Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution Essay

CJL 4064 Amendment Project As requested by the committee chair, I have examined the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments of our Constitution. It is imperative for the participants of the Constitutional Convention to update, and furthermore, enhance the Bill of Rights. The amendments were created with a valuable perspective on individual rights in the 1700s. Today, in 2010, our country has developed in the use of language, our principles, and our overall society. After close examination of the amendments, it has come to my attention that they no longer read to todays society. Essentially, I would like to continue the amendments using the same guidelines our forefathers used centuries ago, but include new aspects updating the†¦show more content†¦Since the government is based on the framework of law, it is only fair for those that are going to have their personal property entered be given the opportunity to have legal council. This acts as a protection against any police interrogation as the premises is b eing searched. In the past, this was not necessary in the 4th Amendment because people felt the law never crossed the line. However, in todays society, we find that this happens frequently. To protect the rights of a possible suspect, it is in their best interest to have council present while having their premises searched. In specific to the 5th amendment, changes were made due to technological advances in our society. There has been much advancement in science, including that of DNA testing. There is an entire investigation team that works solely on gathering information after a crime is committed and use the information to help bring scientific answers to the courtroom. With this information, it can help the lawyer either prove innocence or guilt in a defendant. This was not an option when the amendments were first written. Crime investigators are a very important addition to criminal prosecution. Science will continue to advance in this field, and with that, it will bring more conclusive information. It is also necessary to specify in regards toShow MoreRelatedGovernment Enforcement, Crime And The American Population Essay1139 Words   |  5 Pagesrule, eventually forming the United States of America (â€Å"American History,† 2016). Built upon a unique platform of autonomy, the United States provides citizens with freedoms not present in other countries. In order to preserve such freedoms, the Constitution of the United States was enacted in 1797, outlining an array of rights and privileges afforded to all citizens of the country (â€Å"American History,† 2016). However, as in any society, crime and abuse pervaded the peace of the nation, continuing toRead MoreConstitutional Protections in Criminal Investigations1401 Words   |  6 Pagestimes. Without the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, we would not be a democracy, but instead we would become a communist country. The Constitution is pretty much our basis of freedom, because boundaries are set and it gives the government guidelines to which ones they can interfere with without violating them. Most importantly, citizens should know and understand their rights. Most Americans are familiar with the Fifth Amendment due to the popular phrase â€Å"I plead the fifth,† which is used asRead MoreThe United States Constitution And The Criminal Justice System1231 Words   |  5 Pagesmany obstacles they will face. The United States Constitution contains rights for offenders which allows their process through the criminal justice system to be smoother and make sure they are being treated fairly. I will cover the impact of the United States Constitution for the offender in the criminal justice system. This will include the fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, and fourteenth amendments as well as due process for offenders. The fourth amendment is, â€Å"The portion of the Bill of Rights that generallyRead MoreCJA 484 Criminal Law Foundations Evaluation1424 Words   |  6 PagesArticles of Confederation, the Bill of Rights, and the US Constitution lay the floor work of a layer of protection afforded to all United States Citizens. Each of the doctrines provides a step towards the written words that have granted many men and women protection from persecution as well as freedoms not received in other parts of the world. The last piece of the three historical documents, the US Constitution is comprised of a set of amendments, which have been written to protect several differentRead MoreThe Bill of Rights: The Most Important Documents in American History1579 Words   |  6 Pagesthe inclusion of a Bill of Rights into the Constitution, Congress did not approve the inclusion of twelve Amendments, or Twelve Articles, until September 25, 1789 (History of the Bill of Rights, 2012). While the first two amendme nts were rejected, the first ten Amendments of the Constitution make of the United States Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was formally ratified on December 15, 1791 (Independence Hall Association, 2012). The First Amendment protects an individuals freedom of speechRead MoreCriminal Procedure Policy Paper1457 Words   |  6 Pagesconstitutional law concerned with the state’s power to maintain an orderly society and the rights of citizens and residents to live in freedom from undue government interference with their liberty† (Zalman, 2008, p. 4). The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth amendments are significant in studying criminal procedure. In criminal justice, the criminal procedure is important because it deals with the conflict between order and liberty directly. To understand the friction between order and libertyRead MoreThe Justice System Of The United States1040 Words   |  5 Pagesprotection of rights and guarantee justice is served. To ensure citizens freedoms are protected and individual rights are guaranteed the Constitution of the United States was formed. Within the Constitution consists of Amendments. This paper will be discussing the fourth, fifth, and sixth as well how the Bill of Rights applies to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment. Additionally, it will discuss how the due process correlates to these protections. The due process ensures citizens rights and freedomsRead MoreThe Role Of The Amendments And The Bill Of Rights1242 Words   |  5 Pagesthey were familiar with from the United Kingdom. The Constitution and the Amendments are the basis for the criminal system in this country and the procedures for the courts and the law enforcement community. In this essay, the role of the amendments and the Bill of Rights will be examined as they relate to the court system and the criminal justice system as a whole. One of the significant amendments in criminal policy is the Fourth Amendment. The documents notable components are; the right to beRead MoreCriminal Procedure Policy Paper1088 Words   |  5 Pagesshapes criminal justice policy at a specific time. During the 1960’s due process dominated criminal procedure whereas the mid 1970’s to present day, crime control is dominating criminal procedure. These two models as well the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments shape the criminal procedure policy as it is known today. Crime Control Model The most important value of the crime control model is the repression of crime. Unless crime is controlled, the rights of citizens who abideRead MoreThe Bill Of Rights : The Importance Of The Bill Of Rights1381 Words   |  6 Pagessimply the first ten amendments. Written by James Madison, The Bill of Rights lists specific prohibitions on governmental power. The Bill of Rights was officially added into the constitution in 1791. The amendments are on display in the National Archives Museum. The First Amendment states that â€Å"everybody has freedom of speech, press, and religion.† The First Amendment allows us, as U.S. citizens to speak freely about our feelings throughout the government. The First Amendment could possibly be the

