Toyotas Operational and Industry Environment

Toyotas Operational and Industry Environment In order to analyse the Toyotas operational and industry environment and its competitive position in the auto mobile market, there some appropriate strategic tools are using in this paper. Such as the SWOT model , Porters Generic strategy and Ansoff matrix. The SWOT model analyses the companies internal and external strengths with opportunities as the factors of the companys success in the competitive market. And also this model analyses the companies weaknesses with threats for its fluctuation of sales. Generic strategy refers to analyse the companys strategic choice with in the competitive rivalry. In addition Ansoff matrix also analyse how Toyota uses appropriate strategies to be as the world leader in the car manufacturing and sales of subsidiaries. Toyotas competitors such as the Ford Motor company, General Motors and Honda Motor Corp, who concern to decide the companies market position in the market. During the periods these all companies are different position in the auto market. As the leader of the auto manufacture Toyota Motor Corp Ltd adapts the management corporate philosophy which is meant that Toyota Way including Toyota Production system(TPS), and as the Lean production. The companys corporate philosophy decide the long term competitive advantages. The elements of TPS are Just In Time(JIT), Jidoka(quality improvement) and Kaizen. In addition, Toyotas Total Quality Management(TQM), which is correlated with TPS, is also the most important system to catch the market share in the rival. These systems are adapting in the production line to product the plants efficiently with the combination of the low cost and high quality. This opportunity seeks the best in the global auto market. And also the supply chain management too is as a supporting hand for the company. These all will be briefly discussed in this paper. At the end of this paper, it is analysed that how the elements of Generic strategy such as cost leader, differentiation and focus and Toyotas operational systems are functioning together to get best competitive position within the competitors world wide. With that, Ansoff matrix will be analysed by its elements such as market penetration, product development, market development and diversification regarding the companys performance and competitive position. INTRODUCTION: The Toyota Motor Co. Ltd was founded in 1937 by Kiichiro Toyoda, as a one of the worlds leading manufacturers. It has become the world Largest, and most profitable car maker . During the Second World War, the company produced trucks for the Japanese Army. Unlikely ,the companys factory in Aichi was bombed down by the enemies before war ended.ÂÂ   After the war ended ,Toyotas production of cars commercially began with the SA model in 1947. In 1957, the Toyota Crown was exported to the USA as the first time. It announced its arrival to British in1957.After 1960s the company started to spread its operations world wide. Toyota entered into an alliance with Daihatsu and Hino Motors. Its Compacts, produced smaller and fuel efficiently from the start.ÂÂ   Names of few of the popular Toyota vehicles are Toyota Prius, Camry, Lexus, Toyota Tundra, Toyota Tundra Double Cab and Corolla (http://www.swot-pest-porter.com). In the early 1970s, the companys production was behind of Ford Motor and GM, but in 1974, Toyota Corolla got largest place in world car selling. And, after ten year Toyota was in second to GM in the market(www.nytimes.com) .Now it is the third largest manufacturer in the global automobile market by sales which is producing more than 5.5 million vehicles per year(www.conceptcarz.com). LIMITATIONS AND CONSTRAINS: In my point of view the time is the important problem to analyse the companys operational and industry and their competitive position within it. There are lots of resources available for this analysis, however ,it is difficult to understand and recognise the very relevant resources from the pool of them. COMPETITORS OF THE TOYOTA. In the global auto market Toyotas strategic position is very strong than other competitors. It is clear that the Ford Motor , GM and Honda Motors are the main competitors in the market. Among these, Toyota was the third largest automaker in the world. Along with GM, when the Japanese automakers sales in U.S had gone into a decline, Ford took attention on Toyota customers with great offers at the January 2010. In February 2010, Ford over took GM to be the number 1 seller in the U.S as the first time since 1998. But ,Honda Motor co didnt follow its rivals at targeting Toyota customers , this is why its sales drop by 5% in 2010 (www.reuters.com). In 2009, while GM had 20% and ford had 16% , Toyota had 17% of the market share in U.S( www.reuters.com ). Especially, the companys operational system such as the TPS, TQM and the Toyota Way add real value to the companys business which is as the different management style. This value adding procedure is giving a unique strategic position in the market. For example, Toyota Prius is a enormous value and it is a commitment to green products green innovation. Toyotas project management makes sure that the projects and goals are aligned with the added values of the company and core competencies. The reason for the project manager of Toyota is the understanding the importance of competencies and core values with the need of working together. And , project manager should give efforts and best thoughts towards develop its attributers and remained focused on business goals.