Inditexs Zara: An Analysis

Inditexs Zara: An Analysis The overall focus of this dissertation will be the Spanish organization Inditex, in particular its clothing brand Zara. More specifically it will concentrate on Inditexs past and current performance and its unique business model. In order to effectively write this dissertation it will be split into five sections. In the second section a brief overview of the company, operational and financial performance will be described as it is vital to establish an understanding of Inditexs background before commencing on further analysis. The third section will provide an industry analysis in relation the organisations business environment which will include a PEST analysis and Porters Five Forces model analysis. This will allows for an understanding of Inditexs external business environment which can then be used to analyze the marketing strategy (PEST) and an understanding of the industry in which Inditex is located (Porter). The next section involves an evalutation of Inditexs business strate gy through all stages of business process; design, manufacturing, distribution and marketing stages. The fifth section consists of the business model analysis and a SWOT analysis of Inditex. The business analysis explains why Inditex use a vertical integration model and the SWOT analysis allows for clear evaluation of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the organization. The final section offers a series of recommendations that I will put forward based on my research and analysis carried out in the preceding sections. The company overview 2.1 The company profile Inditex ( Industria de Diseno Textil) is a global fashion retailer and has expanded rapidly to become one of the largest fashion retailers in the whole world. The company designed, manufactured and retail apparel, footwear and accessories for women, men and children through its seven apparel retail chains: Zara, Bershka, Stradivarius, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull and Bear, Skhuaban. Each of these brands targets varied market segments in terms of age and disposable income. The group owns more than a hundred companies involved in different textile, manufacturer, infrastructure and distribution businesses. At the end of the 2009, the group operated 4607 stores around the world. At the beginning, Inditexs operations were mainly focused on its domestic market in Spain with the first Zara shop was opened in 1975. Following on the company has expanded internationally quite quickly within clothing sector. History of Inditex In 1963, Amancio Ortega Gaona, Inditexs founder, founded confecciones Goa to manufacture products such as housecoats. As the demand increased, the company integrated forward into retailing, then the first Zara store was opened in 1975. Zara stores expanded quickly within Spain market. In 1985, Inditex was founded as the holding company of the group of businesses operating at the time. In 1988, Zara opened its first store outside of Spain and began to expand internationally. In 1991 , Pull Bear was founded, and Inditex bought 65% of the Massimo Dutti Group in 1991. Shortly afterwards, Inditex acquired 100% of Massimo Dutti Group and launched its first shop in 1995. Inditex launched the Bershka chain and then acquired Stradivarius respectively in 1998 and 1999. Soon after, the group launched Oysho chain in 2001 and Zara home in 2003. Zara home was introduced as Inditexs first online store in 2007. Exhibit 1 Timeline of Inditex Picture 1.png 2.3 Products Mix Over past few decades, Inditex has built its own multi-brand portfolio, which has allowed Inditex to target various market segments more effectively. The group uses a multi-brand name strategy to diversify their seven endorsed brands and one extended brand. Zara is the flagship brand of Inditex . Although Pull and Bear and Massimo Dutti are both fashion brands for women and men, their target market is different. The former brand targets a younger group with more leisure and sports based design, while the latter one targets men and women from 24 to 45 providing a higher quality. Bersha and Stradivarius provide elegant and latest fashion for only young woman. Exhibit 2 Inditexs brand portfolio 2.4 Financial Performance and comparison Exhibit 4 Total revenue Exhibit 5 Net profit margin Operating profit margin and return on capital employed  ¼Ã‹â€ ROCE ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° are two indicators used to evaluate profitability of the firm. The comparison of net profit margins between Inditex and its main competitors over the same period is another indicator to show how effective a company is at cost control and profitability. Net profit margins are calculated from the Net profit divided by net revenues. The net profit margin is a good measure to compare companies in the same industry due to similar business environment all companies confronted. The higher the net profit margin is, the more profitable the company is. To put it in another way, the more effective the company is at converting sales into profit . According to exhibit 4, we can see that HM have strong capacity to consistently convert around 22% of its total revenue into profit; Inditexs net profit margin is similar. However, when compared with Inditex and HM, GAP has lowest net profit margin. Exhibit 6 Return on capital employed Exhibit 6, above, demonstrates return on capital employed (ROCE) demonstrating how much profit a company can earn from the investments of its shareholders have made in their company. It basically is used to show how much a company is gaining from its capital. In figure 6, GAP underperforms in this measure, not just due to low profit levels, but also because of huge amount of capital in order to generate profit. However, GAPs return on capital employed ratio is increasing gradually. On the other hand, Inditex requires higher capital per unit of profit than HM. there has been a decline in its ROCE ratio since 2007. HM vastly outperforms all other firms. Inditex invests more than HM in fixed assets dues to its vertical integration. Inditex has 5371 million euro in assets, plants and equipment ¼Ã‹â€ Inditex Annual Report, 2009 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °, while HM only has 661 million euro. This is the main reason that HM has much more higher ROCE ratio than Inditex. Inditexs business model focuses mai nly on vertical integration and in-house production. While at the same time outsourcing is becoming a popular trend in clothing industry. Inditexs closest comparable competitors had narrower vertical scope than Inditex but outsourced all productions. In todays competitive business environment, more and more companies choose to send out non-core operations or their manufacturing sections to a supplier in order to reduce the cost by specializing and making the firm focus purely on its core operation. This is due to the low labor cost in some developing countries such as China and Vietnam. On the other hand, there are some companies that constantly try to gain control over as many sections as possible within entire value chain, usually by in-house production. 3. Industry Analysis The culture of fashion has been changed from haute couture and ready-to-wear to fast fashion. Generally, fast fashion retailers do not heavily invest in the creation of fashion trend and designs, but instead are inspired by the most attractive and promising trends spotted at fashion shows and by cues taken from mainstream consumers (Agins, 1999; Reinach,2005). They are able to keep up with these new fashion trends and add them into their products that can be provided on the market almost immediately with relatively lower price. Fast fashion is dominating the industry on the premise of several conditions. Firstly, short lead times and life cycles are two of key precondition of fast fashion. Secondly, considerable number of retail stores can reach potential customers. In addition, a very fast supply chain is required to connect customers demand with upstream operations from design, manufacture to distribution. Nowadays, more and more fashion retailers across the world engaged in this kind of fast fashion race. They make every effort to minimize the time in which they respond to fashion trends and the speed of their supply chains. For examples, Spanish Inditex (Zara), US GAP, Swedish company Hennes Mauritz (HM). British Topshop and Next, all focus on a fast fashion model. This fast fashion retail can be divided into two categories: some with factories to produce its products represented by Zara (Inditex); some without manufacturing competencies of their own such as HM and Gap, which therefore means they outsource production to labor intensive countries. 