Argentine Market Essay Example for Free

Argentine Market Essay The current status of the Argentine Market has remained open to foreign investments. The Argentine market offers a wide array of opportunities which serve as a great factor for attracting American and other foreign investors to invest (â€Å"Argentina,† 2007). To invest in the Argentine market, foreign business entities must always be keen the position held by Argentine economists and business people in entering into partnerships with foreign corporations. The government of Argentina, along with the local business entities within the country, has always been protective of the economic status of the Argentine market. As such, in order to enter the Argentine market and to be able to convince local business entities in forging business partnerships, foreign corporations must realize the need to stress the advantage which can be gained by local Argentine corporations. One of the most important concerns that are to be taken into account is the Argentine government’s policies for protecting its economy. Over the past years, the government of Argentina has worked hard enough to ensure the stability of the Argentine peso as against the United States currency. This move was made to protect local corporations against hyperinflation. In addition to this, the government has also adopted an intensive market-based policies which opened its economy towards a more comprehensive and competitive market (â€Å"Argentina,† 2007). On the other hand, aside from economic concerns, foreign business entities must also become aware of the cultural and social aspects that are inherent to the Argentine market. In order to successfully penetrate the Argentine market, local producers and consumers as the primary actors in the economy must be regarded with great importance in making deals in the Argentine market. A brief example of taking into consideration the social and cultural aspects of the Argentine market is the strategy employed by Walt Disney in venturing in the Latin American market. In entering the Latin American market, the Walt Disney Company penetrated the Latin American audience by understanding the people through their culture. As such, Disney produced stories and movies that are relevant to the Latin American culture and those which reflected the lives of the Latin American people (â€Å"Disney Latin America,† n. d). In general, to be able to capture the consumers in the Argentine market, it is important for foreign business enterprises to forge contacts with local entrepreneurs which can briefly guide foreigners in handling local issues and to be able to know the relevant details necessary to understand the culture and needs of the local consumers in Argentina. 2. Identify two of Argentina’s most successful companies and provide an explanation for their successes. Compare and contrast the strategies of those two organizations (and with a US company if you wish). Two of the most prominent and successful companies in Argentina are Razzani – Vera S. A and the Comidas Gaucho. Both companies are locally owned and operated and at the same time, both were able to sustain the growth of the company with very minimal help from foreign entities until such a given time. Razzani – Vera S. A was an Argentine company founded in 1952 by an Italian immigrant, initially as a supplier of candies and cigarette product into â€Å"kiosks. † After several years of operation, the company consistently grew and the need for reinvestment and expansion became more attainable. Since the inception of the company in 1952, the owners and partners of Razzani – Vera S. A operated independently. Instead of accepting assistance from banks and other companies which viewed Razzani as potential clients and partners, Razzani stood independently, refusing offers for financial assistance. In 1994, under new management, Razzani remained to adhere to the company’s old policies thus avoiding incurring scarce debts. In this way, Razzani was able to successfully grow and maintain the business with a good credit reputation which allowed satisfactory collection for the company (â€Å"Razzani – Vera S. A,† n. d). However, in 1996 at the new changes in the company’s management, the new management resorted to more aggressive plan. In order to administer the new plans set forth by the new management and to fund technology investments, the company availed of mortgage loans from the United States (â€Å"Razzani – Vera S. A,† n. d). Alongside the growth of investments in the company, a deficit was also experienced by the new management. However, Razzani – Vera S. A was still able to cope with such difficulties and were able to procure an alternative solution to strengthen the company’s business. On the other hand, Comidas Gaucho is a local beef processor in Argentina. Comidas Gaucho operated the same way as the start of the Razzani – Vera S. A. Comidas Gaucho opted to run its business with the least intervention and aid possible from foreign entities. The company also showed its reluctance to let foreign enterprise penetrate their business by making ties and alliances. Gaucho’s decline in the offer by American company Great Plains Food as a business partner is an indication that Gaucho rather chose to operate independent from foreign firms (Rarick, n. d). Despite Comidas Gaucho’s refusal to make partnership with the American company Great Plains Food, nonetheless Gaucho was able to maintain the stability of its business by adhering to the old customs and policies that were inherent to the corporation. 