Ethnocentrism And Its Impact On Society - 953 Words

Within Western Culture, ethnocentrism is passed down from one generation to the next. This can be seen in many ways through the development of anthropology. It is also seen in the context of spiritual life and faith which the Western view has been imposed on many people groups throughout the world. It was not until anthropology changed from being a comparison of culture, an armchair approach, to a more historical particularism approach that we have been able to better appreciate different cultures. Aside from anthropological work, this understanding is vital for Christians everywhere. From this new anthropological approach, we as Christians must turn away from ethnocentrism and appreciate the way God moves through cultural context, specifically studies of language and kinship, in order to have a better understand each other and of who God is. . To begin with, language is foundational in societies worldwide. Many societies embrace a language hierarchy, but there is no superiority in language. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis gives insight to the way people think and how language helps them experience the world around them. This closely relates to the way that people experience God and the faith. Language translates our ideas and beliefs to those around us in a way that they may be able to relate and receive some sort of understanding. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis seems ring true from reading the Old Testament in Hebrew. From reading the verses in Hebrew one gets a glimpse into theShow MoreRelatedCultural Awareness Project : Ethnocentrism1723 Words   |  7 PagesHi this is Brittney Del Pizzo and today for my cultural awareness project I will be discussing ethnocentrism in the imaging department. My objectives for the presentation is to explain how you can avoid ethnocentrism in the imaging department and to also explain how ethnocentrism can lead to stereotyping and how this can further have a negative impact on the department. I want to begin by discussing some general definitions so that you have a better understand of the topics that I am going toRead MoreDefinition Essay On Racism1005 Words   |  5 PagesKing Jr.? Feminists? Christians? Islamics? Men and woman being shot by police because of the color of their skin or what they believe in? Throughout society, the definition of racism varies drastically. Some people would define it as its definition, one race against another, then there are the other uninformed members of society who would define it as blacks against whites, but in all reality it’s any race against another. Though racism is usually defined as antagonism directedRead MoreEthnocentrism Is A Basic Attitude Expressing The Belief That One? S Own Culture Essay1731 Words   |  7 PagesETHNOCENTRISM Ethnocentrism is a basic attitude expressing the belief that one?s own ethnic group or one?s own culture is superior to other ethnic groups or cultures, and that one?s cultural standards can be applied in a universal manner. The term was first used by the American sociologist William Graham Sumner (1840?1910) to describe the view that one?s own culture can be considered central, while other cultures or religious traditions are reduced to a less prominent role. Ethnocentrism is closelyRead MoreCulture and Ethnocentrism Essay672 Words   |  3 PagesEthnocentrism By Richanda L. Brown SSCI210-1204A-06 AIU 8-30-2012 Abstract This paper will evaluate the movie The Stoning of Soraya M. and discuss the effect of ethnocentrism on individuals, societies, and multinational corporations. This paper will provide a comprehensive overview of ethnocentrism and focus on the cultural observations made based on cultural experience. Ethnocentrism Introduction Our text defines ethnocentrism as the practice of judging another culture by the standardsRead MoreChinese Consumers Behavior : China1444 Words   |  6 Pagesparticular, face, harmony and guanxi are fundamental cultural values (2014). These traditional Chinese cultural values and Political ideologies play important role in consumer purchase behavior, which has significant impacts on purchase intention on luxury products. Face, guanxi and ethnocentrism will be discussed in this section. 3.1 Face The idea of ‘face’, or personal esteem, which is also known as ‘mianzi’ in Mandarin can largely unexplored Chinese consumer behavior. Face can be defined as â€Å"the publicRead MoreWilliam Sumner and Sociology1103 Words   |  4 PagesThis paper will summarize the life of William Sumner and his impact in the field of sociology. It will give a brief background from his birth, to his education, and end with his profession or career. His many contributions to further the field of sociology will be discussed; such as his theories, teachings, and books. The paper will also mention his major influence as well as those he influenced. His interests and pastimes will also be included. â€Æ' Introduction William Graham Sumner was an AmericanRead MoreThe Sociological Theories Of Sociology1198 Words   |  5 PagesSociology is study of the human society by observing and doing experiment. Sociology is mainly study in two ways; basic/pure and applied. Auguste Comte was the founder of sociology. Sociology was emerged as a field of study during the 1920s and 1930s. It becomes field of study because people started to observe a lot of things on a society such as: inequality, discrimination, poorness and many more. So, people started to use their theory to study about the societies in terms of sociology. 2. ListRead MoreWestern Ethnocentrism Is A Major Reason For Divisions Amongst Members Of Different Ethnicities Races And Religious Groups1439 Words   |  6 PagesWestern ethnocentrism is a major reason for divisions amongst members of different ethnicities races and religious groups in society. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary ethnocentric individuals believe that the are better then other individuals for reasons based solely on their heritage, this practice is related to problems of both racism and prejudice. While many people may recognize the problems of ethnocentrism, they may often fail to recognize that ethnocentrism occurs everywhere and everydayRead MoreSociology And How It Affects Me1044 Words   |  5 Pagesto is ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism a tendency to use our own groups way of doing things as a yard stick for judging others( Henslin, 37.)Being Puerto Rican and growing up in a Caucasian society, I felt because of my culture that I should try to associate with my same race or people of my same ethnicity. Because of this I found myself feeling as if my race was better in some way, but then I learned that was normal for every race. Because of this I feel I can relate to the term ethnocentrism. FurthermoreRead MoreParalleled Ideals between Fredrickson and Jefferson Philosophies 769 Words   |  3 Pagesbut also you are able to identify differences as well. In his manuscript, Jefferson philosophies point towards an ethnocentric viewpoint when he talks about the needs and elitism of the colonial whites. He says that in order to maintain a purer society of whites the negro slaves must be removed, â€Å"This unfortunate difference of color, and perhaps of faculty, is a powerful obstacle to the emancipation of these people [†¦] while they wish to vindicate their liberty of human nature, are anxious also

Teaching Ethics Free Essays

School for scandal? Business schools turn their attention to ethics education This case examines the role of the business school in encouraging corruption in business, and looks at the potential impacts that business ethics training might have on students. It offers the opportunity to explore the significance of the individual and their education and experience for understanding ethical decision-making. It also provides a context for investigating the specific role, purpose, and impact of business ethics courses on business behaviour. We will write a custom essay sample on Teaching Ethics or any similar topic only for you Order Now When it turns out that the key figures in some of the most infamous cases of fraud and corruption in business are alumni from leading business schools, it is perhaps not surprising that the business schools themselves might come in for some criticism. After all, if people like Andrew Fastow, the convicted chief financial officer at Enron, or his boss Jeffrey Skilling, could have got MBAs from two of America’s premier business schools (Northwestern and Harvard, respectively) and , then it is inevitable that questions will be raised about what kinds of principles and practices business school students are being taught. In the last few years, a number of business gurus and commentators have publicly condemned business schools in general, and MBA programmes in particular, for their perpetuation of ‘misguided’ amoral theories and techniques, and the lack of attention to ethics in the curriculum. For example, Henry Mintzberg, the Canadian management expert has famously condemned the MBA model, suggesting that it ‘trains the wrong people in the wrong ways with the wrong consequences’, whilst Sumantra Ghoshal, the late London Business School professor has argued that the ‘worst excesses of recent management practices have their roots in a set of ideas that have emerged from business-school academics over the last 30 years. Ghoshal’s ire is directed to typical theories taught at business schools such as agency theory and Porter’s ‘5 forces’ model, which he claims perpetuate an idea that everyone is self-interested, managers cannot be trusted, business is a zero-sum game, and shareholder value is the only legitimate aim of business. The perpetuation of such assumptions, he suggests, leaves business school students devoid of any sense of moral responsibility. These criticisms have received a lot of attention in academic debates, but ha ve also been readily recounted in the media and the business community. For instance The Economist ran a 2005 article headlined ‘Business schools stand accused of being responsible for much that is wrong with corporate management today’ which brought the arguments from Ghoshal, Mintzberg, and others to a wider audience – albeit in a context where the magazine rather predictably mounted a strong defence. After all, as The Economist argued, there are plenty of examples of corporate crooks who have not had a business school education, so there are clearly other aspects to consider too. Nevertheless, whatever else the debate has done, it has certainly helped refocus the attention of business schools on their curricula, and especially on the provision of courses on ethics and social responsibility. At one level, this debate is simply about whether more business schools should be encouraged to introduce such courses into the curriculum. Whilst some schools have long included ethics in their curricula, others have tended to focus more on areas such as strategy, innovation, marketing and finance, whilst others have even dropped ethics courses due to low enrolments or political manoeuvring by sceptical colleagues. As one Wall Street Journal article put it, ‘MBA students and professors bristle at ethics requirements. Some faculty members resent being forced to squeeze ethics lessons into an already jam-packed syllabus, while students grumble that ethics classes tend to be preachy and philosophical. ’ In this context, the evidence on the scale of ethics teaching is revealing. A recent survey of US schools found that 34 per cent required an ethics course at undergraduate level whilst only 25 per cent did so on MBA degrees. In Europe, the figures are if anything a little lower for compulsory courses, but more than 50 per cent of business schools report having an optional module on ethics or responsibility at undergraduate level and more than 30 per cent at masters level. Essentially, though, most business students can still complete a degree having had hardly any exposure to these subjects in the classroom – a situation that some are now trying to change. One development comes from the US, where a long running campaign by business ethics professors has been trying to make courses on ethics and responsibility compulsory for business students. Over 200 professors offered support to the campaign, but the AACSB (the body responsible for accrediting business degree programmes) appears, so far, to be unconvinced. A recent redraft of their guidelines for accreditation did not bow to the campaigners’ demands, and business ethics remains outside of their list of accredited subjects. Diane Swanson and Bill Frederick, the campaign leaders responded by condemning the AACSB’s arguments for excluding ethics as ‘desperate and out of date against the backdrop of unprecedented corporate scandals, increased public distrust of business, and a virtual sea change in corporate governance. However, some leading schools have moved towards greater attention to ethics. Harvard Business School, for instance, introduced a compulsory course on ‘Leadership and Corporate Accountability’ for all first year students in 2004 – a development that the school claimed represented ‘the most far-reaching course weà ¢â‚¬â„¢ve ever introduced on this subject’. In Europe, the situation is also changing, and in fact there appears to be significantly more support than in the US from European accrediting bodies. The Association of MBAs for example, has issued new criteria for the accreditation of MBA programmes that stipulate that the curriculum ‘should pay attention to ethical and social issues’, while the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) is also considering ways to integrate CSR into its EQUIS accreditation. New academic departments and centres have also sprung up in universities to lead ethics and responsibility teaching, such as the Business and Society Management department at Rotterdam School of Management and the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility in Nottingham University Business School. Whilst there is still a long way to go before schools successfully infuse ethics education across all of their courses, such developments certainly point to an increased emphasis over the past decade. Ethics and corporate responsibility feature far more prominently in the prospectuses of business schools than they did even a few years ago. Questions remain though about how ethics should best be integrated into the curriculum, and even whether exposure to the subject really has a positive effect on the decisions made by managers. While some maintain that a stand alone course on ethics is necessary to develop a suitable understanding of the subject and to consolidate its importance on the curriculum, others argue that this raises the prospects of generating an ‘ethics ghetto’ unconnected to mainstream business subjects such as finance and marketing. And the jury is still out on just how much of an effect any form of ethics training is likely to have on individuals. Various objections have been raised over the years, including the suggestion that students’ morality is already fixed and cannot be improved, and the accusations that ethics teaching is abstract, mbiguous, subjective, and little more than indoctrination from self-righteous ideologues. Of course, the extent to which some of these accusations are true will vary from course to course, and on the goals of any specific programme. In the main, evidence suggests that courses are rather better at enhancing students’ recognition of ethical issues, stimulating their moral imagination, and developing their analytical skills rather than improving students’ moral development or changing their values. As one business ethics professor puts it, ‘I do not want to teach moral standards; I want to teach a method of moral reasoning through complex issues so that students can apply the moral standards they have. ’ This highlights another growing debate among business ethics professors about the very purpose of business ethics education – and even what a business ethics course should consist of. Whilst one camp retains belief in the established practice of teaching moral philosophy to develop better normative thinking among students, other camps have started to emerge. Some business school professors see more need to focus on practical management concerns, such as managing the corporate reputation or preventing accounting fraud, whilst others point to the need to understand ethics within wider social, political, and economic structures. One recent business ethics textbook (by Jones et al. 2005) was even introduced by the authors with an admission that they were ‘not particularly fond of business ethics’ because ‘business ethics in its present form is at best window dressing and a worst a calculated lie’! Ultimately then, developments in the field of business ethics education suggests that business schools and accreditation bodies may be beginning to take the subject more seriously, especially in Europe where something of a momentum appears to be building. However, the future direction of business ethics remains in some doubt. Not only will its integration into the curriculum remain problematic for some time yet, but as the subject expands and develops, the approach to teaching business ethics will probably shift quite considerably into new conceptual territory. Whatever the outcome, business ethics will have to go a long way before it presents a completely convincing antidote to corporate wrongdoing, and misconduct in the workplace. Questions 1. What are the main factors encouraging business ethics education and what are the main barriers to its further development and expansion? 2. To what extent can business education cause or prevent ethical infractions in business? Give arguments for and against. 3. Given the importance of situational factors in shaping ethical decision-making, what are the limitations posed by business ethics courses that focus on individual students? How would you design a course to focus primarily on situational issues? 4. Consider the aims and approach of the business ethics course that you are currently studying. What are these, and how effective is the approach for achieving these aims? What would you like to see done differently? Sources Alsop, R. 2005. At MBA programs, teaching ethics poses its own dilemmas. Wall Street Journal, 12 April. wsj. com. Boston Globe. 2003. Harvard raises its hand on ethics. Boston Globe, 30 December. Ghoshal, S. 2003. Business schools share the blame for Enron. Financial Times, 18 July. Ghoshal, S. 2005. Bad management theories are destroying good management practices. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 4 (1): 75–91. Jones, C. , Parker, M. , and ten Bos, R. 2005. For business ethics. London: Routledge. Lacy, P. 2005. From the margins to the mainstream: corporate responsibility and the challenge facing business and business schools. Business Leadership Review, 1 (2) (April): 3. Matten, D. and Moon, J. 2004. Corporate social responsibility in Europe. Journal of Business Ethics, 54: 323–37. McDonald, G. M. and Donleavy, G. D. 1995. Objections to the teaching of business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 14: 839–53. Mintzberg, H. 2004. Managers not MBAs: a hard look at the soft practice of managing and management development. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall. Swanson, D. and Frederick, W. 2005. Campaign AACSB: status report, January. www. pitt. edu/~rorst6/sim/aacsb. The Economist. 2005. Business schools, bad for business. The Economist, 17 February. How to cite Teaching Ethics, Essay examples

