Interco Case Essay Example for Free

Interco Case Essay Interco On August 8, 1988, Interco’s board of directors met to discuss, among other matters, a merger proposal from City Capital Associates Limited Partnership. City Capital had offered $64 per common share of Interco on July 28, 1988, and had raised that offer to $70 per share on the morning of August 8. At this board meeting Interco’s financial advisors, Wasserstein, Perella Co., established a valuation range of $68-$80 per common share of Interco and presented their evaluation of the offer. Given their valuation, Wasserstein Perella advised the Interco board (see Exhibit 1) that the $70 per share offer was inadequate and not in the best interests of the company and its shareholders. The board of directors voted to reject the City Capital offer. The Company Founded in December 1911, the International Shoe Company was established as a footwear manufacturing concern and remained so until the early 1960s. In 1966, the company was renamed Interco to reflect the changing character of its business. It had grown, into a major manufacturer and retailer of a wide variety of consumer products and services. Among the most well-known of the brands Interco made were Converse and Florsheim shoes, Ethan Allen furniture, and London Fog rain gear. Interco’s various operations were substantially autonomous and were supported by a corporate management staff in St. Louis, Missouri. The company’s philosophy had historically been to acquire companies in related fields and to provide their existing management teams with the incentives to expand their businesses while relieving them of such routine support functions as financial and legal requirements. Nearly half of Interco’s growth had come through acquisition. The company continually sought entities that would complement the existing Interco companies. Additional criteria used in  screening and selecting acquisition candidates included the presence of highly skilled managers and products that had established leadership positions in their respective markets. Equity analysts viewed Interco as a conservative company that was financially â€Å"overcapitalized.† With a current ratio of 3.6 to 1 and a debt-to-capitalization ratio, including capitalized leases, of 19.3% on February 29, 1988, Interco had ample financial flexibility. This flexibility had allowed the company to repurchase its common shares and make acquisitions as opportunities arose. Research Associate Susan L. Roth prepared this case under the supervision of Professor Scott P. Mason as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Copyright  © 1991 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685 or write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of Harvard Business School. Within these four operating divisions were numerous independent companies as listed in Exhibit 2. Apparel Manufacturing This group consisted of 11 apparel companies that designed, manufactured, and distributed a full range of branded and private-label sportswear, casual apparel, outer garments, and headwear for men and women. Apparel brands included Le Tigre, Sergio Valente, and Abe Schrader. Distribution was national in scope to department stores, specialty shops, and other retail units, including discount chains. General Retail Merchandising This group operated 201 retail locations in 15 states. General retailing included large do-it-yourself home improvement centers, general merchandise discount stores, men’s specialty apparel shops, and specialty department stores. Over the prior few years, general retail had been greatly scaled back and was now dominated largely by Central Hardware, a do-it-yourself home improvement chain that emphasized customer service and a broad selection of products. Footwear Manufacturing and Retailing This division designed, manufactured, and distributed men’s and women’s footwear principally in the United States, Australia, Canada, and Mexico. The group operated 778 retail shoe stores and leased shoe departments in 42 states and in Australia. Interco’s two major footwear operations, Converse Inc. and the Florsheim Shoe Co., commanded leading positions in their respective markets: athletic shoes and men’s traditional footwear. Furniture and Home Furnishings This group manufactured, distributed, and retailed quality wood and upholstered furniture and home furnishings. Furniture brands included Broyhill, Lane, Ethan Allen, and Hickory Chair. In recent years, furniture had expanded through acquisitions and increasing profitability to dominate Interco’s net income. At the end of fiscal year 1988, Interco was the largest furniture manufacturer in the world. Strategic Repositioning Program Interco’s goals included long-term sales and earnings growth, increased  return on corporate assets, and most important, improved return on shareholders’ equity. To achieve these goals, Interco took a four-pronged approach that included improving the profitability of existing operations and divesting underperforming assets, making acquisitions that had the potential for better than average returns and growth, and employing opportunistic financial strategies such as share repurchases and the prudent use of borrowing capacity. With these goals established, Interco, in 1984, began a strategic repositioning program aimed at improving overall corporate performance. As part of this initiative, Interco accelerated its efforts to divest underperforming assets and reposition itself in markets offering superior growth opportunities and profitability. The program resulted in a substantial change in Interco’s mix of sales as shown in Table A below. In fiscal 1988 the furniture and footwear groups together accounted for 60% of corporate sales, with apparel and general retail accounting for the rest. This was a reversal of the sales distribution in fiscal 1984.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho :: Film Movies