3.1 PESTEL Analysis Political factors Since 2005 the global system of quota has phased out, textile and apparel industry entered the global free market. In the meanwhile, the textiles and apparel market has become more competitive than before and has also become more intense for the small and marginal players due to such intense competition. It seems that large fashion companies such as Inditex, HM, can dominate the fashion industries due to economy of scale, which gives big companies lower cost per unit resulting from increased production. Also, the remove of all import quotas in clothing industry gives Indiex access to a larger market to operate with greater geographical reach and then generates more sales. Economic factors The world is facing global economic recession. Consequently, the business environment is difficult to operate within, which in turn has a huge influence on textile industry and fashion industry. This due to rising unemployment, the so-called credit crunch and reduced disposable income forcing changes in consumers spending habits. Many consumers have become more price-sensitive and cautious. Consumers are more likely to cut budgets on apparel and fashion accessories. Such a change allows Inditex to attract more consumers shopping at its chain stores. Social factors Strong brands play a significant role in sales, because consumers prefer branded products as oppose to generic products. Most consumers value highly good branded products or services. Even though many companies went to bankruptcy in economic recession, most Brand fashion retail still managed to remain profitable. In the international fashion retail market, strong brand identity is very important. This is not only a precondition to attract customers, but also is a foundation of global expansion. Inditex not only provides fast fashion with relative lower price, but focus on brands building as well. Technological factors Technology is not only limited to companies within the software and computer industry such as Microsoft and Intel. Currently, technology plays a very important role on the fashion industry. With the increased competition, companies are taking advantage of IT to improve its Supply Chain Management (SCM) and using it to ensure a competitive advantage is gained. Many fashion companies are relying on the technological capabilities to add value to their products. More and more companies have adopted an online shopping platform to enhance their service and increase sales. Legal factors The fashion industry has been calling for stronger worldwide copyright protection and intellectual property protection for fashion designs because they fear major losses to their competitors. Fridolin Fischer pointed out that a dynamic interaction between innovation and imitation can be seen as a competition. Indeed, new innovation creates superior products; imitation makes these products more available to a greater number of consumers. Therefore, a lively imitation process is crucial for dynamic competition. It is true in reality, but it is not fair to the designer. At present, more developed countries expand their copyright Law to include fashion designs, fashion design owners would be granted the exclusive right to place their design on the marketplace. These copyright Act will limit the development of some fast fashion retailer, such as Zara. Environmental factors The environmental impact of the textile and apparel industry stems from its consumption of energy and toxic chemicals. The apparel industry contributes to climate change indirectly through the burning of fossil fuels to create electricity which is used to produce chemical materials which are then used as raw material to take place of cotton. Other major energy consumed involves using fuel for agricultural machinery and for distribution. Toxic chemicals are used widely in cotton planting and in many manufacturing stages such as pre-treatment, dyeing and printing. The volume waste from the fashion industry has become higher because of the advent of fast fashion. It is undeniable as regard to the current situation that the Fast fashion is causing a pollution issue due to shorted clothing life cycle, which has more negative impacts on environment. 3.2 Five Force Analysis Fashion apparel is a highly competitive business industry that is completely internationalized and posses no boundaries to its operations. The fashion retail industry is a large, mature and highly competitive industry. The annual growth rate of the market was about ** in the past decade. In 2009, total apparel sales were 362 billion. However, high fragmentation gives rise to intensive competition and price pressure in this market. Porters Five-Forces Model will be used to illustrate business environment of apparel industry. Threat of entry The apparel industry has very low entry barriers. Entry does not require huge amount of capital, workshops can be set up with workers with relative low skills. However, the economy of scale in production has significant impact on the entrant. It forces the entrants either to accept cost disadvantage or produce in a large scale. On the other hand brand identification and production differentiation plays the significant role, because brand identification creates a barrier to entry. Threat of substitutes The threat of substitution in this market is very high. The threat comes from other apparel retailers, designer retailers and tailor houses. On the other hand, Generic substitution is more likely to present a threat by offering products at lower prices. Power of buyers Todays buyers have more purchasing power than ever before. Customers demand high quality, a large variety and more frequent changes in the choice available to them. They want the exact garment they require when they want it and accessories in their preferred color and size in same store. This is the reason that retailers differentiate its product in order to satisfy the consumers needs. This is done by ensuring there are alternative sources of supply available for consumer and the cost of switching is almost zero. Inditex exactly meets the these customer demand by offer most fashionable clothes to cover various target markets at inexpensive price. Power of suppliers Power of suppliers in apparel market is low because most of fashion retailers outsourced the production section to developing countries, switching costs are low, buyes brands is powerful enough to get strong bargain power. There existing fashion retail brands command strong enough bargaining power to attain low costs. Therefore, the possibility of forward integration and suppliers customers are not fragmented. One the other hand, Inditex has more bargain power due to its vertical integration business model. Competitive rivalry The apparel industry, due to its low barriers of entry and declined obstacles to trade among nations, is one of the most highly competitive industries in the world. Hennues and Mauritz (HM) and Gap are Inditexs major competitors in terms of size and sales. Hennes and Mauritz ( HM) Hennes and Mauritz, was founded in Sweden in 1947, is another high performing fashion retailor. Today HM has expanded to 2000 stores acorss the world with more than 76,000 employees(HM Annual report,2009). HM offers similar product mix with Inditex in the same market, such as clothes, accessorise, nightwear and underwear to women, men and children. While HM is considered as the closest rival to Inditex, there are many key differences. First of all, HM outsourced all its production section. Moreover, HM tends to offer prodcuts at a slightly lower price than Zara by outsourcing it production. Beyond store-based retailing, HM also ventured into online shopping and Internet retailing. Inditex has been relatively slow to develop its online selling. However, HM has relied almost exclusively on only one brand. Inditex has broader brand portfolio, which is made up of eight brands in order to reduce risk and refine the companys targeting of specific consumer groups Gap The second biggest clothing retailor, Gap, is American fashion retailer founded in 1969. The company has five brands: GAP, Old Navy,Banana Republic, Piperlime and Athleta. At the beginning, Gaps merchandise consisted of other brands such as Levis and LPs. After Gap continuing to expand rapidly across the United States, Gap