Mexican Drug War Essay

Mexican Drug War Introduction The Mexican Drug War is perhaps the deadliest and most devastating battle this country has encountered in it’s history. Its’ violence affects both civilians and its’ very culture. Since 2006, the border of Mexico has been a place of hostility, turmoil, and outright warfare which has transitioned throughout the countryside. Unlike traditional military solutions, Mexico and the United States must work together to quell the hostility by creating economic opportunities for those in Mexico, stop the flow of drugs into the US, and stop the feed of guns into Mexico. Background The Mexican Drug War is based in Mexico, although the United States can be blamed for making a large contribution to it. Mexican organizations that deal in illegal activities started during the US prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s. It seems that when there is a demand for an item in the US and no supply, Mexico has always been there to supplement our â€Å"needs†. A Mexican Cartel is a criminal organization developed with the main purpose of promoting and controlling drug trafficking operations both interstate and intrastate. They range from loosely managed business agreements among various drug traffickers to formal commercial enterprises. The main Mexican Cartels consist of the Sinaloa, Gulf, La Familia, Tijuana, Beltran, and Juarez cartels. These cartels cover the majority of the territory in Mexico. There are two main cartels that control most of the market, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Gulf Cartel. The Sinaloa Cartel is led by a man nicknamed â€Å"El Chapo†. He was in jail in 2001 but escaped allegedly in a laundry basket. He is the most wanted man in the world with a bounty of eighty-seven million dollars. No one has drawn so much law enforcement attention since Al Capone. He and the Sinaloa Cartel are so successful that he has his own Forbes profile, he is estimated to be worth one billion dollars, making him the 1140th richest man in the world and the 55th most powerful. There are also allegations that the Sinaloa Cartels teamed up with the the Mexican government to take out other cartels. The Gulf Cartel is reknowned for hiring a private mercenary army of corrupt elite military soldiers to work for them in 2001. The Sinaloa and Gulf Cartels worked together as partners up until February 2010, when their partnership dissolved. The dissolution  was so involved and violent that it turned some border towns into ghost towns. (Mexico’s Drug Wars). Most recreational drugs are outlawed in the United States and the main ones Mexico supplies are marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamines, and heroin. Marijuana has accounted for 858,408 arrests in 2009 in the US. It can have a lasting effect on young people with effects such as â€Å"structural and functional deficits of the brain†. Cocaine is a very dangerous drug, due to its power to get people hooked very quickly. The effects are scabs on mucus membrane, damage to the nasal septum, and eventually make your nose collapse. Heroin is a very addictive drug, in fact, one fourth of the people who try it, become addicts. The effects are infection of the heart lining and the valves, liver disease, lung disease, hepatitis and HIV/AIDS from needle use. Methamphetamine is a highly addictive drug that can cause loss of weight, teeth, the development of scabs and open sores on the face. It can also cause psycotic behaviors, such as paranoia, hallucinations, and delusions. ( Above the Influe nce) Defining the Problem In the city Juarez, a border city next to El Paso, violence has escalated to a point that people are actually moving their businesses to El Paso for safety precautions. The Mexican National death toll for the month of January 2013 was issued and it had 1104 related to the Mexican Drug War, that is an average of 34.45 deaths per day during that month. Juarez is the best example of how the Mexican drug war can ruin a town. The deaths in Mexico from the drug war amount