Study Case of Goldman Sachs and the Real Estate Bubble

Of Goldman Sachs and the Real Estate Bubble - Case Study Example e an evaluation of what really happened, prescribe alternatives that ought to have been taken, give recommendations about how such a situation can be avoided and finally give a conclusion. Goldman Sachs is one of the biggest, and leading financial institutions in the world. Founded in the year 1869, it is an investment bank that is regarded the leading world investment bank. It is also involved in the management of investments and securities and also provides a variety of consultancy and other services across the world. The net revenue that Goldman Sachs raked in from its wide portfolio of services in the year 2011 was over 28 billion dollars (Konecny, 2012). It is also known for employing the top cream of the best universities who help propel it to such great heights, with top officials sitting at the treasury, such as the former secretary to the treasury, Henry Paulson, and other government financial institutions being past employees of Goldman Sachs. So what was the involvement of this giant company in the real estate bubble hit? Its involvement, both direct and indirect, can be simplified into three. Firstly, it sold securities which were mortgage- related and ove rpriced to investors without actually telling them the obvious risks that lay ahead. Secondly, Goldman Sachs, through its mortgage division’s Alternative Mortgage Products, made bets that the values of the securities would dip following a drop in the prices of houses in the United States. The third involvement of the investment bank in the housing bubble issue was its indirect connections with powerful government executives, who were actually former executives at Goldman. This made way for its receipt of bailout money from payments advanced to entities it had acquired such as AIG after the collapse of the bubble (Cohan, 2012). A number of reasons have been put forth in an attempt to explain the causes of the housing bubble. Such explanations include deregulation of financial institutions, misguided

Public Relation Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Public Relation Plan - Assignment Example By November 2005 it had 443 supermarkets and 287 convenience stores. For decades this chain of stores was number one in the UK market. It lost its position against TESCO in 1995. It reached to third position behind Wal-Mart owned ASDA in 2003. The reasons for this were better strategies adopted by the other two companies than Sainsbury, leadership and customer satisfaction. In today's scenario one's daily life is full of examples of services. When one think about service, service marketing triangle or rather pyramid comes to his mind, which has following components in it. The first part of the paper covers the situation analysis for Sainsbury. It includes competitor analysis and SWOT analysis. These two factors are important for any marketing, media or publicity decisions. This self-analysis and market analysis gives an opportunity to list all the factors important for the organisation. A good analysis throws light on various issues and topics, which can be utilised successfully for the publicity purpose. The next section deals with the target public section. This group deals with the fraternity group towards which the publicity plan will be targeted. According to this target group the publicity plan will have message, mode and timing of communication. Client strategy includes the message, objectives and other details of publicity plan. At the end the budget related to the publicity plan would be discussed. II. Situation Analysis Sainsbury has faced various marketing conditions. One time leader had reached to third position in the market. Any strategy to make a new brand is easier as compared to re-establishing any brand. The media group has not been favourable for Sainsbury till 2005. This is a strong influencer for all readers and audience. The current favourable scenario from the media group is one of the good signs for Sainsbury. Sainsbury can in cash this opportunity along with other strategies. II.i. Competitor Analysis As per the news on Guardian appeared on March 2006, the big four - TESCO, ASDA, Sainsbury's and Morrisons account for nearly 75% of the 95bn UK grocery market. The main competitors for Sainsbury are TESCO and ASDA. These two chains of stores are leading Sainsbury. TESCO TESCO has more than 30% market share of UK grocery market. It is more than double of its nearest competitor ASDA.TESCO is market leader in UK.240, 000 people are working for TESCO. "Tesco now has 100 Extra hypermarkets, 446 superstores, 160 Metro stores, 546 Express neighbourhood stores, and "over 500 other fascia-ed stores not judged worthy of the Tesco name but that still bring in

