1. will hire the construction crew and oversee
1. What do you think of the cities plan ? I believe it’s a good plan initially. In looking at the co-location of the City of Dallas and Kroeger plan.
There, the City of Dallas has sufficient development moneys, no fiscal constraints. Grandtown however HAS fiscal constraints that have prevented them from renovating their existing library for years. Where is this money to build a modern new 9,000 square foot library coming from ? Perhaps they should review their existing financial situation, and come up with a financial plan that rehabilitates their existing building which will maintain the ‘publicness’ of the existing Grandtown location ?What are the advantages and disadvantages to the co-location ? Advantages: * Replace the old 6,500 sq. ft. facility w/modern 9,000 sq. ft.
facility * Library to occupy one corner of the building, co-locating with Wallmart * The property will be owned jointly by the City and Wallmart * Wallmart will design and construct the library. The corporation will complete the site planning, conduct environmental testing, install lighting, and landscape the property. * The City will approve Walmart’s zoning applications, which are currently the subject of much controversy.
As is the case with many Walmart stores, the local residents are not all convinced that having a Walmart is in their best interest. * A committee appointed by the City Council will work with the library staff and Walmart’s architects designs for the modern facility. The design will meet or exceed City requirements for approved building materials, disability access, and other specicications required by various ordinance and codes. * Walmart will hire the construction crew and oversee the workmanship. * Once the library and store are constructed Walmart will designate a small area within its store to issue library cards. The library will designate a children’s area and maintain qualified staff to watch children while their parents shop (hmm) From Walmart’s perspective the plan will draw more customers. From the City’s perspective, more children will be exposed to reading.
Disadvantages: * New building cost…. does this millage require a vote ? Where is money coming from? Aren’t there better investment opportunities for Grandtown to invest in, and become more ‘liquid’ or self sufficient…to make an investment like this in the future ? * ? of new building…no growth (size) possible as their readership/use increases ? REIT taxes (elaborate) gained from Wallmart possibly not shared, also different goals, use, function, employees. Energy Tax Credits (article) a ‘public’ issue & problem.
Operating Under the same roof with a business that does not have a good public record (taxes, media) have a negative effect on a Public Library ? (Changes in the future for Walmart are not good for a Public Organization. * How will differences in zoning/specifications/use/objectives be resolved in design (as Walmart has ? use, Library ? ? Quorum established?Walmart is on record for not applying for building permits ? (elaborate) * Expansion of Library due to increase use (traffic from Walmart) not included. Also, data shows local competitive small business in Grantown will dimish by 3% per year, and in ten years, dimish by 37%. This destruction of local commerce will change the library’s viability and success immeasurably.
What happens when the library can no longer pay it’s share of rent/lease payments? * Walmart to begin issuing/collecting library fines and handling book withdrawl is not within normal library policy. 5 laws of Library Science (1931) Aren’t these over due funds used in a way to achieve library’s ‘goals’ as a public organization goal financially ? Arlso, a non-profit Board of Trustees, entrusted with the care of then organization, and is accountable TO THE PUBLIC, not the private interests of share holders? Board: maximize public, not private welfare. Serve as the court of appeals…what happens if someone protests Walmart ? Conflicting Interests here * Library Staff to watch children as parents (or individuals) shop?Shopping and reading do Not contain the same time limits…this discourages looking/investigating/public freedom and Rights to privacy . 2. After the co-location, will the library still be a public organization ? Explain how you arrived at your answer. Will it loose some of its publicness ? Not in the full sense of the definition. As a result of the disadvantages listed above, the Public Library will not operate/function in the same way it did before its colcation in the same building/geographic location with Walmart.
Lets look at the definition of Publicness. The quality or state of belonging to the community; as, the publicness of property’. This has A problematic stance, in the area of Walmarts REIT tax situation, and tax evasion techniques.
The co-location brings this to the mind of the Grandtree residents, and would cause a negative public sentiment. M. Shamsuel Haque National University of Singapore In his article, it is argued that while there has been an apparent eclipse in discourse regarding the Publicness or public quality of public service, the recent transition toward a market driven mode Of governance has created a serious challenge to such publicness.More soecifically, the contemporary Business like changes in the objectives, structures, functions, norms, and users of public service Tend to dimish it publicness in terms of its current trends toward eroding public-private distinction, Shrinking socio-economic role, narrowing composition of service recipients, worsening condition Of accountability, and declining level of public trust. Reforms have lead to the erosion of such Publicness. 3. In what ways might the objectives of Grandtown and Walmart conflict?Is the plan In the best interests of the citizens of Grandtown ? Your business’s mission statement is more permanent than an objective in a business plan.
