Aboriginal Residential Schools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Aboriginal Residential Schools - Essay Example According to this report, it is obvious that there are highly-paid government jobs available in such areas, however, the Inuit community is unable to avail such opportunities due to lack of formal education. In some cases, even if a member of the Inuit community is formally educated he is not qualified for that particular job. Consequently, the burden of unemployed individuals has to borne by the Canadian government. According to the findings of this study, the poverty of aboriginals is not only linked with unemployment. Lack of secondary education coupled with poor health and living conditions also worsen their economic situation. The difference between the majority non-Aboriginal population and minority Aboriginal peoples speaks volumes about the imbalance in Canadian society. It is imperative to raise their living standards by encouraging them to pursue higher education so that they can meet the demands of the job market. Alternatively, specific jobs for Aboriginals should be created so as to streamline their workforce in the mainstream labor market. It is indeed a daunting task to redress the disarray that has been made out of residential schools, but the Canadian government is grave about making definite changes. The government is also serious about resolving the problem of unemployment as this places an undue burden on the national economy. If the Aboriginal population could contribute somehow towards the national economy, the Canadian economy and society both would benefit a great deal from such measures.

Health risk Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Health risk - Assignment Example Mrs. J is even at a higher risk because she smokes two packs a day. Therefore, nurse should insist on the need to stop smoking and create a similar interest in Mrs. J. The following action plans will help Mrs. J to stop smoking. She needs to choose an approach to utilize in order to stop smoking. The nurse will provide a number of approaches that may be used to stop smoking. Mrs. J will then choose one or more approach that she feels is best for her. Cold turkey approach involves client abruptly ceasing from the addictive level of smoking. Tapering approach involves the smoker reducing the number of cigarettes smoked. For Mrs. J, she can reduce to one pack then progressively reduce the number each day down until to none. Postponing approach is where the individual postpones the starting time of smoking each day minimizing the cumulative smoking hours until the individual stops. Joining of a smoking cessation program where she can meet like-minded people who can encourage one another stop smoking. Use of pharmacological aids such as nicotine patches and gum has shown also to be handy (Miller, 2009). After choosing the approach, the date of starting to implement is set. She should strive to avoid tempting situations or any activities that can influence he into smoking. For instance, either she can keep herself busy with sportive activities or if she smokes while driving in her car, she can use the public transport system to minimize such temptations. Limiting herself to social situations that prohibit smoking. At her workplace, she should maintain a clean, fresh and nonsmoking environment. This lowers risk of thinking to smoke. Keep the oral substitutes available such as sugarless gum, apples and carrots in order to avoid craving for a cigarette. She can be advised on change of friends because most of them smoke. Interacting with them will easily make her smoke (Miller, 2009). Seeking social support has a great effect on

