Lowe’s: a Structural Analysis Essay

Lowe’s was originally started in 1921 by Lucius S. Lowe in the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina and was called Lowe’s North Wilkesboro Hardware Store. The first version of Lowe’s had a different product mix that also included notions, dry goods, horse tack, snuff, produce, and groceries. This was when it was run by Lucius S. Lowe. The business was inherited by his daughter, Ruth, when Lucius died in 1940. She in turn sold the company to her brother James Lowe. In that same year that Jim bought the store him and Ruth’s husband Carl Buchan served in World War II, during the war Ruth and her mother ran the store. After Carl was injured and honorably discharged in 1943 Jim took him on as a partner. Lowe’s was founded in 1946; Lowe’s has grown from a small hardware store to the second-largest home improvement retailer worldwide. This is when Carl Buchan took management over and the store started to focus primarily on hardware and building materials. Carl Buchan later bought-out his brother-in-law and partner, James Lowe, and foreseeing the post-World War II building boom. By eliminating wholesalers and dealing directly with manufacturers, Lowe’s established a lasting reputation for low prices. Sales began to grow over time and additional Lowe’s stores opened in neighboring towns throughout western North Carolina. In 1960, Carl Buchan died of a heart attack at age 44. His five-man executive team, which included Robert Strickland and Leonard Herring, took the company public in 1961. By 1962 Lowe’s operated 21 stores and reported annual revenues of $32 million. In 1979, Lowe’s began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:LOW). During this time, U. S. housing starts soared and professional builders became Lowe’s loyal customers, accounting for the majority of Lowe’s business. In 1982, Lowe’s had its first billion-dollar sales year, earning a record profit of $25 million. Lowe’s stores then reported serving a new type of customer: do-it-yourself homeowners seeking to improve the value of their properties. Anticipating their needs while still accommodating contractors, Lowe’s began to enlarge its stores and expanded its merchandise offerings. The modern Lowe’s began in 1994, when their new store expansion consisted of only large stores, which they defined as stores with greater than 85,000 square feet of selling space. Expansion continued as Lowe’s opened a new store on average every week with our 117,000-square-foot (117K) stores in the nation’s larger metro markets and our newer 94,000-square-foot (94K) stores in the nation’s small to mid-sized markets. Lowe’s opened its first stores in Canada in December 2007 and opened its first stores in Mexico in February 2010. Lowe’s stores stock 40,000 products in 15 product categories ranging from appliances to tools, to paint, lumber and nursery products. Lowe’s has hundreds of thousands of products available by Special Order – offering everything customers need to build, maintain, beautify and enjoy their homes. Lowe’s operates more than 1,745 stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Lowe’s announced on August 25, 2009, that it had entered a joint venture with the Australian retailer Woolworths to enter the Australian market with 150 big box style superstores. Trading under the brand Masters Home Improvement, the first store opened in Braybrook, Victoria, to tradesmen on August 31, 2011, and the general public on September 1, 2011. Today Lowe’s is the second largest home improvement retailer worldwide and the 7th largest retailer in the U. S. Although times have changed since Lowe’s first opened its doors in 1946, Lowe’s values have not – the company remains committed to offering quality home improvement products at the lowest prices, while delivering superior customer service. Lowe’s major competitors include Home Depot and Ace Hardware. In a functional structure the company maintains a CEO with a small corporate staff along with managers in organizational areas such as production, accounting, marketing, R&D, engineering and human resources. Separating the organizational areas of a company allows for specialization in each functional area. However, this separation can have a negative effect as it makes communication between these areas more difficult. This is the type of structure that Lowe’s uses today. Lowe’s shows cost leadership by their low price guarantee, where they will beat any competitors price by 10% on any in stock product. Lowe’s also uses a differentiation strategy to separate themselves from Home Depot by trying to appeal more to women, with the thought that women make most home design decisions. It is believed within the company that Lowe’s stores are cleaner and that their blue and red colors are more welcoming than Home Depot’s bold orange and black. They are also very customer focused by having â€Å"expert† employees who can give customers the knowledge needed to do projects themselves, shown by their â€Å"let’s build something together† advertisements. This is what helps to keep Lowe’s on top and a constant competitor.

