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The Epic Of Gilgamesh, By Herbert Mason - 2237 Words

Life is full of unexpected challenges; it is how we deal with them that either makes us stronger or weaker as an individual. We either grow up mentally from the challenges we face, or we don’t grow up at all. One challenge that we are all going to have to face, if we haven’t already, is what it feels like to lose a loved one. No matter what we do, we can’t prevent it. We are all going to have to experience grief and learn how to cope with our losses. However, in the story of one man who couldn’t take the fact that someone as powerful as himself could lose a loved one, had no other choice but to learn the hard way of how to cope with his loss. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, a retold story by the best-selling author, Herbert Mason, tells the story of a king who was two thirds god and one third man. He was full of pride and made himself superior to others. Because he was so arrogant and oppressive to his people, it seemed that he needed companionship from someone that was the opposite of himself. He needed a friend that would show him how to be humble and have consideration for others. When he meets and befriends his perfect companion, they become unstoppable as they love and protect one another like brothers. However, these friends couldn’t be more opposite; one was two thirds god and one third man, while the other was an animal like man. This is the story of two beings becoming human together. This is the story of a king who thought that he was so mighty and powerful that heShow MoreRelatedThe Epic Of Gilgamesh, By Herbert Mason880 Words   |  4 PagesGilgamesh is an ancient text which still exists today, it dates back to approximately 3,000 B.C. Despite the fact that it is old, people can still relate to its themes today. A few themes portrayed within the story include, love, friendship, the meaning of life, and death. A book that well represents a human’s existence in this world. At some point every individual experience s those issues in their life. Gilgamesh represents existentialism; a philosophy that emphasizes individual existence, freedomRead MoreThe Role of Enkidu Essay1064 Words   |  5 PagesEpics are characterized by longevity of text, a poetic style, and an account of the accomplishments of a legendary hero. Herbert Mason’s interpretation of an extract of the Epic of Gilgamesh lacks a large amount of text and the legendary hero so common in later epics such as Odyssey and Beowulf. Because the later epics are considered to be based on the Epic of Gilgamesh it is important to consider why, in Mason’s translation, is there a lack of an impressive amount of text and of a legendary heroRead MoreCompare Contrast Gilgamesh and Beowulf1426 Words   |  6 PagesComparison and Contrast Essay Final Draft: Gilgamesh vs. Beowulf The epics of Beowulf and Gilgamesh are about a pair of heroes who had many common characteristics as well as characteristics that contradict one another. Beowulf is a Christian epic that roots from the Anglo Saxon culture. Throughout the plot, there are numerous biblical allusions. â€Å"Grendel who haunted the moors, the wild Marshes, and made his home in a hell not hell but earth. He was spawned in that slime, conceived by a pair ofRead MoreEssay about The Role of Women in the Epic of Gilgamesh1125 Words   |  5 PagesWhat if women ruled the world? The question does not seem so strange today as it may have back in 2500 B.C.E., an age when people tell stories of the Great King of Uruk--Gilgamesh. Although the story of â€Å"Gilgamesh† revolves around themes of masculinity and brotherhood--with its male prerogative, its composers develop several strong female characters which suggest women have great influence in a male-dominated, Mesopotamian society. The first female character that influences a man is the prostituteRead MoreTheme Of Sexuality In Gilgamesh1484 Words   |  6 PagesSexuality in Gilgamesh: Through history, independent cultures have developed stories, legends and myths that share common roots. From Shakespeares dramas to modern soap operas, the expression of the collective subconscious creates similarities in theme and purpose that transcend differences of time, genre, or race. Among these universal themes, one in particular echoes more than the rest: sexuality, and its importance. In the worlds oldest text, Gilgamesh, sexuality’s role is depicted prominentlyRead MoreThings Fall Apart and Exile Essay1047 Words   |  5 Pagesself-imposed banishment from one’s home or given as a form of punishment. Exile results in solitude; leaving people only time to reflect upon their self. B. The main characters in The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Tempest, and Things Fall Apart all encounter exile due to their actions. C. (THESIS) – The protagonists, Gilgamesh, Prospero, and Okonkwo all have experiences of exile which alienate them from their homeland, but as hurtful as it is for them to go through; their experience alienates them causingRead MoreAnalysis Of The Epic Of Gilgamesh 1596 Words   |  7 PagesChristina Moore July 23, 2015 In the verse narrative The Epic of Gilgamesh the principal character Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, is described as a being that is two-thirds god and one-third man. Gilgamesh is a hero/protagonist who exhibits many more human features than divine features. This makes him a flawed hero because all humans are flawed. The Epic of Gilgamesh is the same type of story that is seen in the Old Testament. The story itself was found on stone tablets, written in the same time periodRead MoreAnalysis Of The Epic Of Gilgamesh Essay2178 Words   |  9 PagesGeorgia Perimeter College Epic of Gilgamesh Jung M Gu World Literature 129 Liam Madden 12/2/2016 â€Æ' Jung Gu Professor Liam Madden World Literature 11/30/16 The Epic of Gilgamesh The story about Gilgamesh is one of the earliest pieces of world literature dating back to the second millennium B.C.E. This story has been evolved gradually over a long span of a millennium, and has been enjoyed by many nations. The Epic of Gilgamesh teaches life lessons that apply to the past and presentRead More A Jungian Analysis of the Epic of Gilgamesh Essay3198 Words   |  13 PagesA Jungian Analysis of the Epic of Gilgamesh   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This paper will provide a unique, psychological perspective on a timeless story that is alive with mythological and religious splendor. I must state clearly that this is not the first time that Gilgamesh has been viewed in the light of the philosophy of Jung.   One of two Jung essays I happened upon while preparing my research was the Psychology of Religion. Although I initially felt that this source would provide little help with my paper, I

Influence of Fictional Character on Casual Fashion Free Essays

Influence of fictional character on casual fashion:Abstract: This research paper focuses on the influence of fictional character on day to day fashion. The branding of the companies like Netflix, Disney, Marvel, DC has a lot to do in this. This is the reason that this kind of fashion is not bound to any age group or gender. We will write a custom essay sample on Influence of Fictional Character on Casual Fashion or any similar topic only for you Order Now This fictional character prints or motif can change the value of a simple t-shirt, just because someone likes the character. Keywords: Fandom, Graphic, Fiction, Casual Fashion, Street-wearIntroduction: Human being a very social animal tend to look for pathways to convey its unique ideas to a greater majority. Apart from serious topics such as Politics, Religion and Race, fan-fiction or a talk over people’s favourite is considered as a very unique way to establish your physical or virtual identity not among teenagers as well as young-adults. Especially for young-adults who navigate from one place to another during their formative years tend to meet a lot of people. Be it the person you sit next to during class or your roommate, you need to establish a social network because most of us don’t want to be considered as eccentric or introverts. Hence a popular television fandom is the only way. The term â€Å"fandom† describes a community of people who bond over a common interest. People following such fandom tend to express themselves in very unique ways. As a result they form a huge market for brands such as free authority who excel at merchandising such television shows and movies. Moreover, there are numerous websites who deal with customised t-shirts which absolutely rely on fan-fiction propaganda. Research Objective:To study the impact of popular television series and movie on Casual Fashion for kids and young-adults. To study the role of branding and merchandising in creating such fandom driven products.Research Method:Research Type: Exploratory research as it tries to explore the market of fandom driven productsData Collection Technique: Data collected will only be secondaryReview of Literature:A fictional character is a person or other being in a narrative of a series,videogames,movie etc. It can be 2 dimensional or 3 dimensional. The term cartoon originated in the Middle Ages and first described a prepare story drawing for a piece of art, such as painting, fresco, tapestry or stained glass window . In 19th century, it came to refer to humorous illustrations in magazines and newspapers. And in early 20th century and on words it refer to comic strips and animated films.The populery which this fictional character got,it influenced fashion in many ways.From a kid to a young adult every one wanted this merchandise. Gupta, S. and Panna, B. (2015). Effect of Cartoon Shows on Kids Fashion. International Journal of scientific research and management (IJSRM), [online] 3(6), pp.1-2. Available at: http://ijsrm.in/v3-i6/27%20ijsrm.pdf [Accessed 15 Apr. 2018]. How Manga and Anime influence Fashionhttp://otapleonehalf.tumblr.com/post/126507841313/how-manga-and-anime-influence-fashionAnalysis and Interpretation:Conclusion: Refernce Wilkin, D. (2014). The influential impact of fandoms. Fandoms are indicative of passion and dedication, don’t be so quick to judge.. [online] The Diamondback. Available at: http://www.dbknews.com/archives/article_fac2e8e6-3def-11e4-ab37-001a4bcf6878.html [Accessed 14 Apr. 2018]. http://ijsrm.in/v3-i6/27%20ijsrm.pdf http://otapleonehalf.tumblr.com/post/126507841313/how-manga-and-anime-influence-fashion https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/gallery/2015/sep/17/minnie-mouse-how-the-disney-cartoon-influenced-fashion http://www.complex.com/style/2012/08/how-90s-cartoons-influenced-todays-style-trends/patterned-shorts How to cite Influence of Fictional Character on Casual Fashion, Papers Influence of Fictional Character on Casual Fashion Free Essays Abstract: This research paper focuses on the influence of fictional character on day to day fashion. The branding of the companies like Netflix, Disney, Marvel, DC has a lot to do in this. This is the reason that this kind of fashion is not bound to any age group or gender. We will write a custom essay sample on Influence of Fictional Character on Casual Fashion or any similar topic only for you Order Now This fictional character prints or motif can change the value of a simple t-shirt, just because someone likes the character. Keywords: Fandom, Graphic, Fiction, Casual Fashion, Street-wear Human being a very social animal tend to look for pathways to convey its unique ideas to a greater majority. Apart from serious topics such as Politics, Religion and Race, fan-fiction or a talk over people’s favourite is considered as a very unique way to establish your physical or virtual identity not among teenagers as well as young-adults. Especially for young-adults who navigate from one place to another during their formative years tend to meet a lot of people. Be it the person you sit next to during class or your roommate, you need to establish a social network because most of us don’t want to be considered as eccentric or introverts. Hence a popular television fandom is the only way. The term â€Å"fandom† describes a community of people who bond over a common interest. People following such fandom tend to express themselves in very unique ways. As a result they form a huge market for brands such as free authority who excel at merchandising such television shows and movies. Moreover, there are numerous websites who deal with customised t-shirts which absolutely rely on fan-fiction propaganda. Research Objective: To study the impact of popular television series and movie on Casual Fashion for kids and young-adults. To study the role of branding and merchandising in creating such fandom driven products. Research Type: Exploratory research as it tries to explore the market of fandom driven products Data Collection Technique: Data collected will only be secondary Review of Literature A fictional character is a person or other being in a narrative of a series, videogames, movie etc. It can be 2 dimensional or 3 dimensional. The term cartoon originated in the Middle Ages and first described a prepare story drawing for a piece of art, such as painting, fresco, tapestry or stained glass window. In 19th century, it came to refer to humorous illustrations in magazines and newspapers. And in early 20th century and on words it refer to comic strips and animated films. The popularity which this fictional character got,it influenced fashion in many ways. From a kid to a young adult every one wanted this merchandise. Gupta, S. and Panna, B. (2015). Effect of Cartoon Shows on Kids Fashion. International Journal of scientific research and management (IJSRM), [online] 3(6), pp.1-2. Available at: http://ijsrm.in/v3-i6/27%20ijsrm.pdf [Accessed 15 Apr. 2018]. How Manga and Anime influence Fashionhttp://otapleonehalf.tumblr.com/post/126507841313/how-manga-and-anime-influence-fashion Refernce Wilkin, D. (2014). The influential impact of fandoms. Fandoms are indicative of passion and dedication, don’t be so quick to judge.. [online] The Diamondback. Available at: http://www.dbknews.com/archives/article_fac2e8e6-3def-11e4-ab37-001a4bcf6878.html [Accessed 14 Apr. 2018]. http://ijsrm.in/v3-i6/27%20ijsrm.pdfhttp://otapleonehalf.tumblr.com/post/126507841313/how-manga-and-anime-influence-fashionhttps://www.theguardian.com/fashion/gallery/2015/sep/17/minnie-mouse-how-the-disney-cartoon-influenced-fashionhttp://www.complex.com/style/2012/08/how-90s-cartoons-influenced-todays-style-trends/patterned-shorts How to cite Influence of Fictional Character on Casual Fashion, Papers

