the term meritocracy never existed. They had no time or money to be involved in sports or leisure activities, and therefore tended only to enjoy sport at festivals and fetes. The games they played were a complete contrast to the upper classes, they has no organisation or codification and were violent and aggressive. The complex relationship between class cultures, or habitus, and formal sports institutions has been further analysed, at a theoretically more sophisticated level by John Hargreaves (1986). He shows how the practises and technologies of schooling and sport have served as instruments of class domination, and have contributed to the cultural reproduction of class difference and social inequality. The rigid distinctions erected between the amateur and the professional were in the end rooted in class domination. The formation of these institutions on the base of public school and university sport made them also an expression of the domination of social life by men. This does not mean that no women or working class people were involved in sport. But such involvement was always within the bounds of authority exercised by men of the bourgeoisie (Horne, Tomlinson & Whannel, 1999). The making of modern sports has been a predominantly masculine narrative, with women marginalised or disenfranchised at most stages of the narrative. Women's involvement in cricket too, was marginalised early on, and Sandiford (1994) notes that cricket was seen as too much a ‘manly sport' even for the tennis and hockey playing women students at the universities of Cambridge and Oxford in the late nineteenth century. It was not until 1926 that the British Women's Cricket Association was founded, by hockey and lacrosse players from Malvern College (Hargreaves, Jennifer. 1994). Colley et al (1987) supported that participation of 16-18 year old males an females suggested that sports are still strongly sex typed. This enforces inequalities in society as people have images and expectations to live up to, or risk being ridiculed. Before the era of mass media, the recording of cultural imagery was firmly linked to the power of the church and the aristocracy. Painters were commissioned to celebrate the material wealth of owners. Sporting paintings portrayed the horses and dogs of the land -owners (Goldman, 1983). There were also paintings of scenes of carnivalesque celebration, such as the famous Derby Day painting, and of everyday low life showing cock-fighting or dog-fighting. The sporting press began to emerge in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. The 1870 Education Act had helped produce a new reading public. The first sports pages began to emerge in 1896 with the launch of the Daily Mail. This initiated the modern era of mass circulation of popular newspapers (Horne, Tomlinson & Whannel, 1999). Instead of having a positive effect on the portrayal of women in sport, the hegemonic group who have dominated sport for all time, are still dictating what images get published. During the 2000 Olympic games, the Daily Star published no less than 70% of photographs of sporting males. However, outside the sports pages during the games 70% of the photographs were of the Olympic women. These shots did not show them in the same light as their male counterparts, who were obviously of the same world class standard. They sexualised the athletes, exposing flesh. Would this have been the case if the Olympic moto had been constructed as ‘Balance, Flexibility and Ultra Endurance', instead of ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger' ? (Lines, 2001). These issues are not restricted to prejudice in women's sport, but create disadvantages for ‘races' who do not conform to the hegemonic group's system. For example, in the relationship between sport and national identity, cricket is invested with more significance than any other sport in India. Even although India dominated international hockey for decades (not losing a match in the olympics from 1928 to 1960) (McDonald, I. 1999). However, the low international prestige associated with success in hockey, has divested hockey in India of significant political importance. The widespread popularity and therefore, the commercial nature of international test and one day cricket in India can be discerned from a comparison with the game in England. Whereas the sponsors of English cricket have traditionally been banks and insurance companies, Pespi and Coca-Cola vie for predominance amoungst the benefactors of Indian Cricket (McDonald, I 1999). This merely confirms the class and ‘race' inequalities established in Britain. Class, gender and ‘race' are all inter-linked, they overlap and share some similar issues. It is clear from studies in inequality in society, that financial, ‘racial' and sex-typing have influenced British sport for many years. It is because of this that often when it comes to international competition and World championships, Britain regularly falls short of other countries. Although the introduction of the national curriculum in 1991 saw one of the first major attempts to reduce inequality; no separation between class, gender or race, with everyone participating in the same activities with the same opportunities. However, private schools are exempt from the national curriculum and thus are geared to more affluent games, reinforcing the polarisation of the classes. While Gruneau (1983) argues â€Å"mass participation in sport during the second half of the twentieth century has meant that class inequality in sport has apparently declined and there is now a leisure mass instead of a leisure class†. Ruling class ideology is still evident today and although there have been attempts to reduce its effects, people are still influenced. The prevention or reduction of inequality is a large and important issue. Attempts by the women's liberation groups and the government to establish schemes that allow access to equipment for all – 1997 ‘Sport for All' campaign. However, strong inequalities still exist in the form of oppression by the ruling classes, stereotyping of women and ‘racial' discrimination. Until these are reduced and controlled Britain will remain to fall behind on the athletic stage.

