Safe Guarding Sensitive Database Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Safe Guarding Sensitive Database - Assignment Example For Vista, choose Start, Search, click the down arrow on the right side of Advanced Search, then select Date modified in the Date drop-down menu which is on the left. Here, you then look for any recently created, altered or renamed files. If you find what you are looking for, to be safe, save it in at least two different storage devices. b) -Â  Identity proofing, registration and credential delivery which bind an identity to a token. Depending on the level of assurance necessary for the system, this process is done either remotely or in person. It includes: Remote authentication mechanisms: This is the combination of authentication protocols credentials and tokens which are used in establishing the subscription of the claimant’s authenticity as a subscriber. Assertion mechanisms: This is used to communicate remote authentication results to other parties. They are issued by verifiers pertaining to claimants as a result of a successful authentication, and they are either signed in a digital way by their issuers or by direct way of obtaining, by presenting parties from a trustworthy party through a protocol with secure authentication. They would not be the same for a bank versus a school since in a bank, the authentication protocols present a way a claimant can establish the token control to a verifier without compromise but with a school, such high level of security is not required since they don’t run a high-risk business. They do not hold highly sensitive documents as it is with a bank (Williams & Simoff, 2006). a) Age, gender/sex and socio-economic status: In analyzing the audience, I will first determine the primary age group and gender of your audience, audience’s race and/or cultural background, my audience location in terms of their country/state/city, their education level, socio-economic status and religion. b) What I believe I can do as a speaker to respond to the audience’s listening goals is focusing on what they are interested in since it is a common thing to see.

Buyer Behaviour & Market Research Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 6

Buyer Behaviour & Market Research - Assignment Example The cognitive attitude consists of the positive and negative attribute that is related to the object. The effective component mainly consists of the attributes that include the emotions and the feelings that are related to the attitude of an object. The effective response has impacted the attitude in various ways. The behavioral component can be described as the attitude that comprises of the experiences and behavior of the past towards the attitude of an object. Attitudes are supported by behaviors if the influence of behavior has motivational significance for the concerned person. Attitude can be based on effective or cognitive behavior. The attitude that is based on cognitive behavior is mainly influenced by the knowledge and perception that the consumer develops by directly using and experiencing the product. There function mainly includes object appraisal which explains that people mainly classify or distinguish the object according to the punishment and the reward received by the customers. The cognitive theory can be defined as the process of improving and developing the knowledge and learning of the consumer behavior. The cognitive psychology is just the opposite of the behavioral approach. It mainly focuses on prioritizing the psychology of the internal organization. The characteristics and features of the cognitive buying behavior include experience, knowledge, understanding, and thinking of an individual and enforce or compel an individual in buying or purchasing a particular product. While purchasing the particular product the consumer is required to consider price, quality, and functionality for choosing the particular product.  

Supply Chain of Barilla Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Supply Chain of Barilla - Case Study Example Supply chain management deals with the management of materials, information and financial flows in a network of suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and customers.(Lee,1999).This management runs the entire gamut of operations that involve getting ready the supplies and reaching them to consumers. Various layers of distribution and the logistic network assist vitally in the task of reaching the supplies to the consumers. However, it is important for the entire supply chain system to know as to when, how much of which product would be required in which particular outlet and market. The more extensive the supply chain network the more critical is this requirement. Barilla has a wide network and thus their requirement for gathering information and processing it meaningfully becomes more important. Barilla spa was the world’s second largest pasta producer in 1990 It primarily produces 2 categories of products which are categorized as fresh and dry. Barilla accounted for about 35 percent of pasta sold in Italy and 22 percent of the pasta sold in Europe. Barilla mainly supplies the pasta to retail outlets such as small independent shops and supermarkets. In Barilla’s supply chain Barilla’s CDCs (centre distribution centre) and the production factory are located at places that exhibit maximum changes in demand patterns in the supply chain. The Barilla distribution layers include such outlets as GD(grand distributor, DO(organized distributor) and BD (i.e. Barilla-run Depots).These distribution layers receive orders from the supermarkets and shops, and, in turn, place consolidated orders to Barilla CDCs.Barilla CDC ,in turn, for wards the area consolidated figures to the Barilla factory. These distribution outlets serve the purpose of serving Barilla's overseas markets also. For instance Barilla products have a great demand in UK and most UK major supermarkets stock Barilla products through Barilla distribution outlets present in UK. In UK, retailers like Tesco and others generally depend on Barilla's third party distributors for its orders. In UK, Waissel's Ltd. is a major importer of Barilla's product. A long list of Barilla products are imported by Waissel's which includes Savouries, Biscuits & Cakes, Pasta Sauces and Pastas. The Barilla administration relies on computerized systems for its key functions including the supply management involving stock control. It has an excellent distribution service network throughout the UK. While it's administrative office is located in Harrow, its central warehouse is at Thamesmead, London for all of Waissel's worldwide incoming shipments as well as nationwide deliveries (Waissel's).