Corporate Sector In Australia Considering â€Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Disuss About The Corporate Sector In Australia Considering? Answer: Introduction The present study is based on case evaluation of companies who went into liquidation and had impacted Australian economy significantly. The study will include a description of liquidation of companies and primary factors that led corporate entities to this situation. Analysis and evaluation in the study will be supported by case examples of ABC Learning, HIH Insurance and One.Telphone Company. It will also include lessons that learnt by companies operating in Australia from this major collapses. Liquidation of companies in Australia Liquidation or winding up is process undertaken legally for the closure of all operating activities of the business. It involves selling all asset of the business and winding up the affairs of the company as stated by the law (Hodne and et, al 2013). The process of liquidation undertaken by law brings the end of a company as it is a lawfully created entity which cannot die a natural death. In accordance with the case study of Carnegie and OConnell (2014) economic downturn leads to corporate failure, even though there are controlled changes in specific characteristics of the company. The information that is necessary to rank companies according to failure risk is provided in company specific factors. Debt at risk frame work measures the contribution of failure of cooperation to financial risk stability (Chen, Ramsay and Welsh, 2016). This shows that it is usually concentrated in large companies and corporate debt at risk is low in total. It also indicated the importance of trade credit, in the leverage form that can have an impact on corporate failure and as a potential channel which promotes shocks. The ability to transmit distress in the business increases its importance towards financial stability. Case examples of liquidation ABC Learning The collapse of ABC Learning is considered to be a crucial case of liquidation in Australia. As per the view point of Damiani, Bourne and Foo (2015), the primary reason of liquidation was the low supervision of the government. Further ABC Company implemented the trick of the Macquarie Bank of leveraging a consistent streamline of income financially to finance acquisitions, and expected an always increasing market share price would finance the infinite growth (Crockett and Ali, 2015). However, they do not contain the sense or the base of a varied asset to drive the model effectively and were utterly exposed to a significant increase in costs of credit. The government has the total role in providing half revenue for 70 percent in private sectors for childcare services. It must not be more rapid release in the concept of taking control over the management of ABC learning. The absolute size, the debt of firm- it has loans of approx $1b or above to the big four banks alone, will be more difficult even if the budget excesses to be limitless (Betta, 2016). Been pointed out by Sue Lines, ABC Learning does not own the land by which its centres are located. How much land the company holds is still mysterious. There is no point to say anything about the $20m in fundamental entitlements for employees. Another option for this aspect, however, is exclusive of profited centres of the cited company, leaving unprofitable or low-profit centres in limbo (Clarke and Dean, 2014). Relatively, the government must not begin to play a governance role proportionate to its importance of finance. The proposed company board, imbalanced with the politicians, seems to be failed in practising a vital level of controlling over the management of Eddy Groves. HIH Insurance The plan of HIH soap composition is well-known, as the company suffered from a failure in 2001 with debts of approx $5.3billion, which Ray Williams and their legion received by gross collapse, and charged a very little for premium and failed to pay out sufficient amount to claims. They covered through under reserving that will increase profits and making use of financial reinsurance agreements to convert a loss into profits. The chief executive of the company, Williams diverted the community of investment through a series of takeovers, that ended in paying out of amount $300 million in 1998 for Rodney Adler's FAI Insurances. Mark Westfield's easy yet effective past of the collapse of HIH is likely to be aimed for those who desired to chase the money instead of personalities. During 1999, HIH takes over its major competitors, FAI Insurance by considering the fact that chief executive of company Rodney Adler as one of its corporate directors (Miglani, Ahmed and Henry, 2015). With approximate $8.1bn base of an asset in the 2000 year end. HIH is largely apparent as a deep, reliable and healthy company. However individual internal records showed the debt leverage ratio of company and liabilities of insurance were relatively too high, due to this, there was a high risk of insolvency (Brennan, 2014). At last, in 2001, the corporate unstable financial position becomes weaker day by day, and HIH suffered from the biggest ever collapse in the history of Australia, bearing the loss of more than $5bn. The company was progressing to operate effectively in order to service and examine old claims, without the taking of new business on boards. A financial regulator of Australia establishes to identify the clear event chains that resulted in the collapse of HIH. Another main factor determined in the failure of HIH was the deficiency to offer proper future claims, and all problems arise from his sole issue. Concealing future claims is considered to be an essential element of any insurance company; however by the termination of its existence the company was in a situation where only a 1.7 percent negative shifty could bring the firm to insolvency. The main reason for the collapse was misstatements in new and changing conditions of the market, that raised liabilities of the firm adversely and strategic planning was unable to conceal it, and this may be likely to amend these changes (Brennan and Fenech, 2014). New and changing conditions of the market can lead to severe damage to any insurance company. However, these risks are recognizably, and most of the companies make extra efforts to reduce their experience to these changes. The reason that HIH radically exposed itself in its every part was the intense quick expansion of the company. As ment ioned before, HIH obtained several companies in its ending years and creating an extreme force for global expansion. At last, it is now all clear that HIH must be more careful while following its expansion and must have such steps that ensured that its liabilities are timely covered. Through rapid expansion, the company entered in those markets in which they had no or little experience, although none of the provision seems to be made for the requirements to take additional margins when entering into new markets (Welsh, 2014). This is said to be the proper case of mismanagement and over attitude in the time period of expansion. One.Telphone Company In 2001, the OneTel collapse was considered to be the major collapse ever. During the collapse, it was among the 4th largest tele company in Australia with approximately two million consumers and handing its operations in over eight countries. Analysis of both qualitative and quantitative information from various sources recommended that the collapse of One-Tel collapse is a typical case of failed hopes and expectations, misstatements, wrong use of pricing policy and uncontrolled growth (Dagwell, Wines and Lambert, 2015). The firms sudden growth and downfall were linked with severe lacks in its corporate governance inclusive of failure in internal control, quality of audit, board study management, and managerial communication with the board, financial reporting and weak links of executive paying. Hence, the failure of One-Tel contains various significant aspects of corporate governance role in avoiding company collapse. One.Tel had the weak quality of financial reporting and earnings as well. It was possible to record minor positive earni9ngs in its initial time period because of its non-traditional policy of accounting options and huge positive accumulations. It contained poor controls over internal system and inconsistency in reporting and recording (Keneley, Wines and Jain, 2017). However, it also has a low-quality audit. It constantly achieved a weak and incompetent audit estimations regardless of severe contravene of Corporations Act, auditing standards in 1998. Although One-Tels declining working cash shortage, problems in cash collecting and losses covered by none traditional policies of accounting, companys auditor were unable to solve the issues. There was minimal variation in the boards opinion (Chen, 2016). The management didnt reveal to the board regarding the solvency position and performance of the firm. On the contrary to this, the no- supervisory directors were incapable of examining the efficiency of the management and asked weird questions to management regarding how they work in business, the association of executive pay with the performance was very poor in the company. The managerial authorities achieved huge bonus on performance at the time of declining companys performance. The collapse of One-Tels collapse left various courses on companys strategies. Primarily, it is not sufficient to obtain customer in big scale unless and until those customer supply to firms profitability. Next, pricing policies according to of competitors just to get market shares, and this can lead to terrible consequences. It is not sufficient to produce sales revenue until those revenues are gathered in a timely manner (cash). One-Tel termination left various lessons on companys governance also (Gray, 2017). Initially, powerful internal system control, quality of financial reporting and audit, effectual management inspection, revealing of corporate affairs to the board, and a solid connection with executive payments and corporate performance are essential for firms effective corporate governance. Next, the board is less interested in identifying issues and problems of firms where there is leading CEO in firm. After that, beard teams which are not executive must prepare their own explorations to the firm performance and strategies (Manganelli and et al., 2014). Thus, non-executive board members must be provided admission to upper to lower management to certify the reliability of information. Further, firms large investors must be actively interested in overseeing the firm. The involvement of auditor in the service of an audit might give and take audit quality. The board members must always control on the meeting of the board to preside the agenda of the board to assess the management attitude efficiently. Conclusion The present study shows that increasing financial obligations is not the sole primary reason for liquidation by considering three major cases of collusion in Australia. For long term sustainability, businesses must comply with regulatory and ethical aspects by considering long term financial aspects instead of focusing on short term benefits. Present study clarifies the fact that chances of failure of public companies are much more than private companies as they take more risk with greater separation of ownership and more controlling power given to their managers. Subsidiary companies of foreign parents are less likely to fail as compared to stand alone companies. An important role is played by the cyclical factors which include usual suspects like high leverage, low profitability and low liquidity. These cyclical determinants that are related to the rate of failure are same for listed as well as unlisted companies. But, leverage increase and size decrease raise the chances of failur e for listed companies whereas ageing decrease the probability of failure of unlisted companies. Hence it can be cited that liquidity and profitability are important for all companies. Further, aggregate conditions also determine the failure rates annually. References Betta, M., 2016. Three Case Studies: Australian HIH, American Enron, and Global Lehman Brothers. InEthicmentality-Ethics in Capitalist Economy, Business, and Society(pp. 79-97). Springer Netherlands. Brennan, D. and Fenech, M., 2014. Early Education and Care in Australia: Equity in a Mixed Market-Based System?.An Equal Start?: Providing Quality Early Education and Care for Disadvantaged Children, pp.171-192. Brennan, D., 2014. The business of care: Australias experiment with the marketisation of childcare.Australian Public Policy: Progressive Ideas in the Neoliberal Ascendency, pp.151-167. Carnegie, G.D. and OConnell, B.T., 2014. A longitudinal study of the interplay of corporate collapse, accounting failure and governance change in Australia: Early 1890s to early 2000s.Critical Perspectives on Accounting,25(6), pp.446-468. Chen, S., 2016. A look at how the Commissioner deals with phoenix companies.Taxation in Australia,51(2), p.74. Chen, V., Ramsay, I. and Welsh, M.A., 2016. Corporate law reform in Australia: An analysis of the influence of ownership structures and corporate failure. Clarke, F. and Dean, G., 2014. Corporate Collapse: Regulatory, Accounting and Ethical Failure. InAccounting and Regulation(pp. 9-29). Springer New York. Crockett, M. and Ali, M.J., 2015. Auditor independence and accounting conservatism: Evidence from Australia following the corporate law economic reform program.International Journal of Accounting Information Management,23(1), pp.80-104. Dagwell, R., Wines, G. and Lambert, C., 2015.Corporate accounting in Australia. Pearson Higher Education AU. Damiani, C., Bourne, N. and Foo, M., 2015. The HIH claims support scheme.Economic Round-up, (1), p.37. Gray, J., 2017. The simultaneous application of section 424 (1) and section 22 (1).Without Prejudice,17(4), pp.14-15. Hodne, N., Murphy, S., Ottenbacher, M. and Ruggles, T., 2013. Australia and the United States: A Comparison and Contrast of Corporate Governance Practices. Keneley, M., Wines, G. and Jain, A., 2017. The Collapse of Unlisted Mortgage Companies: A Regulatory Dilemma.Accounting Research Journal,30(1). Manganelli, B.E.N.E.D.E.T.T.O., Morano, P.I.E.R.L.U.I.G.I. and Tajani, F.R.A.N.C.E.S.C.O., 2014. Companies in liquidation. a model for the assessment of the value of used machinery.WSEAS Trans. Bus. Econ,11, pp.683-691. Miglani, S., Ahmed, K. and Henry, D., 2015. Voluntary corporate governance structure and financial distress: Evidence from Australia.Journal of Contemporary Accounting Economics,11(1), pp.18-30. Welsh, M. (2014). Realising the public potential of corporate law: Twenty years of civil penalty enforcement in Australia.Fed. L. Rev.,42, 217