3. What are the challenges facing private firms in Argentina? Are there any advantages for private firms in Argentina? What are the advantages/disadvantages for state-owned firms in Argentina? The Argentine market offers a vast set of opportunities both for foreign and local business enterprises. However, in order for foreign corporations to make successful business launch in Argentina, there are certain factors that should be given ample consideration by entrepreneurs. One of the most important things that foreign businessmen should do before investing in Argentina is to study the historical background of the Argentine government and market which is essential in determining matters that are crucial to the people in Argentina. One of the challenges that will be encountered by foreign investors wishing to enter the Argentine market is to penetrate the laws and policies set forth by the government. Dating back from the earlier years, the Argentine government has always been protective of its local economy (Di Tella and Vogel, 2004). Thus in order to penetrate the Argentine market, foreign investors must provide the government, local entrepreneurs and consumers opportunity for growth and a glance to the possible benefits that can be attained from foreign partnerships. In addition to Argentina’s political background, foreign investors must also be keen in understanding the culture innate with the people in Argentina. For investors to be able to gain the trust of the consumers, they must cope with the customs, beliefs and experiences that are of great importance to the people. Though these factors provide tough challenges for foreign investors, once the Argentine market is penetrated, there are numerous opportunities open to be tapped and developed that are beneficial not only to investors, but as well as the consumers. In Argentina, investors can penetrate various business aspects including franchising, security services, specialized services, legal services, transportation, aviation, education and training, engineering and architectural fields, finance, insurance, healthcare and the tourism services. Within these fields, there is a vast room for development which can greatly benefit consumers and local and foreign business entities. However, although foreign involvement in the Argentine business sector may be greatly advantageous to the country’s economy, state-owned business enterprises also hava advantages. State control over business corporations can standardize business process thus eliminating excessive competition among various privately owned business entities. This in turn may provide the people and the market with vast opportunity for improvement. However, on the disadvantage, in state-owned and controlled corporations, the state will shoulder the entire expenses needed to finance development and growth projects in order to maintain the stability of the company (Hill, 2007, p. 493). Failure to provide the financial needs of the company, the state may resort in acquiring debts from international organizations. And in such cases, the government may reach the point of dependency towards in international financial institutions, which in the long run may become detrimental to the growth of the company and the country as well. 4. What are the mechanisms for foreign investment in Argentina? Is there an ideal strategy for foreign investment there? During the past years, foreign investment has always remained open in Argentina. As such, the growth in Argentina’s Gross Domestic Product in the past years can be attributed to foreign investments made with the Argentine market. In the old Argentine decree governing the market and economic policies of Argentina, foreign investors have been made to enter the Argentine market freely with fewer restrictions imposed. In addition to this, foreign and local investors were provided with equal rights in establishing independent businesses and equal rights in the acquisition of new business enterprises (â€Å"Argentina,† 2007). However, changes in the policies implemented in Argentina provided more restrictions which resulted to a decrease in foreign investment. One of the changes enacted was in June 2003 when the government of Argentina passed a legislation which limited foreign business enterprises from owning â€Å"cultural goods. † These â€Å"cultural goods† included the media sector and Internet providers (â€Å"Argentina,† 2007). Nonetheless, despite these controls that were set by the government, deregulation in the economy and privatization boosted the foreign investment in Argentina (â€Å"Australia – Argentina Relations,† 2008). The vast richness of raw opportunities waiting to be tapped was the attraction of foreign entrepreneurs in investing in Argentina. The prospect of diversification lured most of investors to penetrate Latin American countries, Argentina in particular. In addition, market inefficiencies during past Argentine governments became an asset rather than a liability to the Argentine market. These market inefficiencies practiced by previous governments was seen as raw resources waiting to be tapped and developed (Deal and Rosso, 2001). Nearly during the last two decades, alongside the changes made by the government in Argentina’s trade and import policies, the Argentine market made a significant improvement in reducing economic barriers. New trade policies were able to decrease confusion for foreign investors, which resulted to an increase in foreign investments. In particular, during 2003 import exchange controls were abolished and restrictions on certain aspects of foreign trade were removed. Such actions helped in stabilizing the Argentine currency and kept it in pace with other foreign currencies (â€Å"Argentina: Foreign Trade Barriers,† 2004). However, there are no such things as â€Å"ideal† in foreign investment. To become successful in venturing in foreign investments, it is only essential to know the necessary details and the factors inherent within the local economic arena. It is important that both foreign and local business entities are adept in understanding market behavior and learn how to adopt in the society and culture of the consumers involved. 