Fool Chapter 5

FIVE PITY THE FOOL Kent banished, Cordelia disinherited, the king having given away his property and power, but most important, my home, the White Tower; the two older sisters insulted by Kent, the dukes ready to cut my throat, well – getting a laugh might be a challenge. Royal succession, it seemed, would not be a prudent subject to broach, and I was lost for a transition to slapstick or pantomime after Lear's high drama, so Drool was but a millstone on comedy's neck. I juggled apples and sang a little song about monkeys while I pondered the problem. The king was, of late, leaning decidedly pagan, while the elder sisters favored the Church. Gloucester and Edgar were devout to the Roman pantheon, and Cordelia, well, she thought the whole lot was shit and England should have her own church with women in the clergy. Quaint. So the high-minded comedy of religious satire it would be†¦ I tossed my apples around the table and said, â€Å"Two popes are shagging a camel behind a mosque, when this Saracen comes up – â€Å" â€Å"There is only one, true pope!† shouted Cornwall, great tower of malignant smegma that he is. â€Å"It's a jest, you wanker,† said I. â€Å"Suspend fucking disbelief for a bit, would you?† He was right, in a way (although not for the purpose of the camel bit). For the last year there had only been one pope, in the holy city of Amsterdam. But for the prior fifty years there had been two popes, the Retail Pope and the Discount Pope. After the Thirteenth Holy Crusade, when it was decided that to avoid future strife, the birthplace of Jesus would be moved to a different city every four years, holy shrines lost their geographical importance. There arose a great price war in the Church, with shrines offering pilgrims dispensation at varying competitive rates. Now there didn't need to be a miracle declared on the spot; anywhere could basically be declared a holy site, and often was. Lourdes would still sell dispensation coupons with the healing waters – but also some bloke in Puddinghoe could plant some pansies and hawk, â€Å"Jesus had a wee right on this very spot when he was a lad – two pennies and a spliff of Cardiff chronic ‘ill get you out o' purgat ory for an eon, mate.† Soon a whole guild of low-priced shrine keepers around Europe named their own Pope – Boldface the Relatively Shameless, Discount Pope of Prague. The price war was on. If the Dutch pope would give you a hundred years out of purgatory for a shilling and a ferryman's ticket, the Discount Pope would let you out for two hundred years and send you home with the femur of a minor saint and a splinter of the True Cross. The Retail Pope would offer cheesy bacon toppings on the Host with communion and the Discount Pope would counter with topless-nun night for midnight mass. It came to a head, though, when St. Matthew appeared in a vision to the Retail Pope, telling him that the faithful were more interested in the quality of their religious experience, not just the quantity. Thus inspired, the Retail Pope moved Christmas to June when the weather wasn't so shit for shopping, and the Discount Pope, not realizing the game had changed, responded by forgiving hell altogether for anyone who gave a priest a hand job. Without hell, there was no fear, and without fear, there was no further need for the Church to supply redemption, and more important, no means for the Church to modify behavior. The Discount faithful defected in droves, either to the Retail branch of the Church, or to a dozen different pagan sects. Why not get pissed and dance naked around a pole all Sabbath if the worst of it was a rash on the naughty bits and the dropping of the odd bastard now and then? Pope Boldface was burned in a wicker man the next Beltane and cats shat in his ashes. So, yes, a two-pope joke was untimely, but fuck all, it was dire times, and I sallied forth, for a bit: â€Å"So the second pope says, ‘Your sister? I thought she was kosher?'† And no one laughed. Cordelia rolled her eyes and made a raspberry sound. The pathetic one-trumpet fanfare dribbled, the great doors were thrown open, and France and Burgundy ponced[20] into the hall followed by the bastard Edmund. â€Å"Silence, fool,† commanded Lear, with great superfluity. â€Å"Hail, Burgundy, hail, France.† â€Å"Hail, Edmund the bloody bastard!† said I. Lear ignored me and motioned for France and Burgundy to come before him. They were both fit, taller than me but not tall, a few years south of thirty. Burgundy had dark hair and the sharp features of a Roman. France, sandy hair and softer features. Each wore sword and dagger that I doubted had been ever drawn but for ceremony. Fucking frogs. â€Å"Lord Burgundy,† said Lear, â€Å"you have rivaled for the hand of our youngest daughter. What dowry do you require for her?† â€Å"No less than your highness has offered,† said the dark poofter. â€Å"Alas, that is no more, good Burgundy. What we offered, was offered when she was dear to us. Now she has roused our anger and betrayed our love and her dowry is nothing. If you want her as she is there, take her, but there will be no dowry.† Burgundy was stunned. He backed away, nearly stepping on France's feet. â€Å"I'm sorry, then, sir, but I must tend to property and power in my choice of duchess.† â€Å"She shall have neither,† said Lear. â€Å"So be it,† said Burgundy. He nodded, bowed, and stepped back. â€Å"I am sorry, Cordelia.† â€Å"No worry, sir,† said the princess. â€Å"If Burgundy's heart is wed only to property and power, then it could never be to me truly. Peace be with you.† I breathed half a sigh of relief. We might be driven from our home, but if Cordelia was driven out with us – â€Å"I'll take her!† said Edgar. â€Å"You will not, you blubbering, beetle-browed, dog-buggering dolt!† I may have accidentally exclaimed. â€Å"You will not,† said Gloucester, pushing his son back into his seat. â€Å"Well, I will have her,† said the Prince of France. â€Å"For she is a dowry in herself.† â€Å"Oh for fuck's sake!† â€Å"Pocket, that's enough,† said the king. â€Å"Guard, take him outside and hold him until our will is done.† Two yeomen stepped up behind me and seized me under the armpits. I heard Drool moan and looked over to see him cowering behind a column. This had never happened before – nothing like it. I was the all-licensed fool! I of all people could speak truth to power – I am chief cheeky monkey to the King of Bloody Britain! â€Å"You don't know what you're getting into, France. Have you seen her feet? Or perhaps that is your game, put her to work in the vineyards crushing wine grapes. Majesty, the poofter means to force servitude on her, mark my words.† But no one heard the last of it, the yeomen had dragged me from the room and held me in the hall outside. I sought to brain one with Jones but he caught the puppet stick and tucked him in his belt at the small of his back. â€Å"Sorry, Pocket,† said Curan, the captain of the guard, a grizzled bear in chain mail who held me by my right arm. â€Å"‘Twas a direct order, and you were fast cutting your throat with your own tongue.† â€Å"Not me,† said I. â€Å"He wouldn't hurt me.† â€Å"I'd have said he'd not banish his best friend or disown his favorite daughter before this night. Hanging a fool's an easy leap, lad.† â€Å"Aye,† said I. â€Å"You're right. Let me go, then.† â€Å"Not until the king's business is done,† said the old yeoman. The doors came open, fanfare trickled anemic through the portal, and out came the Prince of France, on his arm, Cordelia, radiant and wearing a grim smile. I could see her jaw clenched, but she relaxed when she saw me and some of the fire of anger left her eyes. â€Å"So, you're off with the frog Prince?† said I. France laughed at that, bloody buggering French fuck that he is. Is there anything so irritating as a noble who actually behaves nobly? â€Å"Yes, I am leaving, Pocket, but there is one thing you must always remember and never forget – â€Å" â€Å"Both at once?† â€Å"Shut up!† â€Å"Aye, milady.† â€Å"You must always remember, and you must never forget, that while you are the Black Fool, the dark fool, the Royal Fool, the all-licensed fool, and the King's Fool, you were not brought here to be those things. You were brought here to please me. Me! So when you put your titles aside, a fool still shall there reside, and now and forever, you are my fool.† â€Å"Oh my, you are going to do well in France – they hold unpleasantness to be a virtue.† â€Å"Mine!† â€Å"Now and forever, milady.† â€Å"You may kiss my hand, fool.† The yeoman released me and I bent to take her hand. She pulled it away, and turned, her gown fanning out around her as she walked away. â€Å"Sorry, having you on.† I smiled into the floor. â€Å"You bitch.† â€Å"I'll miss you, Pocket,† she said over her shoulder, and she hurried down the corridor. â€Å"Take me with you. Take us both with you. France, you could use a brilliant fool and a great lumbering bag of flatulence like Drool, couldn't you?† The prince shook his head, entirely too much pity in his eyes for my tastes. â€Å"You are Lear's fool, with Lear you shall stay.† â€Å"That's not what your wife just said.† â€Å"She will learn,† said the prince. He turned on his heel and followed Cordelia down the corridor. I started after them but the captain yanked me back by the arm. â€Å"Let her go, lad.† Next out of the hall came the sisters and their husbands. Before I could say anything the captain had clamped his hand over my mouth and was lifting me off my feet as I kicked. Cornwall made as to draw his dagger, but Regan pulled him away. â€Å"You've just won a kingdom, my duke, killing vermin is a servant's task. Leave the bitter fool stew in his own bile.† She wanted me. It was clear. Goneril would not look me in the eye, but hurried past, and her husband, Albany, just shook his head as he walked by. A hundred brilliant witticisms died suffocating on the captain's heavy glove. Thus muted, I pumped my codpiece at the duke and tried to force a fart, but my bum trumpet could find no note. As if the gods had sent down a dim and gaseous avatar to help me, Drool came next through the door, walking rather more straight than was his habit. Then I saw that someone had looped a rope around his neck, the noose fixed to a spear whose point was almost piercing Drool's throat. Edmund stepped into the corridor holding the other end of the spear, two men at arms flanking him. â€Å"The captain havin' a laugh with you, then, Pocket?† said Drool, innocent of his peril. The captain dropped me to my feet then, but held my shoulder to keep me from going at Edmund, whose father and brother passed behind him. â€Å"You were right, Pocket,† said Edmund, poking Drool a bit with the spear for emphasis. â€Å"Killing you would be enough to cement my unfavorable position forever, but a hostage – there's a mute I can use. I so enjoyed your performance in there that I prevailed upon the king to provide me with a fool of my own, and look at his gift. He'll be coming to Gloucester with us to assure that you don't forget your promise.† â€Å"You don't need the spear, bastard. He'll go if I ask him.† â€Å"Are we going on holiday, Pocket?† asked Drool, blood beginning to trickle down his neck then. I approached the giant. â€Å"No, lad,† said I. â€Å"You're going to go with the bastard here. Do as he says.† I turned to the captain. â€Å"Give me your knife.† The captain eyed Edmund and the men at arms beside him, who had hands on hilts. â€Å"I don't know, Pocket – â€Å" â€Å"Give me your bloody knife!† I whirled, pulled the knife from the captain's belt, and before the men at arms could draw I'd cut the rope around Drool's neck and pushed Edmund's spear aside. â€Å"You don't need the spear, bastard.† I handed the captain his knife and motioned for Drool to bend down so we were eye-to-eye. â€Å"I want you to go with Edmund and don't give him any trouble, you understand?† â€Å"Aye. You ain't comin'?† â€Å"I'll be along, I'll be along. I've business at the White Tower first.† â€Å"Shagging to be done?† Drool nodded so enthusiastically you could nearly hear his tiny brain rattling around his gourd. â€Å"I'll be helping, right?† â€Å"No, lad, but you'll have your own castle. You'll be the proper fool, won't you? There'll be all kinds of hiding and listening, Drool, do you understand what I'm saying, lad?† I winked, hoping against hope that the git would get my meaning. â€Å"Will there be heinous fuckery, Pocket?† â€Å"Aye, I think you can count on it.† â€Å"Smashing!† Drool clapped his hands and danced a little jig then, chanting, â€Å"Heinous fuckery most foul, heinous fuckery most foul – â€Å" I looked to Edmund. â€Å"You've my word, bastard. But you've also my word that if any harm comes to the Natural, I'll see to it that ghosts ride you into your grave.† A flash of fear showed in Edmund's eye then, but he fought it down and affected his usual swaggering smirk. â€Å"His life is on your word, little man.† The bastard turned and strutted down the corridor. Drool looked back, a big tear welling in his eye as he realized what was happening. I waved him on. â€Å"I'd have taken the other two if you'd dirked him,† said Curan. The other guard nodded in agreement. â€Å"Evil bastard was asking for it.† â€Å"Well, now you fucking tell me,† said I. Another guard hurried out of the hall then, and seeing it was only the fool with his captain, reported, â€Å"Captain, the king's food taster. He's dead, sir.† Three friends had I.

