Benefits Of Slavery For The North - 904 Words

Benefits Of Slavery For The North Growing up just North of the Mason-Dixon line I learned a version of history that includes the Northern states standing on principle. The North stood on the righteous side of the line that said no longer would slavery be tolerated. On the other side of the line was the South that depended on slavery and would revolt sooner than change their ways. Later in life I moved South of the Mason-Dixon line to Richmond Virginia which was the one time capital of the Confederacy. Here I learned an alternate version of history, one of states’ rights against an oppressive government. What once I knew as the War on Slavery was here called the War Against Northern Aggression The truth of the matter may lies somewhere in between these two viewpoints but they both miss an important fact. Beyond the propaganda and catchy phrases is the simple fact that the Northern states had profited greatly from slaver. In some ways directly such as the trade itself and in others more indirect such as the boom of New England ship building. Direct Benefit of the Slave Trade The most direct benefit of slavery to the north was the trading of slaves in of itself. Slaves started arriving in New England in the first decade of the 1700s. By the middle of the century Rhode Island had become the main carrier of slaves and by the end of the American Revolution they controlled 60 – 90 percent of the slave trade (Harper). The DeWolfe family of Rhode Island was among someShow MoreRelatedBenefits Of Slavery For The North899 Words   |  4 PagesBenefits Of Slavery For The North Growing up north of the Mason-Dixon line, I learned a version of history in which the northern states were standing on principle. The North stood on the righteous side of the line that said no longer would slavery be tolerated. On the other side of the line was the South, who depended on slavery and would revolt sooner than change their ways. Later in life, I moved south of the Mason-Dixon line to Richmond, Virginia, which was at one time the capital of the ConfederacyRead MoreEssay about The American Civil War688 Words   |  3 PagesThe American Civil war was a series of transactions, or exchanges, between the North and the South. These transactions involved over 1 million Americans who put their lives at risk for the liberation of the country’s slaves. These transactions were influenced by three paramount concepts: perspectives, values, and relative evaluations of costs and benefits. In the midst of this tumultuous period of time in American history, these concepts shaped not just the people themselves but the social, politicalRead MoreThe Annexation Of Texas And The United States928 Words   |  4 Pagesshould be done with the new found territory. Whether it was people of the north looking to prevent another slave state from acquiring statehood, or slave owning people of the south trying to gain leverage in t he House of Representatives, people had differing opinions on the topic of Texas. The debate over Texas acquiring statehood was representative of the divide between North and South that led to Civil War in the U.S. In the North, many people didn’t want Texas to become a state, therefore were againstRead MoreThe South And North And South961 Words   |  4 Pages1800s, the South and the North were worlds apart from each other in various ways. The North and the South had altered economies, ideas, and attitudes toward slavery. The diverse economies in the North and South led to discrepancies among the regions about taxes on imported goods or tariffs. Furthermore the disagreements over slavery, tariffs, and other economic disputes amplified sectionalism, or the loyalty to one part of the country, in the North and the South. The North and South were ultimatelyRead MoreThe North Was Deeply Entrenched in Slavery Essay525 Words   |  3 PagesThe North and Slavery Slavery was deeply entrenched in the lives of Americans from both the north and the south. Plantation slavery and the Deep South is typically what comes to mind when the benefits of slavery are considered. However, northern states also benefited substantially from slavery even after it was outlawed in most northern states. Northern states specifically benefited from the shipping of slaves in northern ports, the financing of slaves and land for the south and the various supportRead MoreThe War Of The American Civil War991 Words   |  4 PagesAmericans and animosity that was built up over several years prior to it can be to blame. Most people think that slavery was the cause of this battle, and although slavery did play a part, it was not the main cause. The biggest roles played in the American Civil War were states’ rights, unfair bills, feelings of inferiority and threats to economy. The tension started during the time that the north attempted to pass a tariff that the south saw as an abomination. The Tariff of 1828 was passed, many SouthRead MoreThe Civil War Was Fought Over African American Freedom1331 Words   |  6 Pagesstraightforward answer, but many people still have different views and beliefs on what caused it. Many people believe that political issues or even taxation was the cause of the civil war. However, it was really over slavery. This essay will go over the civil war and explain why slavery