Individual marketing strategy and plan for launching Starbucks in Essay

Individual marketing strategy and plan for launching Starbucks in India - Essay Example The aim of the paper is to identify strategies for Starbucks so as to enter the Indian market and capture the major chunk from its existing players. The paper has certain limitations which include availability of data and time available to complete the paper. The timing of Starbucks to enter the market has approached as out of 1.2 billion of population majority of it consist of youth which is the target market for coffee houses therefore the market is huge and is already being attracted and loyal to existing players. Plus the existing players are expanding to its fullest highlighting that market is yet to be saturated but currently have lot of potential. Because Starbucks have what is needed to enter such tea drinkers market it is the right time for them to launch their product in India especially when they are already experienced with facing a tea drinker nation and capturing market there. Conducting a brief market analysis it can be seen that competition is tough due to players being in market since a long time, on the same time buyers and suppliers have strong say in the market because of suppliers being limited in number and buyers having lot of options. Moreover, the potential of new entrants is also high but those with excessive cash can enter easily and lastly the substitute’s availability which is also there in form of fast food restaurants providing highly processed coffee. The suitable location for Starbucks would be Mumbai and New Delhi due to the target market which is the youth and bother these cities have lot of big companies’ offices and call centers plus are hot spots to tourists (Paunikar 2004). To capture the market the coffee maker needs to come up with innovative ideas such as bank with in cafà © of Barista coffee or co-branding with banks for credit cards, etc. (Tribhuvan, 2007) Furthermore, because the customers are extremely price sensitive proper pricing strategy needs to be placed so as to be successful in this

KFC and Its Franchising Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

KFC and Its Franchising Strategy - Essay Example Presently the company has 15000 outlets with its presence in more than 105 countries (KFC, â€Å"About us†). It has almost 455000 employees. Currently, the company has a turnover of $15 billion. The success of the company is mainly due its product and a sound marketing strategy. However, the international expansion of the company also added to its huge success. The company undertakes its international expansion with franchise system. A franchised system is a process by which the company allows another organization to use its name and market its product. The organization which uses the name of the company to market the products is known as the franchisee. A franchisee thus holds the right to market the products in a particular geographic area (â€Å"Franchise†). KFC operates with franchise system in the international arena. The company was also highly benefitted by this type of operation as the financial risk was greatly minimized and company had taken other risks agains t it. Also, the franchised system has helped the company to understand the culture of the local community and develop the product line accordingly. For example in India, the company never sells any beef product as it is against the social culture. However, in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and other places of the world, the company sells beef products. As a consequence, the franchised system helps the company to adapt according to the regional taste. Also, the franchised system helped the company to decide the pricing strategy. It has a network of 1500 franchisee (Yum franchises, â€Å"Yum brands†). The international franchising strategy of the company is both offensives as well as defensive and thus made the firm less dependent on the home country about the revenues and demands. The company has also been able to generate high profits from international franchising strategy. Moreover, the franchising has system has driven the company to the international avenue. The fra nchising strategy of the company has also helped the company to accomplish the following:- International brand recognition by making its presence all over the world. The company strategically has chosen franchised mode apart from other modes of operation, as the franchised system offered less financial burden and also allowed the company to adapt according to the local culture. Franchise mode is also a safe way of conducting the business. It also allowed KFC to undertake an end to end marketing and distribution system. Hence on a whole, it can be concluded that apart from its product mix, promotional technique and other competencies franchised system hugely helped the company to grow their business into a global organization. Skoda and its Positioning Strategy Skoda is an automobile manufacturing and marketing company based in Czech Republic (â€Å"Volkswagen aims at becoming top global car-maker riding on the Skoda† 2011). However, in the year 2000 Skoda became a fully owned subsidiary brand of Volkswagen Auto group of Germany. The brand is mainly positioned as the entry brand of the entire brand. Within the group, the company was positioned at even higher than Volkswagen. It started the venture by manufacturing what is known as people’s car. Nowadays Skoda is positioned as the alternative of Volkswagen. Hence it can be clearly stated as the positioning strategy of Skoda was based on its features. It has successfully positioned itself as the family car which offers value to the price.  Ã‚  