to about 60,000 since 2006; 67 reporters, 3,500 officers, and over 1000 children. It has displaced over 1.6 million people, many of whom were forced to leave their possessions behind. The violence is astounding and is the main problem in this war. ( Mexico’s Drug War Violence and the Role the United States Plays) and (An Uneasy CoExistence: Security and Migration Along the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez Border) Causes There may be corruption in the Mexican government, and there is no way to be sure. They have denied everything, but claims say otherwise. If this is true, there has to be a new power in the Mexican government. Certain allegations say that the government has been turning a blind eye towards the  activities of the cartels or have taken bribes. When the cartels are allowed to run free, lives are lost. (Key issues on Obama’s Mexico trip: Trade, immigration, and drug war) The demand for drugs seems to be ingrained in the American culture. There are movies that portray the taking of drugs as a very cool, and natural thing to do, when really it can destroy lives. As long as we accept drugs as the thing to do, we will keep relying on the drugs that come from Mexico. Positions/Perspectives People all see the Mexican drug war with different views, and many want to approach it different ways. The world leaders are the people with the most influential views. United States President Barack Obama has said that the US will try to prevent demand for drugs and stop the illegal sale of guns but legalizing drugs is not our best choice. â€Å" I personally, and my administration’s position is, that legalization is not the answer†. (Key issues on Obama’s Mexico trip: Trade, immigration, and drug war) Pena Nieto, the current president of Mexico, has said that creating more economic opportunities for the citizens of Mexico will turn out to be Mexico’s greatest solution. Countrymen and others have to go to the drug cartels to make money and pay the bills, but when there are more choices for people, they don’t give the drug cartels life.( Key issues on Obama’s Mexico trip: Trade, immigration, and drug war) Another top Mexican official has said â€Å" Economically, there is no argument or solution other than legalization, at least of marijuana.† . He said that it would move nearly all production of marijuana to California. He also said â€Å" Mexico’s objective should be to make the US self sufficient in marijuana.† Also three former Latin American presidents have said that governments should very seriously consider the legalization of marijuana. (Saving Mexico) Solutions Overview of the US and Mexico working together efficiently means the US doing its part in stopping illegal gun sales and trying to douse the demand for drugs by its citizens while Mexico must attempt to stop the violence, and create more economic opportunities for people. Analysis of Solutions The US needs to regulate its gun laws. The Mexican authorities have seized 70,000 weapons of US origin from 2007 to 2011. When there are no guns, there  are no fire fights in the streets of Mexico. The guns going to Mexico are just gasoline on the fire. ( Mexico’s Drug War Violence and the Role the United States Plays) The countrymen of Mexico are subjected to producing for the cartels, and have no where else to go, but with more jobs and choices they are able to avoid this dirty work and go do anything else. (Mexico’s Drug War and the Role the United States Plays) If you can clear the drug cartel out of one town, you save that town. There may be other towns that need to be saved, but if you can make a difference in that one town, the difference will mean the world to them. Locally Mexico needs to try and fix a town at a time. Legalization of marijuana could be the best option, but according to the president, that cannot happen, off the table, not possible. The most efficient and effective solution is that Mexico and America work together by stopping the guns coming coming in and increasing the job diversity in Mexico. Conclusion