Strategic Relevance and Sssurance of Sustainability

Question: Discuss about the Strategic Relevance and Sssurance of Sustainability. Answer: Introduction: The current essay aims to evaluate the strategic management practices of an Australian firm, which has been in the news for the past two years. Therefore, Woolworths Group has been chosen to fit the purpose of the essay. In 2014, Woolworths Group has made modifications in leadership related to the supermarket business by appointing Brad Banducci as the managing director of the food and liquor business of the organisation (Woolworths.com.au, 2016).Along with this, the dispute with its US partner over the sale of the failed Masters Hardware Chain in 2016 has been the major outbreak in the Australian retail industry. Thus, the essay demonstrates different theoretical concepts related to strategic management of Woolworths Group in terms of industry attractiveness, resource-based view and competitive advantage. Application and evaluation of theoretical concepts of strategic management to Woolworths Group: The retail industry in Australia has maintained a steady growth of 3% rise in current value in 2016. Despite such positive trend, the Australian consumers have reduced their retail consumption level due to low-income growth. The internet retailing in the nation has outperformed store-based retailing in 2016. This has compelled the retailers to increase their presence in the digital platforms for providing greater convenience and satisfaction to the consumers (Bailey Bailey, 2016). The grocery retailers have experienced a steady current value growth in 2016 due to the success of the discounters within the nation to gain significance through the aggressive diversification of Aldi. However, the intense competition and price discounting has limited the growth rate of the retailers. Wesfarmers is the leading retailer in the Australian market due to its strong performance in stationeries, mass merchandise and office supply stores, which has helped in providing competitive advantage in the form of highest market share. The Australian retail industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3% over the upcoming period because of quick adoption of modern technologies and online services. The resource-based view of Woolworths Group could be examined in terms of resources, capabilities and core competencies. These include effective supply chain, brand reputation and skilled higher-level management. The effective distribution network of Woolworths is a blend of both tangible and intangible assets comprising of technological efficacies and relationships with the suppliers. This has been highly valuable, as it helped in reducing costs throughout the overall logistics network for achieving a greater operating profit (Arli et al., 2013). No other resource could be used as substitute against the cost savings level. However, it is necessary for Woolworths to have favourable brand image and higher product quality along with effective distribution network. Thus, supply chain network is not the sole factor to achieve distinct competency, instead other competitive advantages need to support it (Booth Coveney, 2015). The reputation of Woolworths as the fresh food people has been developed with the passage of time. This has been achieved with the help of positive customer experiences along with its products due to regular procedures of quality assessment over its supply chain. Thus, brand image delivers significant differentiation to its rivals, which has resulted in increased customer satisfaction level. No other resource could act as a substitute, as the brand image provides benefits that are non-substitutable (Cheng, Green Ko, 2014). However, most of its competitors, especially Wesfarmers has started to sell quality products, since it is easy to imitate. In other words, quality products and fresh food have been the basic customer expectations in the recent era. Henceforth, brand image could not be adjudged as the distinct competitive advantage; instead, it is a point of parity, which Woolworths needs to maintain to remain competitive in the Australian retail industry. Despite the rising rate of inflation and competitive pressure, Woolworths has achieved a higher level of growth, which is more than the anticipated level. The courtesy could be provided to Brad Banducci, the managing director of the food and liquor business of the organisation after his appointment in 2014. In addition, the relationship between the top management of Wal-Mart and Woolworths is an important factor, which has enabled Woolworths to win over Costco, an US retailer that entered the Australian retail market in 2008 (Arli et al., 2013). Therefore, the ability of the higher-level management has steered Woolworths through the existing economic conditions to achieve greater rate of growth for making it a valuable resource. In other words, no other resource could substitute the skills and expertise of the top management of Woolworths (Frederick Rose, Hawryszkiewycz Kang, 2014). Along with this, the competitors would find it difficult to imitate this resource; however, it is not rare, as most of the companies in the sector have effective senior management. Hence, effective top management is not the sole competitive advantage; however, combination with factors like brand image and supply chain has enabled Woolworths to be one of the leaders in the Australian market. After critical evaluation of the above theoretical concepts and their impact on the strategic management practices of Woolworths, both short-term and long-term recommendations have been suggested to enhance the practices further in future. In the short-run, Woolworths needs to focus more on advertising to represent the way its fresh group of healthy meals matches with the daily routines of the customers. This would help in brand recall of the organisation in the minds of the consumers, which is likely to increase repeat purchases. In addition, after creation of advertisements, which associate Woolworths to easy, healthy for preparing meals available at affordable prices, would raise the probability of making it similar with healthy and convenient consumption. This is a significant differentiation factor in the market, in which lower prices and quality food are the points of parity. In the long-run, Woolworths needs to enhance its in-store environment further in its current program of store refurbishment. The inclusion of soothing and cheerful music and enthusiastic staffs would improve the shopping experience of the customers. Moreover, Woolworths could think of investing in profitable businesses in future. As the Australian retail industry is expected to maintain a limited growth rate; therefore, diversification of the business into home and hardware coupled with organic produce of up-market would help Woolworths to gain better sales growth in future. Conclusion: From the above discussion, it has been found that the Australian retail industry has failed to experience a faster growth rate over the years due to the fall in purchasing power of the consumers. From the resource-based view of Woolworths, it has maintained effective supply chain network, brand image and skilled top management. However, all these competencies are relatively easy to imitate, which has helped Wesfarmers to enjoy the leading market share in the industry followed by Woolworths. Therefore, Woolworths is recommended to focus more on advertising in short-run and diversifying its business operations in the long-run. References: Arli, V., Dylke, S., Burgess, R., Campus, R. Soldo, E. (2013). Woolworths Australia and Walmart US: Best practices in supply chain collaboration.Journal of Economics, Business, and Accountancy| Ventura,16(1), 27-46. Bailey, M. Bailey, M. (2016). Marketing to the Big Middle: establishing Australian discount department stores.Journal of Historical Research in Marketing,8(3), 416-433. Booth, S. Coveney, J. (2015). Big FoodThe Industrial Food System. InFood Democracy(pp. 3-11). Springer Singapore. Cheng, M.M., Green, W.J. Ko, J.C.W. (2014). The impact of strategic relevance and assurance of sustainability indicators on investors' decisions.Auditing: A Journal of Practice Theory,34(1), 131-162. Frederick Rose, J., Hawryszkiewycz, I. Kang, K. (2014). When and how to facilitate the introduction of new knowledge processes in organisations.VINE: The journal of information and knowledge management systems,44(2), 210-227. Woolworths.com.au. (2016).Woolworths Online. Retrieved 24 December 2016, from https://www.woolworths.com.au/