Why did the Allied victory occur in 1918 and not before Essay Example

Why did the Allied victory occur in 1918 and not before? Essay The First World War, at the time known as the War to end all wars, owes much of its horror and length to the slow and laborious aspect of the offensive during it, which makes it difficult to understand the precise reason for it finishing in an allied victory in 1918 and not in any of the previous years. Any number of events could have brought about the end of the war or the capitulation of one of the main protagonists, such as the Battle of the Somme, Verdun or even as early as the Battle of the Marne, but none did and in the end it was a very specific conjunction of events that set the cene for the final outcome, which we will study in this essay, focusing on the USAs late involvement in the war, the Central powers loss of momentum after they had thrown their last reserves into the fray, the culmination of the new technologies used and the disgust of war from many of the populations involved, which are all linked to each other. We will write a custom essay sample on Why did the Allied victory occur in 1918 and not before? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Why did the Allied victory occur in 1918 and not before? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Why did the Allied victory occur in 1918 and not before? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer One of the major factors of Germanys demise and more importantly of when it happened was instigated by Germany itself, which is the USAs involvement in the war. Indeed, when they decided in February 1917 to give the go-ahead for nrestricted submarine warfare, the tactic of destroying all ships, military or otherwise, going towards the British Isles, it was in full knowledge that it would in all likelihood bring the US into the war, as they had used this as their main term to not get involved earlier after the sinking of the Lusitania, but the German decided it was worth the risk to knock the British out of the war before any decisive action could be taken on the ground. This did not happen and the US did get involved with the additional incentive of the Zimmerman telegram trying to push Mexico into the war. The announcement of the USAs decision to enter the war on the allied side was made on the 6th April 1917 and it would eventually mean the downfall of the Central Powers. What the American intervention did in Europe was to set the clock ticking for Hindenburg and Ludendorff, as the Central Powers would have to come up with a way to win in the next 12-15 months . The allies knew that once the American troops arrived they would be able to use the numerical advantage the freshness of these new soldier to their advantage and the Germans, after several years of fghting ithout any reinforcements of this scale would struggle to contain them, and in the end that is exactly what happened. The fact that the arrival of the US into the war in 1917 does explain in that way the hurriedness that came into the war and why it finished at such a late date in, but it is curious in that the intervention could have heralded a much earlier victory, as it took almost two years for the end to come, but that can also be explained, as the soldiers did not arrive straight away. As the US did not have a large standing army, only 175. 000 at any time, they had to draft and train ecruits before they could be set over and this caused a delay. Add to that the delays caused by the news that Mexico was being courted by Germany to keep US out of Europe and the sinking of ships by the unrestricted submarine warfare, albeit a reduced number of them after the putting in place of the convoy system to protect ships, and it took a long time to arrive on the front and the bulk of the force only and be able to make a strong impact which would cause General Ludendorff to internally acknowledge the defeat in September and the peace agreement to be signed in November. Another country which contributed to the war ending at that precise moment was Russias withdrawal from it in 1917 after they had changed government through a socialist revolution and were on the brink of a crushing defeat from Germany, as it gave Germany the opportunity to move over one million troops to the western front from the east and accelerated events further. The troops gained from this move were some of the main protagonists in the ill-fated spring offensive of 1918 and meant that during the subsequent Allied counter attack, there were close to no troops available to be transferred to the defence, as all the German troops nvolved in the war had been used to attack France, with the few remaining being necessary in the South to protect Austro-Hungary from the Italian forces, who were still in the war even if they had suffered some serious defeats. The Russian defeat also meant that the idealists and socialist thinkers in the opposing armies finally had something to look to when they pushed for peace and an end to the war. These thoughts and wishes for peace were progressively gaining more and more followers in the conflict and it was the Germans which suffered from it most, especially at ome, as we will see later on in the essay. The German army itself and the balance of power between the two sides was also obviously a massive factor in the war lasting until the end of 1918 and not be over by Christmas as the British recruitment and the newspapers were convinced of at the start of the conflict. Throughout the war the two belligerent sides had traded the supremacy and advantage and, although they had not always been dominant, Germany had rarely been on the retreating side or been unable to trade blow with the allies and this lasted until early to mid-1918 with he Western powers taking a dramatic dominant position in the last 100 days of the conflict. Germany had always been able to use spare troops and their strategic positional advantage at certain locations to keep a certain strength in any battle, especially if they had used kept some of their forces in the reserve, but this changed when they put in place Operation Michael, the Spring offensive of the final year of the war as, aware that the arrival of American forces to the continent would give the allies an insurmountable advantage over them, they everything they had into a final offensive on the western front. Although it was extremely effective, especially due to the development of the new units known as Sturmtruppen, Storm troopers in English, used alongside creeping artillery barrage tactics, it slowed and faltered after the front line troops failed to be rotated in and out and became exhausted, the stretching of the supply line which could no longer reach the front lines, and the intensifying of Allied defences against a weakening enemy. Recovering from their defeats, the British and French troops, now combined to American reinforcements which were by now arriving at a rhythm of around 10. 0 troops a day, regrouped and launched their hundred day offensive on the depleted and disorganised army which faced them. Indeed, this was the first time since 1914 and the Battle of the Marne that the allies were able to achieve a decisive victory which pushed the Germans back over a long distance. Differently to the start of the war however, it did not turn back into a static war but became a war of movement, as well as profiting ever more until they could no longer sustain the defensive stance, meaning this was the first time they were in a position where they had no alternative but to surrender. Linked to this last push is the advancement in terms of technologies and tactics that occurred throughout the war and which contributed to the end of the war. As it drew on and the deadlock got steadily longer, both sides searched more and more for ways to break through enemy lines, with varying degrees of success, but in the end it became unsustainable to have trenches with the amount of new effective ways of getting round them as a problem. The changes started with weapons that would eliminate the enemy without taking the position outright, such as gas which the Germans tested first in 191 5 or improved artillery which both sides obtained through the war, but it got gradually more offensive and mobile, as with the use of tanks which was pioneered by the British and used in 1916 to debatable effect, or the use of assault troops like the German storm troopers which made trenches almost useless by the end of the war, given that both sides had come up with way of bypassing the problem. This translated itself into a need to return to more conventional tactics of previous wars which lasted much less time, causing the war to end at that time and not before when the deadlock could not be broken as easily and ertainly not over such distances as the ones covered by Allied troops during their devastating hundred day campaign offensive. It wasnt only on the battlefield that the victory was decided however, as there was also the home front in the countries involved, driving the government and the High Command to take certain decisions. As the war drew longer, there was a permanent need for more and more sacrifices on the part of the populations of the fghting countries as the industry suffered from the constant need of more ammunition and resources from the army, a need that was hown in October 1916 when the German government ordered for 20. 000 men a week to be deported from Belgium (Hardach, 1977, The First World War, 1914-1918, p. 8) as there was a shortage of skills labour to work in the armament factories, a sign that the local populations were having to work night and day to build weapons that would b then sent to the front and would not benefit the workers. These grievances came to a head late on in the war when the German people started demanding an end to the war and for better living conditions, which could not be given in the current circumstances. Even though there had been these conditions for a long time because of the conflict, the reason it happen at this particular moment and not earlier can be put down to two major reason: Firstly, the German industrial machine was struggling to keep up with the demands of the war, as its output had gone down to less than half of what it was before the war while the needs had, if anything, increased, meaning that the people were getting even less of what they produced and secondly, the winter of 1917 to 1918 was one of the worst on record, causing many people to die of frostbite or at the very least live in the constant cold, ringing them to a tipping point as the war went on. Added to that the spreading ideas of socialist revolution coming from the newly Communist Russia thanks to Germany and the people were close to breaking point. The ordinary people were not the only ones unhappy on the Home front for Germany, as it was also the case among the sailors stationed in the countrys Northern ports who had been stuck there and the battle of Jutland in 1916 behind a British blockade. Towards the end of the conflict, as the German forces were retreating from the Allied surge, there was a idden plan to attempt a final sea offensive, but when word somehow got the sailors, they rejected the idea and mutinied, almost rioting against their superiors. Although of course there had always been some discontent in the country from Pacifists and Communists, this was wave a protests came from such a wide range of sources that the government could do nothing and it coincided with an imminent German defeat whereas they had previously played off opposition by promising victory over the Allies. Naturally, the British and French were not immune to internal disorder, but hey were able to quell the unhappiness in their population more efficiently than their enemies and in their armies relatively so, even though the French were on the brink of a full uprising in their army directly after the Russian revolution and the peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The other main protagonist in the war, Austro-Hungary, was having similar problems to those of their ally, Germany, with the added complication of their country being a collection of different cultures and ethnic minorities who each wanted their own aims achieved and were therefore close to mpossible to appease. Many of these minorities which would go on to create their own nations after the defeat of the Central Powers and the collapse of the Austro- Hungarian Empire swathe war and the difficulties their country was facing to put forwards their own claims and ambitions and the government was unable to answer those and the exterior war as well. The calls for a change in regime from these interior agents echoed those in Germany and when the two rose in 1918 and the army was the struggling to maintain the war effort, they contributed to the Allied victory. To conclude, the end of the First World War has a great many factors, as do the causes for it ending at the specific time, the most important being the USAs involvement in the conflict at a crucial point to tip the advantage in favour of the Allies and Germany exhausting its strength in the months leading up to the peace agreement, but other factors also played a big part, such as the home front in Germany and Austro-Hungary collapsing while the ones in Britain and France were still functioning better, or Russia leaving the conflict which accelerated the unfolding of all the other factors.