started to sell its private label products in its stores. Gap is a famous fashion retailer with a distinct marketing campaign consisting of mainly primetime television adverts which target the fashion conscious 15 to 35 age old women and men. The company operates over 4000 stores all over the world. Gap was well known for extensive collections of T-shirts and jeans which is simple but stylish. However, since 2001 the pace of development became slow due to lack of a clear fashion positioning and failing to meet consumers fast fashion demand. More than 90% of its products are outsourced, which has meant the supply chain is too long and they have therefore a slow resp onse to fashion. Also, Gaps core customer base has aged. Gap needs a reposition for its brand and design, but the chain has struggled to attract a younger generation to its stores. The company lacks an effective approach to deal with it. Gap is suffering from a plummet in sales and its competitors such as Zara and HM have consequently profited from Gaps downfall. In 2008, Inditexs fashion chain Zara overtook Gap to become the worlds largest clothing retailer. Inditexs Business Strategies 4.1 Design-Fashion follower, industry leader The process of Inditexs product development design programme is constantly working in order to adapt to new fashion trends . Designers and managers attend high-fashion fairs and exhibitions to obtain fashion information and then convert the latest fashion trends of the season into their designs. Other sources of design inspiration come from TV, Internet, film content or trend spotters. product development teams focus on venues such as university campuses and clubs around the world to capture fashion trends and customer preferences. Zaras product development teams have frequent dialogue via their internal IT system. Inditex gave significant autonomy to each store manager in deciding the quantity of product needed by each store. Moreover, the store manager is able to decide which product to display in their stores and which product is to be sold at a reduced price. The managers responsibility is to make these decision based on market research and sales trends. Moreover, by employing yo ung and fashionable member of staff ensures that employees also contribute by helping to report the sales analysis, the product life cycles, and the store trends to the designers. There are specialized teams in headquarters to analyze feedbacks and information from each store, then design and produce their products. These sales analyses allow the designers to develop the right products to meet consumer Demand. Design team issues up to approximately 12,000 new design styles per year. Such a design concept obviously depends on the regular creation of new design. For example, Zaras designer team came up with approximately 40,000 new designs per year, from which only slightly more than one-quarter of them for production. Zara often follows the fashion trends of the high-fashion houses and offers similar products at much lower prices by using less expensive fabric. It also attempts to offer more colors and larger range of sizes to meet the need of consumers. After a prototype of new design was selected, a computer-aided design system is used to refine colors and textures. Limited number of new items were produced and presented in certain stores for a trial period and large volumes of the product are produced only if customers reaction is positive. As a consequence, failure rates on new products is only 1% which is less than the average rate of 10% of other fashion retailers. 4.2 Manufacture process Inditex has been able to obtain excellent financial record due to its vertical integration and fast fashion business strategies which provide Inditex with a competitive advantage over traditional fashion retailers in the industry. Generally speaking, apparel retailers always try to keep slower costs by outsourcing production to developing countries where the lowest labor could reduce its manufacture cost. On the other hand, Inditexs subsidiary retailing chain adopted a successful diverse method of doing business by working through the whole value chain. Highly capital intensity and vertical integration is a distinctive feature of Inditexs business model. From the upstream value chain, a subsidiary of Inditex company, Comdietel, funnels fabric and other input supplied by external suppliers. More than half of the fabric was undyed which provide maximum flexibility to produce in-season clothes. Comdietel is able to dye and process gray fabric into certain pattern within only one week to meet the requirement of downstream value chain. Inditex has 20 fully owned manufacture factories across the Europe. These factories use capital intensive production processes and provide cut garment and semi-manufactured products to approximately 500 in-house workshops. The relevant cutting machines and other systems produce semi-manufactured items and cut garments which will be transited directly into workshops. The progress looks rigmarole, but it is quite efficient because bar codes track the cut pieces through the every production steps. Workshops are located in labor-intensive areas across Europe such as Spain and northern Portugal. These workshops manufacture clothes in small scale to offer specialization in product type. The sewn clothes were sent back from these workshops to various product line under different brands. The center will inspect, iron and fold before sending finished garment to distribution center. The secret of Inditexs success is that vertical integration leads to short turnaround times and great flexibility. By implementing in-house production, inditex has obtained high level of variety, quantity and frequency of new styled clothes. Inditex adopts market orientation by reducing lead-times and increasing flexibility. Zara is able to upgrade products in its stores within 10 to 15 days from design to stores. Vertical integration decreased Inditexs stock to a minimum level and reduced fashion risk. In the mean time, providing small amount of products in a great variety of styles rendered Inditex shorter lead times and high level flexibility. As a consequence of offering fewer amount of product more often, Indite obtains larger percentages of the full price due to in-season sell and thus achieve higher net margins on sales. By focusing on shorter response times to fashion trends and keeping up with fashion. Inditex made efforts to make sure that its stores are able to offer latest fashion items that consumers desired at a given time. Inditex can move from coming up a design to having clothes in its stores within 2 weeks. Short lead times is Inditex one of the most important competitive advantages over its competitors. When Inditexs retail stores provide consumer with latest fashion items and gain huge amount of sales, its competitors have still struggled to catch up. In comparison, HMs lead time is more than 20 days. Traditional retailers use 4-6 months . 4.3 Distribution A more systematic approach to inventory distribution is another feature of Inditex. Each retail chain has its own centralized distribution system. Distribution center is located in Arteixo and small satellite centers across the world. In order to keep its stores refreshed with new merchandise every two weeks, the warehouses of Inditex is simply a place to transfer merchandise rather than store them. Under Indetexs distribution system, most of merchandise stayed at the distribution centers for only few hours. Products are inspected and shipped immediately in distribution center. Store managers can check lists of items available to be shipped to their stores. Based on their store inventories, they can request quantities and type of products. However, Inditexs international expansion required constant adjustment on distribution. Zara schedules the shipment by time zone to make sure distribute effectively. Inditex uses this method to gain a competitive advantage by minimizing the lead ti mes. 4.4 Marketing mix Placement Inditexs marketing strategy is very effective because its marketing policy involves zero advertising. Inditex invest in selecting locations for its subsidiary retail chains and the presentation of those stores. For example, products in Zara are relative inexpensive, but shopping in Zara shores does not feel cheap. Zara stores are centrally located with spacious and nice interior. The clothes were presented very tide and upscale. There is a big difference between Zara stores and the store of some upper scale stores. Product Inditex constantly changes its products. Therefore, customers are never sure what is going to be on Zaras shelves the following week. Zara designs apparel to meet consumer demand, attempting to pull customers in by producing small amount to create a fear that if customers do not buy immediately, the product will soon be out of stock. There is not any other company that can produce high fashion clothes faster than Zara, which positions itself as high fashion at cheap prices. Although Zara has been accused of copying the design of other upscale fashion retailers, the prime difference is the price, which allows high fashion to be affordable for average consumer. Price The pricing strategy chosen can affect revenue. The price of a product is very vital for a company to get back all its effort. The other three elements of marketing mix are costs. Thus, no matter how good the garment is. How efficient the supply chain and how creative the promotion, unless the price covers cost, the company will not make profits. Clothes might suffer from prices that are too low among competition. Pricing is very important since it often send quality cues to customers  ¼Ã‹â€ Jobber, 2007 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °Inditex does not compete on price because they know their customers are more sensitive to fashion instead of the price. Inditexs subsidiary brands follow a market-based pricing strategy. Inditex sets price in line with its marketing strategy with reference to other marketing decisions such as position, strategic objective, promotion and value to customers. Therefore, Inditex sets price differently on different brands. Zaras prices are very reasonable. Its objective is to set price as cheap as possible to allow people to have fast fashion clothes. Inditex will adjust its price for certain product to keep low inventories if the company overestimated the demand. Promotion The fact that there is no advertising promotion strategy is another effective cost cutting approach for Inditex. Other fashion retailers spend 3.5% of their revenue on advertising, while inditex only spends 0.3% on promotion. Advertisement is carry out only at a new store opening. But that does not means Inditex make less efforts on promotion. Zara does not engage in large advertising campaigns on television and magazines. It just adopts a different approach to promote its products. It invests its money on location, Zaras stores are situated at commercial center. The company believes that their shop windows presentations are all the advertising it needs and its sores only opened in the most fashionable district. 4.5 International Expansion Inditex has become possibly the most internationalized fashion retail chain. Zara operates 2707 stores in countries outside its home market Spain. By 2010, its has 1900 stores in rest of Europe, more than 150 stores in Asia, 366 in America, 485 elsewhere in the rest of world. Inditex generates 68 percent of its total revenue from oversea markets. Zara contributes most of international sales and revenue to Inditex. Zaras international expansion started in 1988 with the opening of store in Portugal, when Inditex found that the company has dominated domestic market and abroad market was very profitable. Since then, Zara entered into one country per year until it opened stores in 7 European countries. After that, the pace of Zara expansion has speed up more rapidly. Zara has successfully entered 74 countries. On the same period, HM expanded its retail network to 36 countries, and Gap entered into 30 countries worldwide. .( Indetex Annual Report, 2009 ) SALES 2008 2009 Spain 3.730.099 3.708.967 Rest of Europe 4.809.263 5.221.491 America 1.038.065 1.096.709 Asia and rest of the world 829.333 1.056.347 Total 10.406.960 11.083.514 5. Business model Analysis This section will further analyze the reasons why Inditex, who are competing in the same business field and under the same conditions as rivals such as HM, next, Gap and Mango, choose different business models. It describes exact competitive advantages that have derived from Inditexs business model and the negative sides of business models. According to Inditexs financial ratios and business models, we can conclude that Inditexs higher income result from its business model of vertical integration which keeps costs and operating expenses much lower than Gap and HM. In-house production allows Inditex have little transaction costs. In light of the transaction cost theory, Madhok said that manage business activities inside the company is direct way to diminish the transaction costs. The costs of managing upstream or downstream of business activities within an institution will be much lower than through the market. Meanwhile, vertical integration gives a firm more control and flexibilities to operate directly. Forward integration can provide product differentiation advantages that are difficult to imitate as well as superior design intelligence. Potential advantage from integration is the degree of value added at the throughout all stages of the business. The group has authority to operate directly through designing, manufacturing and distribution. Due to vertical integration, the group gains a better po sition in the purchasing of raw materials, controlling the manufacturing process and obtaining better lead time to market. Decreased Cost does not only derive from lower transaction cost but also comes from waste reducing. This happens by designing and cutting its fabric in-house and it acquires fabrics in grey to keep costs low. Zara dyeing and printing fabric until close to manufacture to acquire more flexibilities in order to meet various design requirements, thereby minimize raw material waste and rendered Zara great flexibilit

Gender Inequality in Hollywood Essay -- stereotypes, media, gender ine

Stereotypes in our society are not uncommon. We come across them every day without realizing it. It is in our human nature to create expectations of the people around us, which could be based upon their ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or other factors. Stereotypes help us categorize a vast group of people that we may not know anything about, to think that they are smaller and less intimidating. I believe that the blame for these cookie-cutter patterns can lead directly back to the media in every sense of the word. Media is all around us, and affects our opinions and ability to think for ourselves. Whether it’s the latest box office hit or the headlining news, we are getting assumptions from every point of view, which makes it hard to form our own. But I personally think that the biggest influence of our time are in the cinematic arts. Movies have been a huge part of the American culture since the motion pictures were first invented. Since the late eighteenth century, families have been going to the movie theater to spend quality time together. But as the action packed western thrillers soon turned to risque dramas, the idea of Hollywood made filmed changed drastically. In the early nineteen fifties, when televisions were becoming quite popular in the average American home, it was considered provocative to broadcast a married couple sitting in bed together. But today it would be considered a G rated program if it didn’t at least imply sexeul interests. This topic can be traced back to the stereotypes of Hollywood’s employees and how they influence us today. From Actors to Actresses or even just the director’s assistant, everybody in Hollywood has an expectation from someone else. When people think about the q... ... a child's life than motherhood. The interpretation is up to the audience, and sexist or not there still hints in the story by common belief of Hollywood critics. Both these movies, although vastly different, are examples of implied male dominance. A term more commonly referred to is gender inequality, which sounds more staid but at the same time is also taken more seriously. Works Cited Castillo, Monica. "You Can Win an Oscar, but You Can't Win Respect." B Media. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. Gianoulus, Tina. St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Vol. 4. Detroit [u.a.: St. James, 2000. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. "Roundtable: Five Casting Directors on Crazy Auditions and Industry Sexism." The Hollywood Reporter. THR Staff, n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. "Film Facts." WMM | RESOURCES | FILM FACTS. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2013.

The Power Of The Situation :: essays research papers

The Power of the Situation A week of urban mayhem was ignited by the April 29, 1992 jury acquittal of four white police officers who were captured on videotape beating black motorist Rodney King. The angry response in South Central produced its own brutal footage, most dramatically the live broadcast from a hovering TV news helicopter of two black men striking unconscious with a brick, kicking, and then dancing over the body of, white truck driver Reginald Denny. The final three-day toll of what many community activists took to defiantly calling an uprising, revolt, or rebellion, was put at 53 dead, some $1 billion in property damage, nearly 2,000 arrests, and countless businesses in ashes. These two men, Damian Williams and Henry Watson undoubtedly committed a heinous crime, but thousands more looted, burned, and destroyed property with the same disregard for life and property. Were all these people criminals who used the verdicts as an excuse to commit crimes, or was the nature of the social situation the primarydeterminant of this nefarious behavior? In the course of this paper, I plan to explore this question from a psychological perspective with an emphasize on conformity and social norms, bystander intervention, social perception and reality, and finally, prejudice. Generally looking at the Los Angeles riots, and specifically drawing upon the Reginald Denny beating and subsequent trial, the power of the situation becomes evident, as thousands of people living in an extremely poor and crime-ridden area of Los Angeles, lashed out against a perception of injustice through violence. The conditions that lead people to perceive themselves as victims of unjust actions are rather complex. In this case, the favorable verdicts towards the officers who beat Rodney King was the "unjust action", not only for Rodney King, but for the community he came from. The perceived damage to desired social identities and justice led to resentment on the part of a historically poor and underprivileged class of citizens. The individual attempts to explain the event (the verdicts) by processes of attribution in which grievance may or may not be formed. (DeRidder, Schruijer, and Tripathi, 1992). The attribution of responsibility and blame is activated when confronted with unexpected behavior, unwanted consequences, or stressful, puzzling, and important events (Wong & Weiner, 1981). Thus the attribution process may be activated either when the individual experiences harm, or perceives an anti-normative action by another person or group. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone residing in south-central Los Angeles looted. Instead the majority stayed in their homes until the participants ceased their destructive activities. This does not take away from the validity of the attribution theory due to the individual differences in

Grear Rafting Analysis

Introduction Grear Rafting Company, owned by Peggy Grear is a company that provides rafting services to rafters. Grear Rafting Company, henceforth referred to as Grear Rafting, has just gone through its first season in business on which it provided rafting services to 1,048 rafters for seven (7) days. During these seven (7) days, Grear Rafting also provided meals to the rafters three times a day, it also provides the rafts used during the season. During its first season, however, Grear Rafting experienced a loss.Peggy Grear has enough savings to get Grear Rafting through another season or two of business, but Grear Rafting would have to shut its business down if it does not make a profit (Houston Baptist University, 2012). In this paper, I would show what Grear Rafting requires to break-even and make a profit. Grear Rafting’s income statement from its first season is shown below on Table 1. Table 1. Grear Rafting CompanyIncome StatementYear Ended December 31, 2012| Revenue | | $1,048,000| Rental Expense| (208,600)| |Meals Expense| (314,400)| | Advertising Expense| (50,000)| | Compensation to Guides| (471,600)| | Salary Expense| (16,500)| | T-shirts and Hats Expense| (31,440)| | Office Utility Expense| (3,850)| | Gross Income (Loss)| | $(48,390)| Variable and Fixed Costs There are different types of costs associated with the running of Grear Rafting. In order to develop a plan for Grear Rafting to make a profit, it is necessary to identify those costs that can be changed, and those that cannot be changed. 1. Variable Cost:A variable cost is a cost that increases in total as output increases and decreases in total as output decreases. (Rich et al, 2010). For example, cotton used in making cotton shirts is a variable cost. As a company makes more cotton shirts, it needs more cotton to produce the shirts. The variable costs incurred by Grear Rafting are: * Meals provided to rafters ($314,400): the rafting trip is for seven (7) days, so as more rafters use G rear Rafting’s services, Grear Rafting would incur more costs in providing meals to the rafters for the time period of seven (7) days.If less rafters use Grear Rafting, the cost of providing meals would decrease. * Compensation paid to guides ($471,600): the compensation paid to the guides is paid on commission basis. Therefore, if more rafters use Grear Rafting’s services, the commission to the guides would increase, causing the compensation cost to increase as well, and if less rafters use Grear Rafting’s services, the compensation cost would also decrease. * T-shirts and hats provided to rafters ($31,440): the number of rafters that used Grear Rafting this season was 1,048.This incurred the cost of t-shirts and hats of $31,440. If more rafters come in the next season, the cost of providing t-shirts and hats would also increase. So also, if fewer rafters come in the next season, the cost of providing t-shirts and hats would decrease. 2. Fixed Cost: A fixed cos t is a cost that does not increase as total output increases and does not decrease as total output decreases. For example, the cost of property taxes on a factory stays the same no matter how much the factory produces.The quantity produced does not have an effect on the cost of property taxes; they only change because the city or county government raises taxes (Rich et al, 2010). Fixed costs incurred by Grear Rafting in its first season include: * Rental cost of rafts and camping equipment ($208,600): the rafts and equipment are rented on an annual basis, and additional rafts and equipment are not available to Grear Rafting. Since the rafts and equipment are rented annually, the number of rafters does not affect the cost of the rafts and equipment because these are rented not based on the number of rafters expected, but based on what is available. Advertising expense ($50,000): the cost for advertising Grear Rafting does not depend on how many rafters use Grear Rafting. Advertising is a way to introduce the company to the public, and whatever advertising means Peggy Grear decides to use is billed to Grear Rafting no matter how many rafters it serves. * Salary of office manager ($16,500): the salary paid to the office manager is a fixed cost because no matter how many rafters come for the season, the salary is an established amount that is agreed upon by the manager and Peggy Grear.Therefore, the cost of paying salary to the manager is fixed and is not based on how many rafters there are in the season. * Office utility expense ($3,850): this expense is a fixed cost because it is based on the utility that is used in the office and not on the number of rafters there are. Product and Period Costs 1. Product Cost: Product costs are costs, both direct and indirect, of producing a product in a manufacturing firm or of acquiring a product in a merchandising firm and preparing it for sale (Rich et al, 2010).For example, the metal used in making a car, the hours put int o making that car, and depreciation on equipment are product costs. The product costs incurred by Grear Rafting include: * Rental cost of rafts and camping equipment ($208,600): this is a product cost because the rafts and camping equipment are rented for the current season. These would be used during the rafting season at Grear Rafting. * Meals provided to rafters ($314,400): this is a product cost because the meals are provided for the rafters during the seven (7) days they are rafting.The meals are not prepared for the long-run, but only for the space of time for the rafting season for Grear Rafting. * Compensation paid to guides ($471,600): the compensation paid to the guides is a product cost because the compensation is paid for the specific rafting season concerned; it is not a long term payment to the guides. * T-shirts and Hats provided to rafters ($31,440): this is a product cost because the t-shirts and hats provided to the rafters are purchased for the specific season bas ed on how many rafters available. They are not purchased on a long-term basis. . Period Cost: Period costs are costs that are not carried in inventory; all costs that are not product costs. That is, all areas of the value chain except for production (Rich et al, 2010). For example, costs of advertising, salaries to the CEO, and research and development activities are not added to inventory, thereby making them period costs (Rich et al, 2010). The period costs incurred by Grear Rafting include: * Advertising expense ($50,000): the advertising cost is only incurred when Grear Rafting advertises the company for rafting services. Salary of office manager ($16,500): the salary of the office manager is a cost that does not deal with production, or in this case, with the activities of Grear Rafting during this season. * Office utility expense ($3,850): this is a period cost because the cost is expensed in the period it occurs. Break-Even Based on the information provided earlier, there are several changes Peggy Grear can make that would affect Grear Rafting’s ability to break-even or even make a profit. A breakeven point is the point where total revenues equal total cost, and net income is zero (0).Break-even can be calculated in sales dollars and in units. Break-even is calculated by dividing total fixed cost by the price minus the variable cost per unit; and break-even in sales dollars is calculated by dividing total fixed expenses by the contribution margin ratio. The contribution margin ratio is the percentage of sales dollars remaining after variable costs are covered (Rich et al, 761). The table below is a contribution margin income statement from which we can understand how to calculate break-even. Table 2.Grear Rafting CompanyContribution Margin Income StatementYear Ended December 31, 2012| Sales ($1,000 X 1,048)Total variable expenses Total contribution marginTotal fixed expenses Operating Income| Total$1,048,000 817,440 230,560 278,950 (48,390)| Per Unit$1,000 780 220 | Contribution Margin Income Statement Contribution margin is the difference between sales and variable expenses. It is the amount of sales revenue left over after all the variable expenses are covered that can be used to contribute to fixed expense and operating income (Rich et al, 758).To calculate break-even, the Cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis is needed. CVP analysis estimates how changes in costs, both variable and fixed, sales, volume, and price affect a company’s profit. CVP, an important tool used by managerial accountants, is used to reach important benchmarks such as a company’s break-even point. It is useful to organize costs into variable and fixed components for a CVP analysis. The contribution margin income statement format is based on the separation of costs into variable and fixed components. Table two (2) above shows the format for the contribution margin income statement.When recast as an equation, the contribution margin income s tatement becomes more useful for solving CVP problems. The operating income equation can be expanded by expressing sales revenues and variable expenses in terms of unit dollar amounts and the number of units sold. So, the operating income equation becomes: Operating income = (Price x number of units sold) – (Variable cost per unit x Number of units sold) – Total fixed cost (Rich et al, 758). For a company to break-even, its operating income should equal zero (0). Grear Rafting’s break-even point will be calculated in units and in sales dollars.For Grear Rafting to break-even, we need to consider the number of rafters that came for the past rafting season. Grear Rafting had 1,048 rafters in the past season; to be able to reach break-even, Grear Rafting needs approximately 1,268 rafters. This was determined by dividing the total fixed cost ($278,950) by the price per rafter ($1,000) minus the variable cost per unit ($780). To calculate the break-even point in sale s dollars, total variable costs are defined as a percentage of sales rather than as an amount per unit sold. The break-even point in sales dollars for Grear Rafting is $1,268,000).This was calculated by dividing the total fixed cost ($278,950) by the contribution margin ratio (22%) which was calculated by dividing the contribution margin per unit ($220) by the price per rafter ($1,000). The contribution margin per unit was calculated by subtracting the variable cost per unit ($780) from the price per rafter ($1,000). To determine how Grear Rafting can make a profit, there are several costs that need to be reduced. First, however, it is necessary to determine the number of rafters Grear Rafting needs to achieve a target income that would yield a profit.If Grear Rafting’s target income is $49,000, then the number of units it needs to earn it can be calculated by adding the total fixed cost ($278,950) to the target income ($49,000) and dividing it by the price ($1,000) minus the variable cost per unit ($780). The number of units Grear Rafting needs to earn its target income is $1,490. 68 or approximately $1,491 rafters. Therefore, Grear Rafting’s margin of safety in units, which is calculated by subtracting break-even units (1,268) from sales (1,491), is 223 units, and ts margin of safety in sales dollars, which is calculated by subtracting the break-even volume ($1,268,000) from the revenue ($1,491,000), is $223,000. Recommendations Meals: The first cost that needs to be tackled is the cost of meals to the rafters. The cost of meals provided to the rafters in Grear Rafting’s first season cost $314,000. It can be deduced that Grear Rafting is spending a lot of money on meals for the rafters. To reduce the amount of money spent on meals, Grear Rafting could look for cheaper means of providing meals to the rafters. Impact of Recommendations Conclusion References

A New Generation John F Kennedy is about President John F Kennedy Essay

The book John F. Kennedy and a New Generation is written by David Burner and published by Little Brown, Boston in 1988. David Burner is a Professor in the Department of History in State University of New York. Professor Burner research interest includes social history of US. He is currently working on a project with patty Limerick about colonialist women. His other publications include â€Å"A History of Democratic Party (1970), A History of Presidential Elections (2002), Reading from Settlement to reconstruction (1998) and Making Peace with the 60s (1997). His book A New Generation John F Kennedy is about President John F Kennedy admiration that can be seen throughout the book. Even though critics have mentioned many shortcomings about Kennedy, Burner instead focuses on Kennedy leadership and his accomplishments throughout his life. Burner mentions that Kennedy appealed to various segment of public for his style, looks and accomplishments that formed the basis of his support. For example he won the support of Jews, Asians and Hispanic and other blue-collar democrats giving them a promise of American dream as he himself had immigrant background. Burner explores the controversies including success and failures of Kennedy life and how it shaped American consciousness. He provides deeper discussion of Kennedy both as an individual and as a leader allowing readers to examine the changes that shaped the American political system during 1950s and 1960s, and how Kennedy created a greater hope for every American. The author mentions several events and incidents from the time and how Kennedy was influential changing the course of history. For example the Cuban missile crisis tested the leadership of president leadership when Kennedy threatened the use of nuclear arms in the wake of Cuban Mission crisis in 1962. The naval blockade ordered by Kennedy proved successful and the negotiation with Russia ended peacefully. Another incident Burner mentions is the turbulent end of state sponsored racial discrimination, which Kennedy brought to an end by supporting racial integration and civil rights movement. Kennedy was also eager to see US leader of the space race. It was JFK speech in Rice University in September 1962 where he mentioned, â€Å"No nation can expect to be the leader of the other nations. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard†. Kennedy approached Khrushchev for cost sharing the technology. Kennedy approved a huge sum of $22 billion to launch American Space Project and Apollo goal was finally realized when Neil Armstrong became the first American to land on moon. Bruner discuss the charm of Kennedy and his wife who were more popular than pop stars and movie stars. One main reason was their good looks and charm that was often photographed by magazines and set the changing fashion trend. Kennedy’s even changes the White House environment from a bleak house to lively and house of mirth and joy. They believed that White House should be place of American History, arts and culture. They invited various artists, writers, and scientists including noble laureate which made White House a livelier place. Despite all the good points which burner has mentioned, the book ignores the bed sheet and fashion stories were associated with Kennedy. Kennedy is well known for his history of extra marital affairs including involvement with Marilyn Monroe do not suit a sitting president. Burner did not talk about these issues, even though it has no thing to do with his professional life, yet such incidents were part of Kennedy should have been discussed. Burner has mentioned on several occasions the influence of Kennedy in the domestic and international affairs including the civil rights; however the view of Burner is more of only glorification of the Kennedy. Even though Kennedy is the most popular President of the United States; but critics argue that his reputation is overrated. He was young and charming; but he was unable to achieve any thing major in his lifetime. Kennedy popularity is based on optimistic beginnings on various domestic and international issues. Critics mention that the popular Civil Right Act was envisioned by his brother Robert Kennedy and was signed by President Johnson in 1964 that was Kennedy successor. Kennedy did not disclose the severity of his health condition. He was believed to have Addison disease that is tantamount of failure of professional integrity. He is considered to be the unhealthiest man to sit in the oval office. While other the Addison disease he was also suffering from an extreme backache from childhood added with various kinds of infections. There is also criticism about his domestic politics that Burner has ignored in his book. For example Kennedy tried to appease Southern Democrats by stocking the lower federal bench with segregationists who did not live up to the mark he was advocating. It is believed that by making attorney general he tried to form a political dynasty that the Founding Father did not advocate. However Vietnam is considered his greatest mistake, where during his time US intervention in Vietnam increased and Kennedy authorized a coup absent the Diem; while dictator general overtook the power which further aggravated the situation in Vietnam.. Even though it was in fact Johnson who made his own mistakes by over involving and bombing the Vietnamese excessively, but the game was started by Kennedy and it was not easy to backup. The people who supported war become protestor calling the American administration immoral. Even though Kennedy assignation fueled the Vietnam cause as his untimely death became martyrdom, but Vietnam was blunder that cost US a lot in time money and human life. Had Kennedy not intervened in the Vietnam there would have no loss of time, money and American lives in an unethical war that continued for decades without any outcome. In the case of Cuban Missiles Crisis, it is mentioned that Kennedy went too far and the world was standing at the brink of a nuclear war due Kennedy antagonism. Had the Russian not backed off, there was every possibility of end of the world. For his supporters he his aggressiveness increased US role in international affairs, but for his opponents it was not sane for president to resort to Nuclear weapons as a last choice. Kennedy critics often label him as youthful charmer with little substance especially by conservatives. And it is often done to minimize his efforts about Civil Rights and international affairs, but the truth is Kennedy was a man of vision. He initiated many new debates in American Society that was unthinkable in his time. Even though most his policies were achieved by his successors; as he was not able to see his vision fulfilled due to his untimely death, the credit still goes to him. Had he not been able to think ahead of time; many things would have been delayed. For example his plan for landing a man on moon was mega project, which took place ahead of the decade. The landing on moon not only increased US prestige in the world, but it also boosted US military technology and power that continues till today. The Vietnam War was mistake but the same mistake can be seen today in the case of Iraq War. The people who initially supported Iraq War now are chanting against the current administration; there are always opposite views regarding any issue. Kennedy advocated the Civil Right Movement at a time when country was divided; and there was division among his own members, but he took the stance and even called the Martin Luther Jr wife to show his affiliation for a just cause. Though Johnson signed the bill, but it was Kennedy who took a step ahead in a difficult time for which he is worth praise. The book is good for people who have no knowledge of Kennedy as a President; however Burner has not justified his role as writer by discussing his dark side that could have made Kennedy more of a man rather a mythical figure. Reference David Burner, (1988). John F. Kennedy and a new generation. Boston: Little, Brown Robert l Bartley, (February 26, 2001). Coolidge deserves more praise. Retrieved July 8, 2006, Web site: http://www. opinionjournal. com/columnists/rbartley/? id=85000640 SUNY SB Department of History -Faculty Page- David Burner. Retrieved July 8, 2006, Web site: www. sunysb. edu/history/faculty Stephen G. Rabe, (2000). John F. Kennedy and Cuba, November 1962 to November 1963. Presidential Studies Quarterly. 30,

Juveniles Tried as Adults Essay

In the United States, anyone who is charged for committing a crime before the day of their 18th birthday is considered a juvenile and depending on the severity of the case shall be tried as a juvenile. There are some cases; however, where the juvenile justice system should be harder on the juvenile, but in most cases they should not go to an adult prison. There are most certainly some cases in which the juvenile should face the adult justice system, but for petty instances, a juvenile court will suffice. I find it hard to agree that a juvenile convicted for crimes dealing with drugs, alcohol, traffic violations, etc. should be tried in an adult court to receive punishment; however, I do believe that someone who commits rape, murder, kidnapping, or any other major crimes of the sort should be taken to an adult court. â€Å"Old enough to do the crime, old enough to do the time,† is a quote I remember hearing as I was growing up, but I was not taught that it applied to small or m inor crimes, but often serious ones involving the harming of another individual. Placing juveniles in adult prisons can cause them to be put in danger, when in reality many of them can be â€Å"fixed† through the juvenile justice system. Juvenile offenders sometimes commit crimes that are equal to or of higher quality than those of adults; however, punishing them as adults in adult prisons will do no justice; they are less competent to stand trial, adult prisons can harm them mentally, physically, and emotionally, and they more often than not choose the actions they do because of someone who is of influence to them. Juvenile offenders are often less competent than adults to stand trial making it ineffective to sentence them as if they were adults. Juvenile offenders are classified as â€Å"childish, infantile, and young,† according to dictionary.com. â€Å"Some studies have examined the understanding that youths’ have on trial procedures and the overall basic knowledge of trials† (Grisso et al). During these studies they found that there was no compassion to the basic knowledge of trials and trial procedures to that of adults. One study conducted showed that 55% of the juveniles they interviewed could not accurately describe what the Miranda laws meant when read to them except the section that says, â€Å"you have the right to remain silent,† according to the National Center of Juvenile Justice. The National Center of Juvenile Justice also stated that, â€Å"juveniles from the ages of 11-15 are very incompetent and that 16-24 year  olds have similar levels of competence.† The juveniles who are younger, or in the 11-15 range, are less likely to understand the risks and consequences of the adult justice system, and therefore may not benefit from it. They also possess weaker decision-making skills. Since they lack decision-making skills, they are more likely to make poor decisions when committing crimes, but also when agreeing to sentencing or plea agreements, leading them to an unfair trial because of the unfair advantages that justice system would have over them. Adult prisons are very harmful to one’s mental, physical, and emotional capabilities especially when they are juvenile. Being placed in an adult prison can make them susceptible to sexual harassment, physical harassment, and psychological harassment from other inmates. They could also face longer, rou gher sentences than they would have if they would have stayed in the juvenile system. A study that was done on 946 juveniles found that 87% of them faced longer sentences than they would have if they had stayed in a juvenile justice system, according to Mulvey and Schubert. In 2005, 21% of all inmates that were sexually victimized by another inmate were under the age of 18, states Mulvey and Schubert. The risk of a juvenile being physically abused in an adult prison is much higher than that of an adult in the same system because juveniles are â€Å"easier† targets and less likely to create a struggle. â€Å"Doing the time for doing the crime might be seen as fair, but doing much worse time because the crime was done while an adoles ­cent seems to tip the balance beyond even-handed justice† (Mulvey et al 846). Adult prisons also have a different effect on juveniles than they do on adults when it comes to their development; since juveniles are receiving the punishment they are at a younger age it can cause problems for them in the future. According to Mulvey and Schubert, â€Å"Adolescents in the adult system may be at risk for disruptions in their personal development, identity formation, relationships, learning, growth in skills and competencies, and positive movement into adult status.