Annual Ranking of America's Largest Corporation

high payment pay per read is it real or just scam

2011-02-25T09:30:00.000-08:00

Pay per read program nowadays becoming more and more popular since 2005. Some website offer a minimum one sen per read, and even $100 US dollar per mail. A lot of research and prove show that the company that pay you more than one sen to read is a big big scam! Now let see either these company with high payment PPR is it real or just scam.

How we define the word of scam? Scam is a group of people with confidence trick or game, is an attempt to intentionally mislead a person or persons (known as the mark) usually with the goal of financial or other gain. Let me explain it to more simple, cheat a person's money and get nothing in return for that person. Now let's move on either the high payment pay per read is scam or not.

Before we get started, ask yourself a question: will a person, or a company, pay you about $100 just for reading the email he wrote for about 30 seconds? I bet won't except the guy are crazy! There got a lot of pay per read website that offer you $50, $100 or even $300 per mail read. This is ridiculous. But we can't assume that these are all scam cause we don't need to pay the joining fees, if we choose to become a free member. Massive sign-up bonus with high payment per mail read all became to factor to "force" people to join them. After joining, the members will start to receive a lot of advertising emails that needed to click to get credits. Some of the emails will ask the members to upgrade to gold member or VIP member which have more advantage than just a free member. They also will ask the members to buy visitor and traffic in case to increase the income. The upgrade fees is not cheap and after the members upgrade to gold member and reach the minimum payout, they get nothing at last.

This is how they scam you. At first ask invite everyone to join them for free, and offer a massive sign up bonus if join. They keep promoting the upgrade emails to the members and make the members to take out their wallet and upgrade or buy unreal traffic.

So don't ever joining the pay per read company if the payment per mail read is more than $10. Must beware of every single pay per read company except the only that real: paying-club. They pay out $10 per mail read, $100 sign up bonus and they really do pay to their members that reach minimum amount of payout. Maybe you will though is it another scam?? I said no cause the support ticket that sent to them have been responded by the admin of paying-club. The most importantly the members have received their payment after they reach $1000.

Believe it or not, but I will believe in this pay per read company: paying-club. They also have a certificate to prove that they are legit pay per read company. If you are tired with the other scam, you can try this now. You didn't lose a dime as long as you remain as free member.

Sikap

2011-02-25T06:30:00.000-08:00

Sikap adalah pernyataan evaluatif terhadap objek, orang atauperistiwa. Hal ini mencerminkan perasaan seseorang terhadap sesuatu.

KomponenUtama Sikap

Sikap mempunyai tiga komponen utama:kesadaran, perasaan, dan perilaku.

Keyakinan bahwa "Diskriminasiitu salah" merupakan sebuah pernyataan evaluatif. Opinisemacam ini adalah komponen kognitif dari sikap yangmenentukan tingkatan untuk bagian yang lebih penting dari sebuah sikap-komponen afektifnya. Perasaan adalah segmen emosionalatau perasaandari sebuah sikap dan tercermin dalam pernyataan seperti "Saya tidakmenyukai John karena ia mendiskriminasi orang-orang minoritas." Akhirnya,perasaan bisa menimbulkan hasil akhir dari perilaku. Komponen perilaku dari sebuah sikapmerujuk pada suatu maksud untuk berperilaku dalam cara tertentu terhadapseseorang atau sesuatu..

PerilakuMengikuti Sikap

Pada akhir tahun 1960-an, hubunganyang diterima tentang sikap dan perilaku ditentang olehsebuah tinjauan dari penelitian. Berdasarkan evaluasi sejumlah penelitian yangmenyelidiki hubungan sikap-perilaku, peninjaumenyimpulkan bahwa sikap tidak berhubungan dengan perilaku atau, paling banyak,hanya berhubungan sedikit. Penelitian terbaru menunjukkan bahwa sikapmemprediksi perilaku masa depan secara signifikan danmemperkuat keyakinan semula dari Festinger bahwa hubungan tersebut bisaditingkatkan dengan memperhitungkan variabel-variabel pengait.

SikapKerja Utama

KepuasanKerja

Kepuasan kerja adalah perasaanpositif tentang pekerjaan seseorang yang merupakan hasil dari evaluasikarakteristik-karakteristiknya.

KeterlibatanPekerjaan

Keterlibatan pekerjaan adalahtingkat di mana seseorang memihak sebuah pekerjaan, berpartisipasi secara aktifdi dalamnya, dan menganggap kinerja penting sebagai bentuk penghargaandiri.

KomitmenOrganisasional

Komitmenorganisasional adalah tingkat di mana seseorang memihak sebuah organisasiserta tujuan-tujuan dan keinginannya untuk mempertahankan keanggotaan dalamorganisasi itu. Tiga dimensi terpisah komitmen organisasional adalah:

Komitmen Afektif
Komitemn Berkelanjutan
Komitmen Normatif

Remaja

2011-02-25T06:03:00.000-08:00

Kata “remaja” berasal dari bahasa latin yaitu adolescere yang berarti to grow atau to grow maturity (Golinko, 1984 dalam Rice, 1990). Banyak tokoh yang memberikan definisi tentang remaja, seperti DeBrun (dalam Rice, 1990) mendefinisikan remaja sebagai periode pertumbuhan antara masa kanak-kanak dengan masa dewasa. Papalia dan Olds (2001) tidak memberikan pengertian remaja (adolescent) secara eksplisit melainkan secara implisit melalui pengertian masa remaja (adolescence).

Menurut Papalia dan Olds (2001), masa remaja adalah masa transisi perkembangan antara masa kanak-kanak dan masa dewasa yang pada umumnya dimulai pada usia 12 atau 13 tahun dan berakhir pada usia akhir belasan tahun atau awal dua puluhan tahun.

Menurut Adams & Gullota (dalam Aaro, 1997), masa remaja meliputi usia antara 11 hingga 20 tahun. Sedangkan Hurlock (1990) membagi masa remaja menjadi masa remaja awal (13 hingga 16 atau 17 tahun) dan masa remaja akhir (16 atau 17 tahun hingga 18 tahun). Masa remaja awal dan akhir dibedakan oleh Hurlock karena pada masa remaja akhir individu telah mencapai transisi perkembangan yang lebih mendekati masa dewasa.

Papalia & Olds (2001) berpendapat bahwa masa remaja merupakan masa antara kanak-kanak dan dewasa. Sedangkan Anna Freud (dalam Hurlock, 1990) berpendapat bahwa pada masa remaja terjadi proses perkembangan meliputi perubahan-perubahan yang berhubungan dengan perkembangan psikoseksual, dan juga terjadi perubahan dalam hubungan dengan orangtua dan cita-cita mereka, dimana pembentukan cita-cita merupakan proses pembentukan orientasi masa depan.

Transisi perkembangan pada masa remaja berarti sebagian perkembangan masa kanak-kanak masih dialami namun sebagian kematangan masa dewasa sudah dicapai (Hurlock, 1990). Bagian dari masa kanak-kanak itu antara lain proses pertumbuhan biologis misalnya tinggi badan masih terus bertambah. Sedangkan bagian dari masa dewasa antara lain proses kematangan semua organ tubuh termasuk fungsi reproduksi dan kematangan kognitif yang ditandai dengan mampu berpikir secara abstrak (Hurlock, 1990; Papalia & Olds, 2001).

Yang dimaksud dengan perkembangan adalah perubahan yang terjadi pada rentang kehidupan (Papalia & Olds, 2001). Perubahan itu dapat terjadi secara kuantitatif, misalnya pertambahan tinggi atau berat tubuh; dan kualitatif, misalnya perubahan cara berpikir secara konkret menjadi abstrak (Papalia dan Olds, 2001). Perkembangan dalam kehidupan manusia terjadi pada aspek-aspek yang berbeda. Ada tiga aspek perkembangan yang dikemukakan Papalia dan Olds (2001), yaitu: (1) perkembangan fisik, (2) perkembangan kognitif, dan (3) perkembangan kepribadian dan sosial.

Aspek-aspek perkembangan pada masa remaja

Perkembangan fisik
Yang dimaksud dengan perkembangan fisik adalah perubahan-perubahan pada tubuh, otak, kapasitas sensoris dan ketrampilan motorik (Papalia & Olds, 2001). Perubahan pada tubuh ditandai dengan pertambahan tinggi dan berat tubuh, pertumbuhan tulang dan otot, dan kematangan organ seksual dan fungsi reproduksi. Tubuh remaja mulai beralih dari tubuh kanak-kanak yang cirinya adalah pertumbuhan menjadi tubuh orang dewasa yang cirinya adalah kematangan. Perubahan fisik otak sehingga strukturnya semakin sempurna meningkatkan kemampuan kognitif (Piaget dalam Papalia dan Olds, 2001).

Perkembangan Kognitif
Menurut Piaget (dalam Santrock, 2001), seorang remaja termotivasi untuk memahami dunia karena perilaku adaptasi secara biologis mereka. Dalam pandangan Piaget, remaja secara aktif membangun dunia kognitif mereka, di mana informasi yang didapatkan tidak langsung diterima begitu saja ke dalam skema kognitif mereka. Remaja sudah mampu membedakan antara hal-hal atau ide-ide yang lebih penting dibanding ide lainnya, lalu remaja juga menghubungkan ide-ide tersebut. Seorang remaja tidak saja mengorganisasikan apa yang dialami dan diamati, tetapi remaja mampu mengolah cara berpikir mereka sehingga memunculkan suatu ide baru.

Perkembangan kognitif adalah perubahan kemampuan mental seperti belajar, memori, menalar, berpikir, dan bahasa. Piaget (dalam Papalia & Olds, 2001) mengemukakan bahwa pada masa remaja terjadi kematangan kognitif, yaitu interaksi dari struktur otak yang telah sempurna dan lingkungan sosial yang semakin luas untuk eksperimentasi memungkinkan remaja untuk berpikir abstrak. Piaget menyebut tahap perkembangan kognitif ini sebagai tahap operasi formal (dalam Papalia & Olds, 2001).

Tahap formal operations adalah suatu tahap dimana seseorang sudah mampu berpikir secara abstrak. Seorang remaja tidak lagi terbatas pada hal-hal yang aktual, serta pengalaman yang benar-benar terjadi.

Dengan mencapai tahap operasi formal remaja dapat berpikir dengan fleksibel dan kompleks. Seorang remaja mampu menemukan alternatif jawaban atau penjelasan tentang suatu hal. Berbeda dengan seorang anak yang baru mencapai tahap operasi konkret yang hanya mampu memikirkan satu penjelasan untuk suatu hal. Hal ini memungkinkan remaja berpikir secara hipotetis. Remaja sudah mampu memikirkan suatu situasi yang masih berupa rencana atau suatu bayangan (Santrock, 2001). Remaja dapat memahami bahwa tindakan yang dilakukan pada saat ini dapat memiliki efek pada masa yang akan datang. Dengan demikian, seorang remaja mampu memperkirakan konsekuensi dari tindakannya, termasuk adanya kemungkinan yang dapat membahayakan dirinya.

Pada tahap ini, remaja juga sudah mulai mampu berspekulasi tentang sesuatu, dimana mereka sudah mulai membayangkan sesuatu yang diinginkan di masa depan. Perkembangan kognitif yang terjadi pada remaja juga dapat dilihat dari kemampuan seorang remaja untuk berpikir lebih logis. Remaja sudah mulai mempunyai pola berpikir sebagai peneliti, dimana mereka mampu membuat suatu perencanaan untuk mencapai suatu tujuan di masa depan (Santrock, 2001).

Salah satu bagian perkembangan kognitif masa kanak-kanak yang belum sepenuhnya ditinggalkan oleh remaja adalah kecenderungan cara berpikir egosentrisme (Piaget dalam Papalia & Olds, 2001). Yang dimaksud dengan egosentrisme di sini adalah “ketidak mampuan melihat suatu hal dari sudut pandang orang lain” (Papalia dan Olds, 2001). Elkind (dalam Beyth-Marom et al., 1993; dalam Papalia & Olds, 2001) mengungkapkan salah satu bentuk cara berpikir egosentrisme yang dikenal dengan istilah personal fabel.
Personal fabel adalah "suatu cerita yang kita katakan pada diri kita sendiri mengenai diri kita sendiri, tetapi [cerita] itu tidaklah benar" . Kata fabel berarti cerita rekaan yang tidak berdasarkan fakta, biasanya dengan tokoh-tokoh hewan. Personal fabel biasanya berisi keyakinan bahwa diri seseorang adalah unik dan memiliki karakteristik khusus yang hebat, yang diyakini benar adanya tanpa menyadari sudut pandang orang lain dan fakta sebenarnya. Papalia dan Olds (2001) dengan mengutip Elkind menjelaskan “personal fable” sebagai berikut :

“Personal fable adalah keyakinan remaja bahwa diri mereka unik dan tidak terpengaruh oleh hukum alam. Belief egosentrik ini mendorong perilaku merusak diri [self-destructive] oleh remaja yang berpikir bahwa diri mereka secara magis terlindung dari bahaya. Misalnya seorang remaja putri berpikir bahwa dirinya tidak mungkin hamil [karena perilaku seksual yang dilakukannya], atau seorang remaja pria berpikir bahwa ia tidak akan sampai meninggal dunia di jalan raya [saat mengendarai mobil], atau remaja yang mencoba-coba obat terlarang [drugs] berpikir bahwa ia tidak akan mengalami kecanduan. Remaja biasanya menganggap bahwa hal-hal itu hanya terjadi pada orang lain, bukan pada dirinya”.

Pendapat Elkind bahwa remaja memiliki semacam perasaan invulnerability yaitu keyakinan bahwa diri mereka tidak mungkin mengalami kejadian yang membahayakan diri, merupakan kutipan yang populer dalam penjelasan berkaitan perilaku berisiko yang dilakukan remaja (Beyth-Marom, dkk., 1993). Umumnya dikemukakan bahwa remaja biasanya dipandang memiliki keyakinan yang tidak realistis yaitu bahwa mereka dapat melakukan perilaku yang dipandang berbahaya tanpa kemungkinan mengalami bahaya itu.
Beyth-Marom, dkk (1993) kemudian membuktikan bahwa ternyata baik remaja maupun orang dewasa memiliki kemungkinan yang sama untuk melakukan atau tidak melakukan perilaku yang berisiko merusak diri (self-destructive). Mereka juga mengemukakan adanya derajat yang sama antara remaja dan orang dewasa dalam mempersepsi self-invulnerability. Dengan demikian, kecenderungan melakukan perilaku berisiko dan kecenderungan mempersepsi diri invulnerable menurut Beyth-Marom, dkk., pada remaja dan orang dewasa adalah sama.

Perkembangan kepribadian dan sosial
Yang dimaksud dengan perkembangan kepribadian adalah perubahan cara individu berhubungan dengan dunia dan menyatakan emosi secara unik; sedangkan perkembangan sosial berarti perubahan dalam berhubungan dengan orang lain (Papalia & Olds, 2001). Perkembangan kepribadian yang penting pada masa remaja adalah pencarian identitas diri. Yang dimaksud dengan pencarian identitas diri adalah proses menjadi seorang yang unik dengan peran yang penting dalam hidup (Erikson dalam Papalia & Olds, 2001).

Perkembangan sosial pada masa remaja lebih melibatkan kelompok teman sebaya dibanding orang tua (Conger, 1991; Papalia & Olds, 2001). Dibanding pada masa kanak-kanak, remaja lebih banyak melakukan kegiatan di luar rumah seperti kegiatan sekolah, ekstra kurikuler dan bermain dengan teman (Conger, 1991; Papalia & Olds, 2001). Dengan demikian, pada masa remaja peran kelompok teman sebaya adalah besar.

Pada diri remaja, pengaruh lingkungan dalam menentukan perilaku diakui cukup kuat. Walaupun remaja telah mencapai tahap perkembangan kognitif yang memadai untuk menentukan tindakannya sendiri, namun penentuan diri remaja dalam berperilaku banyak dipengaruhi oleh tekanan dari kelompok teman sebaya (Conger, 1991).

Kelompok teman sebaya diakui dapat mempengaruhi pertimbangan dan keputusan seorang remaja tentang perilakunya (Beyth-Marom, et al., 1993; Conger, 1991; Deaux, et al, 1993; Papalia & Olds, 2001). Conger (1991) dan Papalia & Olds (2001) mengemukakan bahwa kelompok teman sebaya merupakan sumber referensi utama bagi remaja dalam hal persepsi dan sikap yang berkaitan dengan gaya hidup. Bagi remaja, teman-teman menjadi sumber informasi misalnya mengenai bagaimana cara berpakaian yang menarik, musik atau film apa yang bagus, dan sebagainya (Conger, 1991).

Ciri-ciri Masa Remaja
Masa remaja adalah suatu masa perubahan. Pada masa remaja terjadi perubahan yang cepat baik secara fisik, maupun psikologis. Ada beberapa perubahan yang terjadi selama masa remaja.

Peningkatan emosional yang terjadi secara cepat pada masa remaja awal yang dikenal dengan sebagai masa storm & stress. Peningkatan emosional ini merupakan hasil dari perubahan fisik terutama hormon yang terjadi pada masa remaja. Dari segi kondisi sosial, peningkatan emosi ini merupakan tanda bahwa remaja berada dalam kondisi baru yang berbeda dari masa sebelumnya. Pada masa ini banyak tuntutan dan tekanan yang ditujukan pada remaja, misalnya mereka diharapkan untuk tidak lagi bertingkah seperti anak-anak, mereka harus lebih mandiri dan bertanggung jawab. Kemandirian dan tanggung jawab ini akan terbentuk seiring berjalannya waktu, dan akan nampak jelas pada remaja akhir yang duduk di awal-awal masa kuliah.
Perubahan yang cepat secara fisik yang juga disertai kematangan seksual. Terkadang perubahan ini membuat remaja merasa tidak yakin akan diri dan kemampuan mereka sendiri. Perubahan fisik yang terjadi secara cepat, baik perubahan internal seperti sistem sirkulasi, pencernaan, dan sistem respirasi maupun perubahan eksternal seperti tinggi badan, berat badan, dan proporsi tubuh sangat berpengaruh terhadap konsep diri remaja.
Perubahan dalam hal yang menarik bagi dirinya dan hubungan dengan orang lain. Selama masa remaja banyak hal-hal yang menarik bagi dirinya dibawa dari masa kanak-kanak digantikan dengan hal menarik yang baru dan lebih matang. Hal ini juga dikarenakan adanya tanggung jawab yang lebih besar pada masa remaja, maka remaja diharapkan untuk dapat mengarahkan ketertarikan mereka pada hal-hal yang lebih penting. Perubahan juga terjadi dalam hubungan dengan orang lain. Remaja tidak lagi berhubungan hanya dengan individu dari jenis kelamin yang sama, tetapi juga dengan lawan jenis, dan dengan orang dewasa.
Perubahan nilai, dimana apa yang mereka anggap penting pada masa kanak-kanak menjadi kurang penting karena sudah mendekati dewasa.
Kebanyakan remaja bersikap ambivalen dalam menghadapi perubahan yang terjadi. Di satu sisi mereka menginginkan kebebasan, tetapi di sisi lain mereka takut akan tanggung jawab yang menyertai kebebasan tersebut, serta meragukan kemampuan mereka sendiri untuk memikul tanggung jawab tersebut.

Tugas perkembangan remaja
Tugas perkembangan remaja menurut Havighurst dalam Gunarsa (1991) antara lain :

memperluas hubungan antara pribadi dan berkomunikasi secara lebih dewasa dengan kawan sebaya, baik laki-laki maupun perempuan
memperoleh peranan sosial
menerima kebutuhannya dan menggunakannya dengan efektif
memperoleh kebebasan emosional dari orangtua dan orang dewasa lainnya
mencapai kepastian akan kebebasan dan kemampuan berdiri sendiri
memilih dan mempersiapkan lapangan pekerjaan
mempersiapkan diri dalam pembentukan keluarga
membentuk sistem nilai, moralitas dan falsafah hidup

Erikson (1968, dalam Papalia, Olds & Feldman, 2001) mengatakan bahwa tugas utama remaja adalah menghadapi identity versus identity confusion, yang merupakan krisis ke-5 dalam tahap perkembangan psikososial yang diutarakannya. Tugas perkembangan ini bertujuan untuk mencari identitas diri agar nantinya remaja dapat menjadi orang dewasa yang unik dengan sense of self yang koheren dan peran yang bernilai di masyarakat (Papalia, Olds & Feldman, 2001).

Untuk menyelesaikan krisis ini remaja harus berusaha untuk menjelaskan siapa dirinya, apa perannya dalam masyarakat, apakah nantinya ia akan berhasil atau gagal yang pada akhirnya menuntut seorang remaja untuk melakukan penyesuaian mental, dan menentukan peran, sikap, nilai, serta minat yang dimilikinya.

Sumber: http://rumahbelajarpsikologi.com/index.php/remaja.html

AT&T

2011-02-24T10:05:00.000-08:00

Ahh, the glamorous life of AT&T: best friends with Steve Jobs, exclusive rights to the iPhone (for now) and carrier of choice on the iPad. So why, with everything going for it, did the stock miss a huge rally? In the year ending April 1, Apple soared 109% and the S&P 500 rose 41%. AT&T? Down 2%.

The problem is growth, or lack thereof: little in its saturated wireless business and a decline in landlines, which still accounts for 25% of sales. Unless its high-speed Internet business takes off or the iPad drives new wireless growth, the beatings by Wall Street will continue. --Michael Copeland

AT&T Inc. is the largest provider of fixed telephony in the United States, and also provides broadband and subscription television services. As of January 2011^[update], AT&T is the largest provider of mobile telephony service in the United States, with over 95.5 million wireless customers, just ahead of Verizon Wireless' 93.2 million, and more than 210 million total customers.

As of 2010^[update], AT&T is the 7th largest company in the United States by total revenue, as well as the 4th largest non-oil company in the US (Behind Walmart, General Electric and Bank of America). It is the 3rd largest company in Texas by total revenue (Behind ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips) and the largest non-oil company in Texas. It is also the largest company headquartered in Dallas. In 2010, Forbes listed AT&T as the 23rd largest company in the world by market value and the 18th largest non-oil company in the world by market value .

Southwestern Bell Corporation was founded in 1983 as a Regional Bell Operating Company following the break-up of the original AT&T as a result of the United States v. AT&T antitrust suit. The company changed its name in 1995 to SBC Communications Inc. and again in 2005 to AT&T Inc. after it purchased its former parent company, AT&T Corporation. The newly merged company took on the iconic AT&T logo and T stock-trading symbol (for "telephone").

The current AT&T reconstitutes much of the former Bell System and includes ten of the original 22 Bell Operating Companies along with one it partially owned (Southern New England Telephone), and the original long distance division. The company is headquartered in downtown Dallas, Texas.

History

1984–1994: Southwestern Bell Corp.

Southwestern Bell Corporation was officially transferred full ownership January 1,1984, They had three subsidiaries: Southwestern Bell Publications, Inc., a directory publisher; Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems, Inc., in the business of mobile telephone service; and Southwestern Bell Telecommunications, Inc., focusing on marketing phone equipment to business customers. The holding companies new president was Zane Edison Barnes.

Southwestern Bell logo, 1969–1994

In 1987 SBC bought Metromedia Inc.'s cellular and paging business. This in turn boosted the company to third largest cellular-communications company in the United States; behind McCaw Cellular and Pacific Telesis. In January 1990 Edward Whitacre took over as president of Southwestern Bell. The Headquarters was moved from St. Louis to San Antonio, Texas in February of 1993. It acquired 2 cable companies in Maryland and Virginia from Hauser Communications for 650 million dollars, becoming the first regional Bell telephone company to acquire a cable company outside of its service area. In 1994 they called off a $1.6 billion acquisition attempt for 40 percent of Cox Cable due to FCC rules on cable companies. SBC would later start selling its current cable company interests.

1995–2000: Changes in The Company

In 1995 Southwestern Bell Corp. became SBC Communications. They then combined Southwestern Bell Telecom division (Which made Telephone equipment) into the company, due to new FCC rules.

In 1996 SBC announced it would acquire Pacific Telesis Group, a RBOC in California and Nevada. 1997 brought rumors of a proposed merger between AT&T (the USA's largest Long distance provider) and SBC (the USA's largest local provider). The FCC disapproved of the merger, and it came to end. Later in 1997 SBC sold its last two cable companies, exiting the cable telecom field.

January 1998, SBC announced it would take over Southern New England Telecommunications Corp. (SNET) for $4.4 billion in stock (the FCC would approve in October 1998). SBC also won a court judgment that would make it easier for RBOCs to enter the long distance phone service, but it was being challenged by AT&T and the FCC. May 1998 Ameritech and SBC announced a $62 billion dollar merger, in which SBC would take over Ameritech. After making several organizational changes (such as the sale of Ameritech Wireless to GTE) to satisfy state and federal regulators, the two merged on October 8, 1999. The FCC later fined SBC Communications $6 million for failure to comply with agreements made in order to secure approval of the merger. SBC became the largest RBOC until the Bell Atlantic and GTE merger. 1998 revenues were $46 billion, placing SBC among the top 15 companies in the Fortune 500.

January 1999 SBC announced it would purchase Comcast Cellular, for $1.7 billion, plus $1.3 billion of debt. During 1999 SBC continued to prepare to be allowed to provide long distance phone service. February SBC acquired up to ten percent of Williams Companies' telecommunications division for about $500 million, who was building a fiber optic network across the country and would carry SBC's future service. On November 1, 1999, SBC became a part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

2000–2005: End of SBC and the AT&T Corporation acquisition

In 2002, SBC ended marketing its operating companies under different names, and simply opted to give its companies different doing business as names based on the state (a practice already in use by Ameritech since 1993), and it gave the holding companies it had purchased d/b/a names based on their general region.

SBC-AT&T legacy transition logo, used 2005–2006

On January 31, 2005, SBC announced that it would purchase AT&T Corp. for more than US$16 billion. The announcement came almost eight years after SBC and AT&T (also known as American Telephone & Telegraph Corp.) called off their first merger talks and nearly a year after initial merger talks between AT&T Corp. and BellSouth fell apart. AT&T stockholders meeting in Denver, approved the merger on June 30, 2005. The U.S. Department of Justice cleared the merger on October 27, 2005, and the Federal Communications Commission approved it on October 31, 2005.

The merger was finalized on November 18, 2005. Upon the completion of the merger, SBC Communications adopted the AT&T branding, and changed its corporate name to AT&T Inc. to differentiate the company from the former AT&T Corporation. On December 1, 2005, the merged company's New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol was changed from "SBC" to the traditional "T" used by AT&T.

The new AT&T updated the former AT&T's graphic logo; however the existing AT&T sound trademark (voiced by Pat Fleet) continues to be used.

BellSouth Acquisition

On Friday December 29, 2006, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the new AT&T's acquisition of a regional Bell Operating Company, BellSouth, valued at approximately $86 billion (or 1.325 shares of AT&T for each share of BellSouth at the close of trading December 29, 2006). The new combined company retained the name AT&T. The deal consolidated ownership of both Cingular Wireless and Yellowpages.com, once joint ventures between BellSouth and AT&T. All services, including wireless, became offered under the AT&T name.

2007–2008 Restructuring

Transition to New Media

The AT&T Switching Center in downtown Los Angeles, California.

In June 2007, AT&T's new chairman and CEO, Randall Stephenson, discussed how wireless services are the core of "The New AT&T". With declining sales of traditional home phone lines, AT&T plans to roll out various new media such as Video Share, U-verse, and to extend its reach in high speed Internet into rural areas across the country. AT&T announced on June 29, 2007, however, that it was acquiring Dobson Communications. It was then reported on October 2, 2007 that AT&T would purchase Interwise for $121 million, which it completed on November 2, 2007. On October 9, 2007, AT&T purchased 12 MHz of spectrum in the prime 700 MHz spectrum band from privately-held Aloha Partners for nearly $2.5 billion; the deal was approved by the FCC on February 4, 2008. On December 4, 2007 AT&T announced plans to acquire Edge Wireless, a regional GSM carrier in the Pacific Northwest. The Edge Wireless acquisition was completed in April 2008.

Corporate headquarters move

On June 27, 2008, AT&T announced that it would move its corporate headquarters from 175 East Houston Street in San Antonio to One AT&T Plaza in Downtown Dallas. The company said that it moved to gain better access to its customers and operations throughout the world, and to the key technology partners, suppliers, innovation and human resources needed as it continues to grow, domestically and internationally

AT&T Inc. previously relocated its corporate headquarters to San Antonio from St. Louis in 1992, when it was then named Southwestern Bell Corporation. The company's Telecom Operations group, which serves residential and regional business customers in 22 U.S. states, remains in San Antonio

Atlanta continues to be the headquarters for AT&T Mobility, with significant offices in Redmond, Washington, the former home of AT&T Wireless. Bedminster, New Jersey is the headquarters for the company's Global Business Services group and AT&T Labs. St. Louis continues as home to the company's Directory operations, AT&T Advertising Solutions.

Job Cuts

On December 4, 2008, AT&T announced they would be cutting 12,000 jobs due to "economic pressures, a changing business mix and a more streamlined organizational structure".

Post-Consolidation Wireless Acquisitions

Cellular One Acquisition

On June 29, 2007 AT&T announced that they had reached an agreement to purchase Dobson Cellular, which provided services in the US under the name Cellular One in primarily rural areas. The closing price was $2.8B USD, or $13 per share. AT&T also agreed to assume the outstanding debt of $2.3B USD. The sale completed on November 15, 2007, with market transition beginning December 9, 2007.

Centennial Acquisition

On November 11, 2008, AT&T announced a $944 million buyout of Centennial Communications Corp. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval, the approval of Centennial’s stockholders and other customary closing conditions. Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, Centennial’s largest stockholder, has agreed to vote in support of this transaction. In an attempt to quell regulators, on May 9, 2009 AT&T entered an agreement with Verizon Wireless to sell off certain existing Centennial service areas in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi for $240 million pending the successful merger of AT&T and Centennial.

Wayport Acquisition

On 12 December 2008, AT&T acquired Wayport, Inc., a major provider of Internet hotspots in the United States. With the acquisition, AT&T's public Wi-Fi deployment climbed to 20,000 hotspots in the United States, the most of any U.S. provider.

Qualcomm Spectrum

On December 20, 2010, AT&T and Qualcomm announced that AT&T would buy $1.93 billion worth of spectrum from Qualcomm. Formerly used for FLO TV, this spectrum will be used to expand AT&T's 4G wireless services. AT&T already had spectrum for the purpose close to what it is buying.

Bell Operating Companies

AT&T payphone signage

Of the twenty-two Bell Operating Companies which AT&T owned prior to the 1984 agreement to divest, eleven (BellSouth Telecommunications combines two former BOCs) have become a part of the new AT&T Inc. with the completion of their acquisition of BellSouth Corporation on December 29, 2006:

BellSouth Telecommunications (formerly known as Southern Bell and South Central Bell)
Illinois Bell
Indiana Bell
Michigan Bell
Nevada Bell (formerly known as Bell Telephone Company of Nevada)
Ohio Bell
Pacific Bell (formerly Pacific Telephone & Telegraph)
Southwestern Bell
Wisconsin Bell (formerly Wisconsin Telephone)
Southern New England Telephone — Now wholly owned; the original AT&T held 16.8% interest prior to 1984.

Former Operating Companies

The following companies have gone to defunct status under SBC/AT&T ownership:

Southwestern Bell Texas - a separate operating company created by SBC and merged back into SWBT on December 30, 2001.
Woodbury Telephone - merged into Southern New England Telephone on June 1, 2007.

Corporate structure

AT&T office in San Antonio, Texas with new logo and orange highlight from the former Cingular

AT&T Inc. has retained the holding companies it has acquired over the years resulting in the following corporate structure:

AT&T Inc., publicly-traded holding company

Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, original owner since 1984
Pacific Telesis Group, acquired in 1997

Pacific Bell Telephone Company

Nevada Bell Telephone Company

Southern New England Telecommunications Corporation, acquired in 1998

Southern New England Telephone Company (includes former Woodbury Telephone)

AT&T Teleholdings, Inc., formerly Ameritech, acquired in 1999

Illinois Bell Telephone Company
Indiana Bell Telephone Company, Inc.
Michigan Bell Telephone Company
The Ohio Bell Telephone Company
Wisconsin Bell, Inc.

AT&T Corporation, acquired 2005

AT&T Communications, Inc.
Alascom

BellSouth Corporation, acquired 2006

BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.

Additionally, AT&T continues to host customer email addresses that were originally born from these companies. AT&T uses Yahoo! Mail hosting for its customers including those with these domain names:

@ameritech.net
@att.net
@bellsouth.net
@flash.net
@nvbell.net
@pacbell.net
@prodigy.net
@sbcglobal.net
@snet.net
@swbell.net
@wans.net
@attglobal.net

Corporate Governance

Stephenson at the 2008 World Economic Forum

AT&T's current board of directors:

Randall L. Stephenson — Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
James A. Henderson
Gilbert F. Amelio
William F. Aldinger III
Brian J. Shay
August A. Busch III
Martin K. Eby, Jr.
Charles F. Knight
Jon C. Madonna
Lynn M. Martin
Ronald M. Crump
John B. McCoy
Mary S. Metz
Toni Rembe
S. Donley Ritchey

Criticism and Controversies

Contributions to Political Campaigns

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, AT&T is the United States' second largest donor to political campaigns, having contributed more than US$ 36 million since 1990, 56% and 44% of which went to Republican and Democratic recipients, respectively. A key political issue for AT&T is the question of which businesses win the right to profit by providing broadband internet access in the United States.

In 2005, AT&T was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush.

Wireless Service

AT&T has received criticisms for its wireless services. In December 2010, Consumer Reports named AT&T as the worst wireless provider in the country.

Censorship Controversy

In August 2007, the band Pearl Jam performed in Chicago at Lollapalooza which was being web-broadcast by AT&T. The band, while playing the song "Daughter", started playing a version of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" but with altered lyrics critical of president George Bush. These lyrics included "George Bush, leave this world alone!" and, "George Bush, find yourself another home!". Listeners to AT&T's web broadcast heard only the first line because the rest was censored although, AT&T spokesman Michael Coe said that the silencing was "a mistake."