“School Ties” Film Analysis

I have decided to watch movie† School Ties† because it talks about Americans college students from 1950s and their way of looking at race and religion. ‘School Ties' addresses the prevalent anti-Semitism views in the USA. But it also presents discrimination and social pressure to ‘fit in', the urge to deny one's ideals and beliefs in order to be accepted by environment. Main character of the movie David Green is a Jewish kid who is very talented in football, this skill gets him a full scholarship to an exclusive New England Prep School and thereby a one in a million chance to get into Harvard.At the beginning of the movie we can see that David has to pay a high price because of his Jewish heritage. Before living to school David stopped at the local teen hangout to say goodbye to his friends, while doing it he get taunted by a member of a rival gang and called â€Å"Jewish buster†, after hearing that remark David fought him, it seems like he is used to g etting respect from others by force. On the arrival day at the new school, David is advised by the sports coach to keep his Jewishness to himself.It is upsetting to know that even school officials are not able to tolerate his religion. Later, in the dormitory, David meets his upper-class schoolmates who are patently anti-Semitic, more because it's the commonly accepted attitude than for any specific, personal reasons. Their casually spoken remarks bother David, but he does not react to it because he wants to fit in. He realizes that they'll tolerate his not being as rich or as connected as them better than the fact of him being Jewish.David is willing to sacrifice a lot in order to be part of the group, even though it compromises his upbringing. He hides his Jewishness because he knows the reaction it will provoke. Yet he still sneaks off in the middle of the night to celebrate the Jewish New Year. In the middle of the movie fact of David being a Jew comes out and at that moment his world falls apart. Each of David's classmates reacts differently to the realization that they have made friends with a Jew. These reactions vary from cautious acceptance to outright condemnation .Although most of David's classmates, blatantly and continuously proclaims that Jews are dirty, greedy, and worthless. His new friends do not want to have anything to do with him, his girlfriend dumps him and explains that she does not want to be ridiculed by others and hear comments of† how it is to kiss a Jew† David has a hard time understanding entire situation; he's still the same person after all. He confronts his room-mate Chris, who tries to pretend it isn't so much about being a Jew as about having lied to them.According to him David should have told him from the beginning that he was a Jew. David defends himself by pointing out that Chris hadn't told him about being a Methodist. Ostracized on all sides, David now faces harassment nasty remarks in the dining room and the n a Nazi banner in his room saying â€Å"Go home Jew† During the history exam one of the boys cheats and loses a copy chit he was using, Professor finds it and requires the cheater to admit; unfortunately no one is ready to take the blame. Therefore boys trying to decide themselves which one of them is guilty.Boys spending long time debating and their votes are divided between David and Dillon. By the end they decide to blame David because of his Jewish heritage, when David’s roommate is trying to defend him one of the boys makes a mean remark toward him saying â€Å"You rather give up one of us for the price of a stupid Jew†. Boys ending up in favor of Dillon and force David to admit something he had not done. David is told to go and admit his ‘crime' to the Principal. Deeply hurt, David sees no other way than to comply with this obvious ganging up. He goes to the Principal's Office and takes the blame.But, fortunately, the truth came out because one of t he boys who saw Dillon cheated informs school officials before David admits. Dillon is summarily expelled and David is asked to stay on. The Principal wants to ‘forget' the incident even happened, but David refuses to do so. â€Å"You used me for football†, he says, â€Å"Now I'll use you to get into Harvard†. The movie presents many types of microagression while analyzing it we can easily distinguish microassault that refers to verbal and nonverbal attack to convey discriminatory and biased sentiments.In the movie boys intentionally attack David verbally and nonverbally when they find out that he is Jewish, it is definitely an example of overt discrimination. On every occasion they freely express derogatory feelings and opinions that they hold against David’s â€Å"otherness†. It is really upsetting that actions like that are going on in one of the most prestigious Colleges that should actually be an example to others of how to treat diversity, ins tead of discriminating it should teach acceptance and tolerance.I really enjoy a movie and I believe It well presents a struggle that every one of us could have facing such a great opportunities. Deciding between religion which is part of our identity or being successful in academic career can be pretty challenging task. I think film â€Å"School ties† brought into a discussion a real issue which is very relevant, we all want to be part of dominant group and in order to do so we often must gave up some part of our identity which is distinct, unfortunately such a decision will never make us fully satisfied with ourselves.

Property and Computer Crimes Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Property and Computer Crimes - Research Paper Example This is a serious implication on the criminal justice system. False imprisonment may actually start with framing. It corrupts the justice process by trivializing the evidence it is supposed to rely on to give a ruling in the cases before it. It presents no particular harm to the defendant who may falsify the evidence to escape prosecution. On the contrary, it renders the criminal justice system impotent and not capable of instilling justice. Falsifying evidence jeopardizes the criminal justice system, in fact, more than the victim. When that happens, we are only addressing the harm done to the criminal justice system and not the person falsely imprisoned. If one of the basic functions of criminal law is to condemn any conduct that society considers blameworthy, then false imprisonment seriously implicates it (Brenner, 2010). This refers to forcefully seizing a person and taking him/her to a place where he/she is unlikely to be found with the aim of holding him/her for ransom or abducting him/her with the intention of harassing him/her either physically, mentally or sexually, taking him/her hostage and several other reasons (Legal-explanations.com 2007). According to Gilmore, kidnapping charges have serious implications on the criminal justice system. While the perpetrator may be sentenced to 15 years, this could potentially yield to a mere three to nine years. This looks like an injustice, considering the immensity of the crime committed. The criminal justice system involves the filing of charges followed by the issuance of a warrant of arrest then the transmission of an extradition request all which make the process of prosecution. However, each case determines itself. The criminal justice system does not necessarily guarantee the return of the kidnapped child and this may delay and complicate the due process of law. Perhaps this

