Management Consulting Assignment Research Proposal

Management Consulting Assignment - Research Proposal Example Each type of their product has a specific focus. This paper is intends to provide a clear understanding of what Taylersons Malmesbury Syrups brand is, why and how it is managed, and what are the dynamics involved in managing brands in the present context of competitive market. Taylersons Malmesbury Syrups is a privately owned company, incorporated in April 2007. All of their product processing is done at their plant in Maple Heights, Ohio. They own the real estate, building etc, and all of the manufacturing equipment are a debt free, profitable operation. Taylersons Malmesbury Syrups is inspected, and approved, by the Federal FDA, State Agricultural Department and local Health Department. The company's primary business is the manufacturing of concentrated fruit juices, cocktail mixes and beverage syrups sold to the Food Service market and to national restaurant chains, hospitals, and nursing homes. They are constantly researching and developing new products that fulfil the customers' requirements. TAYLERSON'S MALMESBURY SYRUPS are flavoured syrups, using the finest ingredients including pure Madagascan Vanilla or natural Apple & Cinnamon. The company makes it a point to use only the finest ingredient of purely natural components as raw materials in production. Another salient features of their products is that these are very easy to prepare, and are healthy for human consumption. TAYLERSON'S MALMESBURY SYRUPS Products Taylersons Malmesbury Syrups produce a wide range of flavours of Malmesbury Syrup, including: Amaretto flavouring for coffee, on ice cream, as a white wine mixer or Frappes' (Ice, milk and flavour) or fruit desserts. Apple & Cinnamon makes great coffee or flavours hot water, tea, or can be used as a dessert topping. Caramel for flavouring coffee, Frappes', ice cream, pancakes, or hot milk. Cinnamon puts a zing in apple pie and it tastes great in coffee and hot milk too. Espresso for coffees, cakes, ice cream, Frappes' Fine Vanilla on

Wagner Dodge Retreats in Mann Gulch Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Wagner Dodge Retreats in Mann Gulch - Case Study Example Interaction between team members and the team leader plays an important role in assessing existing situations, understanding the need of the time and effective resolution of existing problems. The case study of Wagner Dodge provides interesting insights into these aspects of leadership and how certain situations test the leadership abilities of an individual. Background Wagner Dodge headed a fire fighters team of 15 into Mann Gulch, a remote place in Montana to control a huge fire that had broken out in the prairies region. Dodge was an experienced fire fighter and he was responsible for putting out the prairie fire. The team was flown to the area and parachutes were used to drop them down to the fire affected region. However, on landing in Mann Gulch, the team realized that the fire was more aggressive than they had initially thought. The flames were catching on at great speed and there was no escape route since the radio with one of the team members had broken on landing and the ma p was lost too. Left with no possibilities of surviving the fire, Wagner lit a fire and let the area burn out before he landed himself in the middle of this fire circle to protect himself from the prairie fire. He signaled him men to follow him but only one of them joined him in the circle of fire. The rest of the team members did not trust his decision and felt that it was crazy to go into the fire circle started by Wagner. Thus, 13 members out of the 15 perished in the prairie fire (Useem, 1998). Wagner Dodge – decision making and leadership The Mann Gulch fire incident raises a number of pertinent questions relating to the team behavior and understanding existing between Wagner Dodge and his team members. Why did they choose not to follow him and how could the team be unaware of the ground realities? The first question strongly raises doubts over the capabilities of Wagner Dodge as a leader and the lack of trust existing between the chief and his team members. His order to his team to stick to the burned area were met with disbelief and anger from most of the team members and each of them decided to escape the fire in their own ways. The results were tragic and there was nothing much that Dodge could do at the moment to convince them his ways. A review of the situation reveals that though Dodge was a good and experienced firefighter, he had very limited success in achieving the trust and confidence of his team members. He failed to articulate his thoughts and plans in an effective manner to the team members. His inability lay in the fact that he did not communicate emergency plans and guidelines that the team members could follow in such situations. The crew was fairly inexperienced or they would have realized the potential escape route offered by Dodge. If Dodge had explained some possibilities and means of surviving such emergencies earlier, probably all 15 could have been saved from the prairie fires (Useem, 1998). Wagner Dodge also failed to comm unicate the effectiveness of the burnt patch of ground to his team members at the critical hour. This could be associated with lack of time to explain the details to the team members and the inability of the team to grasp in times of the pending crisis.