In September 2007, AT&T changed their legal policy to state that "AT&T may immediately terminate or suspend all or a portion of your Service, any Member ID, electronic mail address, IP address, Universal Resource Locator or domain name used by you, without notice for conduct that AT&T believes"..."(c) tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries." By October 10, 2007 AT&T had altered the terms and conditions for its Internet service to explicitly support freedom of expression by its subscribers, after an outcry claiming the company had given itself the right to censor its subscribers' transmissions.

Section 5.1 of AT&T's new terms of service now reads "AT&T respects freedom of expression and believes it is a foundation of our free society to express differing points of view. AT&T will not terminate, disconnect or suspend service because of the views you or we express on public policy matters, political issues or political campaigns."

On July 26, 2009, AT&T customers were unable to access certain sections of the image board 4chan, specifically /b/ (the "random" board) and /r9k/ (the "ROBOT 9000" board, a spin-off of the random board). However, by the morning of Monday, July 27, the block had been lifted and access to the affected boards was restored. AT&T's official reason for the block was that a distributed denial of service attack had originated from the img.4chan.org server, and access was blocked to stop the attack. Major news outlets have reported that the issue may be related to DDoSing of 4chan and IP spoofing of 4chan and that the suspicions of 4chan users fell on Kimmo Alm, the person who owned Anontalk.com at that time for doing this. Alm has been reported in the past to have DDoSed 4chan.

Privacy Controversy

In 2006, the Electronic Frontier Foundation lodged a class action lawsuit, Hepting v. AT&T, which alleged that AT&T had allowed agents of the National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor phone and Internet communications of AT&T customers without warrants. If true, this would violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. AT&T has yet to confirm or deny that monitoring by the NSA is occurring. In April 2006, a retired former AT&T technician, Mark Klein, lodged an affidavit supporting this allegation. The Department of Justice has stated they will intervene in this lawsuit by means of State Secrets Privilege. In July 2006, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California – in which the suit was filed – rejected a federal government motion to dismiss the case. The motion to dismiss, which invoked the State Secrets Privilege, had argued that any court review of the alleged partnership between the federal government and AT&T would harm national security.

The case was immediately appealed to the Ninth Circuit. It was dismissed on June 3, 2009, citing retroactive legislation in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. In May 2006, USA Today reported that all international and domestic calling records had been handed over to the National Security Agency by AT&T, Verizon, SBC, and BellSouth for the purpose of creating a massive calling database. The portions of the new AT&T that had been part of SBC Communications before November 18, 2005 were not mentioned.

On June 21, 2006, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that AT&T had rewritten rules on their privacy policy. The policy, which took effect June 23, 2006, says that "AT&T — not customers — owns customers' confidential info and can use it 'to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process.' "

On August 22, 2007, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell confirmed that AT&T was one of the telecommunications companies that assisted with the government's warrantless wire-tapping program on calls between foreign and domestic sources.

On November 8, 2007, Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician, told Keith Olbermann of MSNBC that all Internet traffic passing over AT&T lines was copied into a locked room at the company's San Francisco office — to which only employees with National Security Agency clearance had access.

Intellectual Property Filtering

In January 2008, the company reported plans to begin filtering all Internet traffic which passes through its network for intellectual property violations. Commentators in the media have speculated that if this plan is implemented, it would lead to a mass exodus of subscribers leaving AT&T, although this is misleading as Internet traffic may go through the company's network anyway. Internet freedom proponents used these developments as justification for government-mandated network neutrality.

Discrimination Against Local Public Access Channels

AT&T is accused by community media groups of discriminating against local public-access television, also known as PEG ("public, education, government") channels, by "imposing unfair restrictions that will severely restrict the audience".

According to Barbara Popovic, Executive Director of the Chicago public-access service CAN-TV, the new AT&T U-verse system forces all public access television into a special menu system, denying normal functionality such as channel numbers, access to the standard program guide, and DVR recording. The Ratepayer Advocates division of the California Public Utilities Commission reported: "Instead of putting the stations on individual channels, AT&T has bundled community stations into a generic channel that can only be navigated through a complex and lengthy process."

Sue Buske (president of telecommunications consulting firm the Buske Group and a former head of the National Federation of Local Cable Programmers/Alliance for Community Media) argue that this is "an overall attack [...] on public access across the [United States], the place in the dial around cities and communities where people can make their own media in their own communities".

Information Security

In June 2010, a hacker group known as Goatse Security discovered a vulnerability within the AT&T that could allow anyone to uncover Email addresses belonging to customers of AT&T 3G service for the Apple iPad. These Email addresses could be accessed without a protective password. Using a script, Goatse Security collected thousands of Email addresses from AT&T. Goatse Security informed AT&T about the security flaw through a third party. Goatse Security then disclosed around 114,000 of these Emails to Gawker Media, which published an article about the security flaw and disclosure in Valleywag. Praetorian Security Group criticized the web application that Goatse Security exploited as "poorly-designed".

Naming Rights and Sponsorships

Buildings

AT&T Midtown Center in Atlanta, Georgia

AT&T 220 Building - building in Indianapolis, Indiana
AT&T Building - building in Detroit, Michigan
AT&T Building - building in Indianapolis, Indiana
AT&T Building - building in Kingman, Arizona
AT&T Building - (aka "The Batman Building") in Nashville, Tennessee
AT&T Building - building in Omaha, Nebraska
AT&T Building Addition - building in Detroit, Michigan
AT&T Center - building in Los Angeles, California
AT&T Center - building in St. Louis, Missouri
AT&T City Center - building in Birmingham, Alabama
AT&T Corporate Center - building in Chicago, Illinois
AT&T Huron Road Building - building in Cleveland, Ohio
AT&T Lenox Park Campus - AT&T Mobility Headquarters in DeKalb County just outside Atlanta, Georgia
AT&T Midtown Center - building in Atlanta, Georgia
AT&T Switching Center - building in Los Angeles, California
AT&T Switching Center - building in Oakland, California
AT&T Switching Center - building in San Francisco, California
AT&T Building - building in San Diego, California
Whitacre Tower (One AT&T Plaza) - Corporate Headquarters, Dallas, Texas
Sony Tower, (formerly the AT&T Building)
AT&T Tower - building in Jacksonville, FL

Venues

AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas

AT&T Bricktown Ballpark — Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (formerly Southwestern Bell Bricktown Ballpark, SBC Bricktown Ballpark)
AT&T Center — San Antonio, Texas (formerly SBC Center)
AT&T Field — Chattanooga, Tennessee (formerly BellSouth Park)
AT&T Park — San Francisco, California (formerly Pacific Bell Park, SBC Park)
AT&T Plaza - Chicago, Illinois (public space that hosts the Cloud Gate sculpture in Millennium Park)
AT&T Plaza — Dallas, Texas (plaza in front of the American Airlines Center at Victory Park)
AT&T Performing Arts Center — Dallas, Texas
Jones AT&T Stadium — Lubbock, Texas (formerly Clifford B. and Audrey Jones Stadium, Jones SBC Stadium)
TPC San Antonio - San Antonio, Texas (AT&T Oaks Course & AT&T Canyons Course)

Sponsorships

AT&T sponsors the annual Red River Rivalry football game

AT&T Champions Classic — Valencia, California
AT&T Classic — Atlanta, Georgia (formerly BellSouth Classic)
AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic (formerly Mobil Cotton Bowl Classic, Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl Classic, SBC Cotton Bowl Classic) — played in Arlington, Texas, at Cowboys Stadium.
AT&T National — Washington, D.C.
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
AT&T Red River Rivalry — Dallas, Texas (formerly Red River Shootout, SBC Red River Rivalry)
AT&T WilliamsF1 Team — based in Grove, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Major League Soccer and the United States Soccer Federation, including the U.S. men's and U.S. women's national teams and the Major League Soccer All-Star Game from 2009
United States Olympic team
National Collegiate Athletic Association (Corporate Champion)

Global presence

AT&T offers services in many locations throughout the Asia Pacific, with regional headquarter located in Hong Kong.

Conoco Phillips

2011-02-23T09:18:00.000-08:00

When Warren Buffett said he was "dead wrong" to invest in ConocoPhillips, Conoco chief James Mulva must have taken note. The Texas-based oil company -- the nation's third largest -- has been going to great lengths trying to shore up its balance sheet by selling assets, reducing debt, and reining in capital spending.

In March, Conoco said it would sell half of its 20% stake in Lukoil, a move that could raise $5 billion. Other potential sales: the company's 9% stake in its oil sands venture Syncrude and its 50% ownership in the Flying J truck stop chain. --P.N.

ConocoPhillips Company (NYSE: COP) is an American multinational energy corporation with its headquarters located in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas in the United States. It is also one of the Fortune 500 companies. ConocoPhillips is the fifth largest private sector energy corporation in the world and is one of the six "supermajor" vertically integrated oil companies. It sells fuel under the Conoco, Phillips 66 and Union 76 brands in North America, and Jet in Europe. ConocoPhillips was created through the merger of Conoco Inc. and the Phillips Petroleum Company on August 30, 2002.

Overview

ConocoPhillips employs approximately 33,800 people worldwide in nearly 40 countries. ConocoPhillips is the second-largest refiner in the United States, with crude oil processing capacity of approximately 2.0 MMBD; and the world’s fourth-largest nongovernment-controlled refiner, with crude oil processing capacity of nearly 2.7 MMBD globally.

[History

Conoco Inc. was an American oil company founded in 1875 as the Continental Oil and Transportation Company. Based in Ogden, Utah, the company was a coal, oil, kerosene, grease and candles distributor in the West. Marland Oil Company (founded by exploration pioneer E. W. Marland) later acquired the assets (subject to liabilities) of Continental Oil Company, for a consideration of 2,317,266 shares of stock. On June 26, 1929, Marland Oil changed its name to Continental Oil Company and moved its headquarters to Ponca City, Oklahoma. The acquisition gave Conoco the red bar-and-triangle logo previously used by Marland. Conoco used the logo between 1930 and 1970, when the current red capsule logo was adopted.
In 2005, ConocoPhillips began rebranding its (Union) 76 gas stations, which Phillips had acquired from Tosco Corporation before the merger with Conoco. The move prompted a petition campaign by fans hoping to save the historic 76 orange ball signage. On January 20, 2007, a Wall Street Journal article on the petition campaign included a statement from ConocoPhillips that it was changing course and would save several dozen orange and blue 76 balls to give to museums. The company also announced that it would fabricate about 100 new 76 ball signs in the ConocoPhillips color scheme of red and blue, to be placed at select 76 stations.

In March 2006, ConocoPhillips bought Wilhelmshavener Raffineriegesellschaft mbH in Germany.

In March 2006, ConocoPhillips bought Burlington Resources.
On May 10, 2006, Richard Armitage, former deputy-secretary of the U.S. State Department, was elected to the board of directors of the ConocoPhillips oil company.
In 2007 the Chevron Corporation purchased all of the Conoco gas stations in Mississippi to the Texaco brand, a process to be completed by the end of the year.

Chart of the major energy companies dubbed "Big Oil" sorted by latest published revenue

Business Units

Tanker Fleets

ConocoPhillips has several subsidiary oil tanker fleets.

Polar Tankers is the US Flagged shipping arm of ConocoPhillips.

The Endeavour Class vessels were built by Avondale Shipyard, Northrop Grumman Ship Systems in Avondale, Louisiana. They are double hull type tankers of 894.7 ft long (272.7 m) and 140,000 DWT

Polar Endeavour - 2001
Polar Resolution - 2002
Polar Discovery - 2003
Polar Adventure - 2004
Polar Enterprise - 2007

Exploration, Refining & Marketing

Recently, Bangladesh granted a string of nine offshore exploration gas blocks in the Bay of Bengal to ConocoPhillips. In February 2008, ConocoPhillips was selected for 8 blocks as a lone bidder.

ConocoPhillips operates 19 refineries around the world.

In the United States, the company operates Conoco, Phillips 66 and (Union) 76 stations. The 76 brand, long familiar in the western and southern U.S., was created by Union Oil Company of California (later Unocal) in 1932.

In Europe, ConocoPhillips operates Jet filling stations in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom. It sold its Jet stations in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia to its Russian affiliate, Lukoil. It uses the COOP identity in Switzerland, and in 2010 sold its Norwegian chain (and 40 Swedish stations) to the Finnish company St1.

The company formerly marketed under the ProJET brand name in Malaysia and Turkpetrol in Turkey.

Environmental Record

On April 11, 2007, ConocoPhillips became the first U.S. oil company to join the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, an alliance of big business and environmental groups. The partnership in January 2007 had advised President George W. Bush that mandatory emissions caps would be needed to reduce the flow of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere. In 2007 ConocoPhillips announced it would spend $150 million that year on the research and development of new energy sources and technologies — a 50 percent increase in spending from 2006.

According to the Political Economy Research Institute, ConocoPhillips ranked 13th among U.S. corporate producers of air pollutions.

In 2003, ConocoPhillips was named as a defendant in a lawsuit brought by Green Alternative, an environmental group based in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. The suit claimed that a number of foreign oil companies colluded with the Georgian government to induce authorities to approve a $3 billion pipeline without properly evaluating the environmental impact.

Headquarters

ConocoPhillips headquarters in the Energy Corridor area of Houston

The headquarters of ConocoPhillips are located in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas. By 2002 the groups organizing the measure had selected Houston as the site of the headquarters. Governor of Oklahoma Frank Keating said that the move to Houston was "regrettable." The Journal Record stated that Archie Dunham, the CEO of Conoco Inc., "apparently highlighted the lack of direct international air travel from Oklahoma as a key drawback for the merged firm." The ConocoPhillips headquarters, originally the headquarters of Conoco Inc., was formerly known as the Conoco Center.

Aerial view of the ConocoPhillips headquarters

Products

ConocoPhilips is the fourth largest finished lubricants supplier in the United States. ConocoPhillips offers consumers four premier brands, including 76 Lubricants, Conoco, Phillips 66 and Kendall Motor Oil.

Bank of America Corp.

2011-02-23T07:49:00.000-08:00

Say this about Bank of America chief Brian Moynihan: He certainly knows how to talk the talk. In his letter to shareholders, Moynihan went out of his way to thank U.S. taxpayers for making $45 billion in TARP funds available. He also described how he is working closely with "policy leaders" on financial reform.

Whether he can walk the walk -- i.e., turn around BofA's fortunes -- is another matter. While the company did repay its TARP loan in December, it is still sitting on billions of dollars of vulnerable residential and commercial mortgage debt -- one reason the company spent 8,000 words discussing risk in its annual report. --P.N.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is a financial services company, the largest bank holding company in the United States, by assets, and the second largest bank by market capitalization. Bank of America serves clients in more than 150 countries and has a relationship with 99% of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 83% of the Fortune Global 500. The company is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and a component of both the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

As of 2010, Bank of America is the 5th largest company in the United States by total revenue, as well as the second largest non-oil company in the U.S. (after Wal-Mart). In 2010, Forbes listed Bank of America as the 3rd "best" large company in the world.

The bank's 2008 acquisition of Merrill Lynch made Bank of America the world's largest wealth manager and a major player in the investment banking industry.

The company holds 12.2% of all U.S. deposits, as of August 2009, and is one of the Big Four banks of the United States, along with Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo—its main competitors.

Corporate History

Bank of Italy

Typical Bank of America local office in Los Angeles

Bank of America's history dates to 1904, when Amadeo Giannini founded the Bank of Italy in San Francisco to cater to immigrants who were denied service from other banks. Amadeo was raised by the Fava/Stanghellini family when his father was shot while trying to collect on a $10.00 debt. When the 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck, Giannini was able to get all deposits out of the bank building and away from the fires. Because San Francisco's banks were in smoldering ruins and unable to open their vaults, Giannini was able to use the rescued funds to start lending within a few days of the disaster. From a makeshift desk of a few planks over two barrels, he loaned money to anyone who was willing to rebuild. Later in life, he took great pride that all of these loans were repaid.

In 1922, Giannini established Bank of America and Italy in Italy by buying Banca dell'Italia Meridionale, itself only established in 1918.

On March 7, 1927, Giannini consolidated his Bank of Italy (101 branches) with the newly formed Liberty Bank of America (175 branches). The result was the Bank of Italy National Trust & Savings Association with capital of $30,000,000, and resources of $115,000,000.

In 1928, A. P. Giannini merged with Bank of America, Los Angeles and consolidated it with his other bank holdings to create what would become the largest banking institution in the country. He renamed his Bank of Italy November 3, 1930, calling it Bank of America. The merger was completed in early 1929 and took the name Bank of America. The combined company was headed by Giannini with Orra E. Monnette serving as co-Chair.

Growth in California

Giannini sought to build a national bank, expanding into most of the western states as well as into the insurance industry, under the aegis of his holding company, Transamerica Corporation. In 1953, regulators succeeded in forcing the separation of Transamerica Corporation and Bank of America under the Clayton Antitrust Act. The passage of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 prohibited banks from owning non-banking subsidiaries such as insurance companies. Bank of America and Transamerica were separated, with the latter company continuing in the insurance business. However, federal banking regulators prohibited Bank of America's interstate banking activity, and Bank of America's domestic banks outside California were forced into a separate company that eventually became First Interstate Bancorp, which was acquired by Wells Fargo and Company in 1996. It was not until the 1980s with a change in federal banking legislation and regulation that Bank of America was again able to expand its domestic consumer banking activity outside California.

New technologies also allowed credit cards to be linked directly to individual bank accounts. In 1958, the bank introduced the BankAmericard, which changed its name to Visa in 1975. A consortium of other California banks introduced Master Charge (now MasterCard) to compete with BankAmericard.

Expansion outside California

Following the passage of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1967, BankAmerica Corporation was established for the purpose of owning Bank of America and its subsidiaries.

BankAmerica expanded outside California in 1983 with its acquisition of Seafirst Corporation of Seattle, Washington, and its wholly owned banking subsidiary, Seattle-First National Bank. Seafirst was at risk of seizure by the federal government after becoming insolvent due to a series of bad loans to the oil industry. BankAmerica continued to operate its new subsidiary as Seafirst rather than Bank of America until the 1998 merger with NationsBank.

Bank America was dealt huge losses in 1986 and 1987 by the placement of a series of bad loans in the Third World, particularly in Latin America. The company fired its CEO, Sam Armacost. Though Armacost blamed the problems on his predecessor, A.W. (Tom) Clausen, Clausen was appointed to replace Armacost. The losses resulted in a huge decline of BankAmerica stock, making it vulnerable to a hostile takeover. First Interstate Bancorp of Los Angeles (which had originated from banks once owned by BankAmerica), launched such a bid in the fall of 1986, although BankAmerica rebuffed it, mostly by selling operations. It sold its FinanceAmerica subsidiary to Chrysler and the brokerage firm Charles Schwab and Co. back to Mr. Schwab. It also sold Bank of America and Italy to Deutsche Bank. By the time of the 1987 stock market crash, BankAmerica's share price had fallen to $8, but by 1992 it had rebounded mightily to become one of the biggest gainers of that half-decade.

Bank of America Tower (New York City)

BankAmerica's next big acquisition came in 1992. The company acquired its California rival, Security Pacific Corporation and its subsidiary Security Pacific National Bank in California and other banks in Arizona, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington (which Security Pacific had acquired in a series of acquisitions in the late 1980s). This was, at the time, the largest bank acquisition in history. Federal regulators, however, forced the sale of roughly half of Security Pacific's Washington subsidiary, the former Rainier Bank, as the combination of Seafirst and Security Pacific Washington would have given BankAmerica too large a share of the market in that state. The Washington branches were divided and sold off to West One Bancorp (now U.S. Bancorp) and KeyBank. Later that year, BankAmerica expanded into Nevada by acquiring Valley Bank of Nevada.

In 1994, BankAmerica acquired the Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Co. of Chicago, which had become federally owned as part of the same oil industry debacle emanating from Oklahoma City's Penn Square Bank, that had brought down numerous financial institutions including Seafirst. At the time, no bank had the resources to bail out Continental, so the federal government operated the bank for nearly a decade. Illinois at that time regulated branch banking extremely heavily, so Bank of America Illinois was a single-unit bank until the 21st century. BankAmerica moved its national lending department to Chicago in an effort to establish a financial beachhead in the region.

These mergers helped BankAmerica Corporation to once again become the largest U.S. bank holding company in terms of deposits, but the company fell to second place in 1997 behind fast-growing NationsBank Corporation, and to third in 1998 behind North Carolina's First Union Corp.

On the capital markets side, the acquisition of Continental Illinois helped BankAmerica to build a leveraged finance origination and distribution business (Continental Illinois had extensive leveraged lending relationships) which allowed the firm’s existing broker-dealer, BancAmerica Securities (originally named BA Securities), to become a full-service franchise. In addition, in 1997, BankAmerica acquired Robertson Stephens, a San Francisco-based investment bank specializing in high technology for $540 million. Robertson Stephens was integrated into BancAmerica Securities and the combined subsidiary was renamed BancAmerica Robertson Stephens.

Merger of NationsBank and BankAmerica

Logo of the former NationsBank Corp., which is similar to the current logo of Bank of America

Logo of the former Bank of America, ca 1980

In 1997, BankAmerica lent D. E. Shaw & Co., a large hedge fund, $1.4 billion so that the hedge fund would run various businesses for the bank. However, D.E. Shaw suffered significant loss after the 1998 Russia bond default. BankAmerica was acquired by NationsBank in October 1998.

The purchase of BankAmerica Corp. by NationsBank Corporation was the largest bank acquisition in history at that time. While the deal was technically a purchase of BankAmerica Corporation by NationsBank, the deal was structured as merger with NationsBank renamed to Bank of America Corporation, and Bank of America NT&SA changing its name to Bank of America, N.A. as the remaining legal bank entity. The bank still operates under Federal Charter 13044, which was granted to Giannini's Bank of Italy on March 1, 1927. However, SEC filings before 1998 are listed under NationsBank, not BankAmerica.

Following the US$64.8 billion acquisition of BankAmerica by NationsBank, the resulting Bank of America had combined assets of US$570 billion, as well as 4,800 branches in 22 states. Despite the mammoth size of the two companies, federal regulators insisted only upon the divestiture of 13 branches in New Mexico, in towns that would be left with only a single bank following the combination. This is because branch divestitures are only required if the combined company will have a larger than 25% FDIC deposit market share in a particular state or 10% deposit market share overall. In addition, the combined broker-dealer, created from the integration of BancAmerica Robertson Stephens and NationsBanc Montgomery Securities, was renamed Banc of America Securities in 1998.

History Since 2001

Chinatown-Bayard branch in Chinatown, Manhattan

In 2001, Bank of America CEO and chairman Hugh McColl stepped down and named Ken Lewis as his successor.

In 2004, Bank of America announced it would purchase Boston-based bank FleetBoston Financial for $47 billion in cash and stock. By merging with Bank of America, all of its banks and branches were given the Bank of America logo. At the time of merger, FleetBoston was the seventh largest bank in United States with $197 billion in assets, over 20 million customers and revenue of $12 billion. Hundreds of FleetBoston workers lost their jobs or were demoted, according to the Boston Globe.

On June 30, 2005, Bank of America announced it would purchase credit card giant MBNA for $35 billion in cash and stock. The Federal Reserve Board gave final approval to the merger on December 15, 2005, and the merger closed on January 1, 2006. The acquisition of MBNA provided Bank of America a leading credit card issuer at home and abroad. The combined Bank of America Card Services organization, including the former MBNA, had more than 40 million U.S. accounts and nearly $140 billion in outstanding balances. Under Bank of America the operation was renamed FIA Card Services.

Footprint of Bank of America locations

In May 2006, Bank of America and Banco Itaú (Investimentos Itaú S.A.) entered into an acquisition agreement through which Itaú agreed to acquire BankBoston's operations in Brazil and was granted an exclusive right to purchase Bank of America's operations in Chile and Uruguay. A deal was signed in August 2006 under which Itaú agreed to purchase Bank of America's operations in Chile and Uruguay. Prior to the transaction, BankBoston's Brazilian operations included asset management, private banking, a credit card portfolio, and small, middle-market, and large corporate segments. It had 66 branches and 203,000 clients in Brazil. BankBoston in Chile had 44 branches and 58,000 clients and in Uruguay it had 15 branches. In addition, there was a credit card company, OCA, in Uruguay, which had 23 branches. BankBoston N.A. in Uruguay, together with OCA, jointly served 372,000 clients. While the BankBoston name and trademarks were not part of the transaction, as part of the sale agreement, they cannot be used by Bank of America in Brazil, Chile or Uruguay following the transactions. Hence, the BankBoston name has disappeared from Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. The Itaú stock received by Bank of America in the transactions has allowed Bank of America's stake in Itaú to reach 11.51%. Banco de Boston de Brazil had been founded in 1947.

On November 20, 2006, Bank of America announced the purchase of The United States Trust Company for $3.3 billion, from the Charles Schwab Corporation. US Trust had about $100 billion of assets under management and over 150 years of experience. The deal closed July 1, 2007.

On September 14, 2007, Bank of America won approval from the Federal Reserve to acquire LaSalle Bank Corporation from Netherlands's ABN AMRO for $21 billion. With this combination Bank of America will have 1.7 trillion in assets. A Dutch court blocked the sale until it was later approved in July. The acquisition was completed on October 1, 2007.

The deal increased Bank of America's presence in Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana by 411 branches, 17,000 commercial bank clients, 1.4 million retail customers, and 1,500 ATMs. Bank of America has become the largest bank in the Chicago market with 197 offices and 14% of the deposit share, surpassing JPMorgan Chase.

LaSalle Bank and LaSalle Bank Midwest branches adopted the Bank of America name on May 5, 2008.

Ken Lewis resigned as of December 31, 2009, in part due to controversy and legal investigations concerning the purchase of Merrill Lynch, and Brian Moynihan became President and CEO effective January 1, 2010. After Moynihan assumed control, credit card charge offs and delinquencies declined in January. Bank of America also repaid the US$45 billion it had received from the Troubled Assets Relief Program.

Acquisition of Countrywide Financial

On August 23, 2007 the company announced a $2 billion repurchase agreement for Countrywide Financial. This purchase of preferred stock was arranged to provide a return on investment of 7.25% per annum and provided the option to purchase common stock at a price of $18 per share.

On January 11, 2008, Bank of America announced they would buy Countrywide Financial for $4.1 billion. In March 2008, it was reported that the FBI was investigating Countrywide for possible fraud relating to home loans and mortgages. This news did not stop the acquisition, which was completed in July 2008, giving the bank a substantial market share of the mortgage business, and access to Countrywide's resources for servicing mortgages. The acquisition was seen as preventing a potential bankruptcy for Countrywide.

Countrywide, however, denied that it was close to bankruptcy. Countrywide provided mortgage servicing for nine million mortgages valued at US$1.4 trillion as of December 31, 2007.

This purchase made Bank of America Corporation the leading mortgage originator and servicer in the U.S. , controlling 20–25% of the home loan market. The deal was structured to merge Countrywide with the Red Oak Merger Corporation, which Bank of America created as an independent subsidiary. It has been suggested that the deal was structured this way to prevent a potential bankruptcy stemming from large losses in Countrywide hurting the parent organization by keeping Countrywide bankruptcy remote. Countrywide Financial has changed its name to Bank of America Home Loans.

Acquisition of Merrill Lynch

On September 14, 2008, Bank of America announced its intentions to purchase Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. in an all-stock deal worth approximately $50 billion. Merrill Lynch was at the time within days of collapse, and the acquisition effectively saved Merrill from bankruptcy. Around the same time Bank of America was reportedly also in talks to purchase Lehman Brothers, however a lack of government guarantees caused the bank to abandon talks with Lehman. Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy the same day Bank of America announced its plans to acquire Merrill Lynch. This acquisition made Bank of America the largest financial services company in the world. Temasek Holdings, the largest shareholder of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., briefly became one of the largest shareholders of Bank of America, with a 3% stake. However, taking a loss Reuters estimated at $3 billion, the Singapore sovereign wealth fund sold its whole stake in Bank of America in the first quarter of 2009.

Shareholders of both companies approved the acquisition on December 5, 2008, and the deal closed January 1, 2009. Bank of America had planned to retain various members of Thain's management team after the merger. However, after Thain was removed from his position, most of his allies left. The departure of Nelson Chai, who had been named Asia-Pacific president, left just one of Thain's hires in place, Tom Montag as head of sales and trading.

The Bank, in its January 16, 2009 earnings release, revealed massive losses at Merrill Lynch in the fourth quarter, which necessitated an infusion of money that had previously been negotiated with the government as part of the government-persuaded deal for the Bank to acquire Merrill. Merrill recorded an operating loss of $21.5 billion in the quarter, mainly in its sales and trading operations, led by Tom Montag. The Bank also disclosed it tried to abandon the deal in December after the extent of Merrill's trading losses surfaced, but was compelled to complete the merger by the U.S. government. The Bank's stock price sank to $7.18, its lowest level in 17 years, after announcing earnings and the Merrill mishap. The market capitalization of Bank of America, including Merrill Lynch, was then $45 billion, less than the $50 billion it offered for Merrill just four months earlier, and down $108 billion from the merger announcement.

Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis testified before Congress that he had some misgivings about the acquisition of Merrill Lynch, and that federal officials pressured him to proceed with the deal or face losing his job and endangering the bank's relationship with federal regulators.

Lewis' statement is backed up in internal emails subpoenaed by Republican lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee. In one of the emails, Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker threatened that if the acquisition did not go through, and later Bank of America were forced to request federal assistance, the management of Bank of America would be "gone". Other emails, read by Congressman Dennis Kucinich during the course of Lewis' testimony, state that Mr. Lewis had foreseen the outrage from his shareholders that the purchase of Merrill would cause, and asked government regulators to issue a letter stating that the government had ordered him to complete the deal to acquire Merrill. Lewis, for his part, states he didn't recall requesting such a letter.

The acquisition made Bank of America the number one underwriter of global high-yield debt, the third largest underwriter of global equity and the ninth largest adviser on global mergers and acquisitions. As the credit crisis eased, losses at Merrill Lynch subsided, and the subsidiary generated 3.7 billion of Bank of America's 4.2 billion in profit by the end of Q1 2009, and over 25% in the Q3 2009.

Bonus Settlement

On August 3, 2009, Bank of America agreed to pay a $33 million fine, without admission or denial of charges, to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the non-disclosure of an agreement to pay up to $5.8 billion of bonuses at Merrill. The bank approved the bonuses before the merger but did not disclose them to its shareholders when the shareholders were considering approving the Merrill acquisition, in December 2008. The issue was originally investigated by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who commented after the suit and announced settlement that "the timing of the bonuses, as well as the disclosures relating to them, constituted a 'surprising fit of corporate irresponsibility'" and "our investigation of these and other matters pursuant to New York's Martin Act will continue." Congressman Kucinich commented at the same time that "This may not be the last fine that Bank of America pays for how it handled its merger of Merrill Lynch." A federal judge, Jed Rakoff, in an unusual action, refused to approve the settlement on August 5. A first hearing before the judge on August 10 was at times heated, and he was "sharply critic[al]" of the bonuses. David Rosenfeld represented the SEC, and Lewis J. Liman, son of Arthur L. Liman, represented the bank. The actual amount of bonuses paid was $3.6 billion, of which $850 million was "guaranteed" and the rest was shared amongst 39,000 workers who received average payments of $91,000; 696 people received more than $1 million in bonuses; at least one person received a more than $33 million bonus.

On September 14, the judge rejected the settlement and told the parties to prepare for trial to begin no later than February 1, 2010. "The judge focused much of his criticism on the fact that the fine in the case would be paid by the bank's shareholders, who were the ones that were supposed to have been injured by the lack of disclosure. 'It is quite something else for the very management that is accused of having lied to its shareholders to determine how much of those victims’ money should be used to make the case against the management go away,' the judge wrote. ... The proposed settlement, the judge continued, 'suggests a rather cynical relationship between the parties: the S.E.C. gets to claim that it is exposing wrongdoing on the part of the Bank of America in a high-profile merger; the bank's management gets to claim that they have been coerced into an onerous settlement by overzealous regulators. And all this is done at the expense, not only of the shareholders, but also of the truth.'"

While ultimately deferring to the SEC, in February, 2010, Judge Rakoff approved a revised settlement with a $150 million fine "reluctantly", calling the accord "half-baked justice at best" and "inadequate and misguided." Addressing one of the concerns he raised in September, the fine will be "distributed only to Bank of America shareholders harmed by the non-disclosures, or 'legacy shareholders,' [and it's also] an improvement on the prior $33 million while still 'paltry,' according to the judge." Case: SEC v. Bank of America Corp., 09-cv-06829, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Municipal bonds fraud

In 2010, the bank was accused by the US federal government of defrauding schools, hospitals, and dozens of state and local government organizations via misconduct and illegal activities involving the investment of proceeds from municipal bond sales. As a result, the bank agreed to pay $137.7 million, including $25 million to the Internal Revenue service and $4.5 million to state attorneys general, to the affected organizations to settle the allegations.

Former bank official Douglas Campbell pleaded guilty to antitrust, conspiracy and wire fraud charges. As of January 2011, other bankers and brokers are under indictment or investigation.

Federal bailout

Bank of America received $20 billion in the federal bailout from the U.S. government through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) on January 16, 2009, and also got a guarantee of $118 billion in potential losses at the company. This was in addition to the $25 billion given to them in the Fall of 2008 through TARP. The additional payment was part of a deal with the US government to preserve Bank of America's merger with the troubled investment firm Merrill Lynch. Since then, members of the U.S. Congress have expressed considerable concern about how this money has been spent, especially since some of the recipients have been accused of misusing the bailout money. Then CEO, Ken Lewis, was quoted as claiming "We are still lending, and we are lending far more because of the TARP program." Members of the US House of Representatives, however, were skeptical and quoted many anecdotes about loan applicants (particularly small business owners) being denied loans and credit card holders facing stiffer terms on the debt in their card accounts.

According to a March 15, 2009, article in The New York Times, Bank of America received an additional $5.2 billion in government bailout money, channeled through American International Group.

As a result of its federal bailout and management problems, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Bank of America was operating under a secret "memorandum of understanding" (MOU) from the U.S. government that requires it to "overhaul its board and address perceived problems with risk and liquidity management". With the federal action, the institution has taken several steps, including arranging for six of its directors to resign and forming a Regulatory Impact Office. Bank of America faces several deadlines in July and August and if not met, could face harsher penalties by federal regulators. Bank of America did not respond to The Wall Street Journal story.