It must be applied consistently over time. The mission statement serves as a reminder — to you, your employees, and your customers — of the main purpose of your business. Source: http://www.
allbusiness. com/business-planning-structures/business-plans/3514-1. html#ixzz1bdcU0X9T * General Library Objectives 1.To assemble, preserve and circulate, as budget and resources permit, books and other resources necessary to provide information, self education and recreation for the people of the greater Skowhegan area. 2. To serve the community as a center of reliable information. 3.
To provide a place where inquiring minds may encounter valid information, multiple viewpoints, and original ideas so necessary in a democratic society that depends for its survival on a free and open exchange of information. . To support the educational, civic, and cultural activities of groups and organizations. 5. To provide information, programs, and services that support literacy development to people of all ages.
6. To seek continually to identify community needs and to provide programs and library services to meet those needs. 7.
To provide free library services to Skowhegan residents and students. http://www. skowhegan. lib. me.
us/Library%20objectives. htm 2. New Sources of Funding • cooperation and partnerships Canadian Foundation for Innovation • Canadian Institutes for Health Research • non-traditional sources • links with industry • non-government sources • donors Budget reductions can ‘shock’ the organization, force reassessment of priorities, and make it consider non-traditional funding sources. Some librarians feel that the latter could include library suppliers or publishers. There is general agreement that the Library should continue to expand its fund raising activities, seek out new donors, and establish links with the private sector and other non-government sources of funding.Wherever possible, it should seek endowments for collections, facilities, and staff. Co-operation and partnerships will be vital, as will support from new granting agencies such as the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research.
Staff suggestions for new in-house funding sources include the production and marketing of posters, cards, etc. developed from Special Collections materials, and the operation of a Friends of the Library gift shop. Prepared by: Erik de Bruijn January 25, 2000 C:my documentslibraryplanningswotswotlistfinalrev2staffGeneral Walmart Objectives: SWOT Analysis Wal-Mart Strengths * Wal-Mart is a powerful retail brand. It has a reputation for value for money, convenience and a wide range of products all in one store.
* Wal-Mart has grown substantially over recent years, and has experienced global expansion (for example its purchase of the United Kingdom based retailer ASDA). * The company has a core competence involving its use of information technology to support its international logistics system. For example, it can see how individual products are performing country-wide, store-by-store at a glance.IT also supports Wal-Mart’s efficient procurement. * A focused strategy is in place for human resource management and development. People are key to Wal-Mart’s business and it invests time and money in training people, and retaining a developing them. Weaknesses * Wal-Mart is the World’s largest grocery retailer and control of its empire, despite its IT advantages, could leave it weak in some areas due to the huge span of control.
* Since Wal-Mart sell products across many sectors (such as clothing, food, or stationary), it may not have the flexibility of some of its more focused competitors. The company is global, but has has a presence in relatively few countries Worldwide. Opportunities * To take over, merge with, or form strategic alliances with other global retailers, focusing on specific markets such as Europe or the Greater China Region.
* The stores are currently only trade in a relatively small number of countries. Therefore there are tremendous opportunities for future business in expanding consumer markets, such as China and India. * New locations and store types offer Wal-Mart opportunities to exploit market development.They diversified from large super centres, to local and mall-based sites. * Opportunities exist for Wal-Mart to continue with its current strategy of large, super centres.
Threats * Being number one means that you are the target of competition, locally and globally. * Being a global retailer means that you are exposed to political problems in the countries that you operate in. * The cost of producing many consumer products tends to have fallen because of lower manufacturing costs.
Manufacturing cost have fallen due to outsourcing to low-cost regions of the World.This has lead to price competition, resulting in price deflation in some ranges. Intense price competition is a threat. What We Do We get a lot of letters from our customers so we thought we’d share a few. Thanks, everyone.