Bartolome de las Casas’s Destruction of the Indies Essay

Bartolomà © de las Casas was a Spanish historian and a social reformer who was writing in the 16th century, during the time of the Spanish occupation of the Indies. In A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, Casas provides a scathing commentary on the cruelty exercised by the Spanish colonizers on the natives of Hispaniola—as well as explain the aims that motivated this behavior. The account acts as not only an observation on the practices of the colonizers, but is also a reflection of the imperial policies of the Spanish Empire. Through writing A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, Casas aims at bringing the Spanish Crown’s attention to the atrocities committed by the citizens of the empire on the natives. In keeping with that aim, he utilizes a rhetoric that seeks to arouse the sympathy of his readers towards the natives and a sense of horror over how they are being treated. Right from the beginning of the account, in the preface, he paints an i mage of the natives as being simple, and harmless. He describes them as, â€Å"the simplest people in the world†¦they are without malice or guilt†¦never quarrelsome or belligerent or boisterous, they harbour no grudges†¦indeed the notions of revenge, rancour and hatred are quite foreign to them†. In contrast to that, he describes the Spaniards as â€Å"ravening wolves† who fell upon the natives like â€Å"tigers or savage lions who had not eaten meat for days .â€Å" Casas sets up a comparison between the helplessness of the natives and the savagery of the Spaniards, and this comparison holds throughout the document. Examples of this comparison are in the frequent accounts he gives of the before and after native population levels once the Spanish occupy an area—â€Å"when the Spanish first journeyed here, the indigenous population of the island of Hispaniola stood at some three million; today only two hundred survive† or â€Å"not a living soul remains today on any of the islands of the Bahamas.† Casas uses concrete numbers in describing the decline in the population level, in the number deaths—he does this as a means of stressing the official nature of the document, to lend it a sense authority. These numbers also help in giving his reade rs a very clear idea of the terrifying extent of the Spanish cruelty. He enumerates the different ways through which the locals are being exterminated, which gives a fair idea of the general colonial practices in the Indies— through â€Å"forcible expatriation†, â€Å"unjust†¦tyrannical war,† working the natives to the  point of death—Casas gives an example of a man who worked the natives under him so hard that within a month, out of three hundred, only thirty survived. More importantly, Casas reveals the motives behind the widespread cruelty as being simple, materialistic greed. He explains that the greed for the gold that the natives have is the driving force behind the actions of the Spanish. The one instance that effectively reflects this fanatical greed is of the local lord who makes an offering of nine thousand castilians to the Spanish and is still seized and tortured for more gold—â€Å"tying him in a sitting position to a stake set in the ground, lit a fire under his outstretched feet to induce him to hand over yet more gold†¦when he produced no further gold, they carried on until all the marrow ran out through the soles of his feet.† What is worth noting is that Casas when first talking about this greed, refers to the Spanish as Christians—â€Å"the reason the Christians have murdered on such a vast scale and killed anyone and everyone in their way is purely and simply greed.† Casas obviously uses the term â€Å"Christian† ironically to draw attention to the un-Christian behavior that the Spanish are displaying in the colonies. Casas was the Bishop of Chiapas. He was a clerical man, and so his primary concern was the un-Christian activities that were taking place in the colonies. He exclaims that the colonizers have â€Å"little concern over their [natives] souls as for their bodies, all the millions that have perished, having gone to their deaths with no knowledge of God.† This clearly defines exactly what A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies as a text is—it is not a text that is arguing for equal rights, it is instead a text that shows the priorities and concerns of a man living under the Spanish Empire at the time. Casas views the natives not as people equal to the Spaniards, but as potential Christians. He describes them as being, â€Å"innocent and pure in mind and have a lively intelligence, all of which makes them particularly receptive to learning and understanding the truths of our Catholic faith and to being instructed in virtue.† Casas is outraged because the Spanish policy of â€Å"conversion a nd saving of souls as first priority† was not being followed. Instead, it was being used as an excuse—â€Å"The gulf that yawns between theory and practice has meant that, in fact, the’ local people have been presented with an ultimatum: either they adopt the Christian religion and swear allegiance to the Crown of Castile, or they will find themselves faced with  military action.† He describes how the Spanish would unnecessarily pillage an area, but would essentially be within their legal rights as they would make sure that they presented the natives with the royal ultimatum. Casas’ account is a good reflection of the general imperial policy of expansion of the Spanish Empire. The Spanish Empire used religion as a tool to further its aims—the Spanish Inquisition, for example, was established in 1478 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella as a way of increasing their political authority via religion and to suppress any tension that may arise from social and cultural differences. While the activities of the colonizers wasn’t the same as the inquisition, as Casas points out, the Spanish in the colonies were using religion in a similar way. Therefore, Casas’A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies gives important insight into the practices of the Spanish Empire. It also presents an interesting perspective from someone who is a part and within the empire—who is aware and recognizes the malpractices of the Crown and more importantly, is attempting to do something to put a stop to it. It’s also important that the way he goes about this, is through literature—it shows us the importance of the written word in the process of trying to affect a change. Though Casas’ sentiment in the account might not be a common one at the time, it does signal a rising awareness of the moral blindness displayed in the activities of the empires/colonies. Works Cited Bartolomà © de las Casas, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, trans. Nigel Griffin (London: Penguin Classics, 2004), 9-37. Bartolomà © de las Casas, â€Å"Bartolomà © de las Casas,† in Norton Anthology of American Literature, ed. Nina Bayme and Robert S. Levine. (New York: WW Norton & Co, 2012), 38.

