Olympics Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Olympics - Term Paper Example In the event, the games will take two cluster organization methods. There would be a coastal cluster for ice events in Sochi, and a mountain cluster located in the Krasnaya Polyana Mountains (Nauright and Charles 76). There are expectations this kind of arrangement would make the games one of the most compact Olympic Committee has ever organized. The Sochi Olympic Park construction is along the Black Sea coast in the Imeretinskaya Valley. This is where all ice venues would take place. These include the Bolshoi Ice Palace, the Sochi Olympic Skating center, the Maly Ice Palace, the Olympic Oval, the Olympic Curling Center, the Central Stadium, and the main Olympic Village. In the mountain cluster in Krasnaya Polyana, this would be the home of all skiing and sliding sports activities (Hofstetter 78). The preparation for these games has triggered construction of new and modern telecommunications, electric power, new Olympic Park along the coast of Black sea, and transportation systems. W omen gymnastics would feature and as expected, the China Women gymnastic team would rock the event (Franks 88). They have previously put some distance on the other contenders in past Olympic Gymnasium competitions. Team goal or task – Level of difficulty In order to recreate the amazing moments that prompted the women gymnastics team of China to be branded exceptional, there ought to be more of what this women team have been doing. This actually calls for perfectionist awareness of the skills needed to be a top contestant in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The women teams needs medal, and for that golden medal to come by, they know that not only thorough preparations and rehearsals will come calling in the subsequent days but also their bodies need to reach that high level of flexibility (Coma?neci 64). Since the attaining number four in Olympics competitions for China women gymnastics in 2012, there has been that pressure and pursuit of the entire team to reach that level of perfec tion. The team can win everything by not only producing a stunning performance but also attaining the level of flawless performance. The team’s head coach Lu Shanzhen, would want a repeat of the 1996 margin of almost near perfect performance over the most competitive opponents even if it were not the Russians (Crawley, Sara, Lara and Constance 102). This came to a success because the entire country, board and the bench team were exceptional. The coaching staff and the gymnasts need to wake into reality that their greatest task and level of difficult is the repeat of the standards once termed by the Bela Karolyi, a legendary gymnastic coach in US as performance so rare for 16 years old minors (Nauright, John, and Charles 110). The China team comprises of a beautiful bouquet of individual talent, which showed greater unity, mental toughness, and togetherness to compete 2012 Olympics (Hofstetter 79). The same zeal and commitment is the ultimate goal if the team has to affirm ful ly its heights in the sport of gymnasts. In order to put 1996 and 2012 performances in line of repeat, the head coach is ensuring that the team remains a solid entity despite individual talents and skills. There are no cracks of jealousy and rivalries among the gymnasts if success is their goal in 2014 Sochi Olympics. The team goes through individual qualifying by challenging each other in order to reach the individual all around. This is the pre-trial performances that have helped in fine-tuning the bests of these gymnasts and even makes

A letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal Essay - 3

A letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal - Essay Example In pure economic terms, the interest rates should be determined by the market forces prevailing at a particular moment. The government’s grip and control of the economy negatively impacts on its normal functioning. The main advantage of bond futures is that they offer long term investors an instrument to hedge against price swings. This will help protect them against unprecedented changes in the financial markets which can result in huge loses. In any economy, I strongly believe that investors play a significant role since they help it to grow as well as to stabilize it. Future bonds also help businesses to access funding in order to run their own enterprises. This also contributes to the growth of the economy through remittances of taxes which will be channelled towards the nation’s fiscus. Overall, I think the move by the Chinese government to bring back bond futures is a positive step towards liberalising the economy which can improve its overall performance. This move will also stabilize the interest rates. Therefore, I would like to commend the Chinese government for this noble decision since it is helpful to the overall performance of the economy as a

3 discussion questions and participation questions I will post a Essay