Distinguish between the public and private aspects of human sexuality Research Paper - 1

Distinguish between the public and private aspects of human sexuality - Research Paper Example essed by profound emotions or feelings, and that might be established in physical anxieties about the public aspects of sexual conduct (Harold & Hobby, 17) Human sexuality is a discipline of study and research which focuses on each and every aspect of humans as sexual beings. Mainly, human sexuality comprises much more than the human anatomy and sexual responses, but integrates how human beings engage in relationships and conducts that determine their desires and sexual individuality as well as their overall well-being, sexual health, and their expression and perceptions (Neil, 32). Understanding and studying the human sexuality stretches way beyond the private and public aspect of its sense. Its study includes having a complete thoughtful and enriching emotional prospects and also improving self-knowledge, one’s identity, and awareness of morals and ideals. Regardless of one’s background, tradition, faith, or culture human sexuality will always play a vital part in people’s lives from their early ages until old age (Harold & Hobby, 18). Understanding and undergoing sexual issues, behaviors, and in which ways they are involved in our environment and our daily lives determine how we respond to specific situations, other individuals, and most vital, human relationships. Human sexuality has got a lot to do with emotional rejoinders such as morals, self-worth, and responsibilities. There exists several delusions as well as actual truths that are involved in perception of human sexuality (Harold & Hobby, 17). Among the private human relationships that are sheltered by the freedom are human sexual relationships. Ways in which individuals express their sexuality is a basic part of private aspect of human sexuality (Neil, 32). The Human Rights Committee together with the European Courts have considered sexual life to be an integral part of individual’s privacy and in present years have ruled that any law that prohibits acts of homosexuality contain an

Data Warehouse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Data Warehouse - Essay Example The data warehousing is a multi-task activity and it quite different from traditional transaction-oriented operational database management activity. It involves various state – of – art application tools and techniques for aggregating and thereby summarizing large amounts of data that assists in an effective data management and retrial. A state-of-the-art application in the data warehousing is one that can achieve a near-real-time situation. Most organizations call for immediate decision-making, which needs real-time analysis, and presentation of decision-making. Many data warehouse applications achieve this by shortening the loading cycles using micro batch ETL. These applications have unique characteristics which include: highly scalable data mining algorithms, ease of integration with other components, efficient and secure in database processes, ease of use and user-friendliness and can support relevant standards. It is, however, important to have proper consideratio ns while choosing the methodology to use in the implementation of the applications and also the entire system. Two options are available. Both of the approaches have both advantages and disadvantages; therefore, the organization should consider the individual components and the nature of activities before deciding which approach to use. In any case, it is important to consider factors such as the volume of work, user technical skills, availability of budget and the time available to carry out the activity. (Prabhu, and Venkatesan, 20). What Have Been Notable Successes that We Can Emulate? There are numerous notable success stories of organization that can be emulated. One of such stories is Hallmark Cards. Hallmark Cards with $3.6 billion in annual sales and 20,000 employees, is a leader in the personal expressions industry. It has approximately 40,000 products selling through over 40,000 retail outlets. Since as a personal expression industry, it was very critical for the company business to understand what is happening at retail outlets in order to react quickly to changes in the environment. Hallmark utilized the warehouse environment with data mart along with decision support system (DSS) to help his management to understand market environment to launch a major new product line. By using data mart,

Management accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 7

Management accounting - Essay Example This is a growing market as evident from the fact that  £ 85 billion is spent annually on UK tourism, especially London. About 50 % of this is by overseas visitors and the rest are by UK residents in day trips and staying away from home (UK-Culture, 2007). The book will be marketed to both the tourists and business visitors alike, as business tourism is also becoming increasingly common. In 2005, business tourism accounted to about 8 million visits to London (UK-Culture, 2007). The shareholders of the company will invest  £ 5,000 for the company. Another  £ 30,000 will be taken as a long term loan from the family with instalment payments starting from the third year with a standard rate of 0 % and in a period of 9 years. A loan of  £ 25,000 from NatWest bank will be availed at an interest rate of 6.4 % APR. The estimated sales for the initial year of operations are about 6,173 units. This amounts to an average sale of 515 units per month in the first year. The tourist industry in London is always active and the company estimates to sell all of the 515 units produced in the month irrespective of the season. The sales volume is presented in Appendix 2. The cash for the sales made in the month are collected within the end of the month (i.e., within a maximum period of 30 days). This way, the company will be able to maintain effective liquidity. The suppliers will be paid in two instalments, 50 % on purchase date and the remaining 50 % after 30 days. The books will be made based on a just in time strategy, thus reducing the inventory to zero. This will enable the company to effectively safe on storage costs as well. A total of 6,173 units will be sold in the first year and there will not be any closing stock in the monthly budget, as all the 525 units manufactured in the month will be sold. The initial inventory will be zero at start