caused the southerners and northerners to fight in the civil war. To what extent was the Civil War fought over African American freedom ? What were political issues that dominated U.S. politics in the 1850’s ? WhatRead MoreSlavery : The End Of The Civil War1543 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man s nature -- opposition to it is in his love of justice. These principles are an eternal antagonism; and when brought into collision so fiercely, as slavery extension brings them, shocks, and throes, and convulsions must ceaselessly follow. Repeal the Missouri Compromise -- repeal all compromises -- repeal the declaration of independence -- repeal all past history, you still can not repeal human nature. It still will be the abundance of man s heart,Read MoreNorth and South on Slavery1040 Words   |  4 PagesThe North and South have very different views on slavery. This has lead to lots of tension and fighting. When people were first settling here they had slaves. It has been going on for almost 100 years. Start ing around the Revolutionary war the North became opposed to slavery. They had less use for them as time went on. The South, on the other hand, felt they needed slavery. They had to harvest tobacco and cotton as fast as possible. They knew they couldn’t do it themselves so they bought lots ofRead MoreThe Economic Impact On The Economy Of The United States1246 Words   |  5 PagesDuring the days of 1820 to 1860 in the United States, the living style of Americans became more different from north to south. We can observe on the economic perspective. First, the difference of the industrial sectors led to the different extent of the need of slavery. The manufacturing sector, thanks for the advent of industrialization, did not require as many slaves as the agricultural sector did in the south which was largely supported by a massive number of slaves. Secondly, due to the difference

Wild Oats Case Study - 1212 Words

INTRODUCTION: Founded in 1987, Wild Oats Markets, Inc. is a leading natural and organic foods retailer in the United States. Headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, the company operates over 100 natural food stores in 25 states and Canada under several names, including Wild Oats Natural Marketplace, Henry’s Farmer’s Market, Sun Harvest Farms, and Capers Community Market. The owners, Michael Gilliand and Libby Cook, lacked experience in the natural/whole foods market and the first store got off to a slow start. However, with consumer’s peaking interest in wholesome foods produced in an earth-friendly, responsible manner, sales soon increased and the company experienced rapid growth from 1991 through 1999. Even though they have remained†¦show more content†¦By 2006, the company was in over its head and could not compete effectively with Whole Foods. Insufficient IT – Even though the company has commenced IT programs for EDI, they still have a weak I T infrastructure with a proliferation of systems. OPPORTUNITIES: High Growth Market – the holistic health area is growing quickly and Wild Oats has already begun tapping that market. The popularity of organic market cafes is increasing and Wild Oats already has these cafes in many of its stores. Vertical Backward Integration – Whole Foods has the opportunity to expand its distribution center in Denver, and enlarge the commissary kitchens to produce even more of the deli food, baked goods, and take-out food for delivery to their stores, thereby replacing some suppliers and assuring their quality standards are met. E-Commerce – Wild Oats currently offers their private label brands through Peapod.com and Amazon.com. The opportunities on-line are endless as long as the commissary kitchens and distribution centers can keep up with the demand. THREATS: Competition from conventional grocers and mass retailers – as they add organics to their product offerings, the resulting competition could drive prices down and create gross margin erosion. Competition from Whole Foods – Whole Foods competitive store openings have the capacity to negatively impact Wild Oats sales, and as has been demonstrated, have been a source of pressure.Show MoreRelatedCase Study(Whole Foods)1481 Words   |  6 Pageswhich is not alarming but the management should look into the reasons behind the decline. The debt-to-equity ratio is used to evaluate borrowing capability and the amount of debt in the company. Usually ratios above 1.0 indicate excessive debt, in the case of Whole Foods Market the ratio has gone up from 2006-2007 (.004-.023), which indicated an increase in the amount of borrowings. The ratio is nowhere close to one, which indicates credit worthiness of Whole Foods Market and their ability to pay backRead MoreCase Study Whole Foods11 55 Words   |  5 PagesCase Study assignment 1. What are the chief elements of the strategy that Whole Foods Market is pursuing? Fresh natural and organic foods and products with no preservatives or artificial ingredients. Promote healthier eating/lifestyle and increasing consumer knowledge/education of food safety, environment and how pesticides affect the land as well as the human body. 2. Is the strategy well matched to recent developments and conditions in the natural and organic foods segment of the food retailingRead MoreWhole Foods Market in 2008: Vision, Core