Marketing Environment

| 2012/13| | Id: 1180654 Allan raisin | [Firms can do more than simply anticipating and responding to both macro and micro environment:-]| Market research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information | â€Å"Marketing environment includes all the forces that directly or indirectly influence marketing operations by affecting an organization acquisition of inputs/creation of outputs such as human, financial and natural resources and raw material, information, goods, services or ideas.Sometimes a distinction is more between macro and micro factors of environment† The Structure of the Marketing Environment The consumer occupies the core/central position of all business activities and hence occupies the Centre of the marketing environment. The organization with its resources and having a policy and structure surrounds the consumer with its particular market offering as do its competitors, suppliers and other intermediaries. This microenvironment of marketing is again affected by the macro environment, which consists of the government, technical, political, social, economic factors.This is graphically represented by below 1. The major external and uncontrollable factors that influence an organization's decision making, and affect its performance and strategies. These factors include the economic factors; demographics; legal, political, and social conditions; technological changes; and natural forces. 2. Specific examples of macro environment influences include competitors, changes in interest rates, changes in cultural tastes, disastrous weather, or government regulations. PESTLE – Macro Environmental Analysis PESTLEThe PESTLE Analysis is a framework used to scan the organization’s external macro environment. The  letters stand for Political, Economic  Socio-cultural, Technological, Legal and Environmental. Some approaches will add in extra factors, such as International, or remove some to reduce it to PEST. However, these are all merely variations on a theme. The important principle is identifying the key  factors from the wider, uncontrollable external environment that might affect the organization. The PESTLE Factors We start with the Political forces.First of all, political factors refer to the stability of the political  environment and the attitudes of political parties or movements. This may manifest in government  influence on tax policies, or government involvement in trading agreements. Political factors are  inevitably entwined with Legal factors such as national employment laws, international trade  regulations and restrictions, monopolies and mergers’ rules, and consumer protection. The difference  between Political and Legal factors is that Political refers to attitudes and approaches, whereas Legal  factors are those which have become law and regulations.Legal needs to be complied with whereas  Political may represent influences, restrictions or opportunities, but they are not mandatory. Economic factors represent the wider economy so may include economic growth rates, levels of  employment and unemployment, costs of raw materials such as energy, petrol and steel, interest rates  and monetary policies, exchange rates and inflation rates. These may also vary from one country to  another. Socio-cultural factors represent the culture of the society that an organization operates within.They  may include demographics, age distribution, population growth rates, level of education, distribution of  wealth and social classes, living conditions and lifestyle. Technological factors refer to the rate of new inventions and development, changes in information and  mobile technology, changes in internet and e-commerce or even mobile commerce, and government  spending on research. There is often a tendency to focus Technological developments on digital and internet-related areas, but it should also include ma terials development and new methods of  manufacture, distribution and logistics.Environmental impacts can include issues such as limited natural resources, waste disposal and recycling  procedures. Additional Considerations A newer force which is gaining in importance is ethics. These can be defined by the set of moral  principles and values that govern the actions and decisions of an individual or group. Ethics and morals  serve as guidelines on how to act rightly and justly when individuals are faced with moral dilemmas. This force could include corporate social responsibility, fair trade, affiliation between corporations and  charities.A particular problem may exist with how ethical factors relates to legal forces as they may be  at different stages in development. Something may be ethical but not protected by law, whereas other activities may not be ethical, but are legal. A PESTLE analysis should feed into a SWOT analysis as it helps to determine the threats and   opportunities represented by macro-environment forces that the organization usually cannot control. On an international basis, it is best to perform the analysis on a country-by-country basis because  factors can differ greatly between countries (or even regions).Marketing Environment – Micro Marketing Environment – Micro The micro marketing environment consists of certain forces that are part of an organizations marketing process, but remain external to the organization. This micro marketing environment that surrounds organizations can be complex by nature; however the company has an element of control over how it operates within this environment. Marketing helps you to manage and make sense of this complexity. The illustration above summarizes the order of the immediate external marketing environment that businesses operate in.Current and Potential Customers Your customers are vital to the growth and sustainability of your company. In order to grow you must locate customers, understand their needs and then satisfy those needs both efficiently and profitably. Competitors Your competitors however have the same remit as you when it comes to sourcing and satisfying the needs of the customer. They will make it difficult to liaise with customer groups, as by definition they are largely pursuing the same sets of customers as you.As a marketer, you must therefore not only monitor what competitors are doing in the external marketing environment today, but to also anticipate their likely response to your campaigns and to predict what they will do tomorrow. Intermediaries (Distributors/Wholesalers/Retailers) Your business may require a network of wholesalers, distributors and/or retailer. These ‘intermediaries’ provide an invaluable service in getting your products to the customer. You must therefore think carefully about how best to distribute your goods and build relationships.This area can be fierce in competition as not everyone can get access to the channels of distribution that they want. Suppliers One other important area to consider in the external marketing environment is your suppliers. A key supplier can be an important part of your business and may even attribute to your competitive advantage. Losing important suppliers can interrupt production flow or your competitive edge and prevent you from getting your product to your customers. Choice of suppliers, negotiation of terms and relationship building all become important tasks of the marketer.The wider marketing environment, discussed in a separate knowledge sheet, covers all other influences that might provide opportunities or threats to the organization. These include technological development, legal constraints, the economic environment and sociocultural changes. This brief overview of the world in which companies operate in demonstrates that there are many relationships that matter. These need to be managed if the company is to conduct its business suc cessfully. The main responsibility for managing these relationships lies within the marketing department.Using a SWOT SWOT is an important tool in auditing the external and internal environment of the organization. A SWOT Analysis should be more than a basic listing of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Most organizations have the same, common-sense type of threats, such as competitors, technological changes, regulation and deregulation, or weaknesses such as high price, but these are all very general, hard to control elements meaning the utility can be quite limited. As Cranfield’s Professor Malcolm McDonald puts it, real SWOTs should be more concise and specific.STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES, AND THREATS Strengths, in the SWOT analysis, are a company's capabilities and resources that allow it to engage in activities to generate economic value and perhaps competitive advantage. A company's strengths may be in its ability to create unique products, to pr ovide high-level customer service, or to have a presence in multiple retail markets. Strengths may also be things such as the company's culture, its staffing and training, or the quality of its managers. Whatever capability a company has can be regarded as strength.A company's weaknesses are a lack of resources or capabilities that can prevent it from generating economic value or gaining a competitive advantage if used to enact the company's strategy. There are many examples of organizational weaknesses. For example, a firm may have a large, bureaucratic structure that limits its ability to compete with smaller, more dynamic companies. Another weakness may occur if a company has higher labor costs than a competitor who can have similar productivity from a lower labor cost.The characteristics of an organization that can be strength, as listed above, can also be a weakness if the company does not do them well. Opportunities provide the organization with a chance to improve its perform ance and its competitive advantage. Some opportunities may be anticipated, others arise unexpectedly. Opportunities may arise when there are niches for new products or services, or when these products and services can be offered at different times and in different locations. For instance, the increased use of the Internet has provided numerous opportunities for companies to expand their product sales.Threats can be an individual, group, or organization outside the company that aims to reduce the level of the company's performance. Every company faces threats in its environment. Often the more successful companies have stronger threats, because there is a desire on the part of other companies to take some of that success for their own. Threats may come from new products or services from other companies that aim to take away a company's competitive advantage. Threats may also come from government regulation or even consumer groups.A strong company strategy that shows how to gain compe titive advantage should address all four elements of the SWOT analysis. It should help the organization determine how to use its strengths to take advantage of opportunities and neutralize threats. Finally, a strong strategy should help an organization avoid or fix its weaknesses. If a company can develop a strategy that makes use of the information from SWOT analysis, it is more likely to have high levels of performance. Nearly every company can benefit from SWOT analysis.Larger organizations may have strategic-planning procedures in place that incorporate SWOT analysis, but smaller firms, particularly entrepreneurial firms may have to start the analysis from scratch. Additionally, depending on the size or the degree of diversification of the company, it may be necessary to conduct more than one SWOT analysis. If the company has a wide variety of products and services, particularly if it operates in different markets, one SWOT analysis will not capture all of the relevant strengths , weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that exist across the span of the company's operations.LIMITATIONS OF SWOT ANALYSIS One major problem with the SWOT analysis is that while it emphasizes the importance of the four elements associated with the organizational and environmental analysis, it does not address how the company can identify the elements for their own company. Many organizational executives may not be able to determine what these elements are, and the SWOT framework provides no guidance. For example, what if a strength identified by the company is not truly strength?While a company might believe its customer service is strong, they may be unaware of problems with employees or the capabilities of other companies to provide a higher level of customer service. Weaknesses are often easier to determine, but typically after it is too late to create a new strategy to offset them. A company may also have difficulty identifying opportunities. Depending on the organization, wha t may seem like an opportunity to some may appear to be a threat to others. Opportunities may be easy to overlook or may be identified long after they can be