Analysis of Business Strategy at ASOS

Analysis of Business Strategy at ASOS Chapter1. 1.1 What is E- Business? Electronic Business is very simple the meaning to any reader that Business taking place electronically. E-Business which we are benefiting from has gone through many stages of maturity. One of main reason to choose this topic is that to see how organisation either switching their business to E-Commerce or starting solely only online business. No doubt there are many advantages but its note free of limitations. 1.2 Purpose of Report: There are many Organisations to consider in my report but I am choosing ASOS (As seen on Screen). ASOS is the United Kingdoms one of largest online-only fashion and Beauty store. The purpose to consider this organisation is to highlight in detail how ASOS using E-commerce Technology captured significant market share and Market Reputation. ASOS has targeted the people of age group 16-34, catering to both genders. I would like to focus how they formulated their E-Commerce strategy and how they have chosen a specific age group to Target their business to. ASOS has spent lots of money on Research and Developments. I would like to mention here very recent Example of their Advertising campaign in UK.I have seen in many places specially on Bus stops where they are advertising to give chance to every   individual to visit their website and upload your picture to participate in street style competition. I would also like to consider how their financial position has been significantly increased and showed positive sign of further progress in this Recovery Economic cycle. They also launched US, French and German specific language website which is another addition to their enhanced performance. I will also focus on their statement of core purpose â€Å" Our core purpose is to inspire and power your fashion discovery; without an internal brand and strong people strategy we would not be able to live up to that promise.† www.asos.com http://www.networksolutions.com/education/what-is-ecommerce/ Scope of the report: Here, I will discuss how still ASOS is achieving its target and maintaining its consistency in performance. The scope also included to focus on Business to Business(B2B) and Business to Consumer(B2C).The issues to be covered regarding birth of ASOS then how it has been built to reach at this stage, Development in progress, expanding abroad, organising events and their passion for more innovation. The report will also analyse Financial and Non Financial Ratios to reflect their position. Graphical Demonstration is also part of it. Key Results: Research of journals and ASOS financial statements shows the following split of its Fashion category: Women swear Clothing : 56% Womenswear Non-Clothing : 16% Menswear : 20% Beauty/Outlet/Kids : 8% There is significant growth in International markets, now ASOS is shipping to 167 countries. International sales has been increased by 95% in 2009-2010.In 2004/05, Uk sales was   94% and International sale was   6 %,   but in 2009/10, UK sales was 75% and International sales was 25%.It shows how ASOS has expanded all over the world by using its own brands and other existing brands. Currently, trading result has been issued at ASOS website and CEO, Nick Robertson has reported another successful year including highlights for the 2010/2011, Retails sales has been increased 58% on year (UK +24% and International +144 %). As Internationaly becoming an increasingly significant part of   ASOS future, Nick Robertson pleased to see International sales mix exceed that of the UK for the first time, accounting for 52% of retail sales.   http://www.asosplc.com/Doc/pdf/Announcements/Q4_Trading_Update_FINAL.pdf www.asos.com http://www.asosplc.com/Investors/Financials/Annual_~_Interim_Results/JQueryTabs.aspx?id=45 http://www.asosplc.com/Doc/pdf/Announcements/Q4_Trading_Update_FINAL.pdf www.asos.com http://www.asosplc.com/Investors/Financials/Annual_~_Interim_Results/JQueryTabs.aspx?id=45 Summary findings: The research finding shows a continuous growth in the financial and Market growth of the Organisation which is due to its strong E-Commerce bases Business Strategies. As ASOS is only online fashion retail store and up to 2010, 3 website in USA, France and Germany in their languages has been launched. It is E-Commerce who makes it not that hard to get access to one of the largest Economies otherwise it would have been quite costly to enter into larger fashion Markets such as of France and USA.Where physical presence in the form of Retail stores would have been quite challenging Financial and taking in context the strong competitors already present there. How greatly cost effective it is for ASOS, because they have Debt free financing. ASOS is one of those organisation where E-Commerce has played a vital role which are now Multimillion  £ organisation which are experiencing rapid growth due to E-Commerce base business. Chapter 2. Introduction. People thinke-commerceis just people browsing, but theres more to it than that. More and more people are using programs and agents to shop for the best deal, and thats how theyre going to be getting to your site. ~Tim Berners-Lee(June 08, 1955 ) Impact of an E-commerce on an Organisation plays a vital role on any Organisation, which has culture of Adopting this Approach and has Management to cope with approach, when most of the businesses now considering adopting this approach to enhance their performance and considering cost benefit analysis. I have chosen this topic because I mostly use E-Commerce websites and mostly read journals and Articles regarding organisations launching E-Commerce in their businesses. I strongly believe how E-commerce can cut down cost in any organisation. Many Businesses started to shift from Real time Market to Digital Market. The History of Online Shopping in Nutshell E-commerce can be described as: the sharing business information, maintaining business relationships and conducting business transactions by means of telecommunications networks where business transactions take place via telecommunications networks, especially the Internet describes the buying and selling of products, services and information via computer networks including the Internet the conduct of a à ¯Ã‚ ¬?nancial transaction by electronic means Since transactions go through the Internet and the Web, the terms I-commerce (Internet commerce), icommerce and even Web-commerce have been suggested but are now very rarely used. It goes unnoticed that E-Commerce and its underlying technology is around us since almost   4 decades. The term e-commerce was originated   to describe the process of doing   business transactions electronically using technology from the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). These technologies, emerged in late 1970s, usually allowed many organisations   to share information among themselves, typically in the form of electronic purchase orders and invoices. EDI and EFT were theenabling technologiesthat laid the groundwork for what we now know as e-commerce. The Boston Computer Exchange, a marketplace for used computer equipment started in 1982, was one of the first known examples of e-commerce. Then it was in all 1980s when we have seen proliferation of these plastic cards, ATM machines and Phone banking, which was next step in evolution of   E-Commerce. In early 1990s, e-commerce has started to include other enterprise Resource planning (ERP ), Data Warehousing and Data mining. http://www.asos.com/infopages/pgeaboutus.aspx http://sellitontheweb.com/blog/history-of-e-commerce/ http://www.sxccal.edu/msccs/ecommerce1.pdf http://www.retail-week.com/careers/etail-power-list-2010/01-nick-robertson/5019098.article The world of E-Business. The word commerce and Business doesnt have much difference. Instead it wont be wrong to say that e-commerce is a part of e-business.   Electronic business transactions involves money are â€Å"E-Commerce† activities. when we talk about E-Business, it means have think broadly as E-Business doesnt mean that it is Buying and selling goods   and accepting only credit cards. What about Customer, Marketing, Procurement? This is where E-Business broadly focussed on. Figure 1 is clearly a perfect demonstration of E-commerce and E-Business. http://www.ebusinessprogrammers.com/ebusiness/ecommerce_and_ebusiness.asp As with e-commerce, e-business (electronic business) also has a number of different deà ¯Ã‚ ¬?nitions and is used in a number of different contexts. One of the à ¯Ã‚ ¬?rst to use the term was IBM, in October 1997, when it launched a campaign built around e-business. Today, major Organisations are rethinking their businesses to switch through internet and its new culture and capabilities and this is what some see as e-business. E-business is the conduct of business on the Internet, not only buying and selling but also servicing customers and collaborating with business partners. Who is ASOS? ASOS has been established in June 2000 by CEO Nick Robertson. As Nick Robertson is Entrepreneur, he started ASOS with only 3 Employees and after 10 years, he has over 1000 Employees. Nick Robertson has started with step to step approach to capture market share. ASOS has been started in June 2000 and he submitted ASOS PLC holdings to AIM on London stock Exchange. ASOS has launched branded fashions good and then in 2004   first launched its own label product for women, then ASOS has launched ASOS Beauty in 2005 and with this consistent approach, ASOS was the first UK online store to Launch Catwalk in 2006, then ASOS own label for Men has been launched in 2007 and their performance doesnt stopped even in Recession and up to now, ASOS has their website in American, German and French Languages. ASOS has also launched ASOS Little which caters for babies for up to 24 months and Boys and girls from 2-8 years. It includes all High Fashion brands like Diesel, Tommy Hilfiger, Miss sixty and True Religion. ASOS also launched its own Magazine, Facebook page and in final Quarter of 2010, had launched three international stores, ASOS USA, ASOS France, and ASOS Germany. ASOS Mobile has been launched In October 2010, which has been designed works through all devices like Blackberry, Android, Symbian and I Phone Operating systems. http://www.asos.com/infopages/pgeaboutus.aspx ASOS and E-Business: ASOS is one of the Largest Online Retail only, catering to the Fashion Retail sector specifically in UK and Great share in International market. They share some really Interesting Results for year 31st March,2010 which clearly shows the Profits they have reaped by adopting E-Commerce as their primary Business   Strategy. The company has gained rapid growth in the retail industry in a matter of few years. Limitation of E-Business: E-Business is not free of limitations as there are areas where any organisation has to be competent and keeps spending to improve what customer demands. In E-Business, Confidentiality and privacy is always key issue which could lead to distrust and hesitation among the customers to use services online Another drawback of the E-Business is that the customers cannot have exact feel and look of the product before purchasing so it depends on the organisation that how clearly and in detail they present the product or service. In this world of internet, networks failure could cause serious disruption customers and business alike, which could result in loss of revenue and productivity. Limitation for the ASOS is that they dont have retail outlets where they could probably miss their targets who may want to see and feel stuff before they buy. Summary of history: In Brief, we can say how ASOS have utilised the E-Commerce business strategy to established themselves in the fashion retail industry having rapid growth in a matter of only 10 years and has now become the one of the Major fashion player in E-Business and it is standing proudly shoulder to shoulder with some of the more established high street competitors. The organisation is a radiant example of a successful E-Business. Procurement : The company executives took a step by step approach, in targeting the customers and implementing the business plan. They have invested in parts and specifically targeted age group after a thorough market research. If we analyse the history of ASOS, we find that it has started with some Famous High Street brands the likes of Diesel, FireTrap, Karen Millen and French Connection etc and then gradually launched its own label products in interval of years. This was a part of their business objective to enhance their financial gains by starting their own company brand. ASOS promotes welcoming ‘Like Minded talent together .It says their people have no fear to enter into the unknown market. .http://www.drapersonline.com/people/next-generation/asos/5021069.article http://www.asosplc.com/Who_We_Are/Our_History/Default.aspx?id=15 http://www.asosplc.com/Investors/Financials/Annual_~_Interim_Results/JQueryTabs.aspx?id=45 Risk Management and Financing: ASOS insisted that all of their investments have been funded using operating cash flows and if any additional working capital required, it uses short term facilities. ASOS group is continuously working to reduce Risk of Interest rates, Foreign Exchanges and other financial risk. Their hedging strategy is to hedge their future foreign currency risk for 6 and 12 months forward. That is the one of the reason that they have got DEBT FREE BALANCE SHEET with increase in net cash to  £ 15.6 million. http://www.asosplc.com/Investors/Financials/Annual_~_Interim_Results/JQueryTabs.aspx?id=45 So how did this tiny start-up become the UKs leading fashion site, at a time when traditional rivals with a much longer heritage were and are struggling? There are many reasons: the site offers something for everyone men and women of course, but also maternity wear, beauty products and kids wear. Although it does sell premium items, the average price is reasonable and accessible, the site is easy to navigate, and it is painless to return items which is more, in Fashion Statements experience, than can be said for some far more expensive online retailers. Then there is the generation it sells to, its key demographic one that expects a snappy online experience as a matter of course. E-Commerce Diagram below describes how the key elements of E-Commerce connected to each other. Information Gathering: In Gathering information for my topic, I have used two main Approaches. Quantitative Approach Qualitative Approach. In Quantitative approach, Research regarding subject has been done through collecting it and then evaluating it through application of Mathematical Models and then demonstrate the Results in the form of Graphs, Statistical data and Tabular forms. Research usually been obtained through internally generated Financial information e.g., periodically (Monthly, Quarterly) performance report/statements with Graphs and statistics as well. In Qualitative approach, it is different in nature; it is like soft data, where data has been gathered through Interview, Observation to interpret the details of finding from the research methods. In the Annual report, it is really helpful to get these data where Company senior management Interviews, statements has been reported There has been both Primary and secondary research involved in my carrying out search for discussing impact of E-Business on an Organisation. For primary search purposes, ASOS website was the main point of getting information regarding their financial and Non financial performance. Primary: ASOS website investor section has been mostly used in my Research Analysis where their Annual report for the year ended March 2010 helped a lot. Structure of report and split of information in different categories, made it easy to focus on required area. It kept engaged while doing research when organisation about us gathering information is ASOS. ASOSs consistency in achieving its objectives and hitting all budgeted and forecasted figures has been exceeding in almost every single year since it has been started. Through participative observation, being a customer of ASOS, I have experience an easy to use feature enriched website which enables the customer to purchase the desired product in a matter of few clicks. Secondary:In secondary search, articles from various weekly magazines, Newspapers, other comparison websites of E-Business, ACCA Text books, Library, Case study helped a lot. Limitation on information Gathering: As ASOS is only virtual business, all relevant information regarding their Strategy, their growth plan, further expansion strategies, the main point of getting all data is online, Magazine Articles, Newspaper. Because if business has got outlets as well then it provides opportunity to get access to any outlets and ask their Management for interview, latest developments, events taking place. No doubt, having own experience by doing that kind of primary research enhance your information gathering. Business Techniques and Models: When we talk about E-Business, its all about Businesses,Goverments and Customers who originate E-commerce.E-Commerce can be divided into further categories, considering perspectives of producers/providers and customers: ACCA P3 Interactive study manual Business-to-Business(B2B_ Business-to-Consumer(B2C) Business-to-employee(B2E) Business-to-government(B2G) Government-to-business(G2B) Government-to-government(G2G) Consumer-to-consumer(C2C) Consumer-to-Business(C2B) http://www.sxccal.edu/msccs/ecommerce1.pdf ASOS has mainly focussed on the following: B2B ( Business to Business) E-commerce is E-business enable organisations to connect their internal and external data processing systems more efficiently and flexibly which lead the operations among suppliers and partners to operate more closely, and needs of customers are satisfied and exceed the expectations. ASOS believes and confident to say that actions which has been taken   and there are still more exciting innovation in progress which will keep ASOS apart from other rivals and lead us to drive boost to sales. E-Business has impacting both party, means ASOS selling over 800 brands and plus their own internal brands as well. To some extent using other high street brands they are generating goodwill for their brands as well. It is B2B which are connecting and sharing data among themselves. There are normally 3 groups of B2B in which many E-business could fit in. Direct selling and support to Business. E-Procurement Information Sites. http://www.sxccal.edu/msccs/ecommerce1.pdf Interactive LSBF, P3 study Manual. http://www.asosplc.com/Investors/Financials/Annual_~_Interim_Results/JQueryTabs.aspx?id=45 Recent example of Business to Business is when ASOS has been targeted by Giant Super Market TESCO Plc for Fashion venture, after Tesco has found the excellent recession-Busting growth of ASOS. http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/4255-tesco-targets-asos-chooses-venda-for-fashion-venture B2C (Business to consumer) It is another split of Classification of E-commerce in any Business, where any transaction which ends on serving products or services for the consumer. Any E-business basically do Serve consumers plus retailers as well. ASOS is ambitious doing much for their consumers, they have launched free return to their UK customers in Sep, 2009 and also started Free Supersaver delivery for UK customer which in return gave us a positive reaction and our Items per basket, Frequency of orders have all increases as a direct result of this. http://www.asosplc.com/Investors/Financials/Annual_~_Interim_Results/JQueryTabs.aspx?id=45 For Ecommerce usability is one of the largest contributors to customer conversion and retention rates. Do ASOS follow best practice? If we follow a customer process through focusing onthree key stages of the buying journey, product page, shopping basket and the checkout. The shopping basket which follows many of the best practice recommendations shows clearly that the item is in stock. For reserved items it is clear how long it has reserved this product for this helps tackle the issue of visitors returning to their shopping basket on a subsequent visit only to find the product they had added previously is no longer in stock. ASOS have tried to ensure secure access and use securely on the button wording, which improves the customers sense of trust/security. There is no ambiguity about what standard delivery costs will be, so visitors dont need to wait until they are within checkout to know what delivery costs are. Along with the product thumbnail and title, there is just the right amount of product information provided to ensure you know that you have ordered the right size, colour and quantity Making the delivery costs clear on the shopping basket allows ASOS to make it absolutely clear what the visitor will be paying in total. ASOS makes this a much more customer friendly experience by allowing you to choose other delivery options at the shopping basket stage. This ensures you are going into the checkout process knowing what you will paying and what delivery period you have specified. They clearly display which payment methods are accepted ensuring that shoppers are not confused. Business Model: According to Michael Rapas (P3 Business Analysis Interactive book),General E-business models, ASOSs Business Model was based on Merchant but then as the company business grew, the business model evolved encompassing the Merchant and Manufacturer as well: Merchant:ASOS has started as retailers of goods by using other famous high street brands like All Saints, Mango, and Firetrap etc. A virtual merchant operates only over the web (e.g. Amazon, EBay). Business was started with an Initial Investment of  £1.4m.They has marketed high street market brands and then slowly on step by step Approach. Manufacturer:   After Advertising and hitting targets of their initial strategy of selling external High street brands, ASOS has developed their own internal brands. That is how they have been called as Manufacturer, because it relies on the power of the website to get access buyers directly and then provide distribution channel. ASOS this model is based on Improved, Efficiency, and Customer Service. Brokerage:   As we know, Brokers are those who make markets,they bring together buyers and sellers together and then provide Transaction Facility.Brokers play vital role in businesses like ASOS where there are B2B,B2C markets.ASOS is now operating on combination of Manufacturer and Brokerage Models. The E-business model has always been based on IT Applications and using B2B, B2C, ASOS has chosen CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Tools to support their Strategic Growth Plans. CRM is one the Internal Business Systems Application, is a Business Strategy focuses on Customers with objectives of Maximising Turnover, Customer Satisfaction and Profits. ASOS has chosen this tool from SMARTFOCUS which helps them to keep record of Customer buying, their feedback, refer a friend, Loyalty programmes. Mhairi Brown, CRM Manager for ASOS, said that using Smartfocus will facilitate easy solution and strong marketing strategy and choosing CRM will help to achieve their goal of a Truly Customer Focussed business. http://www.onwindows.com/Articles/Asos-chooses-CRM-for-growth/2812/Default.aspx P3 LSBF Study Manual. http://www.sxccal.edu/msccs/ecommerce1.pdf This framework, was à ¯Ã‚ ¬?rst developed by Kalakota and Whinston, who knows as a Professors of Information Systems, takes a holistic View and identià ¯Ã‚ ¬?es the different components of business and technology which will combine together to form E-commerce. In ASOS, this framework applies equally as in any other E-Business.The following are built on foundation of technology: People and Organisation: People of ASOS are the all key stakeholders like suppliers, customers, Employees, Government, Other regulatory Authorities, which any organisation prioritise according to their level of power and interest in organisation. It is a interaction between People and Organisation which manage to coordinate the Infrastructure, Applications and Businesses and it leads for the functioning of E-Commerce. http://www.sxccal.edu/msccs/ecommerce1.pdf Public Policy: ASOS have to comply with relevant laws and Regulations according to their geographical location. They should follow the relevant tax policies and making sure all payments made according to the relevant Laws and Regulations. ASOS must follow internal procedures and making the most of Tax evasion policies. Company must maintain high level of confidentiality to proceeds as to retain customer confidence; this can be achieved by segregation of duties and applying strong internal control. They must also ensure that security systems are improved to keep the Organisation confidentiality policy competitive globally. http://www.sxccal.edu/msccs/ecommerce1.pdf Technical standards: In Technical standards, all data has been converted into such a way that it can be use universally, means all data can travel seamlessly across different network where it is accessed by range of hardware and software like Palmtops, Computers and other kinds of browsers. ASOS have not got only one website now for user interface and they do meet all Technical standards globally. http://www.sxccal.edu/msccs/ecommerce1.pdf The next part of the Model is Infrastructure and E-Business work by Interlink of both Technology and Infrastructure. Common Business Service : In this part of Infrastructure, once all process of creation of data and content done, its been display and transmitted for user interface, other supporting services has to play their part to facilitate buying and selling. ASOS website in very well structured and one can see how this process works. For finalising transaction on ASOS, one should be feel safe and rely before authorise any payments because of confidentiality issue. This is where Electronic payment like PayPal in ASOS, directories/Catalogues help to check out. https://marketplace.asos.com/basket Message and Information Distributor: This part of Infrastructure is the Engines and fuel, which takes data around the network after Multimedia content of website, is created. But this content then has to be transported for sending and retrieving this information of content. ASOS has its own form of transporting information. Common Examples are EDI, Hyper Text Transfer Protocol, and Email. http://www.sxccal.edu/msccs/ecommerce1.pdf Publishing: It is   Infrastructure of Warehouses and vehicles, where Electronic data and Multimedia content over the Network are stored and then transported using Publishing Infrastructure like World Wide Web(www), Web Servers transport. It depends on website how much Electronic data and Multimedia content it using. Usually HTML and JAVA are used to create Multimedia content. Some websites are Text only or some contain audio, video, graphics. ASOS website is mostly Text and Multimedia where Images has been mostly used. http://www.sxccal.edu/msccs/ecommerce1.pdf Network: Once all of the above completed, and then Network needed to interconnect globally so it could be access anytime, anywhere. As now Technology is so advanced, we can even use ASOS in our Handsets like IPhone; Android Phones etc with Network provider browsing facility, Internet, Telephone wires, Intranets are all form of communication which forms this Network infrastructure. Interfacing: This is the infrastructure where finally customer can get access to all data on website and have user interface with all application. All Technology and infrastructure components interact together to produce the Ideal demonstration of E-Business. These applications are used by Online Banking Sector, Financial sectors, Marketing and Advertising Agencies, Online Shopping. This model really helps for Senior Management to see how important within business or outside for planning and development of E-Business or E-Commerce solution. http://www.sxccal.edu/msccs/ecommerce1.pdf Analysis: Last 3 years of ASOSs Financial performance are incredible. Where UK economy is in Recession and then in Recovery phase now, in these hard times ASOS has maintained their Growth with Consistency. Records sales, Earning per share and Profit has been recorded. Following is details discussion and Analysis of Financial impact on Income, Expenditures, and Profits for last 3 years. Revenue: ASOSs revenue has shown positive signs as in 2008 and 2009, 90% and 104% increased respectively have been reported in Annual report. Then in 2010, 35% increase had made. Increase was not that significant because of increase in international sales. Huge amount of investment has been made in these years for Warehouses to increase their sales volume. Clothes of all genders, Accessories and Footwear are the main sector which result in boost of Revenue Because online user who hit on daily basis the website is increasing day by day and according to latest record, ASOS.com attracts more than 8 million unique Users in a month of which 3.7 millions are registered users and 1.6 million active users (describes as they have shopped in last 6 months).It can be seen that, because of virtual nature of ASOS, the only way of boosting their income is to attract as much users as it can. In only 10 years, its not easy for any business to be in head to head in ranking in various categories in last 3 year s. In top UK shopping website, ASOS was ranked in 2008 17th (2007:40), 12th in 2009. Figure 2.1 and 2.2 give a birds eye view of Retails sales Split for the year ended 2009 and 2010, where we can see Quarterly sales figures for UK and International, which shows a huge increase in International sales of 103% for year 2008/09 and 144% for year 2009/10. Its indication of how just through E-Commerce, without any outlets overseas, ASOS is on way to Business success. Statistical representation of Split of Sales is shown below which compare quarterly change in retail sales as compare to year 2009 ASOS has been ranked 2 year continuously in 2008(4.74%) and 2009(5.13%), 2 nd to Next with 8.96% in 2008 and 6.31%in 2009, in top 10 player as % of Market share list. Figure 1 A demonstrate their actual and forecast % of market share. Annual Reports: for References Expenditures: Because of driving business with new initiatives taken and Passion to be on top of Online Retailers List, ASOS has spent Millions in Development, Management, Marketing and Infrastructure. They have spent Millions on Warehouses for hitting its Targeted Annual sales. ASOS has spent  £20 million for new warehouse with Initial Capability of  £600 million annual sales. They have done adequate investment in IT Systems and Infrastructure, as being a virtual business; it acts as a back bone for the Organisation to capitalise on their potential growth and to take full advantage of arising new opportunities. In last 3 years, E-Marketing Expenditure played vital role for capturing a p

