...The makers of “Blood Diamond,” an exceptionally thriller starring a most excellent Leonardo DiCaprio, want you to know there may be blood on your hands, specifically your wedding finger. The story involves so-called conflict diamonds, illicitly mined stones that have been used to finance some of the most vicious wars in Africa. If films were judged solely by their good intentions, this one would be best in show. Instead, gilded in money and dripping with sanctimony, confused and mindlessly contradictory, the film is a textbook example of how easily commercialism can trump do-goodism, particularly in Hollywood. The 2006 movie (Blood Diamond) was recently seen by me, this is an American political war thriller film produced and directed by Edward Zwick, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds mined in African war zones and sold to finance conflicts, and thereby profit warlords and diamond companies across the world. During Sierra Leone Civil War in 1996–2001, the film shows a country torn apart by the struggle between government soldiers and rebels. It also portrays many of the atrocities of that war, including the rebels' amputation of people's hands to discourage them from voting in upcoming elections. The film's ending, in which a conference is held concerning blood diamonds, is in reference to an actual meeting that took place in Kimberley, South Africa in 2000 and led to the Kimberley Process...
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...recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments. Conflict diamonds came to the attention of the world media during the extremely brutal conflict in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. The groups that were benefited from the trade in conflict diamonds were the combatants, including the Revolutionary United Front. Diamonds played a key role in obtaining funds to provide these combatants with food, clothing, transportation, and most significantly, weapons. Finding buyers wasn’t particularly hard and rebel groups such as the RUF in Sierra Leone and UNITA in Angola obtained approximately $200 million per year from these sales. The groups had been hurt by the conflict diamonds were the diamond companies such as De Beers. De Beers Corporation is the worlds leading...
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...The Situation You are playing Texas Hold’em against one other opponent. • Your two down cards are 6 of (diamonds) & 7 of (diamonds). • The first three cards to come up are 3 of (diamonds), 4♣ 9♠. • The next card to come up is 10 of (diamonds). You and your opponent have both already bet $24,000 into the pot each. Your opponent now adds $10,000 to the pot. You only have $10,000 left in total. While you consider what to do, your opponent, in an effort to rattle you, reveals his down cards. They are 10♣ 10♠. The Problem Should you call his bet by tossing the rest of your money into the pot, or should you fold and give up the pot to your opponent? Remember your opponent has at least a pair of 10s. What cards could come up to make your hand better? What could come up to make your opponent’s hand better? Is there any way you could tie each other? Also look at the expected value of the game. If you fold, you are assured a loss of $24,000. Make sure this fact is used in your analysis. I would simply solve my problem by going all in and betting the $10,000.00 that I have left. I would be a winner should the next card be an eight (8) because a straight which is five (5) cards in a row (in this case 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10) beats a 3 of a kind (my opponent’s three 10’s). Another reason I would not fold is because if the next card that comes up is a diamond I would also be a winner. I would then have a flush (which is five cards of the same suit), which wouls also beat my...
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...Case Report- DeHavilland Inc. CASE ANALYSIS CONTENT | | MARKS AVAILBLE | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | De Havilland had high inventory and high manufacturing cost which has been caused by the high cost of sourcing the flap shrouds and bay doors from Dollard Plastics of Montreal and the company was looking forward to an alternative supplier with a long time relationship. I found they were less of strategy and more tactical. The total parts cost of Dash 8 airplane at De Havilland represented 60-65% of their total manufacturing cost. It’s is evident that the company has recognized that and they have taken steps to solve this issue. A further indication that the company is operating at high cost is their previous failed attempt when they requested a 25% discount on all parts across the board. Dollard Plastics of Montreal is currently supplying the company with the parts needed but at about 3 times higher than Morton’s quote. The uncertainty that De Havilland was going through at this point in terms of choosing the right supplier who was going to be reliable enough to commit to a 5 year fixed contract with the company. The company wanted to move to a smaller base of vendors but should not be sore source without a backup plan. The company focused on cost reduction but cost should not be the only criteria of vendor evaluation and selection. The whole structure and process did not respect the strategic role of procurement, as well as tactical approaches that support the strategy. Such as Kim...