Values, and Strategy2599 Words   |  11 PagesRunning head: CASE STUDY ANALYSIS FOR WHOLE FOODS MARKET Case Study Analysis for Whole Foods Market Abstract This paper is an analysis of Whole Foods Market’s vision, core values, and business strategy. It lays out the type of strategy that Whole Foods Market utilizes, what parts of this strategy work and what parts could use improvement. This case study analysis concludes that Whole Foods Market has a very good business strategy, has a strong, clear vision, and lives by its core valuesRead MoreWhole Foods Market : Vision, Core Values, And Strategy Essay1483 Words   |  6 PagesStefan Sjekloca 09/17/2016 Case Study Whole Foods Market in 2014: Vision, Core Values, and Strategy 1) Merchandise strategy, Whole Foods Market concentrates in having an interactive atmosphere in their stores. The way the setup their products makes people want to keep buying, they make it an inviting atmosphere with a lot of colorful dà ©cor, they try to make it a community as itself. In the stores they have a lot of sitting areas like bakeries, coffee shops, open kitchens, and etc. Their main focusRead MoreEssay on Penicillin Resistance2265 Words   |  10 PagesChemicals and Materials # p- aminohippurate, estrone-3- substrate, insulin, penicillin G, and HPLC (see discussion for more details) Animals # Male and female oat3, and wild type age matched mice- 12-16 weeks old for pharmacokinetic (fate of drug internally in body, essentially absorption and distribution in this case) experiments and 6 months old for organ function markers # Knockout mice genetically altered the oat3 transfer protein, so nonfunctional Data Many of the data collectedRead MoreWhole Foods Market Case Essay1917 Words   |  8 PagesCase Study: Whole Foods Market 2006: Mission, Core Values and Strategy 1. What are the chief elements of the strategy that Whole Foods Market is pursuing? Founder John Mackey strongly believed in Whole Foods’ mission to be very selective about store inventory, sticking to the company’s core values and ensuring that customers had an enjoyable and interactive shopping experience, while keeping with planned strategies that have set them apart from their competitors. Store Development andRead MoreWhole Foods Market2057 Words   |  9 PagesCase Study: Whole Foods Market 2006: Mission, Core Values and Strategy 1. What are the chief elements of the strategy that Whole Foods Market is pursuing? Founder John Mackey strongly believed in Whole Foods’ mission to be very selective about store inventory, sticking to the company’s core values and ensuring that customers had an enjoyable and interactive shopping experience, while keeping with planned strategies that have set them apart from their competitors. Store Development andRead MoreWhole Foods Markets1582 Words   |  7 PagesAbstract This paper examines the published case study Whole Foods Markets, 2005: Will There Be Enough Organic Food to Satisfy the Growing Demand? (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson, 2007, p. C534). Although the published study addresses numerous aspects of Whole Foods Market’s business as a leading international retailer of â€Å"natural† organic foods, the analysis provided herein is focused on Whole Foods Market’s ability to meet future growth demands. This paper explores Whole Foods Market’s basic internalRead MoreMarketing Plan For Whole Foods1390 Words   |  6 Pagesgrown domestically. In 2007 Whole Foods began opening stores in the United Kingdom. While continually opening new stores, the company fueled its expansion by acquiring other food chains. For instance, it acquired one of its largest competitors, Wild Oats, in 2007. Whole Foods has consistently ranked as one of the World’s Most Ethical companies for its emphasis on organic food, healthy living, customer satisfaction, quality, and sustainability. The firm has also been elected as one of the top companiesRead MoreWhole Foods Market Case Analysis1768 Words   |  8 Pagesof the organic food brand. Threat of new entrant There are a few new entrants, which are Trader Joe’s company and Wild Oats Market. This two are the new entrant in this industry however this represents a moderate threat as for the Trader Joe’s company, it has no service department and it has limited space of store, as compared to Whole Foods Market. Secondly, as for Wild Oats Market, the founder was lack of experience in this industry and they was emphasizing on the learning of the employees

Financial Case Analysis of Dick Smith for Kogan- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theFinancial Case Analysis of Dick Smith Holdings for Kogan. Answer: Introduction This report aims to provide a broad view on the case study of Dick Smith brand which was liquidised on 25th July 2016 with a massive loss to the investors of the company (Chung, 2016). Though, the company was again purchased by Kogan.com at the same time with an undisclosed amount, it was speculated that the amount of the company in Australian security Exchange (ASX) listing was false and hyped. In this context, the study describes a brief history of ownership of the company Dick Smith brand. Furthermore, this research is focused on the evaluation of two different situations of the DSHs valuation related to when it was offered to the public in the beginning and when the