How to Plant the Leyland Cypress Tree in Your Landscape

How to Plant the Leyland Cypress Tree in Your Landscape A rapidly-growing evergreen when young, Leyland Cypress will easily grow three to four feet per year, even on poor soils, and can ultimately attain a height of some 50 feet. The tree forms a dense, oval or pyramidal outline when left unpruned, but the graceful, slightly pendulous branches will tolerate severe trimming to create a formal hedge, screen or windbreak. The tree quickly outgrows its space in small landscapes and is too big for most residential landscapes unless regularly trimmed. Unusually, shallow roots of the species can give in wet soil to topple large trees. Uses Scientific name: x Cupressocyparis leylandiiPronunciation: x koo-press-so-SIP-air-iss lay-LAN-dee-eyeCommon name: Leyland CypressFamily: CupressaceaeUSDA hardiness zones: 6 through 10AOrigin: not native to North AmericaUses: hedge; recommended for buffer strips around parking lots or for median strip plantings in the highway; screen; specimen; Christmas treeAvailability: generally available in many areas within its hardiness range Form Height: 35 to 50 feetSpread: 15 to 25 feetCrown uniformity: symmetrical canopy with a regular (or smooth) outline  and individuals have more or less identical crown formsCrown shape: columnar; oval; pyramidalCrown density: denseGrowth rate: fastTexture: fine Foliage Leaf arrangement: opposite/suboppositeLeaf type: simpleLeaf margin: entireLeaf shape: scale-likeLeaf venation: none, or difficult to seeLeaf type and persistence: evergreenLeaf-blade length: less than 2 inchesLeaf color: blue or blue-green; greenFall color: no fall color changeFall characteristic: not showy Structure Trunk/bark/branches: grow mostly upright and will not droop; not particularly showy; should be grown with a single leader; no thornsPruning requirement: needs little pruning to develop a strong structureBreakage: resistantCurrent year twig color: green Planting Leyland cypress trees enjoy both part shade/part sun and full sun- the tree has very forgiving light requirements. The cypress can be planted in many soils. The tree tolerates clay, loam, sand and will grow in both acidic and alkaline soils but still needs to be planted in a well-drained site. It tolerates drought conditions and is salt tolerant. When planting Leyland cypress, remember the trees mature size and fast growth rate. Planting a cypress too close is not recommended. You will be tempted to plant the seedlings too close but ten-foot spacings should be a minimum in most landscapes. Pruning Leyland Cypress is a fast grower and, if not pruned early, can get out of hand as a hedge. In the first year trim back long side shoots at the start of the growing season. Trim sides lightly in late July. The sides can be trimmed the following to year encourage denser growth. Continue to trim the sides each year leaving the leading shoot untouched until the desired height is reached. Topping and regular trimming of the sides should prevent trees from becoming increasingly large. Seiridium Canker Seiridium canker disease, also called coryneum canker is a slow-spreading fungal disease of Leyland cypress. It disfigures and damages trees, particularly in hedges and screens that are heavily pruned. Seiridium canker is usually localized on individual limbs. The limb is usually dry, dead, often discolored, with a sunken or cracked area surrounded by living tissue. You should always destroy diseased plant parts and try to avoid physical damage to plants. Sanitize pruning tools between each cut by dipping in rubbing alcohol or in a solution of chlorine bleach and water. Chemical control has proven to be difficult. Horticulturist Commentary Dr. Mike Dirr says about Leyland Cypress: ...it should be restrained at an early age before pruning becomes impossible. Additional Information Leyland Cypress grows in full sun on a wide range of soils, from acid to alkaline, but looks its best on moderately fertile soil with sufficient moisture. It is surprisingly tolerant of severe pruning, recovering nicely from even severe topping (although this is not recommended), even when half the top is removed. It grows well in clay soil and tolerates poor drainage for a short period of time. It also is very tolerant of salt spray. Some available cultivars include: ‘Castlewellan’, a more compact form with gold-tipped leaves, excellent for hedges in cool climates; ‘Leighton Green’, dense branching with dark green foliage, columnar form; ‘Haggerston Gray’, loose branches, columnarpyramidal, upturned at ends, sage-green color; ‘Naylor’s Blue’, blue-grey foliage, columnar form; ‘Silver Dust’, wide-spreading form with blue-green foliage marked with white variegations. Propagation is by cuttings from side growths.

Analisis Bimbo

Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility The most important thing in a firm is its people, because investors give what they have, but people give what they are. — Lorenzo Servitje, Grupo Bimbo founding partner By 2008, Grupo Bimbo was the leading baking company in the Americas and one of the largest in the world. It had annual sales of over $7. 4 billion, more than 100 brands and more than 97,000 worldwide associates—as Bimbo liked to call its employees. It manufactured more than 5,000 SKUs (stock keeping units) from 83 plants located in Mexico, the United States, Central and South America, Europe and Asia. Bimbo distributed its products to more than 1 million sales outlets in 18 countries. Each of these points of sale was visited by more than 36,000 route salespersons. Its products ranged from sliced bread, buns, cookies, snack cakes, pastries, sweet baked goods, packaged food, tortillas, salted snacks, confectionary goods and goat milk sweet or â€Å"cajeta,† among other products. Bimbo was the largest Latin American-based food company and the second largest bread company in the world. For eight years in a row, Bimbo had been honored with the Socially Responsible Enterprise Award from CEMEFI, the Mexican Center for Philanthropy. Moreover, Grupo Bimbo was ranked in the 9th position of the Reputation Institute for best corporate reputation in the world. 1 The next Mexican ranked firms in the study were Grupo Modelo and Cemex in the 112th and 119th spot, respectively. Grupo Bimbo had set ambitious growth objectives beyond 2010. It wanted to become the world leader in the baking industry and one of the best food companies in the world. In order to achieve those objectives, it had embarked on an aggressive program of acquisitions in overseas markets, starting with the United States across the border, and going all the way to China. Even as we pursue an ambitious growth agenda, we cannot forget our core values and who we are as a company,† stated Don Lorenzo Servitje, the now retired 90 year old founder of the company. As Figure 1 shows, Bimbo captured its core values along the seven attributes of passion, profitability, effectiveness, team work, trust, quality, with the â€Å"person† coming at the ce nter. Under its second CEO, Roberto Servitje (now chairman of the board) and its current CEO, Daniel Servitje, the company had grown spectacularly and gained an international footprint. See Exhibit 1 for its revenue growth. â€Å"Yes, indeed we have grown ur business, not at the cost of our responsibility to society, but because of our investments in it. Going forward, however, we are a far more complex company than the one founded and 1to ensure that our values and strategy are in alignment,† asserted Daniel Servitje. Figure 1 Source: Grupo Bimbo. (In the figure above, the expression â€Å"efforts and illusions† under â€Å"profitability† is best interpreted as â€Å"efforts and aspirations. †) Mexico By 2008 Mexico was the second most populated country in Latin America (behind Brazil) with 105. 7 million inhabitants, 76% of them living in urban areas. In 2007 Mexico’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was $893. 4 billion –-the second largest in Latin America behind Brazil’s GDP of $1,286. 7 billion but ahead of Argentina’s $262. 3 billion, Venezuela’s $228. 1 billion and Colombia’s 2 Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, Geografia e Informatica, INEGI, www. inegi. gob, last viewed August 11, 2008. 2 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility 509-025 $172 billion. Mexico was the 14th largest economy in the World. 3 Mexico’s GDP per head in 2007 was $8,219. However, Mexico was a country of contrasts: the lowest 20% of the population accounted for only 3. % of total income and the Gini coefficient was 0. 508. 4 Forty percent of Mexico’s population was considered poor, and 18% lived in extreme poverty. 5 Due to deficiencies in the public education system, the unskilled and low skilled labor pool was large and around 40% to 60% of the workforce worked in the informal sector. Mexico was ruled for 71 years by one single party, the Partido Revolucionario Insitucional, or PRI. The PRI led Mexico through a stabilizing development from 1958 to 1971 where the country industrialized and GDP grew at annual rates of 6%. From the 1970’s to the end of the 1980’s the PRI policies became very nationalistic and interventionist. This period was characterized by high inflation rates and frequent financial crises, where GDP plummeted, real incomes dropped, with high external debt and soaring interest rates. During this period, Mexico’s economy was heavily dependent on oil exports. In the 1990’s the PRI embraced free market and liberalization policies that included privatization of hundreds of state-owned firms, trade liberalization that culminated in the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, in 1994, and deregulation of various industries. After NAFTA, Mexico’s economy diversified and changed from being dependent on oil exports to manufactured goods exported mainly to the United States. After the Tequila crisis that started in 1994—where GDP plummeted 6. 2% in real terms and inflation rose above 52%—the PRI was historically defeated in the year 2000, and since then two presidents from the Partido Accion Nacional (PAN) had been in power: President Fox from year 2000 to 2006 and Felipe Calderon—who by 2008 was in his second year of presidency. Despite high hopes for President Fox’s administration, his political effectiveness was severely hindered by a divided congress, and economic reforms that were needed to improve the competitiveness of the country, such as fiscal and energy reforms, were not able to pass through Congress. Felipe Calderon, at his second year of term, faced similar obstacles. He proved to be a better negotiator than President Fox. His administration had been able to pass pension reform and a mild fiscal reform. However, one of the most important reforms needed for boosting Mexico’s competitiveness and growth—energy reform—had not been able to pass. High energy costs—along with high labor costs—were limiting Mexico’s ability to compete with other exporting countries such as China. Strengthening of fiscal and monetary policies since the end of the last century had translated into macroeconomic stability but growth was not catching up with the country’s needs. Average annual growth rates since year 2000 had been 3%, insufficient to alleviate poverty and reduce inequality. 6 Constraints for growth were high-cost labor and energy inputs, a weak non-oil tax base, continued dependence on US markets for exports, weak skill base and a shallow credit market. Calderon was struggling to pass the energy reform but it was hard to boost growth given high input costs and Mexico’s dependence on the slowing US economy. 