The Squeaky Horn

| The Squeaky Horn| Assignment A| Company Overview The Squeaky Horn is a musical instrument repair store which specialized in all major and minor repairs for band and orchestra instruments. Over the past ten year, The Squeaky Horn has established a great customer relationship with the music professionals from all over the country, and has been operated in a relatively less competitive environment as there were no many similar stores in the town.However, as the new store Best Instrument Repair opened across the town recently, the Squeaky Horn faced a lot pressure on lowering the price for minor repairs in competing with the new price that the Best Instrument Repair offers for the similar services. Eugene Decker, one of the three owners of The Squeaky Horn, was trying to figure out the reason for losing $50745 in their planned profit from the actual operating results, with the information that the store has been going through significant changes within the year.In order to explain the change in profit, it is necessary to have a good understanding of the musical instrument repair industry from both macroeconomic and microeconomic aspects first. Industry Background Macroeconomic Analysis Canadian GDP has been showing an increase trend from 2001 to 2010 as showed in Appendix 1, even though between 2008 and 2009, GDP had a negative growth rate of 2. 8%, the 3. 3% of increase in GDP at 2010 pull up the figure again to make an overall increase trend. Because of the significant increase in GDP over the past decade, consumers have more money spend on entertainment and education.Thus, more people tend to go to watch art shows and learn to play musical instruments. If looking at Appendix 2, the first chart shows clearly that the average household spends more money in entertainment outside home in 2003 than 1998. For example, people spend $20 more on performing arts on average per year. It implies that an increasing number of people will go listen to a concert, which stimul ates performers to keep a peak condition of their instruments for better performances. The musical nstrument repair industry therefore, attracts more repair jobs and technicians in order to satisfy the increasing demand on musical instrument repairs. The average Canadian music technician’s salary is $48,000, which is $9,000 higher than the other instrument repair technician’s as showed in the Appendix 3. Beside the facts that music technicians needs spend a lot of time work on the music repair certificate in order to perform their jobs, $9,000 difference in salary makes the musical technician jobs more attractive than others. As a result, the musical instrument repair industry is competitive.At the last, the industry is also affected by researcher’s studies. According to a cross-sectional study of Canadian school children, E. Glenn Schellenberg (2006) as referred in Appendix 4, kids who play musical instrument perform better in both cognitive tasks and general i ntelligence tests. Therefore, more parents would like to have their kids learn one of the musical instruments in order to explore the kids’ IQ potential. As a result, the musical instruments repair business is much more prosperous than before. Microeconomic Analysis The musical instrument repair industry is competitive.As a pure repair store, The Squeaky Horn faces competition not only in its own town, but also across the province. Because musical instruments are fragile, long distance travel increases the possibility of instrument breaking, music professionals prefer to have their instruments repaired in the local area. Therefore, there are not so many competitions outside the province. Since a lot of musical instruments retailers and individual music technicians also provide the similar services, the overall competition The Squeaky Horn is facing is heavy.Appendix 5 offers 3 of the most popular musical instrument repairs store in Ontario. The first two stores specialized in difference instruments repairs (guitar and violin); the last one is basically covering repairs and restorations for all instruments. Appendix 5 also shows the instrument repair price that another store in the industry offers. The average major repair (overhaul and refinish) is priced over $300 for band instruments (trumpet, trombone and horn) compare to The Squeaky Horn, which shows that The Squeaky Horn is cost efficient.The Squeaky Horn has various suppliers for musical instruments parts. Appendix 6 provides all the musical instruments manufacturers across Canada, and over half of the suppliers are from Ontario. Various supplier choices make The Squeaky Horn a price maker, which allow it to lower the repair price to attract more clients. The Squeaky Horn has customers all over the country. The customer line spreads from the music professionals to amateur players, from orchestra to individual household.Since the store has been operated for more than 10 years, a lot of old customer s prefer to have their instrument repaired there because of the already-established reputation. In addition, because of the musical instrument repairs need very specific skills, and technicians normally needs to obtain certain music degree and musical instrument repair certificate in order to perform their jobs, it is relatively hard