On December 2, 2009, Bank of America announced it would repay the entire US $45 billion it received in TARP and exit the program, using $26.2 billion of excess liquidity along with $18.6 billion to be gained in "common equivalent securities" (Tier 1 capital). The bank announced it had completed the repayment on December 9. Bank of America Ken Lewis said during the announcement, "We appreciate the critical role that the U.S. government played last fall in helping to stabilize financial markets, and we are pleased to be able to fully repay the investment, with interest... As America's largest bank, we have a responsibility to make good on the taxpayers' investment, and our record shows that we have been able to fulfill that commitment while continuing to lend."

Bank of America Divisions

Bank of America ATM

Bank of America branch in Washington, D.C.

Bank of America generates 90% of its revenues in its domestic market and continues to buy businesses in the US. The core of Bank of America's strategy is to be the number one bank in its domestic market. It has achieved this through key acquisitions.

Consumer

Global Consumer and Small Business Banking (GC&SBB) is the largest division in the company, and deals primarily with consumer banking and credit card issuance. The acquisition of FleetBoston and MBNA significantly expanded its size and range of services, resulting in about 51% of the company's total revenue in 2005. It competes directly with the retail banking divisions of Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase. The GC&SBB organization includes over 6,100 retail branches and over 18,700 ATMs across the United States.

Bank of America is a member of the Global ATM Alliance, a joint venture of several major international banks that allows customers of the banks to use their ATM card or check card at another bank within the Global ATM Alliance with no ATM access fees when traveling internationally. Other participating banks are Barclays (United Kingdom), BNP Paribas (France), Ukrsibbank (Ukraine), China Construction Bank (China), Deutsche Bank (Germany), Santander Serfin (Mexico), Scotiabank (Canada) and Westpac (Australia and New Zealand). This feature is restricted to withdrawals using a debit card, though credit card withdrawals are still subject to cash advance fees and foreign currency conversion fees. Additionally, some foreign ATMs use Smart Card technology and may not accept non-Smart Cards.

Bank of America offers banking and brokerage products as a result of the acquisition of Merrill Lynch. Savings programs such as "Add it Up" and "Keep the Change" have been well received and are a reflection of the product development banks have taken during the 2008 recession.

Bank of America, N.A is a nationally chartered bank, regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Department of the Treasury.

Corporate

Before Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch, the Global Corporate and Investment Banking (GCIB) business operated as Banc of America Securities LLC. The bank's investment banking activities operate under the Merrill Lynch subsidiary and provided mergers and acquisitions advisory, underwriting, capital markets, as well as sales & trading in fixed income and equities markets. Its strongest groups include Leveraged Finance, Syndicated Loans, and mortgage-backed securities. It also has one of the largest research teams on Wall Street. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is headquartered in New York City.

Investment Management

Global Wealth and Investment Management manages assets of institutions and individuals. It is among the 10 largest U.S. wealth managers (ranked by private banking assets under management in accounts of $1 million or more as of June 30, 2005). In July 2006, Chairman Ken Lewis announced that GWIM's total assets under management exceeded $500 billion. GWIM has five primary lines of business: Premier Banking & Investments (including Bank of America Investment Services, Inc.), The Private Bank, Family Wealth Advisors, and Bank of America Specialist.

Bank of America has recently spent $675 million building its U.S. investment banking business and is looking to become one of the top five investment banks worldwide. "Bank of America already has excellent relationships with the corporate and financial institutions world. Its clients include 98% of the Fortune 500 companies in the US and 79% of the Global Fortune 500. These relationships, as well as a balance sheet that most banks would kill for, are the foundations for a lofty ambition."

Bank of America has a massive new headquarters for its New York City operations. The skyscaper is located on 42nd Street and Avenue of the Americas, at Bryant Park, and features state of the art, environmentally-friendly technology throughout its 2.1 million square feet (195,096 m²) of office space. The building is the headquarters for the company's investment banking division, and also hosts most of Bank of America's New York-based staff.

International Operations

In 2005, Bank of America acquired a 9% stake in China Construction Bank, China's second largest bank, for $3 billion. It represented the company's largest foray into China's growing banking sector. Bank of America currently has offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Guangzhou and is looking to greatly expand its Chinese business as a result of this deal. In 2008, Bank of America was awarded Deal of the Year - Project Finance Deal of the Year at the 2008 ALB Hong Kong Law Awards.

In India, Bank of America maintains branches in Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta, New Delhi, and Bangalore. For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2006, Bank of America reported an 80% increase in net profit.

Bank of America operated under the name BankBoston in many other Latin American countries, including Brazil. In 2006, Bank of America sold all BankBoston's operations to Brazilian bank Banco Itaú, in exchange for Itaú shares. The BankBoston name and trademarks were not part of the transaction and, as part of the sale agreement, cannot be used by Bank of America. (That meant the extinction of the BankBoston brand.)

Bank of America's Global Corporate and Investment Banking spans the Globe with divisions in United States, Europe, and Asia. The U.S. headquarters are located in New York, European headquarters are based in London, and Asia's headquarters are based in Hong Kong.

General Electric

2011-02-22T12:45:00.000-08:00

The house that Jack built ended 2009 by selling a controlling stake in its NBC Universal entertainment unit to Comcast, a deal that valued the new entity at $37 billion. Investors largely shrugged off the deal, but as concerns over its finance unit begin to fade -- and talk of a dividend increase start to heat up -- GE stock lately has been on a tear.

GE chief Jeffrey Immelt hopes to keep the momentum going. He's investing $6 billion to develop new medical products and technologies, and is making big bets on green technologies, from fuel-efficient turbines to "thin film" solar panels. --P.N.

The General Electric Company, or GE (NYSE: GE), is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in the State of New York. The Company operates through five segments: Energy Infrastructure, Technology Infrastructure, NBC Universal (NBCU), Capital Finance and Consumer & Industrial. In 2010, Forbes ranked GE as the world's second largest company after JPMorgan Chase, based on a formula that compared the total sales, profits, assets, and market value of several multinational companies. The company has 304,000 employees around the world.

History

Formation

By 1890, Thomas Edison had brought together several of his business interests under one corporation to form Edison General Electric. At about the same time, Thomson-Houston Electric Company, under the leadership of Charles A. Coffin, gained access to a number of key patents through the acquisition of a number of competitors. Subsequently, General Electric was formed by the 1892 merger of Edison General Electric of Schenectady, New York and Thomson-Houston Electric Company of Lynn, Massachusetts, and both plants remain in operation under the GE banner to this day. The company was incorporated in New York, with the Schenectady plant as headquarters for many years thereafter. Around the same time, General Electric's Canadian counterpart, Canadian General Electric, was formed.

Public company

In 1896, General Electric was one of the original 12 companies listed on the newly formed Dow Jones Industrial Average and still remains after 114 years, the only one remaining on the Dow (though it has not continuously been in the DOW index).

23 Ton diesel electric locomotive made at the General Electric Corp. plant in Schenectady, New York

In 1911 the National Electric Lamp Association (NELA) was absorbed into General Electric's existing lighting business. GE then established its lighting division headquarters at Nela Park in East Cleveland, Ohio. Nela Park is still the headquarters for GE's lighting business. In 1935, GE was one of the top 30 companies traded at the London Stock Exchange.

RCA

The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was founded by GE in 1919 to further international radio. GE used RCA as its retail arm for radio sales from 1919, when GE began production, until separation in 1930. RCA would quickly grow into an industrial giant of its own.

Power Generation

GE's long history of working with turbines in the power generation field gave them the engineering know-how to move into the new field of aircraft turbosuperchargers. Led by Sanford Moss, GE introduced the first superchargers during World War I, and continued to develop them during the Interwar period. They became indispensable in the years immediately prior to World War II, and GE was the world leader in exhaust-driven supercharging when the war started. This experience, in turn, made GE a natural selection to develop the Whittle W.1 jet engine that was demonstrated in the United States in 1941. Although their early work with Whittle's designs was later handed to Allison Engine Company, GE Aviation emerged as one of the world's largest engine manufacturers, second only to the well-founded, and older, British company; Rolls-Royce plc, which led the way in innovative, reliable and efficient, high-performance, heavy-duty, jet engine design and manufacture.

In 2002 GE acquired the wind power assets of Enron during its bankruptcy proceedings. Enron Wind was the only surviving U.S. manufacturer of large wind turbines at the time, and GE increased engineering and supplies for the Wind Division and doubled the annual sales to $1.2 billion in 2003. It acquired ScanWind in 2009.

Computing

GE was one of the eight major computer companies through all of the 1960s — with IBM, the largest, called "Snow White" followed by the "Seven Dwarfs": Burroughs, NCR, Control Data Corporation, Honeywell, RCA, UNIVAC and GE.

GE had an extensive line of general purpose and special purpose computers. Among them were the GE 200, GE 400, and GE 600 series general purpose computers, the GE 4010, GE 4020, and GE 4060 real time process control computers, and the Datanet 30 message switching computer. A Datanet 600 computer was designed, but never sold. It has been said that GE got into computer manufacturing because in the 1950s they were the largest user of computers outside of the United States federal government. In 1970 GE sold its computer division to Honeywell.

Acquisitions

In 1986 GE reacquired RCA, primarily for the NBC television network (also parent of Telemundo Communications Group), The remainder was sold to various companies, including Bertelsmann (Bertelsmann acquired RCA Records) and Thomson SA which, ironically, traces its roots to Thomson-Houston, one of the original components of GE.

In 2002 Francisco Partners and Norwest Venture Partners acquired a division of GE called GE Information Systems (GEIS). The new company, named GXS, is based in Gaithersburg, Maryland. GXS is a leading provider of B2B e-Commerce solutions. GE maintains a minority ownership position in GXS. Also in 2002, GE bought wind turbine manufacturing assets of Enron Wind after the Enron scandals.

In 2004 GE bought 80% of Universal Pictures from Vivendi. Vivendi bought 20% of NBC forming the company NBC Universal. GE then owned 80% of NBC Universal and Vivendi owned 20%.

In 2004 GE completed the spin-off of most of its mortgage and life insurance assets into an independent company, Genworth Financial, based in Richmond, Virginia.

Genpact formerly known as GE Capital International Services (GECIS) was established by GE in late 1997 as its captive India based BPO. GE sold 60% stake in Genpact to General Atlantic and Oak Hill Capital Partners in 2005 and hived off Genpact into an independent business. GE is still a major client to Genpact getting its services in customer service, finance, information technology and analytics.

GE Plastics was sold in 2007 to SABIC.

In May of 2007, GE acquired Smiths Aerospace for $4.8 billion.

In May 2008, GE announced it was exploring options for divesting the bulk of its Consumer and Industrial business.

General Electric's Schenectady, New York facilities (including GE's original headquarters) are assigned the ZIP code 12345. (All Schenectady ZIP codes begin with 123, but no others begin with 1234.)

On December 3, 2009, it was announced that NBC Universal will become a joint venture between GE and cable television operator Comcast. The cable giant will hold a controlling interest in the company, while GE retains a 49% stake and will buy out shares currently owned by Vivendi.

Vivendi will sell its 20% stake in NBC Universal to GE for US$5.8 billion. Vivendi will sell 7.66% of NBC Universal to GE for US$2 billion if the GE/Comcast deal is not completed by September 2010 and then sell the remaining 12.34% stake of NBC Universal to GE for US$3.8 billion when the deal is completed or to the public via an IPO if the deal is not completed.

On March 1, 2010, General Electric (GE) announced that the company is planning to sell its 20.85% stake in Turkey-based Garanti Bank.

In August 2010, GE Healthcare signed a strategic partnership to bring cardiovascular Computed Tomography (CT) technology from start-up Arineta Ltd. of Israel to the hospital market.

In October 2010, General Electric acquired gas engines manufacture Dresser Inc. for a $3 billion deal and also bought a $1.6 billion portfolio of retail credit cards from Citigroup Inc. This is the first major deal since the start of the financial crisis.

On October 14, 2010, GE announced acquisition of data migration & SCADA simulation specialists Opal Software.

December 2010: For the second times of this year (after Dresser acquisition), General Electric Co. buy oil sector company British Wellstream Holding Plc. an oil drilling pipe maker for 800 million pounds ($1.3 billion).

February 2011: The company has agreed to buy the well-suport division of John Wood Group Plc for about $2.8 billion. It is another agressive moves recently of GE Oil & Gas made GE's aquisition was the largest of oil-service unit world wide in 2010.

Shed non-core assets

GE Capital sold its $2 billion dollar Mexican assets to Santander for $162 million and exit the business in Mexico. Santander will additionally assume the portfolio debts of GE Capital in the country. The transaction will be finished at first half of 2011. GE Capital will focus in the core business and will shed its non-core assets.

Corporate Affairs

Classic GE neon sign

GE is a multinational conglomerate headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut. Its New York main offices are located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Rockefeller Center, known as the GE Building for the prominent GE logo on the roof. NBC's headquarters and main studios are also located in the building. Through its RCA subsidiary, it has been associated with the Center since its construction in the 1930s.

The company describes itself as composed of a number of primary business units or "businesses." Each unit is itself a vast enterprise, many of which would, even as a standalone company, rank in the Fortune 500. The list of GE businesses varies over time as the result of acquisitions, divestitures and reorganizations. GE's tax return is the largest return filed in the United States; the 2005 return was approximately 24,000 pages when printed out, and 237 megabytes when submitted electronically.

In 2005 GE launched its "Ecomagination" initiative in an attempt to position itself as a "green" company. GE is currently one of the biggest players in the wind power industry, and it is also developing new environment-friendly products such as hybrid locomotives, desalination and water reuse solutions, and photovoltaic cells. The company has set goals for its subsidiaries to lower their greenhouse gas emissions.

On May 21, 2007, GE announced it would sell its GE Plastics division to petrochemicals manufacturer SABIC for net proceeds of $11.6 billion. The transaction took place on August 31, 2007, and the company name changed to SABIC Innovative Plastics, with Brian Gladden as CEO.

CEO

Jeffrey Immelt is the current chairman of the board and chief executive officer of GE. He was selected by GE's Board of Directors in 2000 to replace John Francis Welch Jr. (Jack Welch) following his retirement. Previously, Immelt had headed GE's Medical Systems division (now GE Healthcare) as its President and CEO. He has been with GE since 1982 and is on the board of two non-profit organizations.

His tenure as the Chairman and CEO started at a time of crisis — he took over the role on September 7, 2001 four days before the terrorist attacks on the United States, which killed two employees and cost GE's insurance business $600 million — as well as having a direct effect on the company's Aircraft Engines sector. Immelt has also been selected as one of President Obama's financial advisors concerning the economic rescue plan.

Brand

GE has the fourth most recognized brand in the world, worth almost $48 billion.

CEO Jeffrey Immelt had a set of changes in the presentation of the brand commissioned in 2004, after he took the reins as chairman, to unify the diversified businesses of GE. The changes included a new corporate color palette, small modifications to the GE Logo, a new customized font (GE Inspira), and a new slogan, "imagination at work" replacing the longtime slogan "we bring good things to life", composed by David Lucas. The standard requires many headlines to be lowercased and adds visual "white space" to documents and advertising to promote an open and approachable company. The changes were designed by Wolff Olins and are used extensively on GE's marketing, literature and website.

Businesses

GE's divisions include GE Capital, GE Energy, GE Technology Infrastructure, NBC Universal and GE Home & Business Solutions.

Through these businesses, GE participates in a wide variety of markets including the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity (e.g. nuclear, gas and solar), lighting, industrial automation, medical imaging equipment, motors, railway locomotives, aircraft jet engines, and aviation services. It co-owns NBC Universal with Comcast. Through GE Commercial Finance, GE Consumer Finance, GE Equipment Services, and GE Insurance it offers a range of financial services as well. It has a presence in over 100 countries.

GE gauges to control a railway locomotive at a museum near Saskatoon, Canada

GE also produces General Imaging digital cameras. In 2010, General Imaging released the Bridge Camera GE X5 with 14MP and 15x optical zoom.

Since over half of GE's revenue is derived from financial services, it is arguably a financial company with a manufacturing arm. It is also one of the largest lenders in countries other than the United States, such as Japan. Even though the first wave of conglomerates (such as ITT Corporation, Ling-Temco-Vought, Tenneco, etc.) fell by the wayside by the mid-1980s, in the late 1990s, another wave (consisting of Westinghouse, Tyco, and others) tried and failed to emulate GE's success.

It was announced on May 4, 2008 that GE would auction off its appliances business for an expected sale of $5–8 billion. However, this plan fell through as a result of the recession.

Corporate recognition

In 2004, GE was named number one company for employers and employees on the Forbes 500 Global Player list.

Over the years, GE has received several awards honoring them for their accomplishments, values and reputation:

In Fortune Magazine's 2005 "Global Most Admired Companies" list, GE ranked first overall. (February 2005)
In Fortune Magazine's 2006 "America's Most Admired Companies" list, GE ranked first overall. (March 2006)
GE was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index as one of the world's leaders in environmental, social and economic programs.
GE ranked ninth on Fortune Magazine's "50 Most Desirable MBA Employers" list. (April 2004)

Environmental record

GE has a history of some of its activities giving rise to large-scale air and water pollution. Based on year 2000 data, researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute listed the corporation as the fourth-largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States, with more than 4.4 million pounds per year (2,000 Tonnes) of toxic chemicals released into the air. GE has also been implicated in the creation of toxic waste. According to EPA documents, only the United States Government, Honeywell, and Chevron Corporation are responsible for producing more Superfund toxic waste sites.

In 1983, New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York to compel GE to pay for the cleanup of what was claimed to be more than 100,000 tons of chemicals dumped (legally, at the time) from their plant in Waterford. In 1999, the company agreed to pay a $250 million settlement in connection with claims it polluted the Housatonic River and other sites with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other hazardous substances.

From approximately 1947 to 1977, GE discharged as much as 1.3 million pounds of PCBs from its capacitor manufacturing plants at the Hudson Falls and Fort Edward facilities into the Hudson River. GE fought a media and political battle to avoid cleaning up the river and countered that dredging the river would actually stir up PCBs. In 2002, GE was ordered to clean up a 40-mile (64 km) stretch of the Hudson River it had contaminated.

In 2003, acting on concerns that the plan proposed by GE did not "provide for adequate protection of public health and the environment," the United States Environmental Protection Agency issued a unilateral administrative order for the company to "address cleanup at the GE site" in Rome, Georgia, also contaminated with PCBs.

Environmental Initiatives

In May 2005 GE announced the launch of a program called "Ecomagination," intended, in the words of CEO Jeff Immelt "to develop tomorrow's solutions such as solar energy, hybrid locomotives, fuel cells, lower-emission aircraft engines, lighter and stronger durable materials, efficient lighting, and water purification technology,” prompting an op-ed piece in The New York Times to observe that, "while General Electric's increased emphasis on clean technology will probably result in improved products and benefit its bottom line, Mr. Immelt's credibility as a spokesman on national environmental policy is fatally flawed because of his company's intransigence in cleaning up its own toxic legacy."

GE has said that it will invest $1.4 billion in clean technology research and development in 2008 as part of its Ecomagination initiative. As of October 2008, the scheme had resulted in 70 green products being brought to market, ranging from halogen lamps to biogas engines. In 2007, GE raised the annual revenue target for its Ecomagination initiative from $20 billion in 2010 to $25 billion following positive market response to its new product lines. In 2010, GE continued to raise the hype by adding $10 billion into Ecomagination over the next five years.

GE Energy's renewable energy business has expanded greatly, to keep up with growing U.S. and global demand for clean energy. Since entering the renewable energy industry in 2002, GE has invested more than $850 million in renewable energy technology. In August 2008 it acquired Kelman Ltd, a Northern Ireland company specializing in advanced monitoring and diagnostics technologies for transformers used in renewable energy generation, and announced an expansion of its business in Northern Ireland in May 2010. In 2009, GE's renewable energy initiatives, which include solar power, wind power and GE Jenbacher gas engines using renewable and non-renewable methane-based gases, employ more than 4,900 people globally and have created more than 10,000 supporting jobs.

GE Energy and Orion New Zealand Limited (Orion) have announced implementation of the first phase of a GE network management system to help improve power reliability for customers. GE's ENMAC Distribution Management System is the foundation of Orion's initiative. The system of smart grid technologies will significantly improve the network company's ability to manage big network emergencies and help it to restore power faster when outages occur.

Educational initiatives

GE Healthcare is collaborating with The Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Medical College of South Carolina to offer an integrated radiology curriculum during their respective MD Programs led by investigators of the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity study. GE has donated over one million dollars of Logiq E Ultrasound equipment to these two institutions.

GE unveiled a 40W replacement Energy Smart LED bulb, to be available late 2010 or early 2011. The company claims that the new LED bulb will provide a 77% energy savings and produce nearly the same light output as a 40W incandescent bulb, while lasting more than 25 times as long.

Legal issues

On August 4, 2009 the SEC fined General Electric $50 million for breaking accounting rules in two separate cases, misleading investors into believing GE would meet or beat earnings expectations.

GE has faced criminal action regarding its defense related operations. GE was convicted in 1990 of defrauding the U.S. Department of Defense, and again in 1992 on charges of corrupt practices in the sale of jet engines to Israel.

Media depiction

GE was the focus of a 1991 short subject Academy Award-winning documentary, Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons, and Our Environment, that juxtaposed GE's rosy "We Bring Good Things To Life" commercials with the true stories of workers and neighbors whose lives have been affected by the company's activities involving nuclear weapons.

GE's corporate culture and management practices are frequently lampooned in the NBC television series 30 Rock. In the first season episode "The Rural Juror", character Jack Donaghy opens a complex organization chart that depicts the ownership structure of General Electric's subsidiaries. The chart reveals that NBC is a subsidiary of Sheinhardt Wig Company, and NBC in turn owns subsidiaries not related to broadcasting or entertainment production.

In fiction

In the early 1950s Kurt Vonnegut was a writer for General Electric. A number of his novels and stories (notably Cat's Cradle) refer to the fictional city of Ilium, which appears to be loosely based on Schenectady, New York. The Ilium Works is the setting for the short story "Deer in the Works".

The company was also spoofed in the children's book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss. In the drawing that depicts the Grinch stealing the Whos' feast, the icebox has a label that reads "General Who-lectric".

The NBC sitcom 30 Rock is set at the NBC Studios in the GE Building at 30 Rockefeller Center (hence the title). All characters in the main cast are NBC (and therefore GE) employees, and one character, Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) is portrayed as having risen through the ranks of GE management to become Vice President of NBC's East Coast operations through the company's microwave oven division.

In two 1950s science fiction films about missions to the moon, General Electric's name appears on the launch clocks: Destination Moon and Rocketship X-M.

In the 1987 movie *batteries not included, character Mason Baylor identifies a piece of metal as part of his coffee maker machine because "it said GE".

Chevron

2011-02-22T11:57:00.000-08:00

With prices for crude oil and natural gas off sharply from their recent highs, revenue at the oil giant tumbled 37%, from $265 billion to $167 billion. The good news: Production of oil and gas jumped 7%, thanks in part to a 57% success rate on its exploratory drilling.

But another pitfall looms: Chevron has a heavy exposure to high-acid crude, particularly its deep-water projects in the U.K. If the government forces it to start processing the high-cost oil, Chevron may opt to cede its drilling rights, a move that would result in a sizeable charge against earnings. --P.N.

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX Euronext: CHTEX) is an American multinational energy corporation. Headquartered in San Ramon, California, and active in more than 180 countries, it is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and power generation. Chevron is one of the world's six "supermajor" oil companies. For the past five years, Chevron has been continuously ranked as one of America's 5 largest corporations by Fortune 500.

History

Chevron traditionally traces its roots to an oil discovery in Pico Canyon (now the Pico Canyon Oilfield) north of Los Angeles. The discovery led to the formation, in 1879, of the Pacific Coast Oil Company, the oldest predecessor of Chevron Corporation.

In 1895, the company initiated its enduring marine history when it launched California's first steel tanker, the George Loomis, which could ship 6,500 barrels of crude between Ventura and San Francisco. Another side of the genealogical chart points to the founding of The Texas Fuel Company in 1901, a modest enterprise that started out in three rooms of a corrugated iron building in Beaumont, Texas. This company was known as the Texas Company and later Texaco.

Chevron Corporation was originally known as Standard Oil of California, or SoCal, and was formed amid the antitrust breakup of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company in 1911. It was one of the "Seven Sisters" that dominated the world oil industry in the early 20th century. In 1933, Saudi Arabia granted SoCal a concession to find oil, and oil was found in 1938. In the early 1950s, SoCal discovered the world's largest oil field (Ghawar) in Saudi Arabia. SoCal's subsidiary, California-Arabian Standard Oil Company, developed over years, to become the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) in 1944. In 1973, the Saudi government began buying into ARAMCO. By 1980, the company was entirely owned by the Saudis, and in 1988, the name was changed to Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco).

Standard Oil of California and Gulf Oil merged in 1984, the largest merger in history at that time. Under the antitrust regulation, SoCal divested many of Gulf's operating subsidiaries, and sold some Gulf stations and a refinery in the eastern United States. SoCal changed the name to Chevron Corporation.

In June 1992, Dynegy, Inc. (NYSE: DYN) was created from the merger of Chevron's former natural gas and natural gas liquids business with Dynegy's predecessor, NGC Corp. (formerly NYSE: NGL). NGC had been an integrated natural gas services company since around 1994.

In a merger completed February 1, 2000, Illinova Corp. (formerly NYSE: ILN) became a wholly owned subsidiary of Dynegy Inc., in which Chevron also took a 28% stake. However, Chevron in 2007 sold its 19 percent (at the time) common stock investment in the company for approximately $940 million, resulting in a gain of $680 million.

In 2001, Chevron Corporation acquired Texaco to form ChevronTexaco

On May 9, 2005, ChevronTexaco announced it would drop the Texaco moniker and return to the Chevron name. Texaco remains as a brand under the Chevron Corporation. On August 19, 2005, Chevron acquired the Unocal Corporation. Because of Unocal's large South East Asian geothermal operations, Chevron became the world's largest producer of geothermal energy. On mid-2007,Chevron Corporation sold all Conoco stations in Mississippi to the Texaco brand a process to be complete at the end of 2007.

In July 2010, Chevron ended retail operations in the Mid Atlantic US, removing the Chevron and Texaco names from 1,100 stations in Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, D.C., and parts of Tennessee.

In November123 2010, Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX) acquired Pennsylvania based Atlas Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:ATLS) for $3.2 billion in cash and additional $1.1 billion in existing debt owed by Atlas.

Overview

Chevron employs approximately 67,000 people worldwide (of which 27,000 are U.S.-based) and had approximately 12 billion barrels (1.9 km³) of oil-equivalent net proved reserves at December 31, 2003. Daily production in 2003 was 2.5 million net oil-equivalent barrels (400,000 m³) per day. In addition, the company had a global refining capacity at year-end 2003 of 2.2 million barrels (350,000 m³) of crude oil per day. The company has a worldwide marketing network in 84 countries with approximately 24,000 retail sites, including those of affiliate companies. The company also has interests in 13 power generating assets in the United States, Asia, and Europe. Chevron also has gas stations in Western Canada.

Chevron was headquartered in San Francisco for nearly a century before it relocated across the bay to San Ramon, CA. The headquarters at 555 and 575 Market Street, built in the mid-1960s, in San Francisco were sold in December 1999. Its original headquarters were at 225 Bush St., built in 1912. Now, their headquarters are at 6001 Bollinger Canyon Road, San Ramon, CA.

Chevron is the owner of the Standard Oil trademark in 16 states in the western and southeastern U.S. To maintain ownership of the mark, the company owns and operates one Standard-branded Chevron station in each state of the area. Chevron also owns the trademark rights to Texaco brand gasoline. Chevron's network of wholesalers supplies Texaco fuels.

Several automakers, including General Motors and Toyota, use gasoline often from Chevron when they test vehicles. Ford uses Chevron gas also in North America, despite its strategic alliance with BP. Chevron also has often had one of the highest brand loyalty for gasoline in America, with only Shell and BP (through Amoco) having equally high loyalty.

Chevron Shipping Company is a wholly owned subsidiary company which handles the maritime transport operation for Chevron Corporation. The fleet comprises crude oil and product tankers, as well as three gas tankers operated by Chevron Shipping for other companies. The fleet is divided into two sections: The US fleet transports oil products from Chevron refineries to customers in the US. The ships are manned by US citizens and are flagged in the US. The International fleet vessels are flagged in the Bahamas and have officers and crews from many different nations. The largest ships are 308,000 tonne VLCCs. The job of the international fleet is to transport crude oil from the oilfields to the refineries. The international fleet mans two LPG tankers and one LNG tanker.

Chevron ships originally had names beginning with "Chevron", such as the Chevron Washington and Chevron South America, or were named after former or serving directors of the company. Samuel Ginn, William E Crain, and most notably Condoleezza Rice were amongst those honored, but the ship named after Rice was subsequently renamed as Altair Voyager. All the ships were renamed in 2001 to reflect the corporate merger with Texaco. Ships in the international fleet are all named after celestial bodies or constellations, such as Orion Voyager and Altair Voyager, and the American ships are named after the states in the country, as in Washington Voyager and Colorado Voyager.

Alternative Energy

The company is developing technology for alternative energy, including fuel cells, photovoltaics, advanced batteries, and hydrogen fuel for transport and power.

Electric Vehicles

Chevron is currently squelching all access to large NiMH batteries through its control of patent licenses in order to remove a competitor to gasoline. This culminated in a lawsuit against Panasonic and Toyota over production of the EV-95 battery used in the RAV4 EV. However the Lithium-ion battery appears to be making up for this despite Chevron's best efforts, albeit, at a higher price.

Biofuels

Chevron is investing $300M USD a year into alternative fuel sources, and has created a biofuels business unit.

Chevron and US-DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced that they had entered into a collaborative agreement to produce biofuels from algae. Chevron and NREL scientists would develop algae strains that can be economically harvested and processed into transportation fuels, such as jet fuel.

Solar Power

Chevron has invested in Solar Power such as the 500 kW Solarmine photovoltaic solar project in Fellows, California.

Controversies

Great American Streetcar Scandal

In 1950, then "Standard Oil" along with General Motors and Firestone were charged and convicted of criminal conspiracy for their part in the Great American streetcar scandal. The scandal included purchasing streetcar systems throughout the United States and dismantling and replacing them with buses,in order to increase their sales of petroleum, automobiles and tires.

Tax Evasion

Chevron was found to have evaded $3.25 billion in federal and state taxes from 1970 to 2000 through a complex petroleum pricing scheme involving a project in Indonesia. Chevron and Texaco, before they merged in 2001, each owned 50 percent of a joint venture called Caltex, which pulled crude oil from the ground in a project with the Indonesian state oil company, Pertamina. Chevron was accused of reducing its tax liabilities in the U.S. by buying oil from Caltex at inflated prices. One internal Chevron document set the price it paid Pertamina for oil at $4.55 a barrel higher than the prevailing market price. Chevron was then able to overstate deductions for costs on its U.S. income tax returns. Indonesia appeared to levy tax on this oil at 56%, a rate far higher than the corporate tax rate in the U.S. Because the United States gives companies a credit for taxes paid to foreign governments, tax paid to the Indonesian government reduces tax to the U.S. government.

Caltex transferred fund out of the U.S. to Indonesia, because the Indonesian government compensated Caltex for the excessively priced oil and the extra taxes paid by giving oil for free. Because Caltex had to pay taxes on that oil, too, the Indonesian government gave it even more oil to cover the taxes.

Environmental Damage in Ecuador

From 1972 to 1993, Texaco operated development of the Lago Agrio oil field in Ecuador. Ecuadorian farmers and indigenous residents accused Texaco (now Chevron), of making residents ill and damaging forests and rivers by discharging 18 billion gallons of formation water into the rainforest, without any remediation. They sued Chevron for extensive environmental damage caused by these operations, which have sickened thousands of Ecuadorians and polluted the Amazon rainforest. The Ecuadorian court could have imposed a legal penalty of up to $28 billion in a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of Amazonian villagers in the region. Chevron claimed that agreements with the Ecuadorian Government exempted the company from any liabilities. A documentary on the issue, Crude, premiered in September 2009.

From 1977 until 1992 Texaco (Texpet), a subsidiary of Texaco Inc., was a minority member of this consortium with Petroecuador, the Ecuadorian state-owned oil company, as the majority partner. Since 1990, the operations have been conducted solely by Petroecuador. At the conclusion of the consortium and following an independent third-party environmental audit of the area, Texaco formally agreed with the Republic of Ecuador and Petroecuador to conduct a three year remediation program at a cost of $40 million. After certifying that the sites were properly remediated, the government granted Texpet and all related corporate entities a full release from any and all environmental liability arising from its operations. Based on the history above, Chevron believes that "this lawsuit lacks legal or factual merit."

In mid-February 2011, a court in Ecuador fined Chevron $8.6 billion over pollution to the country's Amazon region by Texaco between 1972 and 1992, with campaigners claiming loss of crops and farm animals as well as increased local cancer rates. The action was brought against Chevron by 30,000 Ecuadorean people. The trial had begun in 2003. The total penalty imposed on Chevron is $9.5 billion as it was ruled that the oil company must pay an additional 10 per cent legally mandated reparations fee. $27 billion was the sum total requested by plaintiffs, $18.4 billion more than was eventually granted by the court. The Ecuadoreans expressed happiness that Chevron was declared guilty, though also expressed dismay that the award of $8.6 billion would not be enough to make up for the damage caused by the oil company. However, environmental activists wish this case to serve as a precedent against pollution causing business being carried out by firms in developing countries. Nonprofit organisation Amazon Watch described the outcome of the case as "unprecedented". Despite the guilty verdict it is considered unlikely that any of the fine will be paid. Chevron has no international obligation to pay the fine, and no assets in Ecuador for the government to seize.

Pollution in Richmond, California

Chevron’s activities in Richmond, California, have been the subject of ongoing controversy. The project generated over 11 million pounds of toxic materials and caused more than 304 accidents. Chevron’s Richmond refineries paid $540,000 in 1998 for illegally bypassing waste water treatments and failing to notify the public about toxic releases. Overall, Chevron is listed as potentially liable for 95 Superfund sites, with funds set aside by the EPA for clean-up. In October 2003, the state of New Hampshire sued Chevron and other oil companies for using MTBE, a gasoline additive that the attorney general claimed polluted much of the state's water supply.

