Illegal Immigration in America

Hendry Miranda Professor Pauline Rodock English 1301 October 10, 2012 Illegal Immigration in America America has always been a country of immigrants. Ever since the birth of this nation, waves of immigrants have come here in search of a happier life. America is known all over the world as a place where people can be free in so many different ways, a place where prosperity is possible for those who work hard and want a better life for their offspring. The dilemma is though, many of those pursuing the â€Å"American Dream† come here illegally, and thus breaking the laws of the very same country they want to live in, right from the beginning.This research exposes some facts about the so heated debate of illegal immigration in America. In recent years America has experienced a record of illegal immigration without precedents. According to the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Service) there are two classes of illegal immigrants. First class corresponds to â€Å"ove r-stayers†, and this refers to those people who at some point legally entered the United States under any kind of visa, and simply stayed once that document expired.Most of this â€Å"over-stayers† are foreigners who came to the United States with student visas, or who came here with tourist/business visas. Even though once they over stay they are considered illegal immigrants, the government has an idea of who those people are because these kind of immigrants need to go through extensive filters in the American embassies of their country in order to get an American visa. On the other hand, the USCIS also has the Illegal Alien classification. These are the people who enter the United States without any kind of legal registry or document.The vast majority of these illegal aliens enter the United States through the Mexican border. Also, most of these immigrants are of Hispanic origins, specifically Mexicans. â€Å"Between now and 2020, the Hispanic population will increa se by 77%, compared to a 69% for Asians, 32% for African Americans, 26% for Native Americans, and 1% for non-Hispanic whites, according to the Alliance for Excellent Education. As a result, by 2020 the nation’s adult population, ages 25 to 64, will be 63 percent white, 17 percent Hispanic, 13 percent African American, 6 percent Asian, and about 1% native American† highlighted in Hardy, page 5). This illegal immigration issue has am impact in every aspect of the American way of life. Many will say and prove that the illegal immigration problem is out of control. It is estimated that more than 20 million people live illegally in the United States. Those who are pro illegal immigration insist that is wrong to label these people as â€Å"criminals† since their only â€Å"crime† is to come to America in search of better opportunities, in search of what for any reason they cannot have in their homeland.They claim that they come here to work, â€Å"to do the job s most American will not do†. Many of these groups believe that amnesty should be granted to those who meet some basic requirements, such as living in the United States continuously for more than 7 years, not having a criminal record etc. Illegal immigration groups have deep roots in many places in America and they have supporter that will do anything in order to protect the â€Å"basic rights† of the individuals that find themselves in this dilemma.A very good example of this, are the so called Sanctuary Cities: â€Å"In the United States, a number of cities in the southwest have declared themselves cities of refugee or asylum for undocumented immigrants. In April 2006, for example, Oakland, California city officials declared that would no longer cooperate with federal officials in conducting raids to capture undocumented immigrants† (highlighted in Carlson, page 267). These cities actually facilitate the stay of illegal immigrants by providing free medical care , no checks for obtaining jobs, no checks for renting a home just to name a few.San Francisco is well known to be a major Sanctuary city for illegal immigrants. Many of the illegal immigrants also use the â€Å"Anchor Baby† phenomenon. Meaning they will have kids in American soil who have the right to citizenship, in the hopes that one day they will obtain citizenship too through their American-born kids. They take advantage of the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to any person born in American soil. This is an outdated law that, after the end of the American Civil War, granted citizenship to the newly freed African American slaves.Illegal immigrants do not pay income taxes but at the same time have access to all the benefits provided by the taxpayers. Also the school systems are overcrowded in many states, thanks to the increasing number of illegal immigrants. In many cases, being an illegal immigrant can actually benefit these people: â€Å"Texas was the first stat e to respond, passing legislation granting in-state tuition rates to illegal students in 2001. California followed later that year. Other states that have enacted such laws include Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Utah, and Washington† (highlighted in Gilroy, page 16).Many anti-amnesty groups explain that opposing the amnesty is not a racial issue, but a matter of doing what’s right. The United States of America is a country of law, and by entering illegally they’re already breaking the law, right from the beginning. It’s not being anti immigration, â€Å"legal† is the key word here. Granting citizenship to illegal alien would encourage more illegal immigration. Not only that, but it will be taken as an insult by all the legal immigrants who did the right thing and followed the rules of the game to be in the United States.Most legal immigrants spend a lot of time and effort in order to get here, in some cases having to pay thousands of dollars and having to wait years for that privilege. The dram act is another attempt by illegal-immigrant supporters to legalize their status. It basically would give a path to citizenship to illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children, brought by their parents and with no faults of their own. They would have to be under the age of 16, have finished High School, free of criminal records and willing to serve in the military for at least two years.While this might sound fair for the illegals, then again it is unfair for those who came here legally and many people see this as another invitation to come to this country illegally. It is true, there must be an immigration reform, and a solution must be found to deal with the millions of illegal immigrants currently in America. Until that happens, the government should do all in its power to stop this issue from becoming bigger. The borders need to be secured and the constitution amended so illegal aliens sto p taking advantage of the â€Å"anchor baby† tactic.America still is one if not the most multicultural country in the world, Works Cited Carlson, D. (2009). The Border Crossed Us: Education, Hospitality politics, and the Social Consturction of the â€Å"illegal immigrant†. Educational Theory, 59(3), 259-277. Gilroy, M. (2009). Battle Continues over In-State Tuition for Illegal immigrants. Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed For Quick Review, 74(8), 16-20. Hardy, L. (2007). Coping with Illegal immigrants in School. Education Digest: Essential Readings Condesnsed For Quick Review, 72(9), 4-6.

Defining Literature: Frankenstein vs. Young Goodman Brown

The entire semester defining what Literature is has being the course’s quest. Literature is always changing; its definition has developed and changed from time to time. To find an exact definition of what is literature, it is like looking for a needle in a haystack. There have been several attempts to decipher this puzzle, in â€Å"What Is an Author† written by Michael Foucault, he emphasizes on the idea that an author exists only as a function of a written work. The author's name holds considerable power and serves as an anchor for interpreting a text. And â€Å"On the Sublime† written by Longinus, the writer states that the sublime implies that man can, in emotions and in language, transcend the limits of the human condition. This research paper consists in identifying the elements of literature by comparing two major pieces of work. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley warns that with the advent of science, natural questioning is not only futile, but dangerous. In attempting to discover the mysteries of life, Frankenstein assumes that he can act as God. He disrupts the natural order, and chaos ensues. In â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†, Hawthorne explores the nature of imagination and reality in this mysterious story by allowing the reader to actively question the reality of the night's events. He combines a multitude of elements into it creating a sense of mystery. The short story follows Goodman Brown’s journey resulting in his loss of faith. Literature allows the reader to feel, experience, and inhabit a character or place. It goes beyond the scope of everyday fiction, reaches new insights and allows the writer to reason with the audience. In Frankenstein the monster exemplifies the sublime written by Longinus. Shelley's descriptions of the monster and his actions coincide with Longinus’s definitions and his categories of obscurity, power, terror, difficulty and vastness, each of which facilitate sublime experiences: â€Å"the sources of all the good in us are also the sources of all the bad† (Longinus, 51). Throughout the story the monster attempts to make connections with human beings. During his encounter with the old man, De Lacey, the monster hopes that his disturbing appearance will not be an obstacle to his desire to talk to the old blind man. Without his vision, De Lacey cannot perceive the monster through any means beyond conversation and that works in the monster's favor. De Lacey calls the monster: â€Å"my best and only benefactor† (Shelley, 137), clearly showing that blindness creates the distance between the terrible monster and the man. De Lacey delights in his discourse with the monster, and continues to until the others returned and saw the monster's physical appearance, showing disgust and horror towards him. The monster instills great terror in the human character he encounters, but at the same time evokes feelings of astonishment, empathy, and caring. Longinus’ concept is also showed in Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†. The deep dark forest that Goodman Brown enters on his nighttime journey sets the stage for the doubt that consumes his mind for the remainder of his life. However, despite this, the reader witnesses the real ramifications that the events have on Brown's life, which in turn leads them to question the very concepts of imagination and reality. The society in the story strictly follows the rules and principles of its religion. Although Brown believes he is an upstanding person of a respectable family line, he allows his curiosity to betray his faith. Brown arrives late to his meeting with the evil figure and explains that: â€Å"Faith kept me back a while† (Gardner et. al, 4). Throughout the story, â€Å"Faith† represents the figure of his wife and the faith in man and religion. Brown hesitates because he realizes that his journey with this devilish being is sinful. Hawthorne creates a paranoid monster from the once innocent Goodman Brown and the natural setting regresses into an unsafe, unknown forest of evil. In â€Å"What Is an Author†, Foucault addresses the relationship between authors and text, emphasizing their role throughout the stories. From a very early age, Mary Shelley was surrounded by many powerful and influential writers, shaping her ideas as she grew and eventually leading to the writing of Frankenstein. The Romantics of her time were fascinated with dreams and Gothic nightmares which were seen as predictors of what could happen. In order to thoroughly understand the influences that affected Shelley's writing, specifically in Frankenstein, readers must have an adequate knowledge of a few key events in Mary's life. On the other hand, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story is set in the 17th-century colonial American period, specifically in Salem, Massachusetts. According to James Mellow, Hawthorne was plagued by guilt by his grandfather’s role as a judge during this time. He wrote the story to vindicate his grandfather by featuring fictional victims of the witch trials who were witches and not innocent victims of the witch-hunt. Another major theme for both stories is the pursuit of knowledge. In Frankenstein, Victor is absorbed in the creation of the monster; he absents himself from society and forsakes human contact. Frankenstein begins his research with the good intention of helping people, but his thoughts soon turn to the quest for power over life and to be recognized as the creator of a species . He became so caught up in his attempt to create life that he never thought about the consequences: â€Å"Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow† (Shelley, ). The unlearned creature is thrown out into the world and is forced to discover the hidden meanings behind human life and society, on his own. Similarly, the more that the monster learns about his creation, the more he realizes that he is miserable: â€Å"Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in a disgust† (Shelley, 133). His knowledge, too, causes him immense pain. In both cases, their quest ended in pain, suggesting that this is the inevitable result of the pursuit of knowledge. He reflects: â€Å"O what a strange nature is knowledge! †¦ I wished sometimes to shake off all thought and all feeling† (Shelley, 123). Victor’s isolation is caused by his own greed for knowledge, whereas the monster has no choice, as he is rejected by society. Goodman Brown is a puritan waiting to begin his conversion experience to the Puritan doctrine. Although Goodman Brown was confident when entering into the forest with the devilish being, his temptations cause him to lose faith and become unsure of humanity and nature. However, at the end of Brown’s conversion experience, he is shocked to see that Faith is interacting with the devil because he considers her to be the most pure person in society. Brown describes the fearful nature of the wilderness after proclaiming his faith is gone: â€Å"The whole forest was peopled with frightful sounds – the creaking of the trees, the howling of the wild beasts, and the yell of Indians† (Hawthorne 395). The nature of man continues to be questioned when Goodman Brown experiences total depravity in the forest. He is witness to powerful and religious figures from his society participating in various forms of devil worship and witchcraft. His shock and horror of seeing those he respects as active members of this evil cause him to question his own purity: â€Å"Goodman Brown stepped forth from the shadow of the trees and approached the congregation, with whom he felt a loath full brotherhood by the sympathy of all that was wicked in his heart† (Hawthorne 397). Frankenstein and his creature are a prime example of the burden brought on one's life through incomplete knowledge. The pursuit of knowledge is not necessarily an evil thing, but it can cause destruction when it is pursued beyond natural limits. Victor Frankenstein becomes a slave to his passion for learning in more than one way; first his life is controlled by his obsession to create life, and later he becomes a slave to the monster he has created.