An Analysis of the Opening Sequence from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho Just like a building, a film needs a strong foundation in order to be successful, a foundation which is made up of the starting moments of the film. In Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock successfully uses the opening credit sequence to establish a foundation on which to build an interesting plot, including techniques to elicit involvement by the spectator, and the suggestion of a "Psycho" theme. A musical composition consisting of quick strokes on tightly wound violins, later used in the famous shower scene, starts to play at the beginning of the sequence. Names begin to slide on and off the screen in a series of horizontal and vertical lines. The top and bottom portions of the names slide onto the screen, followed by the middle portion. The last name to appear is that of Alfred Hitchcock, which settles in the middle of the screen and begins to twitch and flutter in an unusual manner. The credits then dissolve into a long shot of an auspicious section of an unknown city where a building is being constructed (paralleling the idea of Hitchcock shaping a foundation). As this dissolve takes place, a more subtle and mellow music (again composed of string instruments) fills the air, suggesting a stable environment. The sun burns brightly in the sky and a desert landscape is seen in the background through a haze. The shot immediately begins to pan slowly to the right, revealing more city rooftops and streets. As a dissolve zooms us slightly closer to the city and the camera continues to pan, small block letters appear on both sides of the screen and converge in the middle to read "PHOENIX, ARIZONA." Hitchcock immediately brings the reoccurring theme of birds into the film by setting the scenery in "Phoenix." The camera continues to pan to the right, now moving on to a more dreary side of the city. The next set of titles converges in the center of the screen, reading "FRIDAY, DECEMBER ELEVENTH." As the panning continues, a slow zoom begins to bring us closer to one of the buildings. The last title appears in the same fashion as the preceding, "TWO FORTY-THREE P.M." Yet another dissolve stops the camera on a rather unattractive wall, slowly zooming in on a window with Venetian blinds drawn down. A cut to a closer view of the window reveals an opening a few inches below the blind in which the camera continues to zoom in on, bringing us into a dark apartment room.

Personality and Ill Health

Among the psychological factors that impact health, personality – that is table individual differences in thinking, feeling and behaving- plays a pivotal role. For example, an individual high in a sense of coherence (SOC), therefore perceive less stress and see the world as more manageable, resulting in good health (Williams, 2010). Furthermore, the individual differences that exist In terms of the attitude the individual has towards their health and how they conceptualize their illness Is very important.Although It Is a popular notion that personality traits Influence the state of a persons physical health, It Is difficult to establish the true nature of the relationship between resonantly and health , including measurement, the distinction between subjectively reported symptoms and objective signs of illness and the direction of causation (Matthews et al. , 2003). Four ways in which health status and personality might be linked have been identified by Souls and Retouches, (1 990).Firstly is the strongest assumptions about the importance of personality traits which represent biologically based differences that may cause different illness outcomes. Second, the relationship between traits and illness might be correlation rather than casual. Third is the usability that traits lead to behaviors that In turn lead to illnesses e. G. Smoking. Finally, Illnesses may cause personality changes. Nonetheless research has tended to focus on one of these aspects at a time which may oversimplify the complete Interrelationships that are likely to exist (Friedman, 2000).The past has shown that from early times a link has almost always been made between personality and illness. Hippocrates (460-377 BC) described physical illness as being caused by the balance of bodily fluids or humors – meaning personality traits (Steelmaker and Swastika. , 1992). Personality is often conceptualized as specific behavioral styles as opposed to personality disorders or personality d omains. Type A, Type B, Type C and Type D are some examples of a collection of behavior patterns that are grouped together to form a personality type.Type A personality is one of the most studied of these. It Is a behavior pattern marked by tenseness, impatience and aggressiveness, often relating in stress related symptoms such as insomnia and Indigestion, and possibly Increasing the risk of heart disease. The term Type A' was developed by Friedman & Rosen man (1 959), by which stile, and very tense – summarized basically as a â€Å"workaholic† personality. Type A personality was developed using structured interviews, however, although reliable it was labor intensive and therefore expensive.Due to this it lead to the development of the Jenkins self report measure Nonsense et al. , 1974). There were at least four major breakthrough studies of personality and cardiac vascular disease PROVIDING CONFLICTING RESULTS. The earliest success for Type A personality came from the Western Collaborative Group Study (Roseanne et al. , 1975). This study followed 3, 154 initially healthy men geed between 39 & 59 years. The sample was followed up 8 h years later with Type A men were found to have twice as much cardiovascular disease than Type B men.Type B personalities are very laid back , patient, and take a very relaxed low-key approach to life and their Job. This would suggest that Type A personalities are more prone to cardiovascular disease than Type B personalities. However, a later follow up study showed more negative or unequivocal results. After 22 years the same group reported no effects of Type A but quiet marked effects on mortality from blood erasure, cholesterol , smoking and age (Raglans & Brand, 1988), suggesting there was more than Type A personality directly increasing risk of coronary heart disease.Similarly, a cohort study known as the Farmington study, began between 1965 & 1967 (Haynes et al. , 1978). This involved 5,127 men and women being a ssessed and found the incidence of cardiovascular disease to be significantly higher in Type A than Type B. However, in a follow up study results were less clear cut as it was found that Type A personality was predictive of cardiovascular disease only in certain occupational groups. Also, women with cardiovascular disease scored more highly on Type A behavior and suppressed more hostility, tension and anxiety than men.Adding to these conflicting results