Oil Spills in Angola

Chevron's operations in Africa have also been criticized as environmentally unsound. In 2002, Angola became the first country in Africa ever to levy a fine on a major multinational corporation operating within its borders, when it demanded $2 million in compensation for oil spills allegedly caused by Chevron.

Violation of the Clean Air Act in the USA

On October 16, 2003, Chevron U.S.A. settled a charge under the Clean Air Act, which reduced harmful air emissions by about 10,000 tons a year. In San Francisco, Chevron was filed by a consent decree to spend almost $275 million to install and utilize innovative technology to reduce nitrogen and sulfur dioxide emissions at its refineries. After violating the Clean Air Act at an offline loading terminal in El Segundo, California, Chevron paid a $6 million penalty as well as $1 million for environmental improvement projects. Chevron also had implemented programs that minimized production of hazardous gases, upgraded leak detection and repair procedure, reduced emissions from sulfur recovery plants, and adopted strategies to ensure the proper handling of harmful benzene wastes at refineries. Chevron also spent about $500,000 to install leakless valves and double-sealed pumps at its El Segundo refinery, which could prevent significant emissions of air contaminants.

Defenders of Chevron's environmental record point to recent changes in the corporation, particularly its pledge in 2004 to combat global warming.

NiMH Battery Technology for Automobiles

ECD Ovonics founder, Stan Ovshinksy, and Dr. Masahiko Oshitani of the Yuasa Company, invented the NiMH technology used in hybrid vehicles . In 1994, General Motors acquired a controlling interest in Ovonics's battery development and manufacturing business. On October 10, 2001, Texaco purchased GM's share in GM Ovonics, and Chevron completed acquisition of Texaco six days later. In 2003, Texaco Ovonics Battery Systems was restructured into Cobasys, a 50/50 joint venture between Chevron and Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) Ovonics. Chevron's influence over Cobasys extends beyond a strict 50/50 joint venture. Chevron holds a 19.99% interest in ECD Ovonics. In addition, Chevron maintains the right to seize all of Cobasys' intellectual property rights in the event that ECD Ovonics does not fulfill its contractual obligations. On September 10, 2007, Chevron filed a legal claim that ECD Ovonics has not fulfilled its obligations. ECD Ovonics disputes this claim. Since that time, the arbitration hearing was repeatedly suspended while the parties negotiate with an unknown prospective buyer. No agreement has been reached with the potential buyer. Cobasys's patents relating to NiMH batteries expire in 2015.

Sometimes gas stations have restaurants in them, such as this one in Chilliwack,

British Columbia, which has a White Spot inside it.

In her book, Plug-in Hybrids: The Cars that Will Recharge America, published in February 2007, Sherry Boschert argues that large-format NiMH batteries are commercially viable but that Cobasys refuses to sell the batteries or license the technology to small companies or individuals. Boschert argues that Cobasys accepts only very large orders for the batteries. Major automakers showed little interest in placing large orders for large-format NiMH batteries. However, Toyota complained about the difficulty in getting smaller orders of large format NiMH batteries to service the existing 825 RAV-4EVs. Because no other companies were willing to place large orders, Cobasys was not manufacturing or licensing large format NiMH battery technology for automobiles. Boschert concludes that "it's possible that Cobasys (Chevron) is squelching all access to large NiMH batteries through its control of patent licenses in order to remove a competitor to gasoline. Or it's possible that Cobasys simply wants the market for itself and is waiting for a major automaker to start producing plug-in hybrids or electric vehicles."

In an interview with Economist, Ovshinsky subscribed to the former view. "I think we at ECD we made a mistake of having a joint venture with an oil company, frankly speaking. And I think it’s not a good idea to go into business with somebody whose strategies would put you out of business, rather than building the business."

In December 2006, Cobasys and General Motors announced that they had signed a contract under which Cobasys provides NiMH batteries for the Saturn Aura hybrid sedan. In March 2007, GM announced that it would use Cobasys NiMH batteries in the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu hybrid as well.

In October 2007, International Acquisitions Services and Innovative Transportation Systems filed suit against Cobasys and its parents for refusing to fill an order for large-format NiMH batteries to be used in the electric Innovan.

In August 2008, Mercedes-Benz U.S. International filed suit against Cobasys, on the ground Cobasys did not tender the batteries it agreed to build for Mercedes-Benz’s planned hybrid SUV.

Niger Delta Shootings

On May 28, 1998, activists staged a demonstration and took several individuals hostage on a company oil platform in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. Nigerian police and soldiers were allegedly flown in with Chevron helicopters. Soldiers shot at the activists and subsequently two activists (Jola Ogungbeje and Aroleka Irowaninu) died from their wounds. Chevron describes the situation as "a violent occupation of private property by aggressors seeking to extort cash payments from the company." The Nigerian government is reportedly 80% dependent upon oil production and is condemned by many for its reported treatment of environmentalists. The documentary "Drilling and Killing" covers these and other topics.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, allowing a lawsuit brought by victims and victims' families against Chevron to proceed, said that there may be evidence that Chevron has hired, supervised, and/or provided transportation to Nigerian military forces known for their "general history of committing abuses." In March 2008, the plaintiffs' lawyers, without explanation, "quietly moved to withdraw half of their claims" against Chevron.

On December 1, 2008, a federal jury cleared Chevron of all charges brought against them in the case. The jury deliberated for almost two days. Chevron had claimed that the military intervention was necessary to protect the lives of its workers and considers the jury's decision vindication for the accusations of wrongdoing.

UN Sanctions

US Embassy Cable BAGHDAD 000791 relates to company negotiations re investment in Iran in contravention of UN sanctions. This document was intended to have been kept secret until 2029.

New Policy and Development

Chevron's 500kW Solarmine photovoltaic solar project in Fellows, California

Chevron has taken steps to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and pursue cleaner forms of energy. Chevron has scored highest among U.S. oil companies for investing in alternative energy sources and setting targets for reducing its own emissions. Chevron is the world's largest producer of geothermal energy, providing enough power for over 7 million homes.

Board of Directors

As of January 2010:

· John Watson (Chairman & CEO)

· Samuel Armacost

· Linnet F. Deily

· Robert Denham

· Robert James Eaton

· Sam Ginn

· Franklyn Jenifer

· Sam Nunn

· Donald Rice

· Peter Robertson

· Charles Shoemate

· Ronald Sugar

· Carl Ware

Condoleezza Rice is a former member of the board of directors, and also headed Chevron's committee on public policy until she resigned on January 15, 2001, to become National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush.

On September 30, 2009, John Watson, age 52, was elected Chairman of the Board and CEO, effective at the December 31, 2009 retirement of David J. O'Reilly

Marketing Brands

The typical Chevron gas station design that was used until 2006

In 2006, Chevron began phasing in this gas station design

Fuel

Chevron
Standard Oil (in limited circumstances)
Texaco
Caltex
Unocal

Convenience Stores

Star Mart
Extra Mile
Redwood Market
Town Pantry

Lubricants

Delo (sold by Caltex and Chevron)
Havoline (sold by Caltex and Texaco)
Revtex (sold by Caltex)
Ursa (sold by Texaco)

Fuel additives

Techron - Chevron, Texaco (phased in during 2005), Caltex (phased in during 2006 and later)
Clean System 3 - Texaco (phased out during 2005 in favor of Techron)

Wal-Mart

2011-02-22T11:26:00.000-08:00

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (formerly branded as Wal-Mart, branded as Walmart since 2008) is an American public multinational corporation that runs a chain of large discount department stores and a chain of warehouse stores. In 2010 it was the world's largest public corporation by revenue, according to the Forbes Global 2000 for that year. The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962, incorporated on October 31, 1969, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. Wal-Mart, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, is the largest majority private employer and the largest grocery retailer in the United States. In 2009, it generated 51% of its US$258 billion sales in the U.S. from grocery business. It also owns and operates the Sam's Club retail warehouses in North America.

Wal-Mart has 8,500 stores in 15 countries, with 55 different names. The company operates under its own name in the United States, including the 50 states. It also operates under its own name in Puerto Rico. Wal-Mart operates in Mexico as Walmex, in the United Kingdom as Asda ("Asda Wal-Mart" in some branches), in Japan as Seiyu, and in India as Best Price. It has wholly owned operations in Argentina, Brazil, and Canada. Wal-Mart's investments outside North America have had mixed results: its operations in the United Kingdom, South America and China are highly successful, while it was forced to pull out of Germany and South Korea when ventures there were unsuccessful.

History

Sam Walton's original Walton's Five and Dime store in Bentonville, Arkansas, now serving as the Wal-Mart Visitor's Center

Sam Walton, a businessman from Arkansas, began his retail career when he started work on June 3, 1940, at a J. C. Penney store in Des Moines, Iowa where he remained for 18 months. In 1945, he met Butler Brothers, a regional retailer that owned a chain of variety stores called Ben Franklin and that offered him one in Newport, Arkansas.

Walton was extremely successful in running the store in Newport, far exceeding expectations. However, when the lease came up for renewal, Walton could neither come to agreement on the existing store's lease renewal nor find a new location in Newport. Instead, he opened a new Ben Franklin franchise in Bentonville, Arkansas, but called it "Walton's Five and Dime." There, he achieved higher sales volume by marking up slightly less than most competitors.

On July 2, 1962, Walton opened the first Wal-Mart Discount City store located at 719 Walnut Ave. in Rogers, Arkansas. The building is now occupied by a hardware store and an antique mall. Within five years, the company expanded to 24 stores across Arkansas and reached $12.6 million in sales. In 1968, it opened its first stores outside Arkansas, in Sikeston, Missouri and Claremore, Oklahoma.

Incorporation and growth

The company was incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. on October 31, 1969. In 1970, it opened its home office and first distribution center in Bentonville, Arkansas. It had 38 stores operating with 1,500 employees and sales of $44.2 million. It began trading stock as a publicly held company on October 1, 1970, and was soon listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The first stock split occurred in May 1971 at a market price of $47. By this time, Wal-Mart was operating in five states: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Oklahoma; it entered Tennessee in 1973 and Kentucky and Mississippi in 1974. As it moved into Texas in 1975, there were 125 stores with 7,500 employees and total sales of $340.3 million.

Logo used from 1992-2008 (2001-2009 in Canada, 1992-2009 in Mexico,

although Mexico used the current logo in December 2008)

It is still used in Mainland China. Still seen on many American locations, even though a majority of Canadian locations have this logo rather than the 1994-2001 Wal-Mart Canada logo with a hyphen.

In the 1980s, Walmart continued to grow rapidly, and by its 25th anniversary in 1987 there were 1,198 stores with sales of $15.9 billion and 200,000 associates. This year also marked the completion of the company's satellite network, a $24 million investment linking all operating units of the company with its Bentonville office via two-way voice and data transmission and one-way video communication. At the time, it was the largest private satellite network, allowing the corporate office to track inventory and sales and to instantly communicate to stores. In 1988, Sam Walton stepped down as CEO and was replaced by David Glass. Walton remained as Chairman of the Board, and the company also rearranged other people in senior positions.

Inside a Walmart Supercenter in West Plains, Missouri

In 1988, the first Walmart Supercenter opened in Washington, Missouri. Thanks to its superstores, it surpassed Toys "R" Us in toy sales in the late 1990s. The company also opened overseas stores, entering South America in 1995 with stores in Argentina and Brazil; and Europe in 1999, buying Asda in the UK for $10 billion.

In 1998, Walmart introduced the "Neighborhood Market" concept with three stores in Arkansas. By 2005, estimates indicate that the company controlled about 20% of the retail grocery and consumables business.

In 2000, H. Lee Scott became President and CEO, and Walmart's sales increased to $165 billion. In 2002, it was listed for the first time as America's largest corporation on the Fortune 500 list, with revenues of $219.8 billion and profits of $6.7 billion. It has remained there every year, except for 2006.

In 2005, Walmart had $312.4 billion in sales, more than 6,200 facilities around the world—including 3,800 stores in the United States and 2,800 elsewhere, employing more than 1.6 million "associates" worldwide. Its U.S. presence grew so rapidly that only small pockets of the country remained further than 60 miles (100 km) from the nearest Wal-Mart.

As Walmart grew rapidly into the world's largest corporation, many critics worried about the effect of its stores on local communities, particularly small towns with many "mom and pop" stores. There have been several studies on the economic impact of Walmart on small towns and local businesses, jobs, and taxpayers.

In one, Kenneth Stone, a Professor of Economics at Iowa State University, found that some small towns can lose almost half of their retail trade within ten years of a Wal-Mart store opening. However, in another study, he compared the changes to what small town shops had faced in the past — including the development of the railroads, the advent of the Sears Roebuck catalog, as well as the arrival of shopping malls — and concluded that shop owners who adapt to changes in the retail market can thrive after Wal-Mart arrives. A later study in collaboration with Mississippi State University showed that there are "both positive and negative impacts on existing stores in the area where the new supercenter locates."

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in September 2005, Walmart was able to use its logistical efficiency in organizing a rapid response to the disaster, donating $20 million in cash, 1,500 truckloads of free merchandise, food for 100,000 meals, as well as the promise of a job for every one of its displaced workers. An independent study by Steven Horwitz of St. Lawrence University found that Walmart, The Home Depot and Lowe's made use of their local knowledge about supply chains, infrastructure, decision makers and other resources to provide emergency supplies and reopen stores well before FEMA began its response. While the company was overall lauded for its quick response – amidst the criticisms of the Federal Emergency Management Agency – several critics were nonetheless quick to point out that there still remain issues with the company's labor relations.

Recent initiatives

In October 2005, Wal-Mart announced it would implement several environmental measures to increase energy efficiency. The primary goals included spending $500 million a year to increase fuel efficiency in Wal-Mart’s truck fleet by 25% over three years and double it within ten, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% in seven years, reduce energy use at stores by 30%, and cut solid waste from U.S. stores and Sam’s Clubs by 25% in three years. CEO Lee Scott said that Wal-Mart's goal was to be a "good steward for the environment" and ultimately use only renewable energy sources and produce zero waste. The company also designed three new experimental stores in McKinney, Texas, Aurora, Colorado, and Las Vegas, Nevada. with wind turbines, photovoltaic solar panels, biofuel-capable boilers, water-cooled refrigerators, and xeriscape gardens. Despite much criticism of its environmental record, Wal-Mart took a few steps in what is viewed as a positive direction, which included becoming the biggest seller of organic milk and the biggest buyer of organic cotton in the world, as well as reducing packaging and energy costs. Wal-Mart also spent nearly a year working with outside consultants to discover the company's total environmental impact and find where they could improve. They discovered, for example, that by eliminating excess packaging on their toy line Kid Connection, they could not only save $2.4 million a year in shipping costs but also 3,800 trees and a million barrels of oil. Walmart has also recently created its own electric company in Texas, Texas Retail Energy, and plans to supply its stores with cheap power purchased at wholesale prices. Through this new venture, the company expects to save $15 million annually and also lays the groundwork and infrastructure to sell electricity to Texas consumers in the future.

In March 2006, Walmart sought to appeal to a more affluent demographic. The company launched a new Supercenter concept in Plano, Texas, intended to compete against stores seen as more upscale and appealing, such as Target. The new store has wood floors, wider aisles, a sushi bar, a coffee/sandwich shop with free Wi-Fi Internet access, and more expensive beers, wines, electronics, and other goods. The exterior has a hunter green background behind the Wal-Mart letters, similar to Neighborhood Market by Walmarts, instead of the blue previously used at its supercenters.

On September 12, 2007, Walmart introduced new advertising with the slogan, "Save Money Live Better," replacing the "Always Low Prices, Always" slogan, which it had used for the previous 19 years. Global Insight, which conducted the research that supported the ads, found that Walmart's price level reduction resulted in savings for consumers of $287 billion in 2006, which equated to $957 per person or $2,500 per household (up 7.3% from the 2004 savings estimate of $2,329).

On June 30, 2008, Walmart unveiled a new company logo, featuring the non-hyphenated name "Walmart" and in place of the star, a symbol that resembles a sunburst or flower. The new logo received mixed reviews from some design critics, who questioned whether the new logo was as bold as competitors, such as the Target bullseye or as instantly recognizable as the former company logo, which was used for 18 years. The new logo made its debut on the company's walmart.com website on July 1, 2008. Walmart's U.S. locations were to update store logos in the fall of 2008, as part of an ongoing evolution of its overall brand. Wal-Mart Canada started to adopt the logo for its stores in early 2009.

On March 20, 2009, Wal-Mart announced that it is paying a combined $933.6 million in bonuses to every full and part time hourly worker of the company. An additional $788.8 million in profit sharing, 401(k) contributions, and hundreds of millions of dollars in merchandise discounts and contributions to the employees' stock purchase plan is also included in this plan. While the economy at large was in an ongoing recession, the largest retailer in the U.S. reported solid financial figures for the most recent fiscal year (ending January 31, 2009), with $401.2 billion in net sales, a gain of 7.2% from the prior year. Income from continuing operations increased 3% to $13.3 billion, and earnings per share rose 6% to $3.35.

On July 16, 2009, Wal-Mart announced plans to develop a worldwide sustainable product index.

On February 22, 2010, the company confirming it was acquiring video streaming company Vudu, Inc. for an estimated $100 million.

Healthy foods initiative

In January, 2011, at the urging of Michelle Obama and her staff, Wal-Mart announced a program to improve the nutritional values of its store brands over the next five years, gradually reducing the amount of salt and sugar, and eliminating trans fat. Wal-Mart also promised to negotiate with suppliers such as Kraft with respect to nutritional issues. Reductions in the prices of whole foods and vegetables were also promised as well as efforts to open stores in low-income areas, "food deserts", where there are no supermarkets.

Operating divisions

Wal-Mart's operations are organized into three divisions: Wal-Mart Stores U.S., Sam's Club, and Wal-Mart International. The company does business in nine different retail formats: supercenters, food and drugs, general merchandise stores, bodegas (small markets), cash and carry stores, membership warehouse clubs, apparel stores, soft discount stores and restaurants.

A panoramic photo of a remodeled Walmart Supercenter in Laurel, Maryland.

Wal-Mart Stores U.S.

Map of current Wal-Mart stores in the U.S.

Wal-Mart Stores U.S. is Wal-Mart's largest division, accounting for $258 billion, or 63.8% of total sales for financial year 2010. It consists of three retail formats that have become commonplace in the United States: Discount Stores, Supercenters, and Neighborhood Markets. The retail department stores sell a variety of mostly non-grocery products, though emphasis has now shifted towards supercenters, which include more grocery items. This division also includes Wal-Mart's online retailer, walmart.com.

In September 2006, Wal-Mart announced a pilot program to sell generic drugs at just $4 per prescription. The pilot program was launched at stores in the Tampa, Florida area, and expanded to all stores in Florida by January 2007. While the average price of generics is $29 per prescription, compared to $102 for name-brand drugs, Wal-Mart maintains that it is not selling at a loss, or providing as an act of charity – instead, they are using the same mechanisms of mass distribution that it uses to bring lower prices to other products. While it's little known outside of the drug industry, many of Walmart’s low cost generics are imported from India and made by drug makers in that country including Ranbaxy and CIPLA.

On February 6, 2007, the company launched a "beta" version of a movie download service, which sold about 3,000 films and television episodes from all major studios and television networks.The service was discontinued on December 21, 2007 due to low sales.

Walmart Discount Stores

A typical Wal-Mart discount department store in Laredo, Texas

Walmart Discount Stores are discount department stores with size varying from 51,000 square feet (4,738.1 m²) to 224,000 square feet (20,810.3 m²), with an average store covering about 102,000 square feet (9,476.1 m²). They carry general merchandise and a selection of groceries. Many of these stores also have a garden center, a pharmacy, Tire & Lube Express, optical center, one-hour photo processing lab, portrait studio, a bank branch, a cell phone store and a fast food outlet. Some also have gasoline stations.

The first Wal-Mart store opened in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962.

In 1990, Wal-Mart opened its first Bud's Discount City location in Bentonville. Bud's operated as a closeout store, much like Big Lots. Many locations were opened to fulfill leases in shopping centers as Wal-Mart stores left and moved into newly built Supercenters. All of the Bud's Discount City stores closed or converted into Wal-Mart Discount Stores by 1997.

As of October 2010, there were 750 Walmart Discount Stores in the United States. In 2006, the busiest in the world was one in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Walmart Supercenter

A picture of a remodeled Wal-Mart Supercenter in Miami, Florida.

Wal-Mart Supercenters are hypermarkets with size varying from 98,000 to 261,000 square feet (9,104.5 to 24,247.7 m²),

with an average of about 197,000 square feet (18,301.9 m²).

These stock everything a Wal-Mart Discount Store does, and also include a full-service supermarket, including meat and poultry, baked goods, delicatessen, frozen foods, dairy products, garden produce, and fresh seafood. Many Wal-Mart Supercenters also have a garden center, pet shop, pharmacy, Tire & Lube Express, optical center, one-hour photo processing lab, portrait studio, and numerous alcove shops, such as cellular phone stores, hair and nail salons, video rental stores, local bank branches (newer locations have Woodforest National Bank branches), and fast food outlets — usually Subway, but sometimes Dunkin' Donuts, McDonald's or Blimpie.

Some also sell gasoline distributed by Murphy Oil Corporation (whose Wal-Mart stations are branded as "Murphy USA"), Sunoco, Inc. ("Optima"), or Tesoro Corporation ("Mirastar").

The first Supercenter opened in 1988 in Washington, Missouri. A similar concept, Hypermart USA, opened in Garland, Texas a year earlier. All of the Hypermart USA stores were later closed or converted into Supercenters.

As of October 2010, there were 2,843 Wal-Mart Supercenters in the United States. The largest Supercenter in the United States, covering 260,000 square feet (24,154.8 m²) and two floors, is located in Crossgates Commons in Albany, New York.

Since the introduction of the new Wal-Mart logo in 2008, the company has been phasing out the "Supercenter" portion of the name on these stores, simply referring to these stores as "Walmart."

Neighborhood Market by Walmart

Neighborhood Markets by Walmart are grocery stores that average about 42,000 square feet (3,901.9 m²). They are used to fill the gap between Discount Store and Supercenters, offering a variety of products, which include full lines of groceries, pharmaceuticals, health and beauty aids, photo developing services, and a limited selection of general merchandise.

The first Neighborhood Market opened in 1998 in Bentonville, Arkansas. As of October 2010, there were 181 of them in the United States.

Neighborhood Market by Walmart now has the same logo as Wal-Mart does. However, this change took place a few months after the new logo was introduced on June 30, 2008.

Supermercado de Wal-Mart

Supermercado de Wal-Mart in Spring Branch, Houston

Wal-Mart opened "Supermercado de Wal-Mart" locations to appeal to Hispanic communities in the United States. The first one, a 39,000 square feet (3,600 m²) store in the Spring Branch area of Houston, opened on Wednesday April 29, 2009. The store was a conversion of an existing Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart also planned to open "Mas Club," a warehouse retail operation patterned after Sam's Club.

Marketside

Marketside is a new chain of grocery stores opened in October 2008, the stores are said to be less than half the size of a conventional supermarket, as stated in the backgrounder found on Wal-Mart's official homepage. As of October 2010, there were four Marketside stores, all within the state of Arizona. Each of these stores is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Sam's Club

A typical Sam's Club store in Maplewood, Missouri

Sam's Club is a chain of warehouse clubs which sell groceries and general merchandise, often in large quantities. Sam's Club stores are "membership" stores and most customers buy annual memberships. However, non-members can make purchases either by buying a one-day membership or paying a surcharge based on the price of the purchase. Some locations also sell gasoline. The first Sam's Club opened in 1983 in Midwest City, Oklahoma under the name "Sam's Wholesale Club".

Sam's has found a niche market in recent years as a supplier to small businesses. All Sam's Club stores are open early hours exclusively for business members and their old slogan was "We're in Business for Small Business." Their current slogan is "Savings Made Simple" as Sam's Club attempts to attact a more diverse member base. In March 2009, the company announced that it plans to enter the electronic medical records business by offering a software package to physicians in small practices for $25,000. Wal-Mart is partnering with Dell and eClinicalWorks.com in this new venture.

Sam's Club's sales during 2010 were $47 billion, or 11.5% of Wal-Mart's total sales. As of October 2010, there were 607 Sam's Clubs in the United States. Wal-Mart also operates more than 100 international Sam’s Clubs in Brazil, China, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

Wal-Mart International

Wal-Mart's international operations currently comprise 4,263 stores and 660,000 workers in 15 countries outside the United States. There are wholly owned operations in Argentina, Brazil, Canada,and the UK. With 2.1 million employees worldwide, the company is the largest private employer in the US and Mexico, and one of the largest in Canada. In the financial year 2010, Wal-Mart's international division sales were $100 billion, or 24.7% of total sales.

Wal-Mart has operated in Canada since its acquisition of 122 stores comprising the Woolco division of Woolworth Canada, Inc in 1994. As of July 2010, it operates over 300 locations (including 100 Supercentres) and employs 82,000 Canadians, with a local home office in Mississauga, Ontario. Walmart Canada's first three Supercentres (spelled as in Canadian English) opened on November 8, 2006, in Hamilton, London, and Aurora, Ontario. The 100th Canadian Supercentre opened on July 10, 2010, in Victoria, BC.

Wal-Mart's UK subsidiary, Asda

Sales in 2006 for Wal-Mart's UK subsidiary, Asda (which retains the name it had before acquisition by Wal-Mart), accounted for 42.7% of sales of Wal-Mart's international division. In contrast to Wal-Mart's US operations, Asda was originally and still remains primarily a grocery chain, but with a stronger focus on non-food items than most UK supermarket chains other than Tesco. As of 2010, Asda had 345 stores, some of which were former Woolco stores operated by the UK division of FW Woolworth. The stores are branded Asda Wal-Mart Supercentres, as well as Asda Supermarkets, Asda Living, George High Street and Asda Essentials stores.

In addition to its wholly owned international operations, Wal-Mart has joint ventures in China and several majority-owned subsidiaries. Wal-Mart's majority-owned subsidiary in Mexico is Walmex. In Japan, Wal-Mart owns about 53% of Seiyu. Additionally, Wal-Mart owns 51% of the Central American Retail Holding Company (CARHCO), consisting of more than 360 supermarkets and other stores in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.

Bompreço in Natal, Brazil.

In 2004, Wal-Mart bought the 116 stores in the Bompreço supermarket chain in northeastern Brazil. In late 2005, it took control of the Brazilian operations of Sonae Distribution Group through its new subsidiary, WMS Supermercados do Brasil, thus acquiring control of the Nacional and Mercadorama supermarket chains, the leaders in the Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná states, respectively. None of these was rebranded. As of April 2010, Wal-Mart operates 64 Super-Bompreço stores, 33 Hyper-Bompreço stores. It also runs 45 Wal-Mart Supercenters, 24 Sam's Club stores, and 101 Todo Dia stores. With the acquisition of Bompreço and Sonae, Wal-Mart is currently the third largest supermarket chain in Brazil, behind Carrefour and Pão de Açúcar.

In June 2006, Wal-Mart was excluded from the investment portfolio of The Government Pension Fund of Norway, which held stock values of about US$ 430 million in the company, due to a social audit into alleged labor rights violations in the company's operations in the US and worldwide. Although Wal-Mart did not respond to questions from the fund's auditors, the company later claimed the decision "don't appear to be based on complete information".

In November 2006, Wal-Mart announced a joint venture with Bharti Enterprises to open retail stores in India. As foreign corporations are not allowed to directly enter the retail sector in India, Wal-Mart will operate through franchises and handle the wholesale end. The partnership will involve two joint ventures; Bharti will manage the front end involving opening of retail outlets, while Wal-Mart will take care of the back end, such as cold chains and logistics.

In 2008, Wal-Mart named German retailing veteran Stephan Fanderl as the president of Wal-Mart Emerging Markets-East in an effort to, "explore retail business opportunities in Russia and neighboring markets." The market is estimated to be worth more than US$140 billion per year in food sales alone.

In January 2009, the company acquired a controlling interest in the largest grocer in Chile, Distribucion y Servicio D&S SA.

In February 2010, the company agreed to buy Vudu, a Silicon Valley start-up whose three-year-old online movie service is being built into an increasing number of televisions and Blu-ray players. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but a person briefed on the deal said the price for the company, which raised $60 million in capital, was over $100 million.

On September 28, 2010, Wal-Mart announced it would buy Massmart Holdings Ltd. of Johannesburg, South Africa in a deal worth over $4 billion, giving the company its first stores in Africa.

Wal-Mart Canada Bank

Wal-Mart Canada launched its application for banking license in 2008 to compete with similar stores in Canada such as Loblaw. On July 24, 2009, Wal-Mart Canada Bank was incorporated under the Bank Act in Canada.

On June 15, 2010, Wal-Mart officially launched into the banking sector under the name Wal-Mart Canada Bank (French: La Banque Wal-Mart du Canada). As a Schedule II federal financial institution, it is regulated by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. Currently, WMCB only offers a Mastercard product but could offer more banking services in the future.

Private label brands

About 40% of products sold in Wal-Mart are private label store brands, or products offered by Wal-Mart and produced through contracts with manufacturers. Wal-Mart began offering private label brands in 1991 with the launch of Sam's Choice, a brand of drinks produced by Cott Beverages exclusively for Wal-Mart. Sam's Choice quickly became popular, and by 1993 was the third most popular beverage brand in the United States. Other Wal-Mart brands include Great Value and Equate in the US and Canada, and Smart Price in Britain. A 2006 study talked of "the magnitude of mind-share Wal-Mart appears to hold in shoppers' minds when it comes to awareness of private label brands and retailers."

Entertainment

In 2010, Wal-Mart teamed with Procter & Gamble to produce Secrets of the Mountain and The Jensen Project, 2 hour family movies which featured the characters using Wal-Mart and Procter & Gamble branded products. The Jensen Project also featured a preview of a product to be released in several months in Wal-Mart stores. A third movie, A Walk in My Shoes, will air later in 2010 and a fourth is in production. Wal-Mart's director of brand marketing also serves as co-chair of the Association of National Advertisers's Alliance for Family Entertainment.

Corporate affairs

Wal-Mart Home Office in Bentonville, Arkansas

Wal-Mart is headquartered in the Wal-Mart Home Office complex in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Wal-Mart's business model is based on selling a wide variety of general merchandise at "always low prices." The company refers to its employees as "associates". All Wal-Mart stores in the US and Canada also have designated "greeters", who welcome shoppers at the store entrance.

In June, 2007. Wal-Mart announced it was retiring the blue vest its 1.5 million associates wear, and replacing it with khakis and polos. The replacement was to help Wal-Mart increase sales.

Unlike many other retailers, Wal-Mart does not charge a slotting fee to suppliers for their products to appear in the store. Instead, it focuses on selling more popular products and provides incentives for store managers to drop unpopular products, as well as asking manufacturers to supply more popular products.

On September 14, 2006, the company announced that it would phase out its layaway program, citing declining use and increased costs. Layaway ceased to be offered on November 19, 2006, and required merchandise pickup by December 8, 2006. Wal-Mart now focuses on other payment options, such as increased use of six- and twelve-month, zero-interest financing. The layaway location in most stores is now used for Wal-Mart's Site-To-Store program, which was introduced in March 2007. This enables walmart.com customers to buy goods online with a free shipping option, and have goods shipped to the nearest store for pickup.

Financial

For the fiscal year ending January 31, 2009, Wal-Mart reported a net income of $13.6 billion on $404 billion of revenue (3.4% profit margin). For the fiscal year ending January 31, 2006, Wal-Mart's international operations accounted for about 20.1% of total sales.

Governance

Wal-Mart is governed by a fifteen-member Board of Directors, which is elected annually by shareholders. Robson Walton, the eldest son of founder Sam Walton, serves as Chairman of the Board. Michael T. Duke serves as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Lee Scott, formerly CEO, serves as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board. Other members of the board include Aída Álvarez, Jim Breyer, M. Michele Burns, James Cash, Roger Corbett, Douglas Daft, David Glass, Gregory B. Penner, Allen Questrom, Arne M. Sorenson, Jim Walton, Christopher J. Williams, and Linda S. Wolf. Sam Walton died in 1992. After Walton's death, Don Soderquist, Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice Chairman, became known as the "Keeper of the Culture."

Notable former members of the board include Hillary Clinton (1985–1992) and Tom Coughlin (2003–2004), the latter having served as Vice Chairman. Clinton left the board before the 1992 U.S. Presidential Election, and Coughlin left in December 2005 after pleading guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from Wal-Mart. On August 11, 2006, he was sentenced to 27 months of home confinement, five years of probation, and ordered to pay US$411,000 in restitution.

Competition

In North America, Wal-Mart's primary competition includes department stores like Kmart, Target, ShopKo and Meijer, Canada's Zellers, Hart the Real Canadian Superstore and Giant Tiger, and Mexico's Comercial Mexicana and Soriana. Competitors of Wal-Mart's Sam's Club division are Costco, and the smaller BJ's Wholesale Club chain operating mainly in the eastern US. Wal-Mart's move into the grocery business in the late 1990s also set it against major supermarket chains in both the United States and Canada. Several smaller retailers, primarily dollar stores, such as Family Dollar and Dollar General, have been able to find a small niche market and compete successfully against Wal-Mart for home consumer sales. In 2004, Wal-Mart responded by testing its own dollar store concept, a subsection of some stores called "Pennies-n-Cents."

Wal-Mart also had to face fierce competition in some foreign markets. For example, in Germany it had captured just 2% of German food market following its entry into the market in 1997 and remained "a secondary player" behind Aldi with a 19% share. In July 2006, Wal-Mart announced its withdrawal from Germany. Its stores were sold to German company Metro. Wal-Mart continues to do well in the UK, and its Asda subsidiary is the second largest chain after Tesco.

In May 2006, after entering the South Korean market in 1998, Wal-Mart withdrew and sold all 16 of its South Korean outlets to Shinsegae, a local retailer, for $882 million. Shinsegae re-branded the Wal-Marts as E-mart stores.

