A Confederacy Of Dunces Is Much More Than A Comedy Beneath

A Confederacy of dunces is much more than a comedy beneath the hilarious and unlikable characters lies a much more subtle message.Walker Percy writes, in the introduction of the novel â€Å"I hesitate to use the word comedy - though comedy it is - because that implies simply a funny book, and this novel is a great deal more than that †¦It is also sad. One never quite knows where the sadness comes from.†(Percy, Walker â€Å"foreword†, A Confederacy of Dunces, p ix). Truly this book aside from being a brilliant comedy offers a view and psychoanalysis to the world of our main character Ignatius J. Reilly. From the beginning lines of the novel John Kennedy Toole does not try to impress us with the main character. Ignatius is far from the stereotypical†¦show more content†¦The postmodern style of writing John Kennedy Toole, makes so that the various cast of the characters in the story are much closer to people in real life making this book a perfect case to stu dy and relate to characters of people across the world . Ignatius is introduced to us as a obnoxious and gruesome character â€Å"A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head. The green earflaps, full of large ears and uncut hair and the fine bristles that grew in the ears themselves, stuck out on either side like turn signals indicating two directions at once†(Toole, John Kennedy, 1). John Kennedy is not trying to impress us with Ignatius. He is giving us a fantastic, complex character with radical ideas. Every sense of his character is an attempt to show us what not to do. He is unlikable and disgusting yet he judges other people, Ignatius s appearance is a symbol for what lies beneath,his taste in clothing hints at his care for his own comfort which he seems to care about more than anything else except for his ego. Ignatius does not change throughout the story. This however, is not due to his incapability to change, he is simply not willing to change and he blames â€Å"Fortuna!† on every turn. Hi s unwillingness to change is best said by himself when heâ€Å"The book teaches us to accept that which we cannot change. It describes the plight of a just man in an unjust society. It is the very basis for medieval thought.†(Toole, JohnShow MoreRelatedHello2980 Words   |  12 PagesQuick List of Common Literary Terms Abstract Language—Language describing ideas and qualities rather than observable or specific things, people, or places. The observable or physical is usually described in concrete language. Allegory—A narrative or description having a second meaning beneath the surface one. A story, fictional or nonfictional, in which characters, things, and events represent qualities or concepts. The interaction of these characters, things, events is meant to reveal an

Would Partial Acquisition Of Foreign Investors Be Worthwhile For Banks Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1463 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? Since 2005, the wave of foreign investment in Vietnam banking sector has started booming. However, most of investments are partial acquisition as Vietnamese regulation does not allow for foreign investors to capture more than 30% of stake in commercial banks, and for individual strategic investor the maximum is 15%, any individual strategic investor of 20% stake needs governmental approval. Since then, there have been 12 partial acquisitions in Vietnamese commercial bank sector. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Would Partial Acquisition Of Foreign Investors Be Worthwhile For Banks Finance Essay" essay for you Create order Most of tier 1 commercial banks (in term of chartered capital) now have foreign investment in its stake. This paper is designed to exam the impact of foreign partial acquisition on Vietnamese commercial banks performance and share price after acquisition. This can be used as precedent cases for other joint stock commercial banks to look at when they want to raise capital through issuing shares for foreign investors. It is noteworthy that the Vietnamese Government requires all commercial banks in Vietnam to have minimum chartered capital of VND3 trillion by the end of 2010. However, to date there are still about 28 joint stock commercial banks out of 38 commercial banks have not meet the requirements on minimum chartered capital. And most of them are now interested in selling stake for foreign strategic investors to increase its chartered capital. Research aim/ objectives and Term of reference The aim of this paper is clearly stated in the title which is to exam if partial acquisition of foreign investors worthwhile for Vietnamese commercial banks, at the aspects of share price and post financial performance. Thus, its objectives are to answer the following questions: If partial acquisition would cause share price of targets (Vietnamese commercial banks) to fall or rise around the announcement of acquisition If partial acquisition improve or worsen the financial performance of targets after acquisition In order to achieve the research aim and objectives of this research paper, the term of reference set for this paper would be: Review the literatures on share price analysis around the acquisition announcement period, and on performance analysis after acquisition to find out how they would change Looking at more specific case of Vietnamese joint stock commercial banks, particularly looking at secondary data of share price around the acquisition announcement and financial performance before and after acquisition Initial literature review Review for acquisition/partial acquisition Acquisition is the takeover of another firms assets or stock (acquiring/target firms). This is stock/assets for cash transaction. In the acquisition, the acquirer firm will become the owner/shareholder of acquiring firm. The acquisition can defined as hostile takeover or friendly take over. Mikkelson Ruback (1985) defined partial acquisition is the purchase of more than 5% block of shares. Akhigbe, and others (2004) also defined partial acquisition as the acquisition of less than 50% of targets ownership. Meyer and Tran (2006) postulates that not many scholars pay attention in the important of partial acquisition. Some empirical studies on the important of partial acquisition as the entry mode when firms enter emerging/transition markets can be found in the works of Barkema Vermeulen, 1998; Chen Hennart, 2004; Duarte Garcia-Canal, 2004; Meyer Tran, 2006 It is notheworthy that in studies of Barkema vermeulen (1998), the result shoe that partial ownership (partial acquisi tion) is favoured in high risk countries and in countries that impose legal restrictions on foreign ownership. This can explain the growth of foreign partial investment in Vietnamese banking sector. Review for share price analysis Mikkelson and Ruback (1985) investigated and analyzed the share price of 473 companies in the U.S. during the period of 1978 and 1980. Their findings show the increase in share prices of target firms after the announcement of partial acquisition. Jensen and Ruback(1983, cited in Cheung at el, 2009) review 13 studies on the abnormal returns around takeover period and found that the average excess returns on stock price are of 30% and 20% for the successful tender offer and mergers. The studies in 1990s yet show contradicting result. Frank et al (1991, quoted in Cheung at el, 2009) shows no evidence to support earlier argument of the increase in abnormal return of target firm after three years since the bid date. Moore (1997) also studied on acquisition transactions of banks during June 1993 and July 1996. Moores study indicates that the share prices of target banks had all negative return associated with the likelihood of being acquired. According to study (2009) of Cheung and ot hers on listed companies in Asia during 1990s, the target firms price responses (in term of CARR) (-2.5%) in the period before the announcement, and (-5.2%) in the period after announcement. The difference between studies in 1980s and 1990s is shown. This paper will investigate whether the recent studies (1990s) hold for partial acquisition in Vietnamese commercial banks. Review for post performance Madden (1981), and Mikkelson and Ruback (1985) studies had shown the positive effect for target firms after partial acquisition in U.S market (quoted in Zhu and others, 2010). However, the later studies and research in 1990s shows different point of view. The later study of Eyssell (1990) shows no significant change of target firms partial acquisition post-performance in US. Another studies of Longhran and Vijih (1997) also come to the same view that acquisition resulted in significant negative performance over time for the acquiring firm. And that is the research gap on post performance of partial acquisition. It seems that the post performance of partial acquisition will be different among various industries and various timing. This paper will exam the post performance of target firms in emerging banking sector in Vietnam in order to see how the performance affected after partial acquisition. Intended methodology To answer the research questions mentioned above, the research will be based on positivism stand with secondary data being collected for the purpose of analysis on share price and post performance. And it will be comparative design. The analysis will be based on cross-sectional analysis which will compare the share price and performance of target firms before and after acquisition; and the share price and post performance of target firms with those of relevant commercial banks with no foreign partial acquisition The secondary data will be collected from reliable sources i.e banks websites, stock exchanges websites, other possible sources such as State Securities Commissions, Ministry of Finance. the sample sizes will include total 12 partial acquisition deals of more than 10% stake in Vietnamese commercial joint stock banks . The sample of control group consists of 6-10 commercial banks (where as information is available). Note that, due to limitation in information of share pri ces, the research might not include all stock information of sample commercial banks. For share price analysis, all stocks that are unlisted will be eliminated from the sample size. Up to date there are only 8 listed