The Economics of Running a Genomics Company

Genset IPO Prof. Nahata FIN 9774 1. What are the economics of running a genomics company? What is the role of large pharmaceuticals in genomics? How competitive is the genomics industry? Running a genomics company is extremely capital intensive. Research and development, patenting, and developing marketable products cost a lot of money. The associated dangers of working with patents are also at issue here. Genset must be able to defend its patent in court against patent trolls, which can layer additional costs upon the capital intensive primary business activities of the firm. At this point in time, the patent situation surrounding mapped genes is also tentative. The US courts have yet to rule on the patent status of genes, making the market for patented genes suspect. The other difficulty of the genomics industry is turning research into revenue. It takes a very long time to turn a patented gene into a medical product, which has to pass through several rounds of scrutiny before entering the market. Even if Genset is able to find a major gene, they might not see returns for several years. Large pharmaceutical companies are integral to the genomics industry. Genset researches genes that are related to a wide variety of diseases. However, many mapped genes will not be linked to any underlying genetic disorder. The genes that are linked to treatable disorders must be researched to discover chemical compounds that interact with genes to treat the underlying disorder. While Genset has the intellectual capability to research the genes, they are not capable of developing drugs to interact with the genes they have mapped. Through licensing agreements, genomics companies could decrease the risk and amount of time before they could report positive earnings. The licensing agreements generated revenue immediately by selling some or all of the rights to future applications of specific genes. Thus the genomics companies did not have to wait for the future applications to mature before they could realize positive earnings. The industry is also extremely competitive. There are 114 biotechnology companies in France, with an additional 1,050 in the United States. Several genomic companies have already passed through their IPOs with mixed success. Competition is fierce to discover every human gene. It is a race to see who finds and catalogues all the human genes by the end of the millennium. By early 1996, there was an intense race to map all genes and genomics companies were getting closer to finishing the task every day. There is also heavy competition between the genomic companies and pharmaceutical companies. 2. What is happening at other genomics companies? What is Genset's competitive position in the genomics industry? Many genomics companies have passed through IPOs and private funding rounds. At 250 employees, Genset is larger than all the other comparable companies provided in the case. Many other companies are operating in the sequencing business, developing libraries of sequenced genes. Beyond private companies, many research universities, government-sponsored facilities, and research institutions are also sequencing genes. While progress has not been lightening fast, it is worth noting that there is a finite supply of genes in the human genome. The amount of genes that are functional from Genset’s perspective is unknown. While competition to discover every gene was fierce, Genset was engaged in the systematic and comprehensive analysis of the genetic map of the humans to identify and patent genes and regulatory regions related to selected common diseases. Genset was a unique firm because it was both creating a library of genes and researching the genetic causes of diseases. They intended to discover drugs to treat these diseases and enter into strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical companies to develop and market these drugs. Genset not only researches genes, but it also is the world’s largest creator of synthetic DNA. Bradys believes that this line of business is extremely important to Genset’s future. Part of the desired $70 million will be devoted to tripling the output of synthetic DNA by updating its sequencing machines and increasing its workforce. Part of the money was needed to finance more equipment purchases and further research for its DNA mapping and sequencing operations to beat its competition. The industry is expanding quickly, with many small, nascent firms popping up, searching for private funding. The landscape is expanding quickly, with each firm trying to find ways to monetize their findings as quickly as possible. 3. What are the key success factors in genomics? What are the risk factors? What is the nature of cash flows in genomics? To be successful in genomics, a firm must have capital to acquire the necessary equipment and personnel to quickly map and patent genes. Given the finite amount of genes available to map, the genomics industry is truly deadlocked in a race to sequence the human genome. While raising the necessary capital is difficult, the more difficult aspect of the genomics industry is finding ways to monetize their research. Genset is fortunate to be the world leader in synthetic DNA. While their research may take years to pay off, their synthetic DNA operation gives them a reliable revenue stream. Genset is unique within the genomics industry in that respect and another: they are not just sequencing genes; they are also researching the genetic causes of diseases. This additional research makes their genetic patents and research more valuable to pharmaceutical companies that will be assured that they are pursuing worthwhile genes. To achieve profitability, Genset needed to successfully discover genes related to particular diseases, find partners to develop the products, conduct clinical trials, get regulatory approvals, and successfully manufacture and market such products. But the risk with this plan was that, Genset was based in France and patented its discoveries in France and the Euro zone countries. They were also unsure if the discovered gene fragments or genes (without known functions) could be patented. This was a BIG risk, in that any other firm could discover the gene’s function and patent it. Also since they did not have any patents in America, where they were considering raising money put a big question on the viability of the plan. There was also the possibility that the patents, mainly on which the firm’s value was based on, were broad enough to give the firm a competitive advantage besides any patent could be challenged, invalidated or circumvented by others. . Are Genset's cash flow projections reasonable? How much cash does the company need and when? To achieve profitability, Genset needed to successfully discover the genes associated with particular diseases and find appropriate strategic partners to develop products, conduct clinical trials and obtain regulatory approvals. Genset entered into a three-year strategic alliance with Syntehlabo SA which fo cused on discovering genes associated with prostate cancer. They were also under discussions with an affiliate of Johnson & Johnson to target schizophrenia. Their financial projections showed that in the future the company expected its revenues to come primarily from these types of contract revenues. The company has also filed three patent applications in France relating to its gene sequencing techniques. They are projecting their revenues based on successfully discovering these genes. Genset is looking to acquire approximately $70 million to finance more equipment purchases and further research. The company needed $30 million for capital expenditures including expansion of its TGS high throughput sequencing facility, the construction of a new mapping facility and polymorphism scanning lab. Another $40 million would fund ongoing research and development expenses. The funds were needed almost immediately. Without this technology and research, Genset would fall behind with no chance to recover. Raising this capital would be Genset’s largest financing project and would augment the $54. 2 million of funding raised through private equity (70. 4%), bank loans (13. 