Communication Release Chilean Miners Essay

The men trapped in the Chilean mine shaft was one of the world’s most successful operations to release miners from the long underground entrapment. The problem or controversy lied in the government restricting information to the men trapped and censoring and losing letters to the miners sent to them from their family and friends. The people thought this was unjust and failed to realize what rescue mission are all about. Psychological effects The letters sent by friends and family of the Chilean workers trapped underground were being kept by authorities due to the content and the authorities belief that it may have severe psychological impact. Authorities’ course of action caused uncertainty and further unseated the miners. Angry relatives were outraged and confronted government officials outside the cave of the San Jose mine. What the families failed to realize is how their form of communication could unintentionally adversely affect their mental state to the relatives or friends trapped under ground. The family’s side One of the miners, Victor Zamora, expressed his complaints to his family about receiving only one letter from them. He feared that his relatives were hiding things from him. His wife, Jessica Cortes, said that the family had sent at least fifteen letters and explained that she wrote daily, also his brothers and mother had sent many letters as well. What she never thought is what the most important thing was for those miners, uncensored communication with family at the risk of the miner’s mental health or freedom. Letters screened According to Jessica Cortes, there was a team of young women who were described as psychologist who read every letter and would place them in a bag and would only send letters to the miners that they deemed appropriate. The partial reason for this process was due to some miners having more than one woman or several. Reading and holding some of the mail was partially put in place to avoid troubling the miners from their women conflicts. In the beginning there were receiving roughly 33 letters and as the number of incoming letters increased into the hundreds it began to take up too much space, space that could be used to send food and water. Ultimately the rescue party chose food and water over letters and told the families to keep in mind that they were running a rescue operation, not a communications exercise (Solar, L. 2010). They were right in continuing with the rescue mission and not giving too much priority in sending mail because the most important thing is to get everyone out safely. Communication is a luxury that the rescuers and the company allowed to keep the men sane, but the priority should be rescue. Trapped for months During their entrapment the bicentennial celebration of the Chilean Independence day came up and the miners had requested wine and empanadas, along with cigarettes, which is a traditional celebratory menu. Although the psychologist on cite had considered the possibility of granting their request, with the support of health officials they denied the request by saying, â€Å"This is an emergency; we are not celebrating. The Chilean mining industry has 600 years of tradition and drinking inside the mine is not allowed,† said Iturra. Again this is a rescue mission not a mean of celebration and communication. If the people could see where the officials are coming from and why they deny certain requests they would be thankful that they care more about getting them out quickly than keeping them essentially imprisoned within a mine drunk and with lots of letters. Conclusion Search and rescue is defined as the search for and provision of aid to people who are in imminent danger or distress. Rescue missions are difficult, time consuming and stressful for all parties involved. Communication between families and the distressed individuals is not a necessity and only further impeaches on the rescue mission itself. People fail to realize that although it is nice to be able to make contact with family and friends that are in these types of scary situation it is a privilege awarded by authorities not a right. Their priority is to get people out safely in this case it was the collapse of a mine that entrapped several miners. References Franklin, J. (2010). Trapped Chilean miners, families frustrated over mail delivery. Retrieved from, The Washington Post. Johnson, B. (2010). Why is the rescue of the miners in Chile taking so long? Retrieved from about.com Solar, L. (2010). Digital Journal. Retrieved from http://digitaljournal.com/article/297127