Nursing care for dying children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nursing care for dying children - Essay Example Hockenberry and Wilson (2013: 9) provide frameworks in which RN’s should operate under to ensure a child’s wellbeing. Ewing (2009:83) encourages nurses to promote healing given the fact that death remains inevitable. Hockenberry and Wilson (2013) echo the sentiment; they give avenues in which the nurse may interact with the patient without affecting his or her thinking ability. The choices to be made are personal and need not to be interfered with. Child’s welfare needs to be included while caring for them. Giving hope and creating an ample environment would be useful in the Care of Dying Children. Ewing (2009) provides two possibilities in the care; they include paediatric palliative care and end- of- life intervention. The patient according to the article needs to be joyful and given hope while at the nurse’s care. It gives an example of the child being asked to draw pictures of his or her joyful moments in life. Ewing (2009: 83) indicates that those children suffering for terminal illnesses suffer from low esteem and other personality disorder. He indicates that most of the children perceive themselves to be different from the rest. Hockenberry and Wilson (2013) introduce an aspect of anticipatory socialization, which tend to make children feel equal even with strangers. The aspect according to Ewing is lost to children with terminal illnesses. The author advocates for psychological support where the child would be used to identify a problem and the nurse act as an intermediary in offering solution. The author also suggests communication as an aspect in caring for dying children. The article gives incidences in which communication may be used in managing personality disorders among the children. The family being an important unit in the care of the children, Hockenberry and Wilson (2013) suggest their involvement in the management of children with terminal illnesses. Ewing

Human resource management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Human resource management - Essay Example 39). In short, it will act as the roadmap to all the processes required in the recruitment process. The idea of an organisation chart is to ensure that there are no regrets after the process such as having hired the wrong persons, or ending up with people who cannot adhere to the organisation’s demands and objectives. Jobs in different fields will have different [market] demands. In short, a job in medicine will not have the same recruitment descriptions as in the technological sector. Therefore, recruitment theories dictate that for effectiveness in interviewing, recruiting, and retaining employees, it is mandatory to have a specific job description for every available position. For instance, in this technological context, there may be a system administrator’s job vacancy. As such, it will be the duty of the human resources department to make it known to potential applicants that they should possess skills such as computer networking, knowledge in operating systems, computer security, and the ability to make other IT-related solutions. In having the specific required job descriptions, the organisation will attract applicants who know what is required of them, who are competent, and those who will not require extra resources before deciding on whether or not they fit the job. Job descriptions not only simplify the task for the organisation but also for the applicants. According to the subjective factor theory, job applicants will require more than just the financial offer of job descriptions. They will also demand to learn about an organisation’s reputation and what it requires of them before they present their applications. This is because a job should fulfill the financial, psychological, and emotional needs of employees (Yu & Cable 2013, p.49). Therefore, in presenting the required descriptions, applicants will be able to judge whether the job is all-round, that is, whether it will fulfil all their needs. This is important in that it will