3 World development indicators database, World Bank, July 2008, www. worldbank. org last viewed August 12, 2008. 4 Source: World development indicators, www. worldbank. org, last viewed 8/13/2008 and Mexico Country Profile, Economist Intelligence Unit. A high Gini coefficient indicates a high level of income inequality, 0 corresponds to perfect equality and 1 to perfect inequality with one person having all the income. Worldwide Gini coefficients range from 0. 49 in Japan to 0. 707 in Namibia (www. wikipidia. org last viewed 8/13/2008). 5 Mexico Country Brief, World Bank, www. worldbank. org, last viewed August 13, 2008. 6 Source: Banco de Mexico, www. banxico. gob, last viewed August 13, 2008. 3 509-025 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility Grupo Bimbo: History The Servitje family started doing business in the baki ng industry early in the 20th century. When Lorenzo Servitje was 18 years old, his father—who had a well-known bakery called El Molino—died from a stroke. Lorenzo had to leave behind his accounting career in order to attend to his father’s bakery. On taking over, Lorenzo wanted to make the bakery something bigger and more ambitious. He wished to start a bread production and distribution business. On December 2, 1945, Bimbo was founded. It had five founding shareholders, all family members: Lorenzo Servitje and his younger brother Roberto Servitje among them. The logo, the Bimbo bear, was drawn by the wife of one of the founders. Bimbo started with only one brand, 38 workers, and 10 trucks to deliver the bread made in one plant in Mexico City. The first products were white boxed bread and toasted white bread. The production process was completely manual and rudimentary. Bimbo bread was quickly accepted by Mexico’s households because it was packed in transparent cellophane paper—instead of the traditional wax paper—which kept it fresh and also because its quality was easily seen. Another key to Bimbo’s success was its huge publicity campaign in newspapers, radio and the movies. Never before had so much been paid to publicize bread. 7 In the next few years, Bimbo quickly incorporated more products into its product line, such as whole wheat bread, sweet breads, cakes and sweet loafs. Its distribution network, however, only reached Mexico City and cities nearby. To reach other cities, Bimbo expanded its distribution system in a way similar to how newspapers were distributed at the time. By 1956, Bimbo had commissioned its first plant outside Mexico City. Having successfully built the company from scratch, in 1963, Don Lorenzo Servitje took on the role of CEO of Grupo Bimbo and his brother, Roberto Servitje, became CEO of Bimbo breads division. Over the next 15 years, the two brothers rapidly grew Bimbo’s sales to $425 million and 16,125 associates. At the beginning of the 1970’s, Bimbo opened the largest bread factory in Mexico and Latin America and one of the 10 largest factories in the world. In this factory, bread production was completely automatic. The factory produced one-and-half, big boxed bread, per second, which was completely unprecedented in Latin America. In 1979, Lorenzo Servitje handed over Grupo Bimbo’s presidency to his brother Roberto and he assumed the chairmanship of the board. In 1980, Bimbo went public with 15% of its stock in the Mexican stock exchange. The company was then valued at $12. 5 million dollars. The successful IPO gave the company confidence to expand into the United States. Bimbo sent its first trucks with bread to the U. S. to explore the possibility of catering to a burgeoning population of Hispanic consumers just north of its border. Satisfied with the existence of demand for its products, in 1987 Bimbo started to distribute products in Houston and Los Angeles. By the end of the decade, Bimbo had expanded to Central and Latin America as well. In 1997, Daniel Servitje, Lorenzo’s son, at the age of 39 with an MBA from Stanford University, became CEO of the group and continued to lead Bimbo’s internationalization effort through important acquisitions. Roberto Servitje took on the chairman’s position and Lorenzo stepped down from all formal positions. Daniel Servitje continued with the growth strategy of his predecessors, and in the year 2000, Grupo Bimbo expanded to Europe by acquiring two plants –one in Austria and the other in the Czech Republic- and in 2001 it expanded into Brazil. See Exhibits 2 and 3 for the company’s historical financial performance, and regional indicators. By 2007, the company had a sales turnover of Ps 72,294 million (or $6. 65 billion) and a net 7 â€Å"Bimbo: A 60-year History of Believe and Create† Source: www. rupobimbo. com. mx/admin/content/uploaded/Historia% 20Grupo%20Bimbo. pdf. Last viewed: July 8th, 2008. 4 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility 509-025 profit of Ps 3,914 million (or $360 million). 8 Of its total sales, 67% were in Mexico, 22% in the U. S, and 11% from twelve Latin American countries. While Roberto Servitje at age 80 served as the chairman of t he board, Lorenzo Servitje at age 90 was still active in its social responsibility affairs. Products and Brands Through the years, Bimbo grew in its bread production and also added many new products and brands. With nearly 5,000 items in its portfolio, and the nearly 100 new products being added every year, the company offered something for every taste and every occasion. Many of these additions came through acquisitions of different firms and brands. Its Bimbo bread division was undoubtedly the flagship of the company, accounting for nearly 50% of all its revenues. Of its main brands, Marinela produced all sweet breads, buns and cakes. Its star product was the â€Å"gansito† or â€Å"little duck,† which was a cake filled with marmalade and covered with chocolate. By 1975, one million â€Å"gansitos† were sold daily. Barcel started off by producing candies, but by 1977 it had begun to produce a wide range of salted snacks. Production of candies was transferred to a new firm called Ricolino. By 2007, Bimbo dominated the market in the packaged bread segment in Mexico. In the salty snack category, Barcel was second to its main competitor Sabritas, owned by PepsiCo. Other important brands were Tia Rosa, which produced specialty sweet breads and flour tortillas, Milpa Real, which produced corn tortillas and Lonchibon, which made ready-to-eat food and snacks. Most of Bimbo’s internationalizations efforts were carried out through local acquisitions. Bimbo looked to acquire firms in regions and segments that provided a platform for growth. It also looked for strong brands that were complementary to its existing portfolio of products and brands, and also provided opportunities that could enable Bimbo to scale up and achieve cost savings. Exhibit 4 provides a summary overview of its various brands, the associated product lines, and their country of operation. Sales and Distribution System Bimbo had one of the largest and most complex distribution networks in the country—second only to Coca-Cola. With time, Bimbo’s distribution system had become more sophisticated and larger but qualitatively, it was essentially the same as when Bimbo started 63 years ago—products were delivered fresh directly from Bimbo depots to the retail store, there were no intermediaries in between. Bimbo products were distributed in to three different channels: supermarkets, convenience stores and through what was called the detail channel to mom pop stores (MPs). The importance of the detail channel was diminishing as MPs found it harder every day to compete with expanding supermarket chains and convenience stores that offered other services such as ready-to-eat food. In the last 10 years, the supermarket chains had grown considerably and the traditional MP channel was losing share (see Exhibit 5). Convenience stores especially, were showing strong growth as they expanded into suburban and rural areas. Moreover, large chain retailers such as Wal-Mart and Chedraui were offering banking services to their customers, thus making it harder for MPs to compete. The total grocery retail market in Mexico was estimated at $125 billion in 2007. 9 8 Foreign exchange as of December 28, 2007 was 10. 8662. Source: Diario Oficial de la Federacion. www. dof. gob. mx. Last viewed July 3rd 2008. 9 â€Å"Retailing Mexico: Country Market Insight,† Euromonitor International, May 2008 and â€Å"Top 5 Retailers in Mexico,† Planet Retail, September 2008. 5 509-025 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility All Bimbo products—from all brands and from all plants—were taken to depots from where they were distributed to all channels. In Mexico, around 40% of Bimbo’s total workforce consisted of route-sales associates. Its flagship brand, Bimbo bread, was distributed in large trucks serving metropolitan cities and towns. The rest of the brands were distributed in smaller trucks by independent sales forces. The distribution system was highly programmed. A handheld computer contained all the information on customers, their average orders, product assortments, and their detail route. That information was synchronized with Bimbo’s server at the end of each day. Mexico has nearly 1 million sales outlets, of which Bimbo reached nearly 750,000. Salesmen arrived at the depot around 6:30a. m. to load their trucks. Thanks to the handheld, they knew which products to load depending on the routes they were assigned that day. Trucks were randomly inspected to cross-check the information in the handheld with the actual physical stock in the truck. Salesmen started their routes around 7:00a. m. At each sales point, salesmen delivered products that they booked and took back products before their â€Å"shelf life† had expired. This practice was necessary to insure that consumers had access to fresh product in the market at all times. All sales information was entered into the handheld for control of daily sales. At the end of their route, salespeople returned to their appropriate depots, where stocks were checked and the recalled products were readied to be sent to an â€Å"expendio† or discount store. Salespeople had sales’ goals that they could attain through increasing sales in each store or increasing the number of clients in their â€Å"route. † Daily wages to salesmen consisted of a base salary plus commission, which was a percentage of their daily sales. Commission, on average, was more than double the base salary. On average, a Bimbo salesperson earned slightly more salary than the one usually offered by food industry for similar positions. The traditional or detail channel was the most important channel for Bimbo because it represented its largest source of sales. Bimbo supervisors were always trying to encourage their team to expand their sales points to include nontraditional outlets such as gas stations, beauty parlors, internet cafes, among others. A large fraction of low-income people, who lived in rural areas or small towns, depended on the traditional MPs to buy their groceries. 