And as competition increases, interest-rate spreads will fall, putting pressure on profit margins.
Consumer spending also remains under pressure, due in part to the fall in real-term earnings over the last year as wage increases stagnate and prices continue to rise.
Whil Hadden contemplates a possible second Wooden Spoon, O'Sullivan, who is Ireland's most successful coach, is still under pressure from the usual suspects regarding the World Cup fall-out, and no matter what changes he tries to make, he is still criticised.
While recognizing that corporations seek to maximize their profits and are big and powerful, it is important not to fall into the typical biases that single-issue pressure groups such as some environmentalists bring to the table.
It faces daunting challenges from China Inc. and the free software movement, and its high-margin boxes may yet fall under the same relentless cost pressure that has long strained most hardware businesses.
Dr Brian Keighley, the chairman of the British Medical Association Scotland, said the high standard of performance was testimony to the NHS's hard-working staff, under pressure to achieve targets as staffing numbers and budgets fall.
The fall in employee stock-option plans in America is reducing one pressure for buybacks, but the trend towards shorter-term investment horizons is perhaps increasing pressure from another quarter.
As depositors and bondholders across the euro zone factor in the increased risk that their assets could also fall victim to a break-up, other countries would come under pressure.
When all else fails, Williams and Co. fall back on that tried and true technique of Flower Power -- peer pressure.
Pressure from both machine-stitching (as quality improves) and thermal-sealing (as technology costs fall) will squeeze an entire segment of this lucrative industry right off the map.
Sir Peter came under pressure to quit the company after the UK's third-largest supermarket retailer lost market share and suffered a fall in earnings.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, under pressure to curb the trading abuses that many blame for the severe market correction last fall, ended a two-day meeting on short-selling and stock lending Wednesday without making any concrete pledges to change regulations.
The pressure from regulators was so strong at one point last fall that Bank of America stalled foreclosures in order to re-examine the way it was handling the process.
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