The Perfect Vacation Essay Example For Students

The Perfect Vacation Essay With my ticket in hand, I waited anxiously in line to enter the park. My friends and I stepped inside, and I saw the enormous globe with the words Universal Studios   slowly moving around it. I had never been so excited in my life. As Payton, Dylan, and I walked around, I remember my senses being flooded. The ear-splitting roar of the roller coasters zooming past overhead, the smells of churros and salted pretzels permeating the air, and what seemed like thousands of people covering every inch of the park enhanced the whole experience. Continuing to walk through the theme park, I started to realize just how many roller coasters were actually there, and we made sure to ride every single ride available. Overwhelming my senses and the adrenaline-charged thrill rides made my trip to Universal Studios the best I had ever had. The first roller coaster we decided to ride was the Hulk, which ended up being my favorite. We stood in line for nearly an hour. We were sweating profusely, and could barely hear ourselves think over the hundreds of other people speaking. We will write a custom essay on The Perfect Vacation specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now As we got closer and closer, the screams of the children as the ride started to take off set our hearts racing. Finally, we were sitting in the front row of the cart as the crew started to count down the take-off. They all chanted simultaneously, Three, two, one, go  ! We were immediately going sixty miles per hour in a matter of seconds. Throwing our hands into the air, we screamed like banshees as we started zipping around sharp turns and going through loopty-loops. Getting off of the ride was a relief; we were finally able to catch our breaths and talk about how awesome the ride was. My next favorite part about the park was how astounding the Wizarding World of Harry Potter   was. There was a castle on the hill that was an exact replica of Hogwarts from Harry Potter. Actors everywhere were dressed up as the characters from the movies; they went around the park reenacting scenes and singing songs. There was an amazing sweet smell of honey root beer as we walked our way up to the castle. When we arrived at the castle and stepped inside, I was filled with awe; just like in the movies, all of the staircases moved and the portraits talked to the people passing by. The entire scene was remarkable. While we were there, we virtually played quiditch which was by far the most fun I had there. This trip had been the most fun I had had since I went to Disney World in the fifth grade. I loved riding all of the thrill rides and walking through all of the different aspects of the park. Also, seeing all the enormous groups of people, smelling all of the different foods, and hearing all of the exciting sounds of the roller coasters, blaring music, and laughter all around helped heighten the trips overall experience. This trip had been the best trip of my life and I cannot wait to return.

English Essay

English Essay What Is an English Essay? The term English Essay doesnt necessarily imply that this should be some special kind of an essay. English essay signifies that the essay is going to be related to either English language/literature or will require you to show good command of English, including your ability to analyze, critically evaluate the problems presented and express your thoughts clearly. An English essay, therefore, is a very general term, which should meet the essential requirements of the essay writing process. You will need to do some research, plan, draft and proofread your essay. Anyone reading your essay will expect to find some kind of introduction, they will expect to follow a logical argument, and will expect there to be a conclusion. More about Essay Writing How to Write an English Essay? If you follow the methods and structure suggested below your English essay should be easier to write, easier to read, and score higher. Your essay writing process will become a much more enjoyable and valuable exercise than it was in the past. The Stages of Writing Your English Essay Stage 1. Research: Read your class notes, texts, and other books. Stage 2. Plan: Think about the title of your essay and what is expected of you. Stage 3. Theme/Ideas: Decide what the essay is about. Stage 4. Structure: Introduction, text, and conclusion. Stage 5. Drafting: Start  to do the writing. Stage 6. Proof-reading: Check spelling and grammar. Stage 7. Bibliography: List your sources. If you need more information or any kind of academic assistance in the process of writing your English essay, there are always professional writers who will be able to assist you in order to ensure a top-notch result and make your writing experience enjoyable. Order any kind of English Essay on our order page.

Land law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Land law - Essay Example There, however, lacks any requirement as pertaining to whether the paper owner should be aware or not of the trespass as can be seen in Rain v Buxton.8 Nonetheless, if the possession is based on a given legal entitlement, then it cannot be termed as adverse. Factual possession: Kevin has taken care of the land and erected a permanent building in the land. The council has not been in possession of the land in this time period while Kevin has been actively using the land for 20 years. Courts must have evidence of the land being possessed as passed in Buckinghamshire County Council v Moran.9 The Council’s possession of the land is limited to shortcuts. The courts need continuous possession with some form of development. Trespass is not sufficient as was seen in the case of Powell v McFarlane.10 Presence of implied licence: The council has not objected for over 20 years despite the fact the Council’s management team uses the land as a shortcut and could see the developments made by Kevin. Implied license is limited by the Limitation Act 1980, schedule 1, paras 8(4). Intention to possess: The courts need proof that trespasser needs to use the land (animus possidendi) as given in Powell v McFarlane.12 The trespasser’s approach to possession does not matter; however, he must have intentions to possess the land exclusively.13 The trespasser must have the intent to take full control of the land and exclude everyone else including the paper

Emerging market Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Emerging market - Assignment Example There was a rising tendency in the consumption of strong alcoholic beverages until the end of 1980s; in mid 1990s this trend was reversed. Since then the demand for vodka has been decreasing, whereas the demand for beer and wine has been growing1 (Tabel 1). "Alcohol is often characterized as unconditionally negative in the context of poverty." ("Poverty and Alcohol" - an article by Yoon Hui Kim, 2004). Yet, the same author agrees that arguments have been made for both the benefits and disadvantages of alcohol production and consumption - as an industry, alcohol production has been argued to spur economic growth and alleviate poverty, while as a commodity it has been criticized for exacerbating the conditions of impoverishment. Consequently, for poor people alcohol can have both positive and negative repercussions on economic, political, social, and health factors. Alcohol consumption can act as a financial drain for indigent households by diverting limited funds from expenditures on food, healthcare, and education. White spirits and in particular, vodka, have been on the increase since 1999. Much of the growth has been inspired by younger adults, who are either supplementing or bypassing altogether, beer and wine, in preference3. The alcohol industry is an innovative industry able to use a wide variety of marketing tools to achieve success in the market-place. The various aspects of product marketing include advertising, labeling, consumer promotion, packaging and merchandising, being an integral part of promoting different brands of consumer goods. Alcohol consumption in Poland is comparable to that in other European countries4. Buying of alcohol (frequency & amount) depends on demographic, socio-economic and psychological factors. Statistical data reveal that alcohol consumption is wide spread in Poland. In the period of the last dozen years changes in the quantity and structure of consumption were observed. The most frequently consumed alcohol is currently beer, particularly among young people. In may 2003, a research investigating "The conditions of alcohol consumption among Polish adults" published in Electronic Journal of Polish Agricultural Universities shows that older people seem to prefer wine and v odka. Apart from age, sex also influences preferences: "women more frequently than men drink all kinds of wine and flavoured vodka, "whereas beer, pure vodka and mead are drunk more often by men" (the

Life-cycle reverse logistics support policy of GENCO Research Paper

Life-cycle reverse logistics support policy of GENCO - Research Paper Example GENCO thus collaborates with Hershey into achieving ZWL status at the Western distribution centre, where its runs its operations. As part of the initiative of reclaiming value from the waste materials, the process begins by removing trash comparator from the facility, followed emptying all the contents in the parking lot. Sorting process then begins where results are subject to classify as food/product waste, cardboard, trash, plastics, wood scraps, and broken pallets. All of these products could be subject to divert from going into the landfills. The focus then shifts into identifying the new ways of collecting recyclables all through the facility followed by training teammates on the new procedures. Volunteers coming from each shift thus form the ZWL committee that helps in identifying the best practices for recycling. The placement of receptacles was subject to plan strategically in a manner that coincides with areas where the recycled materials were subject to generate commonly in order to maximize use. GENCO currently works towards achieving ZWL status at the Midwest distribution centre, in Edwardsville, IL, all of which run operations for Hershey. GENCO has the policy of reclaiming value from all returned and recycled materials as part of its integrated reverse logistics solutions. Recycling offers the last chance of reoccupying value in any product before it ends up into the landfill. GENCO’s recycling services has the potential of maximizing recovery of value on every product, which includes part and materials in the end-of-life product stream. Currently, the company has the potential of reclaiming and extracting value from 95% of all products that could previously end up in the landfill. GENCO accomplishes this task through de-manufacturing, which is a process entailing disassembly of the finished goods in order to yield resalable components, scrap

Why is Ethical Considerations Important in a Social Research? Illustrate your answer with examples from real research.