(http://svprojectmanagement.com). THE PILLARS OF THE TOYOTAS SUCCESS AND COMPITITIVE ADVANTAGES: Toyotas operational systems are its pillars of the success in the industry wise. They are, Toyota Way. Toyota Production System(TPS). Total Quality Management(TQM). Toyota Supply chain. Actually the Toyota way and TPS have been part of how Toyota has developed its supply chain. TPS has been part of how Toyota has developed its supply chain principles effectively towards best performance with suppliers, dealers and manufactures. These concepts work together to add value to the production line of Toyota. THE TOYOTA WAY. Toyota Way and Toyota Production System are the different concepts, but its 14 principles are giving a corporate philosophy by using Toyota Production System (TPS), which is a systematic and highly developed example of Toyota Way. Toyota Way is the culture and also a set of efficiency and improvement techniques, and also it is called that the companys managerial philosophy. Its 14 principles are categorised into four categories. Long-Term Philosophy. Toyotas philosophy of empowering its workers is the core of human resource management system. It brings employee loyalty and improves creativity and innovation by motivating employee participation. The Right Process Will Produce the Right Results. Adding value to the Organization by Developing the People and Partner Continuously Solving Root Problems Drives Organizational Learning With 14 principles of Toyota Way, another 4 high level principles such as Genchi Genbutsu, Kaizen, Respect and Team work and Challenge are correlated with each other. Thorough learning and kaizen , Toyota has managed to grow and achieve its goals. Kaizen is a Japanese term means that change betterments it focused on improving the quality and the efficiency of the Toyotas production line. Through Kaizen the members have given gift certificates instead of money. The philosophy of Toyota Way is passing down from generation to generation(http://www2.toyota.co.jp). TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM (TPS). Sources; http://www.1tech.eu TPS is the way of companys successful globally, which was introduced by Taiichi Ohno. Corporate philosophy is the basic of its success in the global market. TPS presences high standards of products this is why the company easily penetrate the markets world wide. And also Toyotas work place morale and job satisfaction are producing reliable and high-quality products at reasonable prices. Many of the success of Toyota concern with high performance of human resources and supply chain management. JIT productivity improvement. Kanban system manages the JIT production system and it supports by each of the previous steps. Generally, the JIT means that what is needed, when it is needed, and in the amount needed. By using this concept, Toyota produces quality products by elimination of waste and avoiding the un reasonable requirements in the line production. Under this system, the ways of achieving productivity improvement are Providing a production instrument to the production line as soon as possible, when a order for vehicle is received,. Stocking few numbers of all part for assembly line Proceeding process stocking proceeding process of all parts. Jidoka- highlighting of problem. Under this concept the quality is consider by Stopping machine safely on its own when complete a normal process and also when meet any quality problem. communicating via the Andon (problem display board) when machine automatically stop. Because of this operator can continue at another machine. This will lead to a greater processing capacity. Eliminating waste: TPS works mainly with the internal in next stage in the production line and external customer perspectives which is considering and separate the value added steps from the non value added steps. According to Jeffery K. Liker , 8 categories of waste are eliminating in the TPS such as over production, waiting time, unessential movement and transport, over inventory and so on. The head of Toyota manufacturing divided the waste was eliminated in this system by JIT and Autorotation in the production line to add value(http://people.brunel.ac.uk). The concept of respect takes responsibility to build trust each other in the TPS and the concept of team work encourage employees to achieve growth and performance by contributing the opportunities of development in the Toyotas production line to add value. Actually, the Toyota Production System has been a roaring success at Toyota, but much less effective in other locations in many conditions. Total Quality Management (TQM): TQM is a management system adapting by Toyota in the production line to add value of its products. This is the greatest strategy following only by Toyota successfully within the larger auto makers. Indeed, The TQM is based on the quality of the product with the commitments of the all members towards the long term success of the company.TQM works through a combination of the customer satisfaction and welfare of the society. At the end, the result is the high quality and low cost add value for the product in the TPS. GENERIC STRATEGY AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES. Porters Generic strategy, seeking competitive advantage on Toyota, is defined as the basis on which a strategy business unit (SBU) might achieve or counter competitive advantage in its market. According to the cost leader ship strategy, Toyota reduced its cost at every element of the value chain. Toyota is the good example of an organization for producing quality cars at low price with brand and marketing skills to use a premium pricing policy. The companys JIT attempt to manufacture with an absolute minimum of inventory, in a shortened lead time. This feature support the companys manufacturing cost in production line. Jidoka supports to reduce the cost in production line by highlighting the problem before occur. And also TQM of the Toyota is supporting in reducing the cost how with the minimum input and maximum out put with in a sort lead time. Toyota is manufacturing its products for the market where what is needed and what is suitable. Its mean that the company adapts the differentiation strategy well than other competitors. When it offer totally different from other rivals , this is why the companys products aim on value with less price and which creates higher price and higher profit to the company. Hybrid Prius is the pertinent evident of differentiation in the rival. Further more, Toyota offers high quality and luxury brand cars in Japan, Europe and U.S( like Lexus ), the company is selling minivans and trucks in China, Brazil and South Asian markets, where the products of the Toyota are totally different than other major competitors. The thing is that even though, additional costs occur pursuing differentiation, and it is managed by increased revenue generated by the sales. In the view of application of generic strategy with JIT, in which the production line is able to producing many varieties