Affect of power relations on organizational change and development Essay

Affect of power relations on organizational change and development - Essay Example The consolidation exercises resorted to by the various organizations have made the companies leaner and flatter as management levels are being eliminated. Organizations are now trying to reduce bureaucracy and make the executives directly responsible and accountable for their tasks. Political as well as institutional systems play an important role in the power dynamics during any organizational change process. Some of these forces resist change due to changing dynamics while others stimulate them for the same reason (cited in Boonstra and Gravenhorst 1998). During any change process, CEO and the management along with consultants etc try to use their power to influence the process of change. At times this use of power to influence others can cause resistance while at other times it can facilitate the change process as noted by Fable and Yukl (1992) Power dynamics can be displayed openly or invisibly by the agents involved. For example, Bachrach and Baratz (1962) say that management ca n exclude participation by keeping certain decision from being open to discussions during a change process. In open display of power dynamics, managers hold meeting and discussions where they try to convince and influence others through facts, expertise or experiences. Theories of power dynamics and change management Boonstra and Gravenhorst (1998) look at power dynamics under five different perspectives. They build on the various researches that have studied the bases of power and root their first perspective on these. They say that â€Å"change in organizations is demanded by the top management and they need their position and power in order to effect change† (Boonstra and Gravenhorst 1998). In the second perspective they say that personal power is also used and thought the starting point of change is power, logical arguments and facts to support change are presented. The next two perspectives are based on the research in organization theory and management. In the fourth pe rspective, they see the role of agencies in exerting power to control processes and the various â€Å"interest groups† use power to negotiate the direction in which the change process should go. So far, the use of power was prominently observable in the various perspectives. In the fifth perspective, this is more subtle. The change agents tend to instill values, norms and perceptions through â€Å"management of meaning† and emphasize on the usefulness aspects of the desired change. The fifth perspective is about using the models developed by the organizational learning and organizational schools. They say that these models use the power of discussions and employee participation to bring about the desired change. Earlier literature on power viewed it as the ability of the change agent to influence the subjects to accept that change within a particular reference context (French and Raven 1959). Boonstra and Gravenhorst (1998) say that Bass in 1960 described two sources o f power – personal and position. In the position power, a manager has received authority to act by virtue of his position in the organization. This is the dominating power of the management and any confrontations to proposals put forward by the management are considered as resistance and hence are intolerable as per Hardy and Clegg (1996) quoted by Boonstra and Gravenhorst (1998). Bouwen (1995) describe this authoritarian model of change as â€Å"

The Payback Period as a Tool in Capital Budgeting Decisions Essay

The Payback Period as a Tool in Capital Budgeting Decisions - Essay Example In order to aid managers in making decisions with regards to capital budgeting, tools and techniques have been devised. One of these methods is called the payback method. The payback method is one of the most popular tools in conducting capital budgeting decision. The payback period tells the company the length of time required to recoup the original investment through investment cash flows. This is essentially the time when the company breaks even-the initial capital outlay is equal to the cash flows. For example, if a company invests $100,000 for the introduction of a new product line, then, the payback period reveals when the company will be generating cash flow of $100,000. Considering that the business organization invests in a project which generates the same level of cash flow annually, the payback period is computed as the follows: However, if the investment generates unequal annual cash flows, then the individual annual cash flows are subtracted from the initial investment until a difference of zero is reached. The year when cash flow equals investment is the payback period. Other things being equal, the investment with a low payback period is chosen as it implies less risk for the company. ... As the investment is recouped in a shorter period of time, it also indicates that the investment is less likely to fail. In the payback method, the profitability of the investment is often tied on how fast the investment generates cash inflow for the business organization. If the business organization is eyeing two or more projects to invest into, using the payback as sole decision criterion will make the company choose the project which has the lowest payback. However, if there is only one project to be evaluated, the firm often sets a specific span of time when the initial investment should be recouped. Generally, managers favor projects which have a payback period of less than three years. If the payback period is one year, the project is considered essential. In order to assess really understand how the payback period can be used in decision making, we will use it to evaluate two projects-one which has a fixed annual cash flow and one which generates unequal stream of cash flow. Suppose, XYZ Company is choosing between replacing its old machine used for production or embarking on a new product line. Each of the projects is estimated to require an initial investment of $100,000. Since the company is constrained with only $100,000 budget, the company must pursue only the more profitable option. The primary decision criterion used to evaluate investment decisions is the payback method. The estimated net cash flows are as follows: Year Replace Old Machine Introduce Product Line 1 $25,000 $10,000 2 $25,000 $20,000 3 $25,000 $70,000 4 $25,000 $50,000 5 $25,000 $50,000 A. Constant Annual Cash Flow The replacement of the old machine with the new one is forecasted to yield

Seeing the Forests for the Trees Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Seeing the Forests for the Trees - Research Paper Example The Jocassee gorge location is on high elevation. The location significantly affects the rainfall due to the Orographic lift. These happen when an air mass is forced from a low to higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain, this accounts for 2,000 feet (609m).As the air gain altitude, it expands and cools raising the relative humidity to 100% hence creating clouds and frequent precipitation. The forest has more than 60 species of rare and endemic plants good for botanist. The forest also has five streams flowing through gorges state park; these streams supply water to the forest over the ridge escarpment. Jocassee Gorges has 125 plants and animal species and its 12 endangered plant and animal species. This plants includes, Pringles aquatic moss and Carolina star moss, other species includes mountain laurel, rhododendron, white pine, red oak, and hickories. Animal species includes fox, wild boar, wild turkey, black bear, and white-tailed deer, and with the highest population of green salamanders. Forest diseases and pest have been a big problem in different countries globally; threatening the lifespan trees in the forest. There are a number of diseases and pest that affect the development of the healthy plants in the forest. Include threats such as those posed by fungal pathogen, Phytophora Rumorum, as noted by (Evans & Webber, 2002) Forest have major threats of diseases such beech bark disease, Dutch elm disease, dogwood anthracnose, larch canker, butternut canker and others such as chestnut bright. In most cases, different diseases and pest attack on forest may vary between certain weather conditions. A forest act as a habitat to many living organisms, some may be destructive to the forest while others are harmful. The forests provide food to different living organism, but if not controlled, the harmful organism can be dangerous to the forest. Diseases constantly must be controlled, and regularly checked in

Writer's choice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 26

Writer's choice - Essay Example The theme of the program revolves around love, music, and friendship both in school and outside. Relationship building is one thing that I struggle with on a daily basis. Issues such as betrayal by a friend are some of the challenges that people of my age get every day and having a program that illuminates such is very important. I feel like the situations. What I go through is also experienced by others. The norms and values portrayed in Make it Pop are exactly those that real youth culture provides. There is a specific ay in which different genders are supposed to behave or respond to certain situations in the environment. For example, the program shows how young ladies typically behave in the presences of men and vice versa. The program, as seen, profoundly serves to magnify me as a young adult whose behaviors corresponds those that are shown. It goes beyond and provides some healthy tips on how to maneuver certain