Dunkin Donuts Hypothetical Marketing Strategy Case Essay -- Business

Dunkin’ Donuts was first established in 1950, in Quincy, Massachusetts, by William Rosenberg. Over the years the company expanded and now is the largest coffee and baked goods chain in the world. They serve over 5,500 retail outlets; selling more than 4 million doughnuts and 2.7 million cups of coffee daily! Dunkin’ Donuts are famous for their many varieties of doughnuts and their wide range of bakery products - muffins, bagels and munchkins ® donut hole treats. Their products are represented by more than 6,590 worldwide points of distribution, including approximately 4,815 units in the United States alone. History of Dunkin’ Donuts 1946: Bill Rosenberg invests $5,000, forms Industrial Luncheon Services. 1948: Bill Rosenberg opens donut shop "Open Kettle" in Quincy, Massachusetts. 1950: "Open Kettle" name changed to Dunkin’ Donuts. 1955: First franchise agreement signed and executed in Worcester, Massachusetts. 1960: Bill Rosenberg founds the International Franchising Association. 1963: 100th Dunkin’ Donuts shop opens. 1966: Dunkin’ Donuts University (DDU) is created. 1970: First overseas Dunkin’ Donuts shop opens in Japan. 1972: MUNCHKINS ® donut hole treats are introduced. 1978: Introduction of freshly baked muffins. First network TV commercials are aired. 1979: 1,000th U.S. Dunkin’ Donuts shop opens. 1980: Largest Dunkin’ Donuts shop in the world opens in Thailand with seating for 130. 1982: Fred the Baker, TIME TO MAKE THE DONUTS ® television campaign begins. 1990: Allied Domecq purchases Dunkin’ Donuts. 1995: 1000th international Dunkin’ Donuts shop opens in Thailand. Hazelnut and French Vanilla coffees are introduced as companions to Dunkin’ Donuts' famous Original Blend. 1996: Dunkin’ Donuts introduces ... ...the process of finding a new supplier. 5. Selecting the Optimal Alternative Due to the growth in the bagel industry, all U.S. production facilities capable of making bagels were signing long term supplier contracts with different firms hence leaving very few opportunities for additional capacity to be obtained. In order to still thrive in the bagel industry, Dunkin’ Donuts should not terminate their contract with Harold’s Bakery. Rather, they should gradually continue with the rollout by limiting advertising and the pace of store expansion. In the meantime they should assist Harold’s Bakery to find more co-packers in the short term. References: †¢ http://www.twincitybagels.com/html/bagel_history.html †¢ http://time-proxy.yaga.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601960401,00.html †¢ https://www.dunkindonuts.com/ †¢ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkin_Donuts