Chapter 2 Quiz + Answers Essay Example for Free

Chapter 2 Quiz + Answers Essay 1. When companies adopt the strategy-making and strategy execution process it requires they start by developing a strategic vision, mission and values 2. The strategic management process is shaped by external factors such as the industrys economic and competitive conditions and internal factors such as the companys collection of resources and capabilities 3. When a company is confronted with significant industry change that mandates radical revision of its strategic course, the company is said to have encountered a strategic inflection point 4. A companys strategic plan consists of a vision of where it is headed, a set of performance targets, and a strategy to achieve them 5. Top managements views about where the company is headed and what its future product-customer-market-technology will be constitutes the strategic vision for the company 6. Well-conceived visions are distinctive specific to a particular organization free of generic, feel-good statements not innocuous one-sentence statements All of these 7. Effectively communicating the strategic vision down the line to lower-level managers and employees has the value of  not only explaining where we are going and why but, more importantly, also inspiring and energizing company personnel to unite to get the company moving in the intended direction 8. A companys mission statement typically addresses which of the following questions Who we are, what we do, and why we are here 9. A companys values relate to such things as  fair treatment, integrity, ethical behavior, innovativeness, teamwork, top-notch quality, superior customer service, social responsibility, and community citizenship 10. The managerial purpose of setting objectives includes  converting the strategic vision into specific performance targets  using the objectives as yardsticks for tracking the companys progress and performance  challenging the organization to perform at its full potential and deliver the best possible results  establishing deadlines for achieving performance results 11. A company needs financial objectives  because without adequate profitability and financial strength, the companys ultimate survival is jeopardized 12. Strategic objectives  relate to strengthening a companys overall market standing and competitive vitality 13. A balanced scorecard for measuring company performance entails striking a balance between financial objectives and strategic objectives 14. A balanced scorecard that includes both strategic and financial performance targets is a conceptually strong approach for judging a companys overall performance because financial performance measures are lagging indicators that reflect the results of past decisions and organizational activities whereas strategic performance measures are leading indicators of a companys future financial performance 15. A company needs performance targets or objectives for its operations as a whole and also for each of its separate businesses, product lines, functional departments, and individual work units 16. Business strategy concerns ensuring consistency in strategic approach among the businesses of a diversified company 17. In a single-business company, the strategy-making hierarchy consists of business strategy, functional strategies, and operating strategies 18. Functional strategies concern the actions, approaches, and practices related to particular functions or processes within a business 19. Operating strategies concern the relatively narrow strategic initiatives and approaches for managing key operating units within a business and for performing strategically significant operating tasks 20. Management is obligated to monitor new external developments, evaluate the companys progress, and make corrective adjustments in order to decide whether to continue or change the companys strategic vision, objectives, strategy and/or strategy execution methods

The Role Of Efficient Market Hypothesis

The Role Of Efficient Market Hypothesis Corporate finance provides the skills which Spry Plc needs to identify and select as corporate strategies that add value to the firm such as investments. Throughout this paper, capital market and efficient market hypothesis has been discussed critically to evaluate Spry Plcs market position; then possible finance sources has been discussed to obtain finances, and lastly cost of capital and its consequence on large companies has been assessed (Lo, Mamaysky and Wang, 2000); (Lakonishok, Schleifer and Vishny, 1994). Capital markets are the place where Spry Plc can meet investor who has finance to offers for long term. This finance may be equity finance involving the issue of new ordinary share or debt finance from a wide range of loans and debts securities. Capitals market is also a place where investors buy and sells company and government securities (Grossman, Sanford and Stiglitz, 1980); (Campbell, 1987); (Lakonishok, and Smidt, 1988). Capital markets are divided by two parts: primary market and secondary market. primary market help the companies to issues new securities to the new or existing shareholders by marking a public issue or right issues. This can help company perform better to influence shareholders that the company is willing to be stronger over the time both financially and operationally (Lo, Mamaysky and Wang, 2000); (Shiller, 1981); (Keim, and Stambaugh, 1986). Secondary market is the market in which previously issued securities are traded. An active secondary market after the Initial Public Offering (IPO) provides the pre-IPO shareholders with a chance to convert some of their wealth into cash makes it easier for the Spry Plc to raise additional capital later and makes it easier for the company to use their stock to acquire other companies. This is to ensure Spry Plc stock will trade in an active secondary market before they incur the high costs of an IPO (Fama, Eugene and French, 1988); (Campbell and Shiller, 1988). The Role and Importance of Capital Market The primary role and importance of the capital market is to raise long term funds for corporation while providing a platform for the trading of securities. This is to protect increment of the market share and price of securities to protect their investments in future (Lo, Mamaysky and Wang, 2000) (DeBondt, Werner and Thaler, 1995). Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) asserts that financial markets are efficient or that prices on traded assets such as share and fixed interest securities are already reflect all known information. In can state that the companies may expect that they can develop more efficient market, more random the cycle of price changes generated by such a market and the most efficient market of all is one in which price changes are completely random and changeable (Fama, Eugene and French, 1988); (Lakonishok, Schleifer and Vishny, 1994); (Keim, and Stambaugh, 1986). The role and importance of Efficient Market Hypothesis Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) information is defined as anything which may affect the share price that is not known in present and appears randomly in the future. The role of EMH is how Spry Plc mangers consist of analyzing and investing appropriately based on an investors tax consideration and risk profiles (Ariel, 1990); (Poterba, and Summers, 1988) (Cooper, Dimitrov and Rau, 2001); (Roll, and Shiller, 1992). EMH will not consistently outperform the market by using any information that the market already know except through luck. The share prices may not determine to future stock performance example the market may not know about an events which will lead to lower profits. This can not be controlled by anyone when the share prices will be changing depending on the markets (Grossman, Sanford and Stiglitz, 1980); (DeBondt, Werner and Thaler, 1995); (Fluck, Burton and Quandt, 1997). Weak form of Efficient Market Hypothesis In this stage all past market prices and data are fully reflected in the price of securities and stock. It is based on information about event shaping the Spry Plc may not fully replicate in price. This state that future price movements are determined entirely by information not contained in the price series (Fama, Eugene and French, 1988); (Lakonishok, and Smidt, 1988). Semi-strong form of EMH This form emphasize that all publicly available information is fully reflected in securities prices. This implies that neither fundamental analysis nor technical analysis techniques will be able to reliably produce excess return (Campbell, 1987) (DeBondt, Werner and Thaler, 1995). Strong form of EMH This states that all information is fully reflected in securities price. A markets need to exist where investor can not consistently earn excess return over a long period of time (Cooper, Dimitrov and Rau, 2001). Sources in Finance Corporate finance is an area of finance dealing with financial decision makes and the tools and analysis used to make those decision. Organization must ensure that the company are making good finance decision and all decision made are profitable for the organization (Poterba, and Summers, 1988); (Keim, and Stambaugh, 1986). Sources of finance are divided into external finance and internal finance. One example of internal finance is retained earnings which are known as company profit. Another internal sources is often overlooked is the saving generated by more efficient management of working capital. This states that the company has sufficient cash savings in accounts to pay off all the debts owned as bank overdraft, trade creditors, and other debts (Campbell and Shiller, 1988); (Lakonishok, Schleifer and Vishny, 1994). External finance is available which can be split broadly into debt and equity finance. External finance comes from outsource to invest and will pay-off based on terms agreed with interest (Ariel, 1990). Equity Finance Share capital is issued by capital and converted into small units become share of the companies. Shareholder is the person who is holding the company share. There are two types of share normally issues by company: ordinary share and preference share capital (Cooper, Dimitrov and Rau, 2001); (Keim, and Stambaugh, 1986). Ordinary Shares Capital Ordinary share is important source of raising long term capital by Spry Plc. It represents the ownership of a company. Ordinary share capital will not get the fixed dividend but shareholder will get the basic interests from the company. Ordinary shareholders have the power to vote for the rights and they have the right to choose managing directors (Shiller, 1981); (Fluck, Burton and Quandt, 1997); (Rasches, 2001). The important merits of raising funds through issuing ordinary share are as follows (Samuelson, 1965); (Odean, 1999): There will not be a mandatory burden for the company to pay dividend to equity shareholders yearly. Ordinary shareholders have the right and power to vote who will be in the management committee of the company. Ordinary share issue can be time consuming and it is considered risky. Company has less control over the management as it is decided by shareholders (Ariel, 1990); (Roll, and Shiller, 1992). Preference Shares Capital Preference shareholders enjoy a superior position over equity shareholders in two ways. Preference shareholder will receive a fixed rate of dividend out of net profits of the company before any dividend is declared for ordinary shareholders. Preference shareholders do not have any vote rights (Fama, Eugene and French, 1988) (DeBondt, Werner and Thaler, 