3 discussion questions and participation questions I will post a couple more later. thanks - Essay Example The best way to protect intellectual property rights is for managers to utilize a mechanism called patents. A patent is a special type of license that protects your intellectual property rights up to 20 years. An industry that depends on protection for its survival is the pharmaceutical industry. Patents are a way to pay justice to investors or companies that believe in innovation. A pharmaceutical company can take up to 16 years and upwards of $800 million to develop a new drug. Managers have to establish control mechanism in order to protect tangible and intellectual property rights. For example the research and development people should work in an area separated from the rest of the staff. The internal security of the building is also important. A way for a corporation to improve its security is by installing various cameras around the building. Performing trimester audits can help increase the accountability of the managers and workers of an enterprise. The OSHA Act protects all parties that participate in the corporate world. Safety is something that companies cannot forget since we are dealing with the well being of human workers. If an Act such as the Occupational Safety and Health Act would have existed in India in 1984 the tragic events of Union Carbide which killed thousands of people may have been avoided. The government has to establish responsible regulation to protect workers from being the victims of abusive behavior to their patrons. The Family Act you mentioned is a very governmental initiative because it protects the basic right of people when they needed the most. A major illness to a family affects people emotionally which can hurt their profitability at work. An interest fact you mentioned in your post was that employer are obligated to place an ASHA poster visible to the employees. I believe a lot of companies may be violating this regulation. At my last place of work I did see such a poster anywhere in the building. The minimum wage in

How has the Anglican Catholic Tradition shaped the Theology and Essay - 1

How has the Anglican Catholic Tradition shaped the Theology and Liturgy of the Marriage Service in Common Worship - Essay Example It is a social act that joins two people in a long lasting commitment and a promise to fulfill their marriage vows. Thousands of years back, considering the example of early men, who were hunters and wanderers changing their habitats every now and then. They were illiterate and uncivilized people who did not have any technology, luxury, means of communication, storage system for food etc. hence they lived for today only and had no moral values. There was no concept or need of marriage as they did whatever they liked to, involved in unethical sexual acts and women gave birth to children without knowing who the father was nor the offspring cared to find about their father and knew only their mother. This act kept going for years and gradually with an extreme need of change the women started realizing her responsibilities towards making own house and how to make the living beautiful. The men being the hunters remained busy all day long whereas the women invented the idea of cultivating crops in fields and made various kind of trials to grow better plants and selected those good in taste and for health. After the transition of men from hunters to farmers the concept of marriage arose as man being the owner of lands and properties will remain superior to a woman who will carry his child only by devoting herself to him and will not have relationship with other men. BIBLICAL DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE: The ceremony and reception programs of marriage are not discussed in detail in the holy book Bible. However it does describe the marriage and its vows in many chapters. It is divine and sacred act and is common since Jewish times. Hence it is very essential to follow the commands and vows of marriage set by God which gives emphasis over the importance of this sacred occasion of matrimony. As said in the vows; that the couple will remain faithful to each other, stand together through good times and bad ,give love and care, in sickness and in health and till death do us part. A less importance is given to ceremony and its festivities and more to the contract made between the individuals according to religious perspective. Matrimony is a sacred agreement in the eyes of God. It is therefore essential for a man and woman to marry each other according to religion as said by Jesus that it is forbidden for a man and woman to live together without marriage and the relationship between such a couple cannot be termed as â€Å"husband and wife†. (John 4). Hence the scriptures of Bible reveal that holy union of two people in the eyes of God is the most sacred relationship fulfilling all the commands by God. CHRISTIANITY: Christianity is a monotheist’s ( believes in one God) religion founded on the basis of lessons given by Jesus Christ ( in Canonical Gospels and New Testaments). It is also the largest religion in the world. It says that Jesus Christ is God’s Son and the protector of mankind due to which He is also referred to as Messiah. The f ollowers of this religion are called as Christians. This religion is divided into three divisions: Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. The Roman Catholic churches were separated from Eastern Orthodox churches in 1054 (AD).Protestantism was set in insixteenth century as a result of a protest from a group of people against Roman Catholic churches and hence a separate group of churches was originated. The religion started to

