Landing Gear Types Engineering Essay

Landing Gear Types Engineering Essay When you ask people what the main function is of a landing gear they mostly say it is meant to land the aircraft, yet thats exactly what the words stands for. This is slightly correct, one of the three main functions is energy absorption (at landing). (1.1.1a). But when the aircraft has touched the ground it has to stop, so here is an other main function of the landing gear; braking (1.1.1b). The last step and also the last main function is for taxi control, in other words: to manoeuvre the aircraft on ground (1.1.1c). When an aircraft has reached its destination, it has to descend and land on a runway from an airport. To do this it is using the landing gear of the aircraft. When the aircraft hits the ground the landing gear is the interface of aircraft to ground. Depending on various factors like: weather conditions, aircraft load, aircraft configuration and aircraft balance the landing gear must absorb the impact energy and must transmit this gently to the aircraft structure. But not only at landing, when an aircraft is on ground while manoeuvring the landing gear has to bear the total weight of an aircraft and absorb the energy while braking, taxiing, take off roll, landing roll, steering and towing. With only a strut and wheels there is no chance of surviving an impact with a large aircraft. Therefore the landing gear is provided with shock absorbers. The shock absorber may be an independent element, or integrated with the landing gear strut or in side braces. The wheels of a landing gear are a lso used for shock absorption. Aircraft tires are much more stronger as tires for automobiles. Landing gear tyres are designed to resist high take-off and landing speeds and large shock loads upon landings. 1.1.1b Braking Another challenge of a landing gear is to stop the aircraft while rolling over the runway. The landing gear can use the tires to achieve this challenge. But the tires cannot stop by itself, they need brakes to slow down. Almost all commercial aircrafts only have brakes at the main landing gear to slow down the aircraft and use at each main gear wheel multiple disc hydraulic powered brakes. Those brakes are controlled in flight deck. Pilots can choose three inputs for braking; manual brake, auto brake system and parking brake. The manual brakes are controlled by brake pedals mostly located at the top of the rudder pedals. The auto brake system provides automatic braking during take-offs and landings so the pilot can perform other tasks. The auto brake system can be set in different modes to apply correct braking configurations. To maintain position for a longer period on ground a parking brake can be used so the airplane does not need wheel chocks. 1.1.1c Taxi control The last function of a landing gear is taxi control. To manoeuvre the aircraft on ground at low speeds the landing gear is equipped with steering facilities so the aircraft can move by itself and do not need to get moved by a tug. At modern commercial aircraft the nose landing gear is equipped with a hydro-mechanical system to move the nose gear. Steering is done by the pilot either from a tiller in the cockpit or the rudder pedals. Some aircrafts with more than two main gear units (bogies) need also to control these extra units to manoeuvre the aircraft safely. Landing gear types Not every aircraft has the same landing gear configuration. To understand why modern commercial aircrafts use a tricycle gear configuration (nose wheel equipped aircraft) there first will be looked to other kinds of configurations (1.1.2a) to understand the benefits. Not only the benefits will be explained but also the construction of the tricycle gear configuration (1.1.2b). 1.1.2a Landing gear configurations For aircraft engineers, the landing gear is not their favourite part of an aircraft because it is not needed in flight but still it does influence the flight performance. Since the first aircraft engineers have tried all kind of configurations to fit best under a typical aircraft. Each configuration has its own advantages and disadvantages, to find out there will be take a look at several configurations available to engineers. Taildragger gear Bicycle gear Single main gear Quadricycle gear Ad 1 Taildragger gear The taildragger gear also called a conventional landing gear (Figure†¦) consists of two main gear units (1) and a small wheel or skid to support the tail (tail unit) (2). This kind of configuration ruled the aircraft design from about 1910 till 1950. Nowadays this configuration is widely used on small propeller-driven aircrafts, because its simplicity. Is not only used for its simplicity, it has also some benefits. 2 1 Main gear units Tail unit Figure: Taildragger gear as seen on a Spitfire The two main gear units can easily be adapted to produce low drag in flight and because the tail wheel is small there is less weight. When you look at the taildragger configuration (Figure†¦) you will notice the nose of the aircraft is already titled, so the wings already have an larger angle of attack. This means when the aircraft rolls down the runway the wings generate more lift so the aircraft needs less length of runway. Besides the propeller of a propeller-driven aircraft has a higher level above the ground, what could save the propeller from damages. But this configuration does also have some cons. The handling characteristics are not that good. This is because the centre of gravity is located behind the main gear units. Which could results in a ground loop. A ground loop is basically an uncontrolled turn while on ground. With the centre of gravity behind the main gear units, any turn will naturally increase in rate because of momentum. When landing and using the brakes too many at rollout, this could result in a capsizing aircraft. These examples could easier occur when one main gear unit touches down first or with heavy crosswind. To prevent, pilots must line up a approach very carefully to keep the plane on a straight path until it comes to a stop, this can be done with constantly rudder adjustments. Some aircrafts have an locked tail unit to keep rolling in a straight line during landing. Ad 2 Bicycle gear The bicycle gear consist of two main gear units along the centre line of the aircraft and very often sideways two small outrigger gears mounted on the wing (Figure†¦). This kind of configuration is not very common but is a solution for aircraft with very long and slim fuselages or high wing aircraft. This configuration is actually very limited to aircraft with wings that generate high lift at a low angle of attack, as rotation with this configuration is impossible. 2 2 1 Main gear units Outrigger gear Figure†¦: Bicycle gear as seen on Boeing B-47 Only one of the benefits is lower weight and drag than the taildragger or tricycle configuration. For the pilot this configuration is challenging, because he or she has to maintain a very level attitude during take-off and landing while carefully managing airspeed. The pilot has to land the aircraft without any rolling motion because that could cause the aircraft to land on one of the outrigger gear. Ad 3 Single main gear The single main gear (Figure†¦) consist of one main gear unit (1) and a much smaller auxiliary tailwheel (2) along the centreline. For stability an outrigger gear (3) is mounted along the wing. This configuration is very similar to the bicycle gear and is practical for use on light planes like gliders. The single main gear is just like the bicycle gear lightweight and provides low drag. 2 1 3 Main gear unit Auxiliary tailwheel Outrigger gear Figure†¦: Single main gear as seen on a Lockheed U-2 Ad 4 Quadricycle gear The quadricycle gear (Figure†¦) consist of four main gear units (1) roughly mounted along the fuselage. This configuration is also similar to the bicycle gear and is being used sometimes on cargo aircraft. For cargo aircraft it could be ideal