Sam Walton said it best, “If we work together, we’ll lower the cost of living for everyone…we’ll give the world an opportunity to see what it’s like to save and have a better life. Saving People Money So They Can Live Better Saving people money to help them live better was the goal that Sam Walton, our founder, envisioned when he opened the doors to the first Walmart.Today, more than 40 years later with operations in 28 countries worldwide, we continue to deliver that promise to families around the globe. It’s the focus that underlies everything we do at Walmart. And for the millions of customers who shop in our stores and clubs around the world each week, it means a lot. Shopwalmart. com 4.
With respect to operations in the library, in what ways might the lines of a authority be compromised? Public LibrayA non-profit….. Board of Trustees, entrusted with the care of their organization, and is accountable TO THE PUBLIC, not the private interests of share holders?Board: maximize public, not private welfare.
Serve as the court of appeals…what happens if someone protests Walmart ? Conflicting Interests Here 5. Where do you think the impetus for the plan came from ? 6. 7. Walmart attempting to enter the market in a new way…to better serve their needs profit wise. In the early 1960s Sam Walton took what he had learned from studying mass-merchandising techniques around the country and began to make his mark in the retail market. He decided that small town populations would welcome, and make profitable, large discount shopping stores.
Read more: http://www. answers. com/topic/wal-mart-stores-inc#ixzz1bdkn4cCe 6. What forces do you think have influenced the City Council debate, and in what way ? Wal-Mart also came under criticism for its impact on small retail businesses. Independent store owners often went out of business when Wal-Mart came to town, unable to compete with the superstore’s economies of scale.
In fact, Iowa State University economist Kenneth Stone conducted a study on this phenomenon and told the New York Times Magazine (April 2, 1989): “If ou go into towns in Illinois where Wal-Mart has been for 8 or 10 years, the downtowns are just ghost towns. ” He found that businesses suffering most were drug, hardware, five-and-dime, sporting goods, clothing, and fabric stores, while major appliance and furniture businesses picked up, as did restaurants and gasoline stations, because of increased traffic. Read more: http://www. answers.
com/topic/wal-mart-stores-inc#ixzz1bdlfLjzF In January 1993 Wal-Mart’s reputation was shaken when a report on NBC-TV’s Dateline news program reported on child laborers in Bangladesh producing merchandise for Wal-Mart stores.The program showed children working for five cents an hour in a country that lacked child labor laws. The program further alleged that items made outside the United States were being sold under “Made in USA” signs as part of the company’s Buy American campaign instituted in 1985. Glass appeared on the program saying that he did not know of any “child exploitation” by the company, but did apologize about some of the signs incorrectly promoting foreign-made products as domestic items.
Read more: http://www. answers. om/topic/wal-mart-stores-inc#ixzz1bdmOtaS7 As another possible outlet for shoring up its top position in retailing in the United States and for increasing sales amid its nearing the saturation point for its Supercenters, Wal-Mart in late 1998 began testing a new format, the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. In an attempt to compete directly with traditional supermarkets and with convenience stores, this new concept consisted of a 40,000-square-foot store offering produce, deli foods, fresh meats, other grocery items, and a limited selection of general merchandise.
The new store also featured a drive-through pharmacy. The company hoped that the Neighborhood Market would allow it to penetrate markets unable to support the huge 100,000-square-foot Supercenters, such as very small towns and certain sections within metropolitan areas. Read more: http://www. answers. com/topic/wal-mart-stores-inc#ixzz1bdmmYtMa The Effects of Wal-Mart on Local Labor Markets – – by David Neumark (University of California-Irvine), Junfu Zhang (Clark University), and Stephen Ciccarella (Cornell University), IZA Discussion Paper No.
2545, Jan. 2007This study presents the most sophisticated analysis to date of Wal-Mart’s impact on retail employment and wages. Analyzing national data, the study found that the opening of a Wal-Mart store reduces county-level retail employment by 150 jobs. Because Wal-Mart stores employ an average of 360 workers, this suggests that for every new retail job created by Wal-Mart, 1. 4 jobs are lost as existing businesses downsize or close.
The study also found that the arrival of a Wal-Mart store reduces total county-wide retail payroll by an average of about $1. 2 million.This study improves substantially on previous studies by convincingly accounting for the endogeneity of the location and timing of Wal-Mart’s entry into a particular local market. That is, Wal-Mart presumably does not locate stores randomly. When expanding into a particular region, it may, for example, opt to build in towns experiencing greater job growth. Unless this location selection bias is accounted for, one might compare job growth in towns that gained Wal-Mart stores versus those that did not and erroneously conclude that Wal-Mart caused an expansion in employment.