0 See Exhibit 6 for a view of three semi-urban outlets. MPs usually sold at higher prices than supermarkets but lower than convenience stores. Most MPs had a very close relationship with their clients who often relied on the credit given by the store owner for their purchases. Most of the time customers cleared their accounts by pay day. Such credit was usually not offered by convenience stores or supermarkets. In spite of its service levels, the traditional channel was slowly disappearing. It was becoming increasingly difficult for the small MPs to compete with convenience stores and supermarkets. Their stores were smaller, the product range more limited, and the layout and management of the stores less professional. MPs had to pay for most of their inventory in cash. They received almost no credit from suppliers—some distributors such as Coca Cola, Sabritas (PepsiCo. ), had only recently started to offer credit to MPs. Moreover, because their purchase volumes were relatively smaller, they received no quantity-discounts such as those offered to convenience stores and supermarkets. As a response to the needs of the MPs but also as a way of maintaining Bimbo’s most important channel, in 2004 Bimbo initiated a bold new program called â€Å"Pesito. † 10 From field visits, the case writers estimated their size to be about 250 to 500 square feet. The owners reported average daily sales of between $200 and $450, of which sodas, juice and water accounted for 50%, food-30%, and tobacco-20%. Larger stores also carried cleaning and some health and beauty products. Some carried beer. Margins varied widely by product, averaging about 20%. 6 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility 09-025 Pesito During the course of their daily route selling, salesmen offered credit on purchases of Bimbo products. Store owners wanting the credit paid a flat fee of 2 pesos (20 cents) regardless of the size of the order placed. The sales person entered the credit information on to his handheld so the record of each credit could be uploaded into Bimbo’s central system once the sales person ended his daily route. At the next visit to the store—which could be anytime between two days to one week, the store owner had to pay the credit to the sales person. The sales person would then give the store owner a receipt, which was printed from the handheld and the transaction was closed. If the store owner was unable to repay the credit, for a payment of 2 pesos the credit could be rolled over, but no new transactions would be made. Many Bimbo clients recognized that â€Å"Pesito† was a way to increase their income, without having to invest in inventory, helping them to grow their business. Consequently the default rate was very low. Bimbo had different sales forces for different brands, thus there were separate Pesito programs for each brand. For example, a store could have outstanding credit with Bimbo, Marinela, Tia Rosa and Barcel. The store would appear in the Pesito accounts under four different identifiers. There were limits to the amount of credit that a sales person could give per client, in most cases the equivalent of one week’s order; and then there were overall limits per route as well. Through steady efforts by Grupo Bimbo’s route sales people, approximately 350,000 of the small store owners participated in the Pesito program and paid on time, and Bimbo’s goal was to further increase that in the coming years. Microfinance for Store Owners Don Lorenzo Servitje had, among many other of his social concerns, the idea of helping the poor through micro credits. Don Lorenzo was particularly interested in the MPs store owners because, through Bimbo, he had noticed how they lived day by day solely with the income from their store. They had no health or life insurance and Don Lorenzo noticed how many times MPs had to close due to sickness or death in the family. Store owners also had no access to the formal financial system so they had to rely on money lenders, especially to make capital improvements in the store. They seldom had resources to invest in their store to make it more productive or more attractive to customers for example by installing new equipment, refrigerators, meat cutters, or a PC to access the internet. Thus in 1994, Bimbo started an alliance with Fincomun, a microcredit institution with the goal of providing further financial services to its MP clients. The loan process with Fincomun was simple. A Bimbo salesperson could recommend a client to Fincomun. Bimbo salespeople knew their clients quite well, their business model, their cash flow, and their credit reputation. If the client accepted the offered credit, Fincomun agents visited the store and gave them a check that could be cashed at a bank. If the Bimbo sales person assisted in the follow-on collection, they were paid a small fee for the effort. Only a very small proportion of Bimbo’s clients, however, were Fincomun customers (less than 5%). By June 2008, Fincomun also offered Life and Hospitalization insurance and had 400 clients in the pilot stage of the insurance program. History of Bimbo’s Corporate Social Responsibility From its very beginnings, Bimbo prided itself on its commitment to social causes and Mexico’s development. In 1954, not even 10 years after its founding, Bimbo opened a school for workers’ 7 509-025 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility children. Since then, a percentage of Bimbo’s pre-tax profits were earmarked for social and educational causes. â€Å"I wanted to dedicate myself to something more than just making cakes and bread. I aspired to serve others,† Don Lorenzo was reputed to have said in a newspaper interview. 11 Even in hard times, Bimbo had avoided firing people and reducing the CSR budget. Roberto Servitje used to say, â€Å"Entrepreneurs are meant to create and grow, not to destroy. Over time, Bimbo’s portfolio of CSR programs had grown both in size and in sophistication. At the beginning, the programs were more geared internally, toward Bimbo’s associates. Over time, they expanded externally as well. Bimbo’s CSR programs were divided into a matrix (for a detailed description of programs see Exhibit 7). Daniel Servitje asser ted, â€Å"Our CSR programs are divided into six categories that overlap with each other. We have internal and external programs, and then we have economic, social and environmental programs. When Bimbo was founded, CSR was neither structured nor formal. It was something that we did because we believed in it; because the values of social awareness were embedded in all of us since we were children. † Martha Eugenia Hernandez, head of institutional relations and CSR and who had been at Bimbo since 1981, recalled â€Å"Don Lorenzo used to say, ‘Your left hand should never know what your right hand is giving. ’ And that was the philosophy behind CSR at that time; it was low key. † Roberto Perez Gomez, head of labor relations and a 20-year-old veteran of the company added, â€Å"With Don Lorenzo, Bimbo was a small and privately held firm; contact with associates was very personal. Even though Bimbo has grown rapidly and is now a public company, the social responsibility philosophy is still the same. Contact with associates is still personal. Daniel Servitje visits each plant every year and has annual meetings with associates of different areas. † The company’s CSR budget was determined as a percentage of its profits. This percentage was decided by a CSR committee comprised of five members of the board. The committee also decided which programs to support and to what amount. The profit percentage varied from year to year, and was determined independently for each country. Bimbo’s CSR programs were divided into four areas of commitment: Employees or Associates, Health, Environment, and the Community. Associates Since the beginning, one of our greatest concerns was our relationship with associates. We wanted people to work happily, we wanted them to identify with the company and we wanted them to be respected, having a non instrumental view of people; we wanted relations with personnel to be harmonious and cordial. With the years, the view of a highly productive firm that could also be a profoundly humane company consolidated. Profit sharing with our associates was higher than that required by law and many of our associates purchased shares with their monthly savings. 12 (Don Lorenzo Servitje13) 11 â€Å"Lorenzo Servitje: Sonar y Realizar,† Reforma, Club section, May 16, 2008. 12 Legal profit sharing in Mexico was 10%. Profit sharing in Bimbo was linked to productivity and could go from 11% to 13. 5% of profits depending on the results of the company. Source: Company information. 13 â€Å"Bimbo: A 60-Year History of Believe and Create. † Source: www. grupobimbo. com. mx/admin/content/uploaded/ Historia%20Grupo%20Bimbo. pdf. Last viewed: July 8th, 2008. 8 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility 509-025 In 2005, Bimbo hired a Canadian company to analyze Bimbo’s competitive advantages. They concluded, â€Å"We have analyzed their technology. They have the best in the world. They are leaders in the markets where they are present and have a great distribution network. However, what strikes us the most is that people are committed far beyond what is normally seen in other companies. People identify with the company. We see all workers, at all levels, seeking to give the best in them. That is what truly makes them special. 14 Bimbo was rated one of Mexico’s best places to work during the last eight years. In September 2008, Grupo Bimbo as a whole had more than 97,000 associates, of which around 60,000 worked in the baking division in Mexico. Around 25% of them were international associates and 13% were women. Right from the beginning, Bimbo’s top management did not merely perceive t heir associates as a labor resource, but rather as people who were partners in Bimbo’s mission to create value. They were treated with care, and provided opportunities to grow and learn and advance their quality of life. Grow and innovate was the motto driving Bimbo’s relationship with its associates. Javier Millan, head of Human Relations, put it simply: â€Å"Our competitive advantage lies within our values, outstanding among which is the person. Viewing a person as an individual is the small difference that makes all the difference. Once they are treated that way people get involved, they become interested in the company’s objectives. † Bimbo’s programs for its associates were divided into two areas of support: economic or development. Within economic benefits, Bimbo had health assistance, support for home improvement, and help with wills and deeds. It strongly encouraged long-term retirement savings among its associates. Roberto Servitje said: â€Å"What you truly gain is what you save and invest. † Under personal development, Bimbo offered its associates various courses that covered much more than just training for the workplace. Many courses addressed personal development opportunities such as, improving communication skills, raising healthy families, and so on. There were also educational offerings that enabled associates to complete a high school program, online and on-site English proficiency courses, and a mandatory course on how businesses work and contribute to the economy (to see a description of Bimbo’s programs for its associates, see Exhibit 8). Roberto Servitje said, â€Å"The firm is what its people are, and the people are what their leaders are. † From among the many benefits provided to associates, the health and education offerings were highly valued. Mexico’s public health system was known to be inefficient. It often took long hours to be seen by a doctor and receive treatment, and many visits to the doctor before one could see a specialist. Moreover, few people had access to preventive medicine. Bimbo tried to bridge the gap by providing free complete medical exams to all associates over 40, once a year preventive medical exams for cardiovascular illnesses at Bimbo facilities and follow-up checkups for those identified as needing further monitoring and care. All Bimbo associates were covered by the Mexican government’s health plan, to which Bimbo made a contribution, as did the associates through payroll deduction. In order to enable its associates circumvent the poor system of public care, Bimbo made available its facilities for the government to operate its clinics. Because of their location most of these operated as exclusive clinics for Bimbo employees. Moreover because these clinics were on Bimbo premises, the company was able to offer better infrastructure than what would normally be available to such clinics. 