because the aircraft floor can get at a very low level above the ground what is easy for loading or unloading cargo. Just like the bicycle configuration the pilot must maintain a very level attitude during take-off and landing. A quadricycle gear is also very sensitive for roll, crosswinds, and proper line up of a approach. The Boeing B-52 has an extra crosswind gear (2) installed to make crosswind landings. A major disadvantage also is four main gear units that contain a much higher weight and drag. 2 1 Main gear units Crosswind gear Figure†¦: Quadricycle gear as seen on a Boeing B-52 1.1.2b Tricycle Gear The tricycle gear generally consist of two main gear units and one nose gear unit. Nowadays this kind of configuration is mostly used in aviation especially for commercial aircraft. The tricycle configuration has one wheel in the front and two or more main wheels located near the centre of gravity. The main reason why it is mostly used is the ease of operating the tricycle gear aircraft on ground. This is not the only advantage the tricycle gear has a series of advantages: stability in braking steady touch down with no risk of aerodynamic bounce (like taildragger gear) high pilot visibility during taxiing (because of level aircraft) horizontal floor (passengers comfort and easy cargo loading) low drag during take-off acceleration The tricycle gear does have more configurations (Figure). The most common (and most simple) has a double main landing gear unit and single nose gear unit (1). For most aircraft this is good enough to bear the aircraft load. For airliners beyond 300.000 kg of maximum take-off mass there is need for an extra landing gear unit located under the fuselage (2), or even two main landing gear units located under the wing (3). This is needed to make the surface pressure on all landing gears acceptable. 3 2 1 Figure†¦: Tricycle gear configurations Those extra landing gear units are called bogies. When an aircraft has extra landing gear units it is called a multi-bogie gear configuration. The heavier the aircraft becomes, the more wheels are added to the bogie to spread the surface pressure on the runway pavement. The nose wheel could also get an extra wheel or even an extra nose gear unit. Unfortunately the tricycle gear configuration has a greater weight and drag because of the large nose wheel gear unit. Aircrafts with a tricycle configuration almost always require retraction mechanisms to reduce drag. Another challenge at tricycle gear configurations is designing a properly balance load by the main gear versus the nose wheel. When you will put too little load on the main wheels, braking effectiveness will reduce. When putting too little load on the nose wheel the aircraft is losing its steering effectiveness. Loading the aircraft must be carefully done to balance the aircraft to prevent the aircraft from fall over on its tail.

Truffaut’s Jules et Jim †An Expressionistic Analysis :: Movie Film Essays

Truffaut’s Jules et Jim — An Expressionistic Analysis As far as Bazin’s essay â€Å"The Evolution of the Language of Cinema† might be used as a formal test of categorisation—notwithstanding the problematics inherent in his oversimplification of the realist and expressionist methodology—initial viewing of Jules et Jim seems to present a dichotomous structure. Certainly, a number of Bazin’s criteria for realism are met: camera movement; long-takes; composition-in-depth. and deep focus; a certain ambiguity of meaning. Similarly, several of Bazin’s criteria for expressionism also can be found: there is spatial and temporal discontinuity; editing is used for artistic effect; reality is augmented to create a world only vaguely like our own, and so on. The dichotomy though is only apparent. The over-all effect created by Truffaut shows Jules et Jim belonging more comfortably in the expressionistic domain; and, as we shall discover, devices which would normally—at least according to Bazin— deliver the effect of realism are utilised by Truffaut as tools of expressionism. In our analysis of Jules et Jim, rather than examine fleetingly the whole gamut of expressionistic techniques, we shall instead explore in some detail the more important methods, paying particular attention to temporal and spatial distortions, editing and montage, special visual effects, and finally discover the manner in which Bazin’s archetypal techniques of realism—long-takes and composition-in-depth.—are recast. Certainly one of the most striking features of Jules et Jim is temporal distortion. Truffaut utilises this effect by various means and for various purposes. In the first two minutes of the film, time is condensed in two ways: by the third person narrative, which encapsulates the film’s exposition in the most laconic of terms, describing the meeting and developing friendship of Jules and Jim, and also by the selective images which largely avoid redunant description of the aural narrative, but instead seek to interpret and compliment. Accordingly, when the narrator tells us that Jules is a foreigner in Paris; that he wants to go to an art student’s ball; and that Jim gets him a ticket and costume, the image we are offered is a simple one of the two playing dominoes. This image, incidentally, becomes a leitmotif in the film, supporting the theme of friendship and is touchingly varied much later when Jules plays instead with his daughter. Next, the narrator tells us that their friendship grows; the ball takes place; that Jules has tender eyes.

Unknown :: essays research papers

With the naming of Lou Gerstner as its new CEO (and the retirement of John Akers on May 7), IBM now has a chance to change both its own organizational structure and goals and, at the same time, the future shape of the computer industry. Nearly every computer publication has polled its readers asking such questions as "Do you think IBM can succeed at changing, Do you think Lou Gerstner is the right man to lead a turnaround at IBM," and "Do you care?" Reactions to such early pulse taking are mixed. Clearly customers are concerned about IBM's seeming inability to understand their future needs and help them move to new computing platforms. On the other hand, customers are divided between a "we have to give him some time to assess the problem and formulate a solution" point of view (we concur), and the feeling that an outsider like Gerstner can't possibly fix a computer company (see below). Some are convinced that it just doesn't matter, since the day of the mainframe is over and that means IBM's days as the industry leader are over, too. IBM, of course, does not agree. Gerstner has not revealed the specifics of his plans at all, except for a few remarks at the Annual IBM Shareholders' Meeting, where he brushed off the widely held notion that IBM would spin off profitable businesses. To him, it appears, reorganization means fewer people, different skills, more distribution of power, but not necessarily the wholesale deconstruction of IBM that some predicted. On the other hand, some of the things he has already done send clear signals of the big changes to come: †¢ He is spending a lot of time in the field and with the customers. That guarantees he will hear the story first-hand, rather than filtered through tiers of IBM staffers and middle managers. It is just this kind of filtering that has led to the dangerous continuation of the status quo when IBM was teetering on the brink of disaster. Only a senior management badly out of touch with the field and the customers could have been so unaware of what was really going on. Gerstner doesn't intend to make that mistake. †¢ He is making big changes in IBM senior management and many more changes are likely to come. Tellingly, these appointments are from outside of IBM (nearly unheard of in days gone by) and each appointment appears in the business press with tales of just how tough the manager has been before and how good he is in tricky situations.