Brokeback Mountain personal response

Whilst watching the film Bareback Mountain, I became frustrated at the mall characters, Jack and Nines. This frustration was because of an evident idea in the film that I agree strongly with, Sexuality is not a choice. ‘ This idea made me realize how lucky I am to have been born in an era where society is much more accepting of individuality than in the past. And I felt frustrated because the two men believed the only way to be accepted in society was to be something they weren't, which was trousseaux.In the summer of 1963 two young men, Nines Del Mar and Jack Twist, meet when they find work sheep-herding for the summer on Bareback Mountain. The two quickly form a friendship that eventually develops Into something more. They become mentally and physically Involved with one another. I believe the director's purpose of this film was to open the viewer's eyes, showing them that you cannot choose who fall in love with. The idea that ‘sexuality is not a choice' is developed in the film because the two men eave a perfectly fine life, they both had a loving wife and a family, but they were happiest when together.A close up of Nines' face shows him staring out of the window, trying to pass time by flicking his lighter whilst waiting for Jack to arrive at his house. You can see in his expression that he is excited; his eyes keep looking around as If he Is searching for Jack. This shot told the audience how much Nines cared for and missed Jack, because you saw different a side of Nines, a side where he was excited and nervous, the audience never saw this side of him when he was with is wife.I was happy when I saw Nines not being able to control his emotions towards Jack, it gave me faith that true love and happiness does exist. But I also felt extremely sorry the men's wife's, I felt as though they were using their wife's as a shield from reality, as they were afraid of what might happen to them if anyone found out about their relationship with one another. N o matter how much they tried to stay apart, they would always come back to each other. This is another way the idea ‘sexuality is not a choice' is developed in the film. The dialogue â€Å"l wish I could quit you† is said by Jack Twist.This quote reinforces the fact that Jack couldn't stay away from Nines, he wishes he didn't feel the way he felt about Nines, and he wishes that he could Just stop having the desire to see him, but he Just cannot ‘quit' him. He would rather be living with his wife, but he loves Nines so he can't resist seeing him. It shows that Jack would change himself so that he could fit Into society, If he was able to. This made me feel really upset. I have been taught from a very young age to always be yourself around others, even though they shamed of who he was.With all this being said, it makes me proud that the awareness and acceptance of the LIGHT community is growing greater each year. Just last year, on the 17th of April in 2013, an Amen dment Bill allowing same-sex couples to marry in New Zealand passed the final reading. It gives me great pleasure knowing that society is becoming more susceptible to diversity. But still to this day people still suffer from this fear of not being accepted, and it is very hard for them to ‘come out' about their sexuality to the public.I have had quite a few friends who have struggled with this issue. I have noticed they have all been scared of what their parents might think, say, or do. They are afraid that they will be a disappointment to the family. I think it is absolutely absurd for a parent to ‘disown' their own child because they are attracted to a different gender. I am sure that if their child could choose who they were to fall in love with, they would choose someone that their parents would approve of. I am truly disgusted that this ‘disowning happens still to this day.I would recommend Bareback Mountain to year 12 students because not only is it a great f ilm, it will teach, and further their understanding of the idea ‘sexuality is not a choice. ‘ I think that emotional students will particularly benefit in watching this film, as they will allow the film to affect them, and they will wonder about the deeper meanings in the film. I believe that this film could even change some people's opinions about homosexuals, because they will come to agree with the films strong message, ‘sexuality is not a choice. ‘

Edward Albee’s presentation of Nick and his role in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf

In ‘Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf’ by Edward Albee, a main character that is revealed in this play is Nick who plays an important role presented by Albee in different ways. The play which, ‘’shows malicious humiliation and love and tenderness and bitterness’’ is set on the campus of a small, New England university. Nick is presented in part as an on-stage audience for George and Martha to act out their verbal banter. Moreover the character of nick is used as a compare and contrast to George. The audience sees nick as an image of youthful pride, unblemished, athletic whose very life is dedicated to eliminating the imperfections in human genes, but is himself revealed as flawed in the play. The young couple Nick and Honey are presented as ‘’passive observers. They serve solely as the objects of manipulation’’. George and Martha simply use the younger, less experienced couple to manoeuvre for advantage in their own bitter struggle. This is further shown in act two by George when he states, ‘’I’ll tell you what game we’ll play. We’re done with humiliate the hosts†¦ how about a little game of get the guests?† George attempts to regain power which is an ongoing theme in the play by humiliating nick and honey. He uses what nick told him about honey’s hysterical pregnancy against them.Could Cold War Have Been Avoided? Secondly, Nick’s role as a compare and contrast to George is important as both of them possess certain traits that the other lacks and envies. While George is frustrated with his life and the illusions that Martha and he have made, Nick contrastingly is yet to rise in his conquest for power. Throughout the entire play, George and nick proceed through an ongoing verbal battle, competing for the position of high standing power. George attacks nick’s profession because he is afraid of artificially changing the way that people are supposed to turn out, ‘’ I've been drawing you out on this stuff, not because I'm interested in your terrible lifehood, but only because you represent a direct and pertinent threat to my lifehoood George openly admits that he's intimidated by Nick's youthful potential, and that he's seeking a way to undermine it. The audience see’s nick as an ideal man, coldly ambitious, good-looking and athletic who represents the idea of technological advancement. According to Martha he depicts, ‘’the perfect paragon of beauty and achievement’’. But as George and Martha ruthlessly involve them in their verbal battles, Albee reveals many flaws in nick in particular. It becomes revealed that the marriage of Nick and Honey is less than perfect and has serious problems. The appearance of a perfect marriage between Nick and Honey is shattered by Nick's admission that they got married because she was pregnant as stated by Nick, ‘’ I married her because she was pregnant. [†¦] It was a hysterical pregnancy. She blew up, and then she went down’’. Additionally Nick, the perfect model of a new faculty member, is rather easily seduced by Martha, â€Å"That’s right, lunkhead; answer the door†¦or are you too drunk to do that, too? Can’t get the latch up, either? Since nick failed to perform in the bedroom, he has lost all status in his relationship with Martha. This also makes one doubt the love in his marriage to honey. In who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee, nick is a very important character presented by Albee. Not only is he presented in part as an on-stage audience for George and Martha, he also exposes the falseness of â€Å"The American Dream’’ through his relationship with honey. As the perfect image of Nick and Honey crumbles, the final idealization of marriage and family also collapses. Edward Albee suggests that people in America are living in an illusion to which they hold on dearly to avoid facing the reality of a perfect marriage, children, wealth, success, education and religion, All of which compromise the American dream and hence Albee attacks and mocks this idea in the play which is revealed by the main characters to the audience.

Has Prime Minister Thaksin been good for Thailands informat essays

Has Prime Minister Thaksin been good for Thailands informat essays This report aims to show how good of Prime Minister Thaksin for Thailands information technology. Thaksin Shinawatra is a leader of Thai Rak Thai party. The Thai Rak Thai partys information technology policy sets out seven key elements to be developed with a commitment to reshaping the country into an electronic society. The first element is to develop basic infrastructure to boost the use of IT in the country as a whole. The government controled by Thaksin plans to stimulate the development of networking infrastructure such as fibre-optic cable, broadband communication and the Internet to facilitate widespread use among the population, giving them equal access to new technology and the Internet. The data from this analysis are based on government budgets on computer equipment. It requires future government budgets. The figure above shows the amount of government budgets on computer equipment over the last seven years. There was a significant increase in 2001, the first year of Prime Minister Thaksins government. The government planed to provide the budget to support the government officer and non government officer to buy the computer in special prices that are cheaper than regular prices. However, the budget in the period before Thaksins government and during Thaksins government was dramatrically different. In 2000, the budget was 1,725 million baht and increased to 3,300, 4180 and 3,909 million baht in 2001, 2002 and 2003 respectively. Finally they decreased to 2,361 million baht in the last year. The budget in 2000 is lower than the buget in 2001. It appears that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has supported information technology significantly and Thailand is becoming to be the part of the information age. In my opinion, since the government planed to provide the budget, many technologies would develop in 2002 probably caused by the peak of the budget. ...

