Progressive Era: The Era of Immigration, Race, and Women’s Rights Essay

Introduction: The Progressive era was a period of reform in American history that spanned roughly from the 1890s to the 1920s. Prohibitions, segregation, women's suffrage and immigration arose during this time, like many of the social reforms that shape the way we live and work today. The progressive era in the United States one of the most important times in history with brought permanent changes to the American ways of living. All of these and other factor were vital for the creation of a new American society. Be Gender roles: At the beginning of the 20th century the United States starts to leave behind the old ideas of the 19th century concerning the separate, and indeed distinct natures of men and women, which were more, standardized at the pick of the industrialization which defined merchandize labor as the â€Å"job of men,† and the domestic duties as the natural domain of woman. At this time, the relationships with men and women and of both in society stated to generate a big change thanks to the rapid change that industrialization was creating in society, which provokes a rebirth a new believe an practice of the traditional render roles. In the early 20’s women felt that they were lacking participation in their own communities, which alienated them from providing any type of influence in their own society. For this lack in participation women felt that they needed to take action. Voting was one of the first symbolic movements that women saw as a passage to gain all of the rights that they were denied. During this part the gran majority of men did not think that it was a good idea to support women for various reasons. One of the first reasons was that women were larger number of citizen at the time. Also men thought that t... ...emigration. Garvey wanted African Americans to unify and create a central government centered in homeland Africa where they were supposed to build â€Å"a great industrial and commercial commonwealth.† He wanted â€Å"every negro to make the dream of possibility.† His idea was to buy steamships to take people and goods to Africa where they were going to create a new history were I didn’t start with the slaves. Garvey is still significant till this day big figures like Martin Luther King and Malcon X were influence by his ideal. Conclusion: To conclude, the progressive Era was a time where these three main themes generated in a society that was hungry for progression. It is very important to remember that all of these changes in the late 19th century and the early 20th century were not secluded from each other; instead these developments were all interlined with each other.