Native Americans vs. European Colonists Essay -- religious beliefs, e

The European colonists and the Native Americans of North America had very different views on nearly everything they encountered in their lives. Living in vastly different cultures lead both groups to have two extremely different outlooks on four main topics; religious beliefs, the environment, social relations, and slavery, differences which the colonists used to their advantage when conquering the peoples of the New World. The colonists, by saying that the Native Americans were primitive and savage because of their differing and seemingly illogical attitudes, were able to do things that they could never have done to people they believed to be equals. Whether this was a conscious or subconscious method on the part of the Europeans remains hotly debated, but the fact remains that by pointing out the differences of the two main cultures as a negative denoting European superiority, the colonists were able to take the Native American lands and goods without much remorse. When this country began, there were few European colonists with the modern perspective of tolerance towards different cultures. Hardly anyone sought to learn about the Indian culture, very few adopted it as their own, and the majorities were often fearful and anxious toward their new neighbors. These four main differences in religious beliefs, the environment, social relations, and slavery, were what sparked the ill treatment towards the Native Americans, an atrocious treatment that would continue for the next three hundred years in America. Religious beliefs were very important to the first European Colonists who came to America. In Europe during the 1600’s, religion was something that decided a lot of things in a person’s life; what part o... ...iogrosso "The Joy of Sects" and Books on Spirituality and World Religion, Religion Discussion Weblog, Editorial Consultation, Spiritual Direction. Web. 4 Mar. 2011. . Popick, Jacqui. "Native American Women, Past, Present and Future." Lethbridge Undergraduate Research Journal 1.1 (2006). Web. 3 Mar. 2011. . Pritzker, Barry. A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000. Print. Roe, Melissa A. "Indentured Servants." EH.Net | Economic History Services. Lafayette College. Web. 4 Mar. 2011. . Taylor, Alan. American Colonies: The Settling of North America. London: Penguin, 2002. Print. Wiesner, Merry E. An Age of Voyages, 1350-1600. New York: Oxford UP, 2005. Print.

Money Over Power Beyond its Fate Essay

Money is the root of all evil. It is the most powerful thing in the world besides love. Sometimes money can ruin love in a friendship, relationship, or even worse family. Money can even decide the fate of a human’s life. â€Å"There is so much about my fate that I cannot control, but other things do fall under the jurisdiction. I can decide how I spend my time, whom I interact with, whom I share my body and life and money and energy with. I can select what I can read and eat and study. I can choose how I’m going to regard unfortunate circumstances in my life-whether I will see them as curses or opportunities. I can choose my words and the tone of voice in which I speak to others. And most of all, I can choose my thoughts.† (Elizabeth Gilbert). In the movie, â€Å"No Country for Old Men,† A character by the name of, Llewelyn Moss, is caught in the cross fires of money, his actions, his thoughts, and most of all his own fate. Throughout the movie he is in a constant rat race with a man who goes by the name of, Anton Chigurh, who is a hit man that was hired to get the money that moss had stumbled upon and taken. Ofcourse Moss did not have to take this money and if he didn’t he wouldn’t be dealing with money, power, or the very predetermined fate of himself throughout the movie. Chigur also acts an officer of fate making up his own rules as he sees fit. Although Moss’s character may represent free will he also represents the fate that people make on their life after making one poor decision. Not only does this money ruin the fate of moss but it always toys with the fate of Moss’s wife, the owner of the gas station, and the children who were paid off to keep quiet. Some may say that it is not money that is the root of all evil but it is power. So does money and power go hand in hand? With money you have the power to control whatever you want, and with the most power you gain fear in others as well as continue to gain money from those who fear you. In â€Å"No Country for Old men† there is a constant battle between the power money holds on oneself as well as the fate of a life through money. The first time money determines a person’s fate is  during the coin flip at the gas station. When Chigurh realizes that the man working at the counter knows where he is from, he now becomes a witness of who Chigurh is and where he may be from. Maybe if the man would have just been quiet in the first place instead of trying to use the small talk and be friendly Chigurh would have never even have to have the thought of killing the man in the first place. But because the man is the person he is and just wanted to help â€Å"time pass† it pulled a spark and brought the whole conversation in another direction. Chigurh then begins to question the man. What time do you close? Do you stay out back? What time do you go to sleep? The Owner knew he was in some type of trouble and quickly tries to hurry the man out of his store so that he can reach some type of safe zone between him and Chigurh. The conversation continues and that’s when it starts to get a little interesting. Chigurh finds out that the man was married into the business. He didn’t want it nor did he save his earnings but fate brought him to that gas station and Fate would determine his life in a coin toss. â€Å"It is interesting, however, to note the way Chigurh and the Proprietor discuss the stakes of the game. The Proprietor is no doubt aware of the danger he’s in, but is carefully trying to determine the nature of the danger. They both avoid talking about the stakes of the game directly — the Proprietor, because if he says it, it might happen; Chigurh, because he considers himself an agent of Fate. Discussing it directly would make him responsible, and he’s not; the evil swirling through the film is bigger than this one man† (goodreasonblog.blogspot.com). Fate had played a life saving role in this man’s life but so did money. The flip the coin would determine his fate and that is when we right back on the subject of how which played a bigger role? The coin had all the power, although it was an instrument of the fate the man would determine on his own it still had the power. So can we really say that his fate was the reason this man is still alive? In the owners good graces he won the coin coin flip and his life was spared. But what if he had lost that coin flip? Do you really think Chigurgh would have killed an innocent man just because he noticed where he was from? Well that question could have been answered at the end of the movie when Chigurgh