Non-Profit Clubs Essay Example for Free

Non-Profit Clubs Essay Earned conducting business and club income. E. g. Membership fees, sale of refreshments, donations, etc. Not sale of assets. Gain to club. Increase surplus. Answer: -membership fees -entrance fees -sale of refreshments -sale of uniforms Question Two: Definition of Expenditure: Refers to the amounts paid or payable. Normally incurred while running the club. Necessary to generate income. Either used up immediately or have no lasting value. Loss to club. Decrease surplus. Debited to Nominal accounts section in General Ledger. E. g. Rent expense, stationary, electricity, wages, etc. Answer: -uniforms to sell -refreshments to sell -electricity -water -rent expense -salaries/wages -stationary Question Three: Answer: †¢Membership Fees: –also known as subscriptions. -usually most important income (revenue) to a club, major portion. -together with additional income, cover expenses. -fixed amount. -paid by members of club. -usually payable annually, sometimes quarterly or even monthly. income to club. †¢Income Receivable/Accrued income: (same as usual), income still owed to us but not yet received. E. g. members who have not yet paid subscription. †¢Income Received in advance: (same as usual), income received before it was due to be paid. E. g. members that pay their subscription early. †¢Honorarium: -certain people that do a lot of work (bulk of the work) for the club are occasionally voted a sum of money (remunerated) as a token of appreciation at the end of the year. -expense to club. Entrance Fees: -new members may be expected to pay a fee to join the club. -normally a once off fee. -I. e. when the member joins for the first time. -income to club. †¢Affiliation Fees: -if the club wants to enter a team to play other teams in the area then the club needs to pay an ‘affiliation fee’ to the organising body. -paid annually. -expense to club. †¢Accounts using the same principle as â€Å"consumable stores† and â€Å"consumable stores on hand† and also â€Å"expenses prepaid’, etc. do in a trading concern: -e. g. tennis balls’ and ‘tennis balls on hand’ -in clubs these consumable stores are sometimes also sold as â€Å"trading stock† -once the it em is used (not necessarily used up), (by the club), it is immediately considered an expense. †¢ Refreshments: -recorded the same as one would record trading stock. †¢Membership Fees Written Off: -members would get expelled if their membership fees are not paid over a long period of time (and warning) and their bad debts would be written off. -same principal as writing off bad debts in a trading oncern. Question Four: Answer: Membership fees are due on the first day of each year. They are paid annually, directly to the club. The club has a meeting at the end of each year to clarify the membership fees of the next year. An invoice will be sent out to each member indicating the money due to the club on the first day of the year. This fee must be paid by the end of the first month. If it isn’t, the member will be addressed by the club via an email. By the end of the second month, a letter will be sent in the post. This letter will warn them of the repercussions of not paying and advise them on how they can go about paying if they are struggling (a percentage each month). These warnings will continue for the entire year. In the last month of the year they will get the final warning, which will be via email, post and face to face, in which they will be warned that if not paid by the last day of the year, the club will expel the member. If the membership fee is still not paid by the first day of the next year, it will be written off and the member will be expelled.