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Management - Essay Example f Brazil. This retail sector organization is considered as one of the leading retailers as well as largest employers in private sector of Australia (Coles Myer Ltd 2000). The origin of Coles Myer was around 100 years ago was from the two Australian retailers namely â€Å"G. J. Coles & Coy and The Myer Emporium† (Coles Myer Ltd 2000). They have their operations in Australia along with New Zealand and possess about 2,000 retail stores in those places. Coles Myer has shareholders numbering above 380,000 (Coles Myer Ltd 2000). The organization’s businesses are generally classified into five groups which include Food & Liquor, Myer Grace Bros, General Merchandize, e.colesmyer and Apparel & Home. The retail stores have an annual sale of more than $24 billion. The various brand of Coles Myer are Grace Bros, Coles, Myer, Target, Bi-Lo, Kmart, Liquor land, Fosseys and Officeworks. This retail sector organization has provided employment to over 167,000 staffs (Plunkett 2005). Col es Myer has adopted wide communication strategies in order to contact with their staffs, suppliers, customers, stakeholders, shareholders by replying through letters and intranet site. They believe that satisfying customers will bring their success and collecting customers’ feedback will help them to make necessary improvements if it is needed. They want to provide best services to the customers and preserve good relationship with them (Coles Myer Ltd 2000). Coles Myer provides ongoing practical training to the staff in order to facilitate them to handle properly the customers and provide quality services to them. The training is provided with a basis of making their staff to have an actual understanding of their compliance responsibilities (Coles Myer Ltd 2000). Coles Myer is entering into the retail market of Brazil with the aim of business expansion as well as spreading their brand name beyond the Oceania region. As Brazil is considered as one of the world’s largest retail markets, thus Coles Myer can get scope of extension of their retail business. Though the store will be located in Brazil but the services will be provided by the Australian organization. However, several Brazilian staffs will be hired for the retail store but the training will be provided by the Australian managers since they are extremely customer oriented. They want to provide best services to the customers of Brazil to build their brand name. The main purpose of the report is to prepare an environmental analysis of the Brazil’s business environment for an Australian retail sector organization Coles Myer who wants to enter in the market of Brazil. The company faces various challenges and can gain opportunities while expanding its business in new Brazilian market. In this paper the PESTL analysis along with SWOT analysis of Coles Myer is conducted and subsequently recommendations are provided for the organization for entering into the

Thomas Kuhn Writing Style Essay Example for Free

Thomas Kuhn Writing Style Essay According to the back cover, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is considered one of The Hundred Most Influential Books Since the Second World War by The Times Literary Supplement. I don’t necessarily agree with this assessment. Don’t miss understand what I’m saying; he is probably one of the more brilliant people that have ever walked this earth for all I know. But, I could not get over how difficult his writing style was to interpret. His form of writing is not something that most people who are not scientists are use too. From being written in a scientific and philosophical manner, to explaining a paradigm and normal science, to using words that I was trying to look up in the dictionary on every single page. The one thing I did care for was his redundancy in his book. His redundancy will grab your attention telling you to pay attention to this certain word or phrase because it will be important to understanding this book. From the start of the book, I’ve come to the conclusion that Thomas Kuhn is almost writing a scientific and philosophical essay. As he continues to refer back to some of the more brilliant people in the history of the world such as Aristotle, Galileo, Einstein, Newton and Lavoisier, this is where I recognized the scientific and philosophical â€Å"writing style† he had. Numerous times he would refer back to one of these names and tell of their scientific development that was associated with their name. This, for whatever reason, made me think his writing was actually organized; I just didn’t understand it. He gave explanations behind why he was referencing this particular person making everything attempt to flow a little bit better. For me, philosophy was never a subject that I understood well, therefore, it was very hard for me to follow in what he was saying. Throughout this essay, Thomas Kuhn puts a large emphasis on paradigms, and normal science. From what I understood, a paradigm meant that the nature of scientific inquiry within a particular field was going to be largely transformed. That was my own interpretation. I sat for about a day on trying to figure out how I was going to understand what his form of paradigm meant. For all I know, I’m completely wrong. But that’s what I understood so far. So, for Thomas Kuhn, his argument was that science did not progress on a linear accumulation of knowledge but that it went through so-called periodic revolutions. This is where the term paradigm shift had come from. I believe that it is impossible to go through a paradigm shift without a crisis. When attempting to understand what normal science was to Thomas Kuhn, I was still quite confused since I was trying to interpret paradigm and paradigm shift. Kuhn insists, (p. 52) Normal science does not aim at novelties of fact or theory and, when successful, finds none. Again, not quite sure what he just said there. So, I sat on it for a few hours to figure out what he was trying to tell the reader. After that day, I felt that he was almost concerned that common occurrence of discoveries was going to