shows up at Moss’s wife, Carla Jean’s, house. Carla Jean finds herself seated across from the emotionless Chigurh. Chigurh had promised Moss that he would allow Carla Jean to live if the money was returned to Chigurh. He  assures Moss that it is the best deal he has to offer. Moss would have died either way but Chigurh promises Moss that he would not harm his wife as long as Moss listened to him. But of course determining the fate of himself and his wife Moss chooses not to listen to Chigurhs orders. It is really heartbreaking at this point in the movie because we all know Carla Jean is going to die. The power money has on a person is quite disgusting in this movie because we see that Moss truly chose his money over his wife. Chigurh tells Carla Jean that Moss could have saved her but the power of money had taken over Moss’s mind and moss made a decision for them both to suffer. â€Å"You don’t have to do this† Carla jean tells Chigurh. Chigurh then chooses to offer her the same coin flip option that he had previously offered the lucky old man at the gas station. Unlike the old man, Carla Jean refuses to call it when asked, even after the coin had been flipped and was just waiting to be called â€Å"The coin don’t have no say in it – it’s just you.† Chigurh again points out that he â€Å"got here the same way as the coin did.† Fate brought him to her house because of her husband and the power of money is what would kill Carl Jean in the end. Not only doe Chigurh try determining the fate of others, He also tries to determine the fate of himself. At the end of the movie when Chigurh is hit he pays a boy to keep quiet and act like nothing ever happened. Why would Chigurh do this? He is using his money to determine his fate. Chigurh knows that the lower his profile the less chances he will have of getting caught and going to prison for the illegal activity he has had going on. All in all none of these people had to do what they did. These were the choices they made and because of that, fate had a new twist on their life. Moss did not have to steal the money but he knew with more money came the happiness him and his wife had been working for. Maybe he did it out of love or maybe he was just being greedy we will never really know. Even Chigurh had the choice to not kill all those people because of Moss. All of those people who had died was a predetermined fate that was out of their control. Fate, in this movie, obviously came in more than one sub category. The money meant power and the power controlled ones fate. â€Å"Every moment in your life is a turning and every one a choosing. Somewhere you made a choice. All followed to this. The accounting is scrupulous. The shape is drawn. No line  can be erased. I had no belief in your ability to move a coin to your bidding. How could you? A person’s path through the world seldom changes and even more seldom will it change abruptly. And the shape of your path was visible from the beginning.† (coen 259) http://goodreasonblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/no-country-for-old-men-coin-toss-scene.html http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/fate

Evaluating a Business Code of Ethics Essay

Businesses in today’s society share a purpose, a vision, that relates philosophy and principles of ethics to better meet the needs of the organization and stakeholders, including customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers, and communities. Without professional ethics, businesses and its programs would not have the ability to be successful. This paper will examine Humana, its business code of ethics, and its mission statement that assists in organizational values and goals of the company. The type of ethical system used by Humana will be explored, along with examples that support this system and its attributes. In addition, how the code of ethics is identified and used within the company will be addressed as it pertains to employees, management, and its board of directors. Upon further evaluation, this paper will explore the need for modification, if any, to their existing code of ethics. Reactions to the code of ethics, its effects of organizational culture on the code of ethics, and its effects on the organization will be defined. Lastly, this paper will provide an analysis of Humana’s business code of ethics and how the analysis exhibits significant key concepts to maintain and promote ethical decision making and business success. Business Code of Ethics and its Mission Statement Businesses developed codes of ethics starting back in the early 1970s within the United States. Business ethics â€Å"is the study of standards of business behavior which promote human welfare and good† (Santa Clara University [SCU], 2011, para. 1). Humana, a company that provides and administers health insurance plans, established its formalized code of ethics in 1995 and since established a 24-hour access to their ethics assistance hotline demonstrating its commitment and accessibility to business ethics (Humana, 2011, para. 1). Humana’s code of ethics was developed as a means of understanding Human’s ethical standards and promoting open communication and the well-being of members as it pertains to these standards. Humana’s code of ethics stresses its mission and vision of the company: â€Å"to become the most trusted name in health solutions. To foster a successful environment, Humana’s code of ethics is designed to educate each associate to contribute to the company’s success through ethical behavior and by doing the right thing in the right way for the right reasons† (McCallister & Catron, 2011, p. 1). Defining the purpose of the business’s code of ethics allows for better understanding of ways to promote ethical business behavior. Deontological Ethical System Ethical systems in business are the â€Å"contexts for making decisions in ethics, much like rules in an athletic competition,† giving significance and meaning to the performance and conduct of employees within an organization (Ulrich, 2010, para. 2). Ethical systems can be broken into subcategories depending on its purpose. Humana demonstrates a deontological, also known as a duty-driven ethical system. â€Å"Deontological comes from the Greek deon, meaning, duty. Deontologists base their decisions about what’s right on broad, abstract universal ethical principles or values such as honesty, promise keeping, fairness, loyalty, rights, justice, compassion, and respect for persons and property† (Trevino & Nelson, 2007, p. 98). Humana’s business code of ethics lays out its purpose and mission statement and supports these objectives by establishing ethical principles that employees and stakeholders are to follow to ensure compliance, quality, and business success. Within Humana’s business code of ethics, it discusses the key to integrity. The guidelines that are incorporated and integrated into Humana’s ethical code address several key issues that exemplify the business’ duty and obligations to ensure ethical standards are followed. For example, the key components of