Violence On Childrens TV Essays - Dispute Resolution, Crime, Ethics

Violence on Childrens TV Free Swiss Anti-Wrinkle Cream. You Won't Believe Your Eyes! Violence on Childrens TV Are today's children being exposed to too much violence via television? I think so. From the teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, kids are always being exposed to the rock-'em-sock-'em heroes of T.V., or the brainless violence of Beavis and Butthead. When we live in a country where our children watch an average of three to four hours of television daily {quote}, That is a large number of punches, kicks, and many other violent acts that our children are soaking up every day. Is that really what we want for the children of our country? Hundreds of studies of the effects of TV violence on children and teenagers have found that children may become "immune" to the horror of violence {quote?}. Gradually they even accept violence as a way to solve problems, imitating the violence they observe on television, as well as identifying with certain characters, victims and/or victimizers. One might ask If we know what is happening, why do they put violence on television? The basic reason is because violence is what people want to see. Much of the American viewing audience, and especially children, will watch the shows with more action before they even think about watching the morally correct ones. Another reason is that some broadcasters claim that there is not enough evidence to prove that TV violence is harmful. But, scientists who have studied this aspect have stated that TV violence and aggressive behavior are linked. In a Children Now Executive Summary, only one of many studies on the issue, experts agreed, among other relevant topics, "that television can have a negative effect on children, encouraging anti-social behavior such as dishonesty or violence." (Heintz-Knowles 2) This study as well as many others show that the violence is there. Another factor that points to children's television being too violent is the aggressive behavior that it is bringing out in the children that are watching it. During the average four hours a day that children watch television, They witness an average of 20 violent acts per hour. That is about 80 violent acts per day and, "Children who watch the violent shows, even 'just funny' cartoons, were more likely to hit out at their playmates, argue, disobey class rules, leave tasks unfinished, and were less willing to wait for things than those who watched the nonviolent programs," says Aletha Huston, Ph.D., now at the University of Kansas. This was the conclusion after a Pennsylvania State University study of 100 preschool children on weather or not violence in the television has an effect on children. If that wasn't enough, Leonard Eron, Ph.D., and his associates at the University of Illinois, performed both laboratory, and field studies which showed that children who watched many h! ours of violent TV when they were young, showed a higher level of aggressive behavior when they became teenagers, and when they grew to be 30, the ones who watched a lot of TV when they were young, were more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for criminal acts. The research seems to definitely support the argument that children's television is too violent. This being so, many parents may ask " What can I do?" Scientists who believe that children learn aggressive behavior from TV also point out that parents have the power over what their children watch. Because of this, many scientists recommend a number of things that parents can do. Reduce the amount of hours of TV that your children watch, watch at least one episode of the shows your children watch, and when they see a violent act on the show that their children are watching, discuss it with your child and tell them that this kind of behavior is not good and not the way to solve problems. Some other ways to answer the "What can I do" question is to Ban any shows that you think are too offensive for your children to be watching, and Encourage your children to watch shows that demonstrate good qualities, like caring and sharing. I think it is pretty clear that the children of America are being exposed to way too much violence on television. It is also clear that this exposure is having a negative effect on them. This should be a wake up call to everyone. We need to stop the violence on television and stop it now, the children of our country will be affected. So, parents of America, try to keep your kids away from the violence

Groupthink Concept and High

Groupthink Concept and High Groupthink Concept Groupthink refers to a psychological phenomenon happening within a cluster of persons under which the aspiration for conventionality within this cluster results in a biased outcome in the decisions made.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Groupthink Concept and High-Quality Decision Making specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The main underlying assumption towards belonging to this cluster is the need to minimize conflict through blind conformity. Thus, an individual caught up in a groupthink phenomenon is blindly loyal to a set of thoughts or actions for fear of being controversial as a result of exercising independent thinking. The often dysfunctional dynamics within such a group generates what is commonly referred to as an â€Å"illusion of invulnerability†1. Actually, the groupthink psychology makes persons belonging to this group to belief in universality of their decisions as right without accommodating the opponents’ abilities, which are often underrated. In the worst case, groupthink orientation in the decision making process may generate actions that are dehumanizing those perceived as belonging to the opponent quarter. High-Quality Decision Making The process of high-quality decision making is dependent on heuristic since it provides assumptions, integration of options, and rational control. Decision environment often experience dynamics and swings which create short and long term effect on chances of survival for two alternatives to solve a problem. When faced with a decision problem that requires critical assessments, high-quality decision making process resorts to analytical tools that ensure competitive positioning advantage and rationality. Each option is assigned to a quadrant with predetermined response strategies and ‘follow-ups’ upon each decision made2. Differences between Groupthink and High-Quality Decision Making High-qual ity decision making functions on the presence of rationality and verifiable facts, irrespective of the position or situation that the decision making agents are in. Unlike groupthink decision making process, high-quality decision making incorporates a series of perspectives through which the final decision is identified via a qualitative analysis.Advertising Looking for critical writing on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Therefore, high-quality decision making relies heavily on the pillar of alternatives through research and knowledge of the situation or problem. On the other hand, groupthink (‘ingroup’) decision making process only accommodate the views of a cluster of individuals who belong to similar orientation and cannot exercise independent thinking. Decision making through groupthink is very biased since the underlying determinants of the decision matrix is loyalty and â€Å"illusion of vulnerability†3. Since high-quality decision making process operates on the periphery of rationality parameter, the final verdict can be described as reliable and accommodate variant views. Given that different aspects of decision making such as assumptions, integration of options, and rational control are integrated, most of visible or invisible biases are dampened as the effects of social presence elevate the decision science. Unfortunately, the groupthink phenomenon has structural faults which prevent the benefits of reliability and social effects since it is characterized by a context of provocative situation. Besides, groupthink decision process is characterized by internal or external pressures for a consensus which may generate accord-seeking propensities. Unlike high-quality decision, groupthink creates a false illusion which is inherently dysfunctional4. An example of groupthink is the decision biases that led to an attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in the yea r 1941. Persons entrusted with the responsibility of rational decision making allowed shared rationalizations and illusions to shadow their judgment on the need for precautions. However, the attack could have been avoided had the decision makers embraced the components of high-quality decision making. Bibliography Fiske, Susan, and Shelley Taylor. Social Cognition: From Brains to Culture. California, Los Angeles: Sage Publications, 2013.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Groupthink Concept and High-Quality Decision Making specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Schafer, Mark, and Scott Crichlow. Groupthink vs. High-Quality Decision Making in International Relations. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2010. Footnotes 1 Mark Schafer and Scott Crichlow, Groupthink vs. High-Quality Decision Making in International Relations (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2010), 51. 2 Susan, Fiske, and Shelley Taylor, Social Cognition: From Brains to Culture (California, Los Angeles: Sage Publications, 2013), 23-29. 3 Mark Schafer and Scott Crichlow, Groupthink vs. High-Quality Decision Making in International Relations (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2010), 51. 4 Mark Schafer and Scott Crichlow, Groupthink vs. High-Quality Decision Making in International Relations (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2010), 51.