company was acquired by Anchorage Capital Partners from Woolworths in 2012 (Chung, 2016). In addition to this, the study also elaborates ethical issue faced by the top level management of the company when the company was listed in ASX in 2012 and by Anchorage Capital Partners pertaining to floating business. A Brief summary of the Dick Smith brand Dick Smith Company was commenced by Dick Smith in Atarmon, Sydney in 1968 under a rented car park space (Ryan, 2015). The company mainly focused to install car radios as a small business with just $610 as an initial capital. During 1970 to 80s company was expanded by various product lines and ranges with around 20 stores in Australia. In 1980, 60% of the companys shares holding by Dick Smiths wife were sold to Woolworths. Moreover, remaining 40% of Dick Smith Companys shares were fully owned by Woolworths in 1982 with a total worth of $25 million Woolworths purchased the Dick Smith brands whole company (Dick Smith- Annual Report, 2014). After that, Woolworths Company restructured Dick smith brand but then, closed up to 100 stores of the company and later on sold the company to Anchorage Capital Partners for $115 million. $20 millions were paid upfront by the company to purchase it from Woolworths (Dick Smith- Annual Report, 2014). The company appointed Nick Abboud as its chief execut ive in November, 2012. Besides that, it has been reported that just after a year, Dick Smith listed its shares on ASX with a capital floating of $520 million in December, 2013. In January 2016, company collapsed into voluntary administration in which McGrathNicol was appointed by companys board, whereas investors appoint Ferrier Hodgson as a receiver (West, 2016). In present Scenario, Dick Smith brand is being owned by Kagon.Com from May 2016 that sold its product online only. Assessment of the valuation of Dick Smith brand at the time of Initial Public Offering and when acquired by Anchorage capital partners At the time of acquisition from Woolworths in November 2016, Anchorage capital partners purchased it by offering initial capital of $20 million and total amount of $115 million (Ong and Janda, 2016). However, it has been analysed that cash of Anchorages was only $20 million with no credits or loans from the market. In December 2013, the company floated Dick Smith Holdings shares in Australian security exchange with market capitalisation of $520.3. From the Annual reports, it has also been realised that during this one year Dick Smith holdings EBITDA was increased from $23million to $74.4 million (Dick Smith- Annual Report, 2014). On the contrary, it has also been examined that EBITDA growth was found on irregularities in inventory management. The written of values from assets was not explained properly such as in November 2012, written off value of plant and equipment was $54 million, whereas inventory which was booked as $312 million from $371 million having depreciation of $58 mill ion (Anchorage Capital Partner, 2016). On the other hand, non-current provisions were written down by $8 million and all these adjustments were stated as fair value. Within 7 months, the inventory was declined by $171 million in 30th June, 2013. Due to plant and equipments written down in 2013, depreciation in 2014 was only of $10 million. These adjustments and representation could be the reason of growth in EBITDA in 2014 to $74.4 million swiftly (Dick Smith- Annual Report, 2014). It has also been noticed that loans and borrowings of Dick Smith Holding in 2015 was increases with $70.5 million which was not presented in 2014 accounting books. Apart from this representation which was related to scrutiny and high level of debt, all the representation in the books of 2015 was normal and convincing (Ong and Janda, 2016). At the same time, when the case was examined closely, company did not indicate a sound business practice as debt ratio was recorded as 67% in year end of 2015 which is very risky and elevated. In 2015 ending, Dick Smith Holdings was not able to arrange its short-term debts due to dearth of working capital which was 1.23:1 (Dick Smith- Annual Report, 2014). In addition to this, inventory turnover ratio was examined as 2.9:10 which was not increased with a significant rate from 2014. The company was dysfunction due to no long service leave was granted in the year ending 2015. Meanwhile, announcement of failure in the operation and continuous breakdow n of prices on November 2015 was made by top level management of the company, which added rapid decline in the prices of share in ASX due to Non-cash impairment in the inventory (Dick Smith- Annual Report, 2014). This whole incident above, further affected the share prices and performance of the company in the market at the end of the financial year 2015. In the context of initial public offering, companys profit and loss accounts were not audited and DSE source has also been added in the books to manipulate some of the values in the books. The companys financial accounting recordings were not been audited from 2010-14 that created suspicion in the authorised and validity of the accounts (Chung, 2016). Therefore, it can be inferred that the dick smith company was not being operated with proper accounting standards and valid evidences to prove the true and fair view of the accounts recording