Humana’s code of ethics focuses on: â€Å"Honesty: act fairly and â€Å"honestly with those that are affected by our actions; compliance with laws: comply with laws, regulations, and act in such a manner that the full disclosure of all the facts would reflect favorably; business responsibility: adhere to the highest ethical standards of conduct; and responsibility for reporting violations: promote elationships based on trust and respect and reference policies, ethics hotline, and the ethics intranet within Humana’s website that further addresses compliance with Humana’s business code of ethics† (McCallister & Catron, 2011, p. 4). These components provide examples of a duty-driven, deontological ethical system. Th e code of ethics defines the ethical standards and expects employees and stakeholders to abide by these regulations in order to ensure the highest ethical standards and decision-making abilities. How the Code of Ethics is Used Humana’s code of ethics defines its mission and goals and how stakeholders can actively participated in ethical decision making within the organization. Employees, for example, are provided with Humana’s business code of ethics on the first day of employment. The purpose of this is to clearly define the organization’s ethical standards and address how employees can adhere to these standards through Humana’s vision. Employees are required annually to view and complete an ethical compliance training course. This reinforces Humana’s ethical standards and resources that are available when confronted with these ethical dilemmas. For example, one particular part of the code discusses how employees have the right to report workplace violence and harassment. The code lists several examples of unacceptable and unethical behavior that attributes to workplace violence. In addition to the 24-hour ethics hotline, the code of ethics provides additional resources and people to contact if this is occurring. Furthermore, if violence is occurring outside of the workplace, affecting any one of Humana’s employees, they are also encouraged to discuss this with Employee Assistance. Employee assistance provides Humana employees with support services and resources when faced with violence whether at home or in the workplace. Humana discusses how employee performance and success can be affected both internally and externally and feels each employee should be given the resources and support no matter where employees encounter violence. In addition to Humana’s business code of ethics, management and its board of directors also have another code of ethics, specifically addressing the ethical guidelines for leaders and managers, and directors within the company. The purpose of a corporate level code of ethics is to â€Å"maintain the highest standards in Humana’s financial reporting with governmental agencies† (Humana, 2004, p. 1). Management has responsibilities that require interaction and relationships with businesses, regulating and governing boards, and many stakeholders that participate in Humana’s business entities. The corporate code of ethics was defined for this reason and discusses standards such as conflicts of interest, accurate reporting, and compliance with these ethical guidelines. In addition, guidelines that address â€Å"avoiding personal activity or association with people that could interfere in making good judgment concerning Humana’s best interests† (Humana, 2004, p. 2). The corporate code of ethics is additional resource and tool that managers can refer to when faced with ethical dilemmas such as these. Code of Ethics and Modification Upon analysis of Humana’s business code of ethics, the guidelines are clear. Humana’s code of ethics is current, accessible, easily understood, and it provides a plethora of useful tools and resources that govern these ethical standards and offer support for Humana employees when face with ethical issues. In addition, a code of ethics is to: provide framework of acceptable behavior, promote high standards of practice, enhance a sense of community, create transparency in business activities, and offer guidelines to comply with government laws and regulations† (Fieser, 2008, para. ). Humana’s business code of ethics not only addresses the significant portions of a code of ethics, but also has 24-hours access to these ethical resources and guidance. When establishing a code of ethics, it is imperative to address key components of a company’s mission and company goals, along with clear guidelines that support a business’ vision. Reactions to a Cod e of Ethics When businesses prepare a code of ethics, consideration to addressing this code to ensure compliance is significant to ethical and organization success. A code of ethics should be addressed immediately upon hire or the establishment of a business relationship. Addressing it early promotes the significance of the code of ethics along with guidelines that employees and business partners should be informed up early on to ensure they are able to support these guidelines while maintaining the business relationship. Employees and business partners can either react negatively, stating that this code of ethics tells an employee what to say and how to act. Others react in a positive and constructive manner and understand the need for ethical guidelines within a business to ensure compliance, yet more importantly, ethical decision making in accordance within Human’s mission and vision, to ensure continued business success and growth. The organizational culture promotes the highest ethical standards that are directly in line with Humana’s mission and its guidelines that support the key to business integrity. The Effect of a Code of Ethics  Businesses are aware of downfalls and economic disasters that attribute to the lack of ethic performance and decision making. Humana’s business code of ethics affects employees, the organization, its stakeholders, and the surrounding communities in a way that displays moral and ethical importance, integrity, and success, attributed by the development of this code of ethics. Furthermore, Humana’s code of ethics promotes business responsibility, honesty, and fairness. These characteristics affect business and community relationship by promoting trust, a significant behavior in organizational and community success. Summary of Ethical Analysis In reviewing Humana’s business code of ethics, it is apparent that this 52 page code of ethics was not established merely to put it in place. It was established as a way of making clear and important ethical guidelines that support business growth and success. From its mission statement and supporting regulations, Humana’s business code of ethics supports high ethical standards, promotes trusting relationships, and keys to integrity. Addressing these key components and how employees can support these guidelines, along with several support tools, resources, and 24-hour access to ethical support, Humana provides a business code of ethics that supports ethical decision making and high ethical standards.