exploited.Similarly, a company may have difficulty anticipating possible threats in order to effectively avoid them. While the SWOT framework does not provide managers with the guidance to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, it does tell managers what questions to ask during the strategy development process, even if it does not provide the answers. Managers know to ask and to determine a strategy that will take advantage of a company's strengths, minimize its weaknesses, exploit opportunities, or neutralize threats.Some experts argue that making strategic choices for the firm is less important than asking the right questions in choosing the strategy. A company may mistakenly solve a problem by providing the correct answer to the wrong question. USING SWOT ANALYSIS TO DEVELOP ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY SWOT analysis is just the first step in developing and implementing an effective organizational strategy. After a thorough SWOT analysis, the next step is to rank the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and to document the criteria for ranking.The company must then determine its strategic fit given its internal capabilities and external environment in a two-by-two grid (see Figure 1). This fit, as determined in the grid, will indicate what strategic changes need to be made. The quadrants in this grid are as follows: * Quadrant 1 —internal strengths matched with external opportunities; * Quadrant 2 —internal weaknesses relative to external opportunities; * Quadrant 3 —internal strengths matched with external threats; and * Quadrant 4 —internal weaknesses relative to external threats.Quadrant 1 lists the strategies associated with a match between the company's strengths and its perceived external opportunities. It represents the best fit between th e company's resources and the options available in the external market. A strategy from this quadrant would be to protect the company's strengths by shoring up resources and extending competitive advantage. If a strategy in this quadrant can additionally bolster weaknesses in other areas, such as in Quadrant 2, this would be advantageous. Quadrant 2 lists the strategies associated with a match between the company's weaknesses with external opportunities.Strategies in this quadrant would address the choice of either improving upon weaknesses to turn them into strengths, or allowing competitors to take advantage of opportunities in the marketplace. Quadrant 3 matches the company's strengths and external threats. Strategies in this quadrant may aim to transform external threats into opportunities by changing the company's competitive position through use of its resources or strengths. Another strategic option in this quadrant is for the company to maintain a defensive strategy to focus on more promising opportunities in other quadrants.Quadrant 4 matches a company's weaknesses and the threats in the environment. These are the worst possible scenarios for an organization. However, because of the competitive nature of the marketplace, any company is likely to have information in this quadrant. Strategies in this quadrant may involve using resources in other quadrants to exploit opportunities to the point that other threats are minimized. Additionally, some issues may be moved out of this quadrant by otherwise neutralizing the threat or by bolstering a perceived weakness.Once a strategy is decided on in each quadrant for the issues facing the company, these strategies require frequent monitoring and periodic updates. An organization is best served by proactively determining strategies to address issues before they become crises. An example of how a firm can develop strategies using these quadrants is as follows. Generic Corporation produces high-quality; high-priced specialty kitchen items in a catalog and in stores and is known for their excellent customer service. This strength has been able to offset its major weaknesses, which are having few stores and no current capabilities for Internet sales.Its major opportunities come from the explosion of Internet shopping, and its threats are other more high-profile competitors, operating primarily on the Internet, and the concerns of identity theft in Internet sales that many customers ha ve. Matching Generic's strengths to its opportunities (Quadrant 1), the firm may choose to enhance its Internet site to allow online purchases, still providing its excellent 24-hour telephone customer service. Ideally, this strategy will offset the weakness of not having an Internet presence, which addresses the concerns of Quadrant 2.Additionally, by bolstering the strength of excellent customer service by applying it to the online shopping site, the company may be able to alleviate customer concerns about identi ty theft (Quadrant 3). A strategy for Quadrant 4, which matches the company's weaknesses and threats, is that Generic may consider selling its online business to a competitor. Certainly, the Quadrant 4 strategy is the least preferred, but a proactive strategy that plans for managing such a situation is favored over a crisis situation in which the company is forced to sell with no planning.A SWOT analysis is a first, but critical, step in developing an organizational strategy. By examining the company's internal capabilities—its strengths and weaknesses and its external environment—opportunities and threats, it helps to create strategies that can proactively contend with organizational challenges. The changing and uncertain marketing environment deeply affects the organization, instead of changing slowly and predictably, the environment can produce major surprises and shocks, how many managers at â€Å"Heinz† foresaw that the baby-boom numbers would fall so rapid ly?How many were able to predict that the Internet will enable not only real-time personal communication but that will also provide a way for business process improvement and new industries would be formed. How many were able to predict that mobile phone SMS and MMS services would add significant value for the customers, some said ‘who would want to type text on the phone or even snap pictures , telephone are only for talking’To conclude I would say that Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information – these information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the methods for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, an alyzes, and communicates the findings and their implications. † Marketing Environment | 2012/13| | Id: 1180654 Allan raisin | [Firms can do more than simply anticipating and responding to both macro and micro environment:-]| Market research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information | â€Å"Marketing environment includes all the forces that directly or indirectly influence marketing operations by affecting an organization acquisition of inputs/creation of outputs such as human, financial and natural resources and raw material, information, goods, services or ideas.Sometimes a distinction is more between macro and micro factors of environment† The Structure of the Marketing Environment The consumer occupies the core/central position of all business activities and hence occupies the Centre of the marketing environment. The organization with its resources and having a policy and structure surrounds the consumer with its particular market offering as do its competitors, suppliers and other intermediaries. This microenvironment of marketing is again affected by the macro environment, which consists of the government, technical, political, social, economic factors.This is graphically represented by below 1. The major external and uncontrollable factors that influence an organization's decision making, and affect its performance and strategies. These factors include the economic factors; demographics; legal, political, and social conditions; technological changes; and natural forces. 2. Specific examples of macro environment influences include competitors, changes in interest rates, changes in cultural tastes, disastrous weather, or government regulations. PESTLE – Macro Environmental Analysis PESTLEThe PESTLE Analysis is a framework used to scan the organization’s external macro environment. The  letters stand for Political, Economic  Socio-cultural, Technological, Legal and Environmental. Some approaches will add in extra factors, such as International, or remove some to reduce it to PEST. However, these are all merely variations on a theme. The important principle is identifying the key  factors from the wider, uncontrollable external environment that might affect the organization. The PESTLE Factors We start with the Political forces.First of all, political factors refer to the stability of the political  environment and the attitudes of political parties or movements. This may manifest in government  influence on tax policies, or government involvement in trading agreements. Political factors are  inevitably entwined with Legal factors such as national employment laws, international trade  regulations and restrictions, monopolies and mergers’ rules, and consumer protection. The difference  between Political and Legal factors is that Political refers to attitudes and approaches, whereas Legal  factors are those which have become law and regulations.Legal needs to be complied with whereas  Political may represent influences, restrictions or opportunities, but they are not mandatory. Economic factors represent the wider economy so may include economic growth rates, levels of  employment and unemployment, costs of raw materials such as energy, petrol and steel, interest rates  and monetary policies, exchange rates and inflation rates. These may also vary from one country to  another. Socio-cultural factors represent the culture of the society that an organization operates within.They  may include demographics, age distribution, population growth rates, level of education, distribution of  wealth and social classes, living conditions and lifestyle. Technological factors refer to the rate of new inventions and development, changes in information and  mobile technology, changes in internet and e-commerce or even mobile commerce, and government  spending on research. There is often a tendency to focus Technological developments on digital and internet-related areas, but it should also include ma terials development and new methods of  manufacture, distribution and logistics.Environmental impacts can include issues such as limited natural resources, waste disposal and recycling  procedures. Additional Considerations A newer force which is gaining in importance is ethics. These can be defined by the set of moral  principles and values that govern the actions and decisions of an individual or group. Ethics and morals  serve as guidelines on how to act rightly and justly when individuals are faced with moral dilemmas. This force could include corporate social responsibility, fair trade, affiliation between corporations and  charities.A particular problem may exist with how ethical factors relates to legal forces as they may be  at different stages in development. Something may be ethical but not protected by law, whereas other activities may not be ethical, but are legal. A PESTLE analysis should feed into a SWOT analysis as it helps to determine the threats and   opportunities represented by macro-environment forces that the organization usually cannot control. On an international basis, it is best to perform the analysis on a country-by-country basis because  factors can differ greatly between countries (or even regions).Marketing Environment – Micro Marketing Environment – Micro The micro marketing environment consists of certain forces that are part of an organizations marketing process, but remain external to the organization. This micro marketing environment that surrounds organizations can be complex by nature; however the company has an element of control over how it operates within this environment. Marketing helps you to manage and make sense of this complexity. The illustration above summarizes the order of the immediate external marketing environment that businesses operate in.Current and Potential Customers Your customers are vital to the growth and sustainability of your company. In order to grow you must locate customers, understand their needs and then satisfy those needs both efficiently and profitably. Competitors Your competitors however have the same remit as you when it comes to sourcing and satisfying the needs of the customer. They will make it difficult to liaise with customer groups, as by definition they are largely pursuing the same sets of customers as you.As a marketer, you must therefore not only monitor what competitors are doing in the external marketing environment today, but to also anticipate their likely response to your campaigns and to predict what they will do tomorrow. Intermediaries (Distributors/Wholesalers/Retailers) Your