Governance (Sport) Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Governance (Sport) - Literature review Example According to the definition provided by World Bank governance can be defined as â€Å"structures, functions, process and organizational traditions that have been put in place within the context of a program’s authorizing environment† (Du Plessis, Hargovan & Bagaric, 2010). The definition implies that the program must be created in such a manner which ensures that the objectives of the organization are met in an effective and transparent manner. From these above definition it can be summarized that the primary function of governance is to guarantee that every member related to the organization performs their roles and responsibilities in a coordinated manner that maximizes coherence and accomplishes organizational goals. It is also implied that governance aims to achieve ethical implementation of business functions. Governance aims to provide overall direction to the business by overseeing and supervising actions of management. Governance makes sure that expectations of accountability are satisfied and interest beyond the corporate group is regulated. The agency theory of corporate governance emerged in the 1970’s and has been cited as the central theory of management behaviour in a number of scholarly articles. The core agency theory does not consider issues of management, internal and external issues of stakeholders of and the society at large. Agency theory highlights the alignment of interest between the shareholders and board members. According to researchers like Fama and Jensen (1983) there exists asymmetric information between executive management (who are agents) and claimants (who are principals). Therefore the main focus of the agency theory is to minimize the clash between shareholders and governing bodies of organizations. It has been observed that in agency theory directors or executive management tries to appropriate the value for them and it is extremely difficult for the shareholders to examine whether the directors are

Oracles Larry Ellison - A Profile of Power, Influence, and Dominance Case Study

Oracles Larry Ellison - A Profile of Power, Influence, and Dominance - Case Study Example There are several qualities that Ellison thought the world. He tried to prove that college degree is not important in achieving excellence him being a college dropout. Despite him not having a degree, he was the first to be the most successful billionaire before Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. He dropped out of college more than once (Ellison & Symonds, 2014). He stayed in school enough and through this, he was able to learn about computer design. The knowledge he got was from reading an article that was written by an IBM scientist. Larry thought that one should not retire. With him turning seventy years, he remains the longest founder CEO in the tech industry. He has been holding the Oracle since 1977. According to IBM, there should be the retirement of one after reaching the age of 60 but Larry has not thought of retiring and speaks nothing about retirement to the public. Larry believes that a competitive spirit is the greatest motivator in anything one carries out. He still goes to work and claim that the encouragement that he has is that he is addicted to winning (Southwick, 2003). According to him, what drives him is the constant testing of limits that one has. He always thinks of making a difference and changes lives. Being greedy is a theory that is used by Ellison to achieve all his goals. According to a research that was done, he is ranked the fifth richest man in the world with an estimated worth of 49.5b billion. He claims to get there through the standards that he set for high executive pay. He was the highest paid in the 2000s. The salary being highest did not make him miss work. This is what he described to as being greedy in ensuring that one becomes successful in life. Being generous is a virtue that Ellison brought out to be much needed for one to make effort and get success in activities that one does. Despite him being a philanthropist, he does not talk much about his efforts unlike other philanthropic billionaires like Bill Gates. He is mainly focused on medical research and green energy but does not talk much about the efforts that he has made to improve the sector (Symonds & Ellison, 2003). According to him, he was ready to give much of his wealth to charity.

Explain the true-justified-belief theory of knowledge Essay

Explain the true-justified-belief theory of knowledge - Essay Example For example, if person X sees person Y seating alone at a table in a restaurant and guesses that he is waiting for his wife, while he could be waiting for anyone else from a business partner to a relative or an old friend, he could also be just having a meal by himself. If this proposition is based on a wild guess, even if person Y does turn out to be waiting for his wife given that she arrives a while later, this does not amount to knowledge on the part of person X. When what appears to be knowledge lacks truth, it cannot be considered to be knowledge. It therefore holds that knowledge as a minimum is true belief (Audi n.p.) This further raises the question of whether knowing something means â€Å"justifiedly† believing it (Audi n.p.). As in the case above, simply guessing that person Y is waiting for his wife, even in the event that it turns out to be true does not constitute knowledge on the part of person X. This is because there is no justification for it. However, assumi ng that person Z tells person X that he has seen person Y wait for his wife at that restaurant at the same time every day for a period of time, this could justify person X’s true belief that indeed person Y is waiting for his wife. Person X’s acquisition of knowledge that person Y is waiting for his wife can be rationalized by his acquisition of evidence that justifies the true belief that he indeed is (Audi n.p.). Additionally, Audi contends that the more evidence people acquire to support their belief in something and build up their justification of the particular belief, the nearer they get to knowledge (n.p.). This backs the view that justified belief is a facet of knowledge. From the above, Audi states that it can be deduced that there is a practical and considerable condition necessary for knowledge, that is based on three elements; one knows something only if one believes in it, it is true and the belief that one has of that particular thing is justifiable. In p articular; as a minimum, knowledge is justified true belief (Audi n.p.). This sums up the theory of true-justified-belief of knowledge. However, there are sufficient conditions provided for in the analysis of what constitutes knowledge. This is because, despite the fact that I only know something, if I truly and â€Å"justifiedly† believe in it, it does not hold that, if I truly and â€Å"justifiedly† believe in something, then I know it (Audi n.p.). This three-way analysis of knowledge according to O’Brien infers that the three conditions are necessary for knowledge, that is; belief, truth and justification (11). The conditions are also jointly sufficient for knowledge meaning that one has knowledge when the three conditions are met. Necessary and sufficient conditions are connected to conditional statements conveying the truth of two suggestions in the form â€Å"If X then Y† (Lacewing 24). The assertion in this case is that if proposition X is true the n proposition Y is also true. In the event that the assertion is true, it follows that proposition X is true, then proposition Y is true. It also follows that if proposition Y is false then proposition X is also false. The theory of true-justified-belief of knowledge therefore holds that when the three conditions it proposes are met, together they are sufficient and nothing else is needed for knowledge (Lacewing 24). However, it also contends that if you know X then you have a justified true be

Jami jensen Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Jami jensen - Case Study Example As such, there are certain laws that can be applied in order to address this particular issue. The Sexual Harassment Policy that is administered by the US department of state can be applied to this case. This policy clearly outlines all the actions that constitute sexual harassment such as sexually suggestive behaviour, behaviour towards a co-worker as well as conditional terms of employment where a senior person for instance seeks to gain sexual benefits from the other employee. In this case, the Sexual Harassment Policy can be invoked by the responsible authorities in order to make sure that this kind of treatment to Jensen is solved. This policy is designed to protect the victims of sexual harassment. When a complaint about sexual harassment by the other co-worker is made to the Department of State, an investigation will be carried out and the offender may be disciplined for the bad behaviour. The penalty for committing this crime often varies depending with the seriousness of the offence. When the crime is too big, the offender can even be fired from work. In some cases, the perpetrator can be reprimanded or asked to pay damages to the victim. The sexual harassment policy is designed in such a way that it protects the interests of all employees in the organization without fear or favour. This policy is also color blind in that it seeks to protect all the employees in the company regardless of their skin color, creed or belief. In this case, the VP is taking advantage of Jensen by virtue of her skin color. The fact that she is dark does not entitle the VP to advance his sexual interests towards her since this is a serious crime. In the US, sexual discrimination on the basis of skin color is a serious offence and it can be noted that the VP is committing a crime by exposing his sexual desires towards Miss Jensen. Ethically, the VP should behave in a way which befits his status in the organization. This will also go a long way in building the much needed respe ct from the co-workers. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (1964) can also be applied to this case since it is designed to protect the interests of all people regardless of their race or creed. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces this law in the US. As noted in this case, Jensen is a light olive skinned black woman from Atlanta and this may be the reason why she is sexually harassed. The sexual harasser seeks to take advantage of her race to gain sexual favours in return for securing her job in the company. The other issue in this case is that her contract is not written and she is not offered salary that is similar to other co-workers. This shows that there is a sinister motive by the VP to take advantage of Jensen by virtue of her race and sex. The other law that can be applied in such a case is the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Once a person has been offered a job, then he or she is entitled to get pay that is equal to other co-workers that are doing the same job with hi m or her. It can be noted that Jensen accepts the employment offer even though the salary is different from other employees. The Equal Pay Act is meant to protect people like Jensen since they also have rights like any other employee in the company. Jensen also goes against the wishes of the VP to attend to her family and she is demoted from the position she has been elevated to. She also loses her salary since it is slashed to $40Â  000 a year. However, she is promised that she can get a