International Marketing of Ikea Essay

Table of Contents Table of Contents1 1. Executive Summary1 2. Introduction1 3. Internationalization2 4. Foreign Market Segmentation and Targeting3 5. Environmental Analysis5 5.1 SWOT Analysis6 5.2 Environmental Analysis of Host Country- China8 5.3 From the perspective of IKEA International Group10 6. International Marketing Objectives11 7. Foreign Market Entry Strategy11 8. Product/Service Mix Preparation14 8.1 Product adaptation14 8.2 Product publicity15 8.3 Product price15 8.4 New product development16 8.5 Market expansion16 8.6 Service Mix16 9. Conclusion17 Appendices18 1. Executive Summary This report emphasizes on the analysis of the overseas expansion of the global brand named IKEA, who has already built a competitive advantage in the international furniture competition. It has the largest part of market share and got huge success in Europe which leads it to expand to Asia and other market of the world. Analysis of all the environmental aspects in China shows that China is the best country to invest in, although there are still some weaknesses and threats exists. 2. Introduction IKEA is the world’s largest furniture retailer which founded in 1943. In 2009, the world’s leading marketing research organizations of Interbrand selected into â€Å"Global 100 Most Valuable Brands† list, the IKEA ranked 28th for about 12 billion U.S. dollars in brand value, which is constantly increasing. IKEA stores were founded in the most important shopping areas of 240 stores in Europe, the North America, Asia and Africa. IKEA’s success in the retail industry can be attributed to its vast experience in the retail market, product differentiation, and cost leadership. This report will analysis the international marketing strategy of IKEA as follows aspects: internationalization, foreign market segmentation and targeting, internal and external business environment based PEST and SWOT analysis, international objectives, foreign marketing enter strategy and product/service mix preparation. 3. Internationalization Internationalization appears when the company expands its R&D, production, selling and other business activities into globalization markets (Hollensen, 2004). IKEA group is the most internationalized retailing of furniture worldwide. Chairman Ingvar Kamprad opened his first furniture in 1943. He spent almost ten years on building and developing the brands from mail order business to furniture business in Swedish. In 50’s of last century, forced domestic counterparts extrusion, IKEA was forced to go abroad to find suppliers of raw materials, but to find low cost instead. This is the IKEA’s first globalization of production attempt. Since in 1953, the first abroad store was opened successfully in Danmark. Then IKEA rapidly expanded to the whole European region. With the success of global sourcing, In the early 70s, the Swedish furniture market was stagnant, IKEA naturally turn their attention to the international market. Then IKEA group began a huge globalization of market from that time. In the road of international expansion, IKEA Annual Report (2002) showed that Inter IKEA Systems B.V granted franchises as part of a detailed international expansion scheme. IKEA implemented the brand integration strategy, in order to form the absolute control of the brand. IKEA is not content with merely control of even the world’s largest furniture products channel, IKEA group would hope that their own brands and its own proprietary products can eventually cover the world. IKEA pioneered the â€Å"brand integration† model, which achieve the manufacturer brands and retail brands to fusion of commercial brands  perfectly. Based on this concept, IKEA has been insisted all products by their own personally designed and have the patent, each year more than 100 designers worked in the day and night to ensure that â€Å"all products, all of the patent† in order to achieve all the products are marked â€Å"Design and Quality, IKEA of Sweden† targets. So for IKEA is concerned, it didn’t have the so-called â€Å"upstream manufacturers† pressure, or any manufacturer could give it so-called â€Å"distribution chain management.† In terms of IKEA is the world’s only success of the organization to put up both channel management and product management, its â€Å"integrated brand strategy† is the large key to the successful integration of industrial chain. 4. Foreign Market Segmentation and Targeting Early in this year, IKEA has opened many stores and market was very mature in the Europe. Until 1985 IKEA decided to enter the North America market. Although it didn’t achieve success like experience across the Europe in the beginning of in the USA, IKEA has adopted adaptive strategies according to local actual situation. It got the finally success in the USA market. Forthwith it expended quickly in the Asia. IKEA has six areas in the world until now, which is Europe, North America, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Caribbean. At present, IKEA is developing the Asia market and existed markets have six countries. Three Asia countries are selected to penetrating and expanding by screening process as follows. IKEA had furniture market and wanted to expand in Singapore and China, In addition, Korea is very beneficial market for IKEA while not yet opened. Singapore is the developed country, but come under the world financial crisis and slump in global trade impact, this exceptionally o pen economy (exports of goods and services represent over 200% of GDP) GDP fell by 9.5% from the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2009(Appendix 1). Private consumption fell from 2008’s levels, which declined by 0.5%. In order to deal with weakness in private consumption, government expenditure accelerated to promote and enhance the public’s consumption of 8.3% (Appendix 2). Korea is also well-developed country in Asia. Despite the world economic deep impact on Korea, Korea staged a strong recovery in 2009. GDP grew by 0.2% in the year (Appendix 3). Weak private consumption rebounded before early 2009 (Appendix 4), which is the most obvious change in durable goods and services. Consumer  sentiment improved during the year. China, the economic rate and consumption rate are the highest over these Asia countries. GDP is forecast to grow by 9.6% in 2010. Growth will be stronger in the first half of 2010.China economic situation is superb (Appendix 5). Private consumption growth is forecast to speed up to 12% in 2010, from 9.0% in 2009, responding to rising incomes and improving consumer confidence (Appendix 6). Based on the above considerations, IKEA should consider expending Asia market. In my opinion, China is worth of investment. Because of large area and population, IKEA should open in all capital cities in China. From opened the first store in 1998, IKEA developed slowly in China. According to the IKEA Web site, China’s market identity is the largest supplier as a worth of 15 billion U.S. dollars market every year, not is the biggest sales market. Currently, IKEA has 350 suppliers in China, 21% of the world’s goods from China. Because of Chinese consumer awareness of its own position with IKEA dislocation, this is precisely an important factor of the slow expansion of IKEA in China. With the rise of local home chains, as well as foreign opponents’ attack, to maintain the position in the Chinese domestic m arket, IKEA must expand. Publicly available data, now IKEA hold home products market in China account for 43% of the share. To sum up, IKEA’s expansion and development is necessary and very beneficial in China. 5. Environmental Analysis IKEA International Group, a furniture group aims to provide customers with variety of good-looking& affordable home products worldwide, is said to be an miracle of business in the last century. Now it has over 200 retail stores in over 30 countries. It needs considerable of analysis before entering foreign markets. 5.1 SWOT Analysis Strengths of IKEA †¢ Well known in China. Chinese consumers knew IKEA as a big brand before it entered China market, so this helps IKEA to enter Chinese market more smoothly. †¢ Highly reputation. As IKEA is a globally brand, Chinese customers regard it more reliable than other furniture companies. †¢ Stable relationship. IKEA could get materials at a reasonable price due to the stable relationships that between IKEA and its suppliers. †¢ Plate packing. By using plate packing, IKEA could reduce cost from transportation and storage. †¢ Environmental protective and healthy material for customers. What material IKEA choose are both environmental protective and healthy, which enable customers use IKEA products without trepidation. Weaknesses of IKEA †¢ Much reliant on Europe Market. 