You are to produce a review of the strategic situation of Kepak, the Essay

You are to produce a review of the strategic situation of Kepak, the Irish meat company, based on the provided case study Kepak and the future of the Irish beef industry - Essay Example sis of the organization’s internal operating environment to identify the organization’s strengths and weaknesses (Irish Fresh Meat Exporters, Ireland 1981). The firm should then select the strategies that build on the organization’s strengths and correct its weaknesses in order to take advantage of the external opportunities and counter external threats. The final step would be to implement the strategies (Bell, Mcloughlin, Shelman, 12). The implied (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) SWOT analysis, however, is not entirely sufficient (United States Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency, 2009). Other strategies need to be adapted as will be discussed in this paper. Kepak’s challenges inspired its CEO, John Horgan, to formulate new business strategies that will influence the firms resurface. Having realized its unfavorable business environment, Kepak adapted new business strategies that were sustainable. Kepak’s business environment suffered threats because of external forces. The Irish beef industry consequently faced adverse economic constraints. These external forces endangered the integrity and profitability of the company’s business. Kepak found itself competing against firms in markets with substantially lower costs structures. Policy makers began to undervalue the potential of the food and agribusiness sector. Another challenge in Kepak’s business environment was the unpredictability in financial performance from year to year. There were no listed companies, so access to capital was through borrowing or trading profits which is a very cash-hungry business. Kepak suffered from the swings and roundabouts of the beef market. It also suffered the inability to plan effectively for the future (Bell, Mcloughlin, Shelman 2-3) Kepak’s competitive forces within its business environment can be analyzed using The Porter Five Forces Model illustrated on the following page. It was developed by Michael E. Porter at the Harvard

My View of American Undergraduate Culture Essay

My View of American Undergraduate Culture - Essay Example My View of American Undergraduate Culture The book mentioned that, after fifteen years of teaching anthropology at a large university. Therefore Nathan decided to do what anthropologists do when confused by a different culture: Go live with them. She enrolled as a freshman, moved into the dorm, ate in the dining hall, and took a full load of courses. And she came to understand that being a student is a pretty tricky job,too. Since everyone's campus experience is brand new and different, I am going talk about somethings she did not mention in her book. Moreover I would like to discuss something she mentioned, because I have an differing view on those things (Bryson 93). Rebekah Nathan intended to participate in every step of being a freshman. And she was trying to learn how to integrate into campus life, in order to touch students better. During this particular type of research, Rebekah Nathan tried her best to observe all the details around. For example, "at the first day of the new semester, every freshman had to go to the designated place, because they should check in and get keys of their dorms. While Rebekah Nathan got the key, her roommate was a little depressed, because she knew that her roommate was not a girl who got a similar age to herself. However, when Rebekah was looking at her roommate, her roommate was still smiling to Rebekah.This is only a part of her experiences, she also participated in activities as many as she could, on account of understanding students' thoughts. In addition, she tried to communicate with other students on her own initiative, as she wanted to know what they were doing everyday and how students manage their college lives. Nathan spend much of book discussing individual student experiences and not much time on peer groups. I consider that Rebekah Nathan does not involve every type of situations, hence I am going talk about something she did not cover (Nathan 56). Gym is the first step for me to learn of American undergraduate culture, because this place is a public place for all the students to exercise, no mater where you are from or what language you speak, students just play together. Additionally, in my opinion, it is more comfortable to playful learn, because it is a kind of leavening influence. For instance, when I just came to UConn, I was too shy to talk to any American student. However, one of my Chinese friends told me that I could go to the gym, people in gym were pretty nice and easy to talk, because when you were playing with them, it meant that you guys had same hobby, therefore it would be easier to communicate. After I arrive at gym, I straightly walked to the basketball place, because I played it a lot when I was in high school, and it was also my most adept movement. I stood on the sidelines, a little while, some American students ask me if I wanted to play together, I said" Sure!"with nodding. During the game, a strong guy ran me down incautiously, but he put the ball down and help me up rapidly with saying" Sorry." From the se point, I found that American students were greatly friendly in human behavior. To communicate with American students is the most orderly way to learn of American undergraduate culture.Since I was a truly freshman, I was easier to communicate with American students than Rebekah Nathan. As I was talking to my American friends, I found that American students could say anything they want. Sometimes they even played joke of their won country, it really shocked me, because in my country, people all