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Annotated Bibliography

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - Annotated Bibliography Example in-reuptake inhibitors on (OCD) are adequate to deduce that a serotonin regulatory disorder is the most vital piece of the pathophysiology of OCD (2011). However, patients with OCD will require a high dosage of serotonin-reuptake inhibitor monotherapy. This may sometimes not be ample, and about half of patients are resistant to the treatment. The author states that previous studies indicate positive treatment reaction to dopaminergic antagonists. He infers that other neurotransmitter structures, like dopamine, are implicated in the pathophysiology of OCD. Evidence from Preclinical, neuroimaging and neurochemical researches demonstrates that the dopaminergic system is concerned in stirring up or infuriating indications pinpointing presence of OCD. The article reviews the dopaminergic system in OCD pathophysiology while reviewing the outcome of drugs that act on dopaminergic activity in OCD. Barrett PM, Farrell L, Pina AA, Peris TS, Piacentini J. (2008).Evidence-based psychosocial treatments for child and adolescent obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. 237:131–155. In this article, the authors state that the development of fear habituation and disappearance are thought to be related to the pathophysiology of anxiety disorders. This includes obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. The articles reports adjustments of auditory P50 suppression in human beings fear conditioning and extinction in fit control subjects. Furthermore, they report that P50 suppression in fear extinction is impaired in patients with OCD. The report explores investigations on the association between sensory gating and fear conditioning. Sensory gating mechanisms may be physiologically associated with fear conditioning, and OCD may involve abnormal sensory gating in fear extinction (Barret et al, 2008). Bloch, M. H., Williams, K and Pittenger, C. (2011). Glutamate abnormalities in obsessive

The Meaning of Life Essay Example for Free

The Meaning of Life Essay What is the meaning of life. The meaning of our lives, the purpose, and the dreams both dashed and realized, and the expectations forced upon us by others. In other words how do you translate what life is? Translation means to explain in simple terms. What is it supposed to be about? There are different answers for different people at different times in their lives. A persons lifetime is filled with self-examination. Why am I here? What am I doing? Is this as good as it gets? You have a beginning. Youre in the middle, and your story hasnt ended yet. If one would recognize the greatest things we have in life, they would not be asking this question. These great things are faith, hope, and love. Faith is the one that can keep one from asking questions. If God wanted us to know something, then we would know it. In most religions, Christian ones in particular, the question of meaning in life is inextricably wrapped up in a relationship with God. Living in, for, with, and through him. Therefore, how one answers the meaning of life question bears directly the existence of God. Soren Kierkegaard said to be the father of existentialism maintains that there are three basic answers to the question of the meaning of life. He called these stages of life, because he believed that people progressed from one stage to the next. Whether or not that is true, there do seem to be at least three fundamental outlooks on life. One is a life devoted to pleasure. This value perspective can be shown by a person whose only concern is for what they are doing now. They would rather gain from pleasures in life without any regards to how they might affect their future. Another stage is those choosing ethical and moral paths. People who are honest and loyal demonstrate this in their everyday lives. Finally, there is a live religiously. This has been the popular way of life for many of us. It is going to church and practicing your faith Stace argues, the present age has begun to weaken faith in God. The concept of a supernatural person has begun to seem unlikely to many people. The Bible no longer seems as respected for many Catholics. While many people say they believe in God they are beginning question whether faith and God are the answer to the meaning of life. Most of us whether we choose to admit it or not show that material things are what we base our lives around. These ideas are at the heart of existentialism, which is a view of life that says that human beings are the creators of their own sense of meaning or purpose. The most famous existentialist, John Paul Sartre in his books and novels developed several themes that portray existentialism. The first is the notion that existence precedes essence. A legacy of traditional philosophy has been that we have a fixed human nature. Sartre challenged that we have no such set purpose or meaning. Our real meaning or who we are is a result of our decisions. We are what we decide. The second associated concept is the importance of human freedom. Sartre believed that every human being has the freedom to live life as we choose to. He believed that we are often terrified by our freedom, and in fact frequently do not want to take responsibility for our own actions. This attitude Sartre called bad faith. Bad faith is an act