English Colonization Essay Example for Free

English Colonization Essay There is no other country than England that is so associated with colonization. Even though other countries like France, Spain, and even the United States have colonized countries, it is England who stands out because of the longevity of their practice of it. According to Merriam Webster, colonization means to make a colony which is a body of people living in a new territory but retaining ties with the parent state b: the territory inhabited by such a body. (Merriam Webster) The three most prominent acts of colonization of Great Britain are America, India, and Australia. During its peak, the British Empire was the largest in the world. There were many reasons for colonization and many of them were monetary reasons, but there were spiritual ones as well. One thing is certain and that is the effects of England on the countries she colonized will always be there. The effects run from the language spoken to the reproduction of the government. The reasons that England colonized the United States, Australia, and India were different for each country. The United States was referred to as America when England first colonized it. The main reason for the colonization was to obtain riches that would help England fight the Spanish Navy. The riches were not in abundance as the British hoped, but the natural resources that the â€Å"new world† offered would bring financial gain. Tobacco, indigo, rice, and cotton were the most prominent cash crops that were produced in the fertile ground of America. The only reason that the British colonized India was for trade. Raw materials and spices could be obtained in India and were a huge asset for the empire. The British dominated trade through protectionist measures that required Indian exports to be transported on British ships. The British focused on consolidating their sovereignty, acquiring lands by military conquest and by exploiting divisions among Indian states and religious groups. (The Story of India) The settlement of Australia was for trade and riches, but it was also for control and to have a base in the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific. Initially, relations between the explorers and the Aboriginal inhabitants were generally hospitable and based on understanding the terms of trading for food, water, axes, cloth and artifacts, a relationship encouraged by Governor Phillip. These relations became hostile as Aborigines realized that the land and resources upon which they depended and the order of their life were seriously disrupted by the on-going presence of the colonizers. ( European Discovery and Colonization of Australia) The effects of England’s colonization of the United States are still seen today. America desired independence from Great Britain, but still modeled her society on the mother country. The predominant language spoken is English and the predominant religion is Christianity as it is in Great Britain. At one time England was the most capitalistic country in the world and now the title belongs to the United States. In fact the economic system in the US is a mirror image of that in Great Britain. The US does not have a monarchy, yet Congress and Parliament are quite similar and the Prime Minister is similar to the position of president. The court system is also quite like that of the one in America. There is also a since of kinship between the United States and Great Britain. During the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, they have been the closest ally of the other. From fashion, movies, and music, these two countries mirror and rely on the other to compliment the endeavors of the other. The United States might have separated from Great Britain after the Revolution as far as the formation of a new government, but they have remained joined in all other aspects. The continent of Australia is now a dominion of Great Britain. They too share the same type of government and language as England. Besides these two effects, Australia has also been negatively affected by colonization. When the major cities were developed by the British, much of the surrounding native wilderness was destroyed by those who desired to clear the land for building and agricultural purposes. This clearing, destroyed the natural habitat of many plants and animals that were indigenous to the continent. So because of the British colonization, Australia’s natural resources are now different. The major effect of colonization of England on India was the modernization of the country. Great Britain brought many technological advances to the country and was instrumental in the transportation system of India. British spread new technologies such as the telegraph, railroad, and steam transportation throughout the region. This transportation network continues to flourish and grow to this day. (The Story of India) India is also affected by the language of Great Britain. Religion was a secondary reason for colonization in Australia and America. America was sparsely populated with different tribes of Native Americans. The Church of England felt that it should be its mission to make Christian out of these â€Å"savages† who lived in the new world. Since the tribes were not united, it was easier to infiltrate and push the religion on the natives. The same was true in Australia. The continent was thinly populated and the Aborigines were the only true natives of the island. This also made it easier for the Church of England to do the mission work that it intended to do. However, India was quite a different story. It was a country that was densely populated and the people were not as diversified as the tribes in America. Hinduism was an established religion that was difficult to penetrate the ideas of Christianity. The native Indians had such an established culture that the British made the least impression on them than the other two countries. Some ideas of modern society have infiltrated the Indian culture, but the majority of the culture is the same. The Native Americans were mistreated by the English colonist and this thought carried through the next few generations to the point that they were pushed back by the British settlers. They were eventually stripped of their land and now the majority of the Native Americans live on reservations. The Aborigines, the native Australians, are presently in a transformation of acceptance by the English settler’s decedents. For years they were extremely prejudiced against and even had their children stolen from them in the mid twentieth century. The children were taken to orphanages and then farmed out to white families in an attempt to allow them to mingle and eventually breed the native Aborigines bloodline out of them. The effect of British colonization was not kind to the original inhabitants of any of the countries that were the target of this empire. The sun finally sets on the British Empire because Great Britain is no longer the largest empire in the world. When it was, they affected many nations and cultures. In the world we live in today and with the help of the United Nations, it is unlikely that there will ever be an empire as that of the British ever again. References Anglican Timeline. Retrieved December 27, 2008 from http://justus. anglican. org/resources/timeline/09america. html â€Å"British Education in India. † South Asian History. Retrieved December 27, 2008 from http://india_resource. tripod. com/britishedu. htm â€Å"Colonization. † Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved December 28, 2008, from http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/colonization â€Å"Elizabeth’s Adventures: Colonizing America. † NMM. UK. Retrieved December 27, 2008 from http://www. nmm. ac. uk/explore/sea-and-ships/in-depth/elizabeth/elizabeths-adventurers/colonizing-america â€Å"European Discovery and the Colonization of Australia. † Australian Government. Retrieved December 27, 2008 from http://www. cultureandrecreation. gov. au/articles/australianhistory/ Robinson, Simon. â€Å"How India Colonized Britain. † Time. Retrieved December 27, 2008 from http://www. time. com/time/world/article/0,8599,1730172,00. html â€Å"The Story of India. † PBS. Retrieved December 27, 2008 from http://www. pbs. org/thestoryofindia/gallery/photos/21. html