Amadeus Essay

Amadeus Is a affectionately account of the relationship between Mozart and Sellers. Mozart Is shown as an exceptional musicals considered today by some to be the greatest of all geniuses in his field having knocked out compositions for assorted solo instruments, opera and symphonic orchestras by the time he was thirty-five years old. Saltier was a talented composer and, had Mozart never lived, he albums might have been available for sale today. . The film Amadeus is fairly accurate although it exaggerates and oversimplifies and appears to take greatest arrant In the area which Is central to the film, the relationship between Mozart and Saltier. II. The relationships of both Mozart and Saltier to life, music and creativity shed some light on the questions raised with respect to the relationship between God and man, although at times that light is confusing and contradictory.Amadeus: Mozart and Salaries The genius Mozart and the frustrated Saltier and their turbulent relationship are the centerpieces of the film, but the setting of Vienna Itself at the hectic end of the eighteenth century Is also a character. It Is an era of great creative turbulence but nee which nevertheless did not take easily to Mozart brilliant compositions. The talented but conventional and limited Saltier, on the other hand, was favored by those with the power to elevate artists to heights of fame.The film delves into this struggle of Mozart for recognition in an allegedly Enlightenment-oriented Viennese society, and In doing so Is certainly not far from accurate. Mozart and his family were needy due to absurdly low fees for his teaching, the neglectful public who did not understand or appreciate his operas, the businessmen who cheated him. The film s not truly biographical with respect to either man. While Saltier, the narrator, does straightforwardly cover the early life of his rival, that period is far less crucial than the final ten years of Mozart life which the film focuses on.That early life depicts Mozart as a musical prodigy, touring with his father Leopold (a great influence in his life) and sister through Europe, his ample and liberal education, and his first serious compositional operatic effort In music. In keeping with M ozart commitment to individuality (one aspect of the Enlightenment he began to show more independence from his fathers influence later in life. For example, Mozart married a woman in defiance of his fathers wishes in Vienna.More importantly than choice in women to Mozart, however, was his artistic and creative freedom. In a letter to his father from Vienna, at roughly the beginning of the ten year period covered in the film, Mozart expresses bitter disappointment at his fathers protest against his sons angry denunciation of the Archbishop (l hate the Archbishop to madness! ) and his All of these basic facts of Mozart life are roughly accurate resignation at Vienna. Is the portrayal of Saltier as a man who is generally more favored by the Viennese, especially the elites. The greater favor Saltier receives does not gratify him, however, because he knows Mozart is the better composer. The film begins to stray into exaggeration when it zeroes In on its true concernthe last decade of Mozart life In Vienna and his relationship with Saltier. Although the film portrays the two as recognize a rivalry but mention Saltier only a few t imes and then with digressiveness. He greatest inaccuracy seems to be in the most compelling and important part of he film in which Mozart dies from Galleries hand after dictating his final work to his rival. In reality, it appears that this murder, in effect, is a storytelling fantasy for dramatic purposes. Davenport states that the murder was a vicious rumor which, unlike what we see in the film, Saltier vociferously denied: No human hand had poisoned Wolfgang, but in his desperate hours [Mozart] wove the idea out of his harried brain. Saltier was horrified when the ghoulish tale reached him. Davenport also notes that Galleries bitter Jealousy of Mozart softened as he aged and in the end e expressed admiration for his dead rival (Davenport Mozart shared the liberalism of the Enlightenment artist in terms of his innovative and revolutionary artistry, but Saltier was far more the rationalist, another essential aspect of the Enlightenment. The difficulty in applying Enlightenment standards to Mozart in particular is that he was far more the genius/artist than he was a philosopher, or scientist, or rationalist, and those concerns were paramount in the Enlightenment.Certainly his music was guided and shaped by an order which Mozart genius Imposed, but what makes Mozart music and personality extraordinary is that they Newer marked by that genius which suggests a more intimate relationship between and him than most human beings ever experience. There is the sense in a prodigy that the raw and brilliant stuff of life is exposed in all its wildness, despite the fact that Mozart labored and studied with great dedication and energy to produce his musical works. Saltier, on the other hand, was far more the controlled man, the man whose passions did not carry him away as they did Mozart.Perhaps it Mould be fairer to see Mozart as the Romantic Genius and Saltier as the Enlightenment Thinker. The latter contrast between Saltier and Mozart makes up the heart and soul of the film. For example, except for the final scene in which Saltier Norms with Mozart and we see the process of the genius of Mozart in its full expression, the film seems to suggest that creating incredible music came easy to Mozart. However, the composer himself declared, People make a mistake who think my art has come easily to me. Nobody has devoted so much time and thought to composition as l. There is not a famous master whose music I have not studied over and over (Secure). The creative, artistic character, especially in its extraordinary or genius form, is complex and contradictory. In order to create a more dramatic and perhaps more simple story, author Peter Shaffer and director Mills Forman chose to emphasize the wilder aspects of Mozart and the more controlled aspects of Saltier. Rhea complexities of both men, apparent in more historically-based accounts, are forfeited to the drama of this exaggerated and simplified contrast.The choice reduced an exciting and popular film (which is amazing itself for the life of two classical composers dead two hundred years), but an inaccurate historical portrait of those men. The films portrayal of the two composers as being so completely foreign to one another is to fail to see that there is indeed in every artist both an active heart and mind. One dominates, but the other must be engaged. The heart must inspire the mind, but the mind must channel the heart. Mozart was no more all heart than Saltier was all mind, but that is the extreme contrast the film tries to portray.Both the Enlightenment. Certainly Mozart sought liberation from religious, social or any other restriction in terms of creative expression, while Saltier, especially as portrayed in the film, was indeed inhibited by many such considerations of conformity and the need for acceptance. On the other hand, Mozart expressed obedience to Gods will, if not to religion. The Requiem sequence in the film is crucial to an understanding of both Galleries and Mozart world views (their perspective on what art is, what their relationship with God is, where they fit into the world, etc.While watching the opera Don Giovanni, Saltier realizes a terrible way that he can triumph over God. It is both a triumph over Mozart as well as God, however that Saltier seeks. In fact, it seems that Saltier himself feels so separate from God, so unappreciated and unrewarded by God, in comparison to Mozart (who appears so close to God in his genius and the sublime music he creates), Saltier feels he must defeat God rather than love or be loved by Him.He madly equates God with the brilliant Mozart, and believes that stealing the life and the music from Mozart will give him a victory over ND Mozart. He disguises himself in the same outfit worn previously by Mozart father Leopold and tricks Mozart into writing a requiem mass. This terrible scene leads eventually to the death of Mozart, directly or indirectly caused by the Jealous and maddened Saltier, but before the end, Saltier enters for the first time (along with the audience) into the thrilling process of Mozart genius in the act of creating.Saltier was talented but unable to create such astounding music himself. At least he has seen what it is like to be near genius in action as Mozart on his deathbed estates his last piece, the Confutation, to the enthralled Saltier. Saltier lived a much more controlled and controlling life than the passionate Mozart, and this is reflected in the film, with, again, the writer and director choosing to emphasize the differences between the two men and excise any signs of similarity in terms of personality.For the sake of film storytelling, the greater the contrast in the two leading characters, the better the drama. The films creators in the most inaccurate part of the film have simply stuck together separate facts which are in evidence (the viably, the creation of the Requiem, the death of Mozart, Mozart deathbed paranoia caused by not only his dying but a life of struggle and lack of appropriate recognition) and produced an imaginary set of scenes in which Saltier played a far more central role than he did in fact play.Certainly, as the sources unanimously state, Saltier in life and history did not take credit for killing Mozart, or even for wishing him dead. To the contrary, he was by all accounts horrified and haunted that anybody would think he would do so. In the film, however, the desire for Mozart death at Galleries hand is expressed explicitly by Saltier: Echo mi. [Behold me. ] Antonio Saltier. Ten years of my hate have poisoned you to death. Mozart cries for God and Saltier responds {in the atheistic position associated with the Enlightenment), God?!God will not help HOLD! God does not Help! God does not love you, Amadeus! God does not love! He can only use! He cares nothing for whom he uses: nothing for whom he denies! The Norms are entirely invented, but they are likely indicative of the true view of Saltier: that his virtuous and hard work was not properly rewarded by God, while Mozart Unawareness and easy genius were flooded with rewards. The latter assumption, of course, is preposterous, for Mozart died in poverty.