5%), government bonds (7. %) and other loans (8. 9%). We believe that Genset’s cash flow projections could be overstated since a major part of their cash flow source is contract revenues which would have to be made with Pharmaceutical firms. The case mentions that currently all the patents that Genset has are registered and protected in Europe. Most pharmaceutical firms on the other hand are based in North A merica with it being the largest market and unless all the patents that Genset are are registered and protected in North America, we believe they would not be in a position to achieve those cash flows. Hence we have discounted these cash flows by 40% initially. Also we believe that post an IPO and strategic investors from North America, Genset will develop the capability and expertise to pursue these patents listed in N. A and achieve the growth that they expect now. Thus we have a terminal growth rate of 5% factored in our model. However we have factored in the capital expenditure schedule that the firm has planned on the onset and that has been factored in the model since these expenses are essential in the pursuit of the firm’s future projections. 5. What is the current state of the financial markets? Are they conducive for an initial public offering by Genset? Would a private placement be a better alternative? The current state of the financial markets is healthy. Recent IPOs by other genomics firms have fared very well, despite the inherent risk in the business. Gene research is seen as the future of science, just as physics was the driving science of the early twentieth century. Given the success of recent offerings (with Human Genome Sciences and Myriad Genetics being the most successful), Genset is correct o investigate the possibility of a public offering. US capital is flowing into genomics at a steady clip, making it an appealing source of funding. The conditions associated with private funding make it less appealing to Genset. Genset is also unlikely to be able to raise their capital requirements through private funding alone. They have already received $54. 2 million in private funding, with 59. 3% of their shares owned by private investors. Private investment in biotechnology is at an all-time high, but funds are restricted from putting more than 10% of their total capital into any one business. This may require that Genset form deals with multiple funds, further dividing their remaining equity. Also there is a possibility that post these deals, while Genset would further dilute their equity there could be a situation where they could again be short of funds and raising funds in the future via this route could/could not be difficult. However once you access the public markets there is always the option of accessing the markets continuously for multiple capital raising activities. Thus going public sounds much more attractive. Also in the future, given the right strategic partner and if making continued contract revenue agreements becomes difficult they could also enter into a partnership or joint venture. Given that the firm would then have stock that is listed on the bourses makes this much more easier and hence going public is an extremely attractive choice. 6. Should Brandys take such extreme measures to issue stock in both France and the US? Why is he doing it? What additional costs and requirements are raised in doing so? Bradys is understandably weary about issuing stock in both France and the US. The offering would cost Genset twice as much, losing roughly 20% of their raised capital to fees and services. Before the offering, Genset would need to review their financials and prepare their past statements to comply with both US and French law. They would also need to secure accountants, lawyers, and underwriters in both France and the US, which will cost the firm a hefty price. Bradys is pursuing this option to expose the firm to as many possible sources of funding as possible. The US capital market is deeper than that of France. However, since the firm is French, it is able to draw some of the most talented French scientists to its firm. The US genomics market is deeper, making the pursuit of human capital more difficult. Bradys understands that if he were to only make an offering in France, he would be incapable of raising their required funds. Bradys needs the US market not just for capital. He also needs the US pharmaceutical industry and patent protection. By having American capital, Genset can more effectively lobby the US government for the patent protection they need to make their mapped genes intellectual properties. It is also worth noting that Genset has plenty of cash reserves and is not as badly in need for capital as Bradys believes. While the US has yet to weigh in on patent protection for genes, the increased amount of commerce on the side of genomics indicates that the courts will most likely uphold the rights of companies to patent their library of genes alongside their patented processed. 7. Why is Genset going public now? Does it make sense? Genset is going public now because they need $70 million in capital to advance their research and to not fall behind other genomics companies. There are some positive points to going public now. Tapping into the US market makes sense because of the higher amount of venture capital expenditures over their native France. If Genset does not find a way to raise this capital, they will most likely fall out of competition among their direct competition. The drawbacks to going public are many. No other similar genomics business has raised $70 million in their IPO. The highest previous offering was by Human Genome Sciences, which raised $66. 7 million. However, Human Genome Sciences did not face the challenges of Genset. Most offerings lose 10% of their raised capital to offering related services. Genset could conceivably lose 20% of their offering value, as they must prepare for offerings in both France and the US. A dual offering would require accountants, lawyers, and services for two different markets in two different languages. If Genset were to achieve their desired level of $70 million, they would need to raise roughly $87. 5 million in capital, before related costs are tabulated. It makes sense that Genset go forward with an IPO at this time, although it is not without its dangers. If their IPO fails, the firm would be tainted and they would be hard pressed to raise capital elsewhere. They could instead seek more private capital, which would not preclude an IPO in the future. Even if another round of private capital falls short of the $70 million mark, they could receive bridge funds that would carry them to another round of funding through venture capital or an IPO. However, given the amount of firms entering the market, Genset could easily hurt their value by waiting. The markets could grow weary of genomics companies and fail to pony up capital to even the best companies. Genset should strike while the iron is hot, not wait until the market has cooled down. Genset must firmly trust their advantage of having the most talented French scientists in the US market. The flood of US-based genomics firm has diluted the talent pool of American scientists. Genset has a strong advantage in this respect. Coupled with their superiority in synthetic DNA and competitive edge in DNA sequencing, Genset is certain to be a much sought after stock. 8. What valuation would you put on Genset's stock? Be sure to support your valuation with specific analysis. You could try to be creative here! We estimate Genset’s stock to be priced at $10. 57 per share. We are using a beta of 1. 