82% IKEA stores located in this region so IKEA will have difficulties to face the Asia market. (Ikea United Kingdom (2005) www.ikea.co.uk Accessed 23rd Nov 2005) †¢ Unreasonable rout design. When shopping in IKEA you have to walk along the only aisle IKEA set and will get no way to go backward. What’s more, you still have to go along the aisle till the item you want although you have decided what to buy. This may cost customers much time on it. †¢ Inflexible promotion. Due to the low price, there is no more room for IKEA to provide with promotions on products. †¢ High price for Chinese consumers. Although products price in Chinese market are almost lowest in the world, many Chinese consumers still can not afford them. IKEA should price the products based on the Chinese actual situation in order to get profit. †¢ Distribution problems. In China, popularization of cars is not high like IKEA other market, so it will take several days for customers to wait for the distribution from IKEA and also they will be charged a high amount of distribution fee for it. Opportunities of IKEA †¢ Variety in goods categories. There are about 9,500 household items in IKEA, which is far more than other furniture companies. Customers will have more chance to choose from when shopping at IKEA. †¢ Green IKEA. What IKEA advocated is that to live a green life so this can be a good point which attracts customers. Threats of IKEA †¢ Professional malls. Some big professional malls such as professional bathe mall, professional kitchen mall maybe one big threat, customers may prefer the professional mall when they just buy bathroom or kitchen products. †¢ Other brands. There are many household brands in Chinese market now, such as B&Q, Macalline, etc. Some of them are local brands so they know Chinese market better than IKEA. †¢ Change of customers needs. Customers needs will  not be the same all year long, IKEA have to research frequently and find out what is profitable in order to make profits. 5.2 Environmental Analysis of Host Country- China Political system China is a socialist country powered by the Communist Party and a new People’s Republic of China was established in 1949. In 1978, China initiated the â€Å"reform and open† policy which emancipated the mind of Chinese people and make them become innovated in the future. The year when IKEA has first entered Chinese market was 1998 and it was just the 20th anniversary since Chinese â€Å"reform and open† policy in 1978. As a developing socialist country, China is fresh to most people and groups in rest of the world and it is really of great potential because it was more and more independent as China is developing day by day, many international groups have realized how potential the China market would be and then started to locate there branch companies in China at that time. As a developing country, China will always persist in taking the positive attitude towards all the advantageous investments from abroad. In the incoming year 2001 China accessed to the World T rade Organization successfully, which makes China a more open country and market. Economical environment in China There are 8 cities (in 6 provinces) (one of the eight is opening soon) in China where IKEA Group located its retail stores. Beijing, Shanghai, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Sichuan, etc. The forms below are showing the contrast of economical phenomenon between these locations and the rest. From the appendix 7 we can see the national average of disposable income in 2008 is about 15000yuan per capita, while the disposable income per capita in the six locations are mostly far more than the average figure. This means IKEA positioned itself in a more economic developing area while its target customers have higher total income and disposable income. Appendix 8 is part of the household consumption expenditure by region in 2008. It is clear that the six IKEA retail locations are all at the higher level of the consumption of expenditure than other areas. The high consumption expenditure in these six locations shows more buying potential to products. Appendix 9 is part of the total investment in fixed assets in the whole country by status of  registration and region in 2008.Most of the foreign investment in six provinces (Beijing and Shanghai are direct-controlled municipalities) are higher than other areas where IKEA didn’t locate its retail stores at. This illustrates that the more the foreign investment an area has the more open the area will be, the more easily the people accept the foreign products and ideas. Social environment Demographics †¢ Population and Density China has the largest amount of population in the world. In other world, it is the biggest potential market in the world. The eight cities where IKEA located his stores in all have large amount of population, especially Shanghai& Jiangsu& Guangdong because they are all along the coast in China. Places along the coast in China always have high density of population for there are more chances to get money and good development for individual at those places. Population stands for the purchasing power while more population means more potential purchasing power. †¢ Living standards Youth in China are more open minded than before, they will after whatever they like from abroad. As the development of economic and the quickening pace of life some so-called â€Å"white collars† in China don’t have much time and money to buy some luxurious furniture and IKEA is a good choice for them because what IKEA initiates is simple, durable and affordable furniture. In China, it is a fashion action to buy furniture from IKEA. 5.3 From the perspective of IKEA International Group †¢ IKEA located its Chinese headquarter in Beijing at the beginning when it came to China but in 2003 the headquarters moved to Shanghai because IKEA regards Shanghai a central city of China for it has the convenient sea transportation as well as the air transports which are advantages for IKEA, an international group couldn’t live without transport. †¢ IKEA relocated its Asian headquarter from Singapore to Shanghai which shows the great appreciation to large potential market in China. 6. International Marketing Objectives According to the previous analysis, the advantages and disadvantages for IKEA to develop in China are clear. Now IKEA have to make its marketing objectives in China market according to the analysis above. †¢ IKEA has high reputation among Chinese youth; word of mouth can be a good way of advertising so its targeting audience should be young person. In this case, lower the cost of operating a retail store is what should do next. †¢ The products in IKEA China are good but the delivery fee is terribly high. This will reduce the loyalty of customers. †¢ There are eight (one of the eight is opening soon) IKEA retail stores in China till 2010, as the World Exposition is coming, economic in Shanghai is going to greatly boom, so hope to open 1or 2 more stores outside the central Shanghai next year would be better. As the previous analysis we can see there are still some cities have the potential to run a IKEA retail store so IKEA could take a few cities into account such as Ha ngzhou, Tianjin, etc. 7. Foreign Market Entry Strategy Having done all the analysis about china’s market penetration, we are now facing the decision of which foreign market entry mode to use. Several factors need to be given full scrutiny before we choose from the grouping of entry modes. Internal factors are the deciding roles here in the strategy which should be considered with priority. They are mainly concerned with the firm itself. †¢ Ownership advantages It can be understood as asset-based advantages which include the firm’s resource ability, reputation, origin of country, potential of future growth and so on. Apparently, Ikea Group has both the tangible and intangible resources to enter Chinese market, even the brand name itself is a huge selling point. What the brand stands for are creative design, durability and functionality, and all of the three are not quite transferable, thus the transaction cost here is high, so we recommend joint venture as its entry mode further into Chinese market. †¢ Location How the furniture be shipped from A to B onto the shelf for display is important, since it has much to do with the cost of the business. Since Ikea has entered into china, most of the furniture is imported from Sweden.  