Imitation a story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Imitation a story - Essay Example The main objective of writing a script is to be clear, concise and accurate. First, the headline is expected to give a summary of the story and catches the attention of the reader (Simnet & reed 2). The lead paragraph should consist of simple sentences. Moreover, the sentences should be constructed using one subject and one verb. The writer is expected to avoid the use of words such as however or furthermore as they complicate the sentence. The first paragraph is expected to contain a placeline. A placeline captures the attention of the reader and introduces the story. The 5 W’s of writing should be answered with the first paragraph. The 5W consists of questions such as what happened, Where, Why and Who (Simnett & Reed 2). The first paragraph contains the most important information about the story. The script is also expected to transition smoothly from one paragraph to the next. The writer should avoid repetition and is encouraged to use direct quotations as they add to the a ccuracy of the information. The simple sentence structure is Subject-Verb-Object (Allen 13). The story should be based on factual events. The language of the article should not describe the news. The writer is expected to let the listeners decide whether the news is good or bad (Allen 14). Pompeii - 2000 people died owing to a volcanic eruption in the Italian region of Campania. The eruption of Mt. Vesavius occurred on Tuesday at 4:15am. The eruption occurred unexpectedly destroying the entire city in its wake. A spokesman for the refugees of the city claimed that people were unprepared for the unexpected tragedy. One witness told BBC that the inhabitants of the city were reluctant to leave their homes, believing that the impact of the eruption would not affect them. On a visit to the region of Campania, the Senator said, â€Å"Only the gods can explain why this catastrophe would befall such a beautiful city.† The senator told the citizens of Campania that the tragedy was an

Background Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Background - Term Paper Example The airport was built up using a metallic reinforcement that has been holding the entire set up. This has been incorporated so that the pilots are informed about the possible dangers that the airbuses may encounter by proper exhibition in the compass. Along with this several establishments like four hangers and private dining clubs were set up in the airport premises. Post 1939 period when the airport was under the New York Municipality a lot of fund was invested for the development of the airport and for incorporation of modern amenities (PANYNJ 1). In the later stages of development the airport faced problems relating to overcrowding and huge burden of the air traffic. However, the traffic faced a decline after the terrorist attack of 11th September, 2001 and there was a decrease in demand for travel in New York. Plans of renovation of the Central Terminal Building have been on the process and developmental activities are taking place to improve the airfield layout of LaGuardia. All this have been undertaken to increase the demand for air travel among the

Instructional ducoment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Instructional ducoment - Assignment Example Your Internet service provider (ISP) or email administrator will provide you the configuration information which you must use to set up your email account in Outlook. Email accounts are contained in a profile. A profile consists of accounts, data files, and settings that specify where your email messages are saved. Your new profile is created automatically when you run Outlook for the first time. You can open an attachment from the Reading Pane, or from an open message and you may save it to a disk drive. If a message has more than one attachment, you can save multiple attachments as a group or one by one. Contacts can be added with simple information like name and e-mail address, or with detailed information such as street address, multiple phone numbers, a picture, birthdays, etc related to the contact. You can print individual items like e-mail messages, contacts, or calendar items, or larger views, such as calendars, address books, or content lists of Mail folders. All printing settings and functions are found under the Backstage view. The above guide endeavors to familiarize you with basic Outlook features to give you a head start. However Outlook is awash with several other advanced and multipurpose functionalities like creating reminders, calendar appointments and scheduling meetings with people, which you can explore and put to your use once you have gained ample hands-on experience on Outlook basic and core

Should Alternative Dispute Resolution be Made Compulsory?