The mission, values and stakeholders of TESCO

The mission, values and stakeholders of TESCO 1.0 The successful path way to Tesco Tesco started life in 1919 when Jack Cohen started selling surplus groceries from a stall in the East End of London. Mr. Cohen made a profit of  £1 from sales of  £4 on his first day. The Tesco brand first appeared five years later in 1924 when he bought a shipment of tea from a Mr. T. E Stockwell. The initials and letters were combined to form Tes-co and in 1929 Mr. Cohen opened the flagship Tesco store in Burnt Oak, North London. The brand continued its rise in the 1930s when Mr. Cohen built a headquarters and warehouse in North London and in 1932 Tesco became a private limited company. In 1947 Tesco Stores (Holdings) Ltd floated on the stock exchange with a share price of 25p. Tesco showed its expansionary zeal early on by buying up rival shops. In the 1950s the retailer bought 70 Williams stores and 200 Harrow stores, followed by 97 Charles Philips stores and the Victor Value chain in the early 1960s.During the 60s supermarkets started to expand rapidly by selling more products in ever larger stores. In 1961 Tesco Leicester entered the Guinness Book of Records as the largest store in Europe and in 1968 Tesco opened its first superstore in Crawley, West Sussex. Supermarkets revolutionized the way people shopped and by the 1970s Tesco was building a national store network to cover the whole of the UK, which it continues to expand to this day, while also diversifying into other products. In 1974 Tesco opened its first petrol stations, and would become the UKs largest independent petrol retailer. By 1979 total sales topped  £1bn, and by 1982 sales had doubled to more than  £2bn.In 1987 Tesco successfully completed a hostile takeover of supermarket rival H illiards for  £220m. In the 1990s Tesco continued to tighten its grip on the UK with more store openings and an aggressive marketing campaign in an attempt to overtake Sainsburys as the UKs leading grocer. In 1992, the company launched is slogan every little helps, followed by the Tesco Value range in 1993. This was followed by the launch of the Tesco Club card scheme in 1995, helping Tesco to overtake rival Sainsburys as the UKs largest food retailer.1996 saw the retailer introduce its first 24-hour store while it also expanded overseas opening shops in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. In 1997 Tesco appointed Sir Terry Leahy as chief executive.Tesco.com was launched in 2000 and the supermarket continued to expand its range of products, which now includes clothes, electrical and personal finance products. In 2004 Tesco entered the broadband market. Two years ago, in 2006, the retailer announced ambitious plans to open stores in the US under the name Fresh and Easy and funded by existing resources. Tesco now operates in 13 countries. Today it reported that group sales were  £51.8bn in the year to February 23 2008. Pre-tax profit rose to  £2.8bn. In 2008 the retail giant took its conquest of the UK one step further by buying up some rival Somerfield stores on remote islands in Scotland, giving Tesco a presence in every single postcode area in the country. As it stands there is only one postcode in the UK in Harrogate in North Yorkshire which does not have a Tesco. At present year 2010 Tesco operates Business Development Commercial Clothing Commercial Food Commercial Non-food Hard lines Corporate Legal Affairs Corporate Marketing Corporate Purchasing Finance Group Security Loss Prevention Information Technology Operations Development Personnel Property Supply Chain / Store Ordering Telecoms Tesco Mobile UK Support Office Distribution Pharmacy Clothing Tesco Bank Tesco.com Identify Toscos Mission, values Of Tesco and key characteristics. Identify key stakeholders of Tesco and show how its stakeholders have influenced these Values and objectives 1.1.1 Definition of Mission, values and key objectives Mission Mission statement is the reason for a company to exist this present business environment. It always makes to feel and belief the top management going in a right path in an organization. Charles Handy (1976) says, A good mission statement inspires employees and provides a focus and direction for setting lower level objectives. Mission statement has to guide employees in making decisions and establish what the organization does. Mission statements are acting a major part in progress of the organization. Value Values are deep-seated beliefs about what is accurate and off beam, and what is imperative and inconsequential. The values held within an organization have an important influence on its goals and the ways, which it works. Last but not the least it represents the institutional philosophy and sustain to the organization. Hales, C. (1993) Objectives Mission, purpose or standard that can be practically achieved within the expected timeframe and with the offered resources, In broad-spectrum, an objective is broader in scope than a goal, and may comprise of several different goals. Objectives are the most basic planning tools underlying all forecast and strategic activities. They serve as the basis for policy and performance appraisals, and act as bond that binds the entire organization mutually. Charles Handy (1976) 1.1.2 Mission, values and key objectives of Tesco Mission of TESCO The mission statement of TESCO PLC is Creating value for customers, to earn their lifetime loyalty. Value of TESCO The value of the TESCO classified into two groups those are: No-one tries harder for customers: Understand customers. Be first to meet their needs. Act responsibly for our communities Treat people as we like to be treated: Work as a team. Trust and respect each other. Listen, support and say thank you. Share knowledge and experience. www.tesco.com access on (01.11.2010) Objective of TESCO All of Tescos objectives unify in with each other. For example; the business will not have any customers if the business is not operating well. Share holders will not invest money in the business, if the business hasnt got any customers. The company will not be able to afford to have any employees working for them if they havent got money being invested in the business. So the objective of the Tesco changes over a period of time due to a range of reasons. Some of these reasons are listed beneath: Competition: Tesco might like to change their objectives, if another competitor moves in the same area. For instance, if Tesco is making a profit of per book, their books might not sell, because the competitor is selling their books cheaper. So in order for the business to survive they would have to put the prices down. For that, Tesco will have to change its objectives probably from making a lot of profit to making enough profit to survive. Internet: Internet is becoming a trend for everyone, so Tesco decided to take an advantage from it and decided to make a website through which they can sell online. Tesco will change their objectives from making sure they get everyone from the local area to buy from them, to selling to everyone in the whole country. It is a social benefit for Tesco. Diversify into non food: Since Tesco has diversified from being a store that only sold food to a non-food supermarket; they have changed their objectives from competing with only markets that sold food to competing with everyone who sells anything, from cars to mobile phone lines. Go for multinational: Since Tesco made their market into an international market; they have changed their objective from, being the leading market in England to being the leading market around the globe. www.tesco.com access on (01.11.2010) 1.2 Definition of Stakeholder These are the specific people or groups who have an interest or a partial stake in the products and services an organization provides. Internal stakeholders include management, other employees, administrators, etc. External stakeholders could include suppliers, investors, community groups and government organizations. Clients / customers are stakeholders as well. 1.2.1 Tesco achieves the objectives of three stakeholders Tesco mainly operates with following stakeholders those are: Customers: Customer Question Time meetings are precious like diamond which is cut and polished. Staff hears customers views on everything from how they are serving customers in their stores to their role in the community. Staff: Staff gives the company their feedback through the Viewpoint staff survey, Staff Question Time sessions and by Staff Forum process. Suppliers: Tesco core value is treat people how we like to be treated, and its something they apply firmly to their supplier to grip the relationship www.tescocorporate.com access on (01.11.2010) 1.3 Responsibilities of Tesco and strategies employed to meet them Tesco are committed to having a constructive dialogue with stakeholders to ensure that they understand what is important to stake holder and allow there selves the opportunity to present their position. Engagement helps them to identify new risks and opportunities to ensure that their long-term strategy is sustainable. In some instances they find that working with stakeholders in partnership can help deliver shared goals. They might not be able to satisfy all stakeholder concerns all the time but through engagement they can do their best to balance competing demands. Tesco know that customers need to be able to trust their business and stakeholder will only trust them if they believe that they are engaging on an appropriate basis with their stakeholders. Tesco programmed of engaging with stakeholders including customers, staff, suppliers, investors, government, regulators, non-governmental organizations and others, there 472,000 employees serve millions of customers around the world. Tesco look after and develop them so they can look after their customers. No one tries harder for customers. Tesco: work as a team trust and respect each other listen, support and say thank you share knowledge and experience Training and development Rewards and benefits Diversity and inclusion Communication Customer service training Health and safety Schoemaker, Paul J.H. (1992) 2.1. Write a report how different economic systems attempt to allocate and make effective use of resources of manufacturing industry. 2.1.1. Definition of Economic System An economic system is one that a society attempts to meet peoples material needs and wants through the production of goods and services. From the countrys point of view, production of goods and services is influenced by the limited supply of such elements as labor, land and natural resources and capital. The scarcity of supply of resources means that the Government has to decide the allocation of these limited resources among competing claims, given the opportunity costs associated with the decision of producing a certain products and services within the economy systems instead of others. The economic system can be classified into four main groups those are Traditional economy: Where decisions about what, how and for whom to produce are based on custom and tradition Free market economy: Where households own resources and free markets allocate resources through the workings of the price mechanism.   An increase in demand raises price and encourage firms to switch additional resources into the production of that good or service   Planned or command economy:   In a planned or command system typically associated with a socialist or communist economic system, scarce resources are owned by the state (i.e. the government). The state allocates resources, and sets production targets and growth rates according to its own view of peoples wants Mixed economy: In a mixed economy, some resources are owned by the public sector (government) and some resources are owned by the private sector. The public sector typically supplies public, quasi-public and merit goods and intervenes in markets to correct perceived market failure Charles Handy (1976). 2.1.2 Definition of manufacturing industry Manufacturing industry refers to the industries which involve in the manufacturing and processing of items and pander to in either creation of new commodities or in value accumulation. The manufacturing industry accounts for a significant share of the industrial sector in developed countries. The final products can either serves as a finished good for sale to customers or as intermediate goods used in the production process. 2.1.3 Economic systems attempt to allocate and make effective use of resources of manufacturing industry. As if I take Tesco as the manufacturing industry there are Different approaches or economies systems are adopted by different countries. Free market economy: government intervention is kept to the minimum while supply and demand and the ability to pay influence decision making. Most decisions are based on market mechanism. For e.g. Tesco sells their own brand goods and service to their own value (Tesco value food, electronics, other Tesco branded items). Command economy: resources are centrally planned and controlled by the government. This, however, means that no freedom for individuals to choose what they produce and what they consume for e.g. Tesco has been instructed by government not to sell Tobacco and alcohol under the age of 18. Mixed economy: A mixed economy combines elements of both free private enterprises and intervention, in varying general external appearance by the state. And also the producing industry will be stable where as the company owned by the public sector (government) and private sector for e.g. the Individual savings Account. www.tesco.com accessed on 01.11.2010 2.2 Explain what is social welfare and industrial policy initiatives 2.2.1 Define Social welfare and how to initiative CSCI (2005) recommends the social welfare is also known as charity programs that lending hand for the needy people and also social welfare helps to develop the environment, education and orphanage. Social welfare does not mean that the deed has to be done by only cash even by planting trees cleaning the surrounding areas donating to the blood campaign visiting to the orphanage to make the children and elders feel happy for example Social welfare policies (Issuing Free Computer) Science has invented many things. The triumphs of science are too many to be counted. Some of the latest triumphs of science are really wonderful. They are quite remarkable discoveries. It has made our life easier by the computer a few years ago. It is considered as the brains of the human beings. It has opened up new vistas. These can make any number of calculations, modes of particulars hypothetical situations can be produced studied. Further to the above mention statement there are people in some places where they have not even seen the computer for their lifetime so in this modern universe they wont be able to survive for those people issuing free computer and educate them in that field. 