business may require a network of wholesalers, distributors and/or retailer. These ‘intermediaries’ provide an invaluable service in getting your products to the customer. You must therefore think carefully about how best to distribute your goods and build relationships.This area can be fierce in competition as not everyone can get access to the channels of distribution that they want. Suppliers One other important area to consider in the external marketing environment is your suppliers. A key supplier can be an important part of your business and may even attribute to your competitive advantage. Losing important suppliers can interrupt production flow or your competitive edge and prevent you from getting your product to your customers. Choice of suppliers, negotiation of terms and relationship building all become important tasks of the marketer.The wider marketing environment, discussed in a separate knowledge sheet, covers all other influences that might provide opportunities or threats to the organization. These include technological development, legal constraints, the economic environment and sociocultural changes. This brief overview of the world in which companies operate in demonstrates that there are many relationships that matter. These need to be managed if the company is to conduct its business suc cessfully. The main responsibility for managing these relationships lies within the marketing department.Using a SWOT SWOT is an important tool in auditing the external and internal environment of the organization. A SWOT Analysis should be more than a basic listing of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Most organizations have the same, common-sense type of threats, such as competitors, technological changes, regulation and deregulation, or weaknesses such as high price, but these are all very general, hard to control elements meaning the utility can be quite limited. As Cranfield’s Professor Malcolm McDonald puts it, real SWOTs should be more concise and specific.STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES, AND THREATS Strengths, in the SWOT analysis, are a company's capabilities and resources that allow it to engage in activities to generate economic value and perhaps competitive advantage. A company's strengths may be in its ability to create unique products, to pr ovide high-level customer service, or to have a presence in multiple retail markets. Strengths may also be things such as the company's culture, its staffing and training, or the quality of its managers. Whatever capability a company has can be regarded as strength.A company's weaknesses are a lack of resources or capabilities that can prevent it from generating economic value or gaining a competitive advantage if used to enact the company's strategy. There are many examples of organizational weaknesses. For example, a firm may have a large, bureaucratic structure that limits its ability to compete with smaller, more dynamic companies. Another weakness may occur if a company has higher labor costs than a competitor who can have similar productivity from a lower labor cost.The characteristics of an organization that can be strength, as listed above, can also be a weakness if the company does not do them well. Opportunities provide the organization with a chance to improve its perform ance and its competitive advantage. Some opportunities may be anticipated, others arise unexpectedly. Opportunities may arise when there are niches for new products or services, or when these products and services can be offered at different times and in different locations. For instance, the increased use of the Internet has provided numerous opportunities for companies to expand their product sales.Threats can be an individual, group, or organization outside the company that aims to reduce the level of the company's performance. Every company faces threats in its environment. Often the more successful companies have stronger threats, because there is a desire on the part of other companies to take some of that success for their own. Threats may come from new products or services from other companies that aim to take away a company's competitive advantage. Threats may also come from government regulation or even consumer groups.A strong company strategy that shows how to gain compe titive advantage should address all four elements of the SWOT analysis. It should help the organization determine how to use its strengths to take advantage of opportunities and neutralize threats. Finally, a strong strategy should help an organization avoid or fix its weaknesses. If a company can develop a strategy that makes use of the information from SWOT analysis, it is more likely to have high levels of performance. Nearly every company can benefit from SWOT analysis.Larger organizations may have strategic-planning procedures in place that incorporate SWOT analysis, but smaller firms, particularly entrepreneurial firms may have to start the analysis from scratch. Additionally, depending on the size or the degree of diversification of the company, it may be necessary to conduct more than one SWOT analysis. If the company has a wide variety of products and services, particularly if it operates in different markets, one SWOT analysis will not capture all of the relevant strengths , weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that exist across the span of the company's operations.LIMITATIONS OF SWOT ANALYSIS One major problem with the SWOT analysis is that while it emphasizes the importance of the four elements associated with the organizational and environmental analysis, it does not address how the company can identify the elements for their own company. Many organizational executives may not be able to determine what these elements are, and the SWOT framework provides no guidance. For example, what if a strength identified by the company is not truly strength?While a company might believe its customer service is strong, they may be unaware of problems with employees or the capabilities of other companies to provide a higher level of customer service. Weaknesses are often easier to determine, but typically after it is too late to create a new strategy to offset them. A company may also have difficulty identifying opportunities. Depending on the organization, wha t may seem like an opportunity to some may appear to be a threat to others. Opportunities may be easy to overlook or may be identified long after they can be exploited.Similarly, a company may have difficulty anticipating possible threats in order to effectively avoid them. While the SWOT framework does not provide managers with the guidance to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, it does tell managers what questions to ask during the strategy development process, even if it does not provide the answers. Managers know to ask and to determine a strategy that will take advantage of a company's strengths, minimize its weaknesses, exploit opportunities, or neutralize threats.Some experts argue that making strategic choices for the firm is less important than asking the right questions in choosing the strategy. A company may mistakenly solve a problem by providing the correct answer to the wrong question. USING SWOT ANALYSIS TO DEVELOP ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY SWOT analysis is just the first step in developing and implementing an effective organizational strategy. After a thorough SWOT analysis, the next step is to rank the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and to document the criteria for ranking.The company must then determine its strategic fit given its internal capabilities and external environment in a two-by-two grid (see Figure 1). This fit, as determined in the grid, will indicate what strategic changes need to be made. The quadrants in this grid are as follows: * Quadrant 1 —internal strengths matched with external opportunities; * Quadrant 2 —internal weaknesses relative to external opportunities; * Quadrant 3 —internal strengths matched with external threats; and * Quadrant 4 —internal weaknesses relative to external threats.Quadrant 1 lists the strategies associated with a match between the company's strengths and its perceived external opportunities. It represents the best fit between th e company's resources and the options available in the external market. A strategy from this quadrant would be to protect the company's strengths by shoring up resources and extending competitive advantage. If a strategy in this quadrant can additionally bolster weaknesses in other areas, such as in Quadrant 2, this would be advantageous. Quadrant 2 lists the strategies associated with a match between the company's weaknesses with external opportunities.Strategies in this quadrant would address the choice of either improving upon weaknesses to turn them into strengths, or allowing competitors to take advantage of opportunities in the marketplace. Quadrant 3 matches the company's strengths and external threats. Strategies in this quadrant may aim to transform external threats into opportunities by changing the company's competitive position through use of its resources or strengths. Another strategic option in this quadrant is for the company to maintain a defensive strategy to focus on more promising opportunities in other quadrants.Quadrant 4 matches a company's weaknesses and the threats in the environment. These are the worst possible scenarios for an organization. However, because of the competitive nature of the marketplace, any company is likely to have information in this quadrant. Strategies in this quadrant may involve using resources in other quadrants to exploit opportunities to the point that other threats are minimized. Additionally, some issues may be moved out of this quadrant by otherwise neutralizing the threat or by bolstering a perceived weakness.Once a strategy is decided on in each quadrant for the issues facing the company, these strategies require frequent monitoring and periodic updates. An organization is best served by proactively determining strategies to address issues before they become crises. An example of how a firm can develop strategies using these quadrants is as follows. Generic Corporation produces high-quality; high-priced specialty kitchen items in a catalog and in stores and is known for their excellent customer service. This strength has been able to offset its major weaknesses, which are having few stores and no current capabilities for Internet sales.Its major opportunities come from the explosion of Internet shopping, and its threats are other more high-profile competitors, operating primarily on the Internet, and the concerns of identity theft in Internet sales that many customers ha ve. Matching Generic's strengths to its opportunities (Quadrant 1), the firm may choose to enhance its Internet site to allow online purchases, still providing its excellent 24-hour telephone customer service. Ideally, this strategy will offset the weakness of not having an Internet presence, which addresses the concerns of Quadrant 2.Additionally, by bolstering the strength of excellent customer service by applying it to the online shopping site, the company may be able to alleviate customer concerns about identi ty theft (Quadrant 3). A strategy for Quadrant 4, which matches the company's weaknesses and threats, is that Generic may consider selling its online business to a competitor. Certainly, the Quadrant 4 strategy is the least preferred, but a proactive strategy that plans for managing such a situation is favored over a crisis situation in which the company is forced to sell with no planning.A SWOT analysis is a first, but critical, step in developing an organizational strategy. By examining the company's internal capabilities—its strengths and weaknesses and its external environment—opportunities and threats, it helps to create strategies that can proactively contend with organizational challenges. The changing and uncertain marketing environment deeply affects the organization, instead of changing slowly and predictably, the environment can produce major surprises and shocks, how many managers at â€Å"Heinz† foresaw that the baby-boom numbers would fall so rapid ly?How many were able to predict that the Internet will enable not only real-time personal communication but that will also provide a way for business process improvement and new industries would be formed. How many were able to predict that mobile phone SMS and MMS services would add significant value for the customers, some said ‘who would want to type text on the phone or even snap pictures , telephone are only for talking’To conclude I would say that Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information – these information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the methods for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, an alyzes, and communicates the findings and their implications. †