Should Alternative Dispute Resolution be Made Compulsory? Introduction. It is a sad fact of life that disputes can and do arise from even the most trivial incidents and activities. They are always totally unexpected and usually highly predictable.[1] For a long time, people have been worried about civil litigation. It is costly, time consuming, worrying and takes a long time to decide.[2] Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is a term which refers to various procedures developed in the United States over the last 15 years or so in an attempt to overcome some of the weaknesses in the litigation and arbitration processes.[3] This essay will look at Alternative Dispute Resolution in England. I will start by looking at the concept of Alternative dispute resolution. I will briefly examine Lord Phillip’s speech delivered in India on 29 March 2008. Finally, I will give my views on whether Alternative Dispute Resolution should be made compulsory in England and the problems that would be encountered if Alternative Dispute Resolution is made compulsory in England. Alternative Dispute Resolution A focus on rights has played a significant part in the transformation of Western political culture from the harmony ideology of feudal societies in to 20th century participatory democracy. However, 30 years on from the birth of the civil rights movement in the United States, there are those who now express scepticism over the achievements of a rights oriented public culture.[4] As a consequence, some now propose a rethinking of rights ideology, as both a method of dispute resolution and a definition of social relations, and the development of alternative process for dealing with conflicts and claims.[5] Such strategies are generally described as offering alternatives, since adjudication according to rights remains the formal approach to dispute resolution in the west.[6] In common law jurisdictions, conversation about alternatives to litigation began to take institutional shape from the early 1980’s, in a range of disparate experimental procedures sharing the common label ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution’, with its universal acronym ADR.[7] The relationship of this growing complex of practices to lawyer negotiations, litigation and adjudication is far from straight forward. Some of the innovations taking place are directed towards speedy settlement of disputes between litigants without the involvement of lawyers, others appear to be implicated in, and are indeed extensions of legal practice, while others appear as supplements to, or modifications of court process.[8] The English Legal System is based on the adversarial system of litigation. This means that both sides to a case separately prepare their respective submissions and then arrive at court and participate in a quasi-gladiatorial contest until the tribunal of fact (in civil trials this usually being a judge) pronounces the winner.[9] In recent times, there is now been an acceptance that alternatives to the adversarial system of justice may be appropriate due to the high cost involved in the adversarial system of justice. One of the easiest alternatives to implement is to encourage disputes to be resolved other than by recourse to litigation. This has led to the establishment of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).[10] Since 1990, many British lawyers, have taken an active interest in ADR, as a means of avoiding the public and private expense and the private pain of litigation.[11] The increased importance of ADR mechanisms has been signalled in both legislation and court procedures. For example the Commercial Court issued a practice statement in 1993, stating that it wished to encourage ADR, and followed this in 1996 with a further direction allowing judges to consider whether a case is suitable for ADR at its outset, and to invite the parties to attempt a neutral non-court settlement of their dispute.[12] In cases in the Court of Appeal, the Master of the Rolls now writes to the parties, urging them to consider ADR and asking them for their reasons for declining to use it. Rule 26.4 of the Civil Procedure rules (CPR) 1998 enables judges, either on their own account or at the agreement of both parties, to stop court proceedings where they consider the dispute to be best suited to solution by some alternative procedure, such as arbitration or mediation.[13] There is no universally accepted definition of ADR. The phrase ADR encompasses a range of procedures other than litigation which are designed to resolve conflicts. ADR processes include negotiation, mediation, conciliation, expert determination, adjudication, and arbitration.[14] Alternative Dispute Resolution or ADR may be defined, ‘’as a range of procedures that serve as alternatives to litigation through courts for the resolution of disputes, generally involving the intercession and assistance of a neutral and impartial third party. In some definitions, and more commonly it excludes all forms of adjudication.[15] The Department for Constitutional Affairs defines ADR as , ‘’ The collective term for the ways that parties can settle civil disputes, with the help of an independent third party and without the need for a formal court hearing.[16] There are three principle forms of ADR. Arbitration, Mediation and Conciliation. Some commentators argue that ADR can be divided in to two classes, those being adjudicative and consensual.[17] The former is called arbitration, and it is quite similar to court proceedings and this has led critics to ask, if there is anything alternative about ADR.[18] Four goals of ADR are : To relieve court congestion, as well as undue delay and cost; to enhance community involvement in the dispute resolution process; to facilitate access to justice and finally; to provide more effective dispute resolution.[19] Lord Phillip is a staunch supporter of Alternative Dispute Resolution. I believe that he wants ADR to be made compulsory in England Conclusion. Alternative Dispute Resolution no doubt has many advantages. There is a chance that you may quickly resolve your problem and you may be awarded compensation. The procedure is less formal court proceedings. In some cases, the decision may be binding on one of the parties, but not on the other party, thereby leaving one party free to pursue the matter through the court if he wishes. Alternative Dispute Resolution is usually much cheaper than going to court and the procedure is confidential. ADR will be difficult in disputes between more than two parties, where the parties have not already contracted for a consolidated arbitration and the parties will not agree to arbitration, going to court is potentially the only way of getting interlocking disputes resolved by the same tribunal.[20] A party that is proposing to enter a number of related contracts should particularly bear this situation at the drafting stage. There are two specific aspects to the matter. First, the related contracts should provide for an identical scheme of dispute resolution otherwise that party may find itself involves mediation or arbitration or litigation depending on which other party is involved.[21] Secondly, the drafting must address the need for multi party proceedings, and establish a back to back set of contractual obligations for this purpose. A difference in the powers at different levels will make the mufti-party proceeding very difficult to conduct.[22] If these two aspects of the matter are not addressed, the parties will be better off, with litigation as the fall back method of dispute resolution.[23] Where a number of actions raise substantially similar issues, such that a decision in one of them will probably enable the parties in the others to compromise their dispute, litigation is likely to be preferable[24]. Where there is a difficult question of interpretation of common form contract, or of the application of a common form of contract to some event which affects a large number of similar contracts or the operation of a market, it may well be preferable to obtain an authoritative ruing of the courts on the point.[25] In numerous jurisdictions, legislation ensures that in the case of a consumer dispute, where the terms upon which the consumer purchased the goods or services includes an arbitration clause, the consumer has a choice of whether to take his dispute to arbitration or litigation.[26] Bibliography Bevan, A.H (1992) Alternative Dispute Resolution, Sweet Maxwell, London Brown, H Marriott, A (1999) ADR Principles and Practice, Sweet Maxwell, London d’Ambrumenil, P.L (1998) What is Dispute Resolution, LLP Referencing Publishing, London Darbyshire, P (1992) English Legal System, Seventh Edition, Sweet Maxwell, London Elliot, C Quinn, F (2005) English Legal System, Sixth Edition, Pearson, Harlow Fiadjoe, A (2004) Alternative Dispute Resolution: A developing world perspective, Cavendish, London. Frank, E (2003) How Arbitration Works, Sixth Edition, Bureau of National Affairs, Washington D.C Freeman, M (ed.) (2006) Alternative Dispute Resolution, Dartmouth Publishing, Aldershot Gillespie, A (2007) The English Legal System, Oxford University Press, Oxford Lord, Phillips (2008) Alternative Dispute Resolution: An English View Point, can be assessed at http://innertemplelibrary.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/alternative-dispute-resolution-an-english-viewpoint-judiciary-of-england-and-wales/> MacFarlane, J, (ed.) (1997) Rethinking Disputes: The Mediation Alternative, Cavendish, London Palmer, M Roberts, S (1998) Dispute Processes, ADR and the Primary Forms of Decision Making, Butterworths, London Petley, M (1992) Alternative Dispute Resolution: An Introduction, College of Law, London Slapper, G Kelly, D (2003) The English Legal System, Cavendish, London Tweeddale, A and Tweeddale, K (2005) Arbitration of Commercial Disputes, Oxford University Press, Oxford Tackaberry, J Marriott, A (2003) Bernstein’s Handbook of Arbitration and Dispute Resolution, Sweet Maxwell, London 1 Footnotes [1] d’Ambrumenil, (1998) p.5 [2] Bevan (1992) p.2 [3] Bevan, (ibid) p.2 [4] MccFarlane, J (1997) p.1 [5] MccFarlane, J (ibid) p.2 [6] MccFarlane, J (ibid) p.2 [7] Palmer, M Roberts, S (1998) p.2 [8] Palmer, M Roberts, S (ibid) p.2 [9] Gillespie, A (2007) p.469 [10] Gillespie, A (ibid) p.470 [11] Darbyshire, P (1992) p.12 [12] Slapper, G Kelly, D (2003) p.314 [13] Slapper, G Kelly, D (ibid) p.314 [14] Tweeddale, A Tweeddale, K (2005) [15] Brown, H Marriott, A (1999) p.12 [16] citied in Gillespie, A (ibid) p.470 [17] Shipman, 2006 p.182 cited in Gillespie, A (ibid) p.470 [18] Boon and Levin, 1999, p.373 Gillespie, A (ibid) p.470 [19] Freeman, M (2006) p.98 [20] Tackaberry, J Marriott, A (2003)p.22 [21] Tackaberry, J Marriott, A (ibid)p.23 [22] Tackaberry, J Marriott, A (ibid)p.23 [23] Tackaberry, J Marriott, A (ibid)p.23 [24] Tackaberry, J Marriott, A (ibid)p.23 [25] Tackaberry, J Marriott, A (ibid)p.23-24 [26] Tackaberry, J Marriott, A (ibid)p.24

Virginia Woolf :: Biography Biographies Authors Writers Essays

Virginia Woolf Missing Works Cited The Victorian Era was a time of very rigid and strict lifestyles. In the 1900's there were special rules of conduct to be followed for everything. Victorian society required everyone to follow every protocol and nobody was excluded from these 'duties'. Victorians and Edwardians believed that there should be no awkward silences or pauses during conversations, it was considered impolite. It was also believed that people should dress for dinner every night regardless of the presence of company. It was uncommon to express one's feelings or to hold an opinion or point of view other than the norm. These were among the many rules that made up the foundation of Victorian society. Virginia was born during the Victorian/Edwardian Era and lived under the iron fist of her father Leslie Stephen. Virginia's mother died when she was young which left her father in charge of the household. He was a man who strongly believed in the customs of Victorian society and he insisted that they were followed to the letter. He enforced the required rules of conduct and behavior but Virginia found it all very "oppressive". Virginia Woolf http://metalab.unc.edu/cheryb/women/Virginia-Woolf.html went through a lot of anguish throughout her life. She suffered numerous nervous breakdowns and never managed to lead a normal life. After her father's death in 1904 she moved with her brothers and sister to Bloomsbury. She thought her father's death was "the end of tyranny". She also thought that the move from Kensington, where she lived before, to Bloomsbury, " was the gulf between respectable, mummified humbug and life crude and impertinent perhaps, but living†¦ The new generation wanted air, simplicity and light and the move was escape from the past and all it's horrors"(108). During the early 1900's Virginia and her siblings were comfortably settled in . One Thursday evening her brother Thoby decided to start a ritual by inviting a few of his Cambridge friends home and thus began a circle of artistic and cultural group of friends. At first Virginia found them unusual but soon she joined in their lengthy conversations about art, poetry and culture. She was intrigued by their conversations which eventually took a different turn and soon they found themselves discussing topics such as religion, sexuality and other subjects that were considered taboo at the time. Thoby's Thursday evening friends originally included Clive Bell, who Virginia thought was, " a sort of mixture between Shelly and a sporting country squire"(112).