2.2.2 Industrial policy initiatives (Insurance policy) Suitable accounting financial procedure are adopted to demonstrate current financial viability and to ensure there is effective and efficient management of business. It will service users are safeguarded by the accounting and financial procedure of the industry. Insurance cover is put in place against loss or damage to the assets to the business. Records are kept of all transactions entered into by the registered person There is a business and financial plan for establishment, open to inspection and reviewed annually Insurance cover also act when there is a emergency period such like disaster or loss in the operation Insurance cover is provided for business interruption costs including loss of earnings as well as costs to operator of meeting its contrast liabilities. 2.3 How above mentioned social welfare and industrial policy initiatives can make an impact on an organization and wider community whose main product is computer games? Commercial computer games may be fun and engaging but many critics fear that employing computer games within the classroom may have a negative impact upon learning. Some of the key disadvantages and potential pitfalls of using computer games within an educational context are listed below. Excessive gaming can result in low self-esteem and aggressive attitudes and behaviors such as gambling and stealing to finance play. (Ellis 1990; Anderson and Dill 2000) Computer games can distract from learning as players concentrate on the objective of completing the game rather than using them as a learning tool. As Clarke (2003) observes; computer games require the suspension of disbelief, it may be difficult to retain learning acquired in that state. Excessive time spent gaming could negatively impact on schoolwork (Griffiths 1996). Computer games may have a negative impact upon impressionable young children who are particularly susceptible to copying behaviors and may struggle to distinguish b etween reality and a computer generated environment. Subrahmanyam et al. (2001) suggest that in order for a pupils skills to be enhanced through game playing, players must possess them to some degree already. Stoll (1999) suggests that; time spent in front of a screen could instead be spent, for example engaged in a sport or social activity Loftus and Loftus, (1983) suggest that excessive game playing can cause physical symptoms such as soreness in joints. In many games characters and environments tend to be violent and have stereotyped. Such games can encourage negative and socially unacceptable behaviors such as violence and aggression. (Cooper Mackie 1986) . Some games which are highly engaging and motivational can become addictive (Anderson ford, 1986), and lead to social isolation, (Selnow, 1984) low self-esteem (Dominick, 1984) and poor social interaction skills. The majority of computer games are gender specific. The vast majority of games are male orientated and this may a lienate female gamers and pupils alike. 2.4. You are supposed to select a UK based organization and describe how to evaluate the impact of macroeconomic policy measures and the influence of the global economy on that organizations and stakeholders 2.4.1 Define Macroeconomic The field of economics known as macroeconomics focuses on the behaviors of a national economy, or a regional economy, as a whole. Macroeconomics is a very general field that concerns itself primarily with large scale indicators, such as unemployment rates, and with the creation of models meant to explain relationships between those indicators. Macroeconomics is also considered the complement to microeconomics, which studies the actions of individuals rather than larger scales. 2.4.2 Impact on the on the UK based Organization by the macroeconomic As the above cash study referring to the UK Based organization I am willing to take Marks and Spencer Clothing sector and there stake holder to give you a clear picture how the macroeconomic effect. Pakistan Cloth Exporters Srilanka Cloth Exporters Marks Spencer Clothing Sector China Cloth Exporters India Cloth Exporters Sri Lankan economy has registered a strong growth in the first decade of 21st century, despite suffering civil war from 1983 to 2009 and some major natural disasters. Further to this action srilanka has stopped the exporting to the United Kingdom. Similarly recent disaster in Pakistan and china has stopped distributing their cloth materials to United Kingdom. As provided issue those three countries are unable to export the textile from their own nation but india did not effected so india textile exporters are well aware of the problems the other countries facing so the next step of them will be raising the demand by increasing the value for their product as in the side of marks and Spenser textile sector have no option to go for so they accept the demand of india and marks Spenser buy there textile By getting for the higher price Marks Spencer does not have any option rather than increasing the value from  £4 to  £7 because of this action marks and Spencer will be losing their customer. 2.4.3 Impact on the on the Stakeholder by the macroeconomic Dissatisfaction customer Loosing customer Loyalty Quality Service Risk of losing internal stakeholder Increasing demand on local suppliers Unemployment Increase in the bargaining power of customer and suppliers Losing the shareholder Brand of the company 3.1. What is perfect competition? Select a suitable market structure in practice within your country and briefly explain it and how it deviates from the model of perfect competition 3.1.1 Perfect Competition Perfect competition is a theoretical market structure. It is primarily used as a benchmark against which other market structures are  compared. Perfect competition is an idealized market structure that is not observed in the real world. While unrealistic, it does provide an excellent starting point that can be used to analyze real world market structures. In particular, perfect competition efficiently allocates resources. Perfect competition is a theoretical market structure. Porter, M.E (1980) A market structure in which the following five criteria are met: 1. All firms sell an identical product. 2. All firms are price takers. 3. All firms have a relatively small market share. 4. Buyers know the nature of the product being sold and the prices charged by each firm. 5. The industry is characterized by freedom of entry and exit. Porter, M.E (1980) Further to the above mention detail the below examples might help Mobitel Dialog    Identical product: Mobitel Upahara Dialog Blaster    Free Minutes          :    1000 1000 After 1000 to          :                Rs 0.5 Rs 2.0 Mobitel/Dialog After 1000 to          :          Rs 0.5       Rs 3.0 Other fixed After 1000 to          :             Rs 3.0 Rs 3.0 Other Mobile Monthly Rental      :                Rs 240.0                                                       Rs 300.0 Connection                :                      Rs 1500.0                                                    Rs 1500.0 Share percentage : 47.1% 23.5% Freedom of entry And exit : No Yes Source: Dialog and mobitel websites The reason why the mobitel doesnt have freedom to exit because they are collaborated with government where as the dialog is owned by Malaysian government so they can exit the business whenever they need. 3.2 The relationship between market forces and organizational responses Forces of demand and supply representing the aggregate influence of self-interested buyers and sellers on price and quantity of the goods and services offered in a market. In general, excess-demand causes prices and quantity of supply to rise, and excess supply causes them to fall. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/market-forces.html#ixzz175PFaeVF accessed on 02.11.2010 For example We will take a Tooth paste product for Boots pharmacy in the UK. I am going to analyze how Boots Oral Hygiene department will respond to the market forces. Another reason for seeing the market in terms of market segments is that it allows the business to concentrate on what it is best at. Each of these matching processes is composed of the Marketing Mix. (Kotler and Dubois 1994) Product Price Product base Place Promotion In the above marketing mix the first 4Ps will apply to products base, additional 3Ps will be apply to service base company. However Boots is the Product and service base organisation. Boots provides and take care the people oral hygiene. Product Products are only bought if they bring the benefits that the customer wants. According to Antil (1988) every product has a life cycle. It goes through five stages, Sales grow slowly at the introduction stage when the product is new on the market and few people know of it. Then sales increases rapidly during the growth phase, it is now that competitors enter the market and promote their own products. Sooner or later the rate growth slows. This is the maturity period. And then the market finally declines and the product in its existing form becomes unprofitable. Source: Ansoff (1987) Corporate Strategy Boots Toothpaste is the product offers different kind of features, for example fight against cavity, plaque, tartar and gum problems. Boots has toothpaste for kids, for white teeth, smokers. Boots toothpaste will prevent tooth cavities, exposed root cavities, Fight against bad breath, reduce plaque, reduce gum problems, Strengthen weak tooth enamel, and remove stains. According to Boots annual report (2010) the Oral hygiene products are the fastest growing sector in Europe and in the pharmacies. Boots stores in the UK have seen a 6.2%increase in sales value for their total oral care, Sales continuing show positive growth year on year. 50% of the sales are incremental proving that these brands (Oral Hygiene products) will have positive effect on sales performance. Place: The Boots toothpaste mainly in any Boots chemist, drugstore or pharmacy. Is the Toothpaste available in the right quantities, in the right place, at the right time? Distribution of finished goods which feeds the raw materials to the manufacturer, and there also the internal distribution which occurs within the supplying company itself. Place involves marketing channels through which company reaches its customers getting the right products to the customer at right time. The ultimate purpose of any distribution plan is to make the right goods available to the customer at the right time. And also boots can place their products at departmental stores, shopping mall, Target retailers. Boots toothpaste (New products). Product should store in a clearly labeled area until the date of implementation. Price: How much customers willing to pay? Pricing of product can be illustrated by the Boston grid. During the lifecycle a successful product will progress from the wild cat through the star stage and ultimately become a cash cow. During that process the earning capacity of the product rises. Pricing plan must take account of the role individual products play in the corporate strategy of the company, when a product is new and also during the high growth phase of the product life cycle, price tends not to the customers primary consideration. Demand is high. Price is one of the most obvious indications of the value is placed on a product. Price is taken as an indication of quality. Price can be fix according to its quality, and the quantity of the tube size. Boots should be care full about the fixing price for the toothpaste to get competitive advantage. The UK populations have clear perceptions about price of the product. If it is very low price customer may think the product is low quality, if price is too high they want new product like Boots toothpaste, customers prone to purchase their other familiar product. In that case we need to be balance while fixing the price and also can promote electronic sensitive brush with toothpaste.Boots also can consider remaining 3Ps. Promotion: How Boots can inform or educate groups of customers about its product. Delivering desired message to target group. Innovation within the power toothbrush sector. Like buy one toothpaste gets one toothbrush. Free leaflets, magazine to people about oral hygiene, mouth care etc. Encouraging better oral hygiene routines Boots also can promote to the mix, with gum and mints competing in the oral health and health supplement market. Price promotion to get a competitive advantage Television Advertising (Short) 3. 3 Explain the behavior and competitive strategies employed by an organization and discuss the role of the Competition Commission and regulatory bodies I have taken the same example of Boots oral hygiene product competitive strategies and organization behavior Competitive Analysis Model for Boots Toothpaste plus This model also will help to identify the competitive advantage or differential advantage of the product or company Competitive resources Factors to take into consideration Competitive Superiority Test Its all about research and development for the product before do marketing plan, It determine the competitive advantage. Most marketing department find difficult to convince finance director of that particular company to implement the market plan. The Finance director will argue why should we take risk to developed some product which unsure. Financing directors are act as risk averter. Imitation Test It will reduce the research development cost by imitate the product (existing product) rather than find new. Duration Test Measures to what extent our resources will be produced in the future. This will include such factors as recruitment and training in relation to competitors. Appropriateness Test Boots have enough supplier for its manufacturing department, Can take ingredients from smith blend for prepare the toothpaste for elderly Substitutability Test By introducing Boots Toothpaste Plus, Boots will be a market leader and make competitive advantage. Its something doing different that their competitors Role of the Competition Commission and regulatory bodies The CC replaced the Monopolies and Mergers Commission in 1999, following the Competition Act 1998. The Enterprise Act 2002 introduced a new regime for the assessment of mergers and markets in the UK. The CCs legal role is now clearly focused on competition issues, replacing a wider public interest test in the previous regime. The Enterprise Act also gave the CC remedial powers to direct companies to take certain actions to improve competition; in the previous regime its role was simply to make recommendations to Government.   http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/about_us/ accessed on 11.11.2010 4.1 as a business analyst write a report to g