of products in response according to the changing customer demand in the market. It means the company uses the JIT production to differentiate its product in the market. And also TQM helps in Toyotas differentiation strategy, how the companys products with high qualification could easily differentiate among other competitors. By adapting focused differentiation strategy, Toyota first introduced a brand, Scion, specifically for young buyers in January, 2003 which was a great success with that introduced hybrids in 1997 selling 127000 more than Honda. (http://ezinearticles.com). This strategy support to compete with other competitors in similar segments and to get competitive advantages. JIT production and TQM support also in focused differentiation strategy. For example, when the company identifying specific market segmentation wised to buy a specific vehicle, JIT production gives that particular product to that targeting market segment. THE APPLICATION OF THE ANSOFF MATRIX IN TOYOTA: Market penetration: Toyota penetrated easily and successfully world wide comparatively than other large manufacturers in building plants and sales the subsidiaries. Toyotas first advantage of market penetration is presentation of strategic markets. For instance, it penetrated successfully in Asia, Europe and US. Whereas, its market rivals such as Ford and GM influence in only U.S and Europe. Toyota Motor Corp holds its foot in China and India to get competitive advantages heavily. By adapting this strategy, it manages the unexpected fluctuations for the markets of its products. Product development: One of the key to the success in the car market is new models which increase the demand and loyalty for the companys brand. Toyota has huge reputation for producing few cars with fuel efficient and good performance. And, Toyota has enhanced to meet government requirements specially for reducing the hybrid fuel. A remarkable point is that Toyota was the first car manufacturer to market hybrid fuels, with the introduction of the Prius model in the market (www.reuters .com) 2010 Toyota Prius is the best example of the product development. The third generation Prius is bigger and more powerful than the previous version, but it will become in the United States as the only vehicle that offers combined mileage greater than miles per gallon (http://reviews.cnet.co.uk). But the latest Prius is 70Kg heavier than its predecessor, and this is largely down to the amount of new technology inside. Market development: Toyota Company sells its products in 70 countries world wide. In order to maximize the profit, it seeks new market with existing products. For example, China and South East Asia ere the new markets where the company sells its vehicles. Diversification: By adapting this strategy, Toyota seeks new products into new markets. While getting any troubles by the competitors in existing market with existing products, it is the pertinent strategy for its growth. The company emerges in China and South East Asia where targeting a 2012 launch and a piece under 1 million Yen. (www.reuters .com) and also one of the Toyotas Mini vehicle unit which is Daihatsu Motor co(7262.T) is developing a small car for emerging market such as South East Asia, and may sell them under the Toyota brand the Chunichi newspaper said(www.reuters.com). The Compact car will be based on its vision and Yaris subcompact models in the new markets. In addition, these two models and a new set of entry level cars are announced for India, Brazil and China by Toyota. To develop the sales in emerging markets the company maintains a three layered approach. However, Toyota has relatively small market share in India, Brazil and other emerging markets. This is indicating the limitat ions of its market development (www.reuters.com). Toyota gets a best strategic position in the competitive market by applying these strategies properly than other competitors. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: As above, the third largest auto maker Toyota is a successful company in the auto makers. The factors of the companys success and its best competitive position in the competitive revalry, are its internal strengths and external opportunities. Even though, it is as the world leader in the auto market, it faces some problems as its own weaknesses and the threats from other competitors and from the outside. These factors are analysed by using SWOT analysis in the appendix. In addition, the companys main competitors compete with it heavily during the years such as Ford, GM, and Honda. However, Toyota Motor Corporation is in a much strengthened strategic position in the auto market. There are some details describe the companys achievements among the competitors in the appendix. The Toyota Motor Corporation achieves its competitive advantages by using the best operational systems in the industry such as the Toyota Way, TPS known as the Lean production and TQM in its production line. Porter s Generic strategy analyse the companys strategic position in the market with the correlation of those operational systems toward the competitive advantages. And also Toyotas supply chain management is reflecting its uniqueness in the global market which is noted in the appendix. At the end, the Ansoff matrix describe the companys current position by market penetration, market development product development and diversification strategies. In my point of view, Toyota Motor Corporation still is the world leader of the car makers. But in 2008 and 2009, it faced decline in its sales by few problems. However, the president of the company Akio Toyoda who and the every level employees of the company commit their whole life over take these problems. I suppose that, in future it will be the number one auto maker in the global car manufacturer with the attention of over taking particular quality problem for preventing the quality problem by using its the world greatest strategic operational choices in the industry. APPENDIXES: 1. TOTAL SALES OF THE TOYOTA AND ITS COMPETITORS: COMPANIES VOLUME MAY 09 MAY 08 DSR DSR5/09 DSR5/08 GM -29.555 191,875 272,363 -26.84% 7380 10,088 Ford -24.25% 161,531 213,238 -21.373% 6,213 7,898 Toyota -40.72% 152,583 257,406 -38.44% 5,869 9,534 Honda America -41.46% 98,394 167,997 -39.21% 3,782 6,222 Chrysler Group -46.88% 79,010 148,747 -44.84% 3,039 5,509 Nissan NA -33.10% 67,4874 100,874 -30.52% 2,596 3,736 BMW Group -27.65% 22,993 31,781 -24.87% 884 1,177 *The daily selling rate (DSR) is calculated with 26 days for May 2009 and 27 for May 2008. Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2009/06/02/by-the-numbers-may-2009-gm-and-ford-surprise-edition/ TOYOTAS INDUSTRY RANK AT IMPORTANT ATTRIBUTES. ATTRIBUTES INDUSTRY RANK Innovation 3 People management 3 Used of corporate assets 2 Social responsibility 1 Quality of management 2 Financial soundness 1 Long term investment 2 Quality of products /services 2 Global competencies 2 Source: http://money.cnn.com 3. WORLDS TOP 10 AUTO GROUPS BY 2009 H1 SALES. RANK COMPANY SALES(US $ Millions) 1 Toyota Motor Corp 3.564 2 General Motor Co 3.553 3 Volkswagen AG 3.265 4 Hyundai Mo. Co 2.153 5 Ford Motor Co 2.115 6 P S A Peugeot Citroen 1.587 7 Honda Motor Co 1.586 8 Nissan Motor Co 1.546 9 Suzuki Motor Corp 1.15 10 Renault SA 1.107 Source: www.reuters.com 4. THE SWOT OF TOYOTA Strengths and Opportunities; Toyotas Just in Time (JIT) allows the production system to produce vehicles efficiently and quickly, one at a time, which is great quality and provide satisfaction to consumers. And ,the company has a major strength which is Toyotas Production System(TPS) prevent waste and therefore reduces the amount of energy, raw materials and other resources used, this is making it towards sustainability(www.toyota.eu). Toyota is a best profit maker in the market. This is because, rising up of the share price of Toyota. For example, Toyotas stock market value is approximately 30% of the value of the global car market. If we combined the profits of all global car makers, Toyota would account for about one third. And other all Japanese car makers would account for another third. Only the rest final third, would be accounted by all European, North American and other Asian car makers together. (http://www.marketingteacher.com). Another reason for its climbed up to the top is beyond loyalty. Toyotas life long learning by Kaizen and improvement management systems makes best decisions. Japanese companies, specially, Toyota is excellent in particular areas as the strengths its self. Such as Elimination of waste and cost cutting. A culture rooted in manufacturing. Fast, disciplined product development cycles. Consistence and relentless Toyotas managers always knows that where they want to be five years from now and are working at getting there. Toyotas innovation and creativity is a major opportunity. Companys commercial mass produced hybrid gas and electric vehicles are creating more opportunities in the competitive markets. Prius is the pertinent example for these advance technology adaptation of Toyota. It based on advanced hybrid technology and R+D activity. This investment and Toyotas wide range of product portfolio support customers for alternative sources of fuel away from gas guzzling cars. Another example of innovation is that Toyota Sienna is planned to join the hybrid line up by 2010 (www.brandchannel.com) Toyota mostly attracts the youth market by its segmentation. As Pedro Pacheco(spokes person for Toyota Europe) said, The urban youth segment is attractive to us because it can success fully influence the whole of youth sector, and it allows to attract customers to the brand at an earlier stage (www.brandchannel.com). Toyota like these customers to grow by providing products as their like. This is a big opportunity of establishing a life lasting relation ship. Toyota taking heart the customer feedback it has received, together with its suppliers, dealers and its world wide employees, its commitment is on its products and services and also its commitment to the customer first. This feature is giving many opportunities to Toyota world wide. Toyotas continuous global expansion also brings opportunities to it. Practically, Toyota has its factories in all continents and its vehicles are made up in different countries. Remarkably, for recent years the company emerged in third world countries and it is getting possible opportunities. And it tends for the localisation of the production using their situation in different countries as the suppliers of the production local market. This result of globalization is making many opportunities for the company. Weaknesses Threats Almost every problem creates a need for inventory, which is one of the largest wastes. This is really a reflection of ineffectiveness. Because every manufactures should need to make sure that their models consumers want or not and conditions of those markets. These may be the reasons of putting attention on emerging market heavily. Toyotas production needs a huge investment with high fixed cost and cost of labour. This may allow to face problems like over capacity or under capacity if occur any upturn or downturn. The main problem is that the companys products are too expensive for its emerging markets, when other competitors like Tata Motors (TM) produce reasonably cheaper cars. The movements of the exchange rates make narrow margins in the market of its sales. For example, in 2009, Toyotas chairman said that the strong appreciation of the Yen against the Dollar and Euro and the rising cost of raw materials made losses in Toyotas sale (www.glgroup.com). The demand for larger cars decreased while increasing the demand for small cars by changing the life style nowadays. This is also a challenge for Toyota. According to the increasing expenses, the consumer usage of cars is decreasing. This factor reduces the demand of cars in the market as well as the high price Toyotas cars. Businesses operate their operations with fewer fuels by the technology improvements. For instances, Europe governments are encouraging more alternatives for transport, which is reducing the demand for new cars (www.businessteacher.org.uk). These all factors are the threats for Toyota. 5. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT OF TOYOTA: Toyota has coordinated the plans across the supply chain and has executed them efficiently. It is the ultimate way in which Toyota has built its superior efficiency in operations. Its effective performance is estimated by the process and their results. This process aims to create a balance between the supply chain parameters. Components of Supply chain management. Variety of products. Velocity of product flow. Variability of out comes against fore cast. Visibility of process to enable learning. (http://www.mhprofessional.com/product.php?isbn=0071615490) The variety represents an extremely important design selection of supply chain which has an effect on the participants of the supply chain. When choosing variety, there is a need to have feed back to make sure that it is suitable to represent for the market situation. Velocity has clearly shown in the Toyotas supply chain. It allows doing the procedures at the same time throughout the system. By reducing the variability orders, supply chain will need low level of inventory. It also support for the high quality and cost reduction across the supply chain. These three concepts of supply chain management influence on the stable of supply chain of Toyota. However, Toyotas supply chain ran too hot, which means, working with a lot of unfamiliar suppliers. They didnt have proper understanding of Toyotas culture. The majority of the problems of the company concern with this problem. The Toyota Way and TPS have given them the competitive advantages on a global scale. Most of these advantages are gained through a combination of the arrangement of the human resources policies and their highly efficient global network of the suppliers and manufactures. According to the TPS Toyota maintain the quality of the product while reducing the cost and eliminating the waste efficiently. Through these techniques Toyota is able to develop competitive advantage in their manufacturing and sales. Toyota considers that the workers are at the centre of the process of continuous improvement and that their creativity leads to innovation, to improve the loyalty and morale in the work place. At the end, when the job satisfaction is high, there is a greater likelihood that reliable and high quality products can be offered at an affordable price. So the low cost and high quality of the products create high demand for Toyotas products in the competitive market. REFERENCES: Kae Inoue, Toyotas President Takes over Amid U.S. Slump, [Online], Available: www.bloomberg.com, ( June 23, 2009). GM, Toyota, Ford add sales as incentives Buoy Rough market, [Online], Available: www.businessweek.com,( April, 2010). Operational agility at Toyota, [Online], Available: http://blogs.ft.com, (January 27, 2010). Toyota, Nissan Vow to do Better; Green Cars Key, [Online], Available: www.retures.com, (June23, 2009). Toyota will reduce Hybrid Cars prices, [Online], Available: www.inrumor.com, (January 17 ,2010). Porter, M., Generic Strategies, [Online], Available: www.marketteacher.com,( 1980) . Edwards Deming, W., Total Quality Management, [Online], Available: www.1000advices.com. Strategic Analysis of Toyota, [Online], Available: http://ivythesis.typespad.com (August 03,2004). Jeffrey K. Liker., The Toyota Way:14 management principles from the worlds greatest manufacturer, [Online], Available: http://books.google.co.uk, (August 03 2009). Vision and Philosophy: Toyota Production System [Online], Available: http://www2.toyota.co.tp. Taylor, A., Toyotas new man at the wheel, [Online], Available: http;//money.cnn.com, (June 26, 2009). Toyota working on new car for emerging markets, [Online], Available http://www.teuters.com ,(July 29,2010). Despite Toyota is still launched in emerging Markets, [Online], Available: www.allbusiness.com (February 21, 2011). Toyota Prius,[Online], Available: www.brandchannel.com. Core competency of Toyota, [Online], Available: http://svprojectmanagement.com, (Feb, 2010) Toyota invest in 1Techs process engineering expertise, [Online], Available: www.1Tech.eu.

Different Type of Toys

Toy A teddy bear A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old. Many items are designed to serve as toys, but goods produced for other purposes can also be used. For instance, a small child may pick up a household item and â€Å"fly† it through the air as to pretend that it is an airplane. Another consideration is interactive digital entertainment, such as a video game. Some toys are produced primarily as collector's items and are intended for display only. The origin of toys is prehistoric; dolls representing infants, animals, and soldiers, as well as representations of tools used by adults are readily found at archaeological sites. The origin of the word â€Å"toy† is unknown, but it is believed that it was first used in the 14th century. [1] Toys, and play in general, are important when it comes to growing up and learning about the world around us. The young use toys and play to discover their identity, help their bodies grow strong, learn cause and effect, explore relationships, and practice skills they will need as adults. Adults use toys and play to form and strengthen social bonds, teach, remember and reinforce lessons from their youth, discover their identity, exercise their minds and bodies, explore relationships, practice skills, and decorate their living spaces. Child development A rubber duck is a popular bathtime toy for small children. Toys, like play itself, serve multiple purposes in both humans and animals. They provide entertainment while fulfilling an educational role. Toys enhance cognitive behavior and stimulate creativity. They aid in the development of physical and mental skills which are necessary in later life. One of the simplest toys, a set of simple wooden blocks is also one of the best toys for developing minds. Andrew Witkin, director of marketing for Mega Brands told Investor's Business Daily that, â€Å"They help develop hand-eye coordination, math and science skills and also let kids be creative. â€Å"[8] Other toys like Marbles, jackstones, and balls serve imilar functions in child development, allowing children to use their minds and bodies to learn about spatial relationships, cause and effect, and a wide range of other skills as well as those mentioned by Mr. Witkin. One example of the dramatic ways that toys can influence child development involves clay sculpting toys such as Play-Doh and Silly Putty and their home-made counterparts. Mary Ucci, Educational Direct or of the Child Study Center of Wellesley College, demonstrates how such toys positively impact the physical development, cognitive development, emotional development, and social development of children. 