of self-deception in which we rationalize our actions as being caused by circumstances instead of being self-caused. Basically blaming others for our own deceptions and mistakes. The third major concept of existentialism is the idea of the Absurd. The philosopher Albert Camus popularized this concept. The concept of the absurd is promoted by atheistic existentialist, such as Sartre and Camus. The similarity between Christian and atheistic existentialist is the significance of human freedom and the belief that we are the makers of our own lives One of the most significant pieces of the decline of religious faith is the continuing awareness that there may not be any purpose in life. Both Albert Camus, and Stace, write from this perspective. They believed that traditional Christians have found security in the belief that their lives are invisibly directed or orchestrated by God. That we have assumed that God has a plan for our life, that things happen for a purpose. But as we experience, if we do, the decline of faith or the reality of God in our lives, we come to realize that perhaps we are more responsible than God is for what happens to us. We begin to realize or suspect that it is we, not God, who is the creator of our lives. We are responsible for who we become. Of course, there are always going to be those people who doubt everything God stands for. For them, the body dies and eternity is darkness, I suppose. The fight is going to be, perhaps even as it has been a battle between those who reject God and the, and those who know that God is real. The soul is ones conscience. Without the acknowledgement of that soul, there is no inner voice that helps guide him in the decisions that he makes. Yet, the soulless atheists still seek to discover the meaning of life, and this is where the battle is fought. They are simply stating that there is no meaning to their lives they have no soul, there can be no meaning. Theists realize life isnt fair. People arent created equal. Atheists believe that until all people actually are equal, life is meaningless, and this is the connection we have to make for them. People are not equal, people will never be equal, and if this equality is the requirement for accepting the meaning of life, then life will always be meaningless. If ambition brings about advantage, those advantages must be neutralized. This is the goal of the atheist. If there is nothing but darkness after life, the goal must be to create heaven on earth. Everyone has questioned their purpose in life for example in his article, My Confession, Leo Tolstoy has gone through his life without ever really questioning the meaning. Then he periodically questioned it until one day he eventually could not picture himself living anymore until he came up with an answer to his questionings. All the things he was thought to be living by no longer made any sense or had any meaning at all to him. He tried to answer his question many different ways, but whichever way he went he kept coming up with a dead end. He first thought the answer must be his family. Although he loved them very much, as humans they are confronted with the same questions he is. They are living this lie right along with him pretending that they have all the answers, or just simply ignoring the questions. He next thought the answer to be in his work. Eventually, coming to the realization that with all of his success in art and poetry he had become distracted. He was using art as a decoy. Without knowing his answers to the meaning of life, it was wrong and useless to depict these lies to others. He soon felt as if life had stopped, and was even contemplating suicide when he came to the realization that faith is present in each one of us and is what makes our lives meaningful. Everyone must believe they have a purpose here, for if they didnt they would not be living at all. For life to have true meaning, that meaning must come external to the individual and be somehow consistent with life as a whole. Christians would argue that only God could grant this. It is the helping hand, which guides us through life with an honest and loving heart. Jesus is the only man to lead a true, meaningful life. His life is really the only life of meaning and it is only through him that we have the opportunity to live meaningful lives. Without accepting this answer, one will have only difficulty for the rest of their lives, especially in answering the question of the meaning of life. If you accept this answer, however life is much simpler, because your search is over. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life? John 14:6. The way the truth and the meaning of life itself. There are scriptural accounts of people claiming to see God, and while a witness is more proof than no witness is, there is no way to scientifically verify these statements. They must be accepted purely on faith. Some say that the existence of humans or planetary balance is proof that God exists. These do not prove He exists. Christians believe God is in control of everything in the universe, and created the same. God created all beings, and every atom in this universe. We know God exists because He says He does. The bible is His word, left for us to read. Psychologist Viktor Frankl wrote in Mans search for Meaning that we should not ask what we expect from life, but what life expects from us. He was making the point that people must deal with what