† Identity formation is just one of the aspects in which their developmen t can be affected. Identity formation is when you find out who you are as a person, this is often discovered through learning from your parents, friends, peers, etc., but when you are placed in a facility like an adult prison you are surrounded by people who have all committed a crime and are bad influences to you and cause you to create your true self around that type of behavior. Juveniles in the adult systems also lose great opportunities such as their ability to learn about all aspects of life and the responsibilities and goals they should have. They are instead learning about the inside of a prison, jail, etc. Being in these facilities causes juveniles to miss out on learning the responsibility of a job, school, family, values, goals, finding qualities in someone that could be a potential spouse, making new friends who could be positive influences, and a. All of these statistics prove that adult prisons are very harmful to juveniles, especially mentally, physically, and emotionally. It is also often found that juveniles will make the choices they do based upon the choices they watched their close peers make or just the types of people they are surrounded by in general which shows that they are immature and very easily influenced. It is hard to prove that most, or all, of juveniles have a full understanding of the justice system and the courts, making it di fficult to believe that they should be tried as adults in this system. Many juveniles have the ability to change their behavior through the programs that we have specifically for them not through adult prisons. A child who comes from a broken home, or a home without both parents, a family that is part of the lower class, or from a family that is rather large in size have been found to be the majority of juveniles facing time in juvenile or adult systems. Families who are large in size and of a lower class often find that the children are more likely to grow up without any values or goals because they are often left home alone or there is at least less supervision over each individual child, therefore causing them to be hurt and sometimes wanting to inflict pain upon someone or something in hopes to make themselves feel better. â€Å"Family relationships, duties, responsibilities and privileges, and the amount of control exercised over children all play roles in forming character and influencing behavior. The attitudes and actions of parents can create an important influence in the lives of children. Families in crisis will most likely affect the behavior of juveniles. If one member of a family becomes sick, schizophrenic, or alcoholic, a child may react based on the family’s structural problems,† according to Joseph Wickliffe. Families who contain an unstable parent(s) can create a child that is more likely to be disobe dient, especially if the way the rules are portrayed is too aggressive, too passive, or just unclear. According to a study that Joseph Wickliffe talks  about, â€Å"It was discovered that 4.1 percent of fathers were found to use sound discipline practices; 26.7 percent, fair; and 69.3 percent, unsound. Sound – consistent and firm control but not so strict as to arouse fear and antagonism, fair – control which is indefinite: sometimes strict, sometimes lax, and unsound – extremely lax or extremely rigid control by the parents, which, on the one hand, gives unrestrained freedom of action and, on the other hand, restricts to the point of rebellion.† Juveniles are also prone to make decisions based off of what the people with authority want, for instance, they are more likely to confess or accept a plea agreement if their lawyer is telling them that they should do so. After learning of all of the negative consequences that come with placing a juvenile in th e adult courts and/or prisons, I have concluded that for most cases a juvenile should be processed through the juvenile system and take the punishment given there.

List of All U.S. Colleges with a Meteorology Major

You might think of meteorologists simply as the people who deliver the weather on TV, but in reality the field has a lot more to offer. In fact, only about 10% of meteorologists are on TV . Meteorology is the study of both short-term weather predictions and long-term climate processes. As climate change becomes an increasingly urgent issue, the need for skilled and educated meteorologists will only increase too. Many colleges offer a meteorology major. If you’re ready to learn about new technology, collect and interpret weather and climate data, and apply your math and science skills to a constantly changing field, meteorology may be a good choice for you. To learn more about applying to meteorology programs and which colleges in the U.S. offer a meteorology degree, keep reading. Like most STEM fields, meteorology is projected to have strong job growth and security over the next decade, with solid earning potential to match. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the field will grow 12% by the year 2026, and notes that the median pay for a meteorologist in 2018 was $94,000. Generally, a student graduating with a degree in meteorology can expect to go straight to work. If you want to go into research, you’ll need to pursue a masters or PhD, but there is no shortage of jobs for meteorologists with a bachelor’s degree. In addition to becoming a weathercaster on TV, students with a degree in meteorology may also work for private companies in businesses like aviation, insurance, energy, or agriculture. Meteorologists can also become federal employees working for the National Weather Service, or similar agencies. If you’re interested in studying climate processes, how and why storms or other weather events occur, how to predict weather patterns, or how weather might influence specific areas or projects, meteorology is a good choice for you. Meteorology is a field of applied science and math, meaning that to be successful in it you’ll need to have knowledge in math and science, and you’ll need to know how to apply this knowledge to new and changing situations. STEM fields can be competitive, so thinking ahead and creating a strong applicant profile is a smart move. Here are some tips for getting started: Take Advanced STEM Classes. You’ll want to show that your academics are up to par for the STEM fields, and taking advanced classes is a simple way of doing this. Take AP Chemistry, AP Physics, and advanced classes in earth science and math. Some of your AP classes may even allow you to place out of required entry level prerequisites when you start your degree. Find a Weather-Related Extracurricular. Meteorology is a niche field so it can be easy to set yourself apart by pursuing it early in your high school career. Find an extracurricular that is related to weather of climate. This could be an independent science project that you progress to higher levels each year, a weather club, your own weather blog, or something else that you start from scratch. Showing that you have a long-term interest in this field can really set you apart from other applicants. Consider Getting Help From Someone Who’s Done It Before. Planning the track to college as a ninth or tenth grader is daunting and sometimes confusing. Three or four years is a long time, and there’s a lot that will change between now and then. Luckily, you don’t have to go into the process alone. ’s Early Advising Program pairs high school ninth and tenth graders with successful students from top-30 schools to provide current high schoolers with advice on everything from selecting classes and extracurriculars to setting and achieving long-term goals. Estimating your chance of getting into a college is not easy in today’s competitive environment. Thankfully, with our state-of-the-art software and data, we can analyze your academic and extracurricular profile and estimate your chances. Our profile analysis tool can also help you identify the improvement you need to make to enter your dream school. California University of Pennsylvania | Cal U Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University Florida Institute of Technology | Florida Tech Millersville University of Pennsylvania | MU New Jersey Institute of Technology | NJIT Pennsylvania State University | PSU Rutgers University–New Brunswick | Rutgers State University of New York at Oneonta | SUNY Oneonta State University of New York at Oswego | SUNY Oswego The College at Brockport, State University of New York | SUNY Brockport The State University of New York at Albany | SUNY Albany United States Air Force Academy | Air Force University of Nebraska–Lincoln | UNL University of North Carolina at Charlotte | UNC Charlotte University of Tennessee at Martin | UTM University of the Incarnate Word | UIW Meteorology is a strong career choice with many options and lots of potential for growth. Graduates with a meteorology degree can find employment in many different sectors from federal jobs to private companies and even the entertainment industry. That being said, getting into the meteorology program of your dreams may not be easy, so it’s essential to make sure that you apply to schools that are a good fit for you. Take a careful look at admissions statistics and the freshman class profile to see how your academics and test scores stack up to those of admitted students. Also consider things like geographic location, student resources, cost, and class sizes. For more help, consider the Applications program , which exists to help you optimize your application and ensure that you’re supported through every step of the way. You can trust us to help you gain the tools you’ll need to attend your dream school.