6 which is based on the weighted market capital of all comparable companies. The reasoning behind this is that the majority of the listed firms are in the US and hence it is difficult to find closely comparable firms. We also use the P/E based valuations since the value of the firm will also depend on how the comparable firms have performed in the market post IPO. The terminal growth rate is 5% which is reasonable since we haven’t accepted the revenue streams given to us by the firm. We have reduced them to 60% of the firm’s estimates since the numbers look highly optimistic and could be difficult to achieve given the fact that the firms' patents are registered only in Europe and could not be easily marketable in the US where most development and pharmaceutical firms are based. The revenues depend on agreements with pharmaceutical firms and if these agreements are subjective then the associated revenues will also be subjective. The core valuation itself comes from a variety of inputs that we considered. While we also did comparable company valuations, we agreed upon considering using the adjusted present values method which realizes a share price closest to that using a range of share prices obtained using the multiples method. We used a range of discount rates and P/E values associated with them, from the range of comparable firms given to us. We believe this gives us a range of valuations and taking out the High-Low values, we use the median Net Present Value of the firm and the associated stock price derived from it thus ending with a share price of $10. 57 and a NPV of $44. 796mn. We believe this is fair onservative valuation and reflective of the risk as well as the potential associated with the firm. This reflects a good middle ground for the investors to get in on a company with great potential as well as for the firm to capitalize on its unique position in the biomedical space. Adjusted Present Value Approach Inputs Tax Rate Unlevered Cost of Capital Cost of Debt Growth Rate (Product Sales – 2001 – 2003) Terminal Growth rate Other Income/Loss Depriciation (Straight Line) CAPEX (every year) All Value in Thousands 40% Asset Beta (comps) Risk Free Rate Market Risk Premium Terminal growth rate 1. 7 6. 05 7. 09 13. 62% 16. 2% 15. 00% 5. 00% 0 20% 3% $10,000. 0 DEBT 20,000 Adjusted Present Value (APV) (A) NPV of Unlevered Investment Date Revenues Expense Other Income/Loss Depreciation and Amortization EBIT EBIT(1-T) Add: Depreciation Gross Cash Flow Less: Capex Less: Change in WC Free Cash Flow Terminal Value PV Factor PV of Future Cash Flows (at time 0) NPV of Unlevered Investment (B) PV of Interest Tax Shields Date Debt (D) Interest Expense Tax Shield Terminal Value of Tax Shield PV Factor PV of Tax Shields (at time 0) NPV of Tax shield Infinite Horizon 1996 1 $12,700. $23,300. 0 $0. 0 $15,662. 6 $26,262. 6 $15,757. 6 $15,662. 6 $95. 0 $20,000. 0 $0. 0 $20,095. 0 1997 2 $21,300. 0 $26,800. 0 $0. 0 $17,662. 6 $23,162. 6 $13,897. 6 $17,662. 6 $ 3,765. 0 $10,000. 0 $0. 0 $6,235. 0 1998 3 $44,600. 0 $31,500. 0 $0. 0 $19,662. 6 $6,562. 6 $3,937. 6 $19,662. 6 $15,725. 0 $10,000. 0 $0. 0 $5,725. 0 1999 4 $68,600. 0 $36,700. 0 $0. 0 $21,662. 6 $10,237. 4 $6,142. 4 $21,662. 6 $27,805. 0 $10,000. 0 $0. 0 $17,805. 0 2000 5 $129,200. 0 $46,500. 0 $0. 0 $10,000. 0 $72,700. 0 $43,620. 0 $10,000. 0 $53,620. 0 $10,000. 0 $0. 0 $43,620. 0 2001 2002 2003 6 $148,580. $53,475. 0 $0. 0 $12,000. 0 $83,105. 0 $49,863. 0 $12,000. 0 $61,863. 0 $10,000. 0 $0. 0 $51,863. 0 7 $170,867. 0 $61,496. 3 $0. 0 $10,000. 0 $99,370. 8 $59,622. 5 $10,000. 0 $69,622. 5 $10,000. 0 $0. 0 $59,622. 5 8 $196,497. 1 $70,720. 7 $0. 0 $10,000. 0 $115,776. 4 $69,465. 8 $10,000. 0 $79,465. 8 $10,000. 0 $0. 0 $69,465. 8 $673,852. 8 0. 3601 $267,668. 6 $71,549. 8 0. 8801 $17,686. 4 $331,280. 9 0. 7747 $4,829. 9 0. 6818 $3,903. 3 0. 6001 $10,684. 5 0. 5282 $23,038. 3 0. 4649 $24,108. 7 0. 4091 $24,393. 8 1 $12,163. 2 $1,965. 0 $786. 0 2 $33,437. 2 $5,401. 9 $2,160. 7 3 $4 2,913. $6,932. 8 $2,773. 1 4 $41,347. 9 $6,679. 9 $2,671. 9 5 $27,550. 7 $4,450. 9 $1,780. 4 6 $20,000. 0 $3,231. 1 $1,292. 4 7 $20,000. 0 $3,231. 1 $1,292. 4 8 $20,000. 0 $3,231. 1 $1,292. 4 $8,000. 0 0. 860916465 0. 74117716 0. 63809162 0. 54934358 0. 47293893 0. 407160916 0. 350531536 $676. 68 $1,601. 50 $1,769. 49 $1,467. 82 $842. 00 $526. 22 $453. 04 0. 301778371 $2,804. 25 $10,141. 00 NPV of Project $341,421. 92 total debt market cap genome therapeutics 1. 4 131. 4 human genome sciences 6 697. 4 incyte pharmaceuticals 0. 1 244. 8 millenium pharmaceuticals. 2 7 myriad genetics 0. 307 sequana therapeutics 4. 1 189. 9 cash 0. 01065449 0. 008603384 0. 000408497 0. 002931596 0. 021590311 9 107. 5 41 17. 8 72. 5 41. 3 EV (calc) 123. 8 595. 9 203. 9 -10. 6 235. 4 152. 7 revenue 11. 2 9. 6 11. 1 22. 9 3. 6 12. 4 revenue multiple (calc) EBITDA 11. 05357143 0. 6 62. 07291667 -31. 1 18. 36936937 -10. 1 -0. 462882096 65. 38888889 -5. 2 12. 31451613 -6. 1 28. 12273006 0. 053571 -3. 23958 - 0. 90991 0 -1. 44444 -0. 49194 EBITDA multiple (calc) 206. 3333333 -19. 1607717 -20. 18811881 -45. 26923077 -25. 03278689 19. 33648503 MEAN MEDIAN HIGH LOW 28. 12 15. 34 65. 39 -0. 46 19. 4 -20. 19 206. 33 -45. 27 Base Case Total Revenue Total Expense Depreciation Taxable Income Taxes After Tax Depreciation Capital Expenditures FCF Terminal Value FCF Post Terminal Value PV – 1996 5. 84 2173. 6575 0. 6771654 1996 12700 23300 15662. 6 -26262. 6 0 -26262. 6 15662. 6 20000 -30600 -30600 $313,353. 57 1997 21300 26800 17662. 6 -23162. 6 0 -23162. 6 17662. 6 10000 -15500 -15500 1998 44600 31500 19662. 6 -6562. 6 0 -6562. 6 1999 68600 36700 21662. 6 10237. 4 3378. 342 6859. 058 2000 129200 46500 10000 72700 23991 48709 0. 596237 0. 30626 depreciation capex Depreciation 1992 1991 0. 19413 0. 016384 0. 017899 0. 107211 0. 053256 0. 080234 includes patent purchase+investing activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 20 32 19. 2 11. 52 11. 52 5. 76 19662. 6 21662. 6 10000 10000 3100 18521. 658 10000 10000 4 8709 593323. 1 3100 18521. 658 642032. 1 51144. 45 Conservative 1996 Total Revenue Total Expense Depreciation Taxable Income Taxes After Tax Depreciation Capital Expenditures FCF Terminal Value FCF Post Terminal Value (B) PV of Interest Tax Shields Date Debt (D) Interest Expense Tax Shield NPV of Tax Shields FCF including tax shield Total Net income NPV of Plan $44,796. 5 7620 23300 15662. 6 -31342. 6 0 -31342. 6 15662. 6 20000 -35680 -35680 1997 12780 26800 17662. 6 -31682. 6 0 -31682. 6 17662. 6 10000 -24020 -24020 1998 26760 31500 19662. 6 -24402. 6 0 -24402. 6 19662. 6 10000 -14740 -14740 1999 41160 36700 21662. 6 -17202. 6 0 -17202. 6 21662. 6 10000 -5540 2000 77520 46500 10000 21020 6936. 6 14083. 4 depreciation capex Depreciation 1992 1991 0. 019413 0. 016384 0. 017899 0. 107211 0. 053256 0. 080234 includes patent purchase+investing activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 20 32 19. 2 11. 52 11. 52 5. 76 10000 10000 14083. 171549. 5 -5540 185632. 9 14787. 57 1 $12,163. 2 $1,970. 4 $788. 2 $10, 143. 89 ($34,892) 2 3 $33,437. 2 $42,913. 2 $5,416. 8 $6,951. 9 $2,166. 7 $2,780. 8 4 5 $41,347. 9 $27,550. 7 $6,698. 4 $4,463. 2 $2,679. 3 $9,785. 3 20000 $3,240. 0 $1,296. 0 $8,000. 000 $16,084 ($21,853) ($11,959) ($2,861) $23,869 PV – 1996 Shares Outstanding Share Price $34,652. 16 4,574 $7. 58 Present Value $28,139. 37 $118,630. 13 $7,862. 21 $68,507. 03 Rate 0. 2 0. 2 0. 3 0. 3 PE 11 25 11 25 Share Price $6. 15 $25. 94 high $1. 72 low $14. 98 10. 57 median

Organizational Structure and Process Design Essay

Introduction Maruti Udyog Limited is a subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation, the largest manufacturer of mini passenger vehicles in Japan in terms of sales volumes. Suzuki was also the eleventh largest vehicle manufacturer in the world and the fourth largest manufacturer in Japan in terms of worldwide sales volumes in 2000. Maruti was ranked twentieth in terms of worldwide sales volumes amongst vehicle manufacturers, and has been the largest passenger car manufacturer in India. In fiscal 2002, it had the highest sales volumes of 339,964 cars and a market share of 58.6%. Maruti has a diverse product range that includes ten basic models with over 50 variants, of which nine models are manufactured locally and one is imported from Suzuki. A timeline showing the evolution of Maruti over the years is given in the appendix. Maruti?s manufacturing facility comprises three integrated plants (all located in the same premises) located at Gurgaon in the state of Haryana. The production facility capability at each plant is upgraded on an ongoing basis to improve productivity and quality. At present, it has an installed capacity of 350,000 vehicles per year, which is the highest among passenger car manufacturers in India and among all passenger car manufacturing facilities of Suzuki?s subsidiaries outside Japan. There are