1995). The merits of preference share as follows (Basu, 1983): Preference share is a safety share to invest and company will provide a reasonably steady income in the form of fixed rate of return. Shareholder does not have the right and power to vote for management. Preference share often is not able to raise enough fund desired by the company (Ball, 1978). Retained Earning A company generally does not distribute all its earnings amongst the shareholders as dividends. This is the profits which show in the financial statement how much the organization gains for a year and can be retained in business for future use (Grossman, Sanford and Stiglitz, 1980) (Cooper, Dimitrov and Rau, 2001). The merits of retained earning as a source of finance is as follows (Samuelson, 1965); (Odean, 1999): As the funds are generated internally, there are greater choices and flexibility available. It may lead to increase in the market price of the equity shares of a company Retained earning will not held the organization to use the capital wisely. Misuse is often occurred in this policy (Campbell, 1987); (Roll, and Shiller, 1992). Debt Finance Bank loan Bank provides funds for different purpose as well as for different time periods. For example, if Spry Plc borrows money from the bank with good understanding there can be different type of repayment like extended period, overdraft, term loans etc. though the borrower is required to provide some security assets of the firm before a loan is authorized by a commercial bank (Campbell and Shiller, 1988); (DeBondt, Werner and Thaler, 1995); (Keim, and Stambaugh, 1986). The merits of raising funds from a commercial bank are as follows (Keim, 1983): Banks provide funds when companies are in need and timely. Loan amount can be increased according to business needs and can be repaid in advance when funds are not needed. Bank often requires mortgage of assets in order to approve loan. Sometimes it takes too many formalities which take time (Ariel, 1990); (Cooper, Dimitrov and Rau, 2001); (Nicholson, 1960). Debentures Debentures are an important tool for raising long term debt capital. A company can raise funds through issue of debentures which bear a fixed rate of interest. The debenture issued by a company is an acknowledgment that the company has borrowed a certain amount of money from public, which promises to repay at a future date with interest (Lo, Mamaysky and Wang, 2000); (Lakonishok, Schleifer and Vishny, 1994). . The merits of raising funds through debentures are given as follows (French, 1980): The issue of debentures is suitable in the situation when the sales and earnings are relatively stable. As debentures do not carry voting rights, financing through debentures does not affect organizational control of equity shareholders on management. Issuing debentures is risky when company business market is not good and incurs losses because debenture amount must be paid regardless of company gains profit or losing business (Fama, Eugene and French, 1988); (Cooper, Dimitrov and Rau, 2001). Cost of Capital When investors provide a corporation with funding they expect the company to generate an appropriate return on those funds. From the companys perception, investors expects return is a cost of using the funds and it is called as cost of capital. A variety of factor influence a companys cost of capital. The cost of capital is also a key factor in choosing the mixture of debts and equity used to finance the company and is a critical element in business decision (Cooper, Dimitrov and Rau, 2001); (Keim, and Stambaugh, 1986). Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) The cost of capital used to analyze capital budgeting decision is a weighted average of the components cost. Therefore, Spry Plc managers should strive to make the company more valuable and that value of a company is determined by the size, timing and risk of free cash flow (FCF). A companys value is the present value of its FCFs, discount at the WACC (Shiller, 1981). The formula of Weighted Average Cost of Capital as follows: Value = FCF 1 + FCF 2 (1+WACC) (1+WACC) 2 Cost of Equity Companies can raise common equity in two ways there are (Fama,1970): Directly by issuing share. Indirectly by retained earnings. Mature company issue new share of common stock. In fact if there are less than 2 percent of all new corporate funds come from the external equity market because of high floatation cost, investors perceived issuing equity as a negative signal with respect to the true value of the companys stock. An increase in the supply of stock will put weight on the stock price, forcing the company to sell the new stock at a lower price than existing, before the new issue was announced (Campbell and Shiller, 1988) (Lakonishok, Schleifer and Vishny, 1994); (Nicholson, 1960). Rate of return (rs) is investors expectation to earn that return by simply buying the stock of the company. Therefore, rs are the cost of common equity raise internally by reinvesting earning (Poterba, and Summers, 1988); (Cooper, Dimitrov and Rau, 2001). Whereas debts and proffered stock are contractual obligations that have easily determined cost, is more difficult to estimate rs. There are few methods to compute such as Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), Discount Cash Flow (DCF) and others. CAPM approach is to estimate the risk free rate, estimate the current expect market risk premium, estimate the stocks beta coefficient and substitute the preceding values into the CAMP equation to estimate required rate return on the stock (Ariel, 1990); (DeBondt, Werner and Thaler, 1995); (Jensen, 1968). Ks = Krf + à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¢ (Km Krf) Cost of Debt Cost of Debts determines the rate of return debts holders required to