daily tasks are put in front of them. Instead of arguing and complaining, we have to take action. Our strength is shown through the soul survival of the hardships we face. Which brings us to the problem philosopher John Hick was facing. In his article, The Problem of Evil he asks the question, if God is perfectly loving, he must wish to abolish evil. But evil exists; therefore God cannot be both omnipotent and perfectly loving. The very fact that there is such suffering gives good cause to doubt not only the value of the whole human race, but also the existence of God. A God that can be said to care in the slightest for whats been created, any God who has power over all things, who is anything other than a horrible monster who finds cruel unusual joy in squeezing every last drop of suffering out of them. It would rule out anything even vaguely resembling the God that Christians speak of. A God who deserves our utter hatred not our worship. However, Hick found that although harsh and painful, evil did have purpose in the world. He stated in his article, the finest characteristics of personal life must have a good deal in common with our present world. It must operate according to general and dependable laws: and it must involve real dangers, difficulties, problems, obstacles, and possibilities of pain, failure, sorrow, frustration, and defeat. Without these sufferings, we would not be able to know what happiness and love really was. Evil provides us with the possibility of soul making, and according to free will, we must choose our fate. The Laws of nature must be abided by without them the world could not exist. God may be creating the lesser of the evils. There must be suffering in order for God to give inner strength that compensates for loss, and gives the sufferer inspiration to live faithfully and effectively. What God provides are the resources so we can face the suffering and make something positive come from it. He gives the direction and power to make these resources work. He gives hope and wisdom to find the way past the suffering, and to learn from it. John Paul II gave us an outline of what is believed to be the salvific meaning of suffering. Suffering as he wrote in the Apostolic Letter Salvifici Doloris, cannot be transformed and changed by a grace form outside, but from within? This question of human suffering is not answered directly by God. As man begins to share in the sufferings of Christ, the answer is discovered within in him. Suffering changes and can either increase or decrease, and in those moments Christians become aware of Gods closeness. We are given inner peace and spiritual joy when we suffer generously. When we are suffering we are never alone we are with Christ. With Christ everything has meaning whether its moments of happiness and peace or of pain and suffering. Nothing in life can be fully explained without God. . Look to the bible and Jesus gives us the answer. Love God with your whole heart, mind, body and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself. If you do this, you are following all the commandments. Humble yourself and give the praise and glory to our creator. God the Father our creator is love and he loves you very much. God created us to worship him and he deserves all the praise because he is the first and the last. He has no beginning and no end. Just look around and take in all the beauty he has created. Everyone is special and made in the image of God. We are nothing without our creator. Sin will keep us from God for he is pure and perfect. It is hard to let go of pleasure and putting ones self first. However, the key to peace and happiness is to surrender your freewill to God, the author of life, and he will give you complete, happiness, peace, contentment and purity you are looking for. That is what we were created for. God is made evident every day when the sun comes up, and there is still air to breathe, and you made it through the night. One cannot believe that everything we know was created by accident. Things are just too perfect to have happened by chance. Man is too corrupt a creature to have invented the beautiful things in the world, as in faith, hope and love. He allows evil in this world because He wants us to have the opportunity to choose either Him or evil, thereby proving our love for Him. If His were the only game in town, then there would not be a free will conscious choice for Him. It is evident that the meaning of life has to far to complex for any one to fully understand or agree on the same answer. All these ideas of these different philosophers are not necessarily inaccurate, just incomplete. All pieces to a puzzle that one has no way of fully figuring out. No one has seemed to accomplish this yet in life. There are so many obstacles that we face as we try to achieve a higher good. Many of these are based in the fact that we are human beings, and because of that are flawed by the ways of our culture. Things such as self-doubt, worry, ignorance, and the values put into our heads since the day we were born all are roadblocks on our way to a higher level. Also being human beings makes vulnerable to the ways of the world around us, so it is not easy to block these things out of our lives. This life is a stage in which we are to develop our minds, bodies, and souls to their highest potential in preparation for the afterlife. Only God could ever really show anyone true meaning.