total 17 manufacturing shops and are capable of producing more than 50 variants of the nine basic models manufactured, with different specifications, within the same day. The production of a car occurs in the following stages: Press Shop, Weld Shop, Paint Shop, Assembly Shop, Machine Shop and Engine shops. Maruti has extensive sales and service network, the largest network of dealers and service centers amongst car manufacturers in India. As of March, 2003, they had 178 authorized dealers with 243 sales outlets in 161 cities. For service, they had 342 dealer workshops and 1,545 Maruti Authorized Service Stations, or MASSs, which covered 898 cities in India backed by Express Service Centers on 30 highways across the country. For the supply of raw materials, components and spare parts of their products, they have 299 vendors all over the country. Vendors located within  a radius of 100 km from their facility supply the majority of our components. As of March, 2003, Maruti had 4,590 employees, including 614 engineers, 84 MBA graduates and 24 chartered accountants. Methodology We chose to study Maruti as its takeover and integration with Suzuki as well as dramatic changes in its task environment presented an interesting period to understand. Also we had a person with more than six years of experience in Maruti in our group and we were able to leverage his contacts within Maruti to get the required information. We interacted with a member of Senior Management of Maruti at Delhi through e-mail. This gave us a broader picture of structure and strategy of Maruti. Then we interviewed the head of Regional office of Maruti at Bangalore which helped us understand the dynamics of its vendor, dealer relationships better. We also chatted with a MUL employee undergoing training at SMC Japan to get a fell of culture of Suzuki. Last but not the least we interacted with summer interns and ex-employees of Maruti at IIM Bangalore. All these formal and informal interactions helped us form a holistic view of the organization and we were better able to appreciate the systems and processes at Maruti. Organizational Structure Maruti has a Functional organizational structure with Horizontal Linkages. The activities are divided broadly based on following functions Finance, Marketing, Engineering, Sales, Spares, Production, Materials, Production Engineering, Parts Inspection, Quality Assurance, Maintenance, Human Recourse Development, Information Technology, New Business, Administration As, it is a very big organization, these are further divided into smaller divisions, based on various criteria (product, plant, location etc). There are total 29 divisions in Maruti, and are headed by one Divisional Head,  which is a Functional post. Then these Divisions are further divided into 132 Departments, which are headed by one Department Head, which again is a functional post. A smaller version of the organizational chart is shown below. The complete Organizational Chart is attached in the Excel file. Organizational Structure of Maruti Functionally, the structure of Maruti is very flat. The employees are divided in just six functional levels, namely Workers & Technicians, Supervisors, Executives, Section Managers, Department Manager, and Division Manager. Division Managers then report to Directors. However, hierarchically, these are divided into different levels, like, Technicians are divided in 7 levels (L-1 to L-7), Supervisors in 3 levels (L-8 to L-10), Executives and Managers in 4 levels (L-11 to L-14). Above this the Levels are designated as IDPM (Incharge Department Manager), DPM (Department Manager), DDVM (Deputy Division Manager), and DVM (Division Manager). The Section Manager, Department Manager and Division Manager are all Functional posts, which means anybody from levels L-11 to L-14 can be a Section Manager, an IDPM or a DPM can head a Department, and an DDVM or DVM can head a Division. Increasing importance of Boundary Spanning Units: With the increase in competition MUL has realized the importance of boundary spanning units. It requires its employees to pay frequent visits to showrooms of other car manufacturers to get information as to how they deal with their customers and what are the services offered by them. Once Puneet, our group member was asked to pay visit to a Hyundai showroom. He talked to the sales representative there and elicited as much information as he could. When Puneet was asked his telephone number he gave a fake number by changing the first and the last digit. Puneet was surprised when he received a call from the sales representative after two days (the person must have really tried different numbers). When asked about his decision,  Puneet told him that he has already bought a Maruti Zen. The sales representative congratulated Puneet for the new car and at the same time he asked what led Puneet to prefer Zen to Santro. During the entire conversation the representative was polite and enthusiastic. The amount of determination and dedication shown by this person was missing on part of the sales force of MUL and this was the feedback given by Puneet to his top-level managers. The increasing importance of Boundary spanning units can also be seen in the importance of department like Marketing and service. The head of Marketing and sales department reports directly to the MD whereas other departments like Finance and Production have to go through Joint Managing Directors. Horizontal Information Linkages 1.Information Systems Various Information Systems play a significant role in providing Horizontal Information Linkages. These Information Systems are well integrated and provide most of the information required by different departments. Most of these Information Systems were developed over time by the IT Department of Maruti. These Systems have evolved over time according to the changing information needs. The largest of such Information Systems is Production Management System, which provides the production related information to all the concerned departments. Some of the others are: Finance and payroll system, Marketing & sales systems, Spares Systems, Extranet with Dealers, Data warehousing and various MIS systems, Supply Chain Integration Initiatives (Extranets), Knowledge Management Portal, Vehicle tracking system etc. Apart from these Email, messaging and workflow systems also play an important role. 2.Direct Contact In some of the Departments, one person is designated as ?Coordinator? for different activities, which have a liaison role with other departments. An  example is the ?Quality Coordinator? in the Production Shop, who is a ?single window? for communication related to quality related issues. 3.Task Force In some specific short term tasks, various ?Cross Functional Teams? are formed taking people from all related departments to achieve the specific targets. Mostly they are used for Quality Improvement, Problem Solving, Cost Reduction, New product Development, New Product Trials related issues. Structural Dimensions 1.Formalization The automobile industry is a process driven industry. In Maruti also, the formalization is very high, all the operation procedures, standards, methods, instructions are written down formally. Apart from the ?Company-wide Procedures?, all Departments have their ?Department Procedures?. These Department Procedures define the scope of work for the department as well as the roles and responsibilities and work flows. These procedures are approved by the Division heads, and are available to all concerned (mostly in the form of electronic copy), and also available for other departments for reference. In production shops, the standard operating procedures are documented, and displayed on the work stations. They are called ?Maruti Operations Standards? or MOS. Similarly Maruti Engineering Standards (MES), Maruti Inspection Standards for Parts (MIS-P), Maruti Inspection Standards for Testing (MIS-T) etc are also available. Changes in all these documents are recorded for the purpose of back-tracking purpose. 2.Specialization The functional structure and further division of labor makes high degree of specialization in Maruti. 