Abraham Lincoln: The Great Emancipator? Essay

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States of America, was the man who rose to the presidency and took the steps needed to end the situation of separation by making sure the South didn’t secede from the Union and continue to be a slave-owning population. An emancipator frees people from bondage or oppression, Lincoln’s main priority in his term in office was to re-unite the North and South, not to free the slaves. He believed that white people were superior to African-Americans and he was ‘playing politics,’ in the sense that he wanted to please the majority of the population, not the slaves he was freeing. President Lincoln did sign the Emancipation Proclamation, but that didn’t make him â€Å"the Great Emancipator.† In the end, the South was defeated, slavery was dissolved, and the United States of America lived, but President Abraham Lincoln was inaccurately labelled as the hero. While in office, Abraham Lincoln’s main objective was to re-unite the North and the South, which had seceded. Although many believed the Civil war was started to free slaves, it was mainly started so the South would become part of the Union again. If Lincoln did nothing, the Union would be permanently severed, the war was to save the Union (1). He would do anything to save the Union. In a letter in 1862, he proclaimed that everything he did with slavery and the Blacks, he did because he believed it would help save the Union (2). He lead the population to believe that the Civil war was all about the freedom of slaves. Lincoln just figured that the South would back down if there was the threat of freeing slaves (3). Abraham Lincoln could have cared less about the freedom of slaves, his goal was to get the confederacy to re-unite with the Union. Abraham Lincoln felt that African-Americans were inferior to white people. Lincoln stated the there was a distinguishing difference between white people and African-Americans in general. In the Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Lincoln presented his views on how Blacks are not equal in colour and moral or intellectual endowment (4). He often stated the African-Americans were not equal in social or political aspects. He stated his opposition to Blacks becoming voters, jurors, office holders, or intermarrying with white people (5). Lincoln felt that the Republicans were wrong in thinking the  Declaration of Independence included all men. He felt it didn’t include Blacks, therefore stating that Blacks aren’t people (6). Abraham Lincoln believed that whites were superior to African-Americans, thus they were not treated equally. Lincoln wanted to please the majority of the population, not the African-Americans he was freeing. One of Lincoln’s concerns was to keep slavery out of the territories. He wanted to preserve that land for poor white people in North and in Europe, who wanted cheap land (7). He proceeded to make a personal strategy to benefit some states. The gradual, compensated emancipation provided financial aid to any state which took that approved that idea (8). Lincoln also had ideas that he thought the bulk of the population would approve of. He persuaded a large group of Blacks to set up colonies in Panama, Haiti and Liberia (9). President Lincoln didn’t care about the slaves and their reactions and feelings towards his actions, he was playing politics and pleasing his people. The Emancipation Proclamation was signed by Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, ensuring the freedom of slaves. He issued it so that all slaves in the confederate, controlled by South, would be free (10). Blacks should have the right of life, liberty, and the pursuits of happiness (11). The Emancipation Proclamation was the first law about freeing slaves that was written down on paper. Lincoln had always verbally stated his ideas on how to free slaves, this was the first idea in ink (12). The slaves had something to finally look forward to in their lives. The Civil War filled them with high hopes for freedom and prosperity (13). Abraham Lincoln took the steps needed to encourage the possibility of freedom of slaves through the Emancipation Proclamation. However, even thought the Emancipation Proclamation was endorsed, it didn’t make him â€Å"the Great Emancipator.† Blacks within the confederacy were still slaves. The Emancipation Proclamation would not come into action for three months after it was signed (14). He only signed it as a bribe towards the South to save the Union. He confirmed that the would do anything to saved the Union, â€Å"What I do about slavery, and the coloured race, I do because I  believe it helps save the Union.† (15). He didn’t have the authoritative power to just go ahead and free the slaves. The Congress was the only group that had the power to pass and make the Emancipation Proclamation into a legitimate law (16). Lincoln’s actions may have gave hope to slaves, but it was false hope, therefore just by signing the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t make him â€Å"the Great Emancipator.† Abraham Lincoln was not â€Å"the Great Emancipator.† Throughout his time in office, he worked harder trying to re-unite the Union, rather than free the slaves. He felt that white people were superior to African-Americans and ‘played politics’ in the sense that he wanted to please the majority of the people rather than the blacks he was supposedly freeing. Lincoln did however sign the Emancipation Proclamation, ensuring the slaves in the South would become free, but it gave slaves false hope and didn’t make him â€Å"the Great Emancipator.† Lincoln may have been named the hero for the work he did in uniting the Union, but not with freeing slaves. Although I believe that President Lincoln was not â€Å"the Great Emancipator,† he was the man who rose to presidency to take on the roll of bringing the Union back together. Also, even though he didn’t actually free the slaves, eventually they were free through the steps he started to make. I think the moral of this story is just that â€Å"its better late than never† and that you should take a stand in what you believe because it could possibility turn out for the best in the future.

Free Essays on The Destination

The Destination Response: â€Å"The Destination† is a story about a man named Chen Xin, who has decided to go out to the countryside so that his weaker brother would not have to suffer and toil with being away from home. Chen Xin’s elder brother is the one who should have gone to the countryside to be a student but he was weak, now he has a wife and a son named Nannan, they all live with Chen Xin’s mother and her youngest son. Chen is desperate to get home from the decade of being away from home and the lack of family. His memories of home are everything he desires in life. Once he is home, he realizes that reality is not as precious as his sweet memories, which are sugarcoated with the passing of time. The slow realization of his undesirable place in reality makes the story a bit ironic. With a basic understanding of human nature, it is simple to see the mindset that is presented by Chen, and you will come to understand the pressures that are placed upon him by the sense of happin ess that he feels when he sacrifices his own wants for the betterment of his family, the guilt when he is not satisfied by his own reality, and the inability to realize his own destination will never be reached. With a need for the past, the present becomes a mission to achieve the desired outcome for the future. This desire is stated by Chen’s, â€Å"longing for the past the years, and ache that had affected his sleep and appetite, had come to an end. But it had given him a goal to fight for. Now he was at a loss and felt empty† (Anyi 126). This realization that he was let down by his life is the only thing that gives him the power and hope for a brighter future. A sense of purpose gives Chen a drive to find his destination and the power to accept that his place in society now is not his destination. Once our destiny is fulfilled we will only have darkness and despair to look foreword to. With the completion of our destiny we will have r... Free Essays on The Destination Free Essays on The Destination The Destination Response: â€Å"The Destination† is a story about a man named Chen Xin, who has decided to go out to the countryside so that his weaker brother would not have to suffer and toil with being away from home. Chen Xin’s elder brother is the one who should have gone to the countryside to be a student but he was weak, now he has a wife and a son named Nannan, they all live with Chen Xin’s mother and her youngest son. Chen is desperate to get home from the decade of being away from home and the lack of family. His memories of home are everything he desires in life. Once he is home, he realizes that reality is not as precious as his sweet memories, which are sugarcoated with the passing of time. The slow realization of his undesirable place in reality makes the story a bit ironic. With a basic understanding of human nature, it is simple to see the mindset that is presented by Chen, and you will come to understand the pressures that are placed upon him by the sense of happin ess that he feels when he sacrifices his own wants for the betterment of his family, the guilt when he is not satisfied by his own reality, and the inability to realize his own destination will never be reached. With a need for the past, the present becomes a mission to achieve the desired outcome for the future. This desire is stated by Chen’s, â€Å"longing for the past the years, and ache that had affected his sleep and appetite, had come to an end. But it had given him a goal to fight for. Now he was at a loss and felt empty† (Anyi 126). This realization that he was let down by his life is the only thing that gives him the power and hope for a brighter future. A sense of purpose gives Chen a drive to find his destination and the power to accept that his place in society now is not his destination. Once our destiny is fulfilled we will only have darkness and despair to look foreword to. With the completion of our destiny we will have r...