Examining The IS System Of KFC

Examining The IS System Of KFC Purpose of the report: The Management of KFC Parramatta has requested an investigation regarding the use of their Information System in relation to their business decision making for competitive advantage and to make recommendations for changes and/or improvements as required. KFC Parramatta is one of the branches of a huge franchise that is famous worldwide. Being a fast food restaurant it faces competition from many other similar restaurants for instance Hungry Jacks, McDonalds, Dominos and every single restaurant be it small or big. Therefore their information system plays a big role in their decision making process and their competitive advantage over their rivals. Knowing how to make improvements in their business using information systems is a major advantage and it is what a the profitability of a business relies on (J.A Senn 1996). Many retail businesses lack an information system making it quite difficult for them to make critical decisions therefore their competitors have a complete advantage over them and in most cases the retail business loses many customers due to the lack of correct information. According to Tutor2u (2010) competitive advantage is an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value, either by means of low er prices or by providing greater benefits and service that justifies higher prices. Information systems help achieve this because they help the business know what is required and when it is required (Barney 1995) and by using this the business can make decisions such as how many staff to employ during a specific day for instance on Christmas; how much stock is required; what product to stock most; the average business profit during a certain period and its trend i.e. whether the business is going at a profit or lost and such information. The decision making process usually relies on the higher level management not the manager of the branch itself, however without information from the smaller branches it is almost impossible for the top level management to make a decision and thats why a good information system has to exist. Methodology: Taking the above information in mind a research was conducted on KFC Parramatta. A weekly interview was organised with one of the managers, Vinod Patel, mostly on Fridays and Saturdays just outside the restaurant. The information collected was carefully analysed and organised and some of it is presented in this report in the form of graphs and diagrams. Research site: KFC Parramatta is a local restaurant located at Westfield Shopping centre in Parramatta, New South Wales. Being a fast food restaurant, all they sale is food products such as chicken burgers, chicken nuggets, fries and other related products. It is very close to other food courts in the same area and faces a lot of competition from nearby fast food restaurants hance the need for a good IS system. Findings: From the interviews it was found that KFC Parramatta has an information system in place. The information system was used almost in all instances of the business. The following are the key areas where their information system is used: Recording sales data (the product sold, time it was sold , cost of the product, number of products sold and amount sold) Calculating the daily pay for staff members depending on their number of hours. Analysing the performances of the shift supervisor and other staff members ( this is done automatically in the computer where it calculates the total sales and divides it by the number of hours giving a sales per hour figure) Generating the daily, weekly and monthly reports on the performance of the business. It was found that the decisions are made in three levels and as follows: Operational level (store managers): they make the decision on how many staff to employ, assigning jobs to employees, responsible for the daily management of the business and they handle customer complaints. Middle level of management (area managers): they overlook the running of the stores and ensure that nothing is going wrong. Top level of management (executive managers): they are the ones that decide what product to remove from the market, what product to add to the market (as an example the manager illustrated the grilled chicken), at what price to sell it and where to locate new restaurants. Analysis of findings: The sales are done on cash or credit card basis but everything is automated. The cash process is simple and less time consuming as a staff member can easily take cash and give back the required change. The credit card sale basis is a little more time consuming but almost similar to the cash system. Additionally the staff member has to wait till the transaction is approved since the credit card has to be checked to see whether the customer has money in it or not. The order data (the product sold, time it was sold, cost of the product, number of products sold and amount sold) all goes into the server once it is approved and it is stored there. The staff members collecting the data from customers can only input data and once an order is placed modifications to the order can only be done by the authorisation from managers. This acts as a security measure and prevents the staff member from editing any data after it is approved. Another security measure was the existence of a safe to keep all the cash and every staff member is supposed to keep the cash in the safe once it reaches a certain amount. Additionally being located in a shopping mall there are security cameras and even security guards around and this helps keep surveillance around the restaurant. The data stored on the web server can only be accessed by managers of that store (operational level management), the executor management and the administrative level management since they are only ones that have a password needed to log in to access the data. Since the data is all being stored directly on the web server there is a rare chance of the data being inaccurate if any. Figure 1: An example of a monthly sales report of KFC Parramatta From the report it can be seen that KFC Parramatta makes more sales on Thursdays. One of the main reasons for this is because of the long hours they are open. This graph is just one of the few generated by their information system. Without the information system, it would be so hard to analyse data and make a sales graph and therefore it is important that an information system exists. Figure 2: An example of the business operation and decision making process Data is automatically recorded on to the main server Graphs Reports are analysed used to make decisionsuntitledj0196400 sales Data is automatically converted into: Daily, weekly and monthly Reports Stock reports Main problems with the system: Although the information system at KFC Parramatta is designed perfectly, there are minor flaws that could prove critical if not addressed. 1) One of them is the manual ordering of stock. Stock at KFC Parramatta is ordered twice a week on Tuesday and Saturday and this is done manually. The store manager counts the stock manually and orders as required. This leads to time consumption as the store manager has to manually count each and every box. Additionally, during the research it was also found out that during one of the busy days they had run out of stock for fries and chicken because the manager had forgotten to count the stock the day before and failed to place an order. This lead to delays with customer orders since they had to wait get stock from another store nearby. How did this affect the business? Many customers left angrily as they could not withstand the waiting delays. A few of the patient ones waited for an hour before they could get what they ordered. Loss of customers meant loss of profits and even a one hour delay in such a big restaurant causes a major crisis and leads to loss of profits. Located next t o many other similar restaurants, some of the customers even bought from nearby restaurants as they could not withstand delays. This meant the other restaurants gained a slight competitive advantage over them during that period. 2) Another key area is the preparation of the daily roster. The daily roster is prepared manually by the store managers. They do this by calling a team member and confirming their shifts for the next day. The problems associated with this? Firstly, every team member has to be called and this means an added expense. Moreover the roster is not available online and as one incident happened two team members may report for a single shift. Recommendations Figure 3: Example of automatic stock ordering systemKFC Parramatta should get there ordering system automated. They should monitor their stock using barcode scanners, how much goes in and how much goes out. When the stock goes below a certain level the system automatically orders stock. This would help them in getting their stock in time and before the need for it, keeping them on the safer side. According to me below is an example of what I would preferably implement something as follows: Estimated required stock (8 boxes) Current stock (8 boxes) System orders more stock (3 boxes) Stock goes below estimated required level (5 boxes) Additionally they should have a system where the rosters are prepared online and this way team members can see what day their shifts are on, plan their timetable from a convenient location, notify everyone of last minute changes and this way they can prevent many problems. This keeps the other team members aware of their duties and who they work with. Finally they should establish a customer relationship management system (CRM). CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, is a company-wide business strategy designed to reduce costs and increase profitability by solidifying customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy (Reynolds, 2010) .In case a delay happens their customers are loyal to them. This can be established by bringing in a point system for instance buying at KFC Parramatta earns you some points and after you have collected enough points you get to select a meal of your choice and use your points to buy it. Conclusion In conclusion, KFC Parramatta has the potential of being the best restaurant in their area if they slightly modify their current information system. Adapting to some new changes in the information system, an automated ordering process and customer relationship management systems they can gain an absolute competitive advantage over their rivals. Using the information system wisely has lead to it being one of the supreme commanders and with a little more changes they can make decisions more quickly and accurately, and this can lead them to having more customers than other local restaurants. The automated ordering system will ensure they get the goods on time and with customers being loyal to them they can maximise their current profits. (2110 words)

Genetically Transgenic Crops :: Argumentative Persuasive Farming Essays Papers

Genetically Transgenic Crops In today’s society, farming has become far more complicated than one could imagine. In farming, the procedure involves a lot more than the raising of cattle and the planting of specific seeds into the soil or land fields. Yes, there is a lot more to worry about besides just the physical aspect of it. There are also decisions which have to be made in order to begin farming correctly and safely. Decisions which pose the question of should, and will the transgenic crops process be followed through nationwide? Our population may not even realize it; but the much needed decisions as this that will determine the fate of our world as we know it. At the cutting edge of technology and science, there seems to be a large debate about whether or not commercial plantings of transgenic crops are allowed. This is the issue at hand. One of the countries facing this conflict is Britain. The situation in Britain is just like the article written by Jim Giles which is titled, â€Å"Damned if they do damned if they don’t†. This article basically states that there is a huge problem with the idea of genetically modified crops being supported. I feel that his opinion on the subject matters, just as my scientific opinion does, because it is the population of the people that truly matters. The government wants to support the biotech industry, but on the other hand, it also wants to appease its closest ally, which happens to be the United States. Commercial cultivation of genetically, modified crops is an argument that is said to have been played out in Britain over any other country. In Britain, the government has prepared for decision time by conducting the largest trial of genetically modified crops ever, and they are looking forward to gathering as much evidence about their impact on biodiversity as possible. The outcome is bound to influence the debate in other countries where similar skirmishes are taking place. In the developing world, there are some areas that are for transgenic crops; such as sub-Saharan Africa which is emerging as an important new battleground. Other’s are not sure if they are for it or not; and a few are India and China. As a matter of fact, they are not even really concerned about this issue, but more concerned about whether or not the transgenic technologies will be from agribiotech or home-grown. Genetically Transgenic Crops :: Argumentative Persuasive Farming Essays Papers Genetically Transgenic Crops In today’s society, farming has become far more complicated than one could imagine. In farming, the procedure involves a lot more than the raising of cattle and the planting of specific seeds into the soil or land fields. Yes, there is a lot more to worry about besides just the physical aspect of it. There are also decisions which have to be made in order to begin farming correctly and safely. Decisions which pose the question of should, and will the transgenic crops process be followed through nationwide? Our population may not even realize it; but the much needed decisions as this that will determine the fate of our world as we know it. At the cutting edge of technology and science, there seems to be a large debate about whether or not commercial plantings of transgenic crops are allowed. This is the issue at hand. One of the countries facing this conflict is Britain. The situation in Britain is just like the article written by Jim Giles which is titled, â€Å"Damned if they do damned if they don’t†. This article basically states that there is a huge problem with the idea of genetically modified crops being supported. I feel that his opinion on the subject matters, just as my scientific opinion does, because it is the population of the people that truly matters. The government wants to support the biotech industry, but on the other hand, it also wants to appease its closest ally, which happens to be the United States. Commercial cultivation of genetically, modified crops is an argument that is said to have been played out in Britain over any other country. In Britain, the government has prepared for decision time by conducting the largest trial of genetically modified crops ever, and they are looking forward to gathering as much evidence about their impact on biodiversity as possible. The outcome is bound to influence the debate in other countries where similar skirmishes are taking place. In the developing world, there are some areas that are for transgenic crops; such as sub-Saharan Africa which is emerging as an important new battleground. Other’s are not sure if they are for it or not; and a few are India and China. As a matter of fact, they are not even really concerned about this issue, but more concerned about whether or not the transgenic technologies will be from agribiotech or home-grown.