3.Hierarchy The span of control becomes a very interesting dimension in Maruti because most of the posts are functional in nature. If we look at the Section Manager in some department, then there might be 4-8 people of different levels (L-1 to L-13) directly reporting to him without any level-wise hierarchy amongst themselves. Therefore, in some cases, people working at as high level as L-13 do not have a direct sub-ordinate to them. The span of control is generally in the order of 3~6 at the top management level, 4~8 at the middle management level, and 0-5 at lower management levels (other than production). In production departments, the span of control at lower management level goes up to 40~50, as those many workers and technicians directly report to a line supervisor/ shift in-charge. 4.Centralization The Centralization is very low in Maruti, as the decision making authority is quite de-centralized and distributed across all levels. 5.Professionalism Maruti can be rated high on the Professionalism dimension, as most of the jobs require technical skills, and in some specific areas like Design and R&D, special training at Suzuki is also required. This is also evident from the fact that around 1900 employees of Maruti have been trained at facilities of Suzuki so far, and in the total work force, Maruti has around 80+ MBAs, 600+ Graduate Engineers, 200+ Diploma Engineers, and all the workers and technicians require minimum qualification of ITI. Use of Project based Teams In view of increasing competition in the automotive sector Maruti has tried  to use a project based structure to tackle specific problems effectively. Around two years back in a meeting of middle and senior level executives it was decided to form teams which would focus on specific goals. Around thirty teams comprising or 8 ? 10 members were formed. These teams had specific mandates in terms of cost reduction, new product development and were given resources and authority in order to implement their projects. For example, one team worked on value analysis and value engineering for specific components for cost reduction. Another team worked on improving the JD Power ratings that Maruti secured for IQS (Initial Quality Service). These teams were working on a high priority and all departments were expected to co-operate. Also they reported to the JDM directly and this helped them to sort out any problems they encountered. The best performing teams were awarded handsomely. Culture Corporate culture of a company reflects the kind of relationships its employees have with each other and the kind of bonding they feel with the company?s ideal and values. It also reflects the kind of strategy a company follows. Maruti which initially started as a PSU even though in collaboration with an MNC like Suzuki had a bureaucratic culture. A near monopolistic hold on the market made for a free-wheeling work force unconcerned with competition and innovation. But ever since liberalization and privatization the culture of Maruti has undergone a sea change. A small example will suffice: The day of a Maruti Employee started with signing the attendance register and coming late by half an hour or an hour was not uncommon but now with electronic swipe card based attendance a one minute delay can cost you a day?s salary. Earlier many workers used to come and sign the attendance register and then sub-contract their work to a temporary labor at the rate of around Rs.50 per day as compared to amounts around Rs10000 per month paid to them. With assured employment there was little incentive to contribute towards the well-being of the company. Even MUL employees who used to have a training stint in Japan used to feel frustrated and alienated by the work culture in  MUL after finishing their training. A reflection of this culture was the worker strike which crippled Maruti in 2001. After recovering from the strike Maruti had a perceptible change in culture. A VRS scheme introduced soon afterwards increased the sense of insecurity amongst employees, but it was all for a good cause. A hiked component of variable pay further brought company and employee interests in sync. An interesting ritual of starting the day with a two minute exercise on Japanese music was introduced. Also they have a common uniform and common canteen since the very beginning. So you can really walk into the company canteen and eat with the MD Jagdish Khattar. Now MUL has more of a mission culture with a clear mandate to maintain its market share and act as a small car sourcing hub for Suzuki. A look at company?s vision statement makes an interesting study. The company?s vision is to be the leader in the Indian automobile industry, creating customer delight and shareholders wealth, a pride of India. After its acquisition by a Japanese company does its vision of being the pride of India? Whosoever said that globalization is not full of ethical dilemmas! Comparing the culture of Maruti to other companies in India it is most similar to Hyundai and Daewoo in India, companies which have East Asian origins. Lot of stress is laid on team work and treating the company as an extension of one?s family. Innovation is also encouraged an example being the constant innovations in terms of process improvements using quality circles in Maruti. Of late an overtime culture has also slowly made its way into Maruti with the promotions linked to 180 ° feedback and staying late being used as a tool to signal your dedication and hard work. At this point it will be interesting to compare and contrast the culture and practices at Maruti and its Japanese parent Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan. Organizational Structure and Work Culture at SMC, Japan A brief description of the Organizational Structure of Suzuki Motor Corporation Japan is given in the form of a block diagram below. SMC is headed by a chairman. The company consists of 8 divisions. These are further divided into subdivisions and departments. Organizational Structure of SMC, Japan is hsown in the appendix. Differences between Work Culture at Suzuki Motor Corporation Ltd. and Maruti Udyog Ltd. We interviewed A.B.Sinha, who is Deputy Manager (Engineering) at MUL and has been training for the last two years at Suzuki, Japan. During the course of this interview we discovered several interesting differences in the work culture between MUL and SMC. ?Employment at SMC tends to be a lifelong commitment. This means that neither the company lays off its workers nor the employee leaves the company for employment elsewhere. Hence any new employee joining the company is an important occasion and is celebrated in a series of ceremonial parties. ?The company trusts its employees to a greater extent and the employees in turn respond by being totally devoted to the company. There is no system of monitoring attendance through I cards and no system of punishments. The employees do not use the official telephone for personal calls. Also, there is less conflict and more team spirit. All assignments are given to teams. If one employee is not able to work then the others in his team try to help him. ?There is a strict hierarchy within the organization and the promotions are based on seniority. A Shinjun (entry level) takes 8 years to become a Kakaricho (asst. manager) and 8-10 years after that to become a Kacho (Manager). There is very little rotation between departments. ?There is a higher degree of precision in the planning. Jobs are allocated on an hourly basis. Meetings are short and focused. All employees record their movements on a board so that they can be easily tracked. ?Official timings are from 8:45 AM to 5:30 PM. However, most employees work from 8:45 to 7:00 PM on Wednesdays and from 8:45 AM to 10:00 PM on other days. The number of working days in a year is only 240. Power and Politics In MUL the control and power is mostly in the hands of management. During the workers strike in 2000 the management refused to agree to the workers demands. The officers ran the plant by supervising the operations of the plant and hiring contractual labour. This made it difficult for workers to sustain the strike. They had to call off the strike and were in fact forced them to agree to some changes laid down by the management. The power of Japanese has always been there in an implicit manner. The Japanese have