to become a musical instrument repair technicians than others. As a result, the musical instrument repairs industry has a barrier to entry. There are not so many substitutes for musical instrument repairs.Since musical instruments is considered to be expensive goods, and most individuals and families can only offered one piece of the musical instrument (ex. piano), periodic repair and examination become the most popular method to keep a peak condition of their instruments. Unless the price of music instruments become so cheap that an average music player can offer to pay a new one when they found problems with the instruments, or the second hand market become so popular that the selling price of the instrument are enough for getting a new one, people will stick on instrument repair.If comparing The Squeaky Horn’s operating result with the maintenance and repair industry’s average (Appendix 7), we will find that The Squeaky Horn’s actual revenue of $664,170 is almost as twice as much of the industry average of $334,900. However, the total actual expense is $354,070 higher (calculation is provided at the end of Appendix 7), which results the overall profit fall below the industry average of $28,100 in 2008. Therefore, The Squeaky Horn is an absolute industry leader in revenue sector, but did not do well in maintaining high profitability through expenditure control. Appendix 1: GDP and GrowthBetween 2001 and 2010, GDP for all industries in the Canadian economy increased from $1,041 billion to $1,234 billion. In each year of the period, GDP growth has been positive with the exception of 2009 in which we saw a decl ine for the Canadian economy. The compound annual growth rate of GDP between 2001 and 2010 measured 1. 7%. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and GDP Growth: 2001-2010 Canadian Economy (NAICS 11-91) GDP growth in 2001 and 2002 was much slower, with annual growth rates below the 10 year compound annual rate. However, in 2003, annual GDP growth slipped to 2. 1, corresponding with a down-turn in the United States economy.GDP growth rates went on to rebound and remained steady around 2% and 3% until 2008, when a global recession trimmed annual GDP growth to 0. 6% falling again in 2009 to an all time low of 2. 8%. In 2010, we begin to see another rebound with the GDP growth increasing to 3. 3%. Source: Statistics Canada, http://www. ic. gc. ca/eic/site/cis-sic. nsf/eng/h_00013. html Appendix 2: Consumer Demand for Entertainment Services Outside the Home In recent years, Canadians have spent more on entertainment. For their homes, demand has risen for such goods as home entertainment systems an d computers.Expenditures on these services comprised 0. 44% of the average household's overall spending budget in 2003, up from 0. 41% in 1998. This shift in preferences and growth in incomes, population and prices caused the consumer market for entertainment services to expand from $2. 3 billion in 1998 to $3. 2 billion in 2003, an increase of 41%. The chart below shows the household spending on entertainment services outside the home in 1998 and 2003, respectively. Chart 2 at the right shows the average household spending on entertainment services outside the home in both 1998 and 2003.Source: Yusu Guo and Don Little, Analytical Paper Series, Consumer Demand for Entertainment Services Outside the Home. http://publications. gc. ca/Collection/Statcan/63F0002XIE/63F0002XIE2006050. pdf Appendix 3: Comparison of Average Music Technician Salaries and Average Instrument Technicians Salaries The average salary for music technician jobs in Canada, KY is $48,000. Average music technician sa laries can vary greatly due to company, location, industry, experience and benefits. Source: http://www. simplyhired. com/a/salary/search/q-Music+Technician/l-CanadaThe average salary for instrument repair technician jobs in Canada, KY is $39,000. Average instrument repair technician salaries can vary greatly due to company, location, industry, experience and benefits. Source: http://www. simplyhired. com/a/salary/search/q-instrument+repair+Technician/l-canada Appendix 4: Study of Music and Intelligence Musicians perform better on cognitive tasks A study of 4 to 6-year olds found that musically-trained kids performed better on a test of working memory Other research indicates that musicians perform significantly better on tests of †¢ Spatial-temporal skills Math ability †¢ Reading skills †¢ Vocabulary †¢ Verbal memory †¢ Phonemic awareness Musically-trained people perform better on general intelligence tests. In a cross-sectional study of Canadian school chi ldren, E. Glenn Schellenberg (2006) found that kids who took music lessons had slightly higher IQs. The effects were general, cutting across several different intellectual abilities (e. g. , verbal, mathematical, and temporal-spatial). Music lessons were associated with abilities associated with fluid intelligence, such as †¢ Working memory †¢ Perceptual organization Processing speed They were also associated with increased verbal comprehension and better high school grades. These differences remained significant after controlling for a child’s age, nonmusical activities, family income, and parent’s education. Source: http://www. parentingscience. com/music-and-intelligence. html Appendix 5: Competitors * Folkway Music Repairs ; Restorations  · Fine Fretted Instruments Folkway Music is Canada's premier acoustic guitar shop. We specialize in the sale, repair and restoration of fine vintage, new and used guitars, mandolins, and banjos.There are always many vi ntage Gibson guitars, vintage Martin guitars, vintage Gibson mandolins, and other vintage guitars for sale in the store, as well as a large selection of new C. F Martin & Co. Guitars, Taylor Guitars, Santa Cruz Guitars, National Guitars, Larrivee Guitars, and others. C. F. Martin & Co. Authorized Warranty Repair Centre. World-wide shipping. 