9] Toys for infants often make use of distinctive sounds, bright colors, and unique textures. Through play with toys infants begin to recognize shapes and colors. Repetition reinforces memory. Play-Doh, Silly Putty and other hands-on materials allow the child to make toys of their own. Educational toys for school age children of often contain a puzzle, problem-solving technique, or mathematical proposition. Often toys designed for older audiences, such as teenagers or adults demonstrate advanced concepts. Newton's cradle, a desk toy designed by Simon Prebble, demonstrates the conservation of momentum and energy. Not all toys are appropriate for all ages of children. Some toys which are marketed for a specific age range can even harm the development of children in that range. Gender A toy tank with a remote control. Such toys are generally thought of as boys' toys. Certain toys, such as Barbie dolls and toy soldiers, are often perceived as being more acceptable for one gender than the other. It has been noted by researchers that, â€Å"Children as young as 18 months display sex-stereotyped toy choices†. 10] Playing with toys stereotyped for the opposite gender sometimes results in negative consequences from parents or fellow children. In recent years[citation needed], mainly in western countries[citation needed], it has been looked down upon for males to play with toys that were originally stereotyped as being girls' games and toys. However, it is generally not as looked down up on for females to play with toys designed â€Å"for boys†, an activity which has also become more common in recent years. [11] Economics Toys â€Å"R† Us operates over 1,500 stores in 30 countries and has an nnual revenue of US$13. 6 billion With toys comprising such a large and important part of human existence, it makes sense that the toy industry would have a substantial economic impact. Sales of toys often increase around holidays where gift-giving is a tradition. Some of these holidays include Christmas, Easter, Saint Nicholas Day and Three Kings Day. In 2005, toy sales in the United States totaled about $22. 9 billion. [8] Money spent on children between the ages of 8 and twelve alone totals approximately $221 million annually in the U. S. 12] Toy makers change and adapt their toys to meet the changing demands of children thereby gaining a larger share of the substantial market. In recent years many toys have become more complicated with flashing lights and sound s in an effort to appeal to children raised around television and the internet. According to Mattel's president, Neil Friedman, â€Å"Innovation is key in the toy industry and to succeed one must create a ‘wow' moment for kids by designing toys that have fun, innovative features and include new technologies and engaging content. In an effort to reduce costs, many mass-producers of toys locate their factories in areas where wages are lower. 75% of all toys sold in the U. S. , for example, are manufactured in China. [8] Issues and events such as power outages, supply of raw materials, supply of labor, and raising wages that impact areas where factories are located often have an enormous impact on the toy industry in importing countries. Many traditional toy makers have been losing sales to video game makers for years. Because of this, some traditional toy makers have entered the field of electronic games and are enhancing the brands that they have by introducing interactive extensions or internet connectivity to their current toys. [13] Physical activity A boy from Jakarta with his ball. Ball games tend to be good exercise, involving lots of physical activity and are popular worldwide. A great many toys are part of active play. These include traditional toys such as hoops, tops, jump ropes and balls, as well as more modern toys like Frisbees, foot bags, astrojax, Myachi, and the yo-yo. Playing with these sorts of toys allows children to exercise, building strong bones and muscles and aiding in physical fitness. Throwing and catching balls and frisbees can improve hand-eye coordination. Jumping rope, (also known as skipping) and playing with foot bags can improve balance. Safety regulations Toys with small pieces, such as these Lego elements are required by law to have warnings about choking hazards in some countries. Many countries have passed safety standards limiting the types of toys that can be sold. Most of these seek to limit potential hazards, such as choking or fire hazards that could cause injury. Children, especially very small ones, often put toys into their mouths, so the materials used to make a toy are regulated to prevent poisoning. Materials are also regulated to prevent fire hazards. Children have not yet learned to judge what is safe and what is dangerous, and parents do not always think of all possible situations, so such warnings and regulations are important on toys. There have also been issues of toy safety regarding lead paint. Some toy factories, when projects become too large for them to handle, outsource production to other less known factories, often in other countries. Recently, there were some in China that America had to send back. The subcontractors may not be watched as closely and sometimes use improper manufacturing methods. The U. S. government, along with mass market stores, is now moving towards requiring companies to submit their products to testing before they end up on shelves. [17]

Effects of Big Business Subsidies on Local Economies

