Is Wal-mart Good for Overseas Workers? Essays -- supermarket industry,

When Wal-mart first entered the supermarket industry back in 1962, they were already off to a disadvantage as the industry during that time was already dominated by well-established and deeply experienced national chains such as Albertsons and Safeway. However, in a period of just ten years, Wal-mart had opened an average of seven supermarkets per month for 120 consecutive months, with a total of 888 supercenters. (Fisherman) By then, Wal-mart became the number one food retailer in the nation. What led Wal-mart from starting out as a rookie grocery market to becoming a dominating, world-wide supercenter? The answer is in their prices, which is generally 15 percent lower than their competitors’. (Fisherman) For this very reason, Wal-mart has changed the lives of many, including the spending habits of the shoppers and the working environments of the factory workers overseas who produces these low-priced products. Although Wal-mart’s slogan â€Å"Save money, live betterà ¢â‚¬  appeals to many of the customers, their actions are putting a burden on factory workers overseas as many are forced to work without the proper benefits and safety regulations. One of the many reasons why Wal-mart is able to manufacture cheap products is because of the ridiculously low wages and long hours given to the workers overseas. They receive little to no benefits, breaks, or vacations. Their working hours typically start before 8A.M. and lasts until 11P.M., seven days a week and they only have ten days off in a year (185). In â€Å"The Wal-mart effect† Robina Akther, a sixteen-year old sewing operator from a factory in Dhaka, discloses that she only earns 13 cents an hour for fourteen hours a day, which is about $26.98 a month (185). Akther also mentioned, â€Å"I clean ... ...e products. These injuries often go unreported since workers are afraid of being fired or punished, and they simply cannot afford to lose their jobs. Furthermore, most factory workers do not have the money to afford medical care and as a result, most do not treat their problems or go into debt trying to pay for medical attention. Once again, Wal-mart is shown to not care about workers’ safety, whether if it is providing them with insufficient safety equipment or blocking the fire escapes to prevent workers from taking breaks. One reason for this is the local labor laws that are unique to each country, such as the minimum wage and safety standards, allow factories to continue operation below the international standard. In addition, many factories operate under the table. Safety reports are faked or many things go unreported, and underage workers are allowed to work.