William Burroughs and Rock Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

William Burroughs and Rock Culture - Essay Example William was born as the youngest son to a business family in St. Louis. He attended the John Burroughs School in St. Louis where his first published essay, "Personal Magnetism," was published in the John Burroughs Review in 1929. He then attended The Los Alamos Ranch School in New Mexico, which was stressful for him and was soon expelled from Los Alamos after taking chloral hydrate in Santa Fe with a fellow student. He finished high school at Taylor School in St. Louis and, in 1932, left home to pursue an arts degree at Harvard University. He was introduced to the gay culture at Harvard. According to According to Ted Morgan's Literary Outlaw, "His parents, upon his graduation, had decided to give him a monthly allowance of $200 out of their earnings from Cobblestone Gardens, a tidy sum in those days. It was enough to keep him going, and indeed it guaranteed his survival for the next twenty-five years, arriving with welcome regularity. The allowance was a ticket to freedom; it allowed him to live where he wanted to and to forgo employment. -Ted Morgan, Literary Outlaw. p.65. New York:Avon Books, 1988." The original edition of Junkie credited to "William Lee" was Burroughs's first novel publication. He had begun writing in 1945 and soon collaborated with Kerouac on "And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks, a mystery novel loosely based on the Carr/Kammerer situation that was left unpublished. An excerpt of this work, in which Burroughs and Kerouac wrote alternating chapters, was finally published in "Word Virus", a compendium of William Burroughs' writing that was published after his death in 1997. The first novel - Junkie, was taken from letters he had written to Ginsberg who encouraged him to think of writing a novel. Allen Ginsberg was the person who published his first novel as cheap as mass market paperback. Ace Books published the novel in 1953 under the pen name William Lee, re-titling it Junkie: Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict. (It was later republished as Junkie or Junky). After the death of Ginsberg, William Burroughs wrote yet another novel. A novel resulted from this time, The Yage Letters, published in 1963 by San Francisco's City Lights Books comprising the letters between Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. William Burroughs together with Ginsberg has characterized some of the essential effects of Beat Generation artistic movement in the following terms: "The evolution of rhythm and blues into rock and roll as a high art form, as evidenced by the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and other popular musicians influenced in the later fifties and sixties by Beat generation poets' and writers' works." William Seward Burroughs has been admired for his humor and talent of writing, but he is also the most appealing of all the major Beat figures. His crystalline clarity and raw power of writing influenced the rock culture of that era to a great extent. His particular emphasis on the issue of personal freedom brought about a whole new concept for the generation. Possibly, William was one of the most colorful writers who emerged on scene from the Beat period, and he led an extremely interesting life. He graduated from Harvard University in 1936 and was well known during his college days

Consumer buying behaviour blogs and portfolio Essay

Consumer buying behaviour blogs and portfolio - Essay Example However certain experience annoys customers in context of purchasing a branded good or service. I usually preferred branded products because I thought money value of the brand is worthwhile. In terms of behavioural sciences of consumer behaviour it is clearly evident that psychological needs usually influence an individual to purchase a brand. I had a bitter experience with two well known brands Samsung and Levis. These two brands were my favourite and I was ready to pay premium prices for these brands. In my college days I used to wear Levis jeans because I felt that its quality or texture will not degrade. I was literally shocked when I saw my perception about the brand was totally wrong. There are two or three Levis outlets nearby my locality and I usually purchase jeans from these outlets from past many years. Recently some new sales person was hired in this retail outlet and they did not have friendly behaviour. I purchased two jeans and it was expensive but my shopping experien ce was more pathetic. None of the sales person in the outlet helped me to select the best product and I had to find the best fit for myself (Cheryl and Thuhang, 2007). This in turn had drawn a negative image about the brand in my mind. However after sales service of Levis jeans were worse because one of the jeans turned out to be of low quality and I had to return it back. I nearly spend half day resolving issue at the outlet since they were not ready for cash back. From that day I have decided that I will avoid any form of branded items. Samsung was another brand which had annoyed me to a great extent. I purchased an electronic item of Samsung few months back but it failed to deliver desired service level. On the other hand one of my friends had bought same electrical device from not so well known brand and it performed well. Customer perception is difficult to change since it is based on attitudes and beliefs.

