Harley Davidson Analysis Essays - Harley-Davidson,

Harley Davidson Analysis HARLEY DAVIDSON MOTOR COMPANY As one Harley puts it, It's one thing to have people buy your products. It's another for them to tattoo your name on their bodies. Harley-Davidson is the only major US maker of motorcycles and the nation's #1 seller of heavyweight motorcycles. Harley-Davidson offers 24 models of touring and custom cycles. Harley has held the largest share of the U.S. heavyweight motorcycle market since 1986. Besides its bikes, Harley-Davidson sells a licensed line of clothing and accessories with the company name. Also, gaining attention are the Harley-Davidson Cafes, located in various cities including New York City and Las Vegas. These successful restaurants provide Harley enthusiasts with great food, souvenir merchandise and a chance to see rare biker memorabilia. This makes Harley one of the most recognizable symbols in America today. Many of Harley-Davidson owners/riders are members of the Harley Owners Group better known as H.O.G., with more than 500,000 members nationwide. Demand for Harley-Davidson motorcycles continues to rise. Other motorcycle manufacturers have tried to compete with Harley-Davidson in the heavyweight V-Twin cruiser segment; none have been able to match Harley-Davidson in terms of customer loyalty and sales. There is a waiting list to get new bikes. The dedication to its existing customers has created a loyalty that is enviable by many other companies. COMPANY HISTORY: William S. Harley and William, Walter and Arthur Davidson began the Harley Davidson Motorcycle Company in a shed in the Davidson backyard in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1903. That year, they built three motorcycles. In 1909 the company introduced the V-Twin engine, which is still in use to this day, a more powerful engine and topping a previously unheard of speed of 60 miles an hour. As a demand for the bikes grew, other companies were formed. By 1911, there were 150 companies in the US that built motorcycles. Police departments and the military made heavy use of the bikes. During World War I, HD Bikes were called into service and by the end of the war; the US Military used over 20,000 of them. Major achievements in design ensued, and a Harley Davidson Bike was the first motor vehicle to win a race with an average speed of over 100 miles per hour. In 1926 the teardrop style gas tank that is still used today was introduced. The Great Depression devastated the motorcycle industry. Only Harley Davidson and Indian motorcycles survived the 1930's largely due to use by police departments. Again, World War called over 90,000 motorcycles into action in the 1940's. After the war, the company expanded. The original founders died and new management took over. Indian Motorcycles closed in 1953 and left Harley Davidson the sole US manufacturer of American made motorcycles. The 50's also saw the rise of the American ?motorcycle culture?, with black leather jackets making a statement and signifying a lifestyle. In 1965 the company made its first public offering on the stock market, and in 1969 merged with AMF. At the time the company was producing 14000 cycles per year. The merger bolstered Harley's growth with financial strength of AMF. The company then moved its assembly operation to York, PA, leaving only the engine production and World headquarters in Wisconsin. Also housed in York is the Harley-Davidson Antique Motorcycle Museum. It houses a collection of more than 40 military and police bikes depicting the evolution of the motorcycle and Harley history from 1903 to the present day. The 70's saw a decline in the market. A flood of imports from Japan and quality problems created major problems for the company. In the 80's, 13 members of HD management purchased the company from AMF and brought a return to quality and implemented new management and manufacturing techniques. It accomplished this turnaround by being one of the first US companies to use Just in time inventory policies, statistical processes and employee involvement programs. In 1982, the company convinced the International Trade Commission (ITC) that the glut of imported Japanese bikes were a threat of injury. Additional Tariffs were imposed on the imports for five years. Giving the company a chance to revitalize its place in the market. It did this in just three years by retooling and streamlining its operations. In 1995 the company expanded its international