commercial banks, of which 3 commercial listed banks will be in control group sample. The share price of 2 listed banks with partial acquisition will be analyzed . It excludes 3 others listed banks with partial acquisition because those were listed on stock exchange after 1-2 years of the acquisition date, and with these cases, the share price analysis before and after acquisition can not be measured. The analysis on share price would be based on the AAR (accumulated abnormal return). For performance descriptive analysis, this will be based on financial ratios for banks to avoid the difference in years before and after the acquisition taken place. Those ratios are: ROA, ROE, liquidity, net gearing, cost to income ration, loans to total asset ratio, credit risk, diver sity earnings, off-balance sheet, loan to deposit After the analysis on share price and financial performance through the calculation of ratios, T-test will be conducted to test the relationship between financial performance before and after acquisition, and also post performance with other commercial banks having no partial foreign acquisition The result of this research considered to be valid as the choice of sample is considered to be appropriate and representable with appropriate analysis technique. Data present in the tables is also considered to be reliable since data are collected from reliable sources and audited financial statements. Thus, if the research is repeated, the consistent results are expected. Timescales The research and reading from this project will be started from December but not intensively. The intensive work will be taken place in mid February 2011, and to be finished in mid August 2011, about two weeks earlier than the expected deadline in end of August 2011. Below is the gantt chart specifies the timeframe for this projects Timetable for thesis work (Unit: days): Reference Zhu, PengCheng, Jog, V., Otchere, I. (2010) Partial acquisition in emerging market: A test of the strategic market entry and corportate control hypotheses. Journal of Corporate Finance. doi:10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2010.09.003 Hannan, H. T., and Pilloff, J. S (2009) Acquisition Targets and Motives in the Banking Industry. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Vol. 41, No. 6, pp.1167 1187 Akhigbe, A., Madura, J., and Spencer, C. (2004) Partial acquisition, corporate ocntrol, and performance. Applied Financial Economics, Vol. 14, pp. 847 857

Juwi Analysis - 1274 Words

Juwi - what next? Company – Overview: Juwi is one of the world’s leading companies in the area of renewable energy The name is built by the first two letters of the surnames of the founders Fred Jung and Matthias Willenbacher. The company operates in the solar, wind, bio-energy, hydropower and geothermal energy sectors, as well as in the areas of green building and solar electro-mobility. What was originally a two-man operation has grown into a multi-award winning company with 1,750 employees in 15 countries. As there isn ´t one specific problem to be solved we chose to apply the Strategy Orientation Analysis. 1.) History, growth amp; development 1996 the company was founded by Fred Jung and Matthias Willenbacher 1997,†¦show more content†¦* Difficult to generate interest among potential employees. (Relatively unknown to potential employees) * Low market share of only 0.5% on a global scale 3. Analyse external Environment Opportunities: * no price risk for projects in renewable energy. (for the next 20 years, a producer of electricity power from renewable resources benefited from a price guarantee for electricity fed into the grid and in addition, a guarantee that the electricity produced would be fed into the grid.) * wind and photovoltaic energy production, were expected to be the main market growth drivers over the next decade: Development of installed electricity generation capacity by wind mills in Germany increases by 11% p.a. Development of installed photovoltaic electricity generation capacity in Germany increases by 18% p.a. Threats: * competition is fast increasing in this field. * feed-in tariff regulation is likely to change so that conditions for alternative energy generation will be far less favourable in the future * industry is vulnerable to the impact of political decisions. * suppliers are starting to enter their home turf, they too are beginning to design projects to produce alternative energy, and selling them to investors Porter ´s 5 Forces * Intensity of existing rivalry: Competition is fast increasing as it is profitable Government limits competition through feed-in tariffs * Bargaining power of

Vodafones Organizational free essay sample