Source Discussion Forum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Source Discussion Forum - Essay Example The source from MEDLINE Plus written by Dr. Cindy Haines entitled A Few Too Many presented a brief indication that current statistics revealed that increasing number of Americans are into binge drinking. The CDC, likewise disclosed that â€Å"binge drinking is reported by one in six U.S. adults, and those who binge drink tend to do so frequently and with high intensity† (1). The sources are both authoritative on the subject and the applicability of the contents are high due to the currency of the publication dates (both in 2012). Both articles provided recommendations that include sticking to moderate drinking and contacting health providers, as needed. Evaluating sources of information are crucial in one’s research because the more credible and verifiable the resources, the higher the reliability and validity of the research. Using Wikipedia or About.com are sources that do not acknowledge veracity of the information since authors are authorities in the field of expertise and anyone can just present opinions without validating the

Editting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Editting - Essay Example Instead, the continued thriving of consumerism is due to our own innate needs, desires and aspirations. The article by Randall Patterson titled ‘Profiles in Splurging’ complements Twitchell’s core thesis. This essay will qualify the aforementioned working thesis by considering all the facts and arguments presented in these two articles. To a great extent, the claim in the working thesis can be viewed as a logical one and there is evidence all around us that validates and supports it. The acquisition of property and goods is often used as a hallmark of success where the ones who have the â€Å"best†, â€Å"biggest† or â€Å"most† of something are considered most successful. To appreciate that, one only needs to observe the mass media, especially television, magazines as well as online polls. Every year Forbes comes out with a list of the richest in the world. There are surveys to show, for instance which footballer owns the biggest car and art enthusiasts and collectors often strive to have the most extensive collection of paintings, books and many other ostentatious goods. For example Bill Gates is ranked as the richest man in the world, this ranking being based on our perception of money as an indirect endorsement for the man as the most successful businessman alive. These measurements do not take into account what he has achieved, how many people he has helped or even how happy he is. All that counts are the possessions he has accumulated. Thus the rest of America works tirelessly to acquire as much as they can and often forgetting to enjoy them since their primary goal is to be viewed as successful in their circles. The most direct route to that is to buy and flaunt. It is as if most Americans would pick money over happiness if they had a chance. Twitchell is not blind to the obvious flaws of consumerist culture. Going by the centrality that society offers material possessions it would then appear that the poor lack meaning and inevitably

Student organization reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Student organization reflection - Essay Example Consequently, while interacting in the student organizations students make lifelong friendships besides bettering their academic performances. The student organizations hold their meetings like any other formal meeting in their institution meeting room. Those who hold the senior posts in the organization or the executive leaders have their seats on one side while the other organization members seat on the opposite side facing each other. The student overall leader is the chairperson and as well he or she chairs all the meeting besides he or she gives out the agendas and reminds the other members their purpose or reasons of being in the meeting. In this way, the general leader seemed to promote the relational understanding of leadership. The students are able to interact freely but in an official manner whereby they do not interrupt their fellows or the meeting progression. The leader presented his ideas in a systematic way such that all the present members understood and were able to participate in the meeting by asking questions besides presenting their views and opinions. Throughout the meeting process, I learned that all the members were addressing their comments directly to the chairperson. This plainly indicated that the chairperson is the one who is responsible in ensuring smooth progression of the meeting. In that he kept order, facilitated the meeting, he declared the outcomes of the motion, he gave equal opportunities to all the members to contribute, he ensured the discussions reached consensus as well as conducting other tasks. Besides he or she should be at ease with the agenda as well as the other fundamental topics to be discussed in the meeting. As well the chairperson is entitled to summarize the meeting if the need be. For instance, in circumstances such as when the members have lost the focus of the agenda, when

Philosophy in business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Philosophy in business Ethics - Essay Example Some employees are sent away while others are hired at the expense of the existing ones. As per the FCC regulations, these mergers will allow a greater share in the overall print and media industry while at the same time increasing the geographic control within the market. This would further exacerbate the issues that would be a cause of concern for the employees and the BSSl. These mergers and acquisitions allow the companies to gain large shares of the market and become tiny monopolies in their right effectively reducing the competitors’ value in the market to almost non-existent. There are already media giants operating within the media market who are supporting these recommended changes as these mergers have allowed them the position that they have secured in the market today. They effectively control the media and television industry. The ethical and legal implications that can arise from the above situation is the existence of unfair competition, pressure on smaller sized companies to merge with larger ones in order to survive, the monopolization of geographical region which in itself goes against the practice of fair trade and practice and the smaller companies are hence not able to get the important stories due to the lack of resource availability in contrast to the larger companies. For BSSL, the legal ramifications would be huge as it would mean trying to compete with companies which have access to more resources, greater networking and better connections in order to secure important stories, interviews etc. these mergers and acquisitions have made it virtually difficult for BSSL to compete on the same grounds and though the media industry has never been about â€Å"perfect competition†, yet granting 45 percent of the market control to a few giants effectively makes things quite difficult for BSSL. The employees of

SIM #4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SIM #4 - Essay Example Unfortunately, the destiny of the unproductive branches is fire. Thus, I will consider myself unproductive if I fail to convey the message about God to those who do not know Him. As a result of this, I will also be in a position to incur the punishment that will be imposed on me by God by proving unproductive. A church has also a role to play in enhancing the growth of productive souls. It does this by informing its audience on what they are obliged to do by God. A church also provides its audience with spiritual words as well motivational words as portrayed in the Bible in order to develop their faith. A church that enhances spiritual development and observance of God’s will correlates to the fruitful vine. However, some churches portray different pictures to the society. For instance, the dressing code, songs sung, and the mode of dancing in some churches show how believers have gone astray. Other churches are known also of using their services to generate money. In connection to the passage, churches that contribute to ungodliness among believers correlate to unfruitful vines and need to be

Art Exhibition - What Lies Beyond Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Art Exhibition - What Lies Beyond - Essay Example The annual art exhibition allows children to experience the beauty that lies beyond our world. By participating in this exhibition, learners will be able to broaden their scope of thinking and be more attentive to the daily occurrences in the world. In addition to this, they are able to integrate what they experience from their friend s who may be from different ethnic groups. It is also a way of inculcating an imaginative nature into their developing minds. It is important as a teacher to encourage originality and creativity. Most of these children have wide imagination, most of which is derived from watching cartoons every day. With this kind of perceptions the learners are able to draw various cultural examples in terms of religion, ethnicity, art, political and economic backgrounds into realizing what lies beyond. Therefore children such as those of K-3 can use the themes they see every day on television and come up with cultural findings. Due to their age, the teacher can inspire their imagination by encouraging personal right ups and diagrammatic representations that represents what lies

Textin while driving Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Textin while driving - Research Paper Example The most important body parts that are involved in driving are the hands, legs, and eyes. When texting, a person is also using hands and eyes for maximum attention. When driving and texting are mixed, it implies that the concentration of the driver is on one thing. In most cases, it is usually on texting, considering the need to respond or convey a particular message. Driving while texting is a traffic offense, punishable by the law. It is, in fact, a form of attempted murder considering the dangers and risks that the person is exposing other passengers and pedestrians into. Various cases of accidents have been reported due to the negligence of the driver as they were texting. Apart from the loss of concentration, in the process of browsing and replying to text messages, a driver is likely to be exposed to some news that may ultimately take away their attention and even make them unable to drive (Klauer 56). Texting is sometimes considered a harmless activity for drivers especially when they have to reply to an important message. They feel it will only take a few seconds of their time, and they will; be done with it. However, within those few seconds on a busy road, the driver is likely to lose control or not notice a pedestrian crossing or an oncoming vehicle. It is understood that drivers also need to communicate and get in touch while they are driving, yet doing it while in the action of driving is risky. Instead, drivers are advised to pull off the road and carry on with the necessary communication instead of risking the lives of other commuters. In most cases, passengers watch driver’s texting as they drive without raising their voices and hence contributing to the risks and dangers they are being exposed to. Even though it is the driver involved in the risky affair of texting, once an accident happens, it will not just be for the driver but also other commuters. Passengers

Son of Satan Essay Example for Free

Son of Satan Essay Three kids were sitting in a backyard. The sun was shining, they were young. Two of them were 12 years old, Hass and Morgan. The youngest one, who’s also the narrator and the main character, was 11. They sat there, smoked cigarettes, and talked about an important situation. The main character claimed that he had heard from Simpson, a contemporary who they apparently didn’t like, that he had been fucking a girl under the main character’s house. The three friends was certainly not satisfied, and decided to ‘take care of him’. And so they did: They walked down to Simpson’s house, and started accusing him for lying about having sex. What started out being just swearing, soon turned into harsh violence. The three boys, who didn’t have in mind to let Simpson escape unharmed, ordered him back to the backyard of our main character. By kangaroo court they judged him guilty, under charge of the main character, whose name still remained unknown. They decided, even though Simpson was already suffering both physically and psychologically, that he should be hung until death occurred. And they hung him. The three boys ran away and split up. Then our main character realized what he had been a part of. He ran back to the yard, released Simpson who was near death, suffering hard from the dramatic treatments, and the rope around his neck. Our main character pulled himself together, and took a long walk where he wondered about what he’d done. When he got home, he’s father was awaiting him, and told him to go to his room. He claims that the main character isn’t his son, but â€Å"son of Satan†, after what he had done. A fight broke loose, and Son of Satan hid under his bed. He bit his own father hard in he’s hand, and the farther promised that Son of Satan would get ‘what he asked for’!