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...De Beers Diamond Company Social Performance of Organizations Business 475 August 4, 2014 De Beers Diamond Company De Beers is a multinational privately owned diamond mining company established in 1888 by Cecil Rhodes. The company specializes in trading and manufacturing diamonds. Rhodes invested capital made from renting water pumps to miners and started buying mining claims. Rhodes knew the acquirement was on an untapped market. He purchased diamond fields owned by two brothers named “De Beer.” He even began purchasing from his rival Barney Barnato. The Rothchild family, Ernest Oppenheimer and JP Morgan were some of the companies first financial partners, their investments helped expand the business. By 1902 De Beers controlled 90% of the world’s diamond production. Ernest Oppenheimer, a rival diamond producer, owned the production company (Anglo American Corporation). Oppenheimer essentially bought his way onto the De Beers board of directors. In 1927, he became the chairman. Under his leadership, De Beers began making exclusive deals with its suppliers and buyers; this strategy made it impossible to have transactions with other companies and quickly became monopolized. De Beers is known for maintaining a strong hold on the industry and for absorbing its competitors by using it’s dominate position in the diamond industry. De Beers has been implicated in multiple scandals that involve price fixing and antitrust behaviors. There have been revolts against...
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...Unethical Values Within De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited is a South African-based mining and trading company, which controls the flow of diamonds in the United States marketplace (Aurora, 2008). De Beers distributes diamonds, ships them, and distributes them to significant intermediaries, wholesalers and retailers (Atkinson, 2000). 1. Unethical behaviour: Unfair trading and competition The first unethical conduct identified within the De Beers example is unfair trading and competition, particularly in the formation of cartels. Unfair competition is unethical in terms of the Teleological Framework, as it focuses on the negative result of the conduct of an individual or company as a juristic person, which forms the basis of self-interest (ethical egoism), thereby going against the rights of others (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). This section will briefly explain the De Beers example of this form of unethical conduct, and look at ways in which De Beers could redeem their reputation. We will begin with the definition of a cartel. A cartel is a group of people, organisations, or companies that cooperate together to control production, marketing, and pricing of a product (Smith, 2003). Cartels are an example of unethical conduct and are thus explicitly illegal under antitrust laws in many countries of the world, as they eliminate fair market competition. A cartel’s biggest effect is driving the price of a commodity up and well beyond what is...
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...SWOT Analysis Next i’ll guide you through the swot analysis of De Beers. * Their strenghts are that they own their own diamond mines and retail shops. Because the business have been existing for over a 100 years, they’ve been able to gain a lot of expertise. * As they are market leader they also have a high turnover. * Their last big strength is that they have been able to present diamonds of high quality through the years. Weaknesses: * They are specialized in only one product, so events influencing the product, influence the whole company. As an example we can say that the association with blood diamonds reflect badly on the whole company. * An other weakness is that the mining of diamonds is a very cost intensive process. * Last weakness is that is hard for them to find a complementary strategy, so they can gain market share. A big opportunity arises for them, as there is an upcoming new market for their diamonds in the emerging economies; India and China. * Through their partnership with LVMH they’ve been able to increase their brand recognition and represent themselves al over the world. * The acquisition of new mines in Canada brought is another opportunity for the company. Finaly we the threats for DeBeers company: * The diamond market is well known for its fierce competition: not only from competitors but as well as not being able to buy certain mines in countries as Canada and Australia. * Negative publicity...
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...How effective was opposition to civil rights during the period 1955-1968? The civil rights movement had gained a lot of opposition during the campaign, however some opposition was more effective than others. There were various sources of opposition such as; the rise in black power movement, Federal opposition, State and local government opposition and the public opinion. Firstly, Federal opposition was effective at hindering the civil rights campaign because Eisenhower and JFK had hindered the campaign significantly. Eisenhower was afraid to give african americans power as he believed they would do more harm than good because they would cause resentment among americas white population. JFK also hindered the campaign by persuading campaigns to stop using violence and use peaceful protest, Kennedy knew that this would hinder the african americans campaign as Kennedy knows they will have less power and conviction in their civil rights campaign. However federal opposition wasn't that effective because the congress was in full support of the civil rights act of 1964 and the voting rights act of 196, this enabled the campaigners and the government to force desegregation laws and support voter registration. Therefore the federal opposition was effective at hindering the civil rights movement because the presidents were able to hinder the civil rights movement, while the congress managed to support it, overall the federal opposition had hindered the civil rights movement more than...