Trends in Hiv Prevalence Essay Example for Free

Trends in Hiv Prevalence Essay ABSTRACT HIV prevalence in the world is becoming increasingly high. As of mid-1998, the HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to spread unequally around the world. In many cities in sub-Saharan African countries more than a quarter of young and middle-aged adults are infected with HIV, whereas in most developed countries, the number of annual AIDS cases continues to decrease. The status and of HIV epidemics in most other areas of the world remains uncertain because of inadequate data on the prevalence of HIV-risk behaviours. Hence, this paper presentation seeks to examine the trends of HIV prevalence across the world taking all the continents into consideration. INTRODUCTION HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus is a lentivirus, and like all viruses of this type, it attacks the immune system. Lentiviruses are in turn part of a larger group of viruses known as retroviruses. The name lentivirus literally means slow virus because they take such a long time to produce any adverse effects in the body. They have been found in a number of different animals, including cats, sheep, horses and cattle. However, the most interesting lentivirus in terms of the investigation into the origins of HIV is the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) that affects monkeys, which is believed to be at least 32,000 years old. It is now generally accepted that HIV is a descendant of a Simian Immunodeficiency Virus because certain strains of SIVs bear a very close resemblance to HIV-1 and HIV-2, the two types of HIV. HIV-2 for example corresponds to SIVsm, a strain of the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus found in the sooty mangabey (also known as the White-collared monkey), which is indigenous to western Africa. The more virulent, pandemic strain of HIV, namely HIV-1, was until recently more difficult to place. Until 1999, the closest counterpart that had been identified was SIVcpz, the SIV found in chimpanzees. However, this virus still had certain significant differences from HIV There are a number of factors that may have contributed to the sudden spread of HIV, most of which occurred in the latter half of the twentieth century and these includes: * Blood Transfusion * Drug Use * Mother-to-Child Transfusion ORIGIN OF HIV The origin of AIDS and HIV has puzzled scientists ever since the illness first came to light in the early 1980s. For over twenty years it has been the subject of fierce debate and the cause of countless arguments, with everything from a promiscuous flight attendant to a suspect vaccine programme being blamed. The first recognized case of AIDS occurred in the USA in the early 1980s. A number of gay men in New York and California suddenly began to develop rare opportunistic infections and cancers that seemed stubbornly resistant to any treatment. At this time, AIDS did not yet have a name, but it quickly became obvious that all the men were suffering from a common syndrome. The discovery of HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, was made soon after. While some were initially resistant to acknowledge the connection (and indeed some remain so today), there is now clear evidence to prove that HIV causes AIDS. So, in order to find the source of AIDS, it is necessary to look for the origin of HIV, and find out how, when and where HIV first began to cause disease in humans. In February 1999 a group of researchers from the University of Alabama announced that they had found a type of SIVcpz that was almost identical to HIV-1. This particular strain was identified in a frozen sample taken from a captive member of the sub-group of chimpanzees known as Pan Troglodytes (P. t. troglodytes), which were once common in west-central Africa. The researchers (led by Paul Sharp of Nottingham University and Beatrice Hahn of the University of Alabama) made the discovery during the course of a 10-year long study into the origins of the virus. They claimed that this sample proved that chimpanzees were the source of HIV-1, and that the virus had at some point crossed species from chimps to humans. Their final findings were published two years later in Nature magazine. In this article, they concluded that wild chimps had been infected simultaneously with two different simian immunodeficiency viruses which had viral sex to form a third virus that could be passed on to other chimps and, more significantly, was capable of infecting humans and causing AIDS. These two different viruses were traced back to a SIV that infected red-capped mangabeys and one found in greater spot-nosed monkeys. They believe that the hybridisation took place inside chimps that had become infected with both strains of SIV after they hunted and killed the two smaller species of monkey. They also concluded that all three groups of HIV-1 namely Group M, N and O (see our strains and subtypes page for more information on these) came from the SIV found in P. t. troglodytes, and that each group represented a separate crossover event from chimps to humans. It has been known for a long time that certain