5. What challenges would Argentine firms likely face when attempting to build brands at home (or abroad)? What challenges will overseas firms face when trying to build brands for the Argentine market? In every business enterprise, there are different challenges that are inevitable to foreign and domestic business investors. In the international arena, the competition among different emerging markets is innate and necessary. In order to expand businesses and firms, tough competition must be faced and surpassed (Grosse, 2003, pp. 2-4). In a globalized competition, market expansion is always a step taken by emerging countries. However, success in expanding the market is dependent on certain factors. First, the type of industry that is pushed for expansion should be relevant and in demand for most countries. Second, the country itself is important in determining the success of market expansions. For example, more developed and powerful countries are more likely to succeed in expanding their market towards less developed countries compared to the possibility that smaller and less able countries will be successful in competitively expand their market towards other foreign territories. Third, the target market for expansion is also relevant in assessing the necessity for expansion (Grosse, 2003, p. 3). Argentina, being a rather less powerful country in the international arena is more likely to have difficulties in penetrating foreign markets. There are more technologically advanced service providers and producers that are more competitive than Argentina, coupled with the reality that politics is an integral factor in gaining an upper hand in the economic playing field. However, in terms of building branches locally, Argentina will relatively gain an advantage as compared to foreign investors entering the Argentine market. Given the distinct economic, political and social background of Argentina, local consumers will become rather more comfortable and enthusiastic to patronize the brands that they have been accustomed with. In addition, Argentine enterprises are more focused on retail sales and small to middle enterprises which people in Argentina can afford better. Thus, Argentine business enterprises can be more successful in building local branches rather than penetrating foreign markets. On the other hand, for foreign investors wishing to enter the Argentine market, same challenges will apply. The social and cultural background of the Argentinean consumers will serve as distinct barriers in entering the Argentine market. Although in the past years, foreign investments in Argentina have been successful, it will still be relatively harder for foreign entities to penetrate the Argentine market as long as there are still local small enterprises that can cater better to the needs of the local consumer more affordably. In addition, local enterprises can better cope to the cultural needs and preferences of local consumers. References Argentina. (2007). U. S Department of State. Retrieved August 27, 2008, from http://www. state. gov/e/eeb/ifd/2007/80675. htm Argentina: Foreign Trade Barriers. (2004). Office of the United States Trade Representative. Retrieved August 28, 2008, from ustr. gov/assets/ /2004_NTE_Report/asset_upload_file568_4735. pdf Australia – Argentina Relations. (2008). Australian Government: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved August 28, 2008, from http://www. dfat. gov. au/geo/argentina/argentina_country_brief. html Deal, M. and Rosso, C. (2001). Foreign Investment in Latin America Real Estate. (Diss. ) Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Di Tella, R. and Vogel I. (2004). The Argentine Paradox, Economic Growth and the Populist Tradition. Harvard Business School. Disney Latin America. (n. d). Escuela de Direccion Negocios. Grosse, R. (2003). The Challenges of Globalization for Emerging Market Firms. Latin American Business Review. Vol 4 (4) 2003. Hill, C. W. L. (2007). International business (6th ed. ). New York

Banning Breed Specific Legislation Essay -- Animal Research

Racial profiling had existed since biblical times, and is still present in today’s society. Recently in history we had the tragic terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. It did not take long for the fear of anyone from the Middle East to ripple through America. Wearing a turban in public would get people falsely accused of being a violent terrorist. Over and over again people foolishly stereotype and judge individuals based on their race or appearance. One of the most recent victims of profiling is the pit bull. Simply looking like or being a pit bull gets many loving creatures falsely accused of being violent, uncontrollable monsters. Pit bulls are the major target of legislation that bans or restricts certain types of dogs based solely on appearance and stereotypes. Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) is a ban or restriction on certain types of dogs because they are perceived as â€Å"dangerous† breeds or types of dogs. Pit bull type dogs are the major target of such legislation but there are many other breeds targeted as well. The name pit bull is used loosely to categorize many â€Å"bully breeds† of dogs. Several breeds that are often referred to as pit bulls are the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American Bulldog, Bull Terrier and most commonly, the American Pit Bull Terrier. When statistics on â€Å"pit bulls† are taken, people are actually comparing a group of dogs rather than individual breeds. Several communities have enacted BSL, and many have repealed this legislation because it simply does not work. Topeka, Ks recently reviewed the effectiveness of their breed bans and made the decision to repeal their bans in 2010 (BSL). In the last ten years, over 220 communities have repealed their breed specific la... ...ation and the Pit Bull Terrier: Are the Laws Justified?" DefendingDog.com. N.p., 2006. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. "BSL Locations in Kansas." Understand-A-Bull.com. Pit Bull Rescue Central, 2011. Web. 2 May 2012. "The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Report on Fatal Dog Attacks." Understand-A-Bull.com. Pit Bull Rescue Central, Spring 2005. Web. 28 Apr. 2012. McNeil, Anna. "A New Pit Bull Study." StubbyDog.org. University of Colombia's Animal Welfare Program, 15 Mar. 2012. Web. 29 Apr. 2012. Olsen, Kimberly R, and Julie K Levy. "Pit Bull Identification in Shelters." MaddiesFund.org. University of Florida, 22 July 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. "Prince George’s County: The Most Thorough Assessment of BSL To Date ." StopBSL.org. N.p., 2011. Web. 1 May 2012. "Wins Against Breed Specific Legislation." Understand-A-Bull.com. Pit Bull Rescue Central, 2011. Web. 3 May 2012.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez Essay

Many authors like to write fantasy novels, stories that detached themselves from reality, novels that tell us about magic, parallel dimensions, between others. But even in these fictional stories there is still the presence of the universal themes that can be touched not only in this kind of novels but also in the simpler ones, themes like the fight between good and evil, love, between others. There are also the authors that actually mix the fantasy and the reality to a point that it is really hard to see the difference between them, Gabriel Garcia Marquez is said to be the father of this gender called â€Å"Magic Realism†, he said that the reason that he sees the world in that particular way of his, is because of the persons that raised him when he was really young â€Å"He was made by the sententious, worldly, rationalized tone of his grandfather and the premonitory and supernatural exclamations of his grandmother seasoned by his unique humor, with this he would be capable of making a new vision of the world† (Gerald Martin 41). And even in this extraordinary vision we can still catch the reality like when he speaks about the natural oppression that exists in the countries of Latin America, when he talks about the 1000 days the conflict that actually won the independence of Colombia from Panama an event that his grandfather love to tell him about after all he fought in this war and lose in it, also he talks about the massacre in the United Fruit Company a really striking episode on Colombian history. We can also catch his own reality, we can appreciate in his writings all of those special and striking memories that were kept in him, the one that made a mark on the man he became, in the stories there is not only memories there is also characters based on members of his own family and also towns based on the ones of his childhood and we are not only talking about how he used Aracataca to create Macondo, there is also the mention of how he uses Sucre to describe a place that he really despised. So we are going to explore how Gabriel Garcia Marquez used parts of his life to write his famous stories. First of all in his autobiography Garcia Marquez talks about how his grandfather used to drag him around Aracataca (the small town where he lived most of his childhood) and while he was at this he create a bunch of memorable moments that he would immortalize in his novels. This memory, the one were the grandfather takes the kid to meet new things is very repetitive even the own author says it â€Å"I had a bunch of mages but the one were the old man takes the kid by the hand is the most vivid one† this one is used in two of his novels in the â€Å"Leaf Storm† when the father takes the son to a funeral and also in his Nobel Prize winner Novel One Hundred Years of Solitude when the father takes the kids to see the ice, in the book he uses his own impression when Aureliano Buendia says â€Å"It’s Burning† (Garcia Marquez). Another one of those memories is the one about the Belgian that lived in Aracataca that committed suicide by inhalation of cyanide, â€Å"He drag me to the house of the Belgian†¦ The first thing that shock me was the smell of the cyanide that the Belgian had used to committed suicide† (Gabriel Garcia Marquez). This story is represented also in two of his novels in â€Å"The Leaf Storm† where he is the doctor united with the Venezuelan pharmacist Alfredo Barbosa; the other one is in the novel Love in the Time of Cholera where he is Jeremiah de Saint-Amour (Gerald Martin). Another one of the moments that make a big impact in his life was while he lived in Venezuela, by the time Garcia Marquez lived in the country Marcos Perez Jimenez a dictator was in the power, he start to ask himself why did so many people find it attractive to have a dictator in the power , after all it wasn’t an uncommon characteristic in the many countries of Latin America to have a dictator, the impressive thing was that only a month after Garcia Marquez moved to Caracas (the capital of Venezuela) there was a movement against the president that finally took him out of the power, it was the first time a dictator had been taken of the power in Latin America. This fact was what inspired him to write â€Å"Autumn of the Patriarch† a story that talks about an eternal dictator, he based this character in real-life autocrats like Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, Francisco Franco and Juan Vicente Gomez. Many of the characters in