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...Labor Case Study #2: Diamonds are Forever 2/11/2015 Provide a historical overview of the campaign. What were the factors in the industry/market that led to it? What specific consumers were targeted? Did competitive factors play a role? When was it launched and how long did it run? Who were the key players/strategists/agencies involved? * During the time of this diamond campaign, there was a diamond rush going on in South Africa. Every diamond company raced over to start mining in South Africa. Cecil Rhodes had bought land from brothers Johannes Nicholas and Diederik Arnoldus de Beer. On March 12, 1888, De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. Was formed and the empire began to spread throughout Europe. Sir Ernest Oppenhiemer grew tremendous interest in the company and ended up establishing the Diamond Trading Co. in Kimberly, South Africa and London, England. Harry Oppenheimer was on the board of De Beer’s company. He took a trip to the United States to test a pilot marketing campaign but ended up with this full-fledged advertising campaign that has been successful ever since (Posnock, 2006). * In 1931, through the mist of The Great Depression and later World War 2, diamond competitors were emerging such as Gemological Institute of America (GIA), The Diamond’s Dealer Club of New York, and Diamond Manufacturers and Importers Association (Posnock, 2006). * Russia found diamond mines that were similar to the ones found in South Africa, so they became a crucial competitor...
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...Race and Inequality Race and inequality have gone hand and hand in the United States since the U.S. was established. What this is still a major concern in today’s society and will continue because it is de jure. As an African American male I have experienced inequality because of my race first hand on multiple occasions. There are social stigmas that come with being a black man in America; some are that we are aggressive, ignorant, or associated with crime. In my case a few police officers assumed that I was all three and attempted to pin a crime on me that I did not commit. When I was seventeen years old I lived in San Diego California in a small town called Tierresanta. My home was in a military housing complex due to the fact that my dad was in the navy. One night I was standing on a corner of a street waiting for my dad to pick me up from a friends house when a police officer pulled up and asked what I was doing. I explained that I was just waiting to be picked up by my parent. Another police car pulled up next to him and asked where I was before this and began to bombard me with questions, I answered all questions calmly. As soon as I finished one officer looked at the other and said I looked like I fit the description for a kid who was selling drugs, and they began to get out of the car and reach for their handcuffs. I asked why I was being arrested for something I didn’t do and he told me I was being detained for further questioning and searching. As this is happening...
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...Eduardo Cordero Staufert - President and CEO of Country Motors An experienced entrepreneur and senior executive who lives and works in Guadalajara, Mexico, Eduardo Cordero Staufert holds an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from the Autonomous University of Guadalajara. He began investing in hotels in the late 1970s and assumed ownership of Ford Country Motors in 1982. Since taking over as Country Motors’ president and chief executive officer, Eduardo Cordero Staufert has built a strong reputation in the fields of new car sales, spare parts sales, and vehicle service. He won the Ford Mexico President Award for 20 consecutive years and stressed customer satisfaction to lead his dealership to the first Blue Oval Certificate ever issued...