Amazon Strategic Analysis Essays

Amazon Strategic Analysis Essays Amazon Strategic Analysis Essay Amazon Strategic Analysis Essay The overview of Amazon. com Amazon. com is an e-commerce company from America. The company was found by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and was one of the first major companies to sell goods on the Internet. It began as a solely online bookstore. With years of successful development its main business diversified into many other products and services in a wide range. Today Amazon. com has become one of the biggest online retailers and web services provider in the world. The chart below shows the financial performance of Amazon in recent years.From 2007 to 2011, the revenue increased dramatically in contrast with the net income. According the latest data revealed, by the end of 2012, Amazon’s revenue was over 61 billion US dollars. Under the strategy of internalization Amazon. com has developed separate websites for Canada, UK, Germany, France, China and so on. It also has many customer service centers and fulfillment warehouses in many countries. Figure 1 [pic] Source from: http://healthcare. globaldata. com/expertinsightdetails. aspx? prid=985 This report is divided into a few sections.The first section is to analyze Amazon’s strategic position through a deep research of its external environment. In this section, approaches like PESTLE and Porter’s Five Force Model are deployed to find out Amazon’s competitive environment. The second section is to investigate the internal environment of the company. The SWOT analysis tool will be used to present a clear picture of the company and its performance. The third section introduces the business model of Amazon and shows how the company performed in recent years and gets the strategic position of the company.In the last section, all these analysis above are used to evaluate the suitability of Amazon’s corporate strategy, some real business cases and literature reviews are involved to get best criteria. The main purpose of this report is construct a link between the business environment and the strategy employed. To avoid the confusions brought from multiple markets and segments, in this report the strategy we analyzed will be in a corporate level. Considering the access to information and case timeliness, the time frame will be focus on 2007 to 2012. 1. 2 Amazon’s business model and primary businessAs the pioneer on the Internet and online retailer, Amazon faced large potential opportunities and rapidly growing markets. In the beginning of 21 century, Amazon joined the booming of Internet industry with other great organizations like Google and Yahoo and launched to a rapidly expanding. Benefits from upsurge of internet sector stocks, Amazon raised a large amount of cash from share market and this ensured its expansion over the world. In addition, compared to traditional retailing, Amazon’s business model had clear competitive advantages, such as more reasonable price, more purchase convenience and larger variety of products.Furthermore, Amazon also clearly secured the first-mover advantage. It has best reputation on the book retailing, mature logistic and supply chain, and large database and so on. In addition, Amazon’s business model was varying diversified due to its media channels; it could easily expand its product ranges to other products. The amazon. com business model assumes that the expanding number of Internet users will create a new mass market with value low prices and convenience. And they will shop for a large number of their needs using the computer. By removing the overheads of a traditional bricks-and-mortar store amazon. om is able to reduce the costing and so charge customers at lower prices. Amazon has three main distinct businesses: Amazon retail; Amazon marketplace and Amazon web services (Edwards, Lisa, 2013). Amazon retail started from online bookstore and then expanded to many other products like electronics. Amazon marketplace is a third-party selling platform which allows individuals to sell goods and services online. Moreover, this online marketplace also has some other functions like fulfillment and Amazon check out, which is similar with the PayPal. Amazon web service is an integration of leveraged technology developed by Amazon.They are mainly based on its online retail platform and offer customers web services like Amazon Cloudwatch and Amazon CloudFront. In the environment analysis (PESTLE and Porter’s Five Forces) we mainly focus on Amazon retail business. Strategic position of Amazon The external environment is referred as the macro-environment. This includes the broad environmental factors which affects organizations at various levels. It is important to consider the potential impact of the external factors on the individual organizations (Johnsonet al, 2006, P65).To have a deeply understanding on Amazon’s strategic position, we firstly analyze its external environment of the company through the PESTEL model. Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon, his expectation to his company is not just profits. According to the mission statement of the group, customer centric and technological innovation seems to be the priorities of his business. Amazon desires to be Earth’s most customer centric company. And this determines that Amazon’s strategic position will be more concentrate on the growth of the group and enable it to be a great enterprise rather than a money maker. . 1 PESTLE analysis PESTEL analysis is used to identify how future trends in the political, economical, social, technological environments might influence an organization (Johnsonet al, P65). Those drivers of change in these aspects will be found out and their impacts on more than the industry will be identified. Political factors: Promotions from government are essential to the Internet industry. From 21 century, the USA government started high investment to the national infrastructures and this leads to the boom of the development of Internet industry over the world.This stimulates the number of personal computers and connection with networks globally. More and more people around the world today have opportunities to shopping on the internet and spend hours of their daily time on it. The construction of network and increasing transportation between countries means that a consumer from UK could choose purchase goods from an American online retailer. The telecom liberalization promotes faster and better access for national users to websites in other countries. And with the spread of the construction of Internet, more and more consumers from developing countries have chances to browse the Amazon. om and purchase on it. This has positive impacts on Amazon’s globalization and international expansion. However, restrictive policies in some countries may limit the operation of the Amazon especially in international expansion. For example, Google. com is banned in China since governmental decision arguing that it threats the community and national market with inappropriate content. Some region protective polices also pose obstacles for Amazon in its international expansion. These problems need been taken consideration in Amazon’s globalization strategy and should been avoided.Economic factors One significant benefit brought from the economy development is the increasing disposable income in recent decades. Even though the world economy was attacked by the financial crisis and downturn, the developing countries, mainly China and India, provide more potential and real purchasing power for the e-retailing industry. Amazon. com had expanded its business into these two countries with insufficient attention. The strategy direction under this trend is recommended that to put more attention for those growing markets and to adjust their marketing strategies.The fluctuant interest rate is another factor effecting Amazon’s business and profits. Today the credit card use is more and more popular and more acceptable by e-retailing merchants. Meanwhile the installment is welcome to those consumers who have less cash. When consumers decide to pay in installment, they usually have to pay extra fees in a fixed interest rate which refer to the current bank rate. Therefore the changing interest rate could obviously influence consumers’ outcome and profits of merchants. For Amazon, the expectation of the future interest rate is an important tool in its products pricing and payment scheme.Exchange rate Since Amazon is a US-based company, if the U. S. dollar weakens against foreign currencies, transactions conducted in foreign currency denominations will increase and inflate revenues, operating expenses, and net income. Moreover, one of Amazon’s corporate strategies are profit from lower pricing and large volume, which means the fluctuation of exchange rate could extremely influence Amazon’s pricing management. Social-cultural factors Figure 2 [pic] Source: gesterling. wordpress. com. From: http://webscience. org/web-observatory/about/tracking-explosive-growth/Data from Webscience. org indicates that growth of internet from 2004, the users internet increased dramatically by over 2 billion and this period is called social web stage. The social web media users including Facebook and Twitters account large amount of the population. This creates a new channel for promotion. It is good news for Amazon to expand their business and develop related marketing promotion through this new channel. Collaborations with these new social web like facebook and twitter means seizing huge potential customers and wider promotion chain.This part will be more detailed introduced in later SWOT analysis sector. Other cultural factors which play significant effects on Amazon’s operation is the habits of shopping online for public. In past, e-business sounds like a high-tech thing and is far away from public consumers. In 1996, the marketing and internet teams from IBM coined the term e-business and defined it as the application of information and communication technologies (ICT) in support of all the activities of business. At beginning this kind of business activities are acceptable in high-tech industries and more popular between companies.With the development of internet and population of personal computer use, today all sectors especially individuals have been the main users in this business activities. The B2C or C2C business models could be seen everywhere in today’s online retailing and the awareness of shopping online is common and usual in our daily lives. Technological factors As mentioned before, from 1990s, the information evolution stimulated the science boom in the internet industry and this changed the communication forms of human beings. There is an increase in broadcasting, information and telecommunication technologies for internet access.Individuals today are more easy to receive