The second largest clothing retailer

The second largest clothing retailer Look Good Pay Less Primark is a retail group which is the second largest clothing retailer in uk and targets young, fashion-conscious under 35s.Primark offers wide quality fashion basics at value for money prices. Research shows Primark as a leading retailer in value clothing. Primarks offer to the customer is one of high-quality merchandise, at value for money, backed by Primarks service promise. Primark prides itself on its loyal customer base. Primark stores ltd is an subsidiary of associated British Foods which employs 96.000 employees in 44 countries with global sales of  £8.2bn. Employing 27.000 people in Great Britain and ranking as GB 2nd largest clothing retailer by volume and voted best value high street fashion. By ITV and GMTV viewers. The successfulness of Primark because it offers super competitive prices with efficient distributions, supply and volume buying Primark trades in high quality merchandise at value for money backed by promise Look Good Pay Less communicates Primarks value based offering. In a precise manner to its core target audience, making half its sales in women wear, quarter sales in menswear and children wear and other items which make the rest of the constituting sales. Competitors of the retailer are HM, Next, Matalan,T K Maxs and George clothing and many more retail outlets on the ground of sales and marketing its products. Primark competes on product, ethical strategy with there code of conducts promising customers 100% product satisfactions on all grounds including fair trading. The successfulness of Primark has lead to the retailer source there manufacturing of their products, from over seas. The countries in which it operates include India and Bangladesh, and the selling includes countries such as England, Ireland, Spain and Germany. Primarks current plans include expansion to Portugal were it hopes to have the same success. However Primark has in resent become under the spotlight for its unethical manufacturing as it has been accused of employing child labour and in resent times for having its merchandise in UK operating swetshops, which have harboured illegal immigrants employed well below the minimum wage. This has effected the reputation of Primark. This can affect the success they achieve in Portugal. The role in which I play with in the organisation will affect my job. As I work with in the headquarters of Primark in the UK, I am a marketing director. Currently working on the expansion to Portugal. I need to face the issues above as they have effected the reputation of Primark. On a global scale as Primark is now seen as corrupt in its market place as they seemed unaware of the hidden workers that manufacture their clothing, and not being seen as fair traders. For my own career was effected by this as I was given ethical training an now being given the task to improve the reputation of Primark and illustrate the changes that are taking place with in the environment of Primark, from both with in the organisation and external. Oscola reference Primark. about: Primark history Available at:

The Merger Of Bp And Amoco

The Merger Of Bp And Amoco British Petroleum and Amoco announced their merger on August 11th of 1998 as the largest industrial merger in history worldwide. Initially the plan was to convert all the BP service stations in the United States into Amoco, whereas overseas all the Amoco service stations were supposed to be converted into BPs. However, in 2001 BP announced that all Amoco service stations would be renamed into BP while some others would be closed or disposed of, leading to an entire rebranding of Amoco Fuels. During 2008, almost all Amoco Fuels service stations had been restored by BP Gasoline with Invigorate and just a few of them remained operations under the original Amoco brands name. On April 2010, Chevron purchased some of the remaining Amoco Fuel service stations, mostly in Mississippi and converted them into Texaco service stations. After the spill in the Gulf of Mexico from Deepwater Horizon, BP considered to rebrand their US based operations back into Amoco Fuels as the company suffered a decline in sales on account of the negative publicity associated with the incident. Companys background: In 1909, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) was incorporated as a subsidiary of Burmah Oil Company to exploit a concession to search for oil in Iran. By 1935, it became the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), but after the assassination of the pro-western Prime Minister Ali Razmara, the oil industry in Iran was nationalized and National Iranian Oil Company was formed displacing the AIOC. By the time, the British government owned the AIOC and contested the nationalization