acted as conflict resolvers whenever there have been any conflicts within or between departments. Many times the departments play politics wit other departments by trying to use the referent power available due to closeness with Japanese management. With the increase in stake of Suzuki Motor Corp. the legitimate power of the Japanese management has further increased. Strategic Profile A strategy is a plan for interacting with the competitive environment to achieve organizational goals. Organizations have goals that define where it wants to go and strategies define how it will get there. Strategy is usually one or more competitive actions. It involves choosing whether the organization will perform different activities than its competitors or will execute similar activities more efficiently than its competitors do. The strategic profile of Maruti can be described using the following models: 1.Porter?s competitive strategies: MUL introduced ‘Maruti 800’ in 1983 providing a complete facelift to the Indian car industry. The car was launched as a â€Å"People?s car† with a price tag of Rs40, 000. This changed the  industry’s profile dramatically. Maruti 800 was well accepted by middle-income families in the country and its sales increased from 1,200 units in FY84 to more than 200,000 units in FY99. Since then, MUL specialized in low-cost leadership. However its focus was not limited to small cars. MUL extended its product range to include vans, multi-utility vehicles (MUVs) and mid-sized cars. Hence it has low-cost leadership with a broad focus according to the framework of porter?s competitive strategy. 2.Miles & Snow?s strategy typology: This framework is based on the idea that managers seek to formulate strategies that will be congruent with the external environment. Organizations strive for a fit among internal organization characteristics, strategy and the external environment. This framework describes four strategies ? the prospector, the defender, the analyzer and the reactor. Maruti has always maintained stable products with minor innovations aimed improving the utility of products. In 1983, it saw opportunities and innovated by launching Maruti 800. It introduced cars in other segments like mid-car and multi-utility segments. Since then, it maintained stable business for all its brands. Therefore Maruti can be called ?analyzer?, which is a combination of prospector and defender. Inter Organizational Relationships Inter organizational relationships are the relatively enduring resource transactions, flows and linkages that occur among two or more organizations. In today?s business environment it is extremely difficult for a firm to do business on its own. Inter organizational relationships play a major part in the success of a firm. Maruti and Government of India The Government of India has been a shareholder in Maruti Udyog Ltd. from the beginning. Till a few years ago the Government had a majority stake in Maruti which was reduced recently. At present its share in Maruti is 18.28%. The relationship between Maruti and government has always involved a third player, the Suzuki Motor Corp. Government has never been involved in day to day working of Maruti. But it had been involved in the strategic decisions in the past. For example introducing new models of cars required the prior approval of Project Approval Board which is under the Ministry of Industry. In 1998 the Government signed a contract with SMC under which the appointment of Chairmen and Managing Directors would be made only after mutual consultation. This was a result of a bitter quarrel between Government and SMC regarding management succession. InterOrganizational Relationships of Maruti With a decrease in shareholding the direct involvement of government in Maruti has reduced. But there are many other ways in which the Government decisions affect Maruti. Any changes in the Pollution Emission norms made by the Government have a direct impact on Maruti. Similarly other policies of the government may have a direct or indirect impact on Maruti. Maruti and Other Auto Makers For a firm like Maruti the role of inter organizational relationships is extremely important. Fro the time of its inception Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) has been involved in the production part of the organization with all the designs being provided by SMC. SMC has recently become the parent company of Maruti with a 51% stake in Maruti. This has enabled Maruti to have even stronger ties with SMC. Also many Japanese managers are a part of Maruti?s Management team. These kinds of relationships help companies to tide over crises that may occur from time to time. To quote a recent example, Maruti Udyog Ltd has been under pressure to meet the high demand for diesel vehicles, particularly Zen and Esteem in India. To meet this demand Maruti has asked the parent company Suzuki Motor Corporation to find an immediate solution for supply of diesel engines. Following this, the Japanese company is  exploring the twin strategy of in-house production and procuring from other manufacturers like Fiat, Opel and Volkswagen. The above example illustrates how relationships can be built like a chain from one organization to another and so on. The companies which earlier used to adopt an Adversarial relationship have started developing Corroborative networks in order to survive in today?s business environment.

Are we influenced by TV and film? Essay

Censorship of the media allows either the government or a governmentally appointed department the right to dictate to individuals what they are allowed to view. In a democratic society, personal freedom is of paramount importance and therefore we should have the right watch what ever we want. But, the most vulnerable in society, for example young children need to be protected, and consideration must be given to the feelings and sensitivities of minority groups, for example racially motivated violence or hatred. It is only though legislation that society is able to ensure that the vulnerable are protected. Censorship of television, film and videos allows our children to be shielded from unsuitable material, including bad language, sex and violence. All societies have some form of censorship or control over the media. Although there will always be differences of opinion on what is suitable or acceptable, the issue is who do we allow to control media output and how do they do this. Every film and TV programme that is going to be shown at the cinema or released on video or DVD must be classified by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). The BBFC was formed in 1913 and they view each film prior to release and give it a certificate. They decide on a classification for each film depending upon the content in terms of language, sex, violence, morality, and horror. The government can also put restrictions on any broadcast that reveals information on their work that may jeopardise the security of the country, under the Official Secrets Act. They can also stop publication of anything that could raise racial conflict, under the Public Order Act, and can use the ‘D’ notice to contain any information that may not be in the public interest to divulge. Mary Whitehouse was a leading campaigner in the fight to censor violence on television. On the 5th May 1964, she said, ‘If violence is shown as normal on the television screen, it will help to create a violent society’, and believed that the unprecedented levels of social and criminal violence in western society was caused by the saturation of violent crime on television. In 1963 she launched a ‘Clean-Up TV Campaign’, and obtained half a million signatures on a petition, which she presented to the Governors of the BBC. This had little effect, so in 1965 she co-founded the National Viewers’ and Listeners’ Association who attempted to pressurise the Broadcasting Authorities into improving public accountability on policies of taste and decency. The association also put pressure on governments to establish an Independent Broadcasting Council, but it was not until 1989 that the Broadcasting Standards Council was formed but because it was, and still is, an advisory body it had little impact on the standards of programmes.