Acer Weaknesses

Acer closes in on Dell's No. 2 PC ranking By Bruce Einhorn, BusinessWeek Tuesday, January 20, 2009 11:33 AM Just a few years ago there was a clear pecking order in the PC industry, with Dell at the front and Acer way back in the queue. Dell and its U. S. rival Hewlett-Packard were the clear champions, selling far more desktops and laptops than anyone else. Meanwhile, little Acer, a Taiwanese company that had tried and failed in the 1990s to crack the U. S. market, was an also-ran, with worldwide market share in the single digits. As recently as 2003, Acer ranked just seventh in sales around the world. Lately, though, the Taiwanese have been pushing their way ever closer to the front of the line. Market-share numbers published on Jan. 14 by research firm International Data show HP is still on top, with 19. 6 percent of all PC shipments, and Dell is No. 2. But Michael Dell has reason to worry. While Dell shipments fell 6. 3 percent in the fourth quarter, Acer's jumped 25. 3 percent. That not only puts the Taiwanese company solidly in the No. 3 position worldwide, it puts Acer less than two percentage points away from Dell, with 11. 8 percent share to Dell's 13. 7 percent. And Acer is likely to keep on closing the gap, say analysts. In the next two or three quarters, you will probably see Acer surpass Dell,† predicts Daniel Chang, an analyst in Taipei with Macquarie. Gateway Was an Opening What accounts for Acer's rise? The company is benefiting from its US$710 million purchase of Gateway, announced in August 2007. At the time of the deal, Gateway was the third-biggest PC brand in the United States, and the purchase has helped Acer gain ground in a market that had long stymied the Taiwanese company. Shortly after that deal, Acer followed up with the acquisition of the Packard-Bell brand, popular in parts of Europe. According to the latest IDC numbers, Acer now ranks third in the United States, with shipments of 2 million computers in the fourth quarter. That puts Acer ahead of Apple and behind only Dell and HP. Acer declined to make any executives available for comment. Even more important for Acer's market-share rise has been its focus on the hottest new segment in the computer industry, so-called netbooks. These pint-size laptops are light, simple computers that typically cost no more than US$500 and are based on a design that Intel first developed for schoolchildren in emerging markets. The first to realize that the netbook could become a crossover hit in wealthier countries was Acer's Taiwanese rival Asustek Computer, which launched its Eee PC in late 2007. Acer quickly followed, and it soon grabbed the lead. Meanwhile, Dell, HP, and Lenovo hesitated before launching netbooks of their own. â€Å"They didn't start producing the mini-notebooks until late in the game,† says Robert Murtagh, worldwide PC tracker research analyst with IDC in San Mateo, Calif. â€Å"That has given Acer a strategic advantage. † Low-Price Trend With recession-weary consumers hunting for bargains, Acer's focus on inexpensive netbooks—and its longtime role as a lower-cost alternative to the likes of Dell and HP–have helped the company boost shipments. And while the competition in the mini-notebook business is bound to get tougher in 2009, Acer's head start should give it an important edge. â€Å"We believe Acer will continue to be the winner in the low-price trend and the netbook market,† wrote Credit Suisse analysts Robert Cheng and Jill Su in a Jan. 13 report. Moreover, one of Acer's weaknesses, its relatively poor position among corporate customers in the United States, has meant the company has suffered less than Dell and Lenovo, both of which have relied more on sales to businesses. According to IDC, Lenovo shipments fell 4. 8 percent in the fourth quarter; the company on Jan. 8 announced plans to lay off 2,500 employees, 11 percent of its workforce. Tracy Tsai, an analyst in Taipei with market research firm Gartner, says Acer won't need to make the sort of layoffs that others have. â€Å"Acer has real tight management on its costs,† she says, and it has just 6,000 workers. â€Å"The smaller size f Acer puts it in a better position. † Still, Acer faces some headwinds. Credit Suisse estimates 2008 earnings rose 7 percent, to US$353 million, on sales of US$16. 5 billion. But this year profits are likely to fall 7. 5 percent, on a 6 percent drop in sales, the bank says. Macqaurie's Chang expects a slowdown, too, and he warns that Acer's focus on building market share distracts the company from a more important statistic: earnings. As competition heats up further in netbooks, he says, Acer will face pressure to cut prices even more, drawing would-be customers away from its laptops and hurting Acer's bottom line. Everybody's netbook looks very similar now,† says Chang, so companies selling them â€Å"can compete only on price. † For its part, Dell argues against paying too much attention to market-share rankings. â€Å"When we reported our Q3 financial results, we said our focus in this challenging environment was–and continues to be–on positioning Dell for long-term profitable growth by improving our competitiveness and enhancing our leading product and services portfolio,† Dell spokesman David Frink says via email. â€Å"We're in the midst of that now. â€Å"

A Research Study On Helicopter Parenting Essay - 997 Words

College life for the twenty-first century student is not what it used to be. According to an American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment survey, eighty-five percent of college students feel so tremendously overwhelmed they walk through the day blind and just hoping things work out (Fisher). Students lack the ability to focus and manage everything that is piled on them during class. The term helicopter parenting was first common in the 1990’s, but was first used in 1969. Now, forty-seven years later, helicopter parenting has become prevalent in college students’ lives and the culture around people. A helicopter parent is one who takes an overprotective or excessive interest in the life of their child or children. Helicopter parenting does not start out randomly as a college student; helicopter parenting is a process that develops results. The helicopter parent issue is prevalent to many people. People from Doctor Amy Joyce to stay-at-home mom Jamie Porter have done studies to explain the effects of helicopter parenting. Psychologists such as Chris Meno have done research and testings to collect data on helicopter parented children. The issue of helicopter parenting is not just concerning children; it is concerning people across the country. President of Frostburg State University told Amy Joyce parents have called him to settle a dispute between their child and their roommate. 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Helicopter parenting differs from Baumrind’s threeRead MoreHelicopter Parenting And Its Influence On Children s Life1753 Words   |  8 Pages Helicopter parenting has gained increasing awareness in popular media, academic literature, and the general population. For example, recently, several popular parenting books have raised awareness about parental over-involvement and how it may be associated with negative outcomes. The term â€Å"helicopter parent† was first used in a famous parenting book, Parents Teenagers by Dr. Haim Ginott in 1969, by teenagers who described their parents as â€Å"hovering over them†, like a helicopter. This term refers