at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, but its complaint was dismissed. However, in 1953, National Iranian Oil Company became an international consortium, and AIOC resumed operations in Iran as a member of it. The AIOC became the British Petroleum Company in 1954 and the British government was controlling it again. In 1959 the company expanded beyond the Middle East to Alaska and by 1978 it acquired a controlling interest in Standard Oil of Ohio. Nevertheless, British Petroleum Company continued operating from Iran until the Islamic Revolution in 1979, when the new regime confiscated all of the companys assets within the country without compensation, bringing the end of the British 70 years presence in Iran. Between 1979 and 1987, the British governments entire holding on the company was sold to several private investors and in 1987, British Petroleum negotiated the acquisition of Britoil. Moreover, Standard Oil of California and Gulf Oil had merged in 1984, it what would be known as the largest merger in history at that time; however the antitrust regulation relented many of its operating subsidiaries in the Gulf and sold some stations and a refinery in the eastern United States, allowing British Petroleum to acquire most of them. Finally, John Browne, who had been on the board as managing director since 1991, was appointed group chief executive in 1995. Browne is considered the responsible for BPs three major acquisitions; Amoco, ARCO and Burmah Castrol. Development of the merger: In 1997 BP and Amoco net income was US$ 4.6 billion and US$ 2.7 billion respectively. Combined revenues were US$ 108 billion and capital employed US$ 57 billion. The combined market capitalization was calculated around US$ 110 billion, a figure which would place the newly formed corporation among the top three oil companies in the world. The deal was expected to deliver synergies from cost savings that would add at least US$ 2 billion pre-tax a year by the end of 2000 to the earnings already separately targeted by the 2 companies. Finally, when British Petroleum merged with Amoco in December 1998 the company also acquired Burmah Castrol plc. and Arco (Atlantic Richfield Co.) closing the deal in early 2000. BP continued selling Amoco branded petrol even in service stations with the BP identity since Amoco had been rated as the best petroleum brand by consumers for 16 consecutive years comparable only to Chevron and Shell. In 2008, the high grade available petrol from BP (BP Gasoline with Invigorate) was still called Amoco Ultimate and BP decided to move it as most of its petrochemical businesses into a separate entity called Innovene within the BP Group. Terms agreed for the merger: The pre-merger negotiations conducted between the two companies were relatively fast compared to other transactions in the same scale. The benefits expected both companies were easily identified and agreements were developed in a friendly manner. The terms were disclosed immediately and were summarized as following: Value of the merger: US$ 53 billion Merger deal instrument: share swap (exchange of stock) Exchange Ratio agreed: Amoco shareholders were offered 3.97 BP shares for each share of Amoco common stock Amoco shareholders premium above BPs current market value: 25% Increase in number of shares after the merger: 15% Shareholders structure after merger: 60% BP shareholders 40% Amoco shareholders Headquarters of the new company after merger: BP Amoco plc. headquarters remained in London and Amocos head office became the headquarters for the companys North American operations Trading market for the companies: BP and Amoco shares would remain listed on the London Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange Companys management structure after merger: BPs CEO Sir John Brown would continue leading the company co-chaired by BPs chairman Peter Sutherland and Amocos chairman Larry Fuller Staff cuts after merger: BP Amoco plc. confirmed cost reductions from a cut-off in personnel; the two groups had 99,450 employees together, with BP employing 56,450 and Amoco the rest. The reduction in first stage would represent 11% to 13% of the total Combined reserves: 14.8 billion barrels. Serving 17,900 BP service stations around the world and 9,300 Amoco service stations all in the US Options pegged to the merger: Amoco granted BP an option to purchase 189,783,270 shares of Amoco common stock at a price of US$ 41 per share. This represented approximately 19.9 % of the outstanding Amocos common stock Dividend payout after the merger: Both companies would continue to pay quarterly dividends in the ordinary course prior to the implementation of the merger, then its dividend policy was to continue paying 4 dividends a year and with a payout of approximately 50 % of through cycle earnings The Merger Agreement would also provide