Why is Ethical Considerations Important in a Social Research? Illustrate your answer with examples from real research. In this assignment I will attempt to define ethics and explore its significance when conducting social research. Firstly I will present many different views of ethics in social research by analyzing some common considerations that a researcher must take into account if he/she is to conduct a piece of research properly without breaching ethical principles.   Examples from real research will also be utilized to demonstrate some consequences of unethical procedures in social research. This assignment will then culminate with a critical analysis of why ethical considerations are important when conducting social research. Ethics is defined as the values and morals upheld during interaction with others during the collection of data and the dissemination of findings (Merriam, 1988).   Some ethical considerations include an over-involvement of the researcher, confidentiality of data, the need to preserve the anonymity of participants and problems emerging from a misinterpretation of findings.   As in any research, the researcher should take responsibility for ensuring that guidelines and regulations are followed.   Where there is an extensive analysis of participants behavior and interaction over a period of time, the well-being, confidentiality, privacy and safety of individual participants must take precedence at all times. In addition to this, the British Sociological Association code of ethics states: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Guarantees of confidentiality and anonymity given to research participants must be honored, unless there are clear and overriding reasons to do otherwise (British Sociological Association, 1996). Homan (1991) contends that during the process of designing and implementing a piece of research one needs to consider the ethical implications on undertaking the research. Homan also note that ethics is the science of morality: those who engage in it determine values for the regulation of human behavior, collecting information about people, raise ethical issues in the focus of attention, chosen methods adopted and in the form and use of the findings. In such a contextualized situation, the researcher must seek to cultivate a high degree of trust without influencing the behaviors of participants.   The researcher therefore must ensure that the true identity of the participants is not revealed and that any documents used are kept confidential at all times. Douglas (1979) notes that the development of ethics in social research provides something of a safeguard against the researcher encroaching on freedom of speech and the outcome of the research. Douglas also believes that ethical guidelines serve to remind the social researcher about their obligation in the conduct of their work. According to Bell (2006) research ethics is about the nature of the agreement that the researcher has entered with the research participants or contacts. Bell further added that ethical research involves getting the informed consent of those you are going to interview observe or take materials from. It also involves the agreements reached about the use of this data and how the analysis will be reported and disseminated. Then adding to all of this is an obligation of the researcher to adhere to the agreements when they have been reached. When carrying out social research, the researcher should take into account ethical considerations, policies and guidelines. Alcock et al (2008) stated that ethical considerations underpin all social policy research. For example, it is unacceptable to conduct research that would harm the participants or place the researchers themselves into danger. Data must be collected and stored in a place where it is secure and which will protect the anonymity of participants. Participants should give their informed consent to taking part in the research rather than being coerced, bribed or misled. There are ethical codes and protocols for conducting research in social policy, other research frameworks and it is very important that these are adhered to in all enquires. It would be seen as an indicator of the quality of social research study where there is evidence that ethical procedures have been followed.   Brown (1997) in Gross (2001, 2005) made the point that, although à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"protection of participants is one of the specific principles in the Ethical Principles, theyre all designed to prevent any harm coming to the participant, or the avoidance of overt à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"sins. This view is reinforced by Cohen et al (2007) who stated that whatever the specific nature of their work, social researchers must take into account the effects of the research on participants and in such a way to protect their dignity as human beings. There are several instances where ethical principles are lacking in some social research and result in unethical practices. An example of this is in an extreme case of deception: In an experiment designed to study the establishment of a conditioned response in a situation that is traumatic but not painful, Campbell et al (1964) in Cohen (2007) induced through the use of drugs a temporary interruption of respiration in their subjects. The subjects reports confirmed that the experiment was a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"horrific experience for them. All the subjects thought they were dying. The subjects, male alcoholic patients who volunteered for the experiment when they were told that it was connected with a possible therapy for alcoholism, were not warned in advance about the effect of the drugs, since this information would have reduced the traumatic impact of the experience. In relation to the case presented in the above paragraph it could be argued that the researcher could have given more thought to the ethical consideration of informed consent. Frankfort and Nachmaias Nachmaias (1992) suggest that informed consent is particularly important if participants are going to be exposed to any stress, pain, invasion or if they are going to lose control over what happens. An important example is in drug research; such informed consent requires full information about the possible consequences and dangers. Cohen et al (2007) argue that the principle of informed consent arise from the subjects right to freedom and self determination. Being free is a condition of living in a democracy and when restrictions and limitations are placed on that freedom they must be justified and consented to, as in research. Also, as part of the right to self determination, the subject has a right to refuse to take part or to withdraw once the research has begun. Thus informed consent also implies informed refusal. There are several other reasons why ethical considerations are important when conducting social research. Although the use of deception has already being explored in the previous paragraph it appears to be a very common way of breaching ethical principles in social research. The use of deception resulting in particularly harmful consequences would be another occasion where ethical considerations would need to be given priority.   An example here would be the study by Festinger et al (1956) in Bryman (2008) of a religious cult; it is quite likely that the fact that the researchers joined the group at a crucial close to the projected end of the world fuelled the delusions of group members. Frankfort and Nachmaias Nachmaias (1992) explains that conducting research that may violate the rights and welfare of the research participants should neither be the intent or of major interest of the social scientist. They further argue that the underlying objective of research is to contribute to the development of systematic, verifiable knowledge. These ethical considerations help to guarantee that the researcher can be held accountable to the public.   Cohen (2007) agrees that the researcher has responsibilities to the research community, for example, not to jeopardize the reputation of the research community (e.g. the university) or spoil the opportunities for further research. Thus, a novice researcher working for a higher degree may approach a school directly, using a clumsy approach, with inadequate data collection instruments and a poor research design and then proceeds to publicize the results as though they are valid and reliable. Cohen (2007) also believes that such a r esearcher , at the very least, should have sought and gained advice from the supervisor, modified the research as necessary, gained approval for the research, made suitably sensitive overtures to the school, and agree rights of disclosure. The quality and integrity of research is very important to the public and when ethical considerations are applied public support is more than likely to be achieved. Bryman (2008) argues that possibly one of the most interesting developments in connection with ethical issues is that the criterion of the ethical integrity of an investigation is its quality. To add to this is the government involvement with the conduct of research. Bower (1979) indicated that the government plays an instrumental role in taking responsibility for subjects involved in research it sponsors but also its accountability in light of the vast amount of public monies on social research. Finally, lapses in ethical considerations in research can significantly harm human, researcher and the public in general. Some examples here could be a researcher who fabricates data in a potentially harmful experiment and may harm or kill participants similarly a researcher who fails to adhere to strict regulations and guidelines relating to safety may jeopardize his health and safety and the health and safety of all those who are involved in the research.   An example of where this actually happened is where the participants in the Milgram (1963) experiment on obedience to authority, experienced high levels of stress and anxiety as a consequence of being incited to administer electric shocks. It is against things like these happening why ethical considerations are so important. Punch (2005) explained that a thorough research proposal will have anticipated the ethical issues involved, and will show how they will be dealt with.

Americas Role in the Cuban Revolution :: American America History

America's Role in the Cuban Revolution The revolution in Cuba was not a result of economic deprivation, nor because of high expectations in the economy, it was the political factors and expectations which evoked the civilians to revolt. The Cuban economy was moving forward at the time before the rebellion but the dominant influence of the sugar industry made the economy "assymetrical" and encouraged no "dynamic industrial sector". Because of the dependance on sugar, the unemployment rate ranged between 16 and 20% rising and falling with sugar prices, ebbing and flowing as the season changed. The rural wage levels were incredibly unsteady and unpredictable; the standard of living was low. Dependance on the sugar industry did not retard the economy of Cuba, just the wages of its workers. It was the leaders of the nation who reaped profit from this dependance, and it was the leaders of the nation who insisted on keeping the nation the way it was. By the mid 1950's, however, the middle class had expanded to 33% of the population. Democracy, as we know it, broke down: the large middle class did not assert democratic leadership, there was no social militancy in the working class ranks, and the people found order preferable to disarray. Batista could no longer legitimize his regime. Failure in the elections of 1954 showed the discontent of the people, and failure in communications with the United States illustrated its discontent. Finally, opposing forces confronted Batista's power: there were street protests, confrontations with the police, assault, sabotage, and urban violence. This began the revolution in Cuba. America, with its stubborn ideas and misjudgements of character, forced Castro to turn to the Soviets for alliance and aid. When Castro visited the United States in April, 1959, there were different respected individuals holding different views of him and his future actions. Nixon believed Castro to be naive, some others thought him a welcome change from Batista, still others called him an "immature but effective leader, without a well formed view of how to lead a revolutionary movement and not overly concerned with abstract of philosophical matters" (p. 55). Why, then, did the United States impress nit-picky ideals like "there should not be communists in the Army or in labor", or "Cuba's approach to the Batista trials is totally unacceptable, too casual, too nonchalant" on this "forming" leader? Castro was like an inexperienced murderer with a gun in his hand: any rustle in the background could set off his nervous trigger