After having been brought public in 1988, Vodafone kicked off its international expansion by acquiring minority stakes in other wireless telecom companies, following with multiple joint ventures within countries that were about to launch their cellular networks. Under the cabinet of Chris Gent as Vodafone’s CEO, the company drastically expanded the portfolio of its overseas acquisitions. Arun Sarin, who initiated the One Vodafone project, maximizing economies of scale, then succeeded him. The One Vodafone was to unify and simplify the company’s structure. This mainly included reshaping organizational charts and integrating Vodafone as a global brand. When Vodafone’s current CEO, Vittorio Colao, took over in 2008 he established a set of clear goals for the company to pursue. These mainly focused on â€Å"improvement of operational performance, [ ] pursuit of growth opportunities, [and] increase in shareholder returns†. (Colao, 2008, cited in Grant Jordan, 2011, p. 1 2) First results of Coleo’s newly adopted strategies came up positive yet the concerns arose around Vodafone’s long-term strategies in terms of its international presence. So as to help Vodafone pursue the aforementioned goals, we were assigned a consulting mandate to evaluate the following queries: 1- Are Vodafone’s organizational capabilities correctly aligned with their current strategy? If not, how could they improve them in order to grow within the competitive market they are facing? 2- Does Vodafone’s organizational structure enable them to undertake efficient decision-making processes? If not, what kind of organizational structure should Vodafone adopt? In order to develop a set of recommendations, the current strategy is first taken apart into its four components and for each the organizational capabilities needed are identified. In a second step, we define Vodafone’s current capabilities and determine the gaps to be closed. After having done so, we provide recommendations on how to close the organizational gaps by referring to the three leverage points, organizational structure, management preferences and leadership behavior. 2 Vodafone’s current strategy and required capabilities To make sure Vodafone’s international strategy is consistent with its organization, the required organizational capabilities have to be determined. In order to do so, the strategy is broken into its four components, goals, product-market focus, core activities and value proposition. In a subsequent manner, the organizational capabilities necessary to fulfill each one have to be established. (Crossan et al. , 2013, p. 160) Goals Every strategy follows a certain set of goals. For Vodafone said set consists of three parts. Firstly, top operational performance is achieved through cost cutting and superior customer service. Secondly, growth in emerging markets, mobile data services and comprehensive telecom solutions for business customers leads to the leading or the second position in every market. Lastly, Vodafone increases its shareholder returns by balancing selective investment and disinvestment. (Grant Jordan, 2011, p. 1 2) To accomplish those goals, Vodafone as to continuously improve its ability to cut costs, grow in emerging markets and generate a surplus form investments and divestments in the long-term. Product-Market Focus Operating in over 52 countries, Vodafone aims to provide high-class wireless communications and mobile services, integrated business solutions and mobile advertising (Vodafone, 2014). With its international scope and business but also private customers as clients, the definition of a â€Å"market† can vary. Markets for telecommunications can in this case either be determined by their geographical location or by their users. While corporate clients benefit from a â€Å"seamless† roaming, especially when operating globally, smaller clients get won’t acknowledge the service offered by a single, international provider. In order to develop the right product-market focus, the right target markets have to be identified and innovation has to be fostered consecutively. Value Proposition As stated before, Vodafone aims to provide high-class services. Therefore instead of challenging its competitors on price, customer value is created through premium services and differentiation. The global scope allows the customer to benefit from high quality reception worldwide, always offered by Vodafone and without value decreasing interceptions in the network. A strong value proposition requires the ability to offer superior data services and superior customer services, always moving one-step ahead of competition. Core Activities When operating globally, the core activities have to be established in a structure that allows the company to benefit from synergies and international integration. For Vodafone core activities focus on procurement, global development of products and services, marketing and brand development and service functions. If core activities are to be performed efficiently and effectively, it is not only necessary to balance the need for coordination and synergies with local initiatives and to adapt to industry changes, but also to have a well functioning corporation. This means, back-room systems have to run smoothly, economies in equipment purchase have to be realized and know-how has to be transferrable from one unit to another. Moreover the international scope has to be transferred into customer value and thus a competitive advantage. 