Wal-Mart struggled to export its brand elsewhere as it rigidly tried to reproduce its model overseas. In China, Wal-Mart hopes to succeed by adapting and doing things preferable to Chinese citizens. For example, it found that Chinese consumers preferred to select their own live fish and seafood; stores began displaying the meat uncovered and installed fish tanks, leading to higher sales.

Customer base

Street sign for Wal ★ Mart Drive near Gordon, Pennsylvania

A price of 15 cents on folders and notebooks

Each week, about 100 million customers, nearly one-third of the U.S. population, visit Walmart's U.S. stores. Walmart customers give low prices as the most important reason for shopping there, reflecting the "Low prices, always" advertising slogan that Wal-Mart used from 1962 until 2006. The average US Wal-Mart customer's income is below the national average, and analysts recently estimated that more than one-fifth of them lack a bank account, twice the national rate. A Wal-Mart financial report in 2006 also indicated that Wal-Mart customers are sensitive to higher utility costs and gas prices. A poll indicated that after 2004 US Presidential Election 76% of voters who shopped at Wal-Mart once a week voted for George W. Bush, while only 23% supported senator John Kerry. When measured against other similar retailers in the U.S., frequent Wal-Mart shoppers were rated the most politically conservative.

In 2006, Wal-Mart took steps to expand its US customer base, announcing a modification in its US stores from a "one-size-fits-all" merchandising strategy to one designed to "reflect each of six demographic groups – African-Americans, the affluent, empty-nesters, Hispanics, suburbanites and rural residents." Around six months later, it unveiled a new slogan: "Saving people money so they can live better lives". This reflects the three main groups into which Wal-Mart categorizes its 200 million customers: "brand aspirationals" (people with low incomes who are obsessed with names like KitchenAid), "price-sensitive affluents" (wealthier shoppers who love deals), and "value-price shoppers" (people who like low prices and cannot afford much more). Wal-Mart has also made steps to appeal to more liberal customers, for example, by rejecting the American Family Association's recommendations and carrying the DVD Brokeback Mountain, a love story between two gay cowboys in Wyoming.

Economic impact

Wal-Mart is the largest corporation in the world.

Kenneth Stone, Professor of Economics at Iowa State University, in a paper published in Farm Foundation in 1997, found that some small towns can lose almost half of their retail trade within ten years of a Wal-Mart store opening. However, he compared the changes to previous competitors small town shops have faced in the past—from the development of the railroads and the Sears Roebuck catalog to shopping malls. He concludes that shop owners who adapt to the ever changing retail market can thrive after Wal-Mart comes to their community. A subsequent study in collaboration with Mississippi State University indicated that there are "both positive and negative impacts on existing stores in the area where the new supercenter locates."

A June 2006 article published by the libertarian Ludwig von Mises Institute suggested that Wal-Mart has a positive impact on small business. It argued that while Wal-Mart's low prices caused some existing businesses to close, the chain also created new opportunities for other small business, and so "the process of creative destruction unleashed by Wal-Mart has no statistically significant impact on the overall size of the small business sector in the United States."

A Loyola University Chicago study which suggested that impact a Wal-Mart store has on a local business is correlated to its distance from that store. The leader of that study admits that this factor is stronger in smaller towns and doesn't apply to more urban areas saying "It'd be so tough to nail down what's up with Wal-Mart". Another study found Wal-Mart's entry into a new market has a profound impact on its retail competition. When a Wal-Mart opens in a new market, median sales drop 40% at similar high-volume stores, 17% at supermarkets and 6% at drugstores, according to a June 2009 study by researchers at several universities and led by the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

For the concern of jobs, a study commissioned by Wal-Mart with consulting firm Global Insight, found that its stores' presence saves working families more than US$2,500 per year, while creating more than 210,000 jobs in the U.S. Alternately the Economic Policy Institute estimates that 196,000 jobs were lost between 2001–2006, and 68% of jobs lost were manufacturing jobs. Another study by Global Insight has found that Wal-Mart's growth between 1985 and 2004 resulted in food-at-home prices that were 9.1% lower and overall prices (as measured by the Consumer Price Index) that were 3.1% lower than they would otherwise have been.

Another study at the University of Missouri found that a new store increases net retail employment in the county by 100 jobs in the short term, half of which disappear over five years as other retail establishments close.

Studies of Wal-Mart show consumers benefit from lower costs. A 2005 Washington Post story reported that "Wal-Mart's discounting on food alone boosts the welfare of American shoppers by at least $50 billion per year." A study in 2005 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology measured the effect on consumer welfare and found that the poorest segment of the population benefits the most from the existence of discount retailers. A 2004 paper by two professors at Pennsylvania State University found that U.S. counties with Wal-Mart stores suffered increased poverty compared with counties without Wal-Marts. They hypothesized, to explain their results: This could be due to the displacement of workers from higher-paid jobs in the retailers customers no longer choose to patronize, Wal-Mart providing less local charity than the replaced businesses, or a shrinking pool of local leadership and reduced social capital due to a reduced number of local independent businesses. Dr Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World Food System, said in a lecture at the University of Melbourne on 18 September 2007, that a study in Nebraska looked at two different Wal-Marts, the first of which had just arrived and “was in the process of driving everyone else out of business but, to do that, they cut their prices to the bone, very, very low prices”. In the other Wal-Mart, “they had successfully destroyed the local economy, there was a sort of economic crater with Wal-Mart in the middle; and, in that community, the prices were 17 per cent higher”.

Employee and Labor Relations

A protest in Utah against Wal-Mart

Labor unions, Christian organizations, and environmental groups have criticized Wal-Mart for its policies and/or business practices. In particular, several labor unions blame Wal-Mart workers' unwillingness to join their organizations on the company's anti-union stance. Others disapprove of the corporation's extensive foreign product sourcing, treatment of employees and product suppliers, environmental practices, and use of public subsidies, and the impact of stores on the local economies of towns in which they operate.

In 2005, two national campaigns to criticize Wal-Mart were launched: the (United Food and Commercial Workers) launched Wake Up Wal-Mart and The Center for Community and Corporate Ethics launched Wal-Mart Watch. By the end of 2005, Wal-Mart launched Working Families for Wal-Mart, an operation managed by Wal-Mart to tell the company's side of the story. Additional efforts to counter criticism included a PR campaign in 2005, managed through its PR website walmartfacts.com, as well as several television commercials. The company retained the PR firm Edelman to respond to negative media attention, and started interacting directly with bloggers by sending them news, suggesting topics for postings, and sometimes inviting them to visit its corporate headquarters. Similarly, in 2010, several of Wal-Mart's opponents have hired The Saint Consulting Group to support grass-roots campaigns against Wal-Mart. The most notable of these include grocery chains such as Safeway Inc., SuperValu, and Ahold, concerned that the presence of Wal-Mart will add more competition to their operations.

In the past, Wal-mart has been accused of locking night-shift workers in at night, paying employees below minimum wage, and exposing employees to health hazards. Wal-Mart's own "Standards for Suppliers" reports document extensive problems of this kind among the company's "directly-sourced" factories. Full-time Wal-Mart employees earn an average of $10.78 per hour, but critics point out that the starting pay can be far lower — placing some employees with children below the poverty line — and that payrates do not rise as quickly as with unionized companies. Others decry low levels of health coverage or overpriced health insurance, though the company reports that it offers rates as low as $5 per month in some areas ($9 per month nationwide) and that 92% of its associates are insured (though not necessarily through Wal-Mart). Other grievances regard poor working conditions, unfavorable employer-employee relationships, and anti-union policies. Many suggest that Wal-Mart's high annual turnover-rate of ~70% shows that workers are dissatisfied and maltreated.

In response, Jay Nordlinger of National Review argues that Wal-Mart is attacked simply because it is a leader of the Fortune 500 list or the largest employer in America, and a "free-market success story". Penn & Teller devoted an episode of Bullshit! to an analysis of Wal-Mart criticism as a social movement. They theorized that despite the noble rhetoric, the real motivation of "Wal-Mart haters" was rooted in human psychology. They suggested that hating Wal-Mart permits a person "to feel better about themselves" for three main reasons: They "don't run a greedy international conglomerate", they aren't Wal-Mart workers, widely considered "low-skilled, minimum wage drones", and they aren't Wal-Mart customers thought of as "toothless, welfare-getting hillbillies". Wal-Mart stores are unionized in every country outside of North America.

Wal-Mart has opposed the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would make it easier for workers to unionize by removing the employer's ability to demand a secret ballot in union elections, and which would require mandatory arbitration of labor disputes. In mid-2008, the company required store managers and department heads to attend meetings at which opposition to the EFCA was used as a fulcrum for criticism of Democratic candidates in the elections for the United States Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as of the presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama. At these meetings, Wal-Mart human resources managers warned that Democratic victories might result in passage of the EFCA and hence more unionization. At one meeting, a Wal-Mart customer service supervisor from Missouri stated, "I am not telling you how to vote, but if the Democrats win, this bill will pass and you won't have a vote on whether you want a union. A Wal-Mart spokesman, while acknowledging that the meetings were taking place nationwide, said, "If anyone representing Wal-Mart gave the impression we were telling associates how to vote, they were wrong and acting without approval." Several labor-rights groups including the AFL-CIO have asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate whether Wal-Mart broke federal election rules by advocating against Democratic candidate Barack Obama in meetings with employees.

According to a Newsweek article, Wal-Mart, after years of fierce fighting, accepted organized labor in China. Labor unions in China do not negotiate contracts, but rather they are an arm of the state "to secure the social order" and provide funding to the Communist Party.

Gender and sexual orientation

Wal-Mart is currently facing a gender discrimination lawsuit, Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., which alleges that female employees were discriminated against in matters regarding pay and promotions. If the class action is certified, it would be the largest such lawsuit in history, covering 1.5 million women according to the plaintiffs. A December 2007 United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 2–1 ruling affirming the class certification was vacated by the court for en banc review; in a 6–5 decision, the appeals court affirmed in part and remanded in part the district court's order regarding class certification. In December 2010, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari with regard to whether the case may proceed as a class action. The courts have not yet reached the merits of the underlying dispute.

According to a consultant hired by plaintiffs in a sex discrimination lawsuit, in 2001, Wal-Mart's EEOC filings showed that female employees made up 65% of Wal-Mart's hourly paid workforce, but only 33% of its management. Just 35% of its store managers were women, whereas 57% were at comparable retailers. Wal-Mart says comparisons with other retailers are unfair, because it classifies employees differently; if department managers were included in the totals, women would make up 60% of the managerial ranks. Others have criticized the lawsuit as without basis in the law and as an abuse of the class action mechanism. In 2007, Wal-Mart was named by the National Association for Female Executives as one of the top 35 companies for Executive Women.

Wal-Mart's rating on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, a measure of how companies treat LGBT employees and customers, has fluctuated widely during the past decade, from a low of 14% (2002) to 65% (2006). They were praised for expanding their antidiscrimination policy protecting gay and lesbian employees, as well as for a new definition of "family" that included same-sex partners. However, they have been criticized in other areas, such as not renewing its membership in the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, which is reflected in their 2008 rating of 40% (compared to Target at 80% and Kmart at 100%).

In January 2006, Wal-Mart announced that "diversity efforts include new groups of minority, female and gay employees that meet at Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville to advise the company on marketing and internal promotion. There are seven Business Resource Groups: women, African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, Gays and Lesbians, and a disabled group."

Exxon Mobil

2011-02-22T11:25:00.000-08:00

The oil giant made a big bet on the domestic natural gas market late last year buying Texas-based XTO Energy for $41 billion. But refining and exploration remain its backbone. The company drilled 45 new wells last year and hit pay dirt on nearly two-thirds of them.

Other big projects: new ventures in Qatar, the Black Sea, and Kazakhstan, including the giant Kashagan field located offshore in the Caspian Sea. With operations in nearly every corner of the planet, Exxon always seems to get a seat at the table when big projects arise. Maybe size does matter. --Peter Newcomb.

The Exxon Mobil Corporation, or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas.

ExxonMobil is one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world, having been ranked either #1 or #2 for the past 5 years. However they are currently 6th according to Forbes Global 2000. Exxon Mobil's reserves were 72 billion oil-equivalent barrels at the end of 2007 and, at then (2007) rates of production, are expected to last over 14 years. With 37 oil refineries in 21 countries constituting a combined daily refining capacity of 6.3 million barrels, Exxon Mobil is the largest refiner in the world, a title that was also associated with Standard Oil since its incorporation in 1870.

ExxonMobil is the largest of the six oil supermajors with daily production of 3.921 million BOE (barrels of oil equivalent). In 2008, this was approximately 3% of world production, which is less than several of the largest state-owned petroleum companies. When ranked by oil and gas reserves it is 14th in the world with less than 1% of the total.

Organization

The Exxon Mobil Corporation headquarters are located in Irving, Texas. ExxonMobil markets products around the world under the brands of Exxon, Mobil, and Esso. It also owns hundreds of smaller subsidiaries such as Imperial Oil Limited (69.6% ownership) in Canada, and SeaRiver Maritime, a petroleum shipping company.

The upstream division dominates the company's cashflow, accounting for approximately 70% of revenue. The company employs over 82,000 people worldwide, as indicated in ExxonMobil's 2006 Corporate Citizen Report, with approximately 4,000 employees in its Fairfax downstream headquarters and 27,000 people in its Houston upstream headquarters.

Operating divisions

ExxonMobil is organized functionally into a number of global operating divisions. These divisions are grouped into three categories for reference purposes, though the company also has several ancillary divisions, such as Coal & Minerals, which are stand alone.

Chart of the major energy companies dubbed "Big Oil", sorted by latest published revenue

Upstream (oil exploration, extraction, shipping, and wholesale operations) based in Houston, Texas
Downstream (marketing, refining, and retail operations) based in Fairfax, Virginia
Chemical division based in Houston, Texas

Operating divisions by category are as follows:

Upstream

ExxonMobil Exploration Company
ExxonMobil Development Company
ExxonMobil Production Company
ExxonMobil Gas and Power Marketing Company
ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company
ExxonMobil Upstream Ventures

Downstream

ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company
SeaRiver Maritime
ExxonMobil Fuels Marketing Company
ExxonMobil Lubricants & Specialties Company
ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
International Marine Transportation

Chemical

ExxonMobil Chemical Company

ExxonMobil Global Services Company

ExxonMobil Information Technology
Global Real Estate and Facilities
Global Procurement
Business Support Centers

Imperial Oil

History

ExxonMobil Building, ExxonMobil offices in Downtown Houston

Exxon Mobil Corporation was formed in 1999 by the merger of two major oil companies, Exxon and Mobil. Both Exxon and Mobil were descendants of the John D. Rockefeller corporation, Standard Oil which was established in 1870. The reputation of Standard Oil in the public eye suffered badly after publication of Ida M. Tarbell's classic exposé The History of the Standard Oil Company in 1904, leading to a growing outcry for the government to take action against the company.

By 1911, with public outcry at a climax, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that Standard Oil must be dissolved and split into 34 companies. Two of these companies were Jersey Standard ("Standard Oil Company of New Jersey"), which eventually became Exxon, and Socony ("Standard Oil Company of New York"), which eventually became Mobil.

In the same year, the nation's kerosene output was eclipsed for the first time by gasoline. The growing automotive market inspired the product trademark Mobiloil, registered by Socony in 1920.

Over the next few decades, both companies grew significantly. Jersey Standard, led by Walter C. Teagle, became the largest oil producer in the world. It acquired a 50 percent share in Humble Oil & Refining Co., a Texas oil producer. Socony purchased a 45 percent interest in Magnolia Petroleum Co., a major refiner, marketer and pipeline transporter. In 1931, Socony merged with Vacuum Oil Co., an industry pioneer dating back to 1866 and a growing Standard Oil spin-off in its own right.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Jersey Standard had oil production and refineries in Indonesia but no marketing network. Socony-Vacuum had Asian marketing outlets supplied remotely from California. In 1933, Jersey Standard and Socony-Vacuum merged their interests in the region into a 50-50 joint venture. Standard-Vacuum Oil Co., or "Stanvac," operated in 50 countries, from East Africa to New Zealand, before it was dissolved in 1962.

Mobil Chemical Company was established in 1950. As of 1999, its principal products included basic olefins and aromatics, ethylene glycol and polyethylene. The company produced synthetic lubricant base stocks as well as lubricant additives, propylene packaging films and catalysts. Exxon Chemical Company (first named Enjay Chemicals) became a worldwide organization in 1965 and in 1999 was a major producer and marketer of olefins, aromatics, polyethylene and polypropylene along with speciality lines such as elastomers, plasticizers, solvents, process fluids, oxo alcohols and adhesive resins. The company was an industry leader in metallocene catalyst technology to make unique polymers with improved performance.

In 1955, Socony-Vacuum became Socony Mobil Oil Co. and in 1966 simply Mobil Oil Corp. A decade later, the newly incorporated Mobil Corporation absorbed Mobil Oil as a wholly owned subsidiary. Jersey Standard changed its name to Exxon Corporation in 1972 and established Exxon as a trademark throughout the United States. In other parts of the world, Exxon and its affiliated companies continued to use its Esso trademark.

On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker struck Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska and spilled more than 11 million gallons (42,000 m³) of crude oil. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was the second largest in U.S. history, and in the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez incident, the U.S. Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. An initial award of $5 billion USD punitive was reduced to $507.5 million by the US Supreme Court in June 2008, and distributions of this award have commenced.

In 1998, Exxon and Mobil signed a US$73.7 billion definitive agreement to merge and form a new company called Exxon Mobil Corporation, the largest company on the planet. After shareholder and regulatory approvals, the merger was completed on November 30, 1999. The merger of Exxon and Mobil was unique in American history because it reunited the two largest companies of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil trust, Standard Oil Company of New Jersey/Exxon and Standard Oil Company of New York/Mobil, which had been forcibly separated by government order nearly a century earlier. This reunion resulted in the largest merger in US corporate history.

In 2000, ExxonMobil sold a refinery in Benicia, California and 340 Exxon-branded stations to Valero Energy Corporation, as part of an FTC-mandated divestiture of California assets. ExxonMobil continues to supply petroleum products to over 700 Mobil-branded retail outlets in California.

In 2005, ExxonMobil's stock price surged in parallel with rising oil prices, surpassing General Electric as the largest corporation in the world in terms of market capitalization. At the end of 2005, it reported record profits of US $36 billion in annual income, up 42% from the previous year (the overall annual income was an all-time record for annual income by any business, and included $10 billion in the third quarter alone, also an all-time record income for a single quarter by any business). The company and the American Petroleum Institute (the oil and chemical industry's lobbying organization) put these profits in context by comparing oil industry profits to those of other large industries such as pharmaceuticals and banking.

On June 12, 2008, ExxonMobil announced that it was exiting the retail fuel business, citing the increasing difficulty to run gas stations under rising crude oil costs. The multi-year process will gradually phase the corporation out of the direct market, and will affect 820 company-owned stations and approximately 1,400 other stations operated by dealers distributing across the United States. The sale will not result in the disappearance of Exxon and Mobil branded stations; the new owners will continue to sell ExxonMobil gasoline and license the appropriate names from ExxonMobil, who will in turn be compensated for use of the brand.

In 2010, ExxonMobil bought XTO Energy, the company focused on development and production of unconventional resources.

Corporate Affairs

The current Chairman of the Board and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corporation is Rex Tillerson. Tillerson assumed the top position on January 1, 2006, on the retirement of long-time chairman and CEO, Lee Raymond, who received a retirement and severance package of approximately $400 million USD, of which some were critical.

Board of Directors

As of February 5, 2009, the current ExxonMobil board members are: Michael Boskin, professor of economics Stanford University, director of Oracle Corporation, Shinsei Bank, and Vodafone Group

Larry R. Faulkner, President, Houston Endowment; President Emeritus, the University of Texas at Austin
William W. George, professor of management practice, Harvard Business School
James R. Houghton, Chairman of the Board, Corning Incorporated
Reatha Clark King, former chairman, Board of Trustees, General Mills Foundation
Philip E. Lippincott, retired Chairman of the Board, Scott Paper Company and Campbell Soup Company
Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Chairman and CEO, Carlson Companies
Samuel J. Palmisano, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO, IBM Corporation
Joaquin Pelayo, Chairman of the Board and President, McGraw Hill.
Steven S Reinemund, retired Executive Chairman of the Board, PepsiCo
Walter V. Shipley, retired Chairman of the Board, Chase Manhattan Corporation
Rex Tillerson, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Exxon Mobil Corporation
Edward E. Whitacre, retired Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, AT&T

Joint Ventures and Other Strategic Alliances

Aera Energy LLC is an E&P joint venture with Shell Oil, operating in California.
Infineum is a joint venture between ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch/Shell for manufacturing and marketing lubricant and fuel additives.

Production

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3 percent of the world's oil and about 2 percent of the world's energy.

ExxonMobil, like other oil companies, is struggling to find new sources of oil. According to Wall Street Journal, for every 100 barrels of oil it has pumped, it has replaced only 95. This stands in contrast to natural gas, where, for every 100 cubic feet of gas extracted, Exxon has found or bought an additional 158.

Revenue and profits

In 2005, ExxonMobil surpassed Wal-Mart as the world's largest publicly held corporation when measured by revenue, although Wal-Mart remained the largest by number of employees. ExxonMobil's $340 billion revenues in 2005 were a 25.5 percent increase over their 2004 revenues.

In 2006, Wal-Mart recaptured the lead with revenues of $348.7 billion against ExxonMobil's $335.1. ExxonMobil continued to lead the world in both profits ($39.5 billion in 2006) and market value ($460.43 billion).

In 2007, ExxonMobil had a record net income of $40.61 billion on $404.552 of revenue, an increase largely due to escalating oil prices as their actual oil equivalent production decreased by 1%, in part due to expropriation of their Venezuelan assets by the Chavez government.

As of July 1, 2010, ExxonMobil occupied 8 out of 10 slots for Largest Corporate Quarterly Earnings of All Time. Furthermore, it occupies 5 out of 10 slots on Largest Corporate Annual Earnings.

Financial Data

Financial Data in USD Millions
Year-end	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Total revenue	358,955	365,467	390,328	459,579	301,586	383,221
Net income	36,130	39,500	40,610	45,220	19,280	30,460
Total assets	208,335	219,015	242,082	228,052	233,323
Total debt	7,991	8,347	9,566	9,425	9,605

Environmental Record

ExxonMobil has been a contributor to environmental causes (the company donated $6.6 million to environmental and social groups in 2007). Its environmental record has been a target of critics from outside organizations such as the environmental lobby group Greenpeace as well as some institutional investors who disagree with its stance on global warming. The Political Economy Research Institute ranks ExxonMobil sixth among corporations emitting airborne pollutants in the United States. The ranking is based on the quantity (15.5 million pounds in 2005) and toxicity of the emissions. In 2005, ExxonMobil had committed less than 1% of their profits towards researching alternative energy, less than other leading oil companies.

Exxon Valdez oil spill

The March 24, 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill resulted in the discharge of approximately 11 million gallons of oil (240,000 barrels) into Prince William Sound^. oiling 1,300 miles (2,100 km) of the remote Alaskan coastline. The State of Alaska's Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council stated that the spill "is widely considered the number one spill worldwide in terms of damage to the environment", but many larger spills have occurred.

Exxon was widely criticized for its slow response to cleaning up the disaster. John Devens, the Mayor of Valdez, has said his community felt betrayed by Exxon's inadequate response to the crisis. Exxon later removed the name "Exxon" from its tanker shipping subsidiary, which it renamed "SeaRiver Maritime." The renamed subsidiary, though wholly Exxon-controlled, has a separate corporate charter and board of directors, and the former Exxon Valdez is now the SeaRiver Mediterranean. The renamed tanker is legally owned by a small, stand-alone company, which would have minimal ability to pay out on claims in the event of a further accident.

After a trial, a jury ordered Exxon to pay $5 billion in punitive damages, though an appeals court reduced that amount by half. Exxon appealed further, and on June 25, 2008, the United States Supreme Court lowered the amount to $500 million.

In 2009, Exxon still uses more single-hull tankers than the rest of the largest ten oil companies combined, including the Valdez's sister ship, the SeaRiver Long Beach.

Exxon's Brooklyn oil spill

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced on July 17, 2007 that he had filed suit against the Exxon Mobil Corporation and ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company to force cleanup of the oil spill at Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and to restore Newtown Creek.

A study of the spill released by the US Environmental Protection Agency in September 2007 reported that the spill consists of approximately 17 to 30 million gallons of petroleum products from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century. The largest portion of these operations were by ExxonMobil or its predecessors. By comparison, the Exxon Valdez oil spill was approximately 11 million gallons. The study reported that in the early 20th century Standard Oil of New York operated a major refinery in the area where the spill is located. The refinery produced fuel oils, gasoline, kerosene and solvents. Naptha and gas oil, secondary products, were also stored in the refinery area. Standard Oil of New York later became Mobil, a predecessor to Exxon/Mobil.

Sakhalin-I in the Russian Far East

Scientists and environmental groups voice concern that the Sakhalin-I oil and gas project in the Russian Far East, operated by an ExxonMobil subsidiary, Exxon Neftegas Limited (ENL), threatens the critically endangered western gray whale population. In February, 2009, independent scientists, convened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature issued an urgent call for a "...moratorium on all industrial activities, both maritime and terrestrial, that have the potential to disturb gray whales in summer and autumn on and near their main feeding areas" following a sharp decline in observed whales in the main feeding area in 2008, adjacent to ENL's project area. The scientists also criticized ENL’s unwillingness to cooperate with the scientific panel process, which “certainly impedes the cause of western gray whale conservation.”

Funding of global warming skeptics

ExxonMobil has been accused of paying to fuel skepticism of anthropogenic global warming.

ExxonMobil has drawn criticism from the environmental lobby for funding organizations critical of the Kyoto Protocol and skeptical of the scientific opinion that global warming is caused by the burning of fossil fuels. According to Mother Jones Magazine, the company was a member of one of the first such skeptic groups, the Global Climate Coalition, founded in 1989. According to The Guardian, ExxonMobil has funded, among other groups skeptical of global warming, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, George C. Marshall Institute, Heartland Institute, Congress on Racial Equality, TechCentralStation.com, and International Policy Network.

ExxonMobil's support for these organizations has drawn criticism from the Royal Society, the academy of sciences of the United Kingdom. The Union of Concerned Scientists released a report in 2007 accusing ExxonMobil of spending $16 million, between 1998 and 2005, towards 43 advocacy organizations which dispute the impact of global warming. The report argued that ExxonMobil used disinformation tactics similar to those used by the tobacco industry in its denials of the link between lung cancer and smoking, saying that the company used "many of the same organizations and personnel to cloud the scientific understanding of climate change and delay action on the issue." These charges are consistent with a purported 1998 internal ExxonMobil strategy memo, posted by the environmental group Environmental Defense, stating

Victory will be achieved when

· Average citizens [and the media] 'understand' (recognize) uncertainties in climate science; recognition of uncertainties becomes part of the 'conventional wisdom' …

· Industry senior leadership understands uncertainties in climate science, making them stronger ambassadors to those who shape climate policy

· Those promoting the Kyoto treaty on the basis of extant science appear out of touch with reality.

ExxonMobil has been reported as having plans to invest up to US$100m over a ten year period in Stanford University's Global Climate and Energy Project.

In August 2006, the Wall Street Journal revealed that a YouTube video lampooning Al Gore, titled Al Gore's Penguin Army, appeared to be astroturfing by DCI Group, a Washington PR firm with ties to ExxonMobil.

In January 2007, the company appeared to change its position, when vice president for public affairs

Kenneth Cohen said "we know enough now—or, society knows enough now—that the risk is serious and action should be taken." Cohen stated that, as of 2006, ExxonMobil had ceased funding of the Competitive Enterprise Institute and "'five or six' similar groups". While the company did not publicly state which the other similar groups were, a May 2007 report by Greenpeace does list the five groups it stopped funding as well as a list of 41 other climate skeptic groups which are still receiving ExxonMobil funds.

On February 13, 2007, ExxonMobil CEO Rex W. Tillerson acknowledged that the planet was warming while carbon dioxide levels were increasing, but in the same speech gave an unqualified defense of the oil industry and predicted that hydrocarbons would dominate the world’s transportation as energy demand grows by an expected 40 percent by 2030.

Tillerson stated that there is no significant alternative to oil in coming decades, and that ExxonMobil would continue to make petroleum and natural gas its primary products, saying:

"I'm no expert on biofuels. I don't know much about farming and I don't know much about moonshine. ... There is really nothing ExxonMobil can bring to that whole biofuels issue. We don't see a direct role for ourselves with today's technology."

However, recently Exxonmobil has announced that it will plan on spending up to 600 million dollars within the next 10 years to fund biofuels that come from algae. On July 14, 2010 Exxonmobil announced that after a year that they are on track for producing biofuels from algae to replace petroleum based oil. (see algae fuel)

A survey carried out by the UK's Royal Society found that in 2005 ExxonMobil distributed $2.9m to 39 groups that the society said "misrepresented the science of climate change by outright denial of the evidence".

On July 1, 2009, The Guardian newspaper revealed that ExxonMobil has continued to fund organizations including the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) along with the Heritage Foundation, despite a public pledge to cut support of lobby groups who deny climate change.

Criticism

Environment

Exxon's alleged crimes include the sabotage of efforts to deal with climate change, the fraudulent manipulation of peer reviewed scientific studies and organizations, misleading and outright lying to the population of the USA, its government officials and the global community in general.

In addition, the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, was a watershed moment for environmental critics of the oil industry. The ensuing detrimental effects on the ecology and fisheries of Prince William Sound has stained the image of Exxon (Now ExxonMobil).

Foreign business practices

Investigative reporting by Forbes Magazine raised questions about ExxonMobil's dealings with the leaders of oil-rich nations. ExxonMobil controls concessions covering 11 million acres (44,500 km²) off the coast of Angola that hold an estimated 7.5 billion barrels (1.2 km³) of crude.

In 2003, the Office of Foreign Assets Control reported that ExxonMobil engaged in illegal trade with Sudan and it, along with dozens of other companies, settled with the United States government for $50,000.

In March 2003, James Giffen of the Mercator Corporation was indicted, accused of bribing President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan with $78 million to help ExxonMobil win a 25 percent share of the Tengiz oilfield, the third largest in the world. On April 2, 2003, former-Mobil executive J. Bryan Williams was indicted on tax charges relating to this same transaction. The case is the largest under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. This series of events is depicted in the film Syriana.

In a U.S. Department of Justice release dated September 18, 2003, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that J. Bryan Williams, a former senior executive of Mobil Oil Corporation, had been sentenced to three years and ten months in prison on charges of evading income taxes on more than $7 million in unreported income, "including a $2 million kickback he received in connection with Mobil's oil business in Kazakhstan." According to documents filed with the court, Williams' unreported income included millions of dollars in kickbacks from governments, persons, and other entities with whom Williams conducted business while employed by Mobil. In addition to his sentence, Williams must pay a fine of $25,000 and more than $3.5 million in restitution to the IRS, in addition to penalties and interest.

Human Rights

ExxonMobil is the target of human rights activists for actions taken by the corporation in the Indonesian territory of Aceh. In June 2001 a lawsuit against ExxonMobil was filed in the Federal District Court of the District of Columbia under the Alien Tort Claims Act. The suit alleges that the ExxonMobil knowingly assisted human rights violations, including torture, murder and rape, by employing and providing material support to Indonesian military forces, who committed the alleged offenses during civil unrest in Aceh. Human rights complaints involving Exxon's (Exxon and Mobil had not yet merged) relationship with the Indonesian military first arose in 1992; the company denies these accusations and filed a motion to dismiss the suit, which was denied in 2008 by a federal judge, but then dismissed in August 2009 by a different federal judge. The dismissal is currently under appeal.

LGBT

When Exxon Corporation merged with Mobil Corporation in 1999, the newly merged company ended enrollment in Mobil Corporation's domestic partner benefits for same-sex partners of employees, and it rescinded formal prohibitions against discrimination based on sexual orientation by removing it from the company's Equal Employment Opportunity policy. In 2010 the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT lobbying group and political action committee, gave Exxon Mobil a score of "0" in its Corporate Equality Index, a scorecard that rated 590 companies on several criteria including diversity training that covers gender identity issues, transgender-inclusive medical coverage including surgical procedures, and "positively engaging the external LGBT community." On May 26, 2010 ExxonMobil shareholders voted down LGBT benefits for its employees - only 22% of shareholders voted yes for the issue.

Headquarters

ExxonMobil's headquarters are located in Irving, Texas. As of January 2010, the company is conducting an internal study regarding possible consolidation of facilities to the northern Houston suburb of Spring, at the intersection of Interstate 45 and the Hardy Toll Road. Architectural documents obtained by the Houston Chronicle outline an elaborate corporate campus, including twenty office buildings totaling three million square-feet, a wellness center, laboratory, and multiple parking garages. Alan Jeffers, a spokesperson for the company, did not say whether the consolidation study includes the Irving headquarters, but definitely includes the Fairfax headquarters. Chris Wallace, the chief executive of the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, said that he believed that it does include the headquarters. In October 2010 the company stated that it would not move its headquarters to Greater Houston.

Melukis

2011-02-22T10:15:00.000-08:00

Melukis adalah kegiatan mengolah medium dua dimensiatau permukaan dari objek tiga dimensi untuk mendapat kesan tertentu. Medium lukisan bisa berbentuk apasaja, seperti kanvas, kertas, papan, dan bahkan film di dalam fotografi bisa dianggapsebagai media lukisan. Alat yang digunakan juga bisa bermacam-macam, dengansyarat bisa memberikan imaji tertentu kepada media yang digunakan.

Seni lukis adalah salah satu cabang dari senirupa. Dengan dasar pengertian yang sama, seni lukis adalah sebuahpengembangan yang lebih utuh dari menggambar.

Melukis adalah kegiatan mengolah medium dua dimensi atau permukaandari objek tiga dimensi untuk mendapat kesan tertentu. Medium lukisanbisa berbentuk apa saja, seperti kanvas, kertas,papan,dan bahkan filmdi dalam fotografi bisa dianggap sebagai media lukisan.Alat yang digunakan juga bisa bermacam-macam, dengan syarat bisa memberikan imajitertentu kepada media yang digunakan.