Introduction speech Essay

On September 30, 1993, a miracle that was unexpected happened. I’m going to tell you about an amazing and wonderful person; me!! I’ve known this person my entire life. Many people can consider me many things. Today I’ll tell you about my daughter, Vanessa, my family, and some of my hobbies. Now let me tell you about my daughter. My daughter Vanessa Rose was born on May 13, 2005, she weighed 7 pounds, she was 20 inches long, and born at 6:15 in the morning. She is now 2 Â ½ years old. I got her first name Vanessa from the little mermaid from the evil girl that took Ariel’s voice away from her and tried to steal her prince. I got her middle name Rose from the flower. It’s my favorite flower and it fit with her first name. Vanessa and I have a really close bond. We enjoy playing on her little computer, playing blocks, teaching her colors, teaching her the alphabet, and her numbers and shapes. She’s very active and loves to help clean, read books, color, and dance. There’s never a day that she sits still. My plans for Vanessa are simple, I want her to make the best out of her life, make mistakes in order to learn from them, go to school , graduate, get a career, get married, have kids, and die of a natural cause at a very old age. Now here’s a little bit about my family. I live with my mom, my stepdad, my little sister, and Vanessa. My mom, Kim, and I have a strained relationship, even though I’m her daughter, it’s very hard for her to understand that I am a mother and need to do things on my own without her help. But she’s still my mom and even though I don’t show that I appreciate her as much as she wishes I would, I do appreciate her for everything she’s done for me. My stepdad, Jim, and I have an odd relationship; even though he and my mom aren’t married he’s like another dad to me. Although my dad is still in the picture he’s not there for me as much as Jim is for me. I appreciate him a lot and thank him for being there for me. My little sister, Gabi, and I have a strong relationship. I’m always looking out for her and she always looks out for me. I trust I can tell her a secret and she won’t tell anyone else. She also can tell me secrets and she knows I won’t tell anyone either. She looks up to me as a role model and she always wants to be included. Even though she may bug me at times, I still love her to death and would go to the ends of the world and back. Now I’m going to tell you about some of my hobbies and what I like to do. A couple things I like to do are watch TV and movies, play on the computer, spend time with my daughter, spend time with my boyfriend, listen to music, text on my phone, and sleep. I like to watch TV and movies with my family and my boyfriend. On the computer I go on Facebook and MySpace everyday. I listen to all different types of music. What I listen to depends on the mood that I’m in. My favorite TV show is Family Guy because they’re really funny and my favorite characters are Stewie and Brian. My favorite movie is The Titanic because it’s really sad but romantic at the same time. It also shows that the worst of times can be changed into the best times of your life. In conclusion, today I’ve told you about my daughter, my family, and my hobbies. I’m an amazing and wonderful person. Many people can consider me many things and I hope that you can come to understand me better by hearing this.

Indian persecutions essays

Indian persecutions essays The text we have studied relates to the integration problem between teh white and Indian population of United States : Indians are called Native-Americans because they have lived there for centuries. White Europeans arrived in the 17th century on their land during the conquest of the new territories. The confrontation of two cultures led to many problems we will discuss later but, basically, we had the Indian culture related to nature, natural living in direct confrontation with the white industrial and urban culture. By 1950, unemployment was high among native-Americans and the Bureau of Indian Affairs believed the solution was to relocate these populations in urban areas. Indians could see brochures pushing them to leave the country for better conditions in the cities. Many left but half of them came back to their reservation ! Hydroelectric power needs (les besoins en ...) led ( ont conduit) to many conflicts, especially for the building of dams (barrages) as it would flood reservations. Using legal protest and open protest, the Indians succeeded in some cases but other projects flooded most of Dakota s arable land for example. Another sensitive issue is about Fishing rights. Indians have always fished for a living (pour vivre) and thus they have been granted special tribal fishing rights. These rights are now challenged by environmental groups. A movie to illustrate the story of Indians : , starring Dustin Hoffman is a 1971 Hollywood movie which broke all stereotypes people had about Indians : westerns : cow boys, indians.... Indians have often been treated unequally and many protests were held during the 1960s and 1970s. The most surprising protest was certainly the Indian occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1972. All Indian tribes were marching on Wasington with written demands. When they found that the accomodation they had reserved were taken, they took over the ...

Who Invented Memorial Day and How Do People Celebrate It

Who Invented Memorial Day and How Do People Celebrate It Memorial Day On May 1, 1865, slaves who were freed gathered in Charleston having an aim of commemoration the Union soldiers who died during the Civil War. In 1868, an order was issued, which proclaimed May 30 as Decoration Day. On this day, people decorated the graves of those ones who had died protecting their country. In those years, there was the political reunion of the nation, but it was still divided culturally, and the Memorial Day observations also differed in many states. In the northern part of the USA, national cemeteries were created for people who died during the war, and this day became an official observation in the 1870s. In the southern part of the country, in April-June, women wore white dresses and honored the fallen Confederate leaders. By the beginning of the 20th century, Memorial Day turned into a national holiday. As the USA pays obeisance to the 150th anniversary of the end of Civil War, people should revisit the origins of this observance among freed slaves in Charlesto n. Those freed people honored the ones who struggled for their liberation; it was not just a day of triumph and celebration for freed slaves, but a difficult process, which led to the death of big amount of former slaves. While freedpeople honored the overwhelming amount of Union soldiers who lost their lives during the war, only some of them have noticed the ways in which war and liberation led to the extremely impressive mortality of huge amount of former slaves. They emancipated themselves from slavery and entered into the socium plagued by horrible diseases, such as dysentery and cholera, which could not be treated at those times, and from which thousands of people suffered and died. People often forget that the major amount of soldiers died from illnesses, not from combat wounds or battle. During their fight for freedom, slaves often lacked food, clothing, and shelter. In such conditions, they were unprotected and a smallpox epidemic exploded between 1863 and 1865. Eventually, this epidemic took the lives of more than 60,000 ex-slaves, and other diseases raised their deaths to well over a million. There was no chance to back to life for ex-slaves who died during the war and after it. South is a place where an incredible amount of black people died not from battle, but from illnesses and sicknesses. To recognize the 150th anniversary of the end of Civil War, we must keep in our minds that there were freed black people who created Memorial Day. We must know and realize that their prayers were not only for soldiers on the first Memorial Day but for their families as well, who died during the horrible war that was meant to make them free.

The Beatle Side of Rock Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Beatle Side of Rock - Research Paper Example Scott, and Andy Schwartz) The Beatles’ music and lyrics as compared to that of the Rolling Stones, has a certain amount of difference along with being linked to each other as well. By 1965, British pop music had reached its peak with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones on top of the charts, adorning the hits and making people aware of them. Both these groups helped to define music during that era and set the bar for other bands and singers and musical groups that were coming up. However, with time the Beatles grew apart and broke up within ten years of being together and making music with one another whereas the Stones remained tight and still worked together as a band creating music for people all around the world. (Lewisohn, M) The Stones were all about non conformity and thus did not give in to the sounds that bands around them were into producing. This is what set them apart from the Beatles and helped them to stay with each other unlike the Beatles that broke apart because of their differences with each other. However, during their stay as a band together, Lennon and McCartney produced some of the most amazing music the world has ever heard; intense lyrics with words that flowed like rhyme and rhythm along with in depth thinking gone into the making and stringing of each and every word together. The lyrics were mature and a product of the unconscious and daring mind of John Lennon mostly as he put together his artistic sense of profoundness and gave the world something new to utter on their lips. Paul McCartney has been termed to be a natural melodist who is able to create tunes with the most perfect harmonies ever heard by people. He has been constantly developing himself as he has gone ahead in his career, both with the band and otherwise, and has been able to... The Beatle Side of Rock The various members of the band, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison have become recognised as icons of music and peace by people as well. However, during the time the Beatles were active, so were a number of other bands and singers, trying to shoot to fame as well, with the help of their music and lyrics. Bands like Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones, as well as singer Bob Dylan were the contemporaries of the Beatles at the time. The Beatles rose to fame for a period of a decade between which they were able to produce a number of hit singles and top the charts almost all the time. They have been regarded as icons of rock that have changed the world as well as the face of music. â€Å"In their initial incarnation as cheerful, wisecracking moptops, the Fab Four revolutionized the sound, style, and attitude of popular music and opened rock and roll's doors to a tidal wave of British rock acts. Their initial impact would have been enough to establish the Beatles as one of their era's most influential cultural forces, but they didn't stop there. The Beatles have been able to establish themselves all over the world in the name of rock music and peace. They have been portrayed a number of times in films, art work as well as music composed by other singers and bands and have been greatly perceived by most of the world. There are several differences that lie between them and bands like the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin as discussed within the purview of this paper.