14 â€Å"In Grupo Bimbo, People Make the Difference,† presentation given by Javier Millan, head of Human Relations, 2007. 9 509-025 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility Health and Nutrition Within Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries (OECD), Mexico had the dubious reputation of being second in obesity rankings after the United States. 15 Recent studies16 showed that obesity in Mexico within the total population had increased during the last 60 years, but that this growth had accelerated at an alarming pace in the last 20 years. Obesity growth rates accelerated 10% to 20% in children, 30% to 40% in adolescents, and 60% to 70% in adults. The increase in obesity was most worrying in children (see Exhibit 9). The same study linked the reasons for the increase in childhood obesity to changes in eating habits, to diets high in calories, refined carbohydrates and sodas, and decrease in consumption of fruits and vegetables. This same study stated that the increase in obesity was also related to a decrease in physical activity. In Mexico, the obesity risk for children 9 to 16 years old increased 16% for each hour that they watched TV or played videogames. On average, Mexican children watched TV or played videogames 4. 1 to 6. 3 hours daily. 7 To counter the varied causes of obesity, in 2007 Bimbo launched a health program called Committed to Your Health. The program had many different components roughly divided into five areas: improving product healthiness, education in health and nutrition, promotion of physical activity, research, and being an exemplary firm in terms of health and nutrition (for details of the programs see Exhibit 10). The company published Nutrinotas, which reached 1 milli on print and online subscribers, and distributed sports and nutrition materials for 21,000 students. As part of its efforts to promote physical activity, the company staged a nationwide soccer tournament for children, Futbolito Bimbo Stars. In 2007, 46,000 children aged 9 to 12 participated in the program and the winning team travelled to Venezuela for the America’s Cup soccer tournament. In 2008, more than 50,000 children attended, winning a trip to Disney World. In its 2007 annual report, the company affirmed its commitment to health: The millions of people who enjoy our products each day count on them for quality, consistency and taste. The success lies in staying attuned to consumer tastes and trends. That means enhancing the nutritional value of our products and introducing new, healthy options. In this regard we follow the guidelines of the World Health Organization on reducing fat, salt and sugar content, and decreasing portion sizes†¦We are also innovating by adding functional ingredients to numerous products, for example, to lower cholesterol or enhance mineral absorption. We have created a range of products with less than 100 calories each; and just as importantly, we are investing in mass-market educational campaigns to encourage active, healthy lifestyles. In order to create the necessary research and development infrastructure, Grupo Bimbo had built four Innovation and Nutrition Institutes (‘Institutos de Investigacion y Nutricion de Grupo Bimbo’), two of them located in Mexico, one in the United States and one in South America. 15 World Health Organization, www. who. org last viewed July 8, 2008. 16 â€Å"Obesidad Infantil,† Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica, Nov. 2006. www. insp. mx/Portal/Centros/ciss/nls/boletines/ PME_14. pdf. Last viewed July 7, 2008. 17 â€Å"Obesidad Infantil,† Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica, Nov. 2006. www. insp. x/Portal/Centros/ciss/nls/boletines/ â€Å"PME_14. pdf. Last viewed July 7, 2008. 10 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility 509-025 Environment Bimbo’s programs in terms of environment protection were divided into five areas: emission reduction, saving water, saving energy, solid waste management and CSR on environmental matters through an institution dedicated to forest conservation and reforestation called â€Å"Reforestamos Mexico. † In the words of Martha Eugenia Hernandez, â€Å"we want to be a Green Company, both inside and outside. † See Exhibit 11 for the impact of its natural resource conservation effort. In 1998, Mexico suffered extensive fires in its forests; Mexico lost 800,000 hectares of forests. The government invited companies to participate in recovering lost forests. Bimbo responded speedily. Its associates raised money, and each peso donated by them was matched by Bimbo. As a result of the company’s (and its associates’) efforts, 1 million trees were planted and 8 natural areas were targeted for improvement. After that impressive achievement Bimbo’s directors decided to extend their commitment to Mexico’s forests on a more permanent basis. As a result, in 2002 Bimbo created a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the forests and trees of Mexico and named it â€Å"Reforestamos Mexico. † The administrative costs of Reforestamos Mexico was entirely borne by Bimbo, while the costs of the various projects were shared by Bimbo and other firms such as Wal-Mart, Banco Santander, Hewlett Packard, as well as individual donors. Twenty percent of Bimbo’s saving from energy conservation was used to fund Reforestamos Mexico. All Reforestamos’ employees, including the director, were independent. Its director, Ernesto Herrera, had worked for Bimbo prior to this appointment and was passionately committed to its mission. â€Å"I have worked for the environment for 10 years. For me, Reforestamos Mexico has been a dream-cometrue. I work in something that I passionately care about, and in one of the most committed companies in the world. I envision Reforestamos Mexico expanding into Latin America and working along with some of America’s most important environmental NGOs. † From the 27 people that constituted Reforestamos Mexico’s advisory board, only 3 worked for Bimbo. In addition to its Reforestamos Mexico activities, in August 2008, Grupo Bimbo announced that it had begun the use of degradable polyethylene packaging for its products, which made it the first Mexican company to use a 100% environment-friendly material. Ramon Rivera, Operations Director of Grupo Bimbo, commented, â€Å"the products packaged in degradable wrapping preserve their freshness and all of their characteristics exactly the same as those using traditional wrapping, and therefore consumers can have total confidence that the product will continue to be exactly the same. With the technology known as â€Å"d2w,† the degradation of the plastic began as soon as its useful life was over and the plastic discarded. The plastic was programmed to be consumed by bacteria and fungi in the soil, through an additive that reduced its molecular structure. This process of degradation would take a maximum period of 3-to-5 years, in comparison to the normal process that could take as lo ng as 100 to 400 years. 18 Community Bimbo was acutely aware of its close linkages to the community, and therefore had instituted various programs in support. It worked jointly with the National Development Bank for the small and micro enterprise (Nacional Financiera or NAFIN) to help its suppliers with working capital needs. Bimbo also supported many educational programs for both its suppliers and its store owners. For suppliers, Bimbo provided a course that helped them improve their business skills. The topics included cost reduction, quality improvement, and tracking operations online. For store owners, 18 Grupo Bimbo Incorporates Degradable Packaging 100% Environment Friendly, http://www. grupobimbo. com. mx/ salaprensa/index. php? fuseaction=home. oletinlangID=2bolID=212. 11 509-025 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility Bimbo developed a course jointly with local universities called â€Å"the store-owner university† or â€Å"la Universidad del tendero. † This course covered basic management tools such as accounting, marketing, customer service, operations planning and control, and some basic computer skills among other things. By June 2008, Bimbo had delivered 38 classes to almost 1,000 store owners. In 2007 and 2008, through Televisa Foundation, an institution that sought the development of children and young people of Mexico, Grupo Bimbo istributed 550,000 copies of a Values Calendar and Teacher’s Support Guide, to almost all Mexican elementary schools. Each year the company invited 1 million children to visit its many plants and learn about the food industry. The company had long been a supporter of the Papalote Museo del Nino (children’s museum), providing the funding support for a school program for children from low-income communities to visit the museum. Over 4,500 children visited the museum every year as part of the program. In addition the company directly supported Crisol, an elementary school for low-income children. In addition, Grupo Bimbo supported the activities of the Mexican Foundation for Rural Development (â€Å"Fundacion Mexicana para el Desarrollo Rural†), an organization with more than 40 years of experience that promoted the development of the agricultural sector, and low-income rural families. The company also supported the Center for Integrated Development of the Countryside, A. C. , (â€Å"Centro para el Desarrollo Integral del Campo, A. C. †), which benefited one of the poorest populations of Mexico in the Nayar zone. In a similar vein, the company supported various development programs for indigenous communities in areas such as health, nutrition, and education, through workshops coordinated by Foundation Mazahua Region (â€Å"Patronato Pro Zona Mazahua†) benefiting more than 20,000 people from the Mazahua area of northwestern Mexico State. All-in-all, Bimbo supported many different projects and organizations (for a list of institutions supported by Bimbo, see Exhibit 12), leading Martha Eugenia Hernandez to conclude, â€Å"We have lots of requests for help and we would love to help everyone. We want to be Santa Claus but we just cannot! It is hard to say no, but it is hard to say yes to everything. † Going Forward There was no question in Daniel Servitje’s mind that the internationalization of Bimbo’s business was important for its growth strategy. In addition to increasing Bimbo’s presence in markets such as the United States or Latin America, he also wanted to penetrate markets where Bimbo was not present or where it was just entering, such as China. An important challenge was to improve international profitability, which was lagging behind Mexico’s operations. But the leadership position it had gained in the domestic market and indeed in many markets of Latin America was something that Daniel Servitje did not want to lose sight of. He recalled the passion and commitment with which his predecessors, his father Lorenzo Servitje, and then his uncle, Roberto Servitje, had led the company. They were able to blend the company’s strategy development and its mission and values. He wondered what he could do for an encore. Bimbo was undoubtedly one of the most respected companies in Mexico. How should he go about continuing the tradition in Mexico and rest of the markets it had entered? 2 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility 509-025 Exhibit 1 Historical Bimbo Sales 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 1980 82 84 86 88 1990 92 94 96 98 2000 02 04 06 2008 Historical Bimbo Sales (1980 =100) Source: Company information. Exhibit 2 Consolidated Income Statement (million dollars) 1980 426 225 201 150 51 (4) 1 47 24 24 0. 