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...the appropriate location rather than added at the end. Submit the paper in your assignment folder as a Word attachment with the following file name: YourlastnameMBT.doc (For example, my submission file would be called MadisonMBT.doc) If you are unable to virus check your document, please submit as an rtf file rather than as a doc file. Please do not use macros in your document. Scenario: Sandra, a high net worth customer, banks on-line at Megagargantuan Bank and Trust (MBT) and has agreed to use 3DES (also known as Triple DES) in communicating with MBT. One day, Sandra received a statement showing a debit of $1,000,000 from her account. On inquiring, she was told that the bank manager, Janet, transferred the money out of Sandra’s account and into an account of her own in an offshore bank. When reached via long distance in the Cayman Islands, Janet produced a message from Sandra, properly encrypted with the agreed upon DES keys, saying: “Thanks for your many years of fine service, Janet. Please transfer $1,000,000 from my account to yours as a token of my esteem and appreciation. Signed, Sandra.” Sandra filed suit against Janet, MBT and the government of the Cayman Islands, claiming that the message was a forgery, sent by Janet herself and asking for triple damages for pain and suffering. MBT filed a countersuit against Sandra, claiming that all procedures were followed properly and that Sandra is filing a nuisance suit. You are called in as an expert...
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...The Diamond Empire Most of the world's diamonds come through an organization that is ran by the South African company named De Beers. Those in the diamond business know that there is a great deal of money at stake if they share about what they do. De Beers cannot operate legally in the US because it is a virtual monopoly. London is where 80% of the world’s diamonds are sorted, graded and sold. De Beers has control over the chain of supply of diamonds and that is how they have control of the diamond market. De Beers has been very successful at bringing all producers that try to go around the cartel into the cartel. The Cartel cannot operate openly in United States, which is the worlds largest market. The Cartels monopolistic control of the diamond trade worldwide would be in violation of the U.S. anti-trust laws. De Beers is a company that is very smart at what they do because they have been around for over 70 years and whoever wants diamonds must go through them to get it. There is now competition for DeBeers and the DeBeers company had to try and keep the business up and running and stay number one in the market industry. This video about the diamond empire related to class because of how high in demand the DeBeers company was in the beginning of which diamonds were being sold. I personally think that the Diamond industry will never go to an end, but I do not think its right that whomever wants to purchase diamonds should have to go through just one company to get them...
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...Executive Summary De Havilland (Havilland) is Canadian aircraft manufacturer that was recently acquired by Boeing. The parent company has requested Havilland take on several initiatives including seeking 25% price reductions from suppliers, reducing the total number of suppliers and seeking more long-term fixed pricing agreements. Havilland recently received submissions for an RFQ for the supply of supply flap shrouds and equipment bay doors. The pricing received raises some concerns however, as there are large variations in pricing between the lowest price from Marton Enterprises Inc. (Marton) and the highest price from the incumbent, Dollard Plastics (Dollard). There are several viable alternatives for Havilland. They may accept the bid from Marton on the condition that it is assured Marton fully understands the scope, their facilities are sufficiently equipped, and they provide their financials. It will be in Havilland’s best interests not to pursue their policy under the Bidder Selection Board (BSB) to attempt to renegotiate the price lower since Marton already provided substantial savings. The next option for Havilland is to pursue the first option but only given Marton 80% of the work for the first year and keep the incumbent under contract for the remaining 20% of work. The third option is to cancel the RFQ, clarify with the bidders what was unclear in the specifications that resulted in such a wide variation in pricing and go out for bids again. The final option...
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...EC142/Principles of Microeconomics Week 6 Homework Chapter 8: #2. Discuss the major barriers to entry into an industry. Explain how each barrier can foster either monopoly or oligopoly. Which berries, if any, do you feel give rise to monopoly that is socially justifiable. Some of the major berries to entry into certain industries would be economies of scale, legal barriers such as patents and licensees, ownership of essential resources and cost or pricing. Economies of scale could foster a monopoly because it deals with very large industries that have the ability to sustain substantial losses in order to reach their long term gains. Smaller companies that wish to enter the business just can’t afford the lost in capital or gains and need to make a profit now. These larger industries could go years’ operating in the red and effectively squeeze out their smaller completion that could not do the same. Some legal barriers that could cause a monopoly could be patents on inventions that are need to make the product. They could also be restriction on product, tax laws and government regulations. One government regulation that ensures the U.S. Postal Service will always be a monopoly is the law that was established that states the U.S. Postal service is the only company that can legally deliver first class mail. This law alone is a barrier for any new company that would like to start a post office business. Ownership of essential resources and cost could foster either a monopoly...
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