Exam questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Exam questions - Essay Example Although it may be tempting to view US foreign aid in the post-war era as a type of benevolent gifting to the lesser developed regions of the globe, the fact of the matter is that each and every foreign aid decision in means by which loans, foreign direct investment, trade preference, or need was directed had a definitive purpose and goal in mind. As a result of the Second World War, the United States was placed in a unique position of authority in a newly differentiated bipolar global system. Undisputed dominance within the Pacific allowed the United States to extend trade to regions of the world that it had not fully integrated with previously. The presence of United States military personnel on outposts as diverse as Guam, Gibraltar, Cyprus, Norway, and a litany of others allowed for the formation of the new empire in which the United States would come head-to-head for a period of approximately 40 years with the Soviet Union. Within such a dynamic and such a level of understanding , the rationale and motivation for engaging in the Marshall Plan is readily seen. Again, although the Marshall plan has been incorrectly viewed by many historical sources as merely a means to rebuild Europe after the devastation of war, the ulterior motive that drove this was twofold. The first reason why the United States actively engaged in the Marshall plan was as a means to rebuild the economies of Europe that had been so devastated by the result of World War II. Although the Marshall plan called for unimaginable levels of foreign aid to be given to the governments of Western Europe, this level of money, although unprecedented, was seen, by and large, as a type of investment. Although the United States emerged from World War II is the most powerful nation on earth, it nonetheless required robust economies in order to trade with and derive economic benefit. Secondarily, the Marshall plan was instituted as a means of providing a solid bulwark against the encroachment and seemingly never-ending advance the Soviet Union was making into central and parts of southern Europe. Whereas the old dictum is true that it is impossible to buy your friends, the United States attempted to do just this, surprisingly successfully, by instituting a liberal policy of economic development within the shattered shell of a war ravaged Europe. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the conclusion of the Cold War era, the United States approach to aid remained necessarily concentric upon trade, interests, and strategic rivalry. In such a way, even a cursory review of the level and extent to which the United States utilized foreign aid reveals a situation in which aid is invariably utilized as a leverage point. However, it must not be understood that the United States foreign aid is divisible into a single category. Rather, this analysis will briefly engage with some of the key functions and affects the different types of aid and appropriations had with regards to how developing nations have been affected as well as the key limitations in which such programs necessarily espoused. The second of these aid programs which will herein be discussed is known collectively as the Four Point Program. Instituted under Pres. Harry Truman, the four-point program was actually a reaction to social and aid programs that the Soviet Union had extensively developed around the world. As a function of showcasing and power of the Soviet ideal, the Soviet Union ridiculed the Western capitalist nations for

Should Marijuana be Legalized Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Should Marijuana be Legalized - Research Paper Example These substitute products are providing more harm than good to the public. This paper analyses the available literature; both in favour and against, the legalization of marijuana use in America and concludes that legalization of marijuana use may bring more benefits than harm to the country and the people. â€Å"To date, marijuana is still classified as an illegal Schedule 1 drug by the Controlled Substances Act. It is defined as having "no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States" (Roth, 2008). Marijuana use is a controversial subject not only in America, but also in other parts of the world. There are many arguments in favour and against marijuana use. The arguments against the use of marijuana were labelled mainly by the religious preachers and sociologists. Medical science has adopted a cautious approach while dealing with the issues related to legalization of marijuana. In other words, medical science neither completely opposes, nor it completely opposes the legalization of marijuana use in America. This is because of the fact that marijuana is a drug which can be used constructively and destructively. In the case of patients who are suffering from chronic pain and agony, controlled use of marijuana is advisable whereas continuous use of marijuana in an uncontrolle d fashion would result in marijuana addiction. â€Å"In November 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, which allows patients to cultivate and use marijuana for medicinal purposes with the written or oral recommendation of a doctor† (Khatapoush & Hallfors, 2004, p.752). Marijuana use is still illegal in many of the American states even though fourteen American states so far legalized it as of now. â€Å"The 14 states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes are Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington†(Hall & Schiefelbein,

Tanzimat and the nineteenth-century reforms were a tragedy Essay

Tanzimat and the nineteenth-century reforms were a tragedy - Essay Example These reforms did not fare too well and several reasons can be assigned to this. Scholars have given different descriptions for the Tanzimat reforms. One of the common conclusions drawn by most historians is that it was a complete failure. Several theses are put forward to explain this failure. One of them asserts that: Tanzimat and the nineteenth-century reforms were a tragedy. Turning towards the West was an imposition, not a choice This paper examines Tanzimat into great depth. In doing this, the research will begin by assessing the background of Tanzimat. The research will go further to view the position of Tanzimat in Ottoman history. This will provide the position of the reforms in the history of the Empire and set the framework for the discussion on whether it was a tragedy. It will also assess whether Tanzimat was based on some kind of imposition or a mimicry of Western political structures. Inherent Elements of the Tanzimat In order to examine the successes and failures of T anzimat, this section of the essay will examine the inherent elements of Tanzimat and show its position in the Ottoman Society. This will give an understanding of important indicators and yardsticks that can be used for further analysis. â€Å"The word tanzimat means 'reforms', 'rearrangement' and 'reorganisation' and in Ottoman history, the Tanzimat period refers to a time of Westernizing reforms from 1839 until 1876†1. ... As a policy, rebellious states defeated by the central Ottoman authority. In investigating the origins of Tanzimat, Kadduri and Liebesny state that â€Å"reforms wrere began in the army in the late 18th Century but met strong resistance that led to the assassination of Sultan Selim III in 1807. In 1826, during the reign of Mahmud II, reforms were revived (this time extending beyond the military field) and in the year of 1839 when Abdulmecid was on the throne†2. In the era prior to Tanzimat, power in the Ottoman Empire was centralized and remained in the hands of the Sultan. Sultan Mahmoud II (1800 – 1839) had full and absolute control over state affairs. The conquered territories within the domain of the Ottoman Empire were forcibly integrated into the union and rebellions were not tolerated. â€Å"Mahmud II expended considerable efforts to smash the power of local strongmen and in some parts of the empire, including north-eastern Bulgaria, he was successful†3. T anzimat was meant to move the nation from this military oriented governance that was steeped in the use of force and imposed standards to a more liberal approach that characterised modern nations in that time. Parallels can be drawn from the French Revolution and the American Revolutions which had led to the recognition of civil liberties of individuals and freedoms to citizens. Mustafa Resit Pasa is described as the Father of Tanzimat by many historians. In investigating his rise to power, Shaw identifies that Mustafa Pasa was born in Istambul in 1800 and had began by studying administration, however he cut his service and served his uncle who took him onto an expedition in Moreia4. Pasa witnessed the defeat of the old Ottoman army to Greek rebels who used modern military regimes and due to this, he saw