viruses can pass between species. Indeed, the very fact that chimpanzees obtained SIV from two other species of primate shows just how easily this crossover can occur. As animals ourselves, we are just as susceptible. When a viral transfer between animals and humans takes place, it is known as zoonosis. The most commonly accepted theory on how zoonosis took place, and how SIV became HIV in humans is that of the hunter. In this scenario, SIVcpz was transferred to humans as a result of chimps being killed and eaten or their blood getting into cuts or wounds on the hunter. Normally the hunters body would have fought off SIV, but on a few occasions it adapted itself within its new human host and became HIV-1. The fact that there were several different early strains of HIV, each with a slightly different genetic make-up (the most common of which was HIV-1 group M), would support this theory: every time it passed from a chimpanzee to a man, it would have developed in a slightly different way within his body, and thus produced a slightly different strain. An article published in The Lancet in 20044 , also shows how retroviral transfer from primates to hunters is still occurring even today. In a sample of 1099 individuals in Cameroon, they discovered ten (1%) were infected with SFV (Simian Foamy Virus), an illness which, like SIV, was previously thought only to infect primates. All these infections were believed to have been acquired through the butchering and consumption of monkey and ape meat. Discoveries such as this have led to calls for an outright ban on bush meat hunting to prevent simian viruses being passed to humans. Others theories include: * The oral polio vaccine (OPV) theory * The contaminated needle theory * The colonialism theory * The conspiracy theory Four of the earliest known instances of HIV infection are as follows: * A plasma sample taken in 1959 from an adult male living in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. * A lymph node sample taken in 1960 from an adult female, also from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. * HIV found in tissue samples from an American teenager who died in St. Louis in 1969. A 1998 analysis of the plasma sample from 1959 suggested that HIV-1 was introduced into humans around the 1940s or the early 1950s.   In January 2000, the results of a new study16 suggested that the first case of HIV-1 infection occurred around 1931 in West Africa. This estimate (which had a 15 year margin of error) was based on a complex computer model of HIVs evolution. However, a study in 200817 dated the origin of HIV to between 1884 and 1924, much earlier than previous estimates. The researchers compared the viral sequence from 1959 (the oldest known HIV-1 specimen) to the newly discovered sequence from 1960. They found a significant genetic difference between them, demonstrating diversification of HIV-1 occurred long before the AIDS pandemic was recognised. The authors suggest a long history of the virus in Africa and call Kinshasa the â€Å"epicentre of the HIV/AIDS pandemic† in Central Africa. They propose the early spread of HIV was concurrent with the development of colonial cities, in which crowding of people increased opportunities for HIV transmission. If accurate, these findings imply that HIV existed before many scenarios (such as the OPV and conspiracy theories) suggest. Until recently, the origins of the HIV-2 virus had remained relatively unexplored. HIV-2 is thought to come from the SIV in Sooty Mangabeys rather than chimpanzees, but the crossover to humans is believed to have happened in a similar way (i.e. through the butchering and consumption of monkey meat). It is far rarer, significantly less infectious and progresses more slowly to AIDS than HIV-1. As a result, it infects far fewer people, and is mainly confined to a few countries in West Africa. In May 2003, a group of Belgian researchers published a report18 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. By analysing samples of the two different subtypes of HIV-2 (A and B) taken from infected individuals and SIV samples taken from sooty mangabeys, Dr Vandamme concluded that subtype A had passed into humans around 1940 and subtype B in 1945 (plus or minus 16 years or so). Her team of researchers also discovered that the virus had originated in Guinea-Bissau and that its spread was most likely precipitated by the independence war that took place in the country between 1963 and 1974 (Guinea-Bissau is a former Portuguese colony). Her theory was backed up by the fact that the first European cases of HIV-2 were discovered among Portuguese veterans of the war, many of whom had received blood transfusions or unsterile injections following injury, or had possibly had relationships with local women. TRENDS IN HIV PREVALENCE Since 2001, MEASURE Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) have included HIV testing in 31 countries. In 13 of these countries testing has been included in two surveys, which provides an opportunity to examine trends. However, trend data must be viewed with caution, as only some changes are statistically significant. Trends in HIV Prevalence In the charts below, changes in HIV prevalence that are statistically significant are marked with an asterisk and a star.   