information through Internet and they also search things and information on the web. This provides Amazon initials to set up a platform to carry out their business and web services. In addition, the trend of computerized office enables those big groups to seek web services from high-tech companies like IBM and Cisco. Amazon has first move advantages in this area. In 2002, Amazon launched Amazon Web Service (AWC) which provides programmatic access to latent features on its website. The demands of this kind of service help Amazon expand its business from traditional e-retailer to a wider market.And this part will be presented in later SWOT analysis. Environmental factors Power resource shortage It is well known that the global climate crisis has been a serious problem today and one of the most reasons for this problem is pollution from transportations like vehicle and bus. The lack of energy power like petrol and diesel also restricts people’s daily outdoor activities in a certain range. And these problems play positive effects on the e-retailing industry since customers can do purchasing before a computer. They do not need to drive miles to a super market in the town center.The convenience and energy saving makes certain influences when consumers doing a weekend purchasing. Customers are more concerned about whether their orders could arrive safely and timely. Therefore it is important for Amazon to improved their fulfillment center and logistic channel to provide best customer satisfaction and to reinforce their leadership in this industry. Legal factors There is no uniform regulations governing e-commerce in USA and UK but some related regulations like Data Protection Act in UK and Federal Trade Commission in USA may impact potential risk in Amazon’s operations, especially in its AWC web services.The mass surveillance scandal occurred in 2013 which is leaded by CIA and NSA in America. Although this kind of secret surveillance programs are always away from public eyes those international internet companies like Google could be involved in such sensitive cases. Amazon needs be aware of this kind of cases and at least keeps out from an affair. In addition, bad news revealed months before is that for Amazon in its China market is that the Chinese government may take actions to charge e-retailers taxes for their online transactions. China government had no clear tax payment act against the online purchase before.This will obviously influence those e-retailers in China market since they have to pay extra money if they still want a competitive pricing. For Amazon, it has to change its overall marketing strategy to prepare the future. Summary of PESTEL The analysis of PESTLE indicates an increasing and attractive market to be exploited by Amazon. The key drivers of changes enable Amazon to reposition its strategy in different levels. The increasing number of computer users means huge potential customers of its e-retailer business. The use of internet as a social networking channel has created new opportunities to be exploited.The global nature of Amazon’s activities also suggests that strategies developed should comply with the different legal obligations internationally. The possible regulations acted by Chinese government means Amazon has to change marketing strategies in its penetration to this huge market. 2. 2 Industry and competitive environment analysis - Porter’s Five Forces Model In this section, the operating environment will be taken a closer look at the e-retailer industry, to be more specific, the online bookstore and electronics industry which Amazon is mainly involved.The analysis is based on Michael Porter’s (1980) Five-Force model. Porter’s five forces consist of entry, threat of substitution, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers and rivalry among current competitors. These five forces jointly determine the intensity of competition within the industry and in turn help firms to set their strategies. We will use the proposed Porter’s five forces model to the state of competition on the e-retailing industry analysis in order to understand the the intensity of competition. Threat of new entrantThreat of new entrants is low. It would be virtually impossible for a new company to reach the magnitude of inventory and status that Amazon. com maintains. Amazon. com has been in the internet marketplace for about thirteen years now- it would be extremely difficult for a start-up company in the industry to raise enough capital to even compete with Amazon. com on a lower level. Figure 3 [pic] Source: gesterling. wordpress. com Although the cost to set up a new online bookstore is not high and more and more big traditional merchants try to enter this market today.To following the trend of shopping online, even those supermarkets like Tesco could set up a similar website to compete with Amazon. However, Amazon has been in the internet marketplace for more than thirteen years and it has extremely built its first move advantages. Few competitors could raise enough capital to even compete with Amazon in a high level. Amazon also built its brand recognition in American and UK markets. Brand Recognition and customer loyalty may also make it difficult for a new entrant to compete.The mature technology platform, long tested web structure, mature supply chain and distribution chain, all of these construct barriers for new entrants to compete with Amazon (Harry M; Cristina L, 2009) . However, in some countries Amazon does not have its first move advantages. For example, in China the Dangdang. com is the first online bookstore and Taobao. com is the biggest online retailer. Amazon is late to enter this big market and lost its competitive advantages. So it is high threats from new entrants for Amazon in Chinese market and other countries which Amazon has not entered in early. Bargaining power of buyersThe bargaining power of buyers is relatively high. Due to thousands of e-retailers existing in the internet, Amazon’s customers have options to compare and choose which one is better. The price of books and electronic products today is transparent on the web. It means the cheaper price you offer, the more preferable customers you own. Fortunately since Amazon does not operate its physical retailers, it has lowered overheads cost and could pass these savings along to customers in the form of lower prices. Moreover, the quality of products is another important factor to affect customers’ purchasing.Thanks to the long-tested operations, Amazon enjoys a better reputation and good recognition in the online book retailing. When sometimes the Amazon’s price is equal to or even higher than other retailers, customer may choose Amazon in consideration of its better reputation. Bargaining power of supplier Amazon. com Inc 2011 Annual report acknowledges the impact the supplier possess, since the company does not have long-term arrangements with most of its suppliers to guarantee availability of merchandise or services. Bargaining power of supplier is relatively high in their electronic business sector.Amazons Low Cost strategy has made it difficult for it to buy electronic products in lower prices from distributors since today more and more brands have set up their own direct sale store online. Threat of product substitute With the population of mobile and high integration of personal terminal devices, customers receive information more easily; this is not a good news for the book sale on Amazon’s online bookstore. Threats from iTunes and iBook also effect e-books and CD/DVD sales in the Kindles. Moreover, physical bookstores have an established brand in their brick and mortar business.Customers may not be satisfied with the shopping experience. In addition, with the technology developing, people’s reading habit may get changed and this could certainly influence Amazon’s traditional book sales. Intensity of competitors Resulted from Amazon’s diversification strategy, its products portfolio is covering many industries like books, electronics and other goods. Therefore Amazon faces high rivalry from competitors in different industries. In the electronic products sector, Amazon does not enjoy a success in the market. The serious problem of privacy leads Amazon’s CD and DVD products’ poor sales.With more and more brands set up their own direct-sale store on the internet, those digital products like PC and camera in Amazon can not keep its price advantage. Figure 4 [pic] Source: gigaom. com , from: http://gigaom. com/2010/09/24/e-book-numbers-hint-at-amazon-domination/ Amazon owns unique competitive advantages in its online bookstore markets especially in the e-book segment. In this sector, Kindle, an electronic reading device developed by Amazon needs to be analyzed. This device was unveiled in 2007 and it enabled customers to download book, magazine, newspaper and blogs.There are over 90 thousand books available in the Kindle in the beginning. By 2008 Kindle became a top selling product in Amazon’s electronic products and over 190 thousand books are available (Gary J. Stockport, 2009). The chart above shows the market share of Kindle in e-book segment. Kindle built a tight connections between readers and Amazon and it provides more potential customers for Amazon retailer. Kindle has been an important tool for Amazon reinforcing its leader position in the online bookstore. 2. 