pay. Companies use both fixed and floating rate debt straight and convertible debts and debt with sinking and without sinking funds and each form has a somewhat different cost. Therefore, Spry Plc should know at the start of the planning period, the exact types and amounts of debt that will be used during the period. The types used will depend on the specific assets to be financed and on capital market condition as they develop over time. The relevant cost is the marginal cost of new debt to be raised during planning period. The after tax cost of capital is used to calculate the WACC (Lo, Mamaysky and Wang, 2000); (Nicholson, 1960). After tax component cost of debt = Interest rate Tax Saving = rd r d T = rd (1-T) Market value of equity and debt The formulation of market value of equity and debts as below: Market value of common equity (Market value common equity + market value of debt + Markey value of preference equity) In this stage, market value use to compute how much company share values at the market. The market value for equity is let publicly traded company is simply the price per share multiplied by the number of share outstanding. It can state market value of equity is similar to trade in ordinary share in market. The market value of debts similar to the company traded bonds. Most companies have a large banks loan. Therefore, this is one of the debts company holds. Preferred stock holders are fixed to gain the dividend by the company and percentages term is based on net profit for the years. The cost of common equity is usually determined using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (Grossman, Sanford and Stiglitz, 1980); (Fluck, Burton and Quandt, 1997). The formula to compute it is WACC = Weight of Preferred Equity * Cost of Preferred Equity + Weight of Common Equity * Cost of Common Equity + Weight of Debt * Cost of Debt * (1 Tax rate) Importance of cost of capital Considered as the opportunity cost, cost of capital is the minimum return required by an investor. On the other hand, for shareholders cost of capital is the dividend rate they expect to gain along with the gain on values of chares. Besides, for loan holders, cost of capital is the rate of interest for the loan provided. So company must perform well to maintain all returns effectively; other wise this finance providers will sale or transfer their funds to others with better rate or return (Fama, Eugene and French, 1988); (Keim, and Stambaugh, 1986). Capital Structures A company can obtain a long term financing in the form of equity, debts or some combination. The firms mixture of debt and equity is called as capital structure. The capital structure decision includes a companys choice of target capital structure, average maturity of its debts and specific source of financing it chooses at any particular time (Ariel, 1990); (Cooper, Dimitrov and Rau, 2001); (Jensen, 1968). Traditional Approach Traditional approach defined as an optimal capital structure. This is to compute how much the firms total value leverage for the year. When the investor is to invest their money in the company with a higher risk they may get higher interest and income. But when shareholder perceived higher risk and cost of equity is raise to the point at the level, the cost of debt will be more expensive than equity. So the company need to pay more interest and will bust to them when operate (Campbell, 1987); (Lakonishok, Schleifer and Vishny, 1994). Miller and Modigliani (I) Miller and Modigliani (I) [MM] first analyze that leverage is the value of any firm is established by capitalizing its expected net operating income (EBIT) at a constant rate that is based on the companys risk. The first proposition establishes that under certain conditions, a firms debt-equity ratio does not affect its market value. This developed a trade off theory of capital structure. It show that dents is useful because interest is tax deductible but also that dents bring with it costs associated with actual or potential bankruptcy. The optimal capital structure strikes a balance between the tax benefits of debts and the cost associated with bankruptcy (Lo, Mamaysky and Wang, 2000); (DeBondt, Werner and Thaler, 1995). Miller and Modigliani (II) The second proposition establishes that a firms leverage has no effect on its weighted average cost of capital provided the cost of equity capital is a linear function of the debt-equity ratio. This stage is showing that under some conditions, the optimal capital structure can be complete debt finance due to the preferential treatment of debt relative to equity in a tax code. MM (II) is to determine that the expected return of portfolio equal with WACC of expected return of the securities in the portfolio. This proves that Proposition II is more flexible compute compare with MM (I) for the company because signaling models use financial decisions to reveal information to make decision (Grossman, Sanford and Stiglitz, 1980); (Poterba, and Summers, 1988); (Keim, and Stambaugh, 1986). Implications of cost of capital on capital structure Using cost of capital on capital structures bring the implications that the firm must earn a minimum rate of return to cover the cost of generating funds for investments if the firm wish public to buy bonds and stocks (Campbell and Shiller, 1988); (Lakonishok, Schleifer and Vishny, 1994). Conclusion Achieving the goal of corporate finance required that any corporate investment is financed appropriately. Investment in a new market may have risk which is very often unknown. Therefore, management must identify and aware of the risk and plans accordingly with financing mix and impact the valuation to reduce capital structure that results in maximum value (Fama, Eugene and French, 1988); (Fluck, Burton and Quandt, 1997).