termination fees to be paid by one party to the other under certain circumstances. The circumstances in which either party is able to terminate the Merger Agreement include: If either Amoco or BP shareholders do not approve the merger and related transactions If the other party enters into negotiations with any other person in relation to an acquisition offer for that party If the board of the other party withdraws or adversely modifies its approval related to the merger Market conditions leading to the merger: In order to get a better understanding about why the BP-Amoco merger is considered as one of the most successful mergers in history and which factors contributed to given success, it is important to deem about the different aspects from the oil industry market that either the management and the shareholders from both companies took into account to be convinced that the transaction would only add value and the risks would be covered: Oil prices worldwide were depressed and had fallen to their lowest levels in over a decade The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil had decreased to US$11.8 in real terms; the lowest price in 25 years No oil company of any significant size was immune to a takeover threat during the early 1990s; their stock prices were depressed. It was cheaper to buy oil reserves on Wall Street than by exploration and development outlays. These pressures caused the major oil companies to engage in a wide range of restructuring activities and costs reductions Restructuring efforts and improvements in technologies had lowered costs to US$16 to US$18 per barrel. Oil prices declined to US$9 per barrel in late 1998. Thus, the overriding objective for the mergers beginning in 1998 was to further increase efficiencies to lower breakeven levels toward the US$11 to US$12 per barrel range Amoco had reported the month before a fall of more than 50% in second quarter earnings Amoco, being the fourth largest US oil producer, was hurt by its lack of international refining Combining the chemicals operations of BP and Amoco would create a business with revenues of US$ 13 billion that together with the strengths of BP in Europe and Amoco in the US would provide a powerful platform for expansion in Asia where both companies already had significant investments The new chemicals business would be one of the worlds largest petrochemicals companies, with leading positions in 7 core products: acetic acid, acrylonitrile, aromatics, purified terephthalic acid (PTA), alpha-olefins, purified isophthalic acid (PIA) and polypropylene. A diversified portfolio of key proprietary technologies Best practices in acquisitions issues indicated that the successful mergers carried out in previous years tended to be those in which the goods or services offered by the companies involved in the transaction were highly similar, contrasting mergers between companies seeking to combine different markets and diversify its business. The latter were considerably more risky and the probability of failure was higher Features of BP-Amoco merger versus Daimler-Chrysler merger: In contrasting the BP and Amoco merger to Daimler and Chrysler, it is important to outline the main differences both in the pre-merger requisite as well as the merger implementation. Particularly, with regard to each companys ability to adapt to the changes after the merger and the manner in which the target markets would accept the new company. The acquisition of Chrysler marked the first time one of the Detroit Big Three automakers would be in the hands of a private equity firm. There are those who say the merger, which faced significant cultural differences, was doomed from the start. Originally, the plan was for Chrysler to use Daimler parts, components and even vehicle architecture to sharply reduce the cost to produce future vehicles. But problems surfaced when Daimlers Mercedes-Benz luxury division, whose components Chrysler would use, was averse to contribute to Chrysler. Further, the immediate perception of the market was that the new company would produce vehicles with lower quality standards Both automakers wanted to enter markets overseas that they had never explored before, and that consumers would be unwilling to accept such change. In the contrary to the car industry, the oil industry had been, arguably more than any other industry, forced to adjust to the massive change forces of globalization and entrepreneurial innovations. It stands out from most other industries in many ways, one being the existence of a truly global market in which 53% of the total volume is traded internationally. Oil itself accounts for about 10% of total world trade, more than any other commodity. Furthermore, there are some other key factors that contributed specifically to BP-Amoco merger success compared to Daimler-Chrysler