Julian Diaz Eco 212 Tax breaks Big Business Subsidies Across the nation corporations have realized that they hold the fundamental building block to the growth of their revenues, and economic growth of small economies. Claiming that merely their presence are the key to fixing local economies. Politicians are willing to funnel, in some cases, millions of dollars from taxpayers pockets and into the wallets of corporations to set up shop in their town. Corporations with capital and willingness to invest are waiting around for the highest bidder, our bidders being the local governments attempting to find a way to a better local economy .These techniques are essentially paying the corporation to set up shop in their local economies. Local governments need to realized that big business as effective as it is in creating new jobs in the short run and stimulating the economy on a macroeconomic scale, are not benefiting the local economy in the long run and some cases short run. In order to tru ly understand the whys and wherefores for big business’ to not receive local government subsidies, a look into the negative effects of these business on the local economies, and how these subsidies should be allocated to maximize the positive growth of a local town are essential.The use of tax incentives to lure in big business may seem appealing at first but there are both short and long run negative effects, allowing these tax incentives to continue is not benefiting the economy just the large corporations who do not reallocate these resources into the local economy, and what do local governments and economies really see as a result of these tax subsidies. â€Å"Traditional economic development approaches have focused on trying to fill the bath tub while neglecting to plug the drain.An increasing number of communities are now seeking ways to â€Å"plug the drain† and limit the dollars that leak out of their local economy†1 Corporations are misleading governmen t officials with ideas centered around the creation of jobs and economic growth, what they happened to leave out during negotiations are the negative effects that big retailers have on the local economy. The past success of our nation’s economy has been driven by the ability to have free competition among business, a free market allows for the allocation of labor, and prices based upon demand.Major national retail chains and small businesses do share the need to consume in order to operate. However, the economic impact of small business to a local economy triumph that of the national chain stores. A study performed by the Maine Center for Economic Development consumption of small business benefit the local economy compared for every 100 dollars spent by a business how it impacted the local economy. â€Å"MECEP’s analysis found that in general every $100 spent at locally owned businesses generates an additional $58 in local impact. By comparison, $100 spent at a repres entative national chain store generates $33 in local impact.Stated differently, MECEP found that money spent at local businesses generates as much as a 76% greater return to the local economy than money spent at national chains. † This data was collected from 350 small business in the Portland area. The reason for such a higher effect being produced from the small business is derived from the fact that the goods they purchase are from other locally owned business. Government officials who feel that luring in these big businesses with tax incentives will benefit the economy need to find a way to improve local businesses first and â€Å"plug† the drain.Let’s assume that our local economy is like a city’s economy, if they allowed a major corporation to step in and open up shop, and increase sales revenue by 50 % wouldn’t that sound great. Add in the creation of new jobs for this economy, even better. However, where are the revenues from this increased sales going? They are not benefiting the government or local citizens because those sales taxes will at best be the break even cost of luring the big business with tax incentive.Once a major store opens like Wal-Mart there is are diminishing incentives to open up other location anywhere near original location as to not over infiltrate the market and split revenues while doubling operating costs. So now, where is this money that is being made going? Sure, some of it is being reintroduced into our economy through wages, however wages make up such a minute percentage of their revenues. Money is flowing out of the local economy and directed to be invested elsewhere, leaving the government breaking even small business losing revenue from decreased sales and lower product prices.A small study performed in salt lake city analyzed â€Å"Fifteen retailers and seven restaurateurs, all independent and locally-owned, participated in the local survey. Collectively, these retailers return a tota l of 52. 0% of all revenue to the local economy while these restaurateurs return 78. 6%†. The study although analyzed on a small scale did show that national chains and big business drive money out of the local economy. Some may argue for â€Å"Creative Destruction† arguing that although in the short run Wal-Mart may close out some stores in direct competition that those storefronts will be filled again.However, with a store like Wal-Mart which offers goods varying from groceries to electronics to lawn and garden, the available markets available to fill those closed out stores cannot make up for the amount of markets which have been driven out of the local economy. How many restaurants, ice cream parlors can a city have before that market infiltrated? Wal-Mart makes up about 1% of all retail employment in the country. There is no doubt that they contribute to overall employment in the country, however the effects of Wal-Mart openings to local governments are far from be neficial.A study performed at the institute for the study of labor found that â€Å"because Wal-Mart stores employ an average of 360 workers, this suggests that for every new retail job created by Wal-Mart, 1. 4 jobs are lost as existing businesses downsize or close. † The researcher took all biases into account including labor growth rate before Wal-Mart arrived. When Wal-Mart opens a new location they force small business in the closer area to have to down size reducing their workers, lower prices, and cutting back on possible investments. So for every job created by Wal-Mart 1. are lost that small business could have provided. The 1. 4 jobs would be how many jobs would have been available if Wal-Mart did not open up shop. Allowing government officials to give subsidies to these large business is an obscured vision of a positive future. Small business make up a large portion of sales revenues and impact the local economy stronger than Wal-Mart. The use of Tax subsidies to h elp encourage economic growth has been seen to stimulate short run economies; however the long run effects of these subsidies are far different.Currently in the region of St. Louis 5. 