163 Suffolk Street West, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1H 2J7 Source: http://www. folkwaymusic. com/ * Armenious Violins In our workshop we do any kind of instrument repairs/restorations such as crack repairs, bridge, sound post, fingerboard planning, peg fitting, etc.After all we are violin, viola, and cello makers ourselves. The following are some highlights of instrument related works. Bridge Cutting, Sound Post , Fingerboard, Nut & Saddle, Install/Improve Pegs, Neck Repairs, Bass Bar, Internal Table Patches, Various Crack repairs and Anatomic Corrections, Clean and Polish the Varnish. Locations: 903 Willowdale Ave, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M2M 3C 2 Source: http://www. armenious-violins. com/instrument_services. html * Cosmo Music – A Music Instrument Superstore Cosmo Music operates one of the largest and most prestigious instrument repair shops in Canada.Each year hundreds of schools, students and professional musicians trust Cosmo Music to restore their instruments to like-new playing condition. In addition to customer repairs the shop also maintains a fleet of well over 10,000 rental instruments which are used by students across Ontario each year. Led by its original technician, Kevin Rohm, the shop now employs 18 technicians and specializes in all types of wind instruments, guitar and electronic repairs. Cosmo Music has made a significant investment in equipment so that its technicians have access to all of the latest and best tools and techniques to service your instrument uickly and properly – the first time! Location: 10 Via Renzo Drive, Richmond Hill ON L4S 0B6 Source: http://cosmomusic. ca/contact-us. h tml Source: http://www. heidmusic. com/PDFs/repairs. pdf Appendix 6: Suppliers Source: http://www. profilecanada. com/category. cfm? cat=3931_Musical-Instruments Appendix 7: Industry Average Source: Statistics Canada, http://www. ic. gc. ca/cis-sic/cis-sic. nsf/IDE/cis-sic811bece. html#bec1 Total Expense for the average industry = $165,800 + $137,300 = $303,100 Total Expense for the Squeaky Horn = $664,170 – $7,000 = $657,170 $657,170 – $303,100 = $354,070

George and Lennie Essay

All the characters played in the novel â€Å"Of Mice and Men† are lonesome, living an empty life everyday consisting of mainly hard labor. The characters all live a very disheartening life, with the lack of happiness, love and affection in their lives. This can be seen also when George mentions that ‘ranch workers are the loneliest people in the world and don’t belong nowhere†. Of the many characters in the novel, Curley’s wife might be one of the most pathetic and reviled of the outsiders. Steinbeck introduces her to us as an outcast, where she is isolated from the community. Being a minor character in the novel, Steinbeck manages to illustrate her as a character that deeply influences the lives of the main characters George and Lennie. Throughout the whole novel, Curley’s wife’s name is never mentioned. This initiates the readers to feel the sense of belonging of Curley’s wife to Curley and to emphasize as an pariah, being feared of, leaving her with nobody to talk to and her identity as a mystery. Apart from that, Curley’s wife is portrayed as the only female in the ranch, and although she is married to Curley, the boss’s son, giving her a high status at the ranch, they are psychologically separated, and are never witnessed together, leaving her desperate for camaraderie. Her desire of attention and escape from loneliness leads her to try to seek attention from other men working in the ranch by flirting. Her coquettish actions and inappropriate dressing leads other characters to think of her as a â€Å"tart†. The ranch workers are uneasy about this and avoid her in fear of being reprimanded by Curley which may cost them to lose their jobs innocently. She is first introduced by Steinbeck when she comes into the bunkhouse disrupting a conversation that Lennie and George are holding. The depiction is dramatic, â€Å"Both men glanced up, for the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off†. This suggests that she has obscured the light, and darkened the room with her presence. This gives a dark and threatening image. Steinbeck describes the image of her standing and peering through the door, â€Å"heavily made-up† with â€Å"full rouged lips† and â€Å"her fingernails† being applied with â€Å"red† nailpolish. The fact that she was â€Å"looking in† through the door â€Å"standing there† accentuates her as an outsider. She is also described wearing â€Å"red mules† and with â€Å"bouquets of red ostrich feathers† on them. The constant repetition of the word â€Å"red† used in