3 Internal environment analysis- SWOT Strengths Cost leadership strategy. Amazon has mature systems to control its cost and o deliver customers lower prices with better quality than competitors do. No overhead cost of physical retailer and high bargaining power to suppliers enables Amazon to maintain price advantages against competitors. Efficient logistics and distribution. Amazon has a number of fulfillment warehouses in each market it operates. The warehouses are geographically spread in each country so the goods could be dispatched faster and with lower cost. Advanced technology. Amazon invests lot of money in technology development including long tested platform and superior web services for customers. Weaknesses No physical store.Although this could brings less cost, no physical store may caused Amazon to lose a number of customers who prefer doing shopping in physical stores. The large budget on RD program and platform running. It needs a lot of money to keep the running of Amazon’s platform. And some of high technology results can not achieve to be profitable in the short term. Opportunities Amazon marketplace payment system. The payment system provides Amazon a fixed financial tool and cash to expand its business. Access to more brands and products. Amazon could benefit from a wide range of products and brands through its marketplace and online retailer platform.Increasing services and product portfolio through acquisitions. Amazon expands its business through acquisitions to other industries. The skills and business acquired from alliance help Amazon reach a diversification goal. The mature logistics and distribution channel. The construction of its own logistics and distribution channels not only builds an efficient shipping but also provides opportunities to easier access to other industries. Rise of social web. The sharply rise of social web like Facebook and Twitter provides Amazon a more efficient media channel to its market promotion. Threats Online transaction fraud.Amazon stores its online shoppers’ personal information, such as bank account details, which might lead to payment fraud. And the Amazon marketplace business could also be maliciously used by some merchants. Negative actions from governments. Governments may set up actions to charge tax for e-retailer merchants, for example in Chinese market. And the e-retailer platform may be used to tax avoidance by some users. Suitability of Amazon’s corporate strategies In this section, the strategic position based on Amazon’s business environment analysis will be deployed to evaluate the suitability of Amazon’s strategy in corporate level.To make objective and rational judgment, some Amazon’s corporate strategies which reflected in its particular business activities will be identified. Corporate-level strategy is concerned with the overall purpose and scope of an organization and how value will be added to the different parts of the organization (Jim Riley, 2011). It means corporate strategies are used to plan the long-term direction for the organization as a whole; it deals with capabilities including financial capital, human resources and RD sources. Amazon states its mission as to be Earth’s most customer centric company.In this section, three main corporate strategies will be described and their suitablilties based on strategic positions will evaluated. If not suitable, some recommendations will be developed. 3. 1 Growth through lower cost structure and lower prices. In a letter to customers Jeff Bezos (CEO and founder of Amazon) states his corporate goals: There are two types of companies: those that work hard to charge customers more and those that work hard to charge customers less. Both approaches can work. We are firmly in the second camp. Deliver best value to customers is one of the core strategies of Amazon to make it success.Figure 5 [pic] Source: www. amazon. co. uk , from: amazon. co. uk/b? ie=UTF8node=2610308031 The figure above shows Amazon’s core strategy and its business model. The lower prices and better services could be the best feedback to customers and these welfares have to be based on its lower cost structure. Amazon is well known as the cost leadership in the industry and it certainly delivers customers lower price and better service. The goal of cost leadership strategy is to produce products and services with a lower cost than the competitors do.It seems like only a company possessing customer centric could survive in today’s marketing orientation environment in any cases. To reach customers satisfaction, Amazon not only provides lower prices but also pushes off serious of promotion. Kindle is good example welfare bringing benefits to customers. As introduced in the Five Forces analysis before, Kindle brings convenience and benefits for readers around the world and profits Amazon by attracting numbers of potential customers. Another successful tool developed by Amazon is Prime.A brief introduction of Prime is: Paying $79 annually, customers get unlimited movie and TV streaming, one free borrowed e-book per month, and automatic two-day shipping on nearly everything you buy (Amazon. com, 2008). At the beginning, Amazon provided free Prime promotion when purchasing of the company’s bestselling Kindle Fire. And this made the Prime members dramatically increase to 10 million by 2012 (Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP). Prime created a $79 switch costs for customers if they chose to shop elsewhere. Reports from CIRP (2012) also found that, thosePrime members annually spent more than twice as much on average ($1,224) than non-Prime customers ($505). Adding in the $79 membership fee, Prime members brought nearly $800 more in sales per customer to Amazon. And adding cost of those benefits like unlimited movie and TV streaming, Prime members brought far more $79 profits to Amazon and they also benefited from this Prime project. It is a win-win situation for both Amazon and customers. Most Amazon’s promotions are effective and really bring customers benefits. However sometimes wrong forms of promotion could negatively impact a company’s marketing strategy.As analyzed in the PESTLE sector, in some countries where Amazon is late to enter, Amazon’s lower price strategy is not suitable for these markets. Since Amazon does not have its own physical store, it is difficult for Amazon to compete with those local brands. The excessive price strategy might cause a price war, which may result in a cut-throat competition. If Amazon does not have the first move advantage in an international expansion, the better pricing strategy is not simply lower than its competitors. Since Amazon is an international organization over the world, it is easily affected by the fluctuation of the exchange rate.In the PESTLE analysis, it analyses the fluctuation of exchange rate could make Amazon difficult to manage its pricing strategy. The simple lower price strategy is not suitable for today’s changing economic environment and Amazon has to engage for a balance between lower prices and profits in consideration of marketing environment. 3. 2 Technological innovation strategies Figure 6 [pic] Source: www. atkearney. com From: atkearney. com/paper/-/asset_publisher/dVxv4Hz2h8bS/content/finding-what-every-ict-services-provider-craves-healthy-profits/1019 [pic] Source: William Blair; The Economist.From: economist. com/node/21530980/print When Bezos was asked by the question what is the main difference between conventional retail and his business, the answer was the most important thing in retail is location and in his business is technology’. Amazon believed technology could help to offer better customer experience, to improve efficiency, to ultimately lower operating costs and enables the company to offer lower prices to customers. And they did continually invest on the technology innovation. From 2007 to 2009, it spent a number of major technological achievements on Kindle and AWC development.The figure 6 indirectly indicates the increasing spend in IT industry. For Internet companies, advanced technology is the core competitiveness. In the previous PESTLE analysis, Amazon’s strategic position on the technological factor determines that it can not fall behind those competitors like Google and Apple in the intensive competitive environment. Falling behind means you have to be eliminated, an old adage that said. Science and technology constitutes a primary productive force in 21 century, especially for those internet companies (Teece, David J, 2010).The most disruptive technological innovations by Amazon could be the Amazon Web Service (AWC). One of the most important products in AWC is Amazon’s cloud. And a number of big technology companies including Google and IBM have already embraced the cloud computing revolution. However, Amazon is commonly regarded as being the most popular and more commercialized than any of its competitor’s offerings (Gary J. Stockport, 2009). In a recent research, Barb Darrow (2013) suggests that Amazon’s cloud is bigger, more profitable than we think. Figure 7 [pic] From: slashgear. om/apple-icloud-vs-google-music-beta-vs-amazon-cloud-drive-07157822/ Figure 7 shows the total cloud market share is estimated to be $820 billion in 2014 and this number will steady increase in future. Figure 8 indicates that the gross profit of AWS could be $14. 8 billion in 2012, which accounts for a large proportion in Amazon’s overall profits. AWC is not only a strategic weapon that gives Amazon competitive advantages but also creates real income for the group. Good performance of Amazon’s technological achievement ensures its suitability in its technological innovation strategy. Figure 8 pic] From:http://seekingalpha. com/article/964201-amazons-stock-price-is-benefiting-from-irrational-exuberance 3. 3 Diversification and Marketing development strategies Amazon engages to offer customers all goods and services to meet their demands. Reviewing Amazon’s history, it started from an online bookseller to a diversified international organization and has been the largest e-retailer on the Internet today. The development of this great company is accompanied by the diversification of its product line and the strategy of diversification has been a core driver of its future directions.In this section, three types of diversification strategy of Amazon will be analyzed and evaluated in considering its strategic positions. There are millions of items sold in Amazon category ranging from books, electronics and so on. According to the PESTLE analysis and Five Forces Model, the complete retail goods line not only attracts millions of customers every year but also provides Amazon competitive advantages in a intensive rivalry. Research from Tommy D (2009) suggests that customer prefer to choose e-retailer that could provide more items since its convenience and reliability.In addition, the increasing products of books and video reinforce Amazon’s leader position in the online bookstore market and build brand recognition and customers loyalty. With the increasing numbers of brands sales in Amazon retail, it is easier for Amazon’s access more brands and this could increases its bargaining power against supplier, which means lower cost and lower prices for customers. Despite from Amazon retail, the diversification strategies are implemented in Amazon’s other related industries, for example, the fulfillment warehousing and payment system. The fulfillment and warehousing help Amazon construct ts complete logistics and distribution channel. The development of Amazon’s warehousing locations makes it easier to access to the express industry, which is an opportunity to enter other industries (Yogeshn, 2010). The payment system of Amazon Marketplace and Amazon retail could be a powerful financial tool which provides not only sustainable cash but also other hidden benefits. It is suggested that Amazon should pay more attention on its payment system. Its main competitor in US market, e-bay, developed pay-pal as a important payment tool in American customers’ daily purchasing activities.To achieve its diversification strategy, Amazon also did a lot of acquisitions and alliances. Over the 2007 to early 2009 period, strategically aligned acquisitions and alliances remained a key way for Amazon to pursue technology development. Through new skills and expertise from acquisitions, Amaz