in the last years of financial company 2015. Ethical dilemmas of Anchorage Capital Partners and top level management of the company Anchorage Capital Partner is a private equity firm situated in Australia which focuses on turnovers. The company took over Dick Smith brand from Woolworths in 2012 for $115 million as a total payment (The conversation, 2016). Dick smith holdings shares were floated in Australian security exchange worth $520 million. It has been analysed that the company had presented various illogical book recordings that created suspicion among stakeholders and investors. Some of the transactions such as writing off of $58 million from inventory as a fair value adjustment and over increase in EBITDA from $23.4 million to $74.4 million in the end of the financial year created some serious doubt on the fair and true view of the financial accounting in books of Dick Smith Holding (Anchorage Capital Partner, 2016). Amidst of all, anchorage capital partner is a profit earning company that is aimed to increase shareholders profit in any investment. Not only has the company its own shareholders but also in order to float a medium or small sized businesses, it is allowed to buy-ins and buyout that equity shares as a way of operation (The conversation, 2016). Furthermore, it has been seen that these private owned company deducts its asset strictly to increase the profit of the company. Moreover, in case of directors and senior executives of Dick Smith holdings in which statement was made in the 2014- 2015 report and accounts that they are highly satisfied with the operational performance of the company and hope for the new investments which can enhance the future aspects of the company (Underhill, 2016). It can be analysed that directors, senior executives and other top management of the company were agreed to the financial record of the company as well as that explained it satisfied with the near future growth expectations. Likewise, it was stated in the Initial Public Offerings prospectus that in order to achieve a declination in the inventory, a sum of $2.5 million was spent by the company, which is not customary. It has also determined from the books of past financial information that financial recording of the company was also not authenticated as various figures was not clear and does not have any apt source. An unaudited PL statement from 2010 to 2014 was al so derived from unaudited accounts of DSE (Anchorage Capital Partner, 2016). Some of the major setbacks were writing off plant and equipments and exclusion of inventory impairment (Underhill, 2016). All of the above recordings were found in restructuring provisions, impairment losses and under acquisition balance sheet (Boyd, 2016). The information given in the annual reports were intended to influence the view of investor by presenting affirmative impression of the company. In this process of liquidation of Dick Smith brand, Deloitte has played an imperative role as an accounts auditor. The company claims that its annual reports of 2015 were based on true and fair view statement which was compiled by the accounting standards. On the other hand, there was no information provided related to the future events and upcoming planning of the company. Substantially, after three days of all the statement shown in the annual reports subsidiaries holdings and perpetual limited were being ceased (Boyd, 2016). Not only this, National Australian Bank and HSBC Bank of Australia with major shareholders AMP were being ceased from shareholders in Dick Smith Holdings. Thus, suspicion over the auditors and top level management was considered strong and opportune. The company that claimed to be clean and with a true and fair view of books had recorded $338,000, for the audit service of $103,927. Conclusion From the above discussion, it can be inferred that Dick Smith Holding case has many folds that provides a clear view on the poor inventory management and some misrepresentation of financial accounting values that led the companys dissolution in 2015. The company has a doubtful case even after, liquidation with the present owner of the company that is Kagon.com which has an online retailing in technology. It has been absorbed that company suddenly hyped its share prices within a year to $520 million from $115 million only in ASX. Poor inventory management and creating loans and borrowing as well as writing of assets with huge amount, unhinged the position of the company. In addition to this, it has also been concluded that as a profit earning organisation Anchorage capital partner cut off the assets to show profit to its shareholders. Top level management and auditors of the company were also involved in the misrepresentation of the figures as per their statement in the annual reports . Therefore, it can be said that Dick smith case was focused on the poor inventory management and misrepresentation of facts that led to the liquidation of the company. References Anchorage Capital Partner. 2016. Senate economics references committee inquiry in relation to the causes and consequences of the collapse of listed retailers in Australia [Online] Available at: https://www.google.de/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource=webcd=5cad=rjauact=8ved=0ahUKEwjP6NLAuPrVAhVNL1AKHeOlC1oQFghCMAQurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aph.gov.au%2FDocumentStore.ashx%3Fid%3Dfd49fc87-6bc3-460c-81fc-293c5a92edc5%26subId%3D410892usg=AFQjCNFNELD2mWphtkCrcXWvqTsSSTUMgg [Accessed on: 28 August 2017]. Anchorage Capital Partners. 