disprove his thesis. So, if normal science aims at discovery, and discoveries are novel, then normal science aims at novelty. Kuhn claims that discoveries are always accompanied by changes in the prevailing paradigm. Attempting to understand what each of these meant in his words was a struggle. I would have much rather used the Internet to try to figure out what in the world he was saying. For me, Thomas Kuhn’s writing style is above and beyond my intellect or knowledge. Having my bachelors in science didn’t help me out whatsoever like I thought it would when beginning this book. The most difficult obstacle for me while reading Thomas Kuhn’s book was no doubt trying to understand what he was saying by the words he used. Just in the first few chapters I was looking up words in the dictionary probably four or five times on each page. I understand his audience was a group of scientists so they should understand this. I won’t knock him for that. I also feel like he could’ve made the reading a little easier to understand. No to bring anyone down to a lower level, but to â€Å"dumb† it down a little bit would have given people like me a huge help at understanding his form of writing. Just in the first two chapters, this was the list of words or phrases I could not pick up on: * Phylogistic chemistry * Arbitrariness * Onslaught * Dichotomies * Elucidate * Esoteric * Corpuscles * Effluvium * Arduous * Recondite * Metallurgy * Morass * Juxtapose Sure, a few of these words I have come across before in another reading. The book I read these words from was probably a science textbook, and honestly were not words I was going to be using everyday. Lastly, I noticed how redundant Thomas Kuhn was in his writing style. I think that because of who his audience was, he needed to be redundant. He needed to repeatedly bring the importance of a paradigm up for discussion. He was trying to get people to pay attention to certain points in his writing and the best way to do that is to talk about them repeatedly. With his redundancy I found myself paying more attention to certain words or phrases he was pointing out to me, like, â€Å"Hey!  Grasp this concept and understand because I’m going to bring it up a lot in this book. † This was the only form of his writing style that I cared for. Again, I’m not trying to knock him for what he has written, because from reviews I’ve read on him and his book, he’s pretty brilliant. The redundancy is always annoying, but in this case it helped me to grasp concepts that he was really trying to focus on and bring my attention to so I could fully understand this book. Did it completely help me in understanding this book? No, not at all, I’m still blown away at what in the world I’ve read and am still reading to understand him.

Internationalization Strategies: European Car Makers

Internationalization Strategies: European Car Makers The Automobile industry is one of the truly most global industries in the world today. The automobile has changed the lives, culture, and economy of the people and nations that manufacture and demand them. Ever since the late 1800s when the first modern car was invented by Benz and Daimler in Germany, the industry has grown into a billion dollar industry affecting so many aspects of our lives. It covers a global community catering needs which may be common among the entire community or specific to a particular community. Its challenging for the Managers and their companies to develop a strategy that outrun their competitors and serve their global customer base. Automotive Industry in Europe at a Glance The automotive industry is a major industry in the European economy involving a few vehicle manufacturing firms and about 2/3 of the production is outsourced to a substantial number of independent suppliers. The produce includes cars, light trucks and vans, buses and coaches, medium and heavy trucks, motorcycles and agricultural and forestry tractors. A lot of mergers and acquisitions have been the routine of the automotive industry. Currently DaimlerChrysler, Volkswagen (VW), BMW, Ford Europe, General Motors (GM) Europe, Renault, PSA (Peugeot-Citroà «n), Fiat and Porsche comprise the main EU car industry. Beside them, there are a good number of small manufacturers apart from some Japanese manufacturers production facilities in the EU. The Internationalization strategies by European car makers The car industry as a whole is much internationalised as it is easy to do business in different parts of the world. To an extent, a lot of multinational corporations of the industry are heavily based in their domestic markets for several reasons, such as cheaper labour and creating jobs for the local inhabitants. When it comes to sales, the industry is perhaps more global, for example in the USA, one of the top three leading cars Toyota is a Japanese company that has much of its production facilities and technical development in Japan but according to Data monitor- industry profile. The internationalisation of the industry has a long history as the car industry itself is old and prolific. The American car industry is said to date back to 1908 when the first automobile was built. Internationalisation is slightly older and has been linked with the ending of world war two for the majority of developed countries; however it is a fairly newer concept in emerging markets. Institutional differences are apparent as many companies entered emerging markets, such as Ford, an American manufacturer, entered many emerging markets such as the Japanese and Chinese. There are still trade barriers in many parts of the world but not many affect