Analyzing an Advertisement for a Texas Instruments Calculator Essay

Analyzing an Advertisement for a Texas Instruments Calculator Get your own. These words literally speak for themselves when it comes to the Texas Instruments calculator: TI-83+ silver edition. â€Å"Get your own† is the title that appears at the top of the advertisement for the TI-83+ silver edition. The title is reemphasized by a group of teenagers pictured below the title. The teens pictured in the photo are all playfully trying to get their hands on the coveted TI-83+ silver edition-graphing calculator. Directly below the picture of the teens, is a graphic of an enlarged graphing calculator, and displayed on the screen of the calculator is the new phonebook feature. Then, to the right of the graphic are three short phrases that reemphasize and support the title of the advertisement. These phrases state: more power, more speed, and more fun. Preceding these three phrases is a web address. The address shows the TI-83+ silver edition calculator in more depth, and also reiterates the title of the advertisement. The website is gottagetyour own.com is implying that all students need their own calculator, and the TI-83+ silver edition is the best choice. The advertisement was found in the September issue of Teen Magazine. The author carefully planned the placement of this advertisement with the viewers in mind, for he or she was targeting those returning to school. The author most likely chose Teen Magazine to present the advertisement for reasons mostly relating to the viewer. The individuals that read Teen Magazine are in general teenagers that are attending school. Targeting teens in general would be a plus in the sense of advertising, for teenagers are interested in new technology, and want to have the latest fashion, or in this inst... ... with the viewer. Overall, the Texas Instruments TI-83+ silver edition calculator advertisement is an article displayed in such away that appeals to those seeking some form of education. In most cases the advertisement would call to the teen genre. The advertisement displays the title â€Å"Get Your Own† at the top of the page to put emphasis on the remainder of the article. The picture of the teens and the full size picture of the calculator are just other examples of why each individual should get their own TI-83+ silver edition calculator. Along with three small phrases and a web address, the article is compl! ete in its emphasis of the title. â€Å"Get Your Own,† is a phrase that would definitely stand out in a persons mind after viewing the article, therefore, the designer did a quality job formatting the advertisement. Then â€Å"Get Your Own† pretty much sums up the article.

The Army and Environmental Compliance Essay example -- Environmental I

The Army and Environmental Compliance Since the inception of National environmental awareness and protection policies in the 1970’s, the Army has had to adjust how it conducts training. The development of Army environmental compliance programs, policies and strategies enable the Army to fulfill federal and state requirements governing the use of natural resources, while balancing the need for essential training to maintain combat readiness and relevance. As a direct result of positive environmental stewardship, inclusion of environmental compliance enables the Army to provide continuity of operations while protecting the environment. United States Environmental Policy The modern day involvement of the United States Army’s responsible environmental stewardship began over 40 years ago and continues unabated today. The catalyst was the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), signed into law in 1970, which established national policy for the protection of the environment. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2011), the Council of Environmental Quality was created to ensure federal and state agencies assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions through scientific analysis and that decisions made include public involvement. Thus, the NEPA process provides the public with information about the Army’s decisions and a mechanism to become informed and involved in actions that impact their environment, health and quality of life. Department of the Army regulation 200-1, Environmental Protection and Enhancement (2007), requires â€Å"the Secretary of the Army to serve as trustee for the natural and cultural resources managed by the Army†. This designation also includes responsibility... ..., Vol. 65, No. 81, April 26, 2000 (p. 24595). Retrieved from http://www. archives.gov/ federal-register/executive-orders/2000.html Office of the Assistance Secretary of the Army for Installations and Environment. (2004). The Army Strategy for the Environment. Washington, D.C. Retrieved May 12, 2012, from http://www.asaie.army.mil/Public/ESOH/doc/ArmyEnvStrategy.pdf U.S. Army Environmental Command. (2011). About us. Retrieved May 12, 2012, from http://aec.army.mil/usaec/aboutus.html U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2012). National Environmental Policy Act. Retrieved May 12, 2012, from http://www.epa.gov/compliance/basics/nepa.html#federalrole U.S. Government Accountability Office Report to Congressional Committees (2008). Military Training Compliance with Environmental Laws. Retrieved May 19, 2012, from http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08407.pdf

American Square Dance