2017. [Online] Available at: https://www.anchoragecapital.com.au/news/ [Accessed on: 28 August 2017]. Boyd, T. 2016. Dick Smith collapses a case study in electronics retailing. [Online] Available at: https://www.afr.com/brand/chanticleer/dick-smith-collapse-a-case-study-in-electronics-retailing-20160713-gq54s0# [Accessed on: 28 August 2017]. Chung, J. 2016. Dick Smith blasts private equity firm behind retailers stock market float. [Online] Available at: https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/dick-smith-blasts-private-equity-firm-behind-retailers-stock-market-float/news-story/41a067495cc4bef5c8109bce7a97ae50 [Accessed on: 28 August 2017]. Dick Smith- Annual Report. 2014. [Online] Available at: https://corpdocs.msci.com/Annual/ar_2014_317027.pdf [Accessed on: 28 August 2017]. Ong, T and Janda, M. 2016. Dick Smith enters receivership due to bad sales, banking woes. [Online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-05/dick-smith-enters-voluntary-administration/7067798 [Accessed on: 28 August 2017]. Ryan, M. 2015. Dick Smith is the Greatest Private Equity Heist of All Time. [Online] Available at: https://foragerfunds.com/bristlemouth/dick-smith-is-the-greatest-private-equity-heist-of-all-time/ [Accessed on: 28 August 2017]. The conversation. 2016. How private equity won while other Dick Smith investors got burnt [Online] Available at: https://theconversation.com/how-private-equity-won-while-other-dick-smith-investors-got-burnt-52805 [Accessed on: 28 August 2017]. Underhill, J. 2016. Anchorage hyped Dick Smith IPO with 'gold talk'. [Online] Available at: https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/anchorage-capital-hyped-dick-smith-ipo-gold-talk-b-183462 [Accessed on: 28 August 2017]. West, M. 2016. Dick Smith float looks like window dressing. [Online] Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/dick-smith-float-looks-like-window-dressing-20160205-gmmg88.html [Accessed on: 28 August 2017].

Leading Change by John P. Kotter free essay sample

Leading Change by John P. Kotter Book review by Pat Naughtin Harvard-Professor John P. Kotter has been observing the process of change for 30 years. He believes that there are critical differences between change efforts that have been successful, and change efforts that have failed. What interests him is why some people are able to get their organizations to change dramatically — while most do not. John P. Kotter writes: Over the past decade, I have watched more than a hundred companies try to remake themselves into significantly better competitors. They have included large organizations (Ford) and small ones (Landmark Communications), companies based in United States (General Motors) and elsewhere (British Airways), corporations that were on their knees (Eastern Airlines), and companies that were earning good money (Bristol-Myers Squibb). Their efforts have gone under many banners: total quality management, reengineering, right-sizing, restructuring, cultural change, and turnaround. But in almost every case the basic goal has been the same: to make fundamental changes in how business is conducted in order to help cope with a new, more challenging market environment. We will write a custom essay sample on Leading Change by John P. Kotter or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page A few of these corporate change efforts have been very successful. A few have been utter failures. Most fall somewhere in between, with a distinct tilt toward the lower end of the scale. The lessons that can be drawn are interesting and will probably be relevant to even more organizations in the increasingly competitive business environment of the coming decade. Kotter developed a list of factors that he believes lead to successful changes, and those that lead to failure. Yet for historical reasons, many organizations today dont have much leadership. Finally, John P. Kotter writes: There are still more mistakes that people make, but these eight are the big ones. In reality, even successful change efforts are messy and full of surprises. But just as a relatively simple vision is needed to guide people through a major change, so a vision of the change process can reduce the error rate. And fewer errors can spell the difference between success and failure. I have observed many attempts at metrication in many organisations over many years and I believe that John P. Kotters Leading Change provides a useful reference for metrication leaders to consider as they plan any metrication upgrade. If you would like to purchase Kotters book there is a link to Amazon at the bottom of my web page at: http://www. metricationmatters. com Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA. Pats clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST, and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www. metricationmatters. com/ for more metrication information, contact Pat at pat. [emailprotected] com or to get the free Metrication matters newsletter go to: http://www. metricationmatters. com/newsletter/ to subscribe. http://www. metricationmatters. com