Lab formal report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Formal - Lab Report Example The liquid is then transferred to boiling water to enhance the vaporization of the fluid. Subsequently, the liquids vapor will drive out air and in turn fill the flask at atmospheric pressure and the temperature of boiling water (Bettelheim & Landesberg, 2013). By cooling the container to facilitate the condensation of the vapor, the mass of the vapor was measured, and the value M calculated. The method depends on several aspects going right. The outstanding assumption is that the liquid is volatile enough to vaporize at relatively higher temperature (Bettelheim & Landesberg, 2013). Moreover, the liquid less volatile thus a smaller quantity will evaporate via the underlying orifice during the cooling process of the container. The vapor behaves ideally at both the temperature and pressure existing in the container’. The error varies from element to element. Acetone gas might have escaped via the stopper and the rest boiled completely to dryness. The experiment was time-consuming. The error between the trials was immense. An error of 11.9 was high but close. High temperature for the water bath was had to achieve resulting to

Evolution of Mass Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Evolution of Mass Communication - Essay Example There had been past references to the power of mass media to influence its audience in a large measure, but it was in the 1920s and 1930s, through the growing influence of radio and newspapers, that theories were formulated. One of the earliest theories on mass media is called Magic Bullet. This concept is anchored on the early thinking that messages were like magic bullets that struck the audience equally, creating uniform effects in terms of perception. It is postulated on the belief that everyone is passive and equally susceptible to media messages. A classic application of the Magic Bullet Theory happened on October 30, 1938, when on the eve of Halloween, regular radio program was interrupted for the first time with a "news bulletin" that Martians had begun an invasion of Earth in Gover's Mill, New Jersey. About 12 million people in the United States heard the broadcast, with at least one million actually believing that a serious alien invasion was happening, creating a wave of hysteria that triggered traffic jams and clogged communication lines. The aftermath of the broadcast suggested that media could manipulate a passive and gullible public, leading media theorists to believe the power of mass media. Not everyone believed in