Food, College Style Essays - Meals, Types Of Restaurants, Lunch

Food, College Style Essays - Meals, Types Of Restaurants, Lunch Food, College Style Coming to this school, one of my biggest fears was what the food would be like. I knew there would be no way I could last a whole year here if the food was terrible, and my budget didn't allow eating out very often. At home when the high school cafeteria food was bad, I could always go home and get a good meal. Here, however, I couldn't just go home if the food was bad. I would just have to choke it down or starve. After I'd been here awhile, and had a couple of meals from Morrison's food service my fears were relaxed. I realized that the food wasn't that bad, and that I'd be able to make it the year without starving to death. My evaluation of Morrison's food service was based on many aspects of the whole dining experience. My judgements were not made on just one meal, but are my overall opinion of the food service since I have been here. The aspect I put the most emphasis on was the taste of the food. Without good taste in the food, the whole dining experience is ruined. The next quality that I looked at was the appearance of the food. The food should look appetizing. For example, the bread should not have any moldy spots on it, and the salad should not look like it's been left out for three days where the lettuce is brown and rotten. If the food doesn't look appetizing, this also reduces the pleasure in dining. The third aspect I judged the food service on was selection, because no matter how good the food is, if you eat the same thing long enough, it gets old. The final quality I used in judging Morrison's food service was the cleanliness of the dining area. The food overall in the tower's cafeteria is pretty good, although some meals are definitely better than others. Breakfast is probably the worst meal overall. There is very little selection of food and the food that is there is not very good. Their biscuits and gravy are very dry, their scrambled eggs are usually runny, and their hash browns taste like rubber. They usually have these three things every morning along with a few other items. However, one good thing that I like about their breakfast is that they have a waffle maker, many different types of cereal, and bagels laying out. All of these things I can fix on my own. When I do eat breakfast there, I usually stick with one of these three things. Lunch in the cafeteria is usually pretty good. The food service does a good job in giving a wide selection of food to choose from. They have pizza, pasta, hamburgers, and lunch meat everyday. All of these items are usually very good. Along with these items, they have two or three main entrees to choose from. The main entrees usually lack in taste, but every once in a while they will have something good, like pork chops and baked fish. One thing that I did notice about the food served at lunch is that it is sometimes leftover from different meals that we had earlier that week. This really isn't that bad though, because it is very hard to tell that it has been reheated. The appearance of the regular items is usually pretty good. The hamburgers lack color, but they make up for this in taste. The appearance of the main entrees vary from day to day. Sometimes they look very appetizing and other days they look as if they just mixed a whole bunch of stuff together and! put it out there. Supper is the best meal of the day. Like lunch, they have a good selection with the usual pizza, pasta, hamburgers, and lunch meat. They also have two or three main entrees, but these usually taste better than those that they have for lunch. My favorite meals for supper are when they have premium night. For premium night they serve items like steak, shrimp, ribs, and chicken fried steak. The appearance of the food at supper is usually pretty good. However, one problem that I

Democratic Governance in a real life issue Essay

Democratic Governance in a real life issue - Essay Example It is a set of principles that protect human freedom. All democracies operate on the principle of majority rule, keeping in mind the interests of the minority groups as well as individuals. Democracies are diverse, reflecting each nation's unique political, social, and cultural life. Democracies rest upon fundamental principles, not uniform practices. Democracies guard against all-powerful central governments and decentralize government to regional and local levels, understanding that local government must be as accessible and responsive to the people as possible. Democratic societies are committed to the values of tolerance, cooperation, and compromise. Democracies recognize that reaching consensus requires compromise and that it may not always be attainable. Democracy functions in the gamut of defined and undefined parameters. It also manifests itself in the form of certain parameters. A deeper understanding of these parameters would provide an insight into the functioning of a democracy. In fact from a macrocosmic perspective, democracy just cannot be restricted to the political ambit. It is a way of life and extends to one's personal as well as professional demeanor. However in order to understand its extension and application into these areas, it is mandatory to take a deeper look at what democracy entails and ensues. There are systems that serve as indicators of a democratic set up. These indicators not only shape the democratic operations but also sustain them. Equality is an innate parameter plus an indicator of a democratic set up. Equality reflects a positive connotation. Equality in its prescriptive usage has a close connection with morality and justice. When we talk about democratic equality, a natural question arises: equality in what Democratic equality cannot mean equality in everything: there are many inequalities that democracy does not deal with. There are five criteria that mark a democratic process: voting equality, effective participation, enlightened understanding, control of the agenda, and inclusion of all adult members in collective decisions. These five criteria make the democratic process fully consistent with the logic of political equality. Violating any of the five criteria not only renders the process undemocratic, but also renders it incompatible with the logic of political equality. Professor Giovanni Sartori's two-volume book, The Theory of Democracy Revisited, contains an excellent treatment on various forms of e quality and their roles in democratic thinking. Sartori thinks that "[i]nequality is 'nature'; equality is denaturalization. . . . Equality stands out, first and foremost, as a protest ideal, indeed, as the protest ideal par excellence" (Sartori, 1987, p. 337). In terms of their relationship with democracy, says Sartori, some equalities preceded democracy, while others are democratic claims. Pre-democratic equalities include equality before the law, equal and inalienable rights and equal freedom or moral equality. These equalities are more the products of Christianity, ethics, natural law and liberal ideals than of democracy. In contrast, three other equalities stand out as distinctively democratic demands. These are full political equality, social equality (as equal status and consideration regardless of class or wealth) and