4 23 12. 3% 9. 1% 1997 2,302 1,123 1,179 966 214 11 (14) 211 90 121 5 126 10. 3% 7. 3% 2000 3,279 1,435 1,844 1,506 338 (8) (13) 317 130 187 5 192 12. 0% 7. 5% 2006 5,851 2,724 3,127 2,588 539 (27) 12 524 194 330 3 333 15. 6% 8. % 2007 6,653 3,138 3,515 2,926 590 (22) (36) 537 177 366 6 360 14. 0% 8. 7% USD MM Net sales Cost of sales Gross profit Operating expenses Operating income Integral financial result Other income or expenses, net Income before income taxes Income tax expense Net income before participation in partner companies Equity in income of associated companies Net income ROE ROA Source: Grupo Bimbo, 1980, 1998, 2000 and 2007 Annual report, www. grupobimbo. com, last viewed June 5th, 2008. 13 509-025 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility Exhibit 3 Financial Information by Region (million dollars) Mexico 1998 NET SALES OPERATING INCOME EBITDA 1,923 266 338 Mexico 2000 NET SALES OPERATING INCOME EBITDA 2,431 356 443 Mexico 2006 NET SALES OPERATING INCOME EBITDA 4,110 510 634 Mexico 2007 NET SALES OPERATING INCOME EBITDA 4,575 542 686 USA 364 11 23 USA 599 (9) 12 USA 1,399 21 52 USA 1,524 19 51 Latam 238 (32) (14) Latam 249 (9) 9 Latam 490 4 25 Latam 699 25 55 Total 2,524 245 348 Total 3,279 338 463 Total 5,851 539 714 Total 6,653 590 796 Source: Grupo Bimbo, 1980, 1998, 2000 and 2007 Annual report, www. grupobimbo. com, last viewed June 5, 2008. 14 509-025 -15- Exhibit 4 Bimbo’s Products and Brands Division Bimbo Mexico Mexico United States Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela China Barcel Bimbo Bakeries USA Bimbo Latin America Bimbo Asia Country Mexico Brands Bimbo, Marinela, Tia Rosa, Wonder, Milpa Real, Suandy Lara, Lonchibon, Gaby, El Globo, among others Barcel, Ricolino, Coronado, La Corona, among others Oroweat, Mrs Baird’s, Bimbo, Entenmann’s*, Thomas*, Tia Rosa, Marinela, Francisco, Old Country, Boboli*, Weber’s*, among others Bimbo, Marinela, Plus Vita, Pullman, Ideal, Holsum, Trigoro, PyC, Bontrigo, Cena, Fuchs, among others. Bimbo Source: Grupo Bimbo 2007 Annual Report. www. grupobimbo. com, last viewed Sept. 9, 2008. * Under license. Example of products 509-025 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility Exhibit 5 Grocery Retailers Market Share 1999 Wal-Mart Safeway Soriana OXXO Comercial Mexicana Gigante Carrefour Chedraui Costco Casa Ley Comextra 7-Eleven HEB Comercial VH Almacenes Zaragoza Casa Chapa Controladora y administradora de pastelerias Grandes superficies de Mexico Others ( Mostly â€Å"Mom Pops†) Total 0. 8 1. 4 0. 5 0. 2 0. 2 0. 3 0. 2 0. 2 0. 1 0. 9 78. 8 100. 0 6. 6 1. 5 2 1 2 2. 4 0. 9 002 6. 1 3 1. 2 2. 6 3. 2 0. 9 2 0. 6 0. 3 0. 3 0. 3 0. 2 0. 2 0. 1 0. 9 78. 1 100. 0 2004 10. 2 4. 7 2. 6 3. 4 3 1 1. 9 0. 6 0. 3 0. 3 0. 3 0. 2 0. 2 0. 1 0. 9 70. 4 100. 0 2005 11. 5 4. 8 2. 9 3. 4 2. 6 1. 5 1. 8 0. 6 0. 3 0. 3 0. 3 0. 2 0. 2 0. 1 69. 4 100. 0 2006 12. 7 5. 2 4 3. 5 2. 4 2. 1 1. 7 0. 8 0. 5 0. 3 0. 3 0. 2 0. 2 0. 1 66. 1 100. 0 2007 14. 6 5. 7 4. 5 3. 6 2. 4 2. 2 1. 8 1 0. 5 0 . 3 0. 3 0. 2 0. 2 0. 1 62. 7 100. 0 Source: Retailing Mexico, Country market insight, Euromonitor International, May 08 and Retail planet. 16 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility 509-025 Exhibit 6 Views of Semi-Urban MPs Source: Casewriters. 17 509-025 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility Exhibit 7 Bimbo’s CSR Programs Source: Company information. 18 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility 509-025 Exhibit 8 †¢ Bimbo’s Programs for its Associates †¢ Development benefits: ! Development courses for associates o Personal development course: 3 day course on meditation on oneself and life. The topics ranged from ones ideals, work as a means of personal development and community contribution, the company, health and spirituality, role in society, among others. Leadership course for bosses where the motto was: The firm is what its people are and the people are what its boss is. o What is a firm: one day course on the firm? Topics were savings, investment, work, CSR and profits. The firm was explored so that associates would learn the need to have profit and how in a successful firm everyone benefited. o Family integration workshops for associates and their spouses ! Education courses: o Open schooling to associates so that they could finish middle and high school. Online English proficiency courses and on-site English courses o Support for elementary to masters education for associates in Mexico and the United States o Intensive mandatory training course on driving for all sales personnel. o Many production associates wanted to become sales people because wages were higher. Bimbo offered training in sales and driving to production associates so that they could become sales people. o Bimbo offered, in some of its production facilities, summer camps for associates’ children during the summer vacations. ! Savings: Voluntary saving program where 1 to 2% of associates’ wages were kept for a long term etirement savings program. Economic assistance: ! Health: o Bimbo organized a health week where social security came to Bimbo to do preventive medicine tests on associates such as sugar level tests, cholester ol, blood pressure, among other things. o Associates that came out bad in any of the tests were given follow-up checks up throughout the year. o Bimbo had mandatory health checks for associates over 40. o In case of severe health problem, Bimbo helped by putting pressure into the social security system so that the associate got adequate treatment. Bimbo also got private labs to make specialized tests to associates at very low prices. ! Home improvement: o Bimbo organized a home improvement fair through the Mexican institute for home equipment, IMEVI, so that associates could get home improvement credits and better prices on home improvement materials. ! Wills and deeds: o Bimbo got associates special prices with public notaries so that they could regularize their land or home by making deeds as well as wills. Bimbo also helped associates by allowing them to pay for their will or deeds procedures in a monthly basis instead of in a lump sum. Nutritionist and doctor in Bimbo offices to help associates keeping a healthier diet. Company information. Source: 19 509-025 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility Exhibit 9 Obesity and Overweight Prevalence in Mexican Children 1999 5. 3% 5. 9% 1999 18. 6% 2006 9. 4% 8. 7% 2006 26. 0% % Change 77. 0% 47. 0% % Change 39. 7% Obesity in children 5 to 11 year olds Boys Girls Overweight and obesity in children 5 to 11 year olds Boys and girls Source: Compiled by casewriters using data from Encuesta Nacional de Salud y Nutricion 2006, Instituto Nacional para la Salud Publica, http://www. nsp. mx/ensanut/resultados_ensanut. pdf, last viewed July 7, 2008. Exhibit 10 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Health programs in Bimbo Social marketing campaign advocating 30 minutes of daily exercise through television commercials, billboards, radio announcements and packaging. Futbolito Bimbo Stars Tournament: Bimbo invited 46,000 children to a soccer tournament where they were given information on the need for physical activity and healthy diet. Mail and e-mail distribution of nutrinotas, an information brochure on health and nutrition, to more than 1 million people annually. Distribution of posters promoting good nutrition in 21,000 public and private schools. Distribution of the book â€Å"Living a Healthy Lifestyle† to all Bimbo’s associates throughout the world and to MPs owners. Elimination of transfats from its products. Reduced portion sizes and created products with only 100 calories Decreased fat, sugar and salt in 8% of all Bimbo’s product portfolio Fortified products with iron that was five times easier to absorb. The Public Health National Institute, in its Nutrition and Health 2006 census showed that children in Southern Mexico had an important iron deficiency. Bimbo developed products that appealed to children and met 20% of their daily iron needs Created a new bread that helped reduce cholesterol Participated in the Alliance of the Heart with Pfizer and Lala where 200,000 people were diagnosed and tested, at no cost, for cardiovascular diseases based on indicators such as cholesterol, glucose and blood pressure levels. Bimbo also made efforts to be an exemplary firm by giving talks to associates on health and nutrition, providing nutritionists for consults, having healthy menus in its cafeterias and recommendations to have physical activity in the workplace. Bimbo gave founding to many health organizations such as The Mexican Foundation for Health (FUNSALUD), The APAC foundation –providing rehabilitation for people with cerebral palsy, the Ronald McDonald Children’s Foundation –supporting programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children around the world, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund, the March of Dimes –health education for pregnant women and promotion of folic acid supplements in bread and the Mexican Red Cross. Company information. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Source: 20 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility 509-025 Exhibit 11 †¢ Impact of Natural Resource Conservation at Bimbo Since 2003, Bimbo decreased its vehicle fleet fuel by 3. 6 million litters and increased their average kilometer per liter by 15% by improved carburetion technology engines and fuel types Since year 2000, Bimbo decreased its energy index per ton produced by 13% and the thermal energy index per ton produced by 34%. Since year 2000 Bimbo had saved 194 million liters of water or 23% of its consumption by water treatment, installing water-treatment systems in plants, collecting water from rain, among other things. By 2008 Bimbo was recycling 85% of their solid wastes through recycling policies. †¢ †¢ †¢ Source: Company information. 21 509-025 Grupo Bimbo: Growth and Social Responsibility Exhibit 12 Organizations and Institutions Supported by Bimbo, among others †¢ Educational Institutions: o Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESEM) o Escuela Bancaria y Comercial (EBC) o Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM) o Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) o Instituto de Fomento e Investigacion Educativa (IFIE) Other foundations or institutions: o Televisa foundation o UNICEF o Junior League Mexico City o Papalote Children Museum: from the Support given to the museum, in 2007 4,500 children from public schools and 30,000 children from marginalized communities visited the museum o Fundacion Pro Empleo Productivo o Impulsa o Fundacion Mexicana para el Desarrollo Rural o Patronato Pro-zona Mazahua o Fundacion Tarahumara o Fundacion CIE o Amigos del Museo de Arte Popular: which benefits more than 8 million Mexican artisans Relief efforts: o After the 2007 floods, Bimbo made a campaign to help associates that were damaged by the flood. Over 33,000 associates donated and donations were matched by Bimbo. o In the United States, Bim bo contributed to food drives for the tornado victims in Texas and Kansas International foundations: o Project leaders of the 21st Century (Colombia) o National Park Foundation (United States) o Toys for tots (United States) o United Way (United States) o Junior Achievement (United States) o Institute of the Americas (United States) o Amigos de las Americas (United States) o Young Women Association (YWCA) †¢ †¢ †¢ Source: Social Responsibility Report 2007, Grupo Bimbo. 22