While it may appear that HIV prevalence has decreased in most countries, these decreases are only statistically significant in the Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Tanzania, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. This means that in these countries, the change is large enough that it is unlikely that the decrease is due to chance alone; it probably represents true change in the HIV prevalence in the population. In some countries, such as Tanzania, the decrease is statistically significant for the population as a whole, and for men, but not for women. In Cameroon, Burkina Faso, and Zimbabwe, HIV prevalence has decreased among both women and men. DHS surveys have not detected any change in HIV prevalence in Mali, Senegal, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Lesotho, or Zambia. What does this mean? Because HIV prevalence is a measure of all HIV infections in a population, a decrease in HIV prevalence could indicate that fewer people are becoming infected, and/or that more people with HIV have died in a population. Similarly, an increase in HIV prevalence could point to more new infections, and/or could indicate an increase in HIV-positive individuals living longer on anti-retroviral therapy. TRENDS IN HIV PREVALENCE IN ASIA PACIFIC REGION With over 60 percent if the worlds population, the Asia-Pacific Region presents a wide diversity of HIV-related risk environments, in terms of behavioural, political and cultural factors. Within the framework of this diversity, there has also been a wide range of HIV epidemics and responses, both across and within countries. It is not therefore possible to present a simple analysis of the actual and potential occurrence of HIV infection in this vast region. Our understanding of the HIV epidemic and its determinants in the Asia-Pacific Region has improved substantially over the past 3-5 years, as a number of countries have implemented comprehensive surveillance systems for HIV prevalence, and sexual and injecting risk behaviours. Despite these advances, a number of countries still have a limited capacity to assess the occurrence of HIV infection and related behaviours, and to monitor the impact of interventions. A recent factor of importance in the Asia-Pacific environment has been the economic tumult of the past year. While various predictions have been made of the potential impact on the HIV epidemic, it is not possible to state with any certainty whether their net effect will be to increase or decrease the incidence of risk behaviour or HIV transmission. Since extensive HIV transmission has been a very recent phenomenon in a number of Asia-Pacific countries, there has so far been little experience with the care and support of people with HIV-related illness. Apart from Australia, Thailand and Japan, few countries have a healthcare workforce, which is adequately prepared to care for substantial numbers of people developing HIV-related illness. Without simplifying too much, it is possible to classify the differing patterns of HIV transmission into broad categories, based on available surveillance data. In Australia and New Zealand, the virtually all HIV transmission has been through sex between men, and the incidence of transmission via this route has long been recognized as having declined substantially in the 1980s. In a few countries, such as Thailand, Cambodia and parts of Myanmar and India, heterosexual transmission has been extensive, mediated through large-scale sex industries but extending now to the regular partners of sex workers male clients. Some countries have HIV epidemics among injecting drug users (IDU) with limited associated heterosexual transmission. These include countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and some areas of India and China. Other countries have limited, but well documented spread of HIV infections, such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea. Several countries have not reported substantial numbers of HIV infection, but do not appear to have comprehensive, ongoing surveillance systems. Papua New Guinea, Pakistan and Bangladesh are countries which may have a substantial risk environment, and need to strengthen their surveillance activities. The analysis of HIV epidemic trends in the region becomes more meaningful when a focus is placed on populations whose cultural and social affinity and networks transcend geopolitical borders. A new geography of HIV/AIDS in the region then emerges that helps recognize the foci of intense HIV spread. These include large metropolitan areas in western and southern India (Mumbai, Chinnai); the India/Nepal border area; the larger Golden Triangle, which reaches out to northern Thailand, eastern Myanmar, but also encompasses the areas of Manipur in India and Yunnan in China; and the Mekong delta area, which includes Cambodia and southern Vietnam. To gain better understanding of the dynamics of HIV epidemics, factors of affinity between populations as well as mobility patterns must be explored and mapped out.