Insider epistemology Essays

Insider epistemology Essays Insider epistemology Essay Insider epistemology Essay The view that you have to be one to know one, that to understand a group you must be a member of that group, is known as insider epistemology (Fay, 1996, p. 9). In my work I will try to explain and define this thesis, making it more tangible through the use of examples both of situations for with insider epistemology seems valid and of instances in which group differences have tried to be overcome. I shall then go on to present problems and questions that arise with it; amongst others whether it is at all possible to place people in categories, to what extent we are able to understand anyone but ourselves and, for that matter, whether we can even understand ourselves. Finally, I shall suggest a reconciliation of the thesis with its counterarguments by introducing a more precise definition of the phrase you have to be one to know one. In our society today we tend to take one of two approaches toward people in some way different to ourselves: we either condemn their actions as wrong and try to impose our own viewpoint on them, or we resist judgement by saying that their frame of mind is so substantially different to ours that we couldnt possibly understand and even less criticize their actions. I would like to focus on this second approach. Whether we are speaking about youths from troubled backgrounds with an early criminal record, or about a far-off tribe with seemingly strange customs, or about the way of life of monks in the 13th century; the belief is that unless we were there to experience what they did, or unless we belong to their group, we have no way of understanding them. In other words, to know them we must be them, the claim of insider epistemology. Insider epistemology maintains that to know other insiders one has to be an insider oneself (Fay, 1996, p. 9). It is saying that you cannot understand a Muslim unless you are a Muslim yourself, a Russian peasant unless you are a Russian peasant yourself. James I. Charlton speaks of the innate inability of able-bodied people, regardless of fancy credentials and awards, to understand the disability experience (Bridges, 2001). The reasoning is simple: how could you possibly understand a group if you have not grown up in their surroundings and with their experiences? Various literary works illustrate this: Jung Changs Wild Swans, for example, only became such a moving and inspiring account because written by a person who experienced Chinese history of the 20th century first hand. She was able to tell the story of her family in a political and historical context without having to resort to research and second hand accounts. She might have even felt quite offended had an outsider written her story claiming to know exactly how she felt and exactly what she went through; she would probably consider her experiences to be unique and not likely to be truly understood by anyone but her family and herself and perhaps not even by her family because they did not have the exact same experiences as she did. This position that each person has privileged access to his or her own mental states and processes (Fay, 1996, p. 10) is called individual methodological solipsism (Merton, 1972, p. 5) and is a more radical form of insider epistemology. It argues that only I can know my own mind, so I can never know whether experiences and sensations are the same for other people: does the colour red look the same to others (Fay, 1996, p. 10)? Does pain feel the same if experienced by another? A train of thoughts which can make us feel truly lonely indeed! Throughout time there have been a number of attempts to transgress the b oundaries separating groups from each other and go native (Smith, n. d. ). John Howard Griffin painted his face black and travelled through the south of the USA during the height of racial segregation to be able to experience the treatment of a black man (Fay, 1996, p. 13). Liza Crihfield Dalby wanted to write her PhD on the life and experiences of a Japanese geisha, and thought the only way to do this was to live as a geisha in Kyoto for a year (Dalby, 1983). It would seem that by doing this they would be able to gain an insider perspective on the culture and group they were living with? Yet herein lies the illusion: no matter how long they played their insider role, it would remain a role. Their upbringing had instilled in them a set of values and beliefs, by themselves perhaps unrecognized or unacknowledged, but nevertheless existing and fundamentally different to that of the group they were studying. Furthermore, if ever they were to find themselves in a precarious situation, they would always be able to resort back to their original identity, and not have to bare the consequences as a black man or a geisha might. They are able to wear the mask of an insider, but under the mask the outsider stays the same. This can be further illustrated: if we say that the social and cultural world shape a person or groups identity, regarding the fact that society and culture differs hugely from place to place, and insist on the fact that to understand an insider you must be an insider yourself, then we must conclude that any understanding between groups is impossible. This, in turn, would mean that social science would become radically unlike hard science (Smith, n. d. ), because no research would be possible on a neutral and objective basis. In fact, every group would have to be in charge of its own social research, be its own social scientist (Fay, 1996, p. 12). Still, if we are not able understand another group, we would consequently also not be able to understand the research done by an insider social scientist of the other group. Each group would be its own isolated unit and incapable of sharing any knowledge. However, there are problems to be found in using the word group. By picturing a group as a homogenous set of individuals, we are categorizing its members as all being equal and being members of only that group. We are forgetting that categories as broad as women, South American, adopted children, etc. are no indication of individual identity and experiences. Indeed, by placing all adopted children in the same group, we are neglecting the fact that adoption can be a completely different experience for one child compared to another. The differences between members of one group may actually outweigh their similarities (Bridges, 2001, p. 3; Fay, 1996, p. 53) and insiders of groups may insist on a distinction being made between each other, therefore Argentineans might find it offensive to be put in the same category as Bolivians or vice versa. But if we carry these divisions within categories further, then we must distinguish between Argentineans from Buenos Aires and those from Patagonia, in Buenos Aires between the poor and the wealthy, within the poor between the homeless and people living in small shacks, within the homeless between men and women, within men between old and young, and so on until there is no more than one person left for each category which takes us back to the theory of solipsism, that only I can know myself, and therefore to the impossibility of mutual understanding. In social research difficulties may arise as many of the political and ethical dilemmas ( ) stem from the researchers simultaneous occupation of a status as insider and outsider in relation to those they are researching (Charles, 1997, p. 394), since boundaries between groups are never clear-cut. But this evokes the idea that ultimately, if I am the only person left in my category and nobody from outside my category can truly understand me, I must know my own self best, and this idea we must question. For many instances come to mind where we dont really understand ourselves. When writing an exam, for example, we are not conscious of all the thought processes going on within our head and we would have a hard time explaining how we wrote it. Fay writes that the mind does not have an unmediated knowledge of itself (1996, p. 19), meaning that we cannot necessarily interpret the experiences and feelings we have. Similarly I have no detailed recollection of the day my dog was put to sleep, it went by in a blur. Not only did I not have full knowledge of myself on that day but with time it has changed further: my personal account of that day would probably be very inaccurate because tinted by my emotions and patchy with suppressed memories (Bridges, 2001, p. 2). Furthermore, it is well known that a stressed person is the last to realize or acknowledge it, what is needed is precisely a person on the outside a doctor, a parent, a wife to diagnose the symptoms and look at our taken-for-granted experience through ( ) the eye of a stranger (Bridges, 2001, p. ), so from an outsider perspective. Our insider perspective does not necessarily work to our advantage because, as Fay puts it, knowledge of what we are experiencing always involves an interpretation of these experiences (1996, p. 19). Likewise, being a member of a group does not always give us the best knowledge of it. For example, a sports player is not automatically the best sports commentator (Fay, 1996, p. 20), and being a native speake r of a language often means that you have more difficulties explaining grammar rules than a non-native speaker. Merton is his studies found that the judgements of insiders are best trusted when they assess groups other than their own (1972, p. 18). Distance can create better knowledge because it gives a wider view of things: Fay gives the example of Hitlers biographers who were able to understand him not in the sense of being sympathetic toward him but of giving an accurate account of his character and motivations precisely because their distance enabled them to make a connection between internal emotions and external situations (Fay, 1996, p. 24). But how can we reconcile this argument with the one made earlier that Jung Chang was only able to write such an extraordinary account because she was an insider? Maybe the answer lies in that knowledge does not rely solely on whether one is a member of a certain group or not. Knowing something implies that we understand its meaning and have made sense of it, not that we have an empathetic understanding of it. Fay compares making sense of something with trying to decipher a difficult poem rather than trying to achieve some sort of inner mental union with its author (1996, p. 25). Sensitivity and criticality are the relevant criteria to understanding rather than being an insider or outsider to a group whether we are speaking about women, Muslims or Russian peasants. An insider may however be more aware of the issues at hand; he may not have the automatic ability to truly understand but his status might facilitate it. If we really had to be one to know one, most of our world today would become pointless: media, research, welfare, etc. Why be informed about the war in Iraq if we can neither understand the Iraqis nor the soldiers nor the politicians? Why make any judgement, any protest? Because our insider status as human beings gives us the sensitivity to reject violence and suffering, even if we are outsiders on all other factors.

A written project on the theme of one selected characteristic/attribute associated with the Business Entrepreneur and researched in the context of one noteworthy entrepreneur