Business Decision Mapping Essay Example for Free

Business Decision Mapping Essay The Shamrock Manufacturing Chicago plant manager, Sean Fitzpatrick is contemplating replacing a large piece of manufacturing equipment. Mr. Fitzpatrick is also inline for a promotion to Shamrocks larger Houston plant within the next year, and is hesitant to make any decisions that will reduce short-run operating income and his performance evaluation. While the prospective replacement equipment promises to reduce cash operating costs, it costs $90,000, as well as the loss on disposal cost of the old equipment, which has not fully depreciated. Prior to making a decision, Mr. Fitzgerald must identify all relevant costs and chose a decision for the best interest of Shamrock (Datar, Rajan, 2013). Analysis The available data to consider in this case is the old machines purchase price ($150,000); the current book value of the old machine ($60,000); the market value of the old machine ($36,000); the cost of the new equipment ($90,000); and the reduction in annual cash operating costs ($32,500). All historical costs are considered irrelevant, as they have already occurred and have no effect on future costs. The only relevant costs that should be considered for this decision are the future cash operating costs, the disposal value of the old machine, and the cost of the new machine that will be deprecated over the next two years. Based on the #1 and #2 worksheets in Appendix A of this document, year one yields an increase in expenditures of $6500, but includes the $24,000 loss of disposal of the old machine, which is irrelevant. The only relevant data is the total two-year costs shown on worksheet #2 that shows a reduction in total relevant cash flow of $11,000. The results of worksheet #1 are not beneficial for Mr. Fitzgerald, but the overall results in year two benefit Shamrock. Based on the #3 worksheet, with a lower new equipment cost ($77,000), year one breaks even, which is irrelevant, and the total two-year reductions in total relevant cash flow are $24,000. Conclusion Based solely on the worksheet information (Appendix A), the company should replace the equipment. All relevant costs located in worksheets #2, and #3 indicate that Shamrock manufacturing will benefit by replacing the machines at either equipment cost. However, worksheet #1 presents a problem for Mr. Fitzgerald as it shows a $6500 increase in the first year expenses, which are irrelevant in the long-run, but may encourage Mr. Fitzgerald not to purchase the new equipment because it may reflect badly on the short-run net operating income of his plant during the evaluation period for his promotion. Worksheet #3 offers a breakeven scenario in the first year and a $24,000 reduction in relevant cash flows in year two, which is the best option for Mr. Fitzgerald and Shamrock, if available. Reference: Datar, S., Rajan, M., (2013). Financial and Managerial accounting, custom edition, Pearson Learning Solutions, Ch. 9 Appendix A Shamrock Manufacturing relevant cash flow analysis Appendix B 5-Step Critical Thinking Decision-Making Process Matrix Step 1: Identify the problem(s) and uncertainties. What exactly is the problem†¦ Sean Fitzpatrick has an opportunity to decrease long-run cash flow by replacing a large piece of plant equipment. The problem is this †¦ Mr. Fitzpatrick is up for a promotion and is concerned that any short-run decreases in operating income will affect his performance evaluation. This is an important problem because†¦ Mr. Fitzpatrick’s decision may be good for the company, but could hurt his career aspirations. The key question(s) that needs to be answered to solve this problem is†¦ What is the best decision for shamrock in the long-run? Step 2: Obtain information. The following information is needed to answer this question†¦ What are the relevant costs that impact the decision to keep or replace the equipment? Based on the #1 and #2 worksheets, what decision would be made in years one and two? Based on the #3 worksheet, would the decision be different for years one and two compared to the initial cost of the new equipment? Some important assumptions I am using in my thinking are†¦ I believe that the best decision for Shamrock is not the best decision for Mr. Fitzpatrick, which creates an ethical dilemma. The points of view relevant to this problem belong to†¦ Sean Fitzpatrick. Note: Remember to view the information you have obtained for potential bias. This is from the perspective of your own bias to the research and the bias of the authors who compiled the data and the research you gathered. In other words, do not discount the importance of other’s data because of your own bias(is). Step 3: Make predictions about the future. If this problem gets solved, some important implications are†¦ Long-run relevant cash flows will be reduced, and operating income will increase. If this problem does not get solved, some important implications are†¦ An opportunity to decrease relevant cash flows will be missed. The potential alternative solutions to solve the problem are†¦ Keep the status quo or make a tough decision that will benefit Shamrock in the long-run. Note: if the problem is one-dimensional, there may be just one correct solution. Step 4: Make decisions by choosing among alternatives. What is the best solution and why†¦ By the new equipment, because it decreases long-run relevant cash flows. Step 5: Implement the decision, evaluate performance, and learn. In business, the fifth step in the decision making process is implementation. In the MBA program, most times you will end with Step 4 since you will not have the opportunity to implement. You may be asked to develop an implementation plan and recommend how you will evaluate performance in some assignments.

Individual Analysis Of Marks Spencer Marketing Essay

Individual Analysis Of Marks Spencer Marketing Essay Nowadays, consumers buying behaviour and wants changed rapidly. It is vital for an organization to segment their market in order to meets the needs and wants of all ranges of the consumers in this competitive market. Market is a place where potential buyers and sellers gathered in order to exchange their goods. (Kotler, et al., 2004, pp.14). Market segmentation is to divide a market into direct groups which consist of buyers that might require separate products or marketing mixes and classified customers with different needs, characteristics or behavior into groups. (Kotler, et al., 2004, pp.344). It includes geographical segmentation, demographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation and behavioral segmentation. Geographical segmentation classified the market into different geographical units, for example, nations, regions, states, municipalities, cities or neighbourhoods. (Kotler, et al., 2004, pp.345). For instance, a company can operate in one, few or all areas but only focus to local variations. Demographic segmentation Demographic segmentation divide the market into groups on the basic variables such as age, family size, family life cycle, gender, income, occupation, education, religion, race, generation, nationality, and social class. Demographic segmentation is often be used to distinguish the customer groups because it often associated with the customers needs, wants, usage rates, product and brand preferences. Psychographic segmentation Psychographic segmentation divided market into different groups of buyers based on their socioeconomic status, lifestyle and personality characteristic. (Kotler, et al., 2004, pp.348). Socioeconomic status is the strong effect on preferences of buyers in the product. Lifestyle is a way of life or style of living of a person that will reflect the products they choose to buy. Personality is where a product is designed based on the personality of the consumer. Behavioural segmentation Behavioural segmentation divides the buyers into groups which based on their knowledge, attitude and responses towards the product. (Kotler, et al., 2004, pp.349). It also can based on the occasion segmentation and benefit segmentation. The Perfect and Classic ranges The Perfect and Classic ranges are in the psychographic segmentation because it is based on the consumers socioeconomic, lifestyle, and personality. For instance, it is based on classically stylish mature customers who are in a busy lifestyle but look for quality products in a value reasonable price. Besides, it also aimed on consumers which look for timeless collection and smart and elegant clothes. The Autograph range The Autograph range is in geographical segmentation by launched in spring / summer 2000 range at selected stores only. It also launched the hat collection in nationwide which classified the market into nations. Besides, it also in the range of demographic segmentation in terms of gender and by recruited top designers to create women wear and menswear. per una range Per una is using demographic segmentation in its market. It divided the market in age, gender and income. For instance, it target on the customer in the age between 25 and 35 which is fashion- conscious women. Besides, it also in superb design at competitive price and 10 per cent more expensive than M S other main range which aimed at the customers that have upper medium to high income level to purchase for its products. Besides, it also based on behavioural segmentation by divide the customers based on their response toward the product. For instance, the speed of reaction the customers will reflect the good from design concept to be faster shop rails in weeks but not in months. Conclusion As a result, Marks Spencer had segmented its three sub brands into different kinds of segmentation which can gather the potential buyers with different characteristic to purchase their goods according to their preferences. This will helps to target different customers from all over the region to increase the sales volume and profitability and at the same time understand the customers needs, wants and taste that will help in the production line. Question 2 Introduction Marks Spencer (M S) garments had segmented its womens wear into number of ranges and sub brands in order to appeal a different lifestyles to target the market. It includes The Perfect Collection, The Classic Collection, The Autograph and per una. Order winners Order winners is the things that directly and significant contribute to the winning business. Order-winning factor is the arrangement of resources which are applied to the production and the delivery of products and services. (Slack, et al., 2007, pp. 69). It is also the features which are unique and distinctive compared to other similar product ranges as to retain existing customer patronage as well as to attract new customers and brand switches. Qualifiers Qualifiers is the aspects of competitiveness where the performance of the operation has to be above the level considered by the customer. (Slack, et al., 2007, pp. 69). It also a product features that are usually present in other similar competitive brands. It means that existing customers needs will remain satisfied where they need not switch to other brand but at the same time it hold no unique features to attract new customers. Features The features of Perfect collection garments is based on classically stylish which is focused on basics and machine washable, non-iron and tumble-dry friendly which aimed at customer who are busy and look for quality and value garments on a reasonable price. Besides, it is a timeless essentials where customers can just wear it with anything. Whereas, the Classic collection garments is focus on more mature customer which concentrated on design, comfort, long-lasting, smart, elegant clothes and versatility which made from high quality fabrics at value-for-money prices. It is designed for skim and flatter the natural body shape of the customers. It is a timeless collection that reflects customers style and finesses. Autograph range is available in selected stores and which is designed by top designers. It includes women wears, men wears and accessories. Autograph range is sell on high street price with limited pieces on each item launched. Per una is targeted on fashion-conscious women between the aged of 25-35 and the size of 8-18. It provides a superb design at affordable price. It also comes with latest trends, limited editions and exclusive design with no repetition which stands 10% more expensive in M S main range. Customers expectation The customer who is smartly dressed would expect the availability of their size, price and quality for the standard items in M S. They prefer the garments which is easy to clean. As for the fashionably dressed lady would expect the availability of bigger sizes in the store with reasonable quality and the colour of the garments must not be fade or shrink when washed. This customer is more focus on availability of size rather than the variety of colour shades. As for premium items, the customers who is smartly dressed would expect limited design clothes which is exclusively designed with high quality and long lasting. Besides, the customers who is fashionably dressed would focus much on design rather than quality and unlikely to purchase high fashion item unless it is a impulse purchase which its expect to wear for only a few times before replacing it. The Perfect and Classic ranges Order winners The order winners of Perfect and Classic ranges are the items which is timeless essentials, long lasting style that can maintain quality and versatility. It is also skim and flatter to the natural body shape and belongs to the range of smart and elegant clothes with high quality of fabrics at valuable price which can attract the new and existing customers. Qualifiers The qualifiers of the Perfect and Classic ranges are the items which are machine washable, non-iron and tumble dry friendly. Besides, the items which is return to basics such as plain, white shirts, black roll neck sweaters and jeans which can retains the existing customers . The Autograph range Order winners The order winners of The Autograph range is the unique design by the top designers which is the philosophy of Autograph to bring cutting-edge design for the customers within a selected stores which charged at a high street price but in a designer boutique environment that can attract more new customers for the unique design that only available in selected stores. Qualifiers The qualifiers of The Autograph range is the availability of collection items such as Philips Treacys collection with 18 hats and 10 bags with a variety of no more than 60 of each colour and style which can let the existing customers to have more choices in terms on style and colour of the items.. per una range Qrder winners The order winners of per una are the unique design with quality materials and latest trends which comes in limited editions. It is also comes with small numbers with no repetition in design that will attract new customers to purchase it as its design are exclusive and limited edition. Qualifiers The qualifiers of per una is the size of clothes which is from 8-18 that come in small number. This will retained the existing customers that are small in size between aged of 25-35. Besides, the design of clothes also very attention to detail. Conclusion It is vital that M S to distinguish the company order winners and qualifiers for the customers in order to target the markets and to gaining competitive advantage. Question 3 Every operation also had a range of stakeholders which may or maybe influence the operations activities. (Slack, et al., 2004, pp. 39). There are internal stakeholders such as employees and external stakeholders such as customers, society companys shareholders and so on. Operation performance objective includes the five performance objectives which are quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost. Perfect and Classic ranges Autograph range per una range Product range Targets on classically stylish and mature customers that with a busy lifestyle. Produce smart and elegant clothes. Targets on unique design by top designers which available in selected store. Targets on fashion conscious women in the aged of 25-35 with the size of 8-18. Inspired by latest trends. Design changes Continual changes Occasional changes Occasional changes Price Reasonable and value-for-money prices in terms of quality. The lowest price among the Autograph range and per una range. High street prices. It ranks as the second highest of price between perfect and classic range, and per una range. The highest price compared to perfect and classic range, and per una range. 10% more expensive in the Marks Spencer main range. Quality High quality that ranked number three among Autograph range and per una range. High quality High and exclusive quality. Sales volumes SKU High Medium Low Order winners The garments are timeless essentials that have long lasting style which can maintain quality and versatility. It also skim and flatter to the natural body that used high quality of fabric but in valuable price. The clothes are unique design by the top designers which is the philosophy of Autograph to bring cutting-edge design for the customers at selected stores. The clothes are charged at a high street price but in a designer boutique environment. The garments are unique design with quality materials and latest trends which comes in limited editions. No repetition in the in the design. Order qualifiers The garments are machine washable, non iron and tumble dry friendly. It also focused on basic design such as plain, white shirts, black roll neck sweaters and jeans. The availability of collection items such as Philips Treacys collection with 18 hats and 10 bags with a variety of no more than 60 of each colour and style. The size of clothes which is from 8-18 that came in small number. The design of clothes also very attention to detail. Operations priorities Dependability and quality. Basic and comfort. Cutting edge design within a unique boutique environment. Quality materials and latest trends. Conclusion It is important for Marks Spence to identify and classified their companys operation performance objectives of different ranges in order to ensure that the three sub brands will have a smooth production line in terms of which brands that different customers served by differentiate it into different product ranges. (2023words)