Byd Company Case Analysis Essay

1. BYD Company, Ltd. (â€Å"BYD†) is the world’s second largest manufacturer of rechargeable batteries. Exhibit 1 shows that between 1999 and 2001, BYD’s annual sales grew three times – exceeding RMB 1.3 billion in 2001. Based on the first four months of 2002, BYD’s annual sales are expected exceed RMB 1.6 billion in 2002. Founded in 1995 by Wang Chuan-Fu, chairman and president, BYD has built its reputation by becoming the largest Chinese supplier of lithium-ion batteries to cell phone manufacturers. Exhibit 3 shows that by 2002, BYD was among the top four manufactures worldwide – and was the largest Chinese manufacturer – in each of the three main battery technologies (with about 9% market share in Li-ion technology, 31% market share in NiCd technology, and 8% market share in NiMH technology). Despite the presence of large Japanese competitors – including Sanyo, Sony, and Matsushita – in the global market and a large number of local Chinese firms, BYD’s aim to improve the quality of products while keeping the price low started winning it business from foreign companies. By doing so, BYD has positioned itself as a cost leader in the batter industry and has moved towards cost advantage in manufacturing of its products. BYD emphasized on the technology and product development by investing about 2% of the company’s revenue in product and process R&D. Since the development of its first lithium-ion battery in 1997, BYD has made several improvements that increased the cycle life of its products. BYD moved from having no patents as of 1999 to holding scores of patents as of the beginning of 2002. The manufacturing process – in terms of sequence of steps – at BYD was similar to that at the competing Japanese firms. However, Japanese firms had most of the processes automated and had more dry-room space. This kind of set up needed greater investment in capital equipment and accounted for an annual capital expenditure five to ten times more than that at BYD. The biggest threat to BYD’s competitive advantage is the tough competition faced from the emergence of nearly 200 Chinese firms in the rechargeable battery market. Like BYD did, these Chinese firms too relied on labor-intense production process. The lack of proper regulations in China allows the competitors to duplicate BYD processes easily. On the other hand, BYD faced a shortage of labor in Shenzhen because of the presence of large number of manufacturers located in that region. At BYD, 95% of the work force on the battery production is young women who have come from smaller villages across China. They would work here for a couple of years before returning to their home villages. As a result of this migration pattern, BYD faced a turnover of 10% to 20% in its manufacturing workforce. 2. The core competencies of BYD are: Battery Technology (by changing the product materials to make them less sensitive to humidity), R&D department, Human Resource Management (providing housing, food, and health insurance to workers, discipline traning, job rotation to reduce monotony, social activities and promotions), cheap labor and Manufacturing process (labor plus jigs equals automation). Of the above mentioned core competencies, battery technology, R&D department, Human Resource Management, and cheap labor are transferrable to the automotive business. However, the manufacturing process – which is not automated – is not transferrable to the automotive business. From the resources perspective BYD should enter the auto industry because acquiring Qinchuan Auto Company offers BYD rare resources such as production permits and land for its new Auto factory, which are significant barriers for entry for new competitors, at a reasonable price. These resources coupled with t he BYD’s transferable resources could result in a successful enterprise. 3. The Chinese auto industry is overall attractive. There is huge growth expected in the Chinese demand for automobiles – from 1 million sedans in 2002 to potentially 6 million by 2010. Given this expected growth in demand for automobiles, several Chinese auto manufacturers had partnered with foreign manufacturers, such as General Motors, Toyota, and Volkswagen to sell their vehicles. As shown in Exhibit 13, the production capacity of major firms in china slightly exceeded 2 million units in 2002, this figure is expected to reach 3.5 million units by 2012 – as shown in Exhibit 14. Yes! The Chinese auto industry is attractive to BYD. Given the expected growth and demand in the auto industry, combined with Chinese government having stopped issuing production permits for new automotive companies, there are very few remaining opportunities to get in to this booming auto industry. Moreover, BYD is getting a good bargain as the assets of the state-owned Qinchuan Auto are being sold at a cheaper price. The state owned auto manufacturers without foreign partners accounted for 25% of auto sales in China. Many of the SOE manufacturers did not even have R&D departments. Because most of the automobile parts were imported, similar models of cars cost more in China than in USA. The existing foreign joint ventures were selling the vehicles at prices that gave them margins of 10% to 20%. Considering the current situation, there is room for low-priced entrants. Wang always dreamt of applying Li-ion battery technology to develop an electric vehicle. Using newer battery technology and assembling it cheaply, the vehicle could be competitively priced and represent a way for China to leap forward in an industry and technology in which it had previously lagged other nations. Wang was also excited about applying BYD’s deep capabilities in process engineering – used so successfully to design new methods of battery production that gave BYD a significant cost advantage over global competitors – to automotive manufacturing. 4. In addition to offering OEMs a â€Å"one-stop† solution for the outsourced manufacturing of their products, BYD should also acquire Qinchuan Auto Company. Because of the huge potential for the automotive industry in China and very few available opportunities, this is the right moment for BYD to enter the automotive industry. As Qinchuan Auto Company already has a name in the market, with its flagship product Flyer, BYD should continue selling Flyer along with other upgraded new models of car. BYD should also invest in automating the manufacturing process and R&D department. It should ensure that most of the auto parts are internally or locally manufactured in order to keep the costs at minimum and margins high. The company should invest heavily in infrastructure needed to cater to the foreseen demand in the Chinese automotive industry. It should invest heavily in acquiring quality manpower by offering them good salaries, perks etc†¦. If capital is a challenge, then BYD could partner with foreign manufacturer and provide them a platform to sell their products in the Chinese automotive industry. This will give BYD enough time to closely analyze the Chinese automotive industry and take necessary steps.

The United States And The Articles Of Confederation

The most significant issues that the United States had under the Articles of Confederation were: â€Å"managing the western expansion, foreign relations, and debt.† The first significant issue was with the western expansion as Americans relocated to the Nashville, western Pennsylvania, and Kentucky areas in mass numbers in the 1780s. The result of this meant that the areas were enhanced greatly that had western charters. At the time, the northern and southern areas (in the Appalachian Mountains and Mississippi River) had specific boundaries based on the original colonized charters which meant that the western area was the Pacific Ocean. The states that did not have part of the western area resented the condition and as a result, Maryland protested by not approving the Articles of Confederation unless the state of Virginia yielded its western land to the federal government which they did in 1784. However, their yielding was not without strings attached as they demanded that the y be allowed to keep a small portion of the land reserve for their own use as a part of the deal which Congress had no choice but to accept. Eighteen years later in 1802, every state had yielded their western land to the federal government. The first significant issue was with western expansion ultimately led to Congress’s plan to organize its territories. Congress did this through the adoption of the Land Ordinance of 1785 which was a survey system where settlers could buy divided, undeveloped westernShow MoreRelatedThe Articles Of Confederation And The United States1375 Words   |  6 PagesThe Articles of Confederation, which was considered the first constitution of the United States of America, and the US Constitution, which acts as the supreme law in the United States today, both are poles apart. 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