Students are expected to write a case study with a final report of Essay

Students are expected to write a case study with a final report of 3000 words on the modus operandi and the present impact, at n - Essay Example This paper is being undertaken in order to seek a detailed discussion of the yakuza crime organization, helping this student understand the activities of the group and establishing specific details which would distinguish it from other organized crime groups. The yakuza organization became the organization it has become today at around the late 1800s under the leadership of Toyama Mitsuru (Butler and Kaplan, p. 40). Mitsuru founded the Genyosha Society and his main aid, Uchida formulated the Amur River Society. These groups dominated in activities like prostitution, gambling, entertainment, liquor, and other activities like dockside labour (Chemko). They also engaged in the 1960s and 1970s in drugs and arms trade. This group has also been highly connected with other organized crime groups, including the Sicilian Mafia, American Mafia, Colombian drug cartels, and the Chinese triads (Chemko). This group has long been recognized in Japan as a normal part of their history and activities, especially with its associations with politicians and rich businessmen. They have also become engaged in the international arena, not necessarily in areas with Japan nationals (Chemko). The current organization was organized in the mid-1600s and was identified to have engaged in gambling and street vending during its inception (Chemko). Protection for other members no matter the circumstance was one of the main qualities of this group. The members were expected to do everything necessary in order to protect their fellow members. When industrialization was introduced in the country, the group followed the trend and set-up businesses in industrialized activities, including dockside labour and construction (Bruno). Interest in policies also followed, and with it, strong associations with politicians were soon forged. Associations between the police/law enforcement officers and the yakuza were also established (Bruno). During the Second World War, the yakuza posed the most significant threat to the American troops. Food rations were given to soldiers and this caused the proliferation of the black marker, including higher resources for the yakuza and other criminal organizations (Fulford, p. 66). Street vendors, known as the gurentai gained strength, often carrying out bank robberies at the black markets. Soon enough, the American and other foreign troops played a strong role in the yakuza’s habit of wearing black suits, white shirts and black sunglasses (Chemko). They also relinquished their customary swords for firearms and became even more violent. There were about 5000 gangs during these times and with the influence of Yoshio Kodama, they were soon united and included in the major crime group known as the yakuza (Gangland). This group has traditionally considered itself a helper – a Robin Hood of sorts. Before the courts were in existence in Japan, individuals usually went to the yakuza to seek the settlement of their disputes (Gangland). However , the process of resolution often included harsh actions which were not seen when recourse from legal authorities was carried out. There are two kinds of yakuza. The first are the free yakuza which were considered outcasts of society and were not linked with other organizations (Chemko). They also did not carry out serious acts, but were considered common thugs. They were also not offered any protection and were often unable to

Charles Schwab, Company Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Charles Schwab, Company Summary - Essay Example Appendix A shows a graph that illustrates the price movement of the stock during the past year. The stock a year ago was price at $13.86. The price of the firm climbed for six months and then it started a downward spiral to reach the current price of $11.54. The graph that illustrates the movement of the SCHW common stock looks similar to the graph of the normal distribution function. The founder and chairman of the company is Charles Schwab. Walt Bettinger is the chief executive officer (CEO) of the company. The enterprise has 13,200 employees worldwide. The corporate headquarters of the company are located in San Francisco. â€Å"Schwab also operates 302 domestic branch offices in  45 states, one branch in  Puerto Rico and one branch in London. Hong Kong clients are served through a Schwab subsidiary† (Aboutschwab). The quality of the human resources of the firm has been a critical success factor that has helped the company achieved tremendous growth during the past 40 y ears. The mission statement of Charles Schwab is to empower individual investors to take control of their financial lives free form the high costs and conflict of traditional brokerage firms (Blogspot). The financial service industry is a multi-trillion dollar industry. The top three stock exchanges in the United States: NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ moved 3899 million shares in 2010 (Plunkett Research). Charles Schwab is a major player in the brokerage industry. The company generated $4.2 billion in revenues in fiscal year 2010. The revenues of the company were 1% higher than in 2009. The firm has a total of 8 million client accounts. The client accounts of Charles Schwab have grown by 14.28% in comparison with 2007. The net income of the firm was $454 million. The net margin of the firm was 10.80%. The net margin is the firm was better than the industry average. The industry standard net margin is 5.8% (Dun & Bradstreet). The earnings per share (EPS) of Charles Schwab in 2010 was $0.38. The EPS is a metric that tends to influence the market price of the common stock. The return on assets (ROA) of the firm was 0.49%. The ROA industry average is 1.7% (Dun & Bradstreet). Return on assets measures how effective a company has been at generating net profits with its assets. The ROA of Charles Schwab in 2010 was 1.2% below the industry average. The return on equity (ROE) metric measures how effective a company has been at generating profits from its equity. The ROE of the company was 7.29%. The industry standard ROE is 12.3% (Dun & Bradstreet). The price earnings ratio (P/E) of the company on December 30, 2010 was 45.13. The P/E ratio is calculated by dividing the market share price by the earnings per share. The price earnings ratio shows whether a stock is relatively cheap or relatively expensive in comparison to its current earnings. There are several competitors that compete directly with Charles Schwab. Five of the top competitors Schwab faces in the marketplace are Merrill Lynch, Scottrade, Morgan Stanley, Ameritrade and ING. One of the things that set apart Charles Schwab from the competition is its brand value. The tremendous brand value of the firm has helped the company maintain high gross margins by charging $29.95 per trade. A lot of online traders receive revenues below $10 a trade. For instance Scottrade charges its customers $7 a trade. Charles Schwab i