Methodology: This study was based on the integration of the secondary research. Practical evidence demonstrates the main secondary evidence in relation to the Facebook case study. Findings: The main findings demonstrate that innovation is not necessarily sourced from a discipline. To a large extent, it requires creative thinking and environment. Furthermore, it has been found that the process of innovation is not always structured. This suggests that in some cases, there are elements of experimentation and accident. Introduction This paper looks at the investigation of innovation in the contemporary business world. In details, this paper includes exploration of the actual concept of innovation within the context of entrepreneurship. This research will focus on the examination of Facebook and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg. This would serve as the practical evidence of the innovative product and/or service that has formed the contemporary social media business. Rogers, (1998, p.6) has defined innovation â€Å"as the process of introducing the new ideas to the firm which result in increased firm performance† . Within the context of this paper, innovation is attributed to the new social media product that has been invented and, therefore, resulted in the startup and further success of Facebook as a company. This has been a transformational innovation since it resulted in the transformation of the interactive, social media platform. This paper will discuss the actual process of this transformation. This implies that the majority of individuals have been reluctant to adopt the innovation, after its initial introduction (Rogers, 1998). At the moment, Facebook has already around 1 billion subscribers worldwide, who update their statuses, on a daily basis. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, is one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the modern times. Facebook employs around 3,200 employees and is known worldwide. The company’s market value is $ 75 billion-$ 100 billion (Hoovers, 2012). This study will investigate the main factors that innovation should possess, and the reasons behind its success among the consumers. The main critical analysis is going to be presented in the literature review. This will lay the foundation for further investigation. Practical evidence will demonstrate the case study in relation to the researched theories. Finally, the findings from the literature review and practical evidence are going to be juxtaposed in the analysis section. Literature Review Recent research suggests that innovation is an outcome of creativity. This implies that innovation may occur, when a person realizes stimulating and new ideas, which he or she, has (Austin, Devin and Sullivan, 2012). Some companies tend to shape the work environment in order to produce the conditions that work well in terms ofthe development of the creative ideas. This is primarily associated with the integration of the particular practices, which allow the person to relax, and, therefore, generate ideas. Hopkins, (2010) suggests that innovation is a discipline. This implies that management of innovation may be compared with management of quality, where each detail is essential. This also implies that, after generation of the idea, it is important to focus on the efficient development of production, supply chain, distribution and marketing. The process of innovation development is also interlinked to the production of business model. It is especially intensified in the context of entrepreneurship. Drucker, (2002), suggests that innovation is sourced from the knowledge and hard work. This suggests that in order for innovation to be successful, it is necessaryto monitor the market, to interact and seek out opportunities to seize. As a result,, there is a small chance for accidental innovation that might emerge (Austin, Devin and Sullivan, 2012). However, given the conditions of contemporary market and situation, this chance is slim. This is correlated to the evolutionary theory, which suggests that the process of innovation production is interlinked with the dynamism of the environment and acquired knowledge and skills. Furthermore, it was added that the success of innovation is sourced from the learning abilities and behavioural traits of the entrepreneur. This implies that the values, cognition and the aims of the individual directly impact the process of innovation development (Metcalfe, 1998; Dosi, 1997). According to complexity theory, Anderson, (1999) states that the creative ideas are sourced from the environmental changes. This suggests that individuals and companies tend to take into account the environmental dynamism, thus shifting their perceptions, according to the global and/or domestic changes. This is further interlinked with the evaluation of the information, which is sourced from these dynamical changes. This, in turn, results in the development of the innovations. This theory is based on the estimation that the innovation should evolve, as part of the constant environmental dynamics. Contrary to this, Brown and Eisenhardt, (1998) suggest that innovation is driven by experimentation rather than evolution. This implies that the individual should always experiment, in order to create some innovative solutions. This is attributed to the â€Å"trial and error† pathway. This pathway is regarded to be quite effective as demonstrated in the recent research. It is primarily interlinked with the hard work and discipline, which is noted in the study by Hopkins, (2010). Damanpour, (1992) disagrees and states that there is no definite practice that would allow efficient production and management of the innovative products and/or services. This suggests that there are four main factors that affect the possible success of the innovation. These factors are attributed to the type of innovation, stage of innovation, scope of innovation and organization. Given the technology industry, the scope of innovation is not easy to define at the startup stage of innovation. It has been identified by Rothwell and Dodgson, (1995) that there is a small difference between the development of innovation in small companies and large corporations. It has been estimated that the process of innovation development in small companies tend to be of a behavioural nature, whereas in large corporations – of a materialistic nature. Additionally, it has been added that the process of the development of innovation in the smaller companies tends to be dependent on the industry. It is assumed that, in the technology industry, the degree of innovation’s success is increased, due to the large pool of opportunities. However, as Hopkins, (2010) has pointed out, it does require a discipline. Freeman and Soete, (1997) agree that the innovative products and services depend on the scope of RD activities. This suggests that there is a greater chance for larger corporations to implement the innovation, due to the large available funds. However, as the recent research demonstrates, there are a lot of entrepreneurs, who have been successful in production of innovation with limited investments (e.g. Mark Zuckerberg; Steve Jobs). Littler, Leverick and Bruce, (2003) argue that the innovative product development is associated with high risk, which is dispensed across the production and Research and Development areas. As the result, it has been proposed in the same source that increased collaboration is required in order to achieve the objectives, in relation to the innovative solutions product. These scholars have also added that the main factors that affect the increase of the risk degree is attributed to the utilization of the new technology. Practical Evidence This section focuses on the presentation of the practical evidence of the key theories that have been analysed in the literature review section. This section is based on the integration of the case study about Facebook and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg. Mark Zuckerberg, 28 is the founder of the world’s largest social networking website, Facebook. It was launched back in 2004, in the dorm room of Harvard University (CrunchBase, 2012). Prior to this, Mark Zuckerberg has tried to launch another two programs, namely a music recommendation program, Synapse and peer-to-peer client, Wirehog. However, he left them at the startup point (TechCrunch, 2012). Along with that, Mark Zuckerberg also launched Coursematch and Facemash programs during his studies at Harvard University. Facebook was originally developed for students to interact, however it has been further extended to a global scale. As a result, Facebook has become a success internationally (New Yorker, 2010). Prior to the development of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg studied computer science, however, he has another degree in psychology. This suggests that he understands both the computer technology and human behaviour (New Yorker, 2012). With regard to the personal characteristics, Mark Zuckerberg has been described as quiet, unassuming gentleman, who focuses on hard work and achievement of the objectives. This shows that he doesn’t take anything for granted, thus focusing intensively on further development of Facebook operations. To date, Facebook has generated $1.26 billion, however, it has reported a recent loss, which is associated with the inability to develop the mobile advertising sector (CNCWorld, 2012; Information Week, 2012). The primary source of income is attributed to the advertising since Facebook is free to subscribe. This implies that there is still room for improvement in the mobile advertising area, whereas the main competitors already enjoy the generated profits fr om this sector. The mobile advertising area has been overlooked by Mark Zuckerberg, given the recent rise in the access to the Internet from mobile phones (New Media Trends, 2012). This implies that the modern consumers tend to utilize the mobile applications more, which is supported by the recent data that states that the number of mobile Internet users has doubled. Information Week, (2012) demonstrates that there have been 75 % of social networking users, who have accessed Facebook via their Android-supported mobile devices in U.S.A, in March, 2012. Facebook management agrees that there is still a room for development however, the main problem is attributed to the inability to provide high resolution advertisements on small mobile screens (Information Week, 2012). This is assumed to be surprising, in the light of Mark Zuckerberg’s ability to develop the new social media platform, during the rise of the Internet. This implies that Mark Zuckerberg tends to seize the opportunities, once they arise. The main aim of Facebook, to date, is regarded to be a willingness to make the globe a more open place, by means of social interactions (New Yorker, 2010). However, contrary to this, Mark Zuckerberg, himself, is characterized as being private, thus not sharing a lot of information about himself. This is supported by the fact that he does not give a lot of interviews and/or make public appearances (CrunchBase, 2012). With regards to the work environment, that is managed in Facebook headquarters, it has been estimated in the recent research that the workers are driven to educate themselves while working. This is interconnected with the fact that Facebook was founded at the University so, Mark Zuckerberg is trying to transform the workplace into the educational institution in order to drive the creativity’s emergence. The design of the Facebook offices promotes openness as the key feature of Facebook program (Business Insider, 2009). This implies that employees are not limited by the cubicles’ boundaries. Additionally, the working hours are flexible. This suggests that the employees may choose their own hours in order to deliver the best product solutions possible. Furthermore, Mark Zuckerberg tends to promote openess in interaction, suggesting that the employees are able to walk around the headquarters, thus interacting with others (Business Insider, 2009). The main aim of this is t o promote the development of the creative ideas, which would be applicable to the Facebook (Business Insider, 2009). Along with that, the main negative comments have only been attributed to the distant location of the Facebook headquarters. Additionally, some employees have stated that it is difficult to concentrate while working in the open areas. Therefore, the promoted openess does not work for everybody (Business Insider, 2009). Analysis This section is based on the production of the links between the main theories and the key findings, derived from the practical evidence. It had been estimated that Facebook was developed, during the period, when internet, as a communication channel was starting to gain the popularity amongst the public (New Media Trends, 2012). This shows that Mark Zuckerberg had been following the evolutionary theory related to the innovative development and given his specialized knowledge and learning abilities, he scanned the environment for opportunities and dynamic changes (Anderson, 1999). In 2004, there was a limited amount of social networking platforms, presented on the market that would allow enjoyable social interaction. As a result, he developed Facebook in order to meet the educational needs, with the limited resources available. It was based purely on the knowledge and skills he had obtained. One of the main benefits was that he could combine his technology-related knowledge with the education degree he received in psychology (Time, 2012). This has allowed the development of the social networking platform that would sui t the needs of consumers. Furthermore, the theoretical frameworks suggest that there is supposed to be a creative and relaxing environment in order to produce the innovative idea. At that time, Mark Zuckerberg has been studying in the university, which suggests that he was associated with the young and educated people with a lot of aspirations (New Yorker, 2010). Normally, in this environment, the most innovative ideas are born, so, this supports the theoretical evidence. Evolutionary theory is also supported by the fact that Mark Zuckerberg also tried to integrate other social media products but he failed to succeed with some of them. This demonstrates a certain degree of learning, integrated in the process of the innovation development. This implies that after the failure of his previous innovations , he has advanced the process of innovative solutions production, based on the mistakes he had made (CrunchBase, 2012). Additionally, the process of innovation production has been supported by the acquired and/or natural behavioural traits of the entrepreneur. This suggests that Mark Zuckerberg has always been a hard worker whilst eliminating the need â€Å"to take everything for granted† (Time, 2012). Therefore, he has always been focused on the achievement of his objectives. The elements of the accidental innovation may be followed once Facebook had become popular outside the university. This shows that, despite the primary educational objectives related to the Facebook platform, Mark Zuckerberg accidentally met the needs of a wider international audience (Austin, Devin and Sullivan, 2012). This was the starting point of Facebook’s success. At the moment, being a large corporation, Facebook constantly updates the website with new applications, as a result of the evaluation of the consumer needs and environment. However, some subscribers tend to be confused with the constant changes that Facebook integrates (Guardian, 2010). In this case, the aspects of experimentation are demonstrated. These can be traced inthe theory of â€Å"trial and error†, which suggests the evaluation of the most profitable products and services based on experimentation (Brown and Eisenhardt, 1998). This is proved to be effective, however it also drives a large degr ee of confusion amongst the subscribers. Another critical aspect is attributed to the problem with the mobile advertising, which has resulted in the decrease of the revenues of Facebook, recently (Business Insider, 2012). This suggests that management of the company failed to scan the environment in order to integrate the necessary solutions with regards to the emergence of the new trend. As the result, this has negatively resulted in the poor company’s performance (Business Insider, 2012). This is said to be especially surprising, given the ability of Mark Zuckerberg to seize the opportunities and the scope of the modern Facebook corporation. This is supported by the literature review findings, which suggest that it is much easier for larger corporations to integrate innovative solutions due to the large funding available for Research and Development activities (Freeman and Soete, 1997). In this case, at the moment, Facebook failed to do that. Recent data demonstrates that another reason behind this, is attributed to the lack of clear strategic vision. This implies that Mark Zuckerberg aims at the delivery of accidental innovations rather than the result of a clear strategic vision (Business Insider, 2009). He expects the innovation to appear as a result of the management of the creative environment. It has been estimated in the literature review that it is necessary to promote the discipline during the process of innovation development (Hopkins, 2010). However, with regards to Facebook’s work conditions, it is not necessarily applicable. This implies that the company aims to integrate open interactions and flexible working hours. This is said to be appealing for the majority of employees. However there are some employees, who state that it is hard to concentrate while working in this sort of environment. As a result, Facebook aims to promote the casual and relaxing environment, which would allow development of creative solutions. Conclusion This paper was aimed at discussing research on innovation within the entrepreneurship context. It focused on the exploration of the Facebook case and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg. The main theories have indicated that there are several patterns of innovation development, namely accidental innovation production, evolutionary, experimental and complexity theories. The Literature review has also demonstrated that environment also plays a large role in the process of innovation development. Other scholars suggest that the success of innovation depends on the entrepreneur’s personal characteristic and actual characteristics attributed to the innovation. The main findings, based on the analysis of one of the greatest entrepreneurs, have demonstrated that the innovation’s production process incorporates elements of accidental process and both experimental and evolutionary processes. Additionally, it has been estimated that the dynamics of the environment and personal characte ristics of the entrepreneur tend to play a large role in relation to the worldwide success of the innovation. However, it is essential to further update the innovations in order to stay on the market. This, in turn, may also incorporate the elements of the experimentation. However, one of the main factors is related to the ability to seize the opportunities. References: Anderson, P. (1999). Complexity theory and organization science. Organization Science, 10, 3, 216 – 232 Austin, R., L. Devin, and E. Sullivan. (2012). Accidental Innovation: Supporting Valuable Unpredictability in the Creative Process. Organization Science, 23, 5, 1505-1522. Brown, S. L. and K. Eisenhardt (1998). Competing on the Edge – Strategy as Structured Chaos. Harvard Business School Press: USA Business Insider, (2012). From $0 To $1 Billion In Two Quarters – Facebook’s Mobile Ad Business Is Suddenly Huge. Available from: http://www.businessinsider.com/starting-from-0-facebook-has-created-a-1-billion-mobile-ad-business-in-just-two-quarters-2012-10 (Accessed on 13/11/2012) Business Insider , (2012). What Is It Like Working At Facebook?. Available from: http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-it-like-working-at-facebook-2009-12?op=1 (Accessed on 13/11/2012) CNC World, (2012). Facebook ADs revenue rises. Available from: http://www.cncworld.tv/news/v_show/28730_Facebook_ADs_revenue_rises.shtml (Accessed on 13/11/2012) Crunch Base, (2012). Mark Zuckerberg. Available from: http://www.crunchbase.com/person/mark-zuckerberg (Accessed on 13/11/2012) Damanpour, F. (1992). Organization size and innovation. Organization Studies, 13, 3, 375 – 402 Dosi, G. (1997). Opportunities, Incentives and the Collective Patterns of Technological Change. The Economic Journal, 107, September Drucker, P.F. (2002). The discipline of innovation. Harvard Business Review, 80, 8, 95-102 Freeman, C. and L. Soete (1997). The Economics of Industrial Innovation. Third Ed., London: Pinter Guardian, (2010). How to Confuse a Facebook User. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/feb/11/facebook-readwriteweb (Accessed on 13/11/2012) Hoovers, (2012). Facebook Company Information. Available from: http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.Facebook_Inc.f1fe73cc6a208e18.html (Accessed on 13/11/2012) Hopkins M. (2010). Innovation Isn’t ‘Creativity,’ It’s a Discipline You Manage. MitSloan Management Review, February Information Week, (2012). Facebook Hits 1 Billion Users: Now The Hard Part. Available from: http://www.informationweek.com/thebrainyard/news/social_networking_consumer/240008527/facebook-hits-1-billion-users-now-the-hard-part (Accessed on 13/11/2012) Littler, D., Leverick, F., Bruce, M., (2003). Factors affecting the process of collaborative product development: a study of UK manufacturers of information and communications technology products. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 12, 1, 16-32 Metcalfe, J. (1998). Cognitive optimism: Self-deception or memory based processing heuristics?. Personality Social Psychology Review, 2, 100-110 New Media Trend Watch, (2012), Available from: http://www.newmediatrendwatch.com/ (Accessed on 13/11/2012) New Yorker, (2010).The Face of Facebook. Available from: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/09/20/100920fa_fact_vargas (Accessed on 13/11/2012) Rogers, M (1998). The Definition and Measurement of Innovation. Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, p.6, The University of Melbourne: Australia Rothwell R. and M. Dodgson (1995), Innovation and Size of Firm, in Dodgson, M. and Rothwell, R., eds., The Handbook of Industrial Innovation, Aldershot: Edward Elgar, 310-324 Tech Crunch, (2012). Mark Zuckerberg: Our Biggest Mistake Was Betting Too Much On HTML5. Available from: http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/11/mark-zuckerberg-our-biggest-mistake-with-mobile-was-betting-too-much-on-html5/ (Accessed on 13/11/2012) Time, (2012). Is It Time for Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to Step Aside as CEO?. Available from: http://business.time.com/2012/08/01/is-it-time-for-facebooks-mark-zuckerberg-to-step-aside-as-ceo/ (Accessed on 13/11/2012)