3 Identifying Vodafone’s Organizational Capabilities As the strategy has been broken down into components, it is now necessary to identify Vodafones existing capabilities with respect to each component. The summary of these capabilities has been annexed to the present document. Currently, there are two main capabilities that facilitate the accomplishment of Vodafones goals. Firstly, there is the ability to grow in emerging markets. Between the years 2005 and 2008, Vodafone had demonstrated that it was able to enter emerging markets and to grow within these markets through acquisitions in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. Secondly, Vodafone possesses the ability to generate long-term profits from investments and divestments. In fact, this capability is a indispensable in order to create shareholder returns. As shown in table 1 of Grant and Jordan’s case study (2011, p. 2), Vodafone realized continuous, positive free cash flows between four and seven billion pounds during the years 2005 to 2011. As for the product-market focus, there is one main capability that can be identified with the company, the ability to identify potential target markets. Vodafone has shown that it is constantly and actively seeking for new target markets to exploit and its ability to expand their international scope. With innovative projects in Kenya, Asia and Eastern Europe, Vodafone further established a global presence. (Grant Jordan, 2011) Vodafone possesses four main capabilities with respect to its core activities. Firstly, as a result of its international expansion, Vodafone can transfer seamless connections into costumer value. The company is thus able to provide integrated solutions to businesses with international functions. Smaller firms and private customers however don’t benefit as much from a global partner as most domestic providers offer good roaming services through partner agreements. Thanks to the large distribution of fix costs, Vodafone is able to offer promotional deals to small clients and therefore allow them to benefit from a unified provider. Secondly, by rationalizing its back-room systems Vodafone eliminates expenses that do not generate value for the costumers and strengthens the organizational structure. Thirdly, due to the international scope, economies in purchasing equipment can be realized. Lastly, the ability to exploit learning and knowledge transfer is directly linked to the required ability to innovate new generations of voice and data services. In order to enhance these capabilities Vodafone restructured the organization in 2011 (Grant Jordan, 2011, p. 9 16) Finally, with respect to Vodafones value proposition, the companys main capability is being able  to offer superior customer service. This capability is demonstrated by the fulfillment of three criteria: effective delivery to costumers, short response time and responsiveness  to customers needs. In order to fulfill these criteria, Vodafone nurtures an entrepreneurial mindset and provides each of its company with challenging missions to accomplish (Grant Jordan, 2011, p. 8). In conclusion, Vodafone disposes of several crucial capabilities but still can improve its abilities to adapt to industry changes and to innovate new generations of voice and data services. In addition the ability to balance the need for coordination and synergies with local initiatives has not been flawless. However those capabilities are determined inside-out. At the end it is the customer that determines how innovative Vodafone is or whether its customer service is superior (Crossan et al. , 2013, p. 161). 4 Developing New Organizational Capabilities Now that we’ve identified the organizational gaps, we develop new organizational capabilities or improve existing ones to ensure consistency in the strategy-organization linkage. To do so, we refer to the three leverage points, organizational structure, management preferences and leadership behavior. As the available information does not provide sufficient detail on the latter, we therefore focus on the organizational structure and management processes. Organizational Structure Although the organizational structure had been redesigned in 2011, remaining weaknesses were identified. Creating geographical and functional units on the same level of hierarchy prevents efficient transfer of information and knowledge as competencies become unclear. Moreover a global strategy and business development department are contra-productive in two ways. Firstly  it opposes the necessity to adapt to cultural peculiarities and secondly it doesn’t fit the autonomous position of local subsidiaries. General strategic decisions have to be taken by a superior unit, mostly the executive board or the board of directors. The lack of clear hierarchical structures and well-defined competencies thus prevent a rapid reaction to industry changes. In order to enable efficient decision-making, opportunity recognition and a fast and free flow of information the organizational structure is to be redesign as follows. Figure New Organizational Structure The company is to be divided into the four geographic units of Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific and Middle East. Each geographic unit consists of functional units managing the tasks for their respective area. The only functional unit operating globally remains the technology unit. This