the selling of cars. The speed of internationalisation depends on the country where the car originates. In more economically developed countries it makes sense that the speed of internalisation is fast and furious, for example many countries aspire to live life in the American lifestyle, therefore the sale of American cars in emerging markets occurs at a faster rate than the other way round. Although recent events suggest this is no longer true, as now Japanese cars are outselling American cars in the USA industry. Japanese internationalisation occurred at a slower rate at first but then it took off as soon as other continents industries slowed and so Japan were able to capitalise. Volkswagen- volume and diversity model (Boyer and Freyssenet, 1999) Toyota- Profit Strategy (Keeping the total cost low, no matter in what market they are operating) Honda practiced Profit Strategy based on innovation and flexibility. Producing models with distinct features and launching them quickly before the competitors could copy them Companies such as GM and Fiat have reactivated a strategy based on volume and diversity by increasing the commonalisation of platforms; by re-engineering their equipment-making subsidiaries in such a way as to regain control over the value chain; and by developing employee polyvalence. PSA tried to implement a strategy based on the permanent reduction, irrespective of output, of costs, but the French group had to abandon this orientation when its employees took industrial action, and it has reverted to its previous emphasis on volume and diversity. Ford, which had pursued the same line, shifted towards a volume based strategy, and tried to design and sell world cars, each of which with its own platform. Chrysler was at first unclear about the direction to take, but then made the decision to modify its profit strategy so as to emphasise innovation and flexibility .For Renault and Rover, quality became the top priority and each firm has tried to upgrade its market presence, repositioning itself in its segments top half. Renault subsequently focused on innovation, but has progressively discovered that such an approach would require the complete re-organisation of its corporate structures. (Boyer and Freyssenet, 1999) Geographical characteristics of Internationalisation About 20 yrs back one can argue that the automobile industry was just concentrated in U.S, Europe and Japan. But Due Globalisation and aggressive Internationalisation strategies used the manufactures, the market is moving towards the developing the economies. Due to recession and saturated market in U.S and Japan the more sales are happening in the developing economies. Within the EU the top five Automobile producing countries are Germany, France, Italy, Spain and U.K and in the world the top five are Japan, U.S, China, Germany and France. The European market is the largest markets in terms of production (33%) followed by Japan (20%). Though ACEA 2010 reports states that China will soon overtake Japan and the U.S in terms of Production and sales of Automobiles. The stats also shows that big markets that once accounted for most of the production and sales are now saturated and diminishing. Manufactures has now moved into the emerging economies to reap the high growth rate and economic conditions prevailing in many of these economies. An e.g. for this is the growing number of production and assembly plants in countries like Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South- Korea, Poland. Entry strategies by European carmakers The European drive into central Europe has been spearheaded by Volkswagen and Fiat, both of whom see the region as a vital part of their global strategies, even if managerial resources are being strained in an effort to obtain a return on investment. Eastern Europes market can be split into two distinct areas: the Central European Free Trade Area (CEFTA) consisting of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia and the rest. Naturally, it is the former that is attracting Western attention, especially as sales in the CEFTA are running at around 600,000 per annum and are likely to rise at 10 per cent a year for several years to come, with VW and Fiat each commanding 25 per cent of the market. Fiats main interest lies in Fiat Auto Poland which it acquired in 1992 through its purchase of Fabryka Samochodow Malolitrazowich (FSM) and since then has exported 50 per cent of output to Western European markets. At the time of purchase FSM was riddled with the inefficiencies comm only found in state-owned automakers in Central and Eastern Europe, but Fiat pledged to invest $2 billion in Poland by the year 2000, and part of this at the time of writing is being used to finance production of its Palio models which it hopes to sell worldwide. Turning to Russia, Fiat in 1997 embarked on an $850 million project with ZAO Nizhegorod Motors, owned by GAZ of Nizhy Novgorod to produce 150,000 Palio units a year. Fiat and ZAO each have 40 per cent of the equity with the remaining 20 per cent funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (JustAuto.co. 2000; Automotive News, 1996b). Volkswagen holdings in the East are due to its acquisition of Skoda and the taking over of former Trabant plants in the former East Germany. VW has already diversified and modernised Skodas model range and will use these to drive into emerging markets in the area, including Russia, Poland and Belarus. Despite the workforce being well educated and skilled, VW did not always find it easy to persuade Eastern workers to adapt to Western production methods and this is best