the novel to describe Curley’s wife portrays her as one who is dangerous because the color red is quite provocative and has connotations such as love, passion and danger. â€Å"Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages† implies the extensive amount of time she has, being alone with nothing better to do than to curl her hair. Her inappropriate body language proves how she dreadfully tries to seek attention and flirts openly with men as she positions herself against the door frame so that â€Å"her body was thrown forward†. She smiles â€Å"archly† and â€Å"twitch(es) her body†. This gives the reader the general impression that Curley’s wife is an attractive young lady who seeks attention of men. George’s immediate comments such as â€Å"Jesus, what a tramp†, and â€Å"So that’s what Curley picks for a wife† and reactions to Curley’s wife, however, allows the reader to realize that she is a potential threat to George and Lennie. George fumes when he knows of Lennie’s admiration of her being one who is â€Å"purty† and fiercely tells him not to even â€Å"take a look at that bitch† and refers to her as â€Å"poison† and â€Å"jail bait† and to leave her alone. It is obvious that she longs for friends and for someone to talk to, however, males on the ranch dislike her because they see has as one who is a magnet to trouble.

Criminal Justice Portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Criminal Justice Portfolio - Essay Example It may also encompass legal guarantees of access to information, protection of journalists, public’s limited access to the media and right of reply or correction†. Discussion: My position on the issue is that the press should be given complete freedom to function within its own framework of guidelines, and there should be restrictions only on careless or false reporting. My opinion is correct because the public has the right to the true facts of any information of significance, and transparency will ensure decline in corruption. According to the Final Annotated Survey of the State of the First Amendment (2005: p.2), the results show that 47% of the public felt that the amount of freedom the press enjoyed was â€Å"about right†, 39% felt that the press had too much freedom, too little freedom was the verdict of only 10%, and the remaining 4% did not know. The viewpoint of the majority is supported by McQuail (2003: p.54) who states that social responsibility theory became an essential point of reference in the growing trend towards the professionalization and self-regulation of the press. Conclusion: The small minority of the public who believe that the press should have less freedom should consider one important reason for freedom of the press: that those in high public office, in businesses or in responsible social posts will need to show results, and also keep free from wrongdoings. Introduction: According to Klay; Sewell (1996: p.241) development and application of criminal justice technology for the purpose of individual liberty is possible only in communities that share and perpetuate democratic norms. Emphasizing on â€Å"responsible use†, the democratic communitarian theory requres the use of technology to strengthen unity within the community, while exercising restraint and avoiding the creation of potentially threatening technologies. Discussion: My

Global Warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Global Warming - Essay Example His claim is based on the fact that man has the ability to create artificial tropical living conditions through warm clothing and heated offices and homes. The species too are threatened not by the climate change but by the destruction of the habitat such as deforestation. The climate according to this biologist is being used as a scapegoat to divert the attention from other environmental crimes. Warming temperatures promote biodiversity – the warmer the regions is the more diverse its species. The greenhouse effect could help improve biodiversity in the long run. Reichholf explains that biodiversity reached its peak a few million years ago when it was much warmer than it is today. In fact when the ice ages came and the temperatures dropped, species became extinct especially in the north. In warmer climates species receives new habitats. In warmer climates survival is easier. At the same time consensus is growing among scientists, governments and businesses that something must be done to combat the climate change. The nation’s largest utility companies have been forced to ensure that they reduce the emissions of the gas that are believed to be warming the earth as it threatens the economy, the health, the natural resources and the children’s future (Business Week, 2004). The Bush Administration does not believe that the Kyoto protocol and the mandatory curbs would help the situation; it would on the contrary cripple the economy and hence advise new low-carbon technologies. The scientists do not foresee any danger because the planet is only going to be slightly warmer and there is nothing that can avoid it. The scientists claim that carbon dioxide and other gases act like the roof of a greenhouse. Energy from the sun can pass through easily and some of the warmth that would be naturally radiated back remains trapped, thereby warming the plan et. If