were the Honolulu Heart Program Study (Cohen & Reid, 1985) and the British Regional Heart Study Monsoon et al 1987) which found no significant association between Type A personality and cardiovascular disease. These findings have tried to be explained through a meta-analysis of the literature (Booth-Kelley & Friedman, 1987) where findings were said to be due to the differences in the ways of assessing behavior and the use of different outcome assure, in that a distinction needs to be made between objectively and subjectively measurin g these outcomes.Although, an association was made between Type A personality and cardiovascular disease, the contradictory results can mean a number of things and further investigations of pathways and mechanisms is necessary to fully understand the associations. This suggests that although Type A may have an association to C. V. D. , it does not depict a definite outcome of illness. Another facet in research is that provided by personality theorists, where the components of personality are looked at instead of the personality as a whole.Glass (1977) found three separate components made up Type A personality. These included striving competitively for achievement, sense of urgency and high levels of hostility. Compared to the more relaxed, easy going Type BBS; Type As were seen as more concerned with having control and having lower threshold for perceiving Hostility here is described as the â€Å"toxic† component. In a meta-analysis of 45 studies (Chide & Step, 2009) conclude d hostility and anger was associated with an increase(20%) risk of C.H. D. Developing in originally healthy people. Also, research such as the Western Electric Study (1983) has consistently mound a link between hostility and C. H. D. Similarly, 12 longitudinal studies examined the role of hostility on the incidence of C. H. D. , 6 longitudinal studies have examined the role of hostility on C. H. D. Mortality and 2 longitudinal studies examined the role of hostility n sub clinical C. V. D. The results from these revealed that anger/hostility was associated with C. H. D. ND cause mortality, independent of potential biologic and socio-demographic confounder (Fink, 2009). In contrast, the high scores found on the personality trait of hostility assumed a casual link to C. H. D. -in that the illogical processes associated with hostile behavior are also associated with increased C. V. D. (Square et al 2002). The evidence provided here portrays that an individual that is more hostile is mor e prone to C. H. D. Either directly or through outcomes that individuals display such as smoking or drinking alcohol because of the hostile behavior.This evidence suggests that while type A personality alone cannot consistently predict C. H. D. , its subcomponents (such as hostility as discussed above) are in fact more reliable indicators . Due to the inconsistent findings on type A personality and C. H. D. It in turn resulted on an emphasis on individual differences. Research found that depression, low levels of social support, high hostility and anger being seen as risk factors in C. H. D. (Dickens et al. , 2007).It was concluded, psychological risk factors tended to cluster together in some individuals and they were therefore more likely to experience cardiac problems when dealing with chronic stress. Again, a personality type approach was developed- Personality Type D ( Denote, 2000), which consisted of combined states of anxiety, pessimism, despair and anger. Type D is also cha racterized by high levels of negative festivity (AN) and social inhibition, with individuals especially experiencing AN more likely to experience distress, anxiety, irritability, pessimism and worry.It is the combined effects of these negative emotions that define Type D (Cupper & Denote, 2007). However, it is this inability to cope that may help explain why some individuals are more prone to C. H. D. Although, it has recently been reported that Type D is an independent predictor of increased mortality among patients with coronary heart disease(Cupper & Denote, 2007), little to no research has investigated how type d ND non type d individual cope with stress.Both negative affectively and social inhibition involve distancing oneself from the stresses using avoidance or withdrawal coping strategies causing the individual to make fewer attempts to engage directly with the problem. Also individuals with type D are predicted to actively reduce their efforts to seek out social support (De note, 2000) which has been shown to be detrimental to health and well-being. A cross- sectional study of 334 1st year undergraduate students found a small but significant moderator effect for Type D for he disengagement symptom of burnout (Pullman et al, 2009).These findings also mirrored other findings with individuals high in personality trait neurotics, which shares similarities with negative affectively (egg Denote, 2005). Therefore, reduced levels in comparisons to non-type d individuals. This includes avoidance coping strategies as well, which in turn lead to higher stress levels influencing C. H. D. It is clear from the evidence provided that a relationship between personality and health exists, therefore making some individuals who possess traits such as hostility or eroticism more prone to illness than others without these traits.Although it is favorable to depict certain personality types (e. G. Type A) and relate these to ill health, instead it would be more beneficial to assess personality traits before the onset of illness so that the brief relationship between cause and effect can be established. From the literature, it is becoming more clear that the traits identified within personality types play a major role in predicting health and to understand this role is where the importance lies.Also, the research conveys the relationship teen personality and health can be explored more extensively when using wider arrays of psychosocial measures and outcomes in longitudinal studies (rather than cross-sectional)-ideally studies that follow people from childhood onwards (Friedman, 2000) as once again cause and effect may be established. Overall, the importance of understanding why some individuals are more prone to illness than others and the personality traits involved in this, is due to the simple reason it is better for health prevention and treatment. At the end of the day†¦. Your health is your wealth!