Marketing Analysis on Google Inc Essay Example for Free

Marketing Analysis on Google Inc Essay With the objective of â€Å"To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful† (Google, 2012), Google expands its business to strive towards becoming the leader of internet-related provider, in particular in Internet research and advertising technology. The company has expanded nationally and globally, providing its search service in a large number of different languages and countries through its own unique strategy. The report starts with a discussion about the market Google is operating in, how Google smartly manages its internationalisation and globalization strategy according to its own market position in different stage. Followed by the comment on whether its diversification strategy appropriate across the whole international market. The report then will evaluate this strategy mainly focus on the aspect of the potential to damage its own brand, especially based on the case of their failure expansion in the Chinese market. Then the report will look at impact for the market as Google fully enter the Android market, Google’s business model in terms of reating revenue will be described and processed by the critique of whether the model would be sustainable in the long term. The report finally will define the market Google operate in and how it enters into android market will be explained in detail. Additionally, there are some recommendations provided in terms of its sustainable development through the whole report. ? Defining the market which Google Inc’ operates in? The market in which Google operates in is collaborative and interactive; Google has acquired and merged with different companies, which have given it a competitive edge over other firms. It recently acquired Motorola and this brought a lot of speculation as to whether it could handle the hardware business without any prior experience or necessary skills According to the case (Tangirala and Debapratim, 2012), Google had no skills in the supply chain, monitoring physical stock or achieving efficiencies. However such acquisitions have benefited Google because it has been able to have more reach as it can now target mobile users with the new hardware business. Other companies it has collaborated with are HTC and T-Mobile on implementing the Android platform. Competition The environment is also quite competitive. Having to face giants like Apple, Microsoft and Facebook means that Google has to be highly adaptable and maintain their market share by being more aggressive in their marketing strategies. (Tangirala and Debapratim, 2012), Google says that their acquisition of Motorola will be able to intensify the competition. Motorola’s purchase will fully bring Google into the mobile market as they will now have hardware for their operating system Android, Also Motorola will strengthen the patenting of Google as they have more than 17,000 patents in their name. Apple and other mobile providers might feel threatened by this move. (Rusli and Miller, 2011) Diversification More to this, Google has not focused on its core business of being a search engine rather it is diversifying and looking for new opportunities for growth. Google has expanded into other segments such as maps and Google scholar, in the communications section there is Gmail and an enterprise segment where cloud computing and Google docs are involved, social networking among others. This means that Google is not only able to reach a wider audience but that it is able to spread risks. Diversification means that in case one area of their business fails they have an alternative to rely on. (Tangirala and Debapratim, 2012) Innovation Google’s survival could be attributed to its highly innovative structure. It has a culture of being innovative and an atmosphere that encourages employees to bring new ideas and creativity. However, Google must keep on innovating in order to outdo their competitors and to keep at pace with the changes in the highly volatile global environment (Tangirala and Debapratim, 2012) Infrastructure Together with all the companies that Google has acquired, they also have data centers and servers which it uses to create its web presence and to store information. These infrastructures increase reliability and make information access faster. Google Inc’ had a total of 90,000 servers by 2010 and they invested heavily on technology this gives Google a good platform. Pg. 4 Some of it is virtual for example cloud computing. (Tangirala and Debapratim, 2012) ? What’s internationalization and globalization strategy? In which way Google is going? Internationalization strategy is a development strategy that enterprises want to offer their products and services outside their home country, it usually reflected in the form of greater existence in different locations around the world. That is why internationalization also refers as international expansion (Stephen and Karin, 2002). Internationalization strategy is a development planning during the process of internationalized operation and management, which is designed to give the assistance of improving company’s competitiveness and environment adaptability. Corporations have adopted this strategy view overseas market separately. They treat the markets differently due to various markets’ features. Globalization strategy refers to the procedures of global integration, which incorporate the international operations and markets into a united strategic entity (Stephen and Karin, 2002). Corporations that use this strategy are generally powerful multinational enterprises, they attempt to monopolize markets in their own industries. However, if using this strategy inappropriately, it is more likely to have a detrimental effect on the whole company. The merit of globalization strategy is that companies can concentrate their efforts in building competitive advantages by leveraging capabilities and coordinating activities through boundaries. Which like a double-edged sword, the demerit is that it is hard to coordinate between each subsidiary as well as between headquarter and subsidiaries, because each host country has their own business characteristics. According to the collected evidences Google tends to be relying on the globalization strategy. To begin with, as mentioned above, one reason for companies adopting a globalization strategy is that they want to monopolize the market in their own industry. Definitely, Google achieved this goal. In October 2011, Google accounts for 82. 4% of the worldwide desktop search engine market share. Furthermore, in 2008, Google shifts its international marketing structure form representation offices to Research and Development center, and then to partnerships with other enterprises, which reflected that Google gradually integrated the competitive advantages from the alliance partnership and improved its own capabilities (Ronen, 2009). In addition, Google has many RD centers worldwide. For instance, if the software was RD in Israel, this software is not only specialized in Israel market, but also launched globally by using different languages. Therefore it is clear that Google did not focus on localizing their products or services for different markets nowadays. Finally, globalization is focusing on building united competitive advantage. In order to keep its competitive edges, Google transfers and share outcomes of technology innovations within various RD centers, and with alliance partnerships to connect the operation nd management activities from different counties and locations. Google’s retrieval from china, impacts upon globalization plan. According to the list of info-facts (2012), China is the second most powerful country in the world. And in Fleming’s (2010) report, â€Å"U. S. , China, and India will be the three most powerful countries in 2025†. These illustrate that China is a hugely influential nation around the world. Moreover, China has more than 500 million internet users (Efrati Chao 2012), and the number is still increasing. China is a market which cannot be ignored. Google’s retreat from the Chinese market has definitely impacted upon Google’s overall global expansion strategy. Most of the Asian countries have strong regional relationship and China has a widely impact on them. As we all know, eastern countries are in high context cultures, but, Google is from a low context culture which is totally different from high context culture. Their ways of running a business are quite different. It seems that if Google cannot operate successfully in China, it cannot operate well in other Asian countries either, such as Japan and Korea. And this will deeply impact its global expansion strategy. As the picture (adapted from Chardonneau’s slides) shown in appendix 1, Asia owns the biggest internet market, and Google’s coverage in Asia is so weak. If Google still wants to achieve its global expansion strategy, it has to come into the Asian market and first of all, Google needs to solve the problem in China. In fact, Google’s quit in China offers its competitors a good opportunity to enter into the Chinese market. After all, not all the international companies are unable to handle the operation problems in China. Since Google announced its retreat, its market share has declined 5% and its biggest competitor in China, Baidu has increased by 50% (Powell 2010). Other internet companies like Microsoft, Sohu and Tencent where all benefit from this great opportunity which offered by Google (Powell 2010). Cultivating your competitors will obviously diminish your own benefits. More and more powerful competitors will absolutely hamper Google’s global expansion. In addition, they need to keep putting efforts to the beta test before they aunch any new products into new market, especially in the Asian market. It needs to customize it according to different market to satisfy local consumers. As discussed above, one of the main reasons why Google failed in the Chinese market was because it did not use ICP, which is a compulsory for all websites operating in China (Zhou, 2009). ? Diversification strategy working in the international market The multi-diversification strategy is generally appropriate a cross the whole international market. This strategy is being used in different markets, while the only difference is whether it more focus on direct-diversification or indirect-diversification that depends on the intensity of competition on the core products. Briefly, since 2004 Google’s endeavor mainly focuses on encouraging innovation by bottom-up through the whole company. It acquires innovative companies to diversify into new areas or to add value to existing technologies and services (Kotelnikov, 2012). From â€Å"personalized web†, â€Å"Google News†, â€Å"Website Optimizer† to acquire technology to put up online display and banner advertisements by buying out â€Å"DoubleClick†. Followed by the direct diversification, Google, starts to expand its new product line through indirect diversification strategy. For instance, Google enters the social networking space through launching â€Å"Orkut†, â€Å"Google Checkout† then was launched as a payment gateway for online buyers and â€Å"Google Chrome† which is a representor of a desktop browser, see appendix one. Firstly, in the current global market, Google’s diversification strategy take the development of its core products as a priority. It makes a great contribution on perfecting its core competencysearch engine, which is the most profitable product. Additionally, it also increases the reputation of â€Å"innovation† for Google all over the world. Multi-products line adds more values for the consumers will become the main competitive advantages for Google in the long-term in the international market. Therefore, the benefit of diversification strategy is to protect current market share and attract potential customers by World of Mouth. Particularly, Google launches early nd often in small beta tests before releasing new products into the market, with many markets becoming more and more competitive as a result of new competitors from global or deregulated markets, those who innovate best will win in the future (Kotelnikov, 2012). Secondly, while even through the company put great efforts to add more value on its core products, the competitors also come up with substitute products, for example, â€Å"Powerset† from Microsoft and â€Å"Search Monkey† just launched by Yahoo attack the weakness of Google, providing a much flexible search engine. Google needs to add up more new product lines to create and exploit economies scope. In particular, â€Å"Baidu† whose market share in China is up to 78. 3%, while only 16. 7% of â€Å"Google’s Hong Kong Site†(Baidu, 2012). Google can use its direct-diversification strategy, which pays attention on internal growth of search engine to increase its market share in the market, which doesn’t have a strong competition, such as Australia. The indirect diversification strategy should be used in the market that already has some strong competitors such as China, Korea. It is certain that the risk of this diversification strategy is there is a huge investment in the new businesses and the majority of the new businesses haven’t started making profit for Google. However, take current global market trend into consideration, the strategy will work in the long term in the international market. If we look closely at year 2009, revenue from ads on their sites accounted for 83% of the total. Compared to 2008, this item represented 90% of Google’s total income. Nevertheless, the growth rate of these â€Å"windfall† is, so far, relatively modest (Sebastian, 2010). Thinking of Google, what product stands out? But are there too many? Is Google too ubiquitous now is an arguable question in recent years? â€Å"I think that, ultimately, we do have too many products and we need to condense them,† Marissa Mayer, Google’s VP of Search, said Friday at the SXSWi conference in Austin (Matt McGee, 2011). According to the map of Google’s product in the appendix, Google products now covered in many different fields such as search engine, social network, music, mobile system etc. But there is people say As Google Becomes More Ubiquitous, They Get More Sloppy (Jeff Y, 2012) Google is taking information from almost all of your Google services (Tsukayama, 2012). It was very serious privacy issue and been intensely discussed. Google makes its money by selling yourself; by knowing where you live, what videos you like watching, and your entire search and surfing history, Google sells targeted advertising to the tune of tens of billions of dollars per year. Selling you is 96% of Google’s revenue stream. ( Anthony, 2011). Google was not obligated to pay a fine for doing so but the brand was damaged to some extent. Google also faces the risk from failed product or services. It comes down to having too many things going on at once. At Google, quality control is slipping. (Jeff Y, 2012). For example, Google lunched Google Buzz in February 2010, it was considered a threat to Facebook and twitter but its been shut down very soon in November 2011 by Google because of the lack of users and the late show in the market compare with twitter. The failure of Google buzz damaged not only the real money but also the trust and confidence of consumers toward the brand. (Rob, 2010) Besides, with too many successful products, customers may lose what the brand Google really represents which is also a risk of brand damage. Were very aware that our business is based on the trust of users and if damaged then thats the worst thing we could do. The new privacy director said. (Google, 2010) But will all these factors really hurt Google? The answer is uncertain. As we can see from the Googleland map in appendix , Googles main product is always the search engine and they use all the other products to support it. Today, with approximately 70 percent domination of the global search market, the omnipotent, omniscient, omnivorous and ubiquitous Google keeps upping the ante to stay on top of the search engine game. (Callari, 2012) Therefore some people argued that as long as people still use and trust the Google search engine, the Google brand will not be hurts seriously. Google’s foray into Android market, all around impact. In this section, we will focus more on Google’s capability after it has bought Motorola and gain access to becoming one of mobile phone providers with its own Android OS. After Google has bought Motorola, there are a few implications to mention here. First of all Google will be the owner of all patents from and therefore will be of a great support for Google when their mobile phone enters the market where Apple is a dominant player (Reisinger, 2011). During the launch of a new phone company is most likely to be sued by their competitor arguing over the originality of the phone. Therefore after having Motorola as a patent support Google may save a lot of money in this aspect. Secondly is that Google now has a capacity to create and manufacture their own mobile phone and tablet PC. The benefits of buying Motorola also extends to the field of hardware that Motorola has been in for sometimes, what Google has bought to it self is the hardware manufacturing ability, ranging from TV top box, internet TV to internet router and live stream (Bryant, 2011). Therefore again apple will have to be careful since now Google has a potential to fight Apple not just in the field of mobile phone but also as a TV top box provider i. . Google TV (Purdy, 2011). Thirdly it is not clear that when the new Motorola, Google phone is released, it will come with the newest Android OS or not. But move to buy motorolla to gain access to manufacturing capability can really affect Google’s android mobile partner. One clue to this argument is current news about Samsung, which has been Google’s main Android phone provider, has announced that its mobile phone in a short future will also feature the windows operating system (The Sydney Morning Herald, 2012). Although the news said it was all about Samsung providing more variety to the consumer, but it can also be thought of an uncertainty avoidance move by Samsung who might feel an aggressive move by Google coming into the hardware market. Perhaps besides Google and Motorola as the two winners from the incident, Microsoft surprisingly might gain benefit from this incident (Wortham, 2012). This move from Google is actually what Microsoft is hoping for because besides Google, the only well know non-phone maker operating system is the â€Å"windows 8† from Microsoft. The moment of changes to watch out for is the time that Google’s partners feel that they are indeed competing against Google instead of having Google as their partner (Wortham, 2012). Microsoft windows 8 here will then act as a preferable alternative operating system for those ex-Google’s partners to adopt. So what will happen in short-long run for the market? In the short run it will not change much because the majority of the mobile phone relies on Android OS. Breaking off partnership with the OS they rely on is really not a good idea in the short run. Also since by law after closing the deal that Android will still remain free for another five years (Waugh, 2011). In the long run the story may be entirely different. It is expected that mobile phone manufacturers may start thinking about an alternative plan according to Google’s moves. If Google still keeps its promise that buying Motorola is just for its own defense, then it is still a great idea to have such a big company as your support (Wortham, 2012). How does Google create revenue? To scrutinize the business model of Google Inc, one impressive feature in this model is that Google offers free resource to the end user. Analyzing the reasons behind it, Google’s philosophy is to share information universally and make it accessible globally (Google, 2012). Thus, the characteristic of free is a necessary catalyst which accelerates Google to become the largest search engine company around the world. By doing this, advertisers have become the main income rather than the end users.

Strategic management and organisational change

Strategic management and organisational change Introduction IMAX operated at three different industries, and it had done successful in some part of its business, while there were also some weakness for its development. This assignment is going to assess the current situation of IMAX, including analysing the nature and source of its competitive advantage, its sustainable competitive advantage, and future development. The first section will seek to present the nature and source of IMAX s competitive advantage by using appropriate strategy, and the next section will introduce its sustainable competitive advantage. In the final section, some key issues of IMAX s future development will be discussed, and some recommendations will be given as well, which may help IMAX to grow