The authors of this study have devised a persuasive method of accounting for this bias. They also argue that the method developed by Basker (see next item below) to account for this bias is flawed and therefore her conclusion that Wal-Mart has a small positive impact on retail employment is not reliable. A new and widely publicized study, “Has Wal-Mart Buried Mom and Pop? “, claims that there is no evidence that Wal-Mart has had an overall negative impact on the small business sector. A close inspection of the study by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, however, found major flaws.
The authors failed to use the correct U.S. Census data when attempting to show that “mom and pop” businesses have not experienced a net decline over the past two decades. When the correct data set is used, it is clear that the small business sector is much less robust now than it once was, with the number of retail businesses with fewer than 10 employees declining by one-fifth from 1982-2002. This decrease is even more drastic when measured relative to the population.
During the 20-year period, the number of retail firms with 1-4 employees per 1 million people fell by 38% and retail firms with 5-9 employees per 1 million people declined by 30%.Rolling Back Property Tax Payments: How Wal-Mart Short-Changes Schools and other Public Services by Challenging Its Property Tax Assessments by Philip Mattera, Karla Walter, Julie Farb Blain and Colleen Ruddick, Good Jobs First, October 2007 This first-ever investigation of Wal-Mart’s local property tax records finds that the retail giant systematically seeks to minimize its payment of taxes that support public schools and other vital local government services. Online appendices with lists of stores and distribution centers examined.Skimming the Sales Tax: How Wal-Mart and Other Big Retailers (Legally) Keep a Cut of the Taxes We Pay on Everyday Purchases PDF By Philip Mattera with Leigh McIlvaine; Good Jobs First; November 2008 This study highlights little-noticed laws in 26 states that allow retailers to keep a portion of the sales taxes they collect from shoppers. The stated purpose of these policies is to compensate retailers for the costs they incur collecting the tax. However, while half of these states cap the amount retailers can keep, the other 13 states have no cap.Because the cost of collecting sales taxes declines with volume, states without caps are providing big retailers with outsized compensation that bears little relationship to their actual costs.
This practice is costing states over $1 billion a year and lining the pockets of large chains, notably Wal-Mart. The report breaks down the losses for each state. Additionally, this study exposes how local governments subsidize the large chains by giving them sales tax rebates or funding part of their projects with sales tax increment financing.Using these two strategies, Wal-Mart has received $130 million in sales tax diversion over the past decade. 7, Are there any aspects of the plan more or less acceptable? Discuss your reasoning: I believe any person serving on the Libraries Board of Trustees would find the above information About Walmart a travesty to Public Welfare, and unacceptable to the Goals of that non-profit organization.
8. How will the City Council know if the plan is a success ? 9. I understand from the previous research, any plan with Walmart is unacceptable for the 10.Reasons listed above. I want to use the fable of the frog and the scorpion to round out, and end this Case Analysis, And use the article in ‘Understanding and Managing Public Organizations, Hal G. Rainey to Offer an overall reason, and basis: Resource Acquisition Approach…to get Grantown’s budget act together, and simply keep the Existing library, and remodel such…possibly thru resources and a phased plan in a Grandtown Comprhesive Plan…voted on by citizens there.
Serve the Public good. Also : Goal Approach by Herbert Simon (1973)The Systems – Resource Approach Molnar and Rogers argued that the resource-dependence model, which is applied to business firms, Needs modification for public agencies, for reasons similar to those discussed earlier in this book – Absence of profit and of sales in markets, which blurs the link between inputs and outputs; consequently Evaluation by political officials and other political actors; and an emphasis on meeting community Or social needs that rivals emphasis on internal efficiency.Rogers anf Molnar had people in their Agencies rate their own organization’s effectiveness, and the effectiveness of other organizations in The study. To represent the systems –resource approach for public agencies, they examined how Many resources (equipment, funds, personnel, meeting rooms) an agency provided to other agencies In the study (“resource-outflow”) and how many they received from other agencies (resource inflow) They also calculated a score for how many resources flowing in exceeded resources flowing out.They found that the higher the level of resources flowing into an agency, the higher the level of Resources flowing out.
The more effective agencies thus appeared better able to develop effective Exchanges with other agencies (perhaps other libraries) using their own resources to attract resources.
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