At one time, the square dance was omnipresent in rural America; but its golden age, if ever there was one, has passed. Today, it is noteworthy when a folklorist discovers a community with an unbroken tradition of square dancing, if only because it piques our interest as to why such practices endure in one place and not in another. Contemporary contexts for traditional square dance are, in fact, quite plentiful; but they persevere as isolated phenomena, largely hidden from the consciousness of the mainsream.The American square dance is the subject of a huge body of choreographic data, most of which was generated by dance educators and recreational specialists whose concerns lay apart from those of folklorists or ethnographers. Some of this descriptive material, especially some works published before World War II, are collections of regional repertoires and even, in a few cases, of localized traditions. Much of the dynamism of square dancing comes from turning motions, including rotati ons around a vertical axis and revolutions around the floor.In square dancing many rotations are energetic turns executed by two dancers together (not always opposite sex couples), but there are also more languid arcs circumscribed by enclosed circles of between three and eight dancers. In square dancing, women are often asked to make singular rotations or twirls, according to, on the one hand, traditional embellishments or, on the other hand, set variations taught by the local polka instructors. Most of the time, square dancers only step forward or stand in place.In a few instances, walking backward is called for, and a dancer will occasionally have to take a sideways step to the right or left. To accomplish this dizzying variety of spins and turns requires the manipulation of other parts of the body. The entire trunk is usually kept aligned with the line of gravity (and for all couple dances in general). It should also be noted that in the square dance walk, the dancer’s ce nter of gravity is moved slightly forward over the balls of the feet when compared to the ordinary walk.The kinesthetic sensation for the dancer is to feel as if his chest is leading the rest of his body. Arm movements in square dancing are important, but only in the context of reaching out to and grasping another dancer. The dancer reaches forward to join hands in one of three ways with another dancer, reaches to the side to hook elbows or put an arm around the waist of an adjacent dancer, or uses both hands or arms to grasp a dancer of the opposite sex in one of several stylized holds. These are known as the â€Å"swing† or â€Å"ballroom†, â€Å"courtesy turn† and â€Å"promenade† positions.Robert Bethke discusses square dancing in contemporary commercial or public settings in the Northeast, while offering very little movement data except to note the infrequency of square dances on the program in proportion to couple dances performed to popular or coun try music. What Bethke attends to is the dress and decorum of the dancers, their general age, the instrumental makeup of the band and the musical styles performed the participants’ levels of intoxication and the dancers’ incompetence relative to the past.Bethke goes into great detail on the repartee between the band leader and the audience, providing texts of some of the leader’s jokes. The inquiry on the history of square dance was first motivated in 1977 by the puzzle of why the German community around Hoagland took as its own an Anglo-American dance form. The cultural choices a folk group makes are historically conditioned. In the year previous to the first appearance of The English Dancing Master, the English and the Dutch had agreed on the borders of their North American colonies.Besides the Confederation of New England to the north and New Amsterdam in the Hudson Valley, the New World also had settlements of Swedes on the Delaware River and growing English colonies in Maryland and Virginia. In another thirty years, the first German immigrants would arrive, and, as the French consolidated their hold on the West, the first European settlement would be established at the headwaters of the Maumee River, near the Miami Indian village of Kekionga, the present site of Fort Wayne, Indiana.In the mid-eighteenth century, when the longways English country dance form was firmly established as the most popular form in European ballrooms, English emigration to the thirteen American colonies was in full sway. Along with the immigrants, and as a part of the continuing trade with the mother country, came terpsichorean skills, repertoire and paraphernalia. Not even the American Revolution disrupted these choreographic connections. Square dancing became a vital activity in nearly every rural nook and cranny through the first half of the twentieth century.In 1926, Henry Ford published â€Å"Good Morning†: After a Sleep of Twenty-five Years, Old-f ashioned is Being Revived, adding to a growing revival of interest in square dancing and other related forms of traditional American dance. In the twenties in New England, with an assist from the open air museum at Old Sturbridge, there was a growing awareness of that region’s vital and unique repertoire of country dances or contras (as cited by Tolman and Page).Indeed, Grace Ryan, a physical education instructor at Michigan’s Central State Teachers College, pioneered with an instructional manual on Dances of Our Pioneers, featuring the â€Å"quadrilles or square dances† which she collected at community dances and from local callers (Ryan). These efforts helped spark a square dance boom that was well underway in the late thirties when Lloyd Shaw, a Colorado high school principal, began to collect western figures that he taught to his students in place of the international folk dances promoted by other educators.Shaw’s performing square dancers from the Ch eyenne Mountain School garnered a great deal of renown for their exhibitions; and Shaw’s fame spread farther when he published these figures in 1939 in Cowboy Dances, an oft-reprinted volume. Besides the considerable impact wielded by his clear representation of seventy-plus figures, Shaw also sketched for Americans his view of the path traveled by this widespread variegated dance form: that the western square dance, one of three regional types, derived from an intermingling of the New England Quadrille and the running set from the southern highlands.Due to the prevalence of visiting couple figures in both the southeastern and western traditions, Shaw asserted that â€Å"the mainstream, I believe, heads in the Kentucky Mountains† (Shaw 27-31). This became the standard account of square dance history that would preface a multitude of instruction manuals published in the forties and fifties. Shaw was not alone, in those early days of the revival, in granting special stat us to the Southeastern square dance. J. Olcutt Sanders prepared a â€Å"Finding List of Southeastern Square Dance Figures† in 1942.He regarded the Southeastern square dance as a separate genre, referring to it variously as â€Å"the running set† and â€Å"the big set†, which could be characterized on the basis of internal evidence (Sanders 266). A decade later Elizabeth Burchenal extended this interpretation by crediting the supposed isolation of the southern highlands for the development of â€Å"our most indigenous dances,† including figures which â€Å"cannot be identified as transplantations† (Burchenal 20). By contrast, the Northeastern square dance, also called the New England quadrille, smacked of Gesunkenes Kulturgut.This was a cultural form that had trickled down to the folk from the cotillions and quadrilles of polite society in Europe and America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Then, as the twentieth century dawned, the Weste rn square dance emerged as a composite of movements and calls from both the Southeastern and Northeastern traditions blended with newly invented figures. Springing from America’s pervasive frontier experience, the Western idiom embodied the traits of practicality and inventiveness that historian Turner offered as keys to the American character (Turner 61).Thus the Western square dance was too new and too recreational to be regarded by folklorists as a survival of the archaic rituals hypothesized as the ultimate source of folk dance. The social symbolism school of interpretation takes in a much narrower scope, focusing on the local community rather than on national culture. David Winslow (1972) argued that the square dance is a set of â€Å"highly ritualized behavior patterns and mental processes† that help maintain social solidarity.Drawing heavily on sociologist Emile Durkheim, Winslow showed that the square dance served three social functions: (1) a cohesive function that imparts a group consciousness or sense of community, (2) a revitalizing function that â€Å"helps the group to renew the sentiment it has of itself and of its unity,† and (3) a euphoric function that provides â€Å"a pleasant feeling of social well-being† (Winslow 252-261). Not only the social interaction that takes place at a dance event, but also the square dance itself helps maintain and revitalize the interpersonal networks that constitute a rural community.For each category of the social structure represented at an event-couples, genders and the entire assembly, the â€Å"dancing behavior can be seen as expressive of the solidarity of that social unity. † The pervasive circle motif found at all structural levels of the square dance is a choreographic expression of the basic principles of equality of participation and social unity that are cultural ideals for this dancing. The basic square dance form found in New York, Pennsylvania and Hoagland, Indian a alike requires four couples for each square set. With each couple forming one side of the square.Each dance comprises two alternating parts: the break and a distinctive figure. In the break, a formulaic combination repeated from dance to dance, all eight dancers in the set participate simultaneously in equivalent and complementary roles: â€Å"circle left all eight,† â€Å"allemande left your corner,† â€Å"grand right and left around the ring,† and â€Å"meet your partner and promenade home. † The distinctive figure, unique to each discrete dance, is led by every couple in turn as they visit around the set and dance a series of formulaic moves with each of the other couples.At the end of each couple’s performance of the figure, and at the end of each repeat of the break, couples end up in their â€Å"home† or starting position. This structure, as it is danced in Pennsylvania, encapsulates well the comfortable fit between cultural form and social organization. Bert Feintuch discovered that the same basic form was used in domestic square dance events in south central Kentucky before the 1930s. According to his interpretative model, the stylized movements in the four-couple square dance affirmed both the pragmatic primacy of the couple in the dance and the symbolic primacy of the couple in the community.Thus he concluded that neighbors â€Å"symbolically acted out their norms of community† through dances â€Å"in which couples were the basic unit and their social networks – their neighborhoods – were represented as a bound unit, the square† (Feintuch 65). Square dancing, which emphasizes equality and reciprocity, is a local tradition actively treasured by many. The square dance has a long history as the symbolic action of choice (a sign) strategically called on to encompass (an interpretant) the emergent community (an object). Works Cited: Bethke, Robert D. â€Å"Old-Time Fiddling and Socia l Dance in Central St. Lawrence County.† New York Folklore Quarterly 30 (1974): 163-83. Burchenal, Elizabeth. â€Å"Folk Dances of the United States: Regional Types and Origins. † International Folk Music Journal 3 (1951): 18-21. Damon, Stephen Foster. The History of Square Dancing. Barre, MA: American Antiquarian Society, 1955. Feintuch, Burt. â€Å"Dancing to the Music: Domestic Square Dances and Community in Southcentral Kentucky (1880-1940). † Journal of the Folklore Institute 18 (1981): 49-68. Jackson, Frederick. â€Å"The Significance of the Frontier in American History. † Frontier and Sectino: Selected Essays of Frederick Jackson Turner. Ed. Ray Allen Billington.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1961. 37-62. Ryan, Grace L. Dances of Our Pioneers. New York: A. S. Barnes & Co. , 1926. Sanders, J. Olcutt. â€Å"Finding List of Southeastern Square Dance Figures. † Southern Folklore Quarterly 6 (1942): 263-75. Shaw, Lloyd. Cowboy Dances: A Coll ection of Western Square Dances. Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers, 1939. Tolman, Beth, and Ralph Page. The Country Dance Book: The Best of the Early Contras and Squares. Brattleboro, VT: Stephen Greene Press, 1976. Winslow, David John. â€Å"The Rural Square Dance in the Northeastern United States: A Continuity of Tradition. † University of Pennsylvania, 1972.