his stories are based in real-life persons not only in famous characters like the autocrats in the â€Å"Autumn of the Patriarch† but also people of his own family. The first character and one of the most obvious one would be Jose Arcadio Buendia one of the characters of his most famous novel â€Å"One Hundred Years of Solitude† Jose Arcadio Buendia married to Ursula Iguaran was an adventurous man that took his wife from of what all that they knew to a mysterious place, he was always looking for new hobbies to entertain himself and because of this he ended up lacking as a father, this is a clear mirror of the father of the author a men who would constantly travel looking for adventures, moving the family from one city to another to look for a way to make business and easy money, always leaving the care of his own children to other persons, most of the time to his in-laws and because of that the relationship with his children wasn’t really good. Another one would be Ursula Iguaran a women full of character and a strong command, a person who loved her supernatural beliefs and would do anything to sustain her family, in this character there is the reflection of two persons of great importance in the life of the author one of them would be his grandmother Tranquilina Iguaran (obviously this is where the last name comes from) this one gave the character her belief for the supernatural, her being very superstitious even when this characteristic is very common in older people even today they still carry this kind of fears, maybe because this fears also come from the strong feeling they have for their religion (mostly catholic) another common trait in Latin American society, the other one would be his mother Luisa Marquez while at the beginning of his life he didn’t have a strong vincula with his mother after all she left him to be raised by her parents (even when this was very common back in those days) but after Gabriel Ga rcia start living with her many years later there would be a time when she was variably able to feed all of the children but she pull through and by this time she made a strong bond with her son, so the strong will of Luisa Marquez was represented in Ursula Iguaran. There is also Florentino Ariza a character of his novel Life in Times of Cholera this one was based on a mix between the author Garcia Marquez and his father Gabriel Eligio, while the character was a person who didn’t seem to notice the levels that make him different from others and was always trying to reach to this ones like Gabriel Eligio there is also the fact that Florentino Ariza was a telegraphist like Gabriel Eligio, also there is a part in the novel where Fermina Darza’s father tries to separate them by sending Fermina (Florentinos’s love interest) to visit her family to another town this actually happened to Luisa and Gabriel Eligio, Luisa’s father try to separate them by sending Luisa out of Aracataca. While from the author Florentino took the dreamer the passion for writing, in the book Florentino wrote many letters to her something that the own author did with his wife Mercedes. There is also Fermina Daza a mix of Mercedes and Tachia (a lover of Garcia Marquez), Fermina was represented for being secure of her way of being, straightforward and down to earth quite the opposite of Florentino. While the doctor Juvenal Urbino was a representation of everything the author hated and envied of the high class people of Cartagena in this character there was even a bit of Gabriel Eligio with his petulant and Self-confident character and it was also notable a bit of his Granfather in Juvenal.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Hstorical Cost Accounting

Advantages and Disadvantages of Hstorical Cost Accounting Advantages and disadvantages of historical cost accounting, alternatives to historical cost accounting 2.1 Introduction Accounting concepts and conventions as used in accountancy are the rules and guidelines by which the accountant lives. The historical cost accounting convention is an accounting technique that values an asset for balance sheet purposes at the price paid for the asset at the time of its acquisition. The historical cost accounting is the situation in which accountants record revenue, expenditure and asset acquisition and disposal at historical cost: that is, the actual amounts of money, or money s worth, received or paid to complete the transaction.†¦show more content†¦How is historical accounting better than alternatives? Quite clearly the several limitations and flaws of the traditional historical costs method have been highlighted and picked upon from time to time. Still historical costs are the standard form of accounting due to its unique features and conventions that make it better than most available alternatives. One of the main resources why historic accounting even though flawed forms the basis of our traditional accounting model is because accountants are reluctant to price the assets at current market value. Over the years number of cases relating to accounting malpractice and creative accounting have been exposed that have made accounting bodies reluctant from using current values which directly effect the share prices. Accountants have to guard the integrity of their data against internal modifications. The use of current cost or exit price opens the door to manipulation of these numbers. The alternative measures for measuring and reporting assets provide management with considerable discretion and opportunities to influence the value of assets reported. Critics admit that the possibility of manipulation exits, but the profession can formulate rules on how current values are to be ascertained. Under historical cost accounting there is no room for manipulation and the data