Undoubtedly, this approach increases cost dramatically. Cooperate with local partner can help Ikea build good relationship with local suppliers. Further more, furniture manufacturing industry shows the tendency of transfer the production facilities to developing countries which offers relatively low labor cost, huge consuming market and stable political and economic environment (Capdevielle, Li & Nogal 2007) From this point of view, joint venture is a better choice which offer a great time and opportunity for Ikea boost its future plan of turning China into the supply center of in Asia. (Carpell 2006) †¢ Internationalization Experience & Global Strategy toward China According to Ikea website, up until August 2009, it had 267 stores and had trading service offic es in 26 countries and 28 distribution centers and 11 customer distribution centers in 16 countries. (http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_GB/about_ikea/facts_and_figures/index.html). Ikea opened its first store in China in 1998, and in the past 12 years it had up to 7 stores in mainland China, most of which are joint ventures. Shenyang Store is coming soon, planed to open in the middle of the year. Ikea expects to have 10 large stores up and running in China by 2010. (The China business review, 7-8, 2004) It strongly proves that Ikea has confidence and ambition in China. However, it is easier said than done. To accomplish its expectationï ¼Å'Ikea still got two more stores to construct. It should speed up in this plan. Considering this background, China’s market penetration can greatly reduce cost and risk. External factors should also be given careful consideration. They are basically having things to do with the overall target market environment. †¢ Social-cultural Factor When carry out the penetration plan, marketers should be cautious about China’s specific features, such as the diverse cultures which is bred by the vast territory, various kinds of business practice, different consuming philosophies, and all of these are quite difficult for foreigners to grasp on. In entering into a new market, the region size, rate of market and potential purchase power shall be the determinant parameters, so a local helper is needed. †¢ Political/ Economic Factor Before china entered WTO, government requires all foreign company to cooperate with local partner in order to help domestic enterprise to develop  their business and learn the advanced management skills [1]. Although the regulation had already been ended, not many firms shifted from joint venture to wholly owned store. Although the trend for future stores is wholly owned mode, it is still too soon to risk all the Ikea stores switch to this mode. From all the above, we strongly recommend the next few stores to open in the east part of China use the entry mode of joint venture to further expand its market, and strengthen its place in China. 8. Product/Service Mix Preparation Product and service are the essential elements in the development of company, the product of IKEA is designed by the purpose of simplifying, and the service believes the rule of do-it-yourself. However, with the special culture, economy and life style in China, IKEA should take some necessary change on its product, strategy, brand and service. 8.1 Product adaptation First, it is the endurance and practicability of product need to strengthen. Though IKEA has its own requirement and test on the quality of product, according to the latest research (Li 2009), it seems just aim at some special product, such as bedroom furniture, chair. Meanwhile, the equipment of kitchen class and bookcase are not as good as them. Thus, IKEA should pay attention to their entire product, every product needs to be test by certain standard. Second, IKEA has too much product, which makes the table of contents be also long. As there is too much choice for customers, it makes them nervous on how to choose the most suitable one. That is to say, IKEA needs to condense the table of product and makes it clear and simple, the customer would find the product they want first. 8.2 Product publicity IKEA used a lot of advertising in Europe and the United States, but there are so few in China and these ones are simple and bored, it makes large number of people know little about its product. On the other hand, the product of IKEA use environmental protection of materials and advanced ones, but most customers do not know them, because IKEA has few actions to explain it in China, while it is doing enough publicity in Europe. Therefore, IKEA should put more energy and time on advertising and publicity, such as television advertising, as there is a very large population watching TV. Moreover, it  is useful to support some event, for example, Sichuan Earthquake. Also it is important to make them interesting and attractive, it would give the design concept of DIY to the customers. 8.3 Product price IKEA is well known as good quality and cheap price because of its centralized purchasing and professional logistics, and it makes most people have ability to buy them. But in China, the price is higher than others, this makes most customers just look them. So there are some useful ways help IKEA reduce the high price. First, it is necessary to build a new production base in China, as now the production base is in Malaysia, which provides the product to the Asia. This way would avoid the import tariff, because the import tariff in China is a big one. Second, it also helps IKEA reduce the transport costs, whether transport by air or by ship, the cost is not a small number. Third, there are many small finished factories in China, IKEA should take more material from them, not in overseas. What is more, IKEA should give them a certain size of order, this helps make the price lower for competition. 8.4 New product development As it is known that there is a too lager population in China, it makes the house of China be smaller than other countries, it means that there are limited spacing for putting the furniture. Thus, a good idea for IKEA is to develop the new product that can be folded, it saves the space for customers, and this also makes the customers would buy more products due to it needs little space. 8.5 Market expansion In 1998, IKEA came into the Chinese market first in Shanghai, from then to now, it has pasted twelve years, but the number of IKEA place in China is only 7, meanwhile, it has 240 ones in the world. From the data, you can know the speed of its development in China is so slow. It loses much choice. Hence, IKEA should build many new shopping places in the important cities, such as the southeast of China, because the cities in this area develop fast and the consumption capacity of customers is suitable for IKEA. 8.6 Service Mix The service in Europe is do-it-yourself, but the situation is not the same in  China, most people in China do not have cars, so customers need IKEA provide home delivery service, IKEA do it, but the charge of it is high. For example, a customer buys a small chair of 79 yuan, but the cost for delivering is 60 yuan, it is not worth for customers. Therefore, IKEA should reduce the rate of delivering charge, and it is effective to provide the installation for free, as almost all of the competitors support the free installation. Another strategy is using some staffs to introduce and recommend the product for customers, because Chinese people is different from others, they like someone talking the information to them, sometimes they also accept the staffs’ selection on the product. 9. Conclusion To sum up, IKEA has become a successful international company with a wide range of products, and its global experience and unique strategy has led it occupy the large market share. But there are also some problems blocking its development in other countries because of the different culture, economy and lifestyle. So it is time for IKEA to carry out the new strategy on balancing its brand, product, service and management in order to expand new market, and take more advantages in the competition.