8 billion dollars have already been committed to economic development incentive programs. These programs offer subsidies to big businesses and chain stores to come in and help induce economic growth. The regional effects of these tax incentives resulted in an 17 year span an annual growth of employment of only . 8 percent from 1990-2000, however 2000-2007 only saw a . 2 percent growth in jobs, the loss in growth was due to the new introduction of tax incentives targeted towards reeling in big business.This introduction of retail chain subsidies shifted the placement of workers, losing 35,000 workers in the manufacturing industry and creating 200,000 jobs in the service industry. The average goods producing worker makes 55,000 dollars a year however the average service worker only makes 40,000 so this c reated significant decrease in the wages of the workers. A report compiled by the East West Government council stated: â€Å"One of the intended goals of the use of tax incentives at the municipal level is to increase taxable sales or sales tax revenues.Due to the substantial investment in retail development in the region, an increase in taxable sales would be expected, but the regional total taxable sales increased only moderately from 1993 to 2000 and remained relatively flat through 2007† Some may argue that the effects of the tax subsidies will be able to create enough big business support by creating more jobs across the area and that the crowding out effect would allow there to be more jobs than there was before. In a good amount of cases we did see this.Studies showed that some areas the big business were able to create jobs for those who lost them in small business. Although they were able to cover the amount of jobs, this did not benefit the economy by closing out co mpetition, offering lower paying jobs, finding more loopholes to not pay taxes, this does not benefit the area’s economy. When is it enough? Have we forgotten about Detroit and Pennsylvania. There will come a time when government subsides will have allowed the market to be infiltrated by big business and rule out small business. In Detroit for xample a city where a significantly large portion of workers, were employed in the automobile industry, when they industry left there was no backbone for the economy to support itself. All Detroit ever knew was big business manufacturing, without those large manufactures keeping jobs the economy will be in the whole. Imagine a stock portfolio would you invest all your money into one asset, when the number one rule is to diversify to limit the risk of a huge downfall? Local governments need to fix struggling economies from the inside out, not inversely.By allowing small businesses to receive tax incentives further growing the money spent locally as a result of small business buying operating goods from one another, by not subsidizing big businesses governments can insure a larger effect of economic growth by reducing the economic leakage which is occurring in so many regions, and lastly we can see real larger marginal returns on tax subsidies, the amount that is spent on big business subsidies is largely inflated from governments bidding for the big business to come to them, could be spent on growing inside out.The effects of local governments subsidizing big business to induce economic growth are misleading and unproductive to the overall long-term growth of an economy. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Garrett Martin Amar Patel, â€Å"Going Local,† Quantifying the Economic Impacts of Buying from Locally Owned Businesses in Portland,Maine (2011), Economic Study, 10-18-2012 . [ 2 ]. Civic Economics, â€Å"Indie Ima pact Study Series,† The Civic Economics of Retail (2012), 10/18/2012 . 3 ]. SOBEL, BY ANDREA M. DEAN AND RUSSELL S. â€Å"Has Wal-Mart Buried † Does Small Business Decline When Wal-Mart Enters the Market (2008): 8 pp. 10-18-2012 . [ 4 ]. David Neumark /Junfu Zhang /Stephen Ciccarella, â€Å"The Effects of Wal-Mart on Local Labor Markets,† 1 (2007), 101/18/2011 . [ 5 ]. East West Gateway: Coucil of Governments, (An Assessment of the Effectiveness and Fiscal Impacts of the Use of Development Incentives in the St. Louis Region), 10-18-2012 .

The Mill On The Floss - 2372 Words

In George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss, one of the long, resounding themes of the novel is the nature of love and how it changes people over time. While a loving nature is generally regarded as a noble if not redeemable trait in literary characters, especially in Victorian literature where the idea of marrying for love was gaining popularity, protagonist Maggie Tulliver subverted that idea. It was because of Maggie’s all consuming familial love for her brother Tom, platonic love for Philip, and romantic love for Stephen that directly caused her ultimate downfall and death. At the heart of the novel, Maggie’s relationship with her older brother Tom was without a doubt the most important in her life. The two were incredibly close as†¦show more content†¦To be fair, Tom was a child who had just found out his pets were killed, so it’s understandable that he would be angry and lash out. However, this was the first of many times throughout the novel that Maggie displease Tom in some way, be swiftly and harshly punished for it, and return to Tom wholeheartedly whenever it suited him to apologize. The next time that the two siblings fought was the infamous pastry debacle, in which Tom had stolen two pastries for them to share and let Maggie decide who would get the bigger one. Maggie insisted that he take the bigger pastry, but Tom countered by telling her it was alright for her to take it. He then seethed in anger as they ate together when she did indeed take the prefered pastry and he called her greedy. Tom’s motivations for doing this are never made entirely clear. Was it a trick question? Was he testing Maggie to see if she would still put him first even when he said not to? But that was the trick, that she thought she was being respectful and putting Tom first by taking his permission to accept the larger pastry for herself. Maggie could never seem to win with Tom because of his strange logic and sense of justice, and their strained relationship finally boiled over in childhood when she ran away to live with gypsies -anything to not have to deal with Tomâ€℠¢s disappointingly on-again, off-again