Civil Procedure In Two Legal Systems - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1585 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Law Essay Type Compare and contrast essay Did you like this example? As far as I know, human right starts from his birth, and it never loses until his or her death. However majority people understand law differently but minority think that law is not as important as much during our lifelong. If we look to its history, law is used from ancient times and it has developed year by year. There are as many legal systems as countries in the world. However, There are some differences and similarity between Criminal and Civil law. 1.1 About Law There are many ideas and theories about law. Law is set of rules which are established by government to maintain stability and justice in society (Brown and Sukys, 2006). Law has relationship with ethics. According to Brown and Sukys (2006), ethics is determining what societys values ought to be. If ethical rules always reached the same ethical result, and if everyone always acted by those results, there would be no need for law (Brown and Sukys, 2006). Law was established in ancient times and developed year by year. Law was developed in Babylonia, Mesopotamia, ancient Greece and Roman Empire, etc (aboutlawschools.org, 2010). Many people contribute for development of law. Greek philosopher Aristotle says that Law is order, and good law is good order. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Civil Procedure In Two Legal Systems" essay for you Create order 2. Main part 2.1 General concept of currently existing systems in the world Generally, most differentiated legal families are Civil law system, Common law system and Islamic law (religious) law systems. Each of these systems has their own peculiarity. The Civil law or continental law is major system of law in the world. Usually, it is written codes, all rules and regulations are written in advance (New World Encyclopedia, 2010). Furthermore, a civil law system has most Eurasia countries comprising Central Asia, China, Korea, Uzbekistan and Latin America. However, each country has different codes. Connecting to this, judge makes decision bases on written codes. The most essential examples of codes are the Napoleon code, Swiss Code and German code. The history of civil legal system is started from Roman Empire in 449 BC and it developed of Corpus Juris Civilis  [1]  . This law was created by the decision of Emperor Justinian (527-565). In those times Roman Empire was one of the potent large groups of states or countries statute over by single emperor with several senates. The study of Roman law was conducted in North Italy at Bologna (Encyclopedia.com, 2008). Scholars and judges trained Roman law, these developed rules by them used in national courts to solve legal disputes  [2]  . Coming 11th century the Common law was developed in England and it is widespread other countries which can speak in English such as USA (except Louisiana), Australia, Canada (except Quebec) and others. Common law system is based on cases rather than written principles and decisions made by judges not by parliament or another organization(Britannica Encyclopedia, 2010).According to Britannica Encyclopedia (2010), common laws precedents is know as stare decisis (Latin: let the decision stand). Each people have their interests, feelings and ideas about Common law. For instance, Frederic Mishkin claim that The common law system in which the law is continually reinterpreted by judges ends up protecting property rights far more than others and makes it easier to enforce restrictive covenants. It means that in common law most decision made by judges. The youngest legal system is Islamic law, differently known as Sharia. Islamic law covers ritual and all aspects of life (Encyclopedia.com, 2008). Sharia is in an Arabic word which means the way. However it is a legal system which control Muslim life in every part of earth including business and finance, political and social issues on the earth .According to Muslim view that, these laws are an expression of Gods will. Sharia is mostly based on two major sources like Koran, which is the saintly book of Islam, contained of the words of Allah; and the Sunnah the set of deeds and words of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Secondary source of Sharia is consensus of opinions and interpretations of religious scholars (gulf-law.com, 2010). In comparison, in Islamic law judges do not refer to previous cases as in common legal system. 