The Future of the Great Italian Food Company Essay Example for Free

The Future of the Great Italian Food Company Essay Problem Statement Six members of the of the Great Italian Food Company’s Board of Directors have ideas for the future growth of the company. Each of the members proposed idea has its merits, but their ideas are mutually exclusive and only one strategy can be chosen. This could be a potential issue and delay the company’s future growth if the board members cannot come to an agreement. Without a unified strategy, corporate or business, to guide the company over the next decade the Great Italian Food Company will make costly mistakes and jeopardize the company’s current position and future growth. Hard decisions must be made and appropriate planning will have to be conducted. Analysis and Evaluation Joe Marconi, the founder and current Board Chairman of the Great Italian Food Company, established the first Papa Joe’s restaurant in 1960. Since that time the company has expanded to include three additional Papa Joe’s restaurants in the Greater St. Louis area and established a Board of Directors. The members of the board include Joe’s wife along with their four children; Little Joe, Johnny, Tony, and Maria. Additionally, three of Joe’s longtime personal friends are also members of the board of directors. The restaurants themselves are family establishments with a unique Italian atmosphere and a basic Italian menu. Over the years the company has been fairly successful under the management of Joe’s oldest son, Little Joe, with the expansion to three additional Papa Joe’s restaurants. However Joe’s children now believe that the current business model will not remain profitable enough to maintain their current lifestyles, which they have grown accustomed to and want to grow the company even further. Each of Joe’s children and Jimmy (one of the other board members), including Joe himself, have ideas about the future growth of the company. However, they all seem to want to move in a different direction. Joe wants to open an upscale restaurant and partner with a well-known personality allowing the  restaurant to charge more for its meals. Little Joe wants to maintain the current model and continue to expand in the Greater St. Louis area. Tony wants to break into the frozen food industry. Johnny wants to broaden the company and open additional ethnic type restaurants. Maria believes that the best direction is to continue expanding the business throughout the mid-west focusing on major cities. And Jimmy likes the McDonald’s business model and wants to develop a Papa Joe’s fast food franchise chain across the country. The company has a limited access to capital and can only afford to pursue one strategy. So which is the best future for the Great Italian Food Company? Up to this point the Great Italian Food Company seemed to be fairly successful; they have expanded the company by opening three more restauran ts in the Greater St. Louis area and have established an organizational structure that provides management positions for each of the family members. With all growing businesses, the way ahead is always the question. The motivating factor for any businesses that desires continued growth and that wants capitalize on their current success is to continue to increase profits. Recourses, competition, and management are just some of the factors that must be taken into consideration when a business wants to increase growth and of course there is always risk, how much is a business willing to take. The main issue the Great Italian Food Company is facing is that they have not established a strategic plan that supports their mission, vision, or goals (Bateman Snell, 2013, p. 139). There are six members of the board with six completely different ideas who want to move the company in six different directions. However, none of the required strategic planning has been done to evaluate which of the ideas, if any, is the best for the company’s current situation and future growth (Bateman Snell, 2013, p. 138). Each of their ideas has great potential and point toward numerous possibilities, providing an e xcellent starting point in the development of a strategic plan, but their disagreements could also erupt into conflict among the board members. As the Chairman of the Board, Joe will need to temporarily forget that he is a father, husband, and friend to other board members, and take a purely clinical approach to the issue. When developing the company’s strategic plan, Joe may be forced to make decisions for the betterment of the company. He does have options; he could make the decision alone or engage in a group decision process (Bateman Snell, 2013,  p. 102). Managing a group decision can be a difficult process; however, in this case a group or team process could be the most productive. Each of the board members has specific skills, knowledge, and attributes that could be leveraged to make the best decision. Many companies, both small and large, have failed due to poor strategic planning; as a result they have either failed to keep up with technology and/or their competitors, mismanaged their resources, or relied on poor planning and costly decisions. Without a well thought out strategic plan to guide a company ov er the next five, ten, or even twenty years, growth is not a possibility for its future. Recommendation The board members of the Great Italian Food Company need a corporate or business strategy, depending on which direction the company wants to compete in the market (Bateman Snell, 2013, p. 147). If they want to challenge the larger competitors in the food industry or expand into the frozen food sector they can build a corporate strategy. If they decide to stay with their current model and continue to build more Papa Joe’s restaurants then a business strategy maybe more appropriate. Whatever level and type of strategic planning the Great Italian Food Company focuses on it should be flexible enough to adapt to a changing business environment. The strategy should not be so deliberate that it they are unable to make adjustments to their strategic plan (Mintzberg, Waters, 1985). As with any method of planning or decision making considerations must be taken into account; quantity over quality, current and future recourses, control over the company, competitors, and customer base (B ateman Snell, 2013, p. 14). Without having conducted a complete analysis of the company, it is hard to say which strategy they should choose however, The Great Italian Food Company has been successful in its current model as a family establishment with a unique Italian atmosphere. With limited capital, resources and investors, breaking into a new industry or making radical changes could be extremely risky. However, failure to change or grow while their competitors adapt to the industry could leave the Great Italian Food Company wayside along with Blockbuster and Borders. The Great Italian Food Company is still a considerably small company, continued investment into the further expansion of the Papa Joe’s restaurants throughout the mid-west, building  additional capital and investors, and testing the market with new products could strategic plan that continues growth while limiting risk. References Bateman, T.S., Snell, S.A. (2013). Management: Leading and collaborating in a competitive world. (11th ed.). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill Education. Mintzberg, H., Waters, J. A. (1985). Of Strategies, Deliberate and Emergent. Strategic Management Journal, 6(3), 257-272.