allows Vodafone to test a technology in one market and deploy it into another later on, without relying on several independent units. To facilitate the communication between the different units, the internal communications and cultural mediation unit (ICCM) is created. It is composed of one manager from every geographic unit. The ICCM also acts as a channel for internal communications and monitors synergies and manages the coordination between different units where necessary. The new structure allows maximizing efficiency in procurement, global developing of technology and new products or services, marketing and brand development as well as common service functions. The reduced complexity further keeps administrative costs low and permits additional growth. Management Processes Changes in management processes have the potential to act as a leverage point to develop new capabilities. These processes are separated in three components: decision-making processes, operational processes and performance assessments and reward processes. Each of these components contributes to the development of new capacities. (Crossan et al. , 2013, p. 172) In order to increase the ability to innovate new generations of voice and data services, the company has to give the authority and latitude necessary to the Research Development department to take decisions on their own. Being able to take decisions and find innovative solutions increases employee satisfaction as well. Empowered employees feel as if their contributions matter and productivity increases. The company thus has to accelerate the approval of innovative ideas and enable projects to get fast tracked. Furthermore, the creative and innovative actions of employees are to be recognized and rewarded. For most employees financial rewards are insufficient and sometimes even contra-productive. When design a incentives, opportunities for self-development, recognition of achievement etc. Have to be equally considered. (Crossan et al. , 2013, p. 176) In order to properly react to industry changes, Vodafone has to consider the dynamics in the changes of the environment. Along with a dynamic environment, it is crucial to monitor its competition regularly and identify possible threats and new entrants early on. 5 Feasibility Assessment The suggested changes in organizational structure and management processes allow Vodafone to develop the organizational capabilities necessary to transform its international scope into a distinct competitive advantage. In order ensure the effective realization of the proposed measures, the implementation of each step has to be according to the required time frame. Changes within the decision-making process can be conducted over a short period of time. Modifications in operational processes and performance assessments take a little more time to be established. In order to ensure a successful outcome, all actions have to be constantly monitored and communicated within the whole corporation. 6 Conclusion Over the years, Vodafone has shown it was capable to outrank competition and to generate large revenues. Nevertheless by ensuring consistency in the strategy-organization linkage, untapped potential can be realized. Improving and developing capacities, redesigning the organizational structure and modify management processes allow Vodafone to close existing inconsistencies. A detailed analysis of Vodafone’s organizational capabilities has yielded the following results. It is able to effectively cut costs and innovate new generations of voice and data services but needs to constantly improve those qualities, while capabilities such as balancing  the need for coordination and synergies with local initiatives, adapting to industry changes and offering superior data services are required and need to be developed. In order to achieve the envisioned capabilities, we suggest a redesign of the organizational structure and several adjustments within the management processes. The company is to be divided into geographical units on the first and into functional units on the second hierarchical level. Simultaneously a new department for internal communications and cultural mediation is to be created and the technology unit is kept on a global scope. Moreover, research development requires more decisional autonomy and a fast track for innovative and important projects has to be established. Finally, all measures have to be constantly monitored and evaluated to ensure their effectiveness. Bibliography Crossan, M. M. Rouse, M. J. Fry, J. N. Killing, J. P. (2013). Strategic Analysis and Action (8th ed). Toronto: Pearson. Grant, M. , J. , Jordan, J. (2011). Vodafone: Rethinking international strategy. Foundations of Strategy. Appendix A The ICCM Unit B Recommendations for management processes New Capabilities to be Developed Decision-making Process Operational Processes Performance Assessment and Reward Processes Ability to innovate new generations of voice and data sevices Give more decisional empowerment to the RD department Reduce time approval for innovative ideas and enable fast track projects Reward creative and innovative actions   and work Adapting to industry changes.