The Lives and Contests of the Gladiators :: Papers

The Lives and Contests of the Gladiators One form of entertainment in the Roman world was gladiatorial contests. In these, the Roman citizens would go to watch gladiators fight, often to the death. Today, these contests seem brutal and cruel, but at the time it was very popular and widely accepted. The Roman people would quite happily judge over whether a man would live or die. Why were the contests so entertaining that they would cost a man his life over it. There were different types of gladiators and different types of contests to keep the citizens interested. The gladiators were traditionally slaves or convicts and therefore very low in the social hierarchy. We also know that they were low down in the hierarchy because they were sold and given between masters, for example one advertisement said: "Twenty pairs of gladiators, given by Lucretius Satrius Valens, priest of Nero, and ten pairs of gladiators will fight". However, despite this apparent lack of social standing, gladiators could become very popular and famous and could eventually be freed. Gladiator is taken from the term "gladius", which means sword. They were originally used during funeral services for dead heroes. Fights between them would be held during the funeral to celebrate the hero. This tradition was taken from the Etruscans. Although today we would see such a custom as cruel, it was in fact made less so than it originally was. Festus wrote - "it was the custom to sacrifice prisoners on the tombs of valorous warriors; when the cruelty of this custom became evident, it was decided to make gladiators fight before the tomb. It seems strange to modern people that somebody would want to have people die at their funeral, but then it was seen as "appeasing the spirit" of the dead man, by honouring them with as big a thing as the life of a man. The Romans would not have seen the loss of a gladiator as too much anyway, as the slaves or convicts that became gladiators were generally considered unimportant anyway.

My Personal Philosophy of Education :: Education Teachers Reflective Writing Essays

Philosophy of Education A classroom is a community for learning, friendship, and growth. The most important aspect of any community, educational or otherwise, is communication. When communicating with my students, I will not talk down to them; instead, I will treat them like the equal human beings that they are. Respect will be given to and earned from all students. I will be honest, humorous, and easy natured, but I will not be afraid to discipline or assert my authority as the situation may dictate. Students will feel comfortable providing feedback on my lessons and classroom policies; they will know that although I may not use all of their suggestions, I have given them due consideration. I will attempt to know each of the students on an individual basis, knowing more than just their names and performances in class. Even if I am led outside math, I will try to inspire each student to achieve his or her best and to follow his or her dreams. I realize that not everyone loves math as I do, and I will not hold that against my students as long as they put forth their best effort. Students will feel welcome and safe in the classroom. They will not be afraid of giving a wrong answer and will take risks to answer questions and participate in class. I will encourage my students to visit me outside of class for anything, whether it is to get class-related help, to ask advice on courses or careers, or to vent about a really bad day. In my classroom, I will teach mathematics at a level in which the students will be able to comprehend the material, but will also be challenged by it. Math should not frustrate, nor bore, nor monotonously repeat mundane problems. To remedy these common problems, I will share my love and enthusiasm of the discipline by creatively introducing new topics and explaining solutions to problems using more than one method, if available. Students will be able to explore multiple solutions and find the method of solution with which they feel most comfortable rather than having to conform to my preferred methods. The array of labs or trips that will be employed to explore mathematics will make class an exciting atmosphere. My Personal Philosophy of Education :: Education Teachers Reflective Writing Essays Philosophy of Education A classroom is a community for learning, friendship, and growth. The most important aspect of any community, educational or otherwise, is communication. When communicating with my students, I will not talk down to them; instead, I will treat them like the equal human beings that they are. Respect will be given to and earned from all students. I will be honest, humorous, and easy natured, but I will not be afraid to discipline or assert my authority as the situation may dictate. Students will feel comfortable providing feedback on my lessons and classroom policies; they will know that although I may not use all of their suggestions, I have given them due consideration. I will attempt to know each of the students on an individual basis, knowing more than just their names and performances in class. Even if I am led outside math, I will try to inspire each student to achieve his or her best and to follow his or her dreams. I realize that not everyone loves math as I do, and I will not hold that against my students as long as they put forth their best effort. Students will feel welcome and safe in the classroom. They will not be afraid of giving a wrong answer and will take risks to answer questions and participate in class. I will encourage my students to visit me outside of class for anything, whether it is to get class-related help, to ask advice on courses or careers, or to vent about a really bad day. In my classroom, I will teach mathematics at a level in which the students will be able to comprehend the material, but will also be challenged by it. Math should not frustrate, nor bore, nor monotonously repeat mundane problems. To remedy these common problems, I will share my love and enthusiasm of the discipline by creatively introducing new topics and explaining solutions to problems using more than one method, if available. Students will be able to explore multiple solutions and find the method of solution with which they feel most comfortable rather than having to conform to my preferred methods. The array of labs or trips that will be employed to explore mathematics will make class an exciting atmosphere.