illustrated in its former Trabant plant at Zwickau. The plant was modernised to produce the Polo and Golf models, but workers experienced severe cultural difficulties in adjusting to modern production methods despite being given extensive training. Building a Trabant involved considerable physical effort just to get the body parts to fit together and this gave a sense of achievement for the workers. Though modern technology and lean production methods removed the physical effort, it also took away the sense of pride and it took VW a considerable time to persuade the workforce of the virtues of modern technology. Nevertheless, both Fiat and VW are firmly installed in Eastern Europe and are about to be joined by Renault which has signed an agreement joining forces with the Moscow City Authorities to build cars in an old Moskvich plant. Of the European producers, VW and Fiat are clearly the most dominant in Eastern Europe and, provided resources are not overstretched, will probably gather a considerable harvest in the future compared to their rivals. But the European arms of both Ford and GM are moving in the same direction, too. Besides being established in Belarus and Poland, Ford has formed a joint venture with Bankirski Dom, near St Petersburg and GM have entered into a similar arrangement with AvtoVAZ at Togliatti, 1,000 kilometres south east of Moscow (Automotive News, 1996b). Finally, stretching beyond the frontiers of Eastern Europe, European firms are currently attempting to establish themselves in China. It was Peugeot that made the initial running when, in the early 1980s, it formed a joint venture in Guangzhou to produce its 404 and 505 models. Neither vehicle was suited to the Chinese market. They were too large, unsuitable for the roads and considered old fashioned by the Chinese when compared to other Western models. In the end, no more than 20,000 units were produced in any one year, and in 1998 Peugeot were forced to withdraw from the market. As Peugeot withered in the market, its other arm, Citroen, prospered in a new joint venture at Wuhan where a stripped down version of the ZX is produced in approximately 15,000 to 20,000 units per annum, a figure that will rise sharply in the coming years (Donnelly and Morris, 1997). Volkswagen by contrast have been far more successful in its joint ventures with the Shanghai Automobile Industrial Corporatio n and the First Auto Works at Changchun in Jilinn Province in the north east of the country. Since the mid-1980s, VW has produced its Santana model in China with frequent updating and has recently introduced its more modern Jetta, Passat and Bora models. These ventures have proved successful in that VW have roughly 50 per cent of the taxi market in China, but have yet to obtain any return on their capital as they, like other multinationals in other countries, have discovered the Chinese market is no crock of gold (Donnelly and Morris, 1997, JustAuto.co., 2000c). While other European firms such as Mercedes and Renault have signed declarations of intent with the Chinese and are waiting to see how the market develops, both Ford and GM have moved further down the road and have begun production at Changan and Guangzhou respectively. Similarly, Chinese hostility to Japanese producers has waned and both Suzuki and Toyota have begun to compete in the market. Current opinion is that the Chin ese market will grow steadily in the coming century and that it is better to enter this market in its infancy than to hesitate. The ball is firmly in the European court and firms must either gamble now on the prospects of return in the future or they might be too late. An outline of the main foreign market entry modes and An overview of the enterprise structures and controls used by firms Ford of Europe was founded in 1967 on a merger between the British and German divisions of the Ford Motor company. Founded in Detroit, Mich., in 1903 by Henry Ford and a group of investors, the company introduced the hugely successful Model T in 1908 and by 1923 was producing more than half of all U.S. automotive vehicles. Through the Lincoln Motor Co. (acquired in 1922), Ford produced luxury Lincolns and Continentals. After years of declining sales, the Model T was succeeded by the Model A in 1927; other companies such as General Motors took the opportunity to make serious inroads into Fords dominance. The company was reincorporated in 1919, with Ford and his family acquiring full ownership. Later acquisitions included Aston Martin and the Land Rover brand of sport utility vehicles. Ford also owns a significant share of the Mazda Motor Corp. Because of financial struggles at the beginning of the 21st century, the company sold off Aston Martin in 2007 and both Jaguar and Land Rover i n 2008. However, Ford occasionally outsells Toyota in shorter periods (most recently, during the summer months of 2009). As of 2008, Ford has become the second largest automaker in Europe (only behind Volkswagen), with sales that occasionally exceed those in the United States and large markets in Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom. ( PaddockTalk). Ford Motor Co bought into China as a quick and low-cost way of entering the market. In contrast to Chrysler and GMs JV approach in China, Ford chose to acquire 20% of Jiangling Motor, a relatively small local auto producer. This helped in establishing their presence much quicker than their competitors and removed most of the barriers their competitors were facing such as management control and conflict. The European drive into central Europe has been spearheaded by Volkswagen and Fiat, both of