Tragedy of Alcibiades in Platos Symposium Essay -- Philosophy Religio

The Tragedy of Alcibiades in Plato's Symposium In Symposium, a selection from The Dialogues of Plato, Plato uses historical allusions to demonstrate Alcibiades’ frustration with both social expectations for the phallus and his inability to meet these expectations. Alcibiades’ inability to have a productive sexual relationship effectively castrates him and demonstrates the impotence caused by an overemphasis on eroticism. The tragedy of Alcibiades is that he realizes he is unable to gain virtue through sexual relationships and will therefore be forced to remain mortal, yet he is unable to alter his condition. Symposium is set during a festival for Dionysus, the goddess of fertility; this setting emphasizes the sexual expectations of society that Alcibiades must confront. During fertility festivals, "the Athenians would carry phalluses around the city in ribald celebration" (Rudall 5);1 the phallus in Athens was a symbol of both fertility and eroticism. The Athenians, concerned with the potential extinction of the human race, performed rituals during these festivals that celebrated the phallus as the means of the reproduction of human life. Thus, heterosexual relationships were justified by the creation of children, and the focus of the celebration of the phallus was its productive nature. This focus on productivity created a social expectation that sexual relationships should be productive. Thus, the partygoers in Symposium have gathered during a festival celebrating the fertility and productivity of heterosexual relationship to attempt to justify their homosexual relationships by eulogizing Eros. Since heterosexual relationships were justified by the production of children, a justification of homosexual relationships woul... ...s was married to Hipparete, daughter of Hipponicus, and had at least one son by her; however, the couple lived separately for most of their wedded life and Hipparete even attempted to divorce Alcibiades. Alcibiades also unsuccessfully attempted to have a productive sexual relationship by impregnating Timaea, the wife of Agis, so that his descendants would become kings of the Lacedaemonians, but Agis realized that the son was not his and subsequently refused the royal succession. (Gregory R. Crane (ed.), The Perseus Project: Plutarch, http://www.perseus.tufts. edu/cgi-bin/text?lookup=plut.+alc.+8.1&vers=english;loeb&browse=1, December 1999). 5. While the exact relation of the dates of these two events is unknown, it is also unimportant. What is relevant is the relationship that Plato perceived them as having, and he likely believed them to have occurred within days.

Essay on Irony in Twelfth Night -- Twelfth Night essays

         Realizing that her disguise has produced unexpected results, Viola makes an allusion to the Gordon knot in order to describe the perceived difficulty of extricating herself from the confusion. Viola, in the act of reinterpreting herself as a man for the main purpose of protection, has found herself the body from which other characters can derive their own interpretations.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As I am man,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   My state is desperate for my master's love:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As I am woman (now alas the day!)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   O time, thou must untangle this, not I,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is too hard a knot for me t'untie. Viola.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (2.2.35-40)    Just as easily as a soft "chev'ril glove" may be turned inside out, especially when it is pulled off to uncover the hand, Viola's position in the play, in relation to the other characters, can be seen as one that leads to a flexible play of ideas that reveal multiple meanings, contradictory or otherwise.    This essay will show how the ironic positions of the main characters, in relation to Viola, in Twelfth Night contribute and then undermine the comic theme of the play, and finally, with certain dramatic license, reinstate it, thus complicating positions of evaluation at certain points in the play.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Twelfth Night, one finds that the combined romantic and comic aspects of the main plot stem mainly from the theme of mistaken gender identity. In dealing with this theme, it is necessary to note that Viola's disguise as a man is assumed to be opaque by the aud... ... Grief, Karen. "Plays and Playing in Twelfth Night". Bloom (47-60). Kreiger, Elliot. "Malvolio and Class Ideology". Bloom (19-26). Nevo, Ruth. Comic Transformations in Shakespeare. London: Methuen & Co., 1980. Osborne, Laurie E. The Trick of Singularity: Twelfth Night and the Performance Editions. Iowa City: U of Iowa P, 1996. Rosenberg, Marvin. "Subtext in Shakespeare". Thompson, Marvin, and Ruth Thompson, eds. Shakespeare and the Sense of Performance. Newark: U of Delaware P, 1989. (79-90). Shakespeare, William. The Arden Edition of the Works of William Shakespeare: Twelfth Night. Ed. J. M. Lothian and T.W. Craik. UK: Methuen & Co., 1975. Thatcher, David. Begging to Differ: Modes of Discrepancy in Shakespeare. New York: Peter Lang, 1999. Vickers, Brian. Appropriating Shakespeare: Contemporary Critical Quarrels. New Haven: Yale U P, 1993

The Challenges of Strategic Management

Strategic Management 313 News Critique – Topic 1 – The Challenges of Strategic Management *Mishal Ibrahim Mohamed *Didi 12928039 1. News item sources Gross, D. 2010. Major new app store to take on Apple, others. http://www. cnn. com/2010/TECH/02/15/app. store/index. html? iref=allsearch (accessed March 6, 2010). Kincaid, J. 2010. The Wholesale Applications Community Sounds Like A Disaster In The Making. http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/15/AR2010021502209. html (accessed March 6, 2010). Mobile firms unite to offer applications. http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/technology/8515813. stm (accessed March 6, 2010). Schenker, J. L. 2010. Mobile Industry Strikes Back at Google and Apple. http://www. businessweek. com/blogs/europeinsight/archives/2010/02/mobile_industry. html (accessed March 6, 2010). 2. Summary On February 15th 2010, the world's largest 24+ companies that deal with telecommunications have announced that they are tying up with each other to form what they call the Wholesale Applications Community (Gross 2010). This strategy is aimed at creating a unified open platform to create applications to work on any phone, including any carrier and any operation system (OS) that they are using (Kincaid 2010). As we know, Apple dominates the app market with more than 3 billion downloads in 18 months (_Mobile firms unite to offer applications 2010). The operators realised that their current strategy of creating individual applications for each of their phones was not able to come even close to the market share and the competitive advantage that Apple's App store has (Gross 2010). They realized that if they combined their efforts with each other they would be able to serve 3 billion customers collectively (Schenker 2010). Currently all most all third party developers have all been developing for Apple's App Store which amounts to about 140, 000 applications and almost completely ignoring the rest of the market (Schenker 2010). The Wholesale Applications Community's plan is to balance this market by bringing these developers towards them since they would be serving a bigger market collectively (Schenker 2010). They aim to have this common standard by a maximum of 12 months (Mobile irms unite to offer applications _2010). *3. Links* to topic This news critique links to Topic 1 – The challenges of strategic Management in many ways. Firstly the topic talks about what a strategy is and what achieving competitive advantage means. Apple in this case has achieved competitive advantage using its App Store. It has dominated the market for a long time with its app lications which other companies were not able to imitate as efficiently (Gross 2010). Secondly, the topic talks about how there are intended strategies and emergent strategies and the implementation of these strategies. Since Apple had such a market dominance, the original strategy for the other companies were to make applications and application stores by themselves but as the market changed they decided to improvise and implement a new strategy which was to work with each other to make a universal application store that would work on all their phones (Schenker 2010). The aim of this strategy as explained in the summary was to even the market and reduce the competitive advantage that Apple had over the rest (_Mobile firms unite to offer applications _2010). 4. What can be learnt There is a lot of things that can be learnt from this. For one, it shows the importance of implementing strategies and the power of achieving competitive advantage. The article said that Apple's App Store had 3 billion downloads in 18 months because of how brilliant their app store was compared to the rest of the competition (_Mobile firms unite to offer applications _2010). What was also learnt was that no one strategy would work forever and that strategies need to be consistently changing based on the environment around the company as well as what the competition is doing. If the other telecommunication companies just stood still with their old strategy then it is most likely that Apple would gain even more competitive advantage over them. They adapted and changed their strategies to match the market and compete. 5. Future developments There is a strong debate in whether this would be successful or not. Rob Conway, CEO of the GSM Association is extremely excited about this since he feels that it will be the start of an equal market with much more innovation (Gross 2010). Andy Rubin, Google VP of engineering, on the other hand believes that this is merely a dream and is extremely sceptical that it would work since he believes that the market place is too fragmented and also the specifications of each phone is too varied to create a singular format (Kincaid 2010). I personally think that this is both good and bad. I do agree that this would create more innovation and ultimately more value for the customers since finally competition would be created in the application market, but at the same time I do notice certain problems. For example if they are creating applications that would work on any phone then I feel it is likely that we might start seeing too much similarity in phones. The sizes of phones would be almost the same, the screen size would be almost the same and so forth. Nothing would be more unique than the other and it is likely that the companies may argue with each other on what the final design should be. Then again if these application are made in such a way that it could fit any size then there should not be much of a problem. In conclusion, I guess time will tell how effective this strategy will be for the mobile phone market.