such as: Amoco and BP believed that the bigger companies among the industry would win the best opportunities Amoco and BPs merger was cataloged by the oil industrys experts as one superb alliance of equals with complementary strategic and geographical strengths which effectively creates a new super-major that can better serve millions of customers worldwide It was known that within the oil industry, the best investment opportunities would go increasingly to companies that had the size and financial strength to take on those large-scale projects that offer a truly distinctive return There were accounting reasons in both companies why the merger would be more appropriate and would create value Amoco had a lack of international refining. Nonetheless, it also had important findings from research and development technologies to offer (a deal with an oil major was only a matter of time) Both, BP and Amoco had significant investments in solar energy and share strong records and reputations for sound operating practices, environmental and social responsibility. It was easy to predict that they were able to share the same practices and therefore the same markets Quite the opposite, Daimler-Chrysler never considered that their businesses were focused on different markets in terms of geographies, type of vehicles and prices. In addition to that, with regard to Chrysler, markets for passenger cars and commercial vehicles were deteriorated at the time of the merger (low growth expectations) In addition, the adaptation of automotive companies after the merger would be much slower than that of oil companies given the production practices of each of the parties. In other words, the extraction of oil was very similar whereas car production had significant differences Conclusions: According to Berkovitch and Narayanan2) there are three major types of motivations for mergers: synergy, hubris, and agency problems. BP-Amoco merger met the three of them: Synergy: efficiency objectives were promised and achieved; costs were reduced by adoptions of best practices from both companies, particularly in combining advanced technologies. The market cap of the company after the merger resulted 12.5% higher than the sum of both companies market cap. Hubris: this motivation may be reflected in overpaying for the target; in this case, Amocos shareholders premium outcome was around 25%, higher than any other merger premium negotiated within the industry. Agency problems: Since the Return on Equity (ROE) and the Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) increased after the merger, it can be assume that the management and shareholders targets were well aligned and therefore agency problems were not implied. Moreover, divergent from Daimler-Chrysler merger; the reasons, the structure, and the implementation of the BP-Amoco transaction reflected the characteristics provided by the oil and gas industry to ensure the success of the merger: There are no significant differences between the product from different brands (petrol is pretty much the same, no matter who extracts it). The industry increasingly utilizes advanced technology in exploration, production, refining, and in the logistics of its operations (it is evident the cost reduction since all the companies require the same expenditures) According to the market conditions related to the oil industry mentioned before, the BP-Amoco merger was convenient and almost needed to push the barriers surrounding the industry as the fall in crude prices and the high costs regarding exploration and development that were required to further increase its production. Concerning to Daimler-Chrysler, many factors were not considered before the merger and limited the achievement of outcomes expected, mainly on issues of marketing, synergies in production and work culture. http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/STAGING/global_assets/downloads/A/ARCO_Key_facts_and_operating_statistics.pdf Mergers and Acquisitions ARCO. 2008 Berkovitch, Elazar and M. P. Narayanan, 1993, Motives for Takeovers: An Empirical Investigation, Journal of Financial Quantitative Analysis, 28 (No. 3, September), 347-362. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080230b.htm. Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 5 Jun. 2010 Copeland, Tom, Tim Koller, and Jack Murrin, 2000, Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Values of Companies, 3rd ed., New York, NY, John Wiley Sons. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP ANNEXES BP Recent financial data in millions of US$ Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Sales 180,186 236,045 294,849 249,465 265,906 284,365 361,341 EBITDA 22,941 28,200 37,825 41,453 44,835 Net results 6,845 10,267 15,961 22,341 22,000 20,845 21,157 Net debt 20,273 20,193 21,607 16,202 16,202