An e-commerce strategy and architecture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

An e-commerce strategy and architecture - Essay Example According to the research findings it can therefore be said that the Secure-Car Business deals in such systems along with other accessories which can help secure our vehicles from illegal intrusion. Up till now, this firm has been running its business using tradition business management structure. For instance, it has a store where people come to shop. They shop for the desired product and pay instantly. The firm has adopted a paper based approach to keep the record of its products and services. In this IT based era where people want to shop by remaining at their homes, Secure-Car has been using a traditional business approach. Once the manager/owner of the firm was using the Internet to locate information on a specific device, he was shocked to see the support of the Internet for delivering the required information in a few seconds. Manager/owner of the firm decided to implement an e-commerce platform for their business. The basic purpose of implementing this e-commerce business is to promote their business and let the other people shop by sitting at their homes. This e-commerce web site will allow the customers to place an order online by filling an online form. In this scenario, the order details will be received by the Secure-Car firm and they will deliver the product to their customer. Though, it is a proposed scenario and for the actual implementation of this idea, the manager/owner of the firm must be familiar with the terms associated with e-commerce. 2- Introduction to E-commerce Concepts A lot of the ways business organizations and individuals perform their daily tasks and continue to exist in the twenty-first century are measured with the huge web of electronic networks that is normally acknowledged as the Internet (Turban, Leidner, McLean, & Wetherbe, 2005). In addition, the across-the-board existence of the Internet for performing transactions between sellers and buyers is the fundamental motive behind the development of electronic commerce or simp ly (e-commerce). According to (Laudon & Laudon, 1999, p. 25; Stair & Reynolds, 2003, p. 19), â€Å"electronic commerce is the process of selling and purchasing services and goods and products is carried out electronically by means of computerized business transactions over the Internet, networks, and other digital technologies†. In addition, e-commerce also encompasses the operations behind those business transactions, such as business marketing advertising, offering customer support, and processing payment. Additionally, by replacing old and rigid paper-based and manual techniques with electronic processes, and with advanced information flows in up to date and active manners, e-commerce does not only offer the business organizations a capability to accelerate the process of ordering, delivery, and payment for products, services and goods but also minimizes the operating and inventory expenditures of the organizations (Laudon & Laudon, 1999, p. 25). Moreover, the World Wide W eb (WWW) has turned into a common platform for performing e-commerce, building and implementing latest tools and technologies for the organizations to communicate with each other and their customers.

