which TV character you would want for a college roommate

After 13 grueling hours in the lab he could finally remove his rubber suit.  Keeping the suit on was a necessity as the product’s purity decreased immensely if contaminated.  The last batch of product had been tested (98.6% pure), weighed (236 pounds), and was now stacked atop several boxes of the same weight and size awaiting shipment.  He stood back from the boxes for a moment, looking at his work, his life’s work; much like a doting father would upon his newborn child, then took a deep breath and walked out of the lab.  His name is Walter White, A.K.A. “Heizenberg,” and he’s my roommate.

                Skyler, his wife, kicked him out once she discovered he was a drug manufacturing kingpin and like most newly separated drug manufacturing kingpin’s, he needed a place to crash: and after a quick search via Craigslist, he found his way to my couch.

                In the beginning Walter was an excellent roommate for two reasons: the guy was a genius and he sure loved his breakfast.  In between helping me study for Chemistry 340 he’d  cook us pancakes and eggs , and he didn’t take no for an answer.  He’d leave the house often muttering names like Jessie, Hank, and Gus; none of which meant anything to me, personally, except that when he was in a mood and went storming out of the house I knew I could count on him being gone for days on end, giving me ample space and quiet to master my latest course.

                And just when I thought Walter couldn’t get any better as a roommate, he started breaking out the bank roll.  He paid rent in advance for the next 5 years (My lease was only 6 months!) on the condition that I didn’t ask too many question.  Believe me buddy, for that kind of money, he could’ve slapped a hat on me and called me an informant.  And that was just the tip of the Heizen-berg.  He paid me to pick up groceries: $5,000 bucks for a trip to the store.  And while I didn’t understand what someone needed with so much cold medicine, I well understood rule #1, no questions.

                The last and, perhaps, best reason that Walter White has become my all-time favorite roommate is because of the situation with Charley Harrelson.  Charley was a major A-hole and no matter where I went or what I did he always seemed to find me, and make my life a little less worth living.  Oftentimes I’d come home and complain to Walter: “Charley destroyed my lab project for a few laughs.”  I told Walter people like that were better off dead.   Walter said he’d talk to the guy and the next thing I knew Charley Harrelson had dropped out of school and dropped off of the face of the Earth; it was a good day for me, to say the least.  Sometimes I wonder what happened to him, but then I remember rule #1, no questions.

Why I should be selected for the BMO Capital Markets Lime Connect Equity through Education Scholarship

           Over the past three years I’ve worked for a local non-profit charged with the task of helping at-risk youth turn from a life of drugs and crime toward a life filled with love, self-respect, and family.  The company is called Anasazi Foundation and I am a trail walker. 

We walk the back country of the Tonto National Forest with these young men and women, away from the distractions of our modern world, and invite them to listen to their hearts, to look within themselves, and to find the truth therein.  Since starting this job I’ve seen remarkable changes in the lives of some and heartbreaking failure in others.  Some have left our program with fresh eyes and lifted spirits determined to live their dreams while others, unable or unwilling to change, have taken their lives.  All have taught me invaluable life lessons. 

Prior to walking the trail had you asked me what my career goals were I would’ve said something like, “enormous salary, fancy office, expense account, 401k, health, dental, etc.”   That all changed after the first time I saw one of the kids reunited with his parents during the final week of his stay.  The love that passed between parent and child in that moment was indescribable.  From that day till now my sole ambition lay with making sure the Anasazi Foundation kept its doors open so that more families could experience the healing that can happen when hurts are forgotten and hearts are opened.

While love and healing are excellent ideals to strive toward, they mean nothing without a solid business to bring them to life.  And every business, for profit or not, must protect the bottom line.  But in a non-profit protecting the bottom-line can mean the difference between the doors being open and the doors being closed, forever.  This is the situation my organization found itself in this last fiscal year. 

We have always operated from admit to admit, one parent paying for their child keeps the lights on, two the rent, three payroll, and the fourth, if deemed financially needy, is given a scholarship.  For 25 years we ran the company this way and all went well; but this way of being left us completely unprepared for what was to come.

After the slowest summer (summer is our busiest season) we’ve had on record, Anasazi nearly had to close its doors.  Our accounts were in arrears, our employees weren’t getting paid, and the dream that began 25 years ago was sounding the death knell. 

In walked Sean, the new company director, and not a moment too soon.  He completely restructured the company: piling over the financial reports looking for evidence of wasted capital, once found, he trimmed the fat, so to speak, so that every dollar stretched farther than before.  In addition to adjusting the finances he also combined complimentary jobs and deleted unnecessary ones cutting the payroll by half and streamlining the flow of human resources within the organization.  Lastly, he began to institute a culture of personal responsibility within the organization; changing the company mentality from, “that’s not my job,” to, “what can I do to help?”  All that was left to do was to wait. 

The first few months were rough; everyone held their breath thinking that each day would be our last.  But in time our admission rate began to grow and the steady stream of income coupled with the afore-mentioned changes helped us to get out in front of the bills.  

Furthermore, instead of running around putting out fires, we were now proactively making business decisions that looked beyond our traditional hand-to-mouth approach.  For once we started looking at the future of our organization: five, ten, even fifteen years out.  Our organization owes a debt of gratitude to Sean for coming in when he did, making the changes he saw fit, and leading us out of the tempest into calmer seas.  His example saved my company and it gave me inspiration for the future.

I never knew what I was going to do with a business degree once I got it.  As I said earlier, a fancy job with nice perks was about as far as I’d gotten.  Then Anasazi taught me that what matters most is not what you do or how much you make; what matters most is how you choose to walk, in business and in life.  And so my choice has become clear.  I want to use my education to keep Anasazi alive for my children, if they need it, and for every other family in need.  Most of all, I want to be just like Sean, a man that knew how to make the tough decision at the right time in order to keep a 25 year old dream alive.

Why should I be selected for the BMO Capital Markets Lime Connect Equity through Education Scholarship?  That’s a good question and I’m at pains to explain why I think I’m better or more deserving than the next person.  The truth is I don’t think I’m better or more deserving, but the children are.  Your decision to give me this scholarship will definitely ease my financial burdens (and for that I am grateful) but more importantly it will help the children that I’ve made it my life mission to serve.  My education and your scholarship are merely catalysts to facilitate the healing of children and families the world over.  Thank you for your consideration.

Respectfully,

Daniel St.Germain

Write a 300 to 500-word post about whether the shift to consuming media online has been negative or positive in your life.

Twenty years ago we all used to sit down in the living room and wait for our favorite show to come on.  My dad loved “The Andy Griffith Show” and I was an adamant fan of “Married with Children.”  We would spend the time in between his show and mine talking about life stuff, like how school was that day or if I had any girl friends.  Back then television was just as much about family spending time together as it was about the show playing on the boob tube.

That all changed since the shift to consumption of online media.  There are no more television programs to watch and wait for since these days whatever one wants to watch can be seen with the touch of a button or the click of a mouse.  The speed and ease with which modern media streams into homes is indeed, awe-inspiring, to one like myself, that remembers when  rabbit ears had to be just right in order to catch my favorite show.  But with speed and ease came consequence, and the consequence of this modern movement falls upon the backs of families everywhere.

Instead of brother and sister fighting over who gets to watch what and when they all run to their rooms, log on, and pine away.  It’s convenient and marvelous but at the same time it’s saddening: rather than the interaction that comes from sharing (or fighting like cats and dogs) the television there is merely a hollow place where it once was.  The faster we stream the further away from one another do we drift.

How, positively or negatively, has consuming media online affected me?  I can watch more of what I want, when I want, to the precise extent I want but in doing so I have chosen to be alone.  Dad doesn't come along to ask about my day nor will sister fight me for the remote.  I have complete control over the media yet no connection to content; the content of my life.  So  has streaming media online affected me negatively?  In a word, yes.  

Ford Motor Company Market Analysis

                                                                 Ford Motor Company

     The following report discusses Ford Motor Company.  It will first identify the appropriate industry in which Ford operates followed by defining the market structure surrounding said industry.  Furthermore, reasoning will be given as to why said market structure was chosen in opposition to the alternatives.  And lastly, three competitive strategies will be recommended by me personally, to help Ford retain customers, generate long-run profit, and stay ahead of the competition.

     Ford Motor Company is a part of the automotive industry: this industry spans the globe dominated by companies such as Mercedes Benz, Honda, General Motors, etc.  While many of the manufacturers in this industry over the past 20-30 years have diversified in order to strengthen their grasp on multiple markets the bulk of their weight is dedicated to the manufacture and sale of automobiles.