2.2 Criminal procedure in Continental and Common Law Legal Systems Before knowing criminal procedure we should know what is crime and what does it involve? Crime is an act against publics well being (Brown and Sukys, 2006). I would like to refer Mr. Owens view (2001) who believes that the crime is a legal wrong doing of one or more persons in which he or she liable to be prosecuted and punished by state. According to Brown and Sukys (2006), government or state represents public interest. There are several people involve in criminal trial procedure: judge, plaintiff, public prosecutor, defendant. Each of these words has their definition: Judge- is a person who has right to come to decision legal cases. However plaintiff is the person who makes a formal complaint against somebody in court. Prosecutor is the person who brings case to the court (Owens, 2001). Connecting to this, defendant is prosecuted and if he found guilty or not guilty  [3]  . According to Brown and Sukys (2006) The prosecutor is the government attorney who presents the case in court against the person accused, called the defendant. Criminal procedure involves a set of rules through which a government enforces criminal laws  [4]  . Common law and civil legal systems vary considerable in criminal procedure  [5]  . As I mentioned above that civil legal system, is written codes by legal scholars and judges. Judges make decision in criminal procedures according to written rules. The criminal procedure involves government and individuals. Generally, the judge in a civil legal system participate a more actively in determining the facts of the case (experiencefestival.com, 2010). Many civil legal system countries examine main crimes using a so-called inquisitorial system (experiencefestival.com, 2010). In addition, civil law depends much more on written argument than oral argument (experiencefestival.com, 2010). As I wrote earlier common law mainly is based on judge made and previous cases. Criminal procedure in common law also relies on decision m ade by judge. According to Carnes (2010), in common law prosecutor obliged to seek justice more than advocate the defendants interest  [6]  . In addition, Carnes (2010) said that in trials judges are comparatively passive and the act like referee while prosecution and the defense initiate almost all action  [7]  . If defendant is convicted, the judge will determine the sentence and if defendant behaves well or mitigating circumstances that may lead to lighter sentence  [8]  . 2.3 Civil procedure in Continental and Common Law Legal Systems In general, civil procedure is concerned with private relations between members of community (Martin, 2003). For example, when people have arguments about inheritance, they go to civil court. Usually, in civil cases wronged party compensate loss or injury with money or specific action to suffered party (Brown and Sukys, 2006). However, this kind of punishment does not help to protect society  [9]  . Civil procedure treated differently in common law and continental legal systems. As we know that civil law usually written codes and all rules are written in it, however civil procedure deals with relationship between people. On the other hand, in continental European countries, the usual ground for jurisdiction is the habitual residence of the defendant in the particular state (Shaw, 2003). The civil procedure in common law developed since the sixteenth century and it still developing. Mainly, the issues are discussed within the court. In other world, it has released into wri tten codes of procedure. As Shaw (2003) states that in the common law countries like USA and Great Britain, the civil cases remain service of writ upon the defendant within country and it is usual basis for jurisdiction. According to Uff (2004), civil courts have an inherent jurisdiction to regulate their own procedure in ways which is not covered by statutory rules and it was acknowledged in common law legal system. As stated by Uff (2004), now trial in the most common law systems, one judge decides all issues of law and fact and delivers conclusion of the trial. 2.4 Difference of Criminal and Civil procedure in two legal systems It is generally agreed today that the Criminal and Civil procedure are different case of law. If we talk about Civil procedural law is generally to be found in rules of court made. According to Shaw (2003), civil procedure has been claimed far wider grounds by the state than has been in criminal cases. Also, Shaw (2003) claims This is partly due to the fact that public opinion is far more easily roused where a person is tried abroad for criminal offences than if a person is involved in a civil case. The primary difference between Criminal and Civil procedure is the steps which involve in process. The criminal case starts between the government and defendant, while civil procedure begins between two equal parties. The other difference is way of penalizing the accused person in the procedures. The criminal case may end up with punishment such as time in prison, probation or fine (amount of money). But civil procedure defends human rights and applies compensation for the case  [10]  . 3. Conclusion All of this point to the conclusion that law has a very wide meaning. It is used in every aspect of our lives. In the modern society, each individual should know about his rights. At the same time, law also requires the specific rules for each kind of behavior and expands to the procedures and the different types of law. In addition, as I mentioned above there are three main legal systems like Common legal system, civil legal system and Islamic (religious) legal systems as the evidence of wide meaning of law.