Nature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nature - Essay Example Such is the case for the two stories examined here. As it is well known in literary circles, not everything that the writer intends to tell is told directly. Some messages are indirectly conveyed. Such is the case with these two stories – Stephen Crane’s â€Å"Maggie: A Girl of the Streets† and â€Å"The Open Boat.† Before one starts to make any point about these two stories, it must be emphasized that there is really no story which nature is not inherent. No matter where the physical setting of any story is, it would also be within the confines of nature. Hence, one must mention that one of the most significant scenes in â€Å"Maggie: A Girl of the Streets† is set by the edge of a river. This is where the â€Å"huge fat man† Maggie eventually takes her. The scene is important because it is where Maggie is believed to have lost her life (Crane 36). Similarly, the setting of â€Å"The Open Boat† is a ship on the seas. Like in â€Å"Mag gie: A Girl of the Streets†, the setting again has something to do with water (nature) (Crane 189). The only difference is that this time, water is not only a symbol; it may also be interpreted to directly affect the lives of the human race. One gets to learn that in life, we all undergo certain issues from time to time, and we, not others, are the best to help ourselves out. Nature would remain fair to all. Whenever one discovers the level to which some persons lack the milk of human kindness, one is often amazed. This most time makes one to just re-examine one’s life and the ethos which one has imbued over time. For instance in â€Å"Maggie: A Girl of the Streets†, one cannot but wonder why it seems that characters like Jimmie and Blue Billie just seem to be so bellicose that they desire to be in a brawl at the slightest provocation (Crane 13). At such times when the bellicosity of these characters is at its peak, one also wonders if they ever had elderly ones to direct them. It is very obvious that Jimmie had someone who is in the place to put him through the best way to behave in the society. But from the look of things, it is either that they were never taught or that he rejected what they were taught. From what one discovers in the story, what may turn out to be third possibility is very unlikely. This third possibility is that the parents themselves do not possess strong moral standings to be able to teach their children the ethos which they need to know. The same thing applies to â€Å"The Open Boat.† Everyone is supposed to have been brought up in such a way that would be able discern when a person is seriously in need of their help or not. In the case of the people whom the shipwrecked men appeal to come for their help, they were simply unable to discern when people seriously need their help and when they don’t. Besides the fact that one, as a reader, is taught indirectly to learn from the bad examples of some charac ters, one is to learn not to tow their way. While readers learn from the flaws of some of these characters, some emotions are evoked in them. In the long run, these are the emotions that would come to play in stopping from taking the wrong decisions in life. One other feature which one learns from the two stories is that, no matter how much one tries to cover up the truth, it would eventually come out. One also discovers that one’s true characters only come to the fore when facing some trying times. For example, in â€Å"

Doctorate of business administration in international business (DBA) Personal Statement

Doctorate of business administration in international business (DBA) - Personal Statement Example In fact, I had never heard of these terms, and did not think it was necessary to carry out such activities. Consequently, as you can imagine, I lost all my money from that experience. Fortunately, my parents were still financially supporting me, and I wasn’t responsible for a wife and children, car payments, or rent, etc. I was grateful that I still had a roof over my head, but I felt like a complete fool. I vowed then and there not to let that happen to me again. I learned some very important lessons from the above-mentioned debacle, especially about greed. Slow, steady earnings that keep pace with your life are just fine. Investments that yield higher profits more quickly are nice but they are also inherently risky. Using the Madoff scandal as a model of what not to do as an investor, I know now that diversification of assets is essential. Putting all your eggs in one basket so to say is never a wise practice in the world of investment. There are just too many uncontrollable and uncertain variables that could take down any one company or industry. I learned from my failures in investing. With a long career ahead of me, I can afford to take some risks, but should also focus on building a stable, long-term portfolio. On a much larger scale, this is the best time to be studying the failures of our economic systems and how we can build stronger, more secure ones for the future. It is clear that having a comprehensive knowledge of the law is as important as studying business alone. It is also important to do business with trustworthy institutions, and to do extensive preliminary research, such as through examining the company’s own as well as independent reports. In the past, we could rely on reputable brokerage firms, stockbrokers, and the advice of successful friends, but this is no longer an option, and calls for greater international regulatory and enforcement agencies have been

Halford Mackinder Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Halford Mackinder - Essay Example As the discussion stresses the ability of European powers to exert their influence was sorely tested through the manner in which they competed among themselves. This was especially the case considering that most of the actions that they undertook to ensure their greatness tended to go against the interests of other powers. In this way, such countries as Germany had a hard time because they could not exert their influence in any direction within Europe in such a way that it was surrounded by European powers such as Britain to the west, Russia to the east, and Austria-Hungary to the south. The result was that this country could not take any action that risked antagonising any of its neighbours, hence creating a situation where there was likely to be war on the European continent.This paper discusses that  the rise of new powers such as the United States and Japan posed a challenge to the European dominance of the world especially when one considers that these were relatively young in dustrialised countries, which could also exert their influence over their immediate regions. It is through the rise of these powers that it became possible to notice that European powers were on the decline. The ability of European powers, especially Britain, to bring its influence to bear over the rest of the world came to be sorely tested through the coming of these two powers on the scene.  The closing of the global political system meant regional powers were rising which were essentially challenging the status quo.

TOPICS CHOOSEN BY WRITER IN ACCORDENCE WITH PAPER INSTRUCTIONS Essay

TOPICS CHOOSEN BY WRITER IN ACCORDENCE WITH PAPER INSTRUCTIONS - Essay Example The key question is that The USA has one of the highest poverty rates in the world and its getting worse for the nation, with a total population of almost 37 million Americans living below the official poverty line, living on less than the substantiated amount of funds required to fulfill their food, clothing and lodging needs, so how do they need to be helped? Despite efforts made by the government in countering this issue, poverty has seen to be increasing in the near future; since the time that the recession hit the country, almost 27% of the people have been living in doom. â€Å"The report warns that the numbers will continue to rise, because although the recession is technically over, its continued impact on cuts to welfare budgets and the quality of new, often poorly paid, jobs can be expected to force many more people in to poverty. It is also difficult for those already under water to get back up again.† (Geal, Chris) America has a diverse range of people living that fall under the vulnerable part of society and has not been able to recover them since the recession; this has led them to further tumble into a state of mass poverty, something they are not able to come out of. Their social security needs have not been taken care of the government on a large scale and this is leading the circle to simply grow larger. In the recent times, the country has also been hit by a large number of natural disasters like hurricanes which have caused widespread and mass levels of destruction – homes have been destroyed and what does not seem to help is the fact that it is the poor that have been targeted by this act of god more than the wealthy sections of society. Unemployment in the economy is another major issue that has led to rampant poverty; the lack of jobs in the country, despite the repeated efforts of the government and the President’s motivational speeches, have done nothing for those that fall below the poverty