The Effect of Tsunamis on Marine Life Research Paper

The Effect of Tsunamis on Marine Life - Research Paper Example The most common cause of tsunami is the undersea earthquake. Such earthquakes may be too small to trigger a tsunami, but they may help in landslides, which may trigger Tsunami. On 26th December, 2005, early morning, northwest of Sumatra saw a huge tsunami. The earthquake generated a tsunami that was among the deadliest disasters in modern history, killing well over 200,000 people. The most surprising fact about this disaster is that the tsunami was not generated in Pacific Ocean, but in Indian Ocean. The earthquake originated in the Indian Ocean just north of Simeulue Island, off the western coast of northern Sumatra, Indonasia. The resulting tsunami devastated the shores of Indonasia, Srilanka, South India, Thailand and other countries with waves up to 30m . The following picture shows the blow of tsunami to one of the sandy beaches in Srilanka. Caption: A devastated Sandy beach in Sri Lanka after the Tsunami in 2006. The tsunami of 2005 was just one example of this devastating natu ral disaster. There have been a number of incidences of tsunami across the world, that have produced enormous destructions in the affected nations. (Bryant pp. 3-7; Commonwealth Veterinary Association p. 1) General Impact of Tsunami on Marinelife The coastal ecosystem gets damaged due to tsunami. The mangroves, estuarine, sea grasses, mudflats and coral reefs are usually among the most affected ones. Most of these physical structures are damaged by the huge force, which the waves produce as shown in the following picture. Caption: Damages to the Physical structures in coastal region by the Tsunami in Chennai Physical removal of flora and fauna and increased sediment load kill sediment sensitive corals and sea grasses by smothering. The extent of this damage considerably varies on the basis of local topography and hydrology of the surrounding environment. Some of the general impacts of tsunami can be as follows: Saltwater intrusion is a chemical change that occurs in the Pacific Ocea n, which is now also being happening in the Indian Ocean. All these occur due to heavy run off from the sewage, even the decomposition formed by the flora as well as the fauna of that place. These also include un-recovered bodies as well. Exotic species which are used for aquaculture escape badly. The structure of the ecosystem biologically gets disrupted. Since the structure of the ecosystem alters due to tsunami, the whole ecosystem gets affected Since coral reefs are considered as the natural defense of the ecosystem and it is generally seen that the ecosystems of these areas are largely intact even after the hit by tsunamis. For example, the Surin Island, chain off Thailand’s west coast, may have survived better than areas where the coast has been modified by urban development, aquaculture and to the new formed ecosystem during the tsunami of 2005. Mangroves are generally considered to be very significant natural barricade as well as a source of high quality profitable ti mber. Tsunamis produce significant adverse effects on mangroves. For example, in the Tsunami of 2005 that hit the coasts of India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, etc., areas with highly dense mangroves areas suffered fewer human casualties and relatively less harm to physical properties compared to those areas that did not covered with mangroves. Tsunamis

Real Estate Development, Construction, Economy Thesis

Real Estate Development, Construction, Economy - Thesis Example The correlation of real estate, construction and economy is so big that a downfall in the industry can jeopardize the whole economy for years. Japan has faced it in the eighties and economies of USA, Britain and many other are facing today. The real estate and construction sectors combined had of late been a booming business all over the world and make up one of the largest business segments in the U.S. economy. Real estate development takes place in three major areas: Residential, Commercial and industrial. In residential segment consumers are encouraged to buy houses on account of low interest rates prevailing in the market, Sub-prime lending, lower return from other segments or stock market investment. Home owners are interested in remodeling old houses that is also part of construction industry real estate According to 'The Economist' the total asset in residential property in developed economies was worth $48 trillion and in commercial property worth $14 trillion in 2002. This was 54% of the total assets in two classes of assets, Property and financial.1.(Wikipedia) From the sources of Bank of International Settlement and wall Street journal it has been found that over three years from 2001-2004 housing values have moved up 63% in Spain, 48% in France, and nearly doubled in South Africa. In single year in 2004 prices have rises 48% in Bulgaria, 19% in Hong Kong and scaled up in China, UK, Australia and India. 2. (Global Real Estate Boom) Real estate prices had unprecedented rise for so long and so fast in many countries of the world-America, Britain, Australia, France Spain, and China. Rising property prices helped to prop up the world economy after the stock market bubble burst in 2000" According to estimates by The Economist, over the last five years the total value of residential property in developed economies has gone up by more than $30 trillion. Over the past five years, to over $70 trillion. This is an increase of about 100% of the combined GDP of those countries. This dwarfs any previous house-price boom. It is larger than the global stock market bubble in the late 1990s or America's stock market Real Estate Dev..3 bubble in the late 1920s (55% of GDP). It is perhaps going to be the biggest bubble in history. There is a definite comparison between the real estate bubble of Japan in 1989 and that of 2005 in USA/UK Real Estate bubbles are created from time to time in some countries at certain intervals though it is not fixed and not forecast able. It occurred in 1920, 1980 and again they are threatening to raise heads in 2007-08 in USA, UK China and some more countries. This time the house prices have been rising up for long. More than 25% of homes bought in USA and UK are for investment purpose not for owner occupation showing that the investment in housing is for speculative motive. Majority of first time buyers did not make any down payment for the loan sanctioned. The home prices in most of countries have gone

Miracles of Jesus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Miracles of Jesus - Essay Example He instructed the servants to get six pots of water and when they poured the pots out, it was transformed into a very high quality of wine. So to save the face of the guests there, Jesus turned the water into wine. This showed that he had extraordinary powers and can perform miracles as only God can change one substance into another. The immediate result of this was that the disciples started believing in him. Thus Jesus power over creation in past and future times as deity was manifested to the humans (Guided Bible Studies, King James Bible - John 2:1-25 n.d.). 2. The second sign of miracle performed by Jesus was the healing of the noble man’s son. The son was very ill and was near death when the man went to Jesus to ask him to heal his son. He was a high official and therefore by healing his son the credibility of Jesus as being sent by God enhanced even further. Jesus had spoken the words of healing without even meeting the son and this showed the power of his healing over space (Towns 2002, xiii). This showed that God was not limited by space and so isn’t Jesus as he holds the nature of power (Guided Bible Studies, King James Bible - John 4:1-54 n.d.). 3. The third miracle performed by Jesus was that of the healing of a lame. Man. The person was paralyzed for a lot of years, in fact for 38 years and because Jesus was full of love and compassion he healed the man. The person had laid by the pool at the sheep market for many years and slowly his faith and hope was fading away. Another reason was that the person was losing hope and therefore to renew his hope and trust in God he healed him. This miracle showed the power of Jesus and his deity was restored as he chose the timing for the deliverance of his powers (Guided Bible Studies, King James Bible - John 5:1-47 n.d.). This also exemplified the power given to him by God. The deity was shown by him doing no one else would have done (McFarland 2008). 4. The fourth miracle performed by Jesus was t he feeding of 5000 people. Since the power of Jesus’ healing was becoming well known and therefore people now gathered at the place where Jesus was present to speak on the eve of the Passover. Jesus asked from where the bread could be taken and he was given only five loaves of bread and two fish. He asked his servants to serve the bread to the people present there and thanked the god. By miracle all the people ate as much as they could and after everyone left Jesus asked his servants to collect the leftover pieces so that nothing is lost. When his servants collected the leftover pieces 12 baskets were full (Guided Bible Studies, King James Bible - John 6:1-71 n.d.). This miracle showed the power over food. After this incident a lot of people started believing in Jesus as a â€Å"prophet† and that he was a wonder to the people. A deeper meaning of this symbol is that food here not only represents the physical thing that is used to feed humans but is also talking about t hat spiritual food that feeds the soul of the person and that none could remain hungry in the presence of Jesus (Signs and Miracles in John n.d.). 5. The fifth miracle that was performed by Jesus Christ that eventually affected his deity was that he walked on the water in a sea storm. The disciples were going on a ship into sea whereas Jesus had gone over to the mountain but at night they got caught up in a night storm and they saw Jesus coming towards them by walking in the sea. They got fearful but then

COURSEWORK 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

2 - Coursework Example Change is pervasive not only in peoples individual lives but also in business organisations – for profit or not. Change is inevitable; it is also one of the constants in this world. It doesnt matter if an organisation is doing something about the impact of change – technological, societal and market – on how they do business. These changes will still impact on them and those who react fastest and most constructively will survive. Management theories emerged as a result of change. From the scientific management to centralized organisation; from a decentralized management to empowered workforce; and from a knowledge management to learning organisation. In order to protect its current status, Toyota Motors Corporation, as they say, must run faster to stay in place. First and foremost, it must embrace change whole heartedly – this means the entire organisation as a whole rather than its parts individually. The above changes unfortunately results to a more cutthroat competition not only in the automobile industry but in all industries affected by these changes. Sustaining status quo or surviving in a highly competitive environment is expensive. Companies, to maintain their standing in the market, have to spend more and more in advertising and other activities to sustain the market’s interest in their products and services. This practice is fatal in the long run. Certainly a company can not indefinitely spend its scarce financial resources in activities which can only sustain what is. To survive the company must not only please existing customers, but make new ones too. In this dynamic environment, an organisation finds change and performance improvement more as matters of business survival rather than as matters of competitiveness. Product differentiation and cost leadership are two strategies a company can adopt to stay ahead of competition. Continuous process improvement

Discussion 1 Week 4 Competitive Bidding and Long-Term Cost Savings Assignment

Discussion 1 Week 4 Competitive Bidding and Long-Term Cost Savings - Assignment Example CMS then enters into contracts with select DME suppliers to provide DME items at the prices determined by CBP†¦ CBP also provides an incentive for DME suppliers to accept lower Medicare payment amounts in exchange for the ability to serve beneficiaries and to potentially increase their Medicare market share† (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2011, p. 2). As such, it is the best interests of Medicare patients that prices are set through CBP to ensure that they are provided with the least cost of DME. Competitive bidding was revealed to remain a crucial part of the health reform program, particularly Medicare reform (Feldman, Dowd, & Coulam, 2013). As emphasized, â€Å"competitive bidding will save a substantial amount of money, the exact amount depending on the bidding rules ultimately selected and any transition rules adopted to moderate the pace of change for beneficiaries† (Feldman, Dowd, & Coulam, 2013, p. 20). As such, due to the cost efficiency and potential savings to be generated from competitive bidding, it will remain a viable alternative when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is fully implemented in 2014. The defining factors regarding the competitive bidding process include the price, which is considered the primary factor (Universal Service Administrative Company, 2014); as well as reliability, technical support, bandwidth, and quality of transmission (Universal Service Administrative Company, 2014). Thus, the survival or failure of the bidding organization would depend on their ability to provide the needed goods, products, or services, in the most cost-effective and reliable manner within the stipulated time frame. Feldman, R., Dowd, B., & Coulam, R. (2013, April). A Competitive Bidding Approach to Medicare Reform. Retrieved from American Enterprise Institute: