Drug Wars In Mexico: Overview of Cartels

Drug Wars In Mexico: Overview of Cartels A wise man once said, Im the king of the trap, El Chapo Jr, this man was 2 Chainz. Im talking about El Chapo and Mexican drug wars in general. Unlike most other research paper topics, drug wars are going on right now. In fact, from the time that you woke up yesterday morning to the time that you went to sleep last night, about 103 people died because of the drug war. Mexican drug wars are the result of killing for money, long time gang feuds, and because of the actions of high level drug lords. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has made progress in stopping the drug violence. He has done things such as dropping homicide numbers 30% and arresting Joaquin Guzman in 2014. Money is the main reason for The Drug War. If it wasnt for the billions of dollars involved, most people probably wouldnt get involved in the lifestyle. Mexico, on average, spends about $431,000,000 per year on illegal drugs. Mexican authorities have revealed that drug cartels earn an estimated $64,340,000,000 per year off of the United States alone! That is enough money to buy every NBA and NFL franchise (therichest.com). Its not only large industries that make billions of dollars. Forbes Magazine estimated that his net worth is in the billions. The United States Government announced that a $5,000,000 reward was waiting for anyone who gave information leading to his location and arrest. Car ·tel (kà ¤rˈtel) n. An association of manufacturers or suppliers with the purpose of maintaining prices at a high level and restricting competition. Drug cartels pretty much run Mexico. The three main cartels in Mexico are the Tijuana, Sinaloa, and the Mara Salvatrucha Cartel. The Tijuana Cartel traces back the the Sinaloa State. Founded in the 1960s, the founders were Pedro Aviles Perez, Rafael Caro Quintero, and Ernesto Fonseca. It is important to note that the gang is a shell of what it was in the late 1990s (Insight Crime, 2015). The Sinaloa Cartel, often described as the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization in the Western Hemisphere, is where the famous drug lord, El Chapo, thrives from (Insight Crime, 2015). El Mayo is second in command with the Sinaloa. While El Chapo has been sidelined in jail for short periods of time El Mayo takes over and handles things to perfection. El Mayo is a 68 year old man that has been in the business his whole life. He was the leader of El Chapos escape from prison in 2001 and in 2015. The origins can be traced back to Guadalajara cartel. In 1985 the cartel was involved in the 1985 torture and murder of a U.S. drug enforcement agent. While Mexico and the United States were on the hunt for whoever was behind all of this the cartel split up into multiple groups. The Sinaloa Cartel came out the most powerful. The Mara Salvatrucha Cartel is considered the most powerful street gang in the Western Hemisphere. They rob and bully their way into neighborhoods and have turned to crimes such as human smuggling and drug trafficking. The Mara Salvatrucha Cartel (MS13) was founded in the barrios of Los Angeles in the 1980s. The gang was made from immigrants to the United States because of a civil war going on in El Salvador, their previous home. The gangs members are often decorated with tattoos all over their body, and often on their face. National Security and Foreign Affairs Reporter JP Carroll said, MS-13 tattoos partially mean loyalty to the group or family, but they mainly demonstrate the identification to a specific lifestyle, representing the culture of the street. Also in this scenario, tattoos were like like a baptism of the member into a group, representing the turning point of the appartenance (The Daily Caller). El Chapo is right behind Pablo Escobar when it comes to most notorious drug lords in history. El Chapo was born in La Tuna somewhere from 1954-1957. There are no existing birth certificates of him that we know of. El Chapo is a professional at escaping prison. His latest escape was in 2015 from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, New York. He escaped through a 60 foot deep tunnel leading him to freedom. In the 10th-floor Special Housing Unit, known by its acronym, the SHU, pronounced like the shoe, around a dozen prisoners spend 23 hours a day in 20-by-12-foot cells, prohibited from communicating with one another. Meals are eaten in cells, and exercise is in a recreation area specifically for these inmates (Fox News). El Chapo has a lot of power in Mexico and all over the world. He became the Sinaloa Cartel leader in 1980 and needless to say, hes a billionaire. The Mexican Drug Wars will end soon. The FBI is cracking down on leaders more and more every day. Drug lords like El Chapo are always going to be on the run, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has already made a ridiculous amount of progress but he wont be stopped until the fighting stops. The Mexican people live in fear every day. The people of Columbia believed that just because you are involved in the drug scene doesnt make you a bad person. Pablo Escobar is known as a hero in Columbia. He took care of the people of his country. The people of Columbia saw him as a father.Behind every crime is a story of sadness- Enrique Pena Nieto. Works Cited Crime, InSight. Tijuana Cartel. InSight Crime | Organized Crime In The Americas. Insight Crime, 17 Nov. 2015. Web. 27 Feb. 2017. Drug Cartel. Britannica School, Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, 6 May. 2016. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/drug-cartel/607942#334007.toc. Accessed 7 Feb. 2017. Enrique Peà ±a Nieto. Britannica School, Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, 12 Jan. 2017. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Enrique-Pe%C3%B1a-Nieto/599569. Accessed 7 Feb. 2017. Joaquà ­n Guzmà ¡n Loera. Britannica School, Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, 19 Jan. 2017. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Joaqu%C3%ADn-Guzm%C3%A1n-Loera/600397. Accessed 7 Feb. 2017. Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). Britannica School, Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, 26 May. 2016. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Mara-Salvatrucha/627101. Accessed 7 Feb. 2017. Post, Latin. How Mexican Drug Cartels Earn Billions in Drug Trade. Latin Post. KJ Marino, 03 Feb. 2016. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.

Internal And External Business Environment Of Bunzl Plc

Bunzl is one of the world’s fastest growing specialist distribution groups in international market. The groups specialized in providing one-stop-shop for customers within several business sectors. The business includes producing a range of product including outsourced food packaging, disposable supplies and cleaning and safety products, caterers, non-food retail, hotels, etc. Its operations spread across North America, Europe and Australasia. Within this paper, we will focus more on the retail sector of Bunzl’s business environment.The company existed as far as 1854, as a haberdashery business founded by Moritz Bunzl in Slovakia, but it was not named Bunzl plc until 1940. The Bunzl family transmigrated to US and Europe and formed Tissue Paper Limited, the original name for Bunzl plc. During its early years, the company enters various types of business some of them were successful and some other are failures. Going through several changes of direction, the company did no t loose its existence in local as well as international market.Today, the company is a focused international value added distribution and outsourcing group, with the addition of Filtrona, a supplier of fibre and plastic technology products to international niche markets, listed as a separate entity (‘History’, 2006). Within this paper, I will perform an analysis on the internal and external business environment of Bunzl plc. The following chapter will elaborate how the company manages its internal conditions during its daily operations. The next chapter is about the external conditions of the retail sectors, and the challenges it brought to Bunzl plc.In the later part of the paper, there will be a short analysis on how best Bunzl perform its strategic management to face corporate challenges. II. Internal Strategic Environment of Bunzl Plc II. 1 Bunzl Core Competencies Bunzl has formulated a range of corporate mission to guide its steps in daily operations. The company s upported manufacturers who assist in satisfying customers’ needs for the benefit of all. It aims to provide services of such excellence that customers prefer Bunzl as their supplier regardless of the brand and product they select (‘About Bunzl Distribution’, 2006).If all successful companies have their own values that describe their competitive advantages, for Bunzl, it is the effective and creative utilization of technology. The company has only a single and uniform hardware and software platform to operate its business. The main data center of the company resides at its Corporate Headquarters in St Louis. The facility includes UPS generator, dual A/C and redundant telecommunications. The company also has a ‘hot site’ disaster recovery center where all transaction data are relayed to this site as a protection from natural disaster (‘Bunzl plc – Major Products and Services’, 2006).The company has a real time software system consis t of order processing, purchasing, receiving, billing, sales, warehousing, distribution and accounting modules. All locations of Bunzl operations are equipped with those software and all of them are connected to a centralized database repository, which is maintained by corporate IT staff. The company also maintains a National Accounting Customers system that provides customers from all over the country with standardized reports (including fill rates, sales tracking, item utilization, etc).In the retail sector, the company has an extensive network of distribution centers that serves retail supermarkets. Using the technology elaborated above, the company aims to maintain the quality of its services. Furthermore, it utilizes e-commerce facilities for online ordering and EDI computer-based technologies to support its ongoing strategies to increase productivity, service quality and achieved their ‘packaged of performance’ slogan. E-commerce technology is also used to continu e explore new business opportunities.These new business opportunities might be pursued in the form of internal growth as well as acquisition of new business (‘Bunzl plc – Major Products and Services’, 2006). II. 2 Product and Market Management Bunzl retail segment grocery customers include small, regional and national supermarket chains as well as warehouse grocery stores. The retail segment provided Bunzl’s customers with disposable packaging, supplies and carryout items. The retail outsourcing segment has a fleet of over 370 trucks, operating through 83 locations in North America and serving all 50 states, plus Canada and Mexico (‘Bunzl plc- Business Description’, 2006).The company is the leading distributor of disposable paper and plastic packaging supplies to the retail grocery industry. This includes the self-distributing chains and wholesalers. Bunzl is the company who is recognized for revolutionizing the outsourcing industry. The compa ny revolutionized that industry by developing sophisticated marketing, procurement and logistics systems designed to lower the delivered costs of supplies. Within this retail sector, Bunzl offers customers three types of logistics systems, which are: ? Direct-Store-Door (DSD), which constitutes a direct delivery to customers stores and supermarkets? Warehouse Replenishment System, which describes a just-in-time delivery system to customers’ warehouses instead of to customers’ retail stores. ? Cross Docking, which describes a system that serves clients in accordance to their individual stores’ needs? It is a system of individualized store-ready deliveries. (‘Bunzl plc- Business Description’, 2006) II. 3 Financial and Performance Management From the figures displayed in their financial report, the company displayed an increasing amount of sales and net profit during the last decade.This displayed a considerable growth of market share which is an impor tant indicator of overall corporate performance. The profit margin and operational ratios also display positive indication. A more detailed data revealed that the company made ? 2,182 million from sales in the year 2000, while in the year 2005; the sales number went up to ? 2,916 million. Other sales numbers between the two periods indicated a stable increase of corporate performance. The operating profit account of 2000 displayed a number of ? 165 million, while in 2005, this number changes to ? 205 million.The number between the years also displayed a stable rate of increase. Other accounts from the income statement as well as the balance sheet indicated that the company manages their resources in a very presentable manner. II. 4 Human Resource and Culture Management In terms of human resource management, the company aims to provide employees with real jobs since the fist day of work. This means that the company will expect high quality of working performance, but not before all e mployees are provided with training that involves practical experience as well as formal programs.The company has high expectations on key personal skills such as teamwork, leadership, self-development, innovation and creativity. Maintaining these programs, Bunzl aims to: ? Increase employees’ personal effectiveness by concentrating on the tried and tested techniques used by managers and specialist around the world. ? Improve employees’ financial understanding by providing them with programs that educated employees to interpret financial information and make decisive contribution to the key financial ratios of the business? Help employees to concentrate on team working and enablement, making each of them realized that enablement of individuals are crucial to a team’s success, etc Graduates that joined with Bunzl stated that Bunzl has a carefully structured training scheme, which covers a wide range of areas and gives trainees exposure to the whole organization. They stated that the company only take few graduates but tend to be encouraging in the process of developing their practical as well as decisive skills. They also mentioned that the company values teamwork and equality in performing team tasks.III. External Business Environment of Bunzl Plc III. 1 Macro Environment (PEST Analysis) ? Political Politically, the company did not have many obstacles that harm growth. The company operates in foreign markets, but limited to the regions of North America, Europe and Australasia, in which, political business restrictions are minimum. Because Bunzl do not perform business activities in China or in other Asian economy, the business experiences minimum complications when it comes to government regulations, market entrance and tax.The company also has a reputation of providing employees with equal work treatment, this keeps all problems of race and nationality away forms Bunzl operations (Desloge, 2005). Furthermore, Bunzl plc is officially headq uartered in London, who provided it with a slightly lighter burden of taxation. Nevertheless, because most of the group’s operations are in countries with higher tax rate (US and European countries); the taxation charge recorded for Bunzl in its financial report could be higher that the UK base rate.For instance, in 2004 the recorder tax rate was 32%, which is slightly higher that the nominal UK rate of 30%. Another political obstacle is the approval of regulators in foreign country. This is because a country’s government where Bunzl interests in needs to protect local players. Therefore, politically, the objective of Bunzl to enter new market in a foreign countries might be delayed due to regulation to protect local players. ? Economic The retail segment is naturally a capital intensive business. Retail companies generally perform considerable borrowing actions which will be paid-off gradually by years of profit.In the case of Bunzl, the company has been on the busine ss for decades and therefore, has already a low debt to capital ratio. In order words, the company no longer has to carry the heavy burden of interest rates. Nevertheless, the company performed numerous large acquisitions in its operational years that new borrowings are made occasionally. For example, the net interest charge for continuing operations increased to ? 10. 8 million from ? 2. 9 million because increased average borrowings due to recent acquisitions (‘Bunzl eyes more acquisitions’. 2006).Environmentally, only a small portion of the increase in interest charge is caused by fluctuation of interest rates. The environments in which Bunzl performs its operations are comparatively stable. The translation issue also has a weak influence over corporate profitability. Any fluctuation would not cause changes to more than 1% of sales number. According to Porter and Ketels (2003), within the last two decades, the UK economy had shown some excellent economic metrics. The y also said that the awareness on the issues of competitiveness had also increased significantly.This situation had helped the country to improve the country’s prosperity since there is an increase in the level of labor force utilization (hours worked per employee, employment rate, and labor force participation rate). In addition, they found that the country had experienced good growth in labor productivity while the country’s export market share and the attractiveness of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) were still stable. Despite the excellent performance in some economics metrics, Porter and Ketels (2003) pointed out that UK still lag many other advanced economies.They said while labor utilization is at high level, the country still face low labor productivity (Porter and Ketels, 2003). ? Socio-cultural Concerning the socio-cultural aspects, the company might consider following questions like, what are the attitudes toward foreign products. How strong are the environm ental issues? Are they important to address especially if we are embarking on international markets? (â€Å"PEST Analysis†). Under such circumstances, the customers and manufacturer/service providers, like Bunzl are closely related.It further influences the way Bunzl interacts with their suppliers in order to ensure the products tailored to fit their customers’ needs and faster delivery. In the socio-cultural aspect, the company does not deal with extreme differences of culture, as faced by other multinationals. On the other hand, the company faces a slightly more demanding corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. Modern communities in the North America, Europe and Australasian region are more aware of the importance of a good CSR practice by multinationals.In the case of Bunzl plc, besides ensuring all-ethical operational processes, the company also performs various community investments. There is no apparent socio-cultural debacle in the corporate history. ? Technological The technological environment provided a tremendous chance for growth to Bunzl. The company lives within an advanced society where access to technology is practically limitless. The technology provided the company with the potential to increase the quality of its outsourcing services. For example, Bunzl can develop centralized procurement system, which employs computerized system as shown in the following figure:

Types of Ancient Greek Medicine

What do these three have in common? AsclepiusChironHippocrates Have you heard of a healing god of Greece called Asclepius or Asculapius? He was Apollos son, but his divine parentage didnt keep him alive after he became too good at his craft, depriving the Underworld gods of their denizens. Alongside the mythology about demigods bringing the dead back to life and a centaur who taught generations of heroes how to tend to their future, battle or quest-incurred wounds, were Greek thinkers and observers who furthered the craft of healing to what we would probably consider scientific levels. Ancient Greece is considered the home of rational medicine and the Hippocratic Oath, but that doesnt mean they rejected all forms of religious healing. Alternative and scientific medicine co-existed in the ancient world just as they do today. Lyttkens says that healing cults took an upswing at the time of the birth of secular medicine and doctors sacrificed to the healing god Asclepius. There were, of course, magicians, charlatans, and quacks, as well as midwives. The main divisions, according to G. M. A. Grube, were temple medicine, medicine connected with physical training, and the medicine of the medical schools. Medical Schools The two most important medical schools were those of Cos (Kos) and Cnidos (Knidos). Cos and Cnidos are in Asia Minor where there was contact with Asia and Egypt, as well as Greece. Practitioners from both these schools did not believe illness was connected with the supernatural. Treatment was holistic, involving diet and exercise. Typical physicians were itinerant craftsmen, although some physicians became public doctors (archiatros poleos) or attached to a household. They practiced rational medicine rather than deducing from philosophical theory. Temple Medicine The two main healing sanctuaries were located in Cos (again; remember religious and secular medicine were not mutually exclusive) and the birthplace of Asclepius, Epidauros (dating from the end of the 6th century). Following a sacrifice, treatment included incubation by which was meant the patient went to sleep. Upon awakening he would either be cured or have received divine instruction in a dream that would be interpreted by experienced priests. Gymnasium Gymnastic treatment, based on experience, relied mainly on athletic training and hygiene (mens sana in corpore sano). Henry says that the trainers were like chemists (druggists/pharmacists) to the Aesclepian priests. Gymnasium personnel administered enemas, bled, dressed wounds and ulcers, and treated fractures. The sophist Herodicus is called the father of gymnastic medicine. He may have taught Hippocrates. Sources Greek Medicine and the Greek Genius, G. M. A. Grube, Phoenix, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Winter, 1954), pp. 123-135Health, Economics and Ancient Greek Medicine,Carl Hampus LyttkensJanuary 2011Lectures On The History Of Medicine (Concluded), Alexander Henry, The British Medical Journal, Vol. 1, No. 172 (Apr. 14, 1860), pp. 282-284