Compare And Contrast The Political Agendas Of Putin And Ahmadinejad Term Paper

Compare And Contrast The Political Agendas Of Putin And Ahmadinejad - Term Paper Example They are geared towards ensuring that the lives of their ordinary citizens are completely transformed economically as well as politically. Moreover, they are completely opposed to the west’s dominance over the global affairs. They view this dominance as primarily geared towards protecting the interests of the west at the expense of other world countries. It is in the light of the feeling that they all want to salvage their countries from this influence. They intend to achieve this by building a strong economy base in the country. They are of the opinion that a strong economy is not likely to be subjected to manipulation. Their political agenda Putin’s political agenda is demonstrated in a number of moves that are intended to reduce uncertainty as who will contest the presidency of Russia the moment he will step down. He will go on to control the country’s election even on finishing his term which is seen as a good move because it will foster political stability a nd reduce political tensions. Putin adopted a strategy that was called the zero option. This was geared towards prohibition on the redistribution of property as well as prohibition of any kind of prosecution of those perceived to have taken part in the privatization. Putin believed that what posed the greatest threat to Russia’s strategic stability was the American unilateralism. He wanted an assurance that United States would always act in a multi lateral fashion as opposed to its usual ways of pursuing its own national interest and in the process interfere with national interests of other countries Russia included. Putin was elected the Russian president in January 2000. His pledge was that he would bring stability and order in Russia as well as initiate a process that would restore Russia to its initial greatness. His political agenda was to unify the Russian Society, bring stability to the Russian economy as well as strengthen the country. He wanted to ensure a calm inter national environment which he viewed as the key to Russia’s goal of rebuilding. Putin made impression in the process of restoring the country’s stability domestically through a variety of methods. His agenda was to pursue a program based on careful as well as consistent economic and administrative reforms. These changes were premised on; quashing any kind of political opposition as well as establishing the central government’s authority. To achieve this he had to put in place a stable economic platform. This is why the country’s GDP continued to grow, enabling Russia to pay for its budget being the first Soviet Union country to be able to do so. Before he was elected Ahmadinejad was a very little known political figure. Since his election in 2005 he has made notable attempts to revive the populist policies that characterize The Islamic Revolution in earlier days. This is characterized by his political style of confrontation. His authoritarianism coupled w ith the many incendiary comments that he made against the United States as well as Israel. These remarks have made him a figure viewed as very controversial. Ahmadinejad’ administration is very vocal in its attempt at promoting an agenda that is Pan-Islamic as well as driving the influence of Iran in regional matters. As a result he has received dominance over western media as one of the up-coming leader from the developing world and keen on challenging global order that is being led by America. His ideals and rhetoric are purely populist. They

Bussines and Society ( 2 questions) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Bussines and Society ( 2 questions) - Essay Example There are so many questions that filled my mind just by looking at the website of this artwork, and it made me excited about seeing the work of art for myself. According to the website, going to the Tate Modern Museum, where the artwork was actually located, can be by train, by bike, by bus, by cab, or even by coach. Located at Tate Modern Bankside, London SE1 9TG, the place is quite new for me. What made me interested about this area is that it is located in the middle of the city, where the impression of going to an urban concrete jungle is more dominant, rather than going to the museum. For this journey, I actually chose to go by the bus. This is because of the fact that by using the bus, you can see the sights around the city as you go along the way. In addition, you can also notice the types of the passengers using it (with the bus being a public transport), and notice where they are going. In this case, of course, I have seen that different people ride and take off at random po ints, most of them going to work or school. This scene made me remember the sunflower seeds, even though I have only seen it through the website, because I thought that we people are like those sunflower seeds in that museum: we may be unique in our own ways, but we are all located in a single space, and that we all go through our own business. In going to the museum, I actually used Route 344, which actually stops on Southwark Bridge Road. I used this Route because I thought that this was actually the shortest possible route; with the taking off point just a few minutes’ walk from the Bankside, where Tate Modern is located. It is a good thing for me to see that Tate Modern is actually located along a river, which gives me a sense of break from the monotonous urban concrete jungle which is an everyday experience in the London metropolis. This also served to remind me that London is not all about business and industries, but there are also valuable places where one can see bea utiful works of art. One of the major influences of my journey to my experience on the exhibit was a reflection upon China products, in relation to individuality (which was also provided when I visited the website). Recently, there has actually been a scandal wherein Chinese products are somewhat defective and below quality standards, yet they are actually threatening the world’s economy due to the flooding of their cheap products unto the western market. In this scandal, it can actually be remembered that the featured Chinese products where actually harmful to use, because of the dangerous chemical substances that where present within these products. As emphasized by mainstream corporate media, and backed by the west’s powerful multinational corporations, they accused that all of China’s products that were being exported to the world market where of substandard quality, and that aside from the fact that it poses serious health risks to consumers worldwide, it a lso poses a major threat to the world economy, given that this is actually a form of unfair competition on the supposed to be fair free market, along the line of trade liberalization. However, this work of art by Ai Weiwei just stood in contrast to such