SejarahUmum Seni Lukis

ZamanPrasejarah

Secara historis, seni lukis sangat terkait dengan gambar. Peninggalan-peninggalan prasejarah memperlihatkanbahwa sejak ribuan tahun yang lalu, nenek moyang manusiatelah mulai membuat gambar pada dinding-dinding guauntuk mencitrakan bagian-bagian penting dari kehidupan. Sebuah lukisan ataugambar bisa dibuat hanya dengan menggunakan materi yang sederhana seperti arang,kapur,atau bahan lainnya. Salah satu teknik terkenal gambar prasejarah yang dilakukanorang-orang gua adalah dengan menempelkan tangandi dinding gua, lalu menyemburnya dengan kunyahan dedaunanatau batumineral berwarna. Hasilnya adalah jiplakan tangan berwana-warnidi dinding-dinding gua yang masih bisa dilihat hingga saat ini. Kemudahan inimemungkinkan gambar (dan selanjutnya lukisan) untuk berkembang lebih cepatdaripada cabang seni rupa lain seperti senipatung dan seni keramik.

Seperti gambar, lukisan kebanyakandibuat di atas bidang datar seperti dinding,lantai,kertas,atau kanvas.Dalam pendidikan seni rupa modern di Indonesia, sifat ini disebut juga dengan dwi-matra(dua dimensi, dimensi datar).

Objek yang sering muncul dalamkarya-karya purbakala adalah manusia, binatang, dan objek-objek alam lain seperti pohon,bukit,gunung,sungai,dan laut.Bentukdari objek yang digambar tidak selalu serupa dengan aslinya. Ini disebut citradan itu sangat dipengaruhi oleh pemahaman si pelukis terhadap objeknya.Misalnya, gambar seekor banteng dibuat dengan proporsitanduk yang luar biasa besar dibandingkan dengan ukuran tandukasli. Pencitraan ini dipengaruhi oleh pemahaman si pelukis yang menganggaptanduk adalah bagian paling mengesankan dari seekor banteng. Karena itu, citramengenai satu macam objek menjadi berbeda-beda tergantung dari pemahaman budayamasyarakat di daerahnya.

Pada satu titik, ada orang-orangtertentu dalam satu kelompok masyarakat prasejarah yang lebih banyakmenghabiskan waktu untuk menggambar daripada mencari makanan.Mereka mulai mahir membuat gambar dan mulai menemukan bahwa bentuk dan susunanrupa tertentu, bila diatur sedemikian rupa, akan nampak lebih menarik untukdilihat daripada biasanya. Mereka mulai menemukan semacam cita-rasa keindahandalam kegiatannya dan terus melakukan hal itu sehingga mereka menjadi semakinahli. Mereka adalah seniman-seniman yang pertama di muka bumidan pada saat itulah kegiatan menggambar dan melukis mulai condong menjadikegiatan seni.

SeniLukis Zaman Klasik

Seni lukis zaman klasik kebanyakandimaksudkan untuk tujuan:

Mistisme (sebagai akibat belum berkembangnya agama)
Propaganda (sebagai contoh grafiti di reruntuhan kota Pompeii),

Di zaman ini lukisan dimaksudkanuntuk meniru semirip mungkin bentuk-bentuk yang ada di alam. Hal ini sebagaiakibat berkembangnya ilmu pengetahuan dan dimulainya kesadaran bahwa seni lukismampu berkomunikasi lebih baik daripada kata-kata dalam banyak hal.

SeniLukis Zaman Pertengahan

Sebagai akibat terlalu kuatnyapengaruh agamadi zaman pertengahan, seni lukis mengalami penjauhan dari ilmu pengetahuan. Ilmu pengetahuan dianggapsebagai sihiryang bisa menjauhkan manusia dari pengabdian kepada Tuhan.Akibatnya, seni lukis pun tidak lagi bisa sejalan dengan realitas.

Kebanyakan lukisan di zaman inilebih berupa simbolisme, bukan realisme. Sehingga sulit sekaliuntuk menemukan lukisan yang bisa dikategorikan "bagus".

Lukisan pada masa ini digunakanuntuk alat propaganda dan religi. Beberapa agama yangmelarang penggambaran hewan dan manusia mendorong perkembangan abstrakisme(pemisahan unsur bentuk yang "benar" dari benda).

SeniLukis Zaman Renaissance

Berawal dari kota Firenze.Setelah kekalahan dari Turki, banyak sekali ilmuwandan budayawan (termasuk pelukis) yang menyingkir dari Bizantium menuju daerah semenanjung Italiasekarang. Dukungan dari keluarga deMediciyang menguasai kota Firenze terhadap ilmu pengetahuan modern dan seni membuat sinergikeduanya menghasilkan banyak sumbangan terhadap kebudayaan baru Eropa.Seni rupa menemukan jiwa barunya dalam kelahiran kembali seni zaman klasik.Sains di kota ini tidak lagi dianggap sihir, namun sebagai alat baru untukmerebut kembali kekuasaan yang dirampas oleh Turki. Pada akhirnya, pengaruhseni di kota Firenze menyebar ke seluruh Eropa hingga Eropa Timur.

Tokoh yang banyak dikenal dari masaini adalah:

Tomassi
Donatello
Leonardo da Vinci
Michaelangelo
Raphael

ArtNouveau

RevolusiIndustri di Inggris telah menyebabkan mekanisasi di dalambanyak hal. Barang-barang dibuat dengan sistem produksi massal denganketelitian tinggi. Sebagai dampaknya, keahlian tangan seorang senimantidak lagi begitu dihargai karena telah digantikan kehalusan buatan mesin.Sebagai jawabannya, seniman beralih ke bentuk-bentuk yang tidak mungkin dicapaioleh produksi massal (atau jika bisa, akan biaya pembuatannya menjadi sangatmahal). Lukisan, karya-karya seni rupa, dan kriya diarahkan kepada kurva-kurvahalus yang kebanyakan terinspirasi dari keindahan garis-garis tumbuhandi alam.

Sejarahseni lukis di Indonesia

Seni lukis modern Indonesiadimulai dengan masuknya penjajahan Belandadi Indonesia. Kecenderungan seni rupa EropaBarat pada zaman itu ke aliran romantismemembuat banyak pelukis Indonesia ikut mengembangkan aliran ini.

Raden Saleh Syarif Bustaman adalah salah seorangasisten yang cukup beruntung bisa mempelajari melukis gaya Eropa yangdipraktekkan pelukis Belanda. Raden Saleh kemudian melanjutkan belajar melukiske Belanda, sehingga berhasil menjadi seorang pelukis Indonesia yang diseganidan menjadi pelukis istana di beberapa negera Eropa. Namun seni lukis Indonesiatidak melalui perkembangan yang sama seperti zaman renaisans Eropa, sehinggaperkembangannya pun tidak melalui tahapan yang sama. Era revolusi di Indonesiamembuat banyak pelukis Indonesia beralih dari tema-tema romantisme menjadicenderung ke arah "kerakyatan". Objek yang berhubungan dengan keindahanalam Indonesia dianggap sebagai tema yang mengkhianati bangsa, sebab dianggapmenjilat kepada kaum kapitalis yang menjadi musuh ideologi komunisme yangpopuler pada masa itu. Selain itu, alat lukis seperti cat dan kanvas yangsemakin sulit didapat membuat lukisan Indonesia cenderung ke bentuk-bentuk yanglebih sederhana, sehingga melahirkan abstraksi.

Gerakan Manifesto Kebudayaan yangbertujuan untuk melawan pemaksaan ideologi komunisme membuat pelukis pada masa1950an lebih memilih membebaskan karya seni mereka dari kepentingan politiktertentu, sehingga era ekspresionisme dimulai. Lukisan tidak lagi dianggapsebagai penyampai pesan dan alat propaganda. Perjalanan seni lukis Indonesiasejak perintisan R. Saleh sampai awal abad XXI ini, terasa masih terombang-ambingoleh berbagai benturan konsepsi.

Kemapanan seni lukis Indonesia yangbelum mencapai tataran keberhasilan sudah diporak-porandakan oleh gagasanmodernisme yang membuahkan seni alternatif atau senikontemporer, dengan munculnya seni konsep (conceptual art):“Installation Art”, dan “Performance Art”, yang pernah menjamur di pelosokkampus perguruan tinggi seni sekitar 1993-1996. Kemudian muncul berbagaialternatif semacam “kolaborasi” sebagai mode 1996/1997. Bersama itu pula senilukis konvensional dengan berbagai gaya menghiasi galeri-galeri, yang bukanlagi sebagai bentuk apresiasi terhadap masyarakat, tetapi merupakan bisnisalternatif investasi.

AliranSeni Lukis

Surrealisme

Lukisan dengan aliran ini kebanyakanmenyerupai bentuk-bentuk yang sering ditemui di dalam mimpi. Pelukis berusahauntuk mengabaikan bentuk secara keseluruhan kemudian mengolah setiap bagiantertentu dari objek untuk menghasilkan sensasi tertentu yang bisa dirasakanmanusia tanpa harus mengerti bentuk aslinya.

Kubisme

Adalah aliran yang cenderungmelakukan usaha abstraksi terhadap objek ke dalam bentuk-bentuk geometri untukmendapatkan sensasi tertentu. Salah satu tokoh terkenal dari aliran ini adalah PabloPicasso.

Romantisme

Merupakan aliran tertua di dalamsejarah seni lukis modern Indonesia. Lukisan dengan aliran ini berusahamembangkitkan kenangan romantis dan keindahan di setiap objeknya. Pemandanganalam adalah objek yang sering diambil sebagai latar belakang lukisan.

Romantisme dirintis olehpelukis-pelukis pada zaman penjajahan Belanda dan ditularkan kepada pelukispribumi untuk tujuan koleksi dan galeri di zaman kolonial. Salah satu tokohterkenal dari aliran ini adalah RadenSaleh.

Pluralpainting

Adalah sebuah proses beraktivitasseni melalui semacam meditasi atau pengembaraan intuisi untuk menangkap danmenterjemahkan gerak hidup dari naluri kehidupan ke dalam bahasa visual. Bahasavisual yang digunakan berpijak pada konsep PLURAL PAINTING. Artinya, untukmenampilkan idiom-idiom agar relatif bisa mencapai ketepatan dengan apa yangtelah tertangkap oleh intuisi mempergunakan idiom-idiom yang bersifat:multi-etnis, multi-teknik, atau multi-style.

Senilukis daun

Adalah aliran seni lukiskontemporer, dimana lukisan tersebut menggunakan daun tumbuh-tumbuhan, yang diberiwarna atau tanpa pewarna. Seni lukis ini memanfaatkan sampah dauntumbuh-tumbuhan, dimana daun memiliki warna khas dan tidak busuk jika ditanganidengan benar.

Aliranlain

Ekspresionisme
[[dadaisme]
Fauvisme
Neo-Impresionisme
Realisme
Naturalisme
De Stijl

Abstraksi

Adalah usaha untuk mengesampingkanunsur bentuk dari lukisan. Teknik abstraksi yang berkembang pesat seiringmerebaknya seni kontemporer saat ini berarti tindakanmenghindari peniruan objek secara mentah. Unsur yang dianggap mampu memberikansensasi keberadaan objek diperkuat untuk menggantikan unsur bentuk yangdikurangi porsinya. Abstraksi disebut juga sebagai salah satu aliran yang terdapatdi dalam seni lukis.

Komunikasi

2011-02-22T09:58:00.000-08:00

Komunikasi adalah suatu proses penyampaian informasi(pesan, ide, gagasan) dari satu pihak kepada pihak lain agar terjadi salingmemengaruhi di antara keduanya. Pada umumnya, komunikasi dilakukan secara lisanatau verbal yang dapat dimengerti oleh kedua belah pihak. Apabila tidak ada bahasaverbal yang dapat dimengerti oleh keduanya,komunikasi masih dapat dilakukan dengan menggunakan gerak-gerik badan,menunjukkan sikap tertentu, misalnya tersenyum, menggelengkan kepala,mengangkat bahu. Cara seperti ini disebut komunikasi dengan bahasa nonverbal.

Sebuah model komunikasi transaksional

Komunikasi

Komunikasi adalah suatu prosespenyampaian informasi (pesan, ide, gagasan) dari satu pihak kepada pihak lainagar terjadi saling memengaruhi di antara keduanya.Pada umumnya, komunikasidilakukan secara lisan atau verbal yang dapat dimengerti oleh kedua belahpihak. pabila tidak ada bahasa verbal yang dapat dimengerti oleh keduanya,komunikasi masih dapat dilakukan dengan menggunakan gerak-gerik badan,menunjukkan sikap tertentu, misalnya tersenyum, menggelengkan kepala,mengangkat bahu.Cara seperti ini disebut komunikasi dengan bahasa nonverbal.

SejarahKomunikasi

Komunikasi atau communicaton berasal dari bahasa Latin communisyang berarti sama. Communico, communicatio atau communicareyang berarti membuat sama ((make to common). Secara sederhanakomuniikasi dapat terjadi apabila ada kesamaan antara penyampaian pesan dan orangyang menerima pesan. Oleh sebab itu, komunikasi bergantung pada kemampuan kitauntuk dapat memahami satu dengan yang lainnya (communication depends on ourability to understand one another).

Pada awalnya, komunikasi digunakanuntuk mengungkapkan kebutuhan organis. Sinyal-sinyal kimiawi pada organismeawal digunakan untuk reproduksi. Seiring dengan evolusi kehidupan, makasinyal-sinyal kimiawi primitif yang digunakan dalam berkomunikasi juga ikutberevolusi dan membuka peluang terjadinya perilaku yang lebih rumit sepertitarian kawin pada ikan.

Pada binatang, komunikasi jugadilakukan dengan cara yang sederhana melalui tindakan - tindakan yang bersifatreflek. Menurut sejarah evolusi sekitar 250 juta tahun yang lalu munculnya"otak reptil" menjadi penting karena otak memungkinkan reaksi-reaksifisiologis terhadap kejadian di dunia luar yang kita kenal sebagai emosi.Pada manusia modern, otak reptil ini masih terdapat pada sistemlimbik otak manusia, dan hanya dilapisi oleh otak lain "tingkattinggi".

Manusiaberkomunikasi untuk membagi pengetahuan dan pengalaman.Bentuk umum komunikasi manusia termasuk bahasasinyal, bicara,tulisan, gerakan,dan penyiaran.Komunikasi dapat berupa interaktif, transaktif,bertujuan,atau tak bertujuan.

Melalui komunikasi, sikap dan perasaanseseorang atau sekelompok orang dapat dipahami oleh pihaklain. Akan tetapi, komunikasi hanya akan efektif apabila pesan yang disampaikandapat ditafsirkan sama oleh penerima pesan tersebut.

Walaupun komunikasi sudah dipelajarisejak lama dan termasuk “barang antik”, topik ini menjadi penting khususnyapada abad 20 karena pertumbuhan komunikasi digambarkan sebagai “penemuan yangrevolusioner”, hal ini dikarenakan peningkatan teknologi komunikasi yang pesatseperti radio. Televisi, telepon, satelit dan jaringan komuter seiring denganindustiralisasi bidang usaha yang besar dan politik yang mendunia. Komunikasidalam tingkat akademi mungkin telah memiliki departemen sendiri dimanakomunikasi dibagi-bagi menjadi komunikasi masa, komunikasi bagi pembawa acara,humas dan lainnya, namun subyeknya akan tetap. Pekerjaan dalam komunikasimencerminkan keberagaman komunikasi itu sendiri.

KomponenKomunikasi

Komponen komunikasi adalah hal-halyang harus ada agar komunikasi bisa berlangsung dengan baik. Menurut Laswellkomponen-komponen komunikasi adalah:

Pengirim atau komunikator (sender) adalah pihak yang mengirimkan pesan kepada pihak lain.
Pesan (message) adalah isi atau maksud yang akan disampaikan oleh satu pihak kepada pihak lain.
Saluran (channel) adalah media dimana pesan disampaikan kepada komunikan. dalam komunikasi antar-pribadi (tatap muka) saluran dapat berupa udara yang mengalirkan getaran nada/suara.
Penerima atau komunikate (receiver) adalah pihak yang menerima pesan dari pihak lain
Umpan balik (feedback) adalah tanggapan dari penerimaan pesan atas isi pesan yang disampaikannya.
Aturan yang disepakati para pelaku komunikasi tentang bagaimana komunikasi itu akan dijalankan ("Protokol")

ProsesKomunikasi

Secara ringkas, prosesberlangsungnya komunikasi bisa digambarkan seperti berikut.

Komunikator (sender) yang mempunyai maksud berkomunikasi dengan orang lain mengirimkan suatu pesan kepada orang yang dimaksud. Pesan yang disampaikan itu bisa berupa informasi dalam bentuk bahasa ataupun lewat simbol-simbol yang bisa dimengerti kedua pihak.
Pesan (message) itu disampaikan atau dibawa melalui suatu media atau saluran baik secara langsung maupun tidak langsung. Contohnya berbicara langsung melalui telepon, surat, e-mail, atau media lainnya.

Media (channel) alat yang menjadipenyampai pesan dari komunikator ke komunikan.

Komunikan (receiver) menerima pesan yang disampaikan dan menerjemahkan isi pesan yang diterimanya ke dalam bahasa yang dimengerti oleh komunikan itu sendiri.
Komunikan (receiver) memberikan umpan balik (feedback) atau tanggapan atas pesan yang dikirimkan kepadanya, apakah dia mengerti atau memahami pesan yang dimaksud oleh si pengirim.

Model-modelkomunikasi

Dari berbagai model komunikasi yangsudah ada, di sini akan dibahas tiga model paling utama, serta akan dibicarakanpendekatan yang mendasarinya dan bagaimana komunikasi dikonseptualisasikandalam perkembangannya.

ModelKomunikasi Linear

Model komunikasi ini dikemukakanoleh ClaudeShannon dan WarrenWeaver pada tahun 1949 dalam buku The Mathematical ofCommunication.Mereka mendeskripsikan komunikasi sebagai proses linear karena tertarik padateknologi radio dan telepon dan ingin mengembangkan suatu model yang dapatmenjelaskan bagaimana informasi melewati berbagai saluran (channel).Hasilnya adalah konseptualisasi dari komunikasi linear (linear communicationmodel). Pendekatan ini terdiri atas beberapa elemen kunci: sumber (source),pesan (message) dan penerima (receiver). Model linear berasumsibahwa seseorang hanyalah pengirim atau penerima. Tentu saja hal ini merupakanpandangan yang sangat sempit terhadap partisipan-partisipan dalam proseskomunikasi.

ModelInteraksional

Model interaksional dikembangkanoleh Wilbur Schramm pada tahun 1954 yang menekankan pada proses komunikasi duaarah diantara para komunikator. Dengan kata lain, komunikasi berlangsung duaarah: dari pengirim dan kepada penerima dan dari penerima kepada pengirim.Proses melingkar ini menunjukkan bahwa komunikasi selalu berlangsung. Para pesertakomunikasi menurut model interaksional adalah orang-orang yang mengembangkanpotensi manusiawinya melalui interaksi sosial, tepatnya melalui pengambilanperan orang lain. Patut dicatat bahwa model ini menempatkan sumber dan penerimamempunyai kedudukan yang sederajat. Satu elemen yang penting bagi modelinterkasional adalah umpan balik (feedback), atau tanggapan terhadapsuatu pesan.

Modeltransaksional

Model komunikasi transaksionaldikembangkan oleh Barnlund pada tahun 1970. Model ini menggarisbawahipengiriman dan penerimaan pesan yang berlangsung secara terus-menerus dalamsebuah episode komunikasi. Komunikasi bersifat transaksional adalah proseskooperatif: pengirim dan penerima sama-sama bertanggungjawab terhadap dampakdan efektivitas komunikasi yang terjadi. Model transaksional berasumsi bahwasaat kita terus-menerus mengirimkan dan menerima pesan, kita berurusan baikdengan elemen verbal dan nonverbal. Dengan kata lain, peserta komunikasi(komunikator) melalukan proses negosiasi makna.

IlmuKomunikasi Di Antara Bidang Ilmu Lainnya

Dahulu orang lebih mudah memberikandefinisi tentang ilmu daripada sekarang. Dulu defenisi ilmu bergantung padasistem filsafatyang dianutnya. Sekarang ilmu memperoleh posisi yang bebas dan mandiri.Definisi ilmu tidak lagi berdasarkan dan dilihat dari filsafatnya, melainkanberdasarkan pada apa yang dilaksanakan oleh ilmu tersebut, serta metodologinya.

Berbicara posisi Ilmu Komunikasi diantara ilmu-ilmu lainnya, tidak akan terlepas dari akar atau landasan IlmuKomunikasi itu sendiri, dimana banyak ilmuwan nonkomunikasi memberikankontribusi untuk lahirnya Ilmu Komunikasi. Ahli politik Harold D. Lasswell.Sosiolog Max Weber, Daniel Lerner dan Everett M. Rogers. Psikolog Carl I.Hoveland dan Paul Lazarsfeld. Ahli bahasa Wilbur Schramm. Shannon dan Weaveradalah ahli matematika.

Bandwidth

2011-02-22T09:39:00.000-08:00

Bandwidth / Lebar Pita (bahasa Inggris: bandwidth) dalam teknologi komunikasi adalah perbedaan antara frekuensi terendah dan frekuensi tertinggi dalam rentang tertentu. Sebagai contoh, line telepon memiliki bandwidth 3000Hz (Hertz), yang merupakan rentang antara frekuensi tertinggi (3300Hz) dan frekuensi terendah (300Hz) yang dapat dilewati oleh line telepon ini.

Pengertian Bandwidth

Bandwidth adalah luas atau lebar cakupan frekuensi yang digunakan oleh sinyal dalam medium transmisi. Dalam kerangka ini, Bandwidth dapat diartikan sebagai perbedaan antara komponen sinyal frekuensi tinggi dan sinyal frekuensi rendah. frekuensi sinyal diukur dalam satuan Hertz. sinyal suara tipikal mempunyai Bandwidth sekitar 3 kHz, analog TV broadcast (TV) mempunyai Bandwidth sekitar 6 MHz. Bandwidth frekuensi. Dalam bahasa mudahnya, adalah sebuah takaran lalu lintas data yang masuk dan yang keluar. Dalam dunia hosting, kita di berikan jatah Bandwidth setiap bulan tergantung seberapa dalam kita merogoh kocek. Habisnya Bandwidth ditentukan seberapa banyak kita mengupload atau mendownload. Makin banyak anda melakukan aktivitas upload, ditambah makin banyaknya pengunjung yang mengakses, maka makin berkurang jatah Bandwidth yang diberikan. Misalkan, www.namasitus.com diberi jatah Bandwidth sebesar 1,5 Giga dalam sebulan. Dan sudah sejak bulan Desember rasanya jatah Bandwidth yang diberikan kurang. Pada bulan Desember, jatah Bandwidth habis sehari sebelum tahun baru. Dan berturut-turut bulan Januari, Februari, Maret dan April habis dalam 3 minggu. Otomatis, dalam seminggu terakhir didats.net tidak bisa diakses. diartikan juga sebagai takaran jarak

Digital Bandwidth

Digital Bandwidth adalah jumlah atau volume data yang dapat dikirimkan melalui sebuah saluran komunikasi dalam satuan bits per second tanpa distorsi. Analog Bandwith

Analog Bandwidth

Sedangkan analog Bandwidth adalah perbedaan antara frekuensi terendah dengan frekuensi tertinggi dalam sebuah rentang frekuensi yang diukur dalam satuan Hertz (Hz) atau siklus per detik, yang menentukan berapa banyak informasi yang bisa ditransimisikan dalam satu saat.

Bandwidth Komputer

Bandwidth Komputer Di dalam jaringan Komputer, Bandwidth sering digunakan sebagai suatu sinonim untuk data transfer rate yaitu jumlah data yang dapat dibawa dari sebuah titik ke titik lain dalam jangka waktu tertentu (pada umumnya dalam detik). Jenis Bandwidth ini biasanya diukur dalam bps (bits per second). Adakalanya juga dinyatakan dalam Bps (bytes per second). Suatu modem yang bekerja pada 57,600 bps mempunyai Bandwidth dua kali lebih besar dari modem yang bekerja pada 28,800 bps. Secara umum, koneksi dengan Bandwidth yang besar/tinggi memungkinkan pengiriman informasi yang besar seperti pengiriman gambar/images dalam video presentation.

Alokasi Bandwidth

Alokasi atau reservasi Bandwidth adalah sebuah proses menentukan jatah Bandwidth kepada pemakai dan aplikasi dalam sebuah jaringan. Termasuk didalamnya menentukan prioritas terhadap berbagai jenis aliran data berdasarkan seberapa penting atau krusial dan delay-sensitive aliran data tersebut. Hal ini memungkinkan penggunaan Bandwidth yang tersedia secara efisien, dan apabila sewaktu-waktu jaringan menjadi lambat, aliran data yang memiliki prioritas yang lebih rendah dapat dihentikan, sehingga aplikasi yang penting dapat tetap berjalan dengan lancar. Besarnya saluran atau Bandwidth akan berdampak pada kecepatan transmisi. Data dalam jumlah besar akan menempuh saluran yang memiliki Bandwidth kecil lebih lama dibandingkan melewati saluran yang memiliki Bandwidth yang besar. Kecepatan transmisi tersebut sangat dibutuhkan untuk aplikasi Komputer yang memerlukan jaringan terutama aplikasi real-time, seperti videoconferencing. Penggunaan Bandwidth untuk LAN bergantung pada tipe alat atau medium yang digunakan, umumnya semakin tinggi Bandwidth yang ditawarkan oleh sebuah alat atau medium, semakin tinggi pula nilai jualnya. Sedangkan penggunaan Bandwidth untuk WAN bergantung dari kapasitas yang ditawarkan dari pihak ISP, perusahaan harus membeli Bandwidth dari ISP, dan semakin tinggi Bandwidth yang diinginkan, semakin tinggi pula harganya. sebuah teknologi jaringan baru dikembangkan dan infrastruktur jaringan yang ada diperbaharui, aplikasi yang akan digunakan umumnya juga akan mengalami peningkatan dalam hal konsumsi Bandwidth. Video streaming dan Voice over IP ([[VoIP]]) adalah beberapa contoh penggunaan teknologi baru yang turut mengkonsumsi Bandwidth dalam jumlah besar.

BATASI BANDWIDTH TANPA MIKROTIK

2011-02-22T09:19:00.000-08:00

Suatu hari di warnet saya yang pada waktu itu tidak begitu ramai(hanya terisi 10 klien dari 18 klien) saya sedang enak-enaknya browsing, ehtiba-tiba internetnya down. Buat buka Google aja lama banget. Langsung sayadikomplain sama user-user. Saya juga bingung dan panik. Lalu saya konfirmasi keTelkom 147 apakah jaringan internet sedang ada gangguan (kebetulan saya pakeSpeedy Paket Biz). Dan ternyata pihak Telkom mengatakan bahwa jaringan internettidak ada gangguan. Saya bingung, kenapa ya koneksi internet saya kok lemotbanget? Padahal yang lainnya tidak ada masalah.

Kemudian saya cek hub-nya. Dan saya lihat LED indikator link-nya agak aneh.Diantara 18 lampu indikator, hanya satu indikator yang berkedip paling cepat.Indikator lain hanya berkedip jarang-jarang. Saya curiga, kenapa ya kok cumaLED yang satu ini berkedipnya cepet banget? Trus yang berkedipnya cepet itucuma pada LAN klien nomor 3. Lalu klien nomor 3 saya cek pake billing. Danbusyet, ternyata klien 3 buka situs buanyak sampe windownya kecil-kecilgitu. Lalu saya berpikir, ohh ternyata ini toh penyebabnya kenapa kok internettiba-tiba down. Karena klien nomor 3 memakan bandwidth paling banyak sehinggayang lain tidak kebagian sama sekali. Tetapi meskipun begitu, saya tidak bisaberbuat apa-apa karena model jaringan saya dari modem LANGSUNG disebar keklien. Tanpa dibagi oleh router. Jadi ya kalau ada yang makan bandwidth, yanglain bisa tidak kebagian. Saya mau gimana lagi selain nungguin klien 3 selesaimain internetnya. Dan begitu klien 3 sudah selesai, langsung internetnya lancarlagi. Syukurlah, pikirku.

Tapi kemudian saya berpikir, bagaimana kalau kejadian diatas terulang lagi?Solusi yang ada hanyalah dengan membagi rata bandwidth per klien supayakejadian diatas tidak terulang lagi. Saya mulai googling untuk mencaribandwidth manager, namun hampir semua search result selalu tertuju kepadamikrotik. Selain itu saya tanya ke teman-teman, mereka juga menyarankan supayasaya menggunakan mikrotik. Tapi kalau pakai mikrotik kanberarti harus tambah satu komputer lagi sebagai pembagi bandwidth, kan? Sedangkan di warnetsaya sudah tidak ada lagi komputer yang tidak terpakai.

Lalu saya terus berpikir, bagaimana ya caranya supaya bisa membagi bandwidthtanpa harus mengorbankan 1 komputer lagi. Setelah googling selama berhari-hari,akhirnya saya menemukannya juga. Yaitu dengan menggunakan Softperfect Bandwidth Manager. Software ini berguna untuk membatasi kecepatan dan batas maksimumdownload yang digunakan, dan tanpa harus menggunakan satu komputer lagi sebagaipembagi. Sebagai gantinya, software ini harus dipasang di dua komputer,masing-masing untuk Client dan Server. Server digunakan untuk membatasi bandwidth, sedangkan Client digunakan untuk mengatur dan mengontrol batasan bandwidth tersebut. Untuk lebih jelasnya, berikut ini adalah langkah-langkahnya:

Pertama, download program Softperfect Bandwidth Manager DISINI

Setelah Anda download, maka installaplikasinya. Pada komputer klien (komputer yang akan dibatasi pengaturan bandwidth nya) install yang System Servicenya saja. Sedangkan pada komputerServer (komputer yang berfungsi untuk mengatur pemakaian bandwidth klien)install yang GUI Frontend -nya saja. System Servicenya tidak usah diinstall.
Untuk lebih jelasnya, lihat gambar berikut :

Di Komputer Klien

Di Komputer Server

Setelah program terinstall di kedua komputer, jalankan programnya yang ada dikomputer server. Lalu program akan muncul seperti ini :

Lalu masukkan IP Address komputer klien yang sudah terinstall softwarenya.Misalnya IP address klien adalah 192.168.0.11, maka akan tampak seperti dibawahini :

Setelah masuk, maka tampilan akan tampak seperti ini :

Nah, mari kita mulai manajemen bandwidthnya. Pertama yang harus kita lakukanadalah memberikan akses yang tidak terbatas (bebas) kepada jaringan LAN, karenaLAN digunakan untuk menyambungkan komputer kedalam suatu jaringan (misalnyamengcopy lagu dari komputer lain, mengeprint ke printer yang sudah di share,atau Billing). Karena itulah kita harus membuat akses LAN menjadi Unlimited.Caranya adalah sebagai berikut.

Klik tombol 'Add Rule', maka akan tampak seperti ini :

Untuk 'Rule Name' nya kita isi 'LAN', 'Direction' nya diisi 'Both', 'TransferRate Limit' diisi 'Unlimited', 'Protocol' kita pilih 'TCP dan UDP', dan untuk'Interface' nya kita pilih 'Any Interface'. Lalu pilih tab 'Source' dan pilih'Source Address' nya 'Localhost'.

Dan tab 'Destination' nya kita pilih 'Whole IP range' dan kita isi sesuaidengan LAN range yang kita miliki. Misalnya Range IP kita adalah 192.168.0.1sampai 192.168.0.255, seperti dibawah ini :

Setelah itu tekan 'OK'. Dengan begitu berarti kita sudah memberi akses fullcontrol pada jaringan LAN. Sekarang kita atur managemen bandwidth untukInternet Upload dan Internet Download. Kita mulai dengan Internet Upload nya.Tekan tombol 'Add Rule' lalu isi seperti dibawah ini :

Untuk nilai 'Transfer Rate Limit' dapat kita atur sesuai dengan kebutuhan kita.Misalnya kita kehendaki kecepatan maksimal upload sebesar 2,5 Kbps, maka kitamasukkan nilainya sebesar 2500. Lalu untuk Tab 'Source' nya kita pilih'Localhost' sedangkan Tab 'Destination' nya kita pilih 'Any IP Address'. Lalutekan 'OK'.

Sekarang kita kecepatan maksimal downloadnya. Langkah-langkahnya sama sepertipada proses membatasi kecepatan uploadnya, hanya saja ada beberapa hal yangdiganti. 'Rule Name' nya kita isi 'Internet Download', 'Direction' kita pilih'Incoming', 'Transfer Rate Limit' nya kita isi 5400 yang berarti 5,4 Kbps(nilai ini bisa kita ubah-ubah lagi sesuai dengan keinginan kita), Tab 'Source'kita pilih 'Any IP Address' dan Tab 'Destination' kita pilih 'Localhost'. Iniberarti kebalikan dari proses upload yang tadi. Lalu tekan OK. Jika semualangkah-langkah tersebut diatas Anda ikuti dengan baik, maka akan tampakseperti dibawah ini :

Jika sudah benar, maka Anda telah berhasil membagi bandwidth komputer klienAnda, sehingga tidak terjadi rebutan dan monopoli antar pemakai bandwidth.Untuk instalasi ke komputer klien yang lain, caranya sama, dan ingat, cukupinstall 'System Services' nya saja di komputer klien, dan cukup install 'GUIFrontend' saja di komputer Servernya. Nah, berarti untuk membagi bandwidthtidak harus pake mikrotik dan mengorbankan satu unit komputer lagi bukan?

Selamat Mencoba !

Warehouse Club

2011-02-21T12:10:00.000-08:00

A warehouse club is a retail store, usually selling a wide variety of merchandise, in which customers are required to buy large, wholesale quantities of the store's products, which makes these clubs attractive to both bargain hunters and small business owners. The clubs are able to keep prices low due to the no-frills format of the stores. In addition, customers may be required to pay annual membership fees in order to shop.

The concept is similar to the consumers' cooperative supermarkets found in Europe, though using bigger stores and not co-operatively owned. The use of members' prices without co-operative ownership is also sometimes used in bars and casinos.