whom see the region as a vital part of their global strategies, even if managerial resources are being strained in an effort to obtain a return on investment. Eastern Europes market can be split into two distinct areas: the Central European Free Trade Area (CEFTA) consisting of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia and the rest. Naturally, it is the former that is attracting Western attention, especially as sales in the CEFTA are running at around 600,000 per annum and are likely to rise at 10 per cent a year for several years to come, with VW and Fiat each commanding 25 per cent of the market. Fiats main interest lies in Fiat Auto Poland which it acquired in 1992 through its purchase of Fabryka Samochodow Malolitrazowich (FSM) and since then has exported 50 per cent of output to Western European markets. At the time of purchase FSM was riddled with the inefficiencies comm only found in state-owned automakers in Central and Eastern Europe, but Fiat pledged to invest $2 billion in Poland by the year 2000, and part of this at the time of writing is being used to finance production of its Palio models which it hopes to sell worldwide. Turning to Russia, Fiat in 1997 embarked on an $850 million project with ZAO Nizhegorod Motors, owned by GAZ of Nizhy Novgorod to produce 150,000 Palio units a year. Fiat and ZAO each have 40 per cent of the equity with the remaining 20 per cent funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (JustAuto.co. 2000; Automotive News, 1996b). Volkswagen holdings in the East are due to its acquisition of Skoda and the taking over of former Trabant plants in the former East Germany. VW has already diversified and modernised Skodas model range and will use these to drive into emerging markets in the area, including Russia, Poland and Belarus. Despite the workforce being well educated and skilled, VW did not always find it easy to persuade Eastern workers to adapt to Western production methods and this is best illustrated in its former Trabant plant at Zwickau. The plant was modernised to produce the Polo and Golf models, but workers experienced severe cultural difficulties in adjusting to modern production methods despite being given extensive training. Building a Trabant involved considerable physical effort just to get the body parts to fit together and this gave a sense of achievement for the workers. Though modern technology and lean production methods removed the physical effort, it also took away the sense of pride and it took VW a considerable time to persuade the workforce of the virtues of modern technology. Nevertheless, both Fiat and VW are firmly installed in Eastern Europe and are about to be joined by Renault which has signed an agreement joining forces with the Moscow City Authorities to build cars in an old Moskvich plant. Of the European producers, VW and Fiat are clearly the most dominant in Eastern Europe and, provided resources are not overstretched, will probably gather a considerable harvest in the future compared to their rivals. But the European arms of both Ford and GM are moving in the same direction, too. Besides being established in Belarus and Poland, Ford has formed a joint venture with Bankirski Dom, near St Petersburg and GM have entered into a similar arrangement with AvtoVAZ at Togliatti, 1,000 kilometres south east of Moscow (Automotive News, 1996b). Finally, stretching beyond the frontiers of Eastern Europe, European firms are currently attempting to establish themselves in China. It was Peugeot that made the initial running when, in the early 1980s, it formed a joint venture in Guangzhou to produce its 404 and 505 models. Neither vehicle was suited to the Chinese market. They were too large, unsuitable for the roads and considered old fashioned by the Chinese when compared to other Western models. In the end, no more than 20,000 units were produced in any one year, and in 1998 Peugeot were forced to withdraw from the market. As Peugeot withered in the market, its other arm, Citroen, prospered in a new joint venture at Wuhan where a stripped down version of the ZX is produced in approximately 15,000 to 20,000 units per annum, a figure that will rise sharply in the coming years (Donnelly and Morris, 1997). Volkswagen by contrast have been far more successful in its joint ventures with the Shanghai Automobile Industrial Corporatio n and the First Auto Works at Changchun in Jilinn Province in the north east of the country. Since the mid-1980s, VW has produced its Santana model in China with frequent updating and has recently introduced its more modern Jetta, Passat and Bora models. These ventures have proved successful in that VW have roughly 50 per cent of the taxi market in China, but have yet to obtain any return on their capital as they, like other multinationals in other countries, have discovered the Chinese market is no crock of gold (Donnelly and Morris, 1997, JustAuto.co., 2000c). While other European firms such as Mercedes and Renault have signed declarations of intent with the Chinese and are waiting to see how the market develops, both Ford and GM have moved further down the road and have begun production at Changan and Guangzhou respectively. Similarly, Chinese hostility to Japanese producers has waned and both Suzuki and Toyota have begun to compete in the market. Current opinion is that the Chin ese market will grow steadily in the coming century and that it is better to enter this market in its infancy than to hesitate. The ball is firmly in the European court and firms must either gamble now on the prospects of return in the future or they might be too late.