     The market in which this industry operates can only be categorized as an oligopoly and that is for a number of reasons which shall be listed in the following paragraph.  The first is that while each of these manufacturers holds a significant market share, significant enough to affect market prices, they do not hold enough individually to be considered a monopoly.  The second reason is that because each of these larger companies holds enough power to sway the market price but not enough to remove the competition they have all become interdependent upon one another; a hallmark of oligopoly.  A third reason why this industry fits the model is that due to the sway these interdependent companies have upon the market there are significant barriers to entry: unless a new company had enormous resources, it could never hope to enter the automotive arena.  The fourth reason that the automotive industry is an oligopoly is that the manufacturers have some control over their output in order exert control over market price: this control is far less reaching than that of a monopoly, however.  And the last reason is that all these companies have the potential to make long-run economic profit which brings up the next point; three recommendations for Ford to maintain a competitive edge within this market.

     The first recommendation that would enable Ford to keep ahead of the competition for the long-run is by eliminating the potential for new entrants into the market.  This is done by what is known as implicit price collusion: “firms just happen to charge the same price but didn’t meet to discuss price strategy isn’t against the law…  For example, many oligopolistic industries allow a price leader to set the price, and then others follow suit” (Colander, 2010).  While this method does not ensure dominance in Ford’s given industry due to the relative size of other competitors in said industry it prevent new entrants to the game.  This type of collusion creates high barriers for entry (discussed earlier as a key characteristic of an oligopoly) and removes many potential entrants from the marketplace thus being an excellent strategy for maintaining market control in the long-run.

     The second competitive strategy for improving profits over the long run is to create brand loyalty through a rigorous advertising campaign over a period of years.  This is done in accord with the price collusion that was already mentioned.  The former removes potential competition from the market; the latter ensures that Ford maintains as large a share of the market as possible.  “Advertising works by providing consumers with information about the firm’s product and by making people want only a specific brand.  That allows the firm to sell more, to charge a higher price, or to enjoy a combination of the two” (Colander, 2010).  Brand loyalty is a powerful tool developed by years of advertising and nurtured by the consumer’s continuous exposure to the brand in a positive light.  For example, not too long ago, Apple Inc. was on the brink of bankruptcy without any hope in sight: yet 15 years later they are a dominant force within their industry due to customer loyalty to Apple Inc. and their golden child, the iPhone.  The reality is the iPhone isn’t any better or worse than the other products available in the market but through a rigorous advertising campaign Apple Inc. has created brand loyalty on a scale similar to the worship one would find at a church.  This didn’t happen by accident.  This was an example of the value of advertising in conjunction with ever strengthening brand loyalty.  Furthermore, “advertising is another sunk cost- the more that is spent by incumbent firms the greater the deterrent to new entrants” (“Oligopoly,” 2011).  Advertising is necessary to stay in business and since, as was stated, the cost is already sunk, only the best marketing and advertising strategies are worthwhile.  This is why firms pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to advertise on Super Bowl night.  The next paragraph discusses the final recommendation for Ford Motor Company.

     The last recommendation given so that Ford can maintain profits in both the short and long-run is that of research and development.  This is a cousin of advertising in that by continuously being ahead of the competition through a rigorous program dedicated to research and development, one can stay ahead of developments in the market.  An interesting note at this point is that this has already been implemented at Ford some ten years ago.  After the SUV craze that hit the country began to fizzle due to ever increasing gas prices, Ford had to make an abrupt about face and change with the times (At the time they were losing large sums of money due to an enormous inventory of gas guzzling tanks).  They did so by spending an enormous amount of money and redesigning their power trains to be far more fuel efficient.  This, coupled with a complete redesign of the entire fleet of vehicles has brought about a renaissance at Ford Motor Company.       Ten years ago they, much like Apple Inc. in a previous example, were on the verge of extinction, yet  due to creating better products for less money now have a substantial market share and are still gaining.  For example, the Ford Fusion is well on its way to steal the number one spot from the Toyota Camry for mid-sized sedan sales in America.  Toyota has held this title for over 20 years but because Ford has created technologically superior vehicles for less than the cost of Toyota via extensive research and development, their 20 year reign is coming to an end.  Thus, this final recommendation for Ford is more of a tip of the hat and a recommendation that they keep doing what they’re doing rather than a call to arms.

     In conclusion, Ford Motor Company is a part of the automotive industry that operates within an oligopoly market structure.  This market structure is characterized by a limited number of entrants, large barriers to entry, interdependent firms, and the potential for long-run economic profits.  The three recommendations for Ford Motor Company in order to maintain a competitive edge and make long-run profits were implicit price collusion, advertising, and R&D.

                                                                        Reference

Colander, D. C. (2010). Economics (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Oligopoly. (2011). Retrieved from http://economicsonline.co.uk/Business_economics/Oligopoly.html