History

A BJ's Wholesale club in Virginia

Sol Price founded FedMart in 1954, an early US discount store. Sol and his son Robert Price founded Price Club in San Diego in 1976 as the first warehouse club. In 1982 discount pioneer John F. Geisse founded The Wholesale Club of Indianapolis, which he sold to Sam's Club in 1991.

In 1983, Costco Wholesale, PACE Wholesale Club and Sam's Club started operations. BJ's Wholesale Club was started in 1984 by former The Wholesale Club executives and owned by Zayre.

As of 2010^[update], four warehouse club chains operate in the United States. Costco and Sam's Club are the largest hains. Sam's Club, a division of Wal-Mart, claims a membership base of 46 million persons and 602 stores across the United States. Costco has locations in seven other nations including Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Australia. BJ's Wholesale Club is one of two smaller competitors with stores located primarily in the Eastern United States. FedMart has survived as a small company owned by West Coast enterpriser Donald L. Kirk. In January 2009, Kirk announced plans to again expand FedMart; opening two new FedMart stores in 2009, in currently vacant former department store buildings; as well as opening an online FedMart Clearance/Closeout store.

Alcohol sales without a membership in the U.S.

Many jurisdictions prohibit the discounting of liquor for promotional reasons, meaning that even in warehouse clubstores, members and non-members will pay the same price. Several examples in the United States are included below;

Arkansas
Arizona
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Hawaii
Idaho
Indiana
Iowa
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New York
Ohio
Texas
Vermont
Virginia

Examples

Costco Wholesale, operates in the U.S., Canada, UK and other countries
Sam's Club, operates in the U.S. and other countries
BJ's Wholesale Club, operates in the U.S. only
Makro, operates in Europe, previously operated in the U.S.
PriceSmart, operates in Central America and Caribbean

Sam's Club

2011-02-21T12:04:00.000-08:00

Sam's Club is a chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., founded in 1983 and named after Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. As of 2008^[update], the Sam's Club chain serves more than 47 million U.S. members. Sam's Club ranks second in sales volume among warehouse clubs behind Costco Wholesale, despite the fact that Sam's has more retail locations.

As of January 31, 2009, Sam's Club operated 602 membership warehouse clubs in 48 U.S. states (Oregon and Vermont are the only states without a Sam's Club), as well as the American possession of Puerto Rico and the three foreign countries of Brazil, China and Mexico. Locations typically range in size from 70,000–190,000 sq ft (6,500–18,000 m²), with an average club size of approximately 133,000 sq ft (12,400 m²).

History

The first Sam's Club opened on April 7, 1983 in Midwest City, Oklahoma in the United States.

In 1989, Sam's entered New Jersey with a store in Delran in a former Two Guys/Jefferson Ward/Bradlees store. This was Walmart's first foray into the Northeast. The first Walmart discount store in New Jersey opened in 1991 in Turnersville. The company entered the Pennsylvania market in 1990.

In 1993, Walmart acquired PACE Membership Warehouse from Kmart and converted many (but not all) PACE locations into Sam's Clubs.

The latest flagship store opening as of September 13, 2007 was in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The largest Sam's Club store is located in Fullerton, California with 184,000 sq ft (17,100 m²) of retail space.

On September 24, 2006, Sam's Club received a new logo. The new logo has an updated serif font and features a green and blue diamond inside the big blue diamond, found above the word 'Sam's'.

Sam's Club's previous slogan was "We Are In Business For Small Business" until 2006, the decision to remove the slogan comes as Sam's Club attempts to remove itself from serving just small businesses and open up to more individual customers.

In December 2007. Sam's Club launched a new slogan, "Enjoy the Possibilities". Since then it became an official advertising slogan, mentioned in television and radio advertisements, but it is not mentioned on its website. As of early January 2008 the "Enjoy the Possibilities" slogan was no longer in use. Sam's Club launched their latest slogan "Savings Made Simple" in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Starting in April 2007 there was speculation of a possible sale or spinoff of Sam's Club from parent company Walmart. At Walmart's 2007 annual shareholder's meeting in June, management said that Sam's Club is not for sale, although they didn't say they are not considering a spinoff.

On February 26, 2009, Walmart Canada announced that it would close all six of its Canadian Sam's Club locations. This was part of Walmart Canada's decision to shift focus towards supercentre stores, but some industry observers suggested that the operation was struggling in competition with Costco and the non-membership The Real Canadian Superstore (known as Maxi & Cie in Quebec), that had a well-established history in the country.

In January 2010, it was announced that ten stores would be closed, including four in California. At the same time, Sam's will open six new stores at various locations in the United States.

On January 24, 2010, it was announced that approximately 11,200 Sam's Club employees would be laid off. The layoffs resulted from the decision to outsource product sampling duties to an outside company (Rogers, Arkansas-based Shopper Events, which already performs in-store product demonstrations for Walmart) and to eliminate New Business Membership Representative positions throughout the chain. Most of the laid-off employees were part-time and represented about 10% of the total Sam's Club workforce.

Design

A Sam's Club store in Maplewood, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis

A Sam's Club store in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico

Like other warehouse clubs, most merchandise sold at Sam's Club is sold in bulk and directly off pallets. Clubs are arranged much like a warehouse, with merchandise stocked in warehouse-style steel bins. As of January 31, 2009 there were 602 Sam's Clubs in the United States.

Products sold include jewelry, designer goods, sunglasses, crystal and collectibles, electronics, floral, apparel, food and meats. Most locations have Pharmacy, Tire and Battery, Photo, Bakery, Optical, Café and Floral departments. Sam's Club markets items under the private labels Member's Mark, Bakers & Chefs, and Sam's Club — including products by Richelieu Foods, a private label manufacturer of frozen pizza, salad dressing, sauces, marinades, condiments and deli salads. Sam's Club does not sell the Sam's Choice or Great Value brands, that are available in Walmart stores. Another notable feature in most locations is the presence of stands at which Sam's employees prepare various food products for customers to sample before purchasing.

Sam's Club has more than 47 million U.S. members and operates more than 580 clubs nationwide, as well as more than 100 international locations in Brazil, China, and Mexico. There are also stores in the U.S. commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

A typical Sam's Club stands between 71,000 square feet (6,600 m²) and 130,000 square feet (12,000 m²). The Sam's Club division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. had total sales revenue of US$46.9 billion for the fiscal year ending January 31, 2009. Sam's primary competitor is Costco Wholesale.

Free WiFi

In August 2010 it was announced that all Sam's Club locations in the United States would receive free WiFi for visitors.

Sam's Business Center

Sam's Club opened their first Business Center in Houston, Texas, in August 2008. Converted from an existing Sam's location, the Business Center is similar in concept to Costco's Business Centers.

A fleet of private trucks offers delivery service within a 25-mile (40 km) radius on orders of at least $250. The trucks are capable of storing frozen, refrigerated and dry items.

The Business Center is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and unlike the Costco Business Centers, that are closed on Sundays, the Sam's Business Center is open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

In January 2010, the company announced it would be closing its Business Center, along with nine other clubs across the United States.

Other retail formats

In Houston, Sam's Club opened Más Club in August 2009, a club geared towards the Hispanic population. Membership in Más Club will be separate from membership in Sam's Club.

Membership

Membership is required to purchase at Sam's Club (except at the cafe, for prescription drugs where federal law prohibits sales to members only, as well as liquor and gasoline in some states); however, a one-time day pass may be obtained from many Walmart newspaper ads. A 10% surcharge is added (except where forbidden by local laws) to the prices for non-members, except for optical, pharmacy, cafe, or alcohol items where available. All memberships are 100% refundable at any time for any reason, even on the date that it is to be renewed.

Renewal of memberships can be done via the internet, through the mail, in-club at the Membership Services desk, any cash register, and also at the new ATM/Membership kiosks (the latter only available in select locations).

Sam's Club memberships are divided into three categories: Business, Advantage, and Collegiate. The Plus membership offers discounts and deals for a few services and products within Sam's (similar to free 12-month extended warranty for every extended warranty purchased) and more offered for outside goods and services. As with the Advantage and Business memberships, Plus memberships are 100% refundable.

Payment Options and Store Credit Products

A Sam's Club in California.

Some Sam's Clubs include gas stations

Payment Options

Sam's Club locations accept Sam's Club and Walmart Credit Cards, Discover Card, MasterCard, debit cards, Walmart and Sam's Club gift cards, cash or checks. As of March 2009^[update] EBT SNAP benefits are accepted. MasterCard was added as an option on November 9, 2006. Visa credit cards are still not accepted, because of the high processing fees compared with Walmart's discounted rates with Mastercard, although in the past it was accepted during testing periods. However Visa debit cards are accepted in most clubs. American Express is not accepted. Their online website, samsclub.com, accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover Card.

Sam's Club Credit

Sam's Club offers store credit lines to individuals and businesses linked to the member's membership card. Sam's Club also offers a Sam's Club Discover Card that can be used at Sam's Club and anywhere Discover Cards are accepted, Advantage and Business Members can receive up to 1% cash rewards from the Sam's Club Discover and Advantage/Business Plus members can receive up to 2% cash rewards. The Sam's Discover card replaces the member's regular membership card.

Retail

2011-02-21T11:36:00.000-08:00

Retail consists of the sale of goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be individuals or businesses. In commerce, a "retailer" buys goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers or importers, either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells smaller quantities to the end-user. Retail establishments are often called shops or stores. Retailers are at the end of the supply chain. Manufacturing marketers see the process of retailing as a necessary part of their overall distribution strategy. The term "retailer" is also applied where a service provider services the needs of a large number of individuals, such as a public utility, like electric power.

Shops may be on residential streets, shopping streets with few or no houses or in a shopping mall. Shopping streets may be for pedestrians only. Sometimes a shopping street has a partial or full roof to protect customers from precipitation. Online retailing, a type of electronic commerce used for business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions and mail order, are forms of non-shop retailing.

Shopping generally refers to the act of buying products. Sometimes this is done to obtain necessities such as food and clothing; sometimes it is done as a recreational activity. Recreational shopping often involves window shopping (just looking, not buying) and browsing and does not always result in a purchase.

Etymology

The Apple Store retail location on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago

The world's only Garmin retail location is located on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago

Retail comes from the French word retailler, which refers to "cutting off my hands, clip and divide" in terms of tailoring (1365). It first was recorded as a noun with the meaning of a "sale in small quantities" in 1433 (French). Its literal meaning for retail was to "cut off, shred, off my toes paring". Like the French, the word retail in both Dutch and German (detailhandel and Einzelhandel respectively), also refers to the sale of small quantities of items.

Types of retail outlets

San Juan de Dios Market in Guadalajara, Jalisco

Inside a supermarket in Russia

A marketplace is a location where goods and services are exchanged. The traditional market square is a city square where traders set up stalls and buyers browse the merchandise. This kind of market is very old, and countless such markets are still in operation around the whole world.

In some parts of the world, the retail business is still dominated by small family-run stores, but this market is increasingly being taken over by large retail chains.

Retail is usually classified by type of products as follows:

Food products
Hard goods ("hardline retailers") - appliances, electronics, furniture, sporting goods, etc.
Soft goods - clothing, apparel, and other fabrics.

There are the following types of retailers by marketing strategy:

Department stores - very large stores offering a huge assortment of "soft" and "hard goods; often bear a resemblance to a collection of specialty stores. A retailer of such store carries variety of categories and has broad assortment at average price. They offer considerable customer service.
Discount stores - tend to offer a wide array of products and services, but they compete mainly on price offers extensive assortment of merchandise at affordable and cut-rate prices. Normally retailers sell less fashion-oriented brands. However the service is inadequate.;
General merchandise store - a hybrid between a department store and discount store;
Supermarkets - sell mostly food products;
Warehouse stores - warehouses that offer low-cost, often high-quantity goods piled on pallets or steel shelves; warehouse clubs charge a membership fee;
Variety stores or "dollar stores" - these offer extremely low-cost goods, with limited selection;
Demographic - retailers that aim at one particular segment (e.g., high-end retailers focusing on wealthy individuals).
Mom-And-Pop or Kirana Stores: is a retail outlet that is owned and operated by individuals. The range of products are very selective and few in numbers. These stores are seen in local community often are family-run businesses. The square feet area of the store depends on the store holder.
Specialty Stores: A typical specialty store gives attention to a particular category and provides high level of service to the customers. A pet store that specializes in selling dog food would be regarded as a specialty store. However, branded stores also come under this format. For example if a customer visits a Reebok or Gap store then they find just Reebok and Gap products in the respective stores.
Convenience Stores: is essentially found in residential areas. They provide limited amount of merchandise at more than average prices with a speedy checkout. This store is ideal for emergency and immediate purchases.
Hypermarkets: provides variety and huge volumes of exclusive merchandise at low margins. The operating cost is comparatively less than other retail formats. A classic example is the Metro™ in Bangalore.
Supermarkets: is a self service store consisting mainly of grocery and limited products on non food items. They may adopt a Hi-Lo or an EDLP strategy for pricing. The supermarkets can be anywhere between 20,000-40,000 square feet. Example: SPAR™ supermarket.
Malls: has a range of retail shops at a single outlet. They endow with products, food and entertainment under a roof. Example: Sigma mall and Garuda mall in Bangalore, Express Avenue in Chennai.
Pai Electronics™ store in Bangalore, Tata Croma.
E-tailers: The customer can shop and order through internet and the merchandise are dropped at the customer's doorstep. Here the retailers use drop shipping technique. They accept the payment for the product but the customer receives the product directly from the manufacturer or a wholesaler. This format is ideal for customers who do not want to travel to retail stores and are interested in home shopping. However it is important for the customer to be wary about defective products and non secure credit card transaction. Example: Amazon and Ebay.
Vending Machines: This is an automated piece of equipment wherein customers can drop in the money in machine and acquire the products. For example: Soft drinks vending at Bangalore Airport.

Some stores take a no frills approach, while others are "mid-range" or "high end", depending on what income level they target.

Other types of retail store include:

Automated Retail stores are self service, robotic kiosks located in airports, malls and grocery stores. The stores accept credit cards and are usually open 24/7. Examples include ZoomShops and Redbox.
Big-box stores encompass larger department, discount, general merchandise, and warehouse stores.
Convenience store - a small store often with extended hours, stocking everyday or roadside items;
General store - a store which sells most goods needed, typically in a rural area;

Retailers can opt for a format as each provides different retail mix to its customers based on their customer demographics, lifestyle and purchase behaviour. A good format will lend a hand to display products well and entice the target customers to spawn sales.

A food vendor in India

Adidas store in Tel Aviv, Israel

Retail Pricing

The pricing technique used by most retailers is cost-plus pricing. This involves adding a markup amount (or percentage) to the retailer's cost. Another common technique is suggested retail pricing. This simply involves charging the amount suggested by the manufacturer and usually printed on the product by the manufacturer.

In Western countries, retail prices are often called psychological prices or odd prices. Often prices are fixed and displayed on signs or labels. Alternatively, when prices are not clearly displayed, there can be price discrimination, where the sale price is dependent upon who the customer is. For example, a customer may have to pay more if the seller determines that he or she is willing and/or able to. Another example would be the practice of discounting for youths, students, or senior citizens.

Transfer Mechanism

There are several ways in which consumers can receive goods from a retailer:

Counter service, where goods are out of reach of buyers and must be obtained from the seller. This type of retail is common for small expensive items (e.g. jewelry) and controlled items like medicine and liquor. It was common before the 1900s in the United States and is more common in certain countries.
Delivery, where goods are shipped directly to consumer's homes or workplaces. Mail order from a printed catalog was invented in 1744 and was common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ordering by telephone is now common, either from a catalog, newspaper, television advertisement or a local restaurant menu, for immediate service (especially for pizza delivery). Direct marketing, including telemarketing and television shopping channels, are also used to generate telephone orders. Online shopping started gaining significant market share in developed countries in the 2000s.
Door-to-door sales, where the salesperson sometimes travels with the goods for sale.
Self-service, where goods may be handled and examined prior to purchase

Second Hand Retail

Some shops sell second-hand goods. In the case of a nonprofit shop, the public donates goods to the shop to be sold. In give-away shops goods can be taken for free.

Another form is the pawnshop, in which goods are sold that were used as collateral for loans. There are also "consignment" shops, which are where a person can place an item in a store and if it sells, the person gives the shop owner a percentage of the sale price. The advantage of selling an item this way is that the established shop gives the item exposure to more potential buyers.

Sales techniques

Behind the scenes at retail, there is another factor at work. Corporations and independent store owners alike are always trying to get the edge on their competitors. One way to do this is to hire a merchandising solutions company to design custom store displays that will attract more customers in a certain demographic. The nation's largest retailers spend millions every year on in-store marketing programs that correspond to seasonal and promotional changes. As products change, so will a retail landscape. Retailers can also use facing techniques to create the look of a perfectly stocked store, even when it is not.

A destination store is one that customers will initiate a trip specifically to visit, sometimes over a large area. These stores are often used to "anchor" a shopping mall or plaza, generating foot traffic, which is capitalized upon by smaller retailers.

Customer Service

According to the bookDiscovery-Based Retail, customer service is the "sum of acts and elements that allow consumers to receive what they need or desire from your retail establishment." It is important for a sales associate to greet the customer and make himself available to help the customer find whatever he needs. When a customer enters the store, it is important that the sales associate does everything in his power to make the customer feel welcomed, important, and make sure he leave the store satisfied. Giving the customer full, undivided attention and helping him find what he is looking for will contribute to the customer's satisfaction.

Retail Sales

US Retail Sales 1992-2010

The Retail Sales report is published every month. It is a measure of consumer spending, an important indicator of the US GDP. Retail firms provide data on the dollar value of their retail sales and inventories. A sample of 12,000 firms is included in the final survey and 5,000 in the advanced one. The advanced estimated data is based on a subsample from the US CB complete retail & food services sample.

It has been published by the US Census Bureau since 1951.

Grocery

2011-02-21T11:27:00.000-08:00

A grocery store is a store established primarily for the retailing of food. A grocer, the owner of a grocery store, stocks different kinds of foods from assorted places and cultures, and sells them to customers. Large grocery stores that stock products other than food, such as clothing or household items, are called supermarkets. Small grocery stores that mainly sell fruits and vegetables are known as produce markets (U.S) or greengrocers (Britain), and small grocery stores that predominantly sell snack foods and sandwiches are known as convenience stores or delicatessens.

History

Interior of a dry grocer's shop in downtown Vancouver, Washington, circa 1909

Polish grocery, 1922, Detroit

U.S. grocery stores are descended from trading posts, which sold not only food but clothing, household items, tools, furniture, and other miscellaneous merchandise. These trading posts evolved into larger retail businesses known as general stores. These facilities generally dealt only in "dry" goods such as flour, dry beans, baking soda, and canned foods. Perishable foods were instead obtained from specialty markets: Fresh meat was obtained from a butcher, milk from a local dairy, eggs and vegetables were either produced by families themselves, bartered for with neighbours, or purchased at a farmers' market or a local greengrocer.

Many rural areas still contain general stores that sell goods ranging from cigars to imported napkins.

Traditionally, general stores have offered credit to their customers, a system of payment that works on trust rather than modern credit cards. This allowed farm families to buy staples until their harvest could be sold.

The first self-service grocery store, Piggly Wiggly, was opened in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee by Clarence Saunders, an inventor and entrepreneur. Prior to this innovation, customers gave orders to clerks to fill. Saunder's invention allowed a much smaller number of clerks to service the customers, proving successful (according to a 1929 Time magazine) "partly because of its novelty, partly because neat packages and large advertising appropriations have made retail grocery selling almost an automatic procedure."

The US Labor Department has calcuated that food purchased at home and in restaurants are 13 percent of household purchases, behind 32 percent for housing and 18 percent for transportation. The average US family spent $280 per month or $3,305 per year at grocery stores in 2004. The newsletter Dollar Stretcher survey found $149 a month for a single person, $257 for a couple and $396 for a family of four.

Europe

Because many European cities (Rome, for example) are already so dense in population and buildings, large supermarkets, in the American sense, may not replace the neighborhood grocery store. However, 'Metro' stores have been appearing in town and city centres in many countries, leading to the decline of independent smaller stores, and large out-of-town supermarkets and hypermarkets, such as Tesco and Sainsbury's in the United Kingdom, have been steadily sapping the trade from smaller stores.

Canada and United States

Example of an American grocery store aisle

American grocery stores operate in many different styles ranging from rural family-owned operations, such as IGAs, boutique chains, such as Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's to larger supermarket chain stores. In some places food cooperatives or "co-op" markets, owned by their own shoppers, have been popular. However, there has recently been a trend to larger stores serving larger geographic areas. Very large "all-in-one" hypermarkets such as Wal-Mart and Target have recently forced consolidation of the grocery business in some areas. The global buying power of such very efficient companies has put an increased financial burden on traditional local grocery stores as well as the national supermarket chains.

When a small grocery store is in competition with large supermarkets, the grocery store often must create a niche market by selling unique, premium quality, or ethnic foods that are not easily found in supermarkets. A small grocery store may also compete by locating in a mixed commercial-residential area close to, and convenient for, its customers.

Latin America

Jumbo Hypermarket view

Grocery stores in Latin America have been growing fast since the early 80s. A big percentage of food sales and other articles are done by the grocery stores today. Some examples are the Chilean chains Cencosud (Jumbo and Santa Isabel covering Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Peru), D&S (Lider and Ekono) as well as Falabella (Tottus in Chile and Peru and Supermercados San Francisco in Chile). These three chains are subsidiaries of big retail store companies which also have other kind of business units like department stores and home improvement outlets. All three also operate its own credit cards, which is a key driver, and sell as well insurances and have travel agencies. These companies are also running some malls in many countries like Argentina, Chile, Peru and Colombia.

Two other chains started in 2008, Unimarc, which bought several small local chains and has over 20% of the grocery segment in Chile and Southern Cross, a Chilean Investment Fund that has around 8.6% of the supermarket segment, mainly oriented to the southern areas of the country.

In Puerto Rico, popular grocery stores include Pueblo Supermarkets and Amigo.

Cultural impact

Some groceries specialize in the foods of a certain nationality or culture, such as Italian, oriental or Middle-Eastern. These stores are known as ethnic markets and may also serve as gathering places for immigrants. In many cases, the wide range of products carried by larger supermarkets has reduced the need for such speciality stores.

Many teenagers find their first employment in grocery stores.

Benton County, Arkansas, United States

2011-02-21T10:24:00.000-08:00

Bentonville is a city in Northwest Arkansas, and county seat of Benton County, Arkansas, United States The population was 19,730 at the 2000 census. The 2007 US Census estimates that the population of the city was 33,744, ranking it as the state's 11th largest city, behind Hot Springs. It is part of the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers, AR-MO Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Bentonville is also home to the Wal-Mart Home Offices, headquarters of Wal-Mart Stores, the largest retailer in the world.

History

The city was named after Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri.

Geography

Bentonville is located at 36°22′0″N 94°12′48″W / 36.366667°N 94.21333°W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 21.3 square miles (55.1 km²), of which, 21.2 square miles (55.0 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.09%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 19,730 people, 7,458 households, and 5,265 families residing in the city. The city grew substantially in the 1990s; the 1990 population was 11,257 and the city is expected to reach 50,000 people by the year 2030. According to the US Census, Bentonville and surrounding communities in Benton County is second in growth for Arkansas and among the 100 fastest growing counties in the United States.

The population density was 928.9 people per square mile (358.7/km²). There were 7,924 housing units at an average density of 373.1/sq mi (144.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.92% White, 0.88% Black or African American, 1.33% Native American, 2.40% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.68% from other races, and 1.76% from two or more races. 6.07% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The 2005 Special Census reported 24,837 Whites/non-Hispanic whites (86.8%), 2,428 Hispanics of any race (8.5%), 1,135 Asians (4.0%), and 510 Blacks/African Americans 1.8%. Bentonville is home to a significant large Hispanic immigrant community, consisting of Mexicans and nationalities from Central America such as El Salvador and Honduras, came to find blue-collar jobs in the area's booming economy during the 1990s and 2000s.

There were 7,458 households out of which 40.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.6% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.4% are classified as non-families by the United States Census Bureau. 24.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.11.

Bentonville is a popular real estate destination for senior citizens and families with young children for quite some time, due to relative affordability, lower crime rates for a city its size and a social conservative culture known in Northwest Arkansas. Bentonville and Benton County is said to have the most registered Republican voters of the state by its rural character, small town values and new suburban characteristics.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.5% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 34.2% from 25 to 44, 17.9% from 45 to 64, and 8.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 93.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $39,936, and the median income for a family was $46,558. Males had a median income of $31,816 versus $23,761 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,831. 10.3% of the population and 7.5% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 13.7% are under the age of 18 and 10.9% are 65 or older.

Bentonville is served by Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, which also serves Fayetteville, Arkansas and Springdale, Arkansas.

New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE )

2011-02-21T10:18:00.000-08:00

The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at US$13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010. Average daily trading value was approximately US$153 billion in 2008.

The NYSE is operated by NYSE Euronext, which was formed by the NYSE's 2007 merger with the fully electronic stock exchange Euronext. The NYSE trading floor is located at 11 Wall Street and is composed of four rooms used for the facilitation of trading. A fifth trading room, located at 30 Broad Street, was closed in February 2007. The main building, located at 18 Broad Street, between the corners of Wall Street and Exchange Place, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978, as was the 11 Wall Street building.

History

The Stock Exchange at 10-12 Broad street, in 1882

The origin of the NYSE can be traced to May 17, 1792, when the Buttonwood Agreement was signed by 24 stock brokers outside of 68 Wall Street in New York under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street. On March 8, 1817, the organization drafted a constitution and renamed itself the "New York Stock & Exchange Board." Anthony Stockholm was elected the Exchange's first president.

The first central location of the Exchange was a room, rented in 1792 for $200 a month, located at 40 Wall Street. After that location was destroyed in the Great Fire of New York in 1835, the Exchange moved to a temporary headquarters. In 1863, the New York Stock & Exchange Board changed to its current name, the New York Stock Exchange. In 1865, the Exchange moved to 10-12 Broad Street.

The New York Stock Exchange was closed for ten days starting September 20, 1873, because of the Panic of 1873.

In 1873, George W. Ely, became Secretary of the New York Stock Exchange and eliminated the two assistant secretary positions. He was Secretary from 1873–1899 and retired until 1905 and remained until 1919 closing out World War I. Ely closed the exchange for the longest period in its history during 1914 on the outbreak of World War I. It was Ely who suspended and removed all corrupt members. During the Civil War, George W. Ely enlisted in the New York Seventh Regiment and became its youngest Captain ever. This was the first regiment enlisted into the Civil War by Abraham Lincoln. Source book: The Life and Papers of Captain George W. Ely, by great grandson and grandsons of Ely: Bruce Campbell Adamson, editor George W. Ely, III, and editor William Dodds Hawkins.

The volume of stocks traded increased sixfold in the years between 1896 and 1901, and a larger space was required to conduct business in the expanding marketplace. Eight New York City architects were invited to participate in a design competition for a new building; ultimately, the Exchange selected the neoclassic design submitted by architect George B. Post. Demolition of the Exchange building at 10 Broad Street, and adjacent buildings, started on May 10, 1901.

The new building, located at 18 Broad Street, cost $4 million and opened on April 22, 1903. The trading floor, at 109 × 140 feet (33 × 42.5 m), was one of the largest volumes of space in the city at the time, and had a skylight set into a 72-foot (22 m)-high ceiling. The main façade of the building features six tall Corinthian capitals, topped by a marble pediment containing high-relief sculptures by John Quincy Adams Ward with the collaboration of Paul Wayland Bartlett, carved by the Piccirilli Brothers, representing Integrity Protecting the Works of Man. The building was listed as a National Historic Landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 2, 1978.

In 1922, a building for offices, designed by Trowbridge & Livingston, was added at 11 Wall Street, as well as a new trading floor called the Garage. Additional trading floor space was added in 1969 the Blue Room, and in 1988 the EBR or Extended Blue Room, with the latest technology for information display and communication. Yet another trading floor was opened at 30 Broad Street called the Bond Room in 2000. As the NYSE introduced its hybrid market, a greater proportion of trading came to be executed electronically, and due to the resulting reduction in demand for trading floor space, the NYSE decided to close the 30 Broad Street trading room in early 2006. As the adoption of electronic trading continued to reduce the number of traders and employees on the floor, in late 2007, the NYSE closed the rooms created by the 1969 and 1988 expansions.

The floor of the New York Stock Exchange in 1908

The NYSE announced its plans to merge with Archipelago on April 21, 2005, in a deal intended to reorganize the NYSE as a publicly traded company. NYSE's governing board voted to merge with rival Archipelago on December 6, 2005, and become a for-profit, public company. It began trading under the name NYSE Group on March 8, 2006. A little over one year later, on April 4, 2007, the NYSE Group completed its merger with Euronext, the European combined stock market, thus forming the NYSE Euronext, the first transatlantic stock exchange.

Presently, Marsh Carter is Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, having succeeded John S. Reed and the CEO is Duncan Niederauer, having succeeded John Thain.

Notable Events

The exchange was closed shortly after the beginning of World War I (July 31, 1914), but it partially re-opened on November 28 of that year in order to help the war effort by trading bonds, and completely reopened for stock trading in mid-December.

On September 16, 1920, a bomb exploded on Wall Street outside the NYSE building, killing 33 people and injuring more than 400. The perpetrators were never found. The NYSE building and some buildings nearby, such as the JP Morgan building, still have marks on their façades caused by the bombing.

The Black Thursday crash of the Exchange on October 24, 1929, and the sell-off panic which started on Black Tuesday, October 29, are often blamed for precipitating the Great Depression of 1929. In an effort to try to restore investor confidence, the Exchange unveiled a fifteen-point program aimed to upgrade protection for the investing public on October 31, 1938.

On October 1, 1934, the exchange was registered as a national securities exchange with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, with a president and a thirty-three member board. On February 18, 1971 the non-profit corporation was formed, and the number of board members was reduced to twenty-five.

One of Abbie Hoffman's well-known publicity stunts took place in 1967, when he led members of the Yippie movement to the Exchange's gallery. They threw toward the trading floor below fistfuls of what was partly U.S. currency and partly merely appeared to be. Some traders booed, and some collected the apparent bounty. The press was quick to respond and by evening the event was reported around the world (The stock exchange later spent $20,000 to enclose the gallery with bulletproof glass.) Hoffman wrote a decade later, "We didn’t call the press; at that time we really had no notion of anything called a media event.

NYSE's stock exchange traders floor before the introduction of electronic readouts and computer screens.

On October 19, 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped 508 points, a 22.6% loss in a single day, the second-biggest one-day drop the exchange had experienced, prompting officials at the exchange to invoke for the first time the "circuit breaker" rule to halt all trading. This was a very controversial move and led to a quick change in the rule; trading now halts for an hour, two hours, or the rest of the day when the DJIA drops 10, 20, or 30 percent, respectively. In the afternoon, the 10% and 20% drops will halt trading for a shorter period of time, but a 30% drop will always close the exchange for the day. The rationale behind the trading halt was to give investors a chance to cool off and reevaluate their positions. Black Monday was followed by Terrible Tuesday, a day in which the Exchange's systems did not perform well and some people had difficulty completing their trades.

Consequently, there was another major drop for the Dow on October 13, 1989; the Mini-Crash of 1989. The crash was apparently caused by a reaction to a news story of a $6.75 billion leveraged buyout deal for UAL Corporation, the parent company of United Airlines, which broke down. When the UAL deal fell through, it helped trigger the collapse of the junk bond market causing the Dow to fall 190.58 points, or 6.91 percent.

Similarly, there was a panic in the financial world during the year of 1997; the Asian Financial Crisis. Like the fall of many foreign markets, the Dow suffered a 7.18% drop in value (554.26 points) on October 27, 1997, in what later became known as the 1997 Mini-Crash but from which the DJIA recovered quickly.

On January 26, 2000, an altercation during filming of the music video for "Sleep Now in the Fire", which was directed by Michael Moore, caused the doors of the exchange to be closed and the band, Rage Against the Machine, to be escorted from the site by security, after band members attempted to gain entry into the exchange. Trading on the exchange floor, however, continued uninterrupted.

On May 6, 2010, the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its largest intraday percentage drop since the October 19, 1987 crash, with a 998 point loss later being called the Flash Crash (As the drop occurred in minutes before rebounding). The SEC and CFTC published a report on the event, although it did not come to a conclusion as to the cause. The regulators found no evidence that the fall was caused by erroneous ("fat finger") orders.

Trading

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald L. Evans rings the opening bell at the NYSE on April 23, 2003. Former chairman Jack Womack is also in this picture.

NASA astronauts Scott Altman and Mike Massimino ring 'The Closing Bell'.

The NYSE trading floor in August 2008.

The New York Stock Exchange (sometimes referred to as "the Big Board") provides a means for buyers and sellers to trade shares of stock in companies registered for public trading. The NYSE is open for trading Monday through Friday between 9:30am – 4:00pm ET, with the exception of holidays declared by the Exchange in advance.

On the trading floor, the NYSE trades in a continuous auction format, where traders can execute stock transactions on behalf of investors. They will gather around the appropriate post where a specialist broker, who is employed by an NYSE member firm (that is, he/she is not an employee of the New York Stock Exchange), acts as an auctioneer in an open outcry auction market environment to bring buyers and sellers together and to manage the actual auction. They do on occasion (approximately 10% of the time) facilitate the trades by committing their own capital and as a matter of course disseminate information to the crowd that helps to bring buyers and sellers together. The auction process moved toward automation in 1995 through the use of wireless hand held computers (HHC). The system enabled traders to receive and execute orders electronically via wireless transmission. On September 25, 1995, NYSE member Michael Einersen, who designed and developed this system, executed 1000 shares of IBM through this HHC ending a 203 year process of paper transactions and ushering in an era of automated trading.

As of January 24, 2007, all NYSE stocks can be traded via its electronic Hybrid Market (except for a small group of very high-priced stocks). Customers can now send orders for immediate electronic execution, or route orders to the floor for trade in the auction market. In the first three months of 2007, in excess of 82% of all order volume was delivered to the floor electronically.

The right to directly trade shares on the exchange is conferred upon owners of the 1366 "seats". The term comes from the fact that up until the 1870s NYSE members sat in chairs to trade. In 1868, the number of seats was fixed at 533, and this number was increased several times over the years. In 1953, the exchange stopped at 1366 seats. These seats are a sought-after commodity as they confer the ability to directly trade stock on the NYSE. Seat prices have varied widely over the years, generally falling during recessions and rising during economic expansions. The most expensive inflation-adjusted seat was sold in 1929 for $625,000, which, today, would be over six million dollars. In recent times, seats have sold for as high as $4 million in the late 1990s and $1 million in 2001. In 2005, seat prices shot up to $3.25 million as the exchange was set to merge with Archipelago and become a for-profit, publicly traded company. Seat owners received $500,000 cash per seat and 77,000 shares of the newly formed corporation. The NYSE now sells one-year licenses to trade directly on the exchange.

NYSE Composite Index

In the mid-1960s, the NYSE Composite Index (NYSE: NYA) was created, with a base value of 50 points equal to the 1965 yearly close. This was done to reflect the value of all stocks trading at the exchange instead of just the 30 stocks included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. To raise the profile of the composite index, in 2003 the NYSE set its new base value of 5,000 points equal to the 2002 yearly close.

Timeline

The NYSE at Christmas time (December 2008)

In 1792, The NYSE acquires its first traded securities . In 1817, The constitution of the New York Stock and Exchange Board is adopted.In 1867, The First Stock Ticker.In 1896, Dow Jones Industrial Average first published in The Wall Street Journal.In 1903, NYSE moves into new quarters at 18 Broad Street. In 1906, Dow exceeds 100 on January 12. In 1907, Panic of 1907. In 1914, World War I causes the longest exchange shutdown: four months, two weeks; re-opening December 12 brings the largest one-day percentage drop in the DJIA (24.4%). In 1915, Market price is given in dollars. In 1929, Central quote system established; Black Thursday, October 24 and Black Tuesday, October 29 signal the end of the Roaring Twenties bull market. In 1943, Trading floor is opened to women. In 1949, Longest (eight-year) bull market begins.

In 1954, Dow surpasses its 1929 peak in inflation-adjusted dollars. In 1956, Dow closes above 500 for the first time on March 12. In 1966, the NYSE begins a composite index of all listed common stocks. This is referred to as the "Common Stock Index" and is transmitted daily. The starting point of the index is 50. It is later renamed the NYSE Composite Index.In 1967, Protesters led by Abbie Hoffman throw mostly fake dollar bills at traders from gallery, leading to the installation of bullet-proof glass. In 1970, Securities Investor Protection Corporation established. In 1971, NYSE recognized as Not-for-Profit organization.In 1972, Dow closes above 1,000 for the first time on November 14. In 1977, Foreign brokers are admitted to NYSE. In 1980, New York Futures Exchange established. In 1982, Longest bull market in DJIA history begins. In 1987, Black Monday, October 19, sees the second-largest one-day DJIA percentage drop (22.6%) in history. In 1991, Dow exceeds 3,000. In 1995, Dow exceeds 5,000. In 1996, Real-time ticker introduced.In 1999, Dow exceeds 10,000 on March 29. In 2000, Dow peaks at 11,722.98 on January 14; first NYSE global index is launched under the ticker NYIID.

Security after the September 11 attacks

In 2001, Trading in fractions (n/16) ends, replaced by decimals (increments of $.01, see Decimalization); September 11, 2001 attacks occur, closing NYSE for 4 sessions. In 2003, NYSE Composite Index relaunched and value set equal to 5,000 points. In 2006, NYSE and ArcaEx merge, creating NYSE Arca and forming the publicly owned, for-profit NYSE Group, Inc.; in turn, NYSE Group merges with Euronext, creating the first trans-Atlantic stock exchange group; DJIA tops 12,000 on October 19. In 2007, US President George W. Bush shows up unannounced to the Floor about an hour and a half before a Federal Open Market Committee interest-rate decision on January 31.

NYSE announces its merger with the American Stock Exchange; NYSE Composite closes above 10,000 on June 1; DJIA exceeds 14,000 on July 19 and closes at an all time peak of 14,164.53 on October 9. This was the peak before the 2008–2009 bust.

In 2008, On September 15, the DJIA loses more than 500 points amid fears of bank failures, resulting in a permanent prohibition of naked short selling and a three-week temporary ban on all short selling of financial stocks; in spite of this, record volatility continues for the next two months, culminating at 5½-year market lows. In 2009, Dow closes at 6547.05 on March 9 reaching a 12 year low. Returns to 10,015.86 on October 14.

Merger with Deutsche Boerse

On February 15, 2011 NYSE and Deutsche Börse announced their merger to form a new company, as yet unnamed, wherein Deutsche Boerse shareholders will have 60% ownership of the new entity, and NYSE-Euronext shareholders will have 40%.

Incorporation ( Business )

2011-02-21T09:38:00.000-08:00

Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation (a corporation being a legal entity that is effectively recognized as a person under the law). The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organization, sports club, or a government of a new city or town.

In the United States

Legal Benefits

Protection of personal assets. One of the most important legal benefits is the safeguarding of personal assets against the claims of creditors and lawsuits. Sole proprietors and general partners in a partnership are personally and jointly responsible for all the liabilities of a business such as loans, accounts payable, and legal judgments. In a corporation, however, stockholders, directors and officers typically are not liable for the company's debts and obligations. They are limited in liability to the amount they have invested in the corporation. For example, if a shareholder purchased $100 in stock, no more than $100 can be lost. Corporations and limited liability companies (LLCs) may hold assets such as real estate, cars or boats. If a shareholder of a corporation is personally involved in a lawsuit or bankruptcy, these assets may be protected. A creditor of a shareholder of a corporation or LLC cannot seize the assets of the company. However, the creditor can seize ownership shares in the corporation, as they are considered a personal asset.
Transferable ownership. Ownership in a corporation or LLC is easily transferable to others, either in whole or in part. Some state laws are particularly corporate-friendly. For example, the transfer of ownership in a corporation incorporated in Delaware is not required to be filed or recorded.
Retirement funds. Retirement funds and qualified retirements plans, such as a 401(k), may be established more easily.
Taxation. In the United States, corporations are taxed at a lower rate than individuals are. Also, they can own shares in other corporations and receive corporate dividends 80% tax-free. There are no limits on the amount of losses a corporation may carry forward to subsequent tax years. A sole proprietorship, on the other hand, cannot claim a capital loss greater than $3,000 unless the owner has offsetting capital gains.
Raising funds through sale of stock. A corporation can easily raise capital from investors through the sale of stock.
Durability. A corporation is capable of continuing indefinitely. Its existence is not affected by the death of shareholders, directors, or officers of the corporation.
Credit rating. Regardless of an owner's personal credit scores, a corporation can acquire its own credit rating, and build a separate credit history by applying for and using corporate credit.

Steps Required for Incorporation

The articles of incorporation (also called a charter, certificate of incorporation or letters patent) are filed with the appropriate state office, listing the purpose of the corporation, its principal place of business and the number and type of shares of stock. A registration fee is due, which is usually between $25 and $1,000, depending on the state.
A corporate name is generally made up of three parts: "distinctive element", "descriptive element", and a legal ending. All corporations must have a distinctive element, and in most filing jurisdictions, a legal ending to their names. Some corporations choose not to have a descriptive element. In the name "Tiger Computers, Inc.", the word "Tiger" is the distinctive element; the word "Computers" is the descriptive element; and the "Inc." is the legal ending. The legal ending indicates that it is in fact a legal corporation and not just a business registration or partnership. Incorporated, limited, and corporation, or their respective abbreviations (Inc., Ltd., Corp.) are the possible legal endings in the U.S.
Usually, there are also corporate bylaws which must be filed with the state. Bylaws outline a number of important administrative details such as when annual shareholder meetings will be held, who can vote and the manner in which shareholders will be notified if there is need for an additional "special" meeting.

Taxation

Corporations can only deduct net operating losses going back two years and forward 20 years.

Reporting after Incorporation

Assuming a corporation has not sold stock to the public, conducting corporate business is remarkably straightforward. Often, it amounts to little more than recording key corporate decisions (for example, borrowing money or buying real estate) and holding an annual meeting. However, even these formalities can often be done by written agreement and do not usually neeed a face-to-face meeting.

In the United Kingdom

In the U.K., the process of incorporation is generally called company formation. The United Kingdom is one of the quickest locations to incorporate, with a fully electronic process and a very fast turn around by the national registrar of companies, the Companies House. The current Companies House record is five minutes to vet and issue a certificate of incorporation for an electronic application.

Types of Companies

There are many different types of UK companies:

Public limited company (PLC)
Private company limited by shares (Ltd, limited)
Company limited by guarantee
Unlimited company
Limited liability partnership (LLP)
Limited partnership (LP)
Societas Europaea (SE): pan-European Union company structure
Royal charter (RC)
Community interest company
Industrial and provident society (IPS)

Sam Walton

2011-02-21T09:13:00.000-08:00

Samuel Moore "Sam" Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992) was a businessman and entrepreneur born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma best known for founding the retailers Wal-Mart and Sam's Club

Early Life

Sam Walton was born to Thomas Gibson Walton and Nancy "Nannie" Lee (née Lawrence) near Kingfisher, Oklahoma on March 29, 1918. There, he lived with his parents on their farm until 1923. Sam's father decided farming did not generate enough income on which to raise a family, so he decided to go back to a previous profession of a mortgage man He and his family (now with another son, James, born in 1921) moved from Oklahoma to Chesterfield, Missouri. There they moved from one small town to another for several years. While attending eighth grade in Shelbina, Sam became the youngest Eagle Scout in the state's history. In adult life, Walton became a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America.

Growing up during the Great Depression, Walton had numerous chores to help make financial ends meet for his family as was common at the time. He milked the family cow, bottled the surplus, and drove it to customers. Afterwards, he would deliver newspapers on a paper route. In addition, he also sold magazine subscriptions. Upon graduating, he was voted "Most Versatile Boy".

After high school, Walton decided to attend college, hoping to find a better way to help support his family. He attended the University of Missouri as an ROTC cadet. During this time, he worked various odd jobs, including waiting tables in exchange for meals. Also during his time in college, Walton joined the Zeta Phi chapter of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He was also tapped by QEBH, the well-known secret society on campus honoring the top senior men. Upon graduating in 1940 with a B.A. in economics, he was voted "permanent president" of the class.

Walton joined JC Penney as a management trainee in Des Moines, Iowa three days after graduating from college. This position earned him $75 a month. He resigned in 1942 in anticipation of being inducted into the military for service in World War II. In the meantime, he worked at a DuPont munitions plant near Tulsa, Oklahoma. Soon afterwards, Walton joined the military in the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps, supervising security at aircraft plants and prisoner of war camps. In this position he served at Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City, Utah. He eventually reached the rank of captain.

The First Stores

In 1945, after leaving the military, Walton took over management of his first variety store at the age of 26. With the help of a $20,000 loan from his father-in-law, plus $5,000 he had saved from his time in the Army, Walton purchased a Ben Franklin variety store in Newport, Arkansas. The store was a franchise of the Butler Brothers chain.

It was here that Walton pioneered many concepts that would prove to be crucial to his success. Walton made sure the shelves were consistently stocked with a wide range of goods at low prices. His store also stayed open later than most other stores, especially during the Christmas season. He also pioneered the practice of discount merchandising by buying wholesale goods from the lowest priced supplier. This allowed him to pass on savings to his customers, which drove up his sales volume. Higher volumes allowed him to negotiate lower purchase prices with the wholesaler on subsequent purchases. Walton's store led in sales and profits in the Butler Brothers' six-state region. One factor that made this store successful was its central location, making it accessible to a wide range of customers. In an attempt to limit the expansion of his main competitor, the Sterling Store, Walton leased a nearby Kroger store and opened it in 1950 as the "Eagle" department store, but it didn't fare as well.

When Walton bought the franchise from the previous owner in 1945, the store was doing $72,000 in sales annually. By 1950, the store was doing $250,000 in sales annually, due to Walton's ideas and practices.

Because of the variety store's enormous success, the landlord, P.K. Holmes, refused to renew the lease when it expired, desiring to pass the store onto his son. The lack of a renewal option, together with the outrageous rent of 5% of sales, were early business lessons to Walton. Despite forcing Walton out, Holmes bought the store's inventory and fixtures for $50,000, which Walton called "a fair price".

A Chain of Ben Franklin Stores

Walton went on to open more Ben Franklin Stores with the help of his brother, father-in-law, and brother-in-law. In 1954, he opened a store with his brother James "Bud" Walton in a shopping center in Ruskin Heights, a suburb of Kansas City. He opened another in Arkansas, but it failed to be as successful as his other stores. Walton decided to concentrate on the retail business instead of the shopping centers and opened larger stores which were called "Walton's Family Center."

Walton offered managers the opportunity to become limited partners if they would invest in the store they oversaw and then invest a maximum of $1,000 in new outlets as they opened. This motivated the managers to always try to maximize profits and improve their managerial skills. By 1962, Walton and his brother Bud owned sixteen variety stores in Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas (fifteen Ben Franklin and the one independent Fayetteville store).

The First Wal-Mart

The first true Wal-Mart opened on July 2, 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas. It was called the Wal-Mart Discount City store and located at 719 West Walnut Street. Soon after, the Walton brothers teamed up with the business-savvy Stefan Dasbach

Personal Life

Walton married Helen Robson on February 14, 1943. They had four children: Samuel Robson (Rob) born in 1944, John Thomas born in 1946, James Carr (Jim) born in 1948, and Alice Louise born in 1949.

Walton supported various charitable causes, including those of his church, the Presbyterian Church (USA). The Sam and Helen R. Walton Award was created in 1991 when the Waltons made a gift of $6 million which included an endowment in the amount of $3 million to provide annual awards to new church developments that are working in creative ways to share the Christian faith in local communities.

Death

Walton died Sunday April 5, 1992, of multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, in Little Rock, Arkansas. The news of his death was relayed by satellite to all 1,960 Wal-Mart stores. He left his ownership in Wal-Mart to his wife and their children: Rob Walton succeeded his father as the Chairman of the Board of Wal-Mart, and John Walton was a director until his death in a 2005 plane crash. The others are not directly involved in the company (except through their voting power as shareholders). The Walton family held five spots in the top ten richest people in the United States until 2005. Two daughters of Sam's brother Bud Walton, Ann Kroenke and Nancy Laurie, hold smaller shares in the company.

Legacy

In 1998, Walton was included in Time's list of 100 most influential people of the 20th Century. Walton was honored for all his pioneering efforts in retail in March 1992, when he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George H. W. Bush.

Forbes ranked Sam Walton as the richest man in the United States from 1982 to 1988, ceding the top spot to John Kluge in 1989 when the editors began to credit Walton's fortune jointly to him and his four children. (Bill Gates first headed the list in 1992, the year Walton died). Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. also runs Sam's Club warehouse stores. Wal-Mart stores operate in developed nations like the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Canada. It also operates in poorer, developing nations and common wealths like Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, and South Korea.

At the University of Arkansas, the Business College (Sam M. Walton College of Business) is named in his honor.

Mr. Walton was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1992.

Forbes Global 2000

2011-02-21T08:55:00.000-08:00

The Forbes Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world by ForbesSales, Profit, Assets and Market value. The list has been published since 2003. magazine. The ranking is based on a mix of four metrics:
The Forbes Global 2000 is a useful indicator of which are the leading public companies in the world, but it is only an interpretation, as only public companies are listed. The results are not definitive; any change to the criteria would produce a different list.

Multinational Corporation

2011-02-21T08:40:00.000-08:00

A Multinational Corporation (MNC) or Enterprise (MNE), is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has defined an MNC as a corporation that has its management headquarters in one country, known as the home country, and operates in several other countries, known as host countries.

The Dutch East India Company was the first multinational corporation in the world and the first company to issue stock. It was also arguably the world's first Megacorporation, possessing quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, negotiate treaties, coin money, and establish colonies.

The first modern multinational corporation is generally thought to be the East India Company. Many corporations have offices, branches or manufacturing plants in different countries from where their original and main headquarters is located.

Some multinational corporations are very big, with budgets that exceed some nations' GDPs. Multinational corporations can have a powerful influence in local economies, and even the world economy, and play an important role in international relations and globalization.

Market Imperfections

It may seem strange that a corporation can decide to do business in a different country, where it does not know the laws, local customs or business practices. Why is it not more efficient to combine assets of value overseas with local factors of production at lower costs by renting or selling them to local investors?

One reason is that the use of the market for coordinating the behaviour of agents located in different countries is less efficient than coordinating them by a multinational enterprise as an institution. The additional costs caused by the entrance in foreign markets are of less interest for the local enterprise. According to Hymer, Kindleberger and Caves, the existence of MNCs is reasoned by structural market imperfections for final products. In Hymer's example, there are considered two firms as monopolists in their own market and isolated from competition by transportation costs and other tariff and non-tariff barriers. If these costs decrease, both are forced to competition; which will reduce their profits. The firms can maximize their joint income by a merger or acquisition, which will lower the competition in the shared market. Due to the transformation of two separated companies into one MNE the pecuniary externalities are going to be internalized. However, this does not mean that there is an improvement for the society.

This could also be the case if there are few substitutes or limited licenses in a foreign market. The consolidation is often established by acquisition, merger or the vertical integration of the potential licensee into overseas manufacturing. This makes it easy for the MNE to enforce price discrimination schemes in various countries. Therefore Hymer considered the emergence of multinational firms as "an (negative) instrument for restraining competition between firms of different nations".

Market imperfections had been considered by Hymer as structural and caused by the deviations from perfect competition in the final product markets. Further reasons are originated from the control of proprietary technology and distribution systems, scale economies, privileged access to inputs and product differentiation. In the absence of these factors, market are fully efficient. The transaction costs theories of MNEs had been developed simultaneously and independently by McManus (1972), Buckley & Casson (1976) Brown (1976) and Hennart (1977, 1982). All these authors claimed that market imperfections are inherent conditions in markets and MNEs are institutions that try to bypass these imperfections. The imperfections in markets are natural as the neoclassical assumptions like full knowledge and enforcement do not exist in real markets.

Tax Competition

Multinational corporations have played an important role in globalization. Countries and sometimes subnational regions must compete against one another for the establishment of MNC facilities, and the subsequent tax revenue, employment, and economic activity. To compete, countries and regional political districts sometimes offer incentives to MNCs such as tax breaks, pledges of governmental assistance or improved infrastructure, or lax environmental and labor standards enforcement. This process of becoming more attractive to foreign investment can be characterized as a race to the bottom, a push towards greater autonomy for corporate bodies, or both.

However, some scholars for instance the Columbia economist Jagdish Bhagwati, have argued that multinationals are engaged in a 'race to the top.' While multinationals certainly regard a low tax burden or low labor costs as an element of comparative advantage, there is no evidence to suggest that MNCs deliberately avail themselves of lax environmental regulation or poor labour standards. As Bhagwati has pointed out, MNC profits are tied to operational efficiency, which includes a high degree of standardisation. Thus, MNCs are likely to tailor production processes in all of their operations in conformity to those jurisdictions where they operate (which will almost always include one or more of the US, Japan or EU) that has the most rigorous standards. As for labor costs, while MNCs clearly pay workers in, e.g. Vietnam, much less than they would in the US (though it is worth noting that higher American productivity—linked to technology—means that any comparison is tricky, since in America the same company would probably hire far fewer people and automate whatever process they performed in Vietnam with manual labour), it is also the case that they tend to pay a premium of between 10% and 100% on local labor rates. Finally, depending on the nature of the MNC, investment in any country reflects a desire for a long-term return. Costs associated with establishing plant, training workers, etc., can be very high; once established in a jurisdiction, therefore, many MNCs are quite vulnerable to predatory practices such as, e.g., expropriation, sudden contract renegotiation, the arbitrary withdrawal or compulsory purchase of unnecessary 'licenses,' etc. Thus, both the negotiating power of MNCs and the supposed 'race to the bottom' may be overstated, while the substantial benefits that MNCs bring (tax revenues aside) are often understated.

Market Withdrawal

Because of their size, multinationals can have a significant impact on government policy, primarily through the threat of market withdrawal. For example, in an effort to reduce health care costs, some countries have tried to force pharmaceutical companies to license their patented drugs to local competitors for a very low fee, thereby artificially lowering the price. When faced with that threat, multinational pharmaceutical firms have simply withdrawn from the market, which often leads to limited availability of advanced drugs. In these cases, governments have been forced to back down from their efforts. Similar corporate and government confrontations have occurred when governments tried to force MNCs to make their intellectual property public in an effort to gain technology for local entrepreneurs. When companies are faced with the option of losing a core competitive technological advantage or withdrawing from a national market, they may choose the latter. This withdrawal often causes governments to change policy. Countries that have been the most successful in this type of confrontation with multinational corporations are large countries such as United States and Brazil, which have viable indigenous market competitors.

Lobbying

Multinational corporate lobbying is directed at a range of business concerns, from tariff structures to environmental regulations. There is no unified multinational perspective on any of these issues. Companies that have invested heavily in pollution control mechanisms may lobby for very tough environmental standards in an effort to force non-compliant competitors into a weaker position. Corporations lobby tariffs to restrict competition of foreign industries. For every tariff category that one multinational wants to have reduced, there is another multinational that wants the tariff raised. Even within the U.S. auto industry, the fraction of a company's imported components will vary, so some firms favor tighter import restrictions, while others favor looser ones. Says Ely Oliveira, Manager Director of the MCT/IR: This is very serious and is very hard and takes a lot of work for the owner.pk

Multinational corporations such as Wal-mart and McDonald's benefit from government zoning laws, to create barriers to entry.

Many industries such as General Electric and Boeing lobby the government to receive subsidies to preserve their monopoly.

Patents

Many multinational corporations hold patents to prevent competitors from arising. For example, Adidas holds patents on shoe designs, Siemens A.G. holds many patents on equipment and infrastructure and Microsoft benefits from software patents. The pharmaceutical companies lobby international agreements to enforce patent laws on others.

Transnational Corporations

A Transnational Corporation (TNC) differs from a tranditional MNC in that it does not identify itself with one national home. Whilst traditional MNCs are national companies with foreign subsidiaries, TNCs spread out their operations in many countries sustaining high levels of local responsiveness. An example of a TNC is Nestlé who employ senior executives from many countries and try to make decisions from a global perspective rather than from one centralised headquarters. However, the terms TNC and MNC are often used interchangeably.

Micro-Multinationals

Enabled by Internet based communication tools, a new breed of multinational companies is growing in numbers. These multinationals start operating in different countries from the very early stages. These companies are being called micro-multinationals. What differentiates micro-multinationals from the large MNCs is the fact that they are small businesses. Some of these micro-multinationals, particularly software development companies, have been hiring employees in multiple countries from the beginning of the Internet era. But more and more micro-multinationals are actively starting to market their products and services in various countries. Internet tools like Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ebay and Amazon make it easier for the micro-multinationals to reach potential customers in other countries.

Service sector micro-multinationals, like Facebook, Alibaba etc. started as dispersed virtual businesses with employees, clients and resources located in various countries. Their rapid growth is a direct result of being able to use the internet, cheaper telephony and lower traveling costs to create unique business opportunities.

Low cost SaaS (Software As A Service) suites make it easier for these companies to operate without a physical office.

Hal Varian, Chief Economist at Google and a professor of information economics at U.C. Berkeley, said in April 2010, "Immigration today, thanks to the Web, means something very different than it used to mean. There's no longer a brain drain but brain circulation. People now doing startups understand what opportunities are available to them around the world and work to harness it from a distance rather than move people from one place to another."

Criticism of Multinationals

The rapid rise of multinational corporations has been a topic of concern among intellectuals, activists and laypersons who have seen it as a threat of such basic civil rights as privacy. They have pointed out that multinationals create false needs in consumers and have had a long history of interference in the policies of sovereign nation states. Evidence supporting this belief includes invasive advertising (such as billboards, television ads, adware, spam, telemarketing, child-targeted advertising, guerrilla marketing), massive corporate campaign contributions in democratic elections, and endless global news stories about corporate corruption (Martha Stewart and Enron, for example). Anti-corporate protesters suggest that corporations answer only to shareholders, giving human rights and other issues almost no consideration. Films and books critical of multinationals include Surplus: Terrorized into Being Consumers, The Corporation, The Shock Doctrine, Downsize This, Zeitgeist: The Movie and others.

Teknik Mengintai Jaringan Lawan

2011-02-19T10:19:00.000-08:00

Langkahke empat (4) terakhir dalam proses footprinting adalah melakukan pengintaianjaringan lawan, dalam bahasa Inggris-nya adalah network reconnaissance. Prosespengintaian dapat dilakukan dengan menggunakan perangkat lunak traceroute (diUNIX / Linux), atau menggunakan tracert (di Windows).

Traceroutemerupakan perangkat lunak diagnostik yang pertama kali di kembangkan oleh salahsatu sesepuh Internet yaitu Van Jacobson. Dengan mengakali parameter Time ToLive (TTL) di paket IP agar setiap router yang dilewati mengirimkan berita ICMP_TIME_EXCEEDED,kita dapat memetakan route yang diambil oleh sebuah paket dalam jaringanInternet.

Sebagaicontoh kita akan melihat hasil traceroute ke beberapa mesin yang ada dilingkungan jaringan Telkom, seperti www.telkom.co.id, www.plasa.com,in-mta1.telkom.co.id. Proses traceroute dilakukan menggunakan sambungan dial-upmenggunakan ISP indo.net.id pada kecepatan 19.2Kbps. Mari kita lihat beberapakesimpulan dari peta yang kita peroleh.

[root@gate onno]# traceroute www.plasa.com

traceroute to www.plasa.com (202.134.0.172), 30 hopsmax, 38 byte packets

1 Digital-Tc.indo.net.id (202.159.33.29) 187.690 ms 189.692 ms 189.757 ms

2 Subnet-Gateway.indo.net.id(202.159.33.32) 189.820 ms 178.021 ms 179.822 ms

3 Loral-Gateway.indo.net.id (202.159.32.1) 189.840 ms 199.950 ms 182.850 ms 4 202.148.63.65 (202.148.63.65) 216.687 ms * 219.695 ms

5 * * 198.32.204.83 (198.32.204.83) 300.194 ms

6 *s2-4-gw1.gcc.jakarta.telkom.net.id (202.134.3.241) 490.050 ms 409.613 ms

7 *FE11-0-0.sm2.jakarta.telkom.net.id (202.134.3.149) 300.095 ms 309.653 ms

8 GigaE5-0.1.emm.jakarta.telkom.net.id(202.134.3.174) 349.822 ms 299.629 ms *

9 www.plasa.com (202.134.0.136) 400.178 ms 389.508 ms *

Tampaknyawww.plasa.comberada di Jakarta, karena memlalui beberapa mesin / router penting Telkom yangada di Jakarta; mesin gcc, sm2 kemungkinan ada di Semanggi / Sentral telkom diGatot Subroto – yah itu hanya tebakan dari gaya penamaan mesin Telkom yangkemungkinan mengambil referensi pola penamaan tempat cara abri yang agakkriptik tapi terprediksi Waktu yang dibutuhkan untuk mengirimkan paket &dikembalikan lagi oleh www.plasa.com adalah sekitar 400 mili detik.

[root@gate onno]# traceroute in-mta1.telkom.co.id

traceroute to in-mta1.telkom.co.id (202.134.0.196),30 hops max, 38 byte packets 1 Digital-Tc.indo.net.id (202.159.33.29) 507.252 ms 489.515 ms 509.857 ms

2 * Subnet-Gateway.indo.net.id(202.159.33.32) 200.130 ms 199.694 ms

3 Loral-Gateway.indo.net.id(202.159.32.1) 199.793 ms 189.703 ms 189.889 ms

4 202.148.63.65(202.148.63.65) 389.829 ms 269.620 ms *

5 * * *

6 s2-4-gw1.gcc.jakarta.telkom.net.id(202.134.3.241) 869.655 ms 669.665 ms

559.793 ms

7 FE11-0-0.sm2.jakarta.telkom.net.id(202.134.3.149) 489.828 ms 419.716 ms *

8 GigaE5-0.1.emm.jakarta.telkom.net.id(202.134.3.174) 369.912 ms 219.670 ms 219.859 ms

9 in-mta2.plasa.com (202.134.0.196) 339.852 ms 239.796 ms 289.778 ms

Secaratidak sengaja kita bisa melihat ternyata in-mta1.telkom.co.id adalah jugain-mta2.plasa.com, artinya semua mail ke orang telkom dengan hostnametelkom.co.id akan bisa di tangkap di in-mta2.plasa.com juga. Ini agak berbahayasebetulnya untuk sebuah perusahaan seperti Telkom. Tampaknya in-mta2.plasa.com,in-mta1.telkom.co.id & www.plasa.comberada dalam sebuah keluarga jaringan 202.134.0.x. Jika kita mengetahuistruktur organisasi Telkom, berarti 202.134.0.x merupakan tempat penyimpananmesin-mesin yang dikelola oleh Divisi Multimedia yang mengelola plasa.com.

[root@gateonno]# traceroute www.telkom.net.id

traceroute to www.telkom.net.id (202.134.0.12), 30hops max, 38 byte packets

1 Digital-Tc.indo.net.id (202.159.33.29) 197.334 ms 189.571 ms 189.805 ms

2 Subnet-Gateway.indo.net.id(202.159.33.32) 199.799 ms 189.752 ms 189.969

3 Loral-Gateway.indo.net.id(202.159.32.1) 189.734 ms 199.678 ms 189.795 ms

4 202.148.63.65(202.148.63.65) 249.844 ms 316.807 ms 289.855 ms

5 * * *

6 *s2-4-gw1.gcc.jakarta.telkom.net.id (202.134.3.241) 260.189 ms 299.710 ms

7 *FE11-0-0.sm2.jakarta.telkom.net.id (202.134.3.149) 320.187 ms 319.636 ms

8 *GigaE5-0.1.emm.jakarta.telkom.net.id (202.134.3.174) 330.246 ms *

9 game.plasa.com (202.134.0.12) 460.078 ms * 420.131 ms

Ahsemakin yakin saja kita, dari hasil traceroute www.telkom.net.idterlihat sekali bahwa ternyata www.telkom.net.idternyata identik dengan game.plasa.com. Jelas bahwa semua keluarga besarplasa.com & telkom.net.id adalah servis TelkomNet yang merupakan bagian dariservis Divisi Multimedia PT. Telkom; termasuk tentunya TelkomNet Instant yangsering menjadi bulan-bulan ISP Indonesia yang lain yang menunjukan ketidakadilan (ketidak fairan) Telkom dalam memberikan servis di Indonesia.

Menarikuntuk di simak ternyata Divisi Multimedia memegang keluarga IP 202.134.0.xsangat predictable sekali karena logikanya 202.134.x.x kemungkinan besar adalahkeluarga IP-nya PT. Telkom, dan nomor terkecil (0) di ambil oleh penyelenggara/ operator-nya, yaitu Divisi Multimedia. Dari hasil traceroute juga terlihatbahwa jaringan backbone / router utama Telkom tampaknya menggunakan keluarga IP202.134.3.x.

Selanjutnyakita mencoba melihat bagaimana dengan kantor pusat PT. Telkom Indonesia diBandung. Mari kita lihat hasil traceroute ke www.telkom.co.id yangtampaknya berada di kantor pusat PT. Telkom di Bandung.

[root@gate onno]# traceroute www.telkom.co.id

traceroute to www.telkom.co.id (202.134.2.15), 30hops max, 38 byte packets

1 Digital-Tc.indo.net.id (202.159.33.29) 341.254 ms 189.285 ms 189.863 ms

2 Subnet-Gateway.indo.net.id(202.159.33.32) 389.814 ms 539.738 ms 339.843 ms

3 Loral-Gateway.indo.net.id(202.159.32.1) 379.842 ms 189.737 ms 629.806 ms

4 ** *

5 198.32.204.83 (198.32.204.83) 520.177 ms 529.823 ms 489.612 ms

6 * * s2-4-gw1.gcc.jakarta.telkom.net.id(202.134.3.241) 490.196 ms

7 * FE11-0-0.sm2.jakarta.telkom.net.id(202.134.3.149) 720.213 ms *

8 * * *

9 * * fe-sm2.jakarta.telkom.net.id(202.134.3.179) 599.379 ms

10 s0-lembong.bandung.telkom.net.id (202.134.3.38) 719.669 ms 659.553 ms S4.lbg.bandung.telkom.net.id (202.134.3.50) 529.925 ms

11 192.168.16.250 (192.168.16.250) 765.193 ms 859.890 ms *

12 202.134.2.15 (202.134.2.15) 1070.083 ms 769.732 ms *

Darihasil traceroute ke www.telkom.co.id ada yang menggelitik hati saya,ternyata ada router di IntraNet Telkom menggunakan IP 192.168.16.250 yangtampak ke jaringan public. Ini terus terang, agak menyalahi pakem untukmendisain jaringan yang baik. Router yan menjadi firewall ke jaringan IntraNettelkom tampaknya ber-alamat IP 202.134.3.50.

Biasanyajaringan IntraNet 192.168.x.x & 10.x.x.x, harusnya tertutup untuk dilihatoleh publik. Jika perancang jaringan tersebut secara benar merancangjaringannya akan sangat sulit melakukan penetrasi jaringan menggunakantraceroute. Salah satu cara untuk melakukan traceroute menembus IntraNet,adalah dengan melakukan traceroute pada port tertentu, misalnya port 53 yangmerupakan port Domain Name System (DNS) menggunakan perintah:

# traceroute –s –P53IP_mesin_tujuan_dibalik_firewall

Bagipara administrator jaringan, tentunya akan sangat menyakitkan jika mengetahuibahwa jaringan-nya di intai oleh para hacker menggunakan traceroute. Adabeberapa software yang dapat digunakan untuk menipu / membatasi prosespengintaian tersebut, seperti snort (http://www.snort.org)yang merupakan software untuk melakukan Network Intrusion Detection System(NIDS). Kalau mau lebih jail lagi mungkin bisa menggunakan RotoRouter (http://packetstorm.securify.com/linux/trinux/src/rr-1.0.tgz) yang dapat mengirimkan respondspalsu terhadap program yang melakukan tracreroute. Selain itu, anda juga dapatmembatasi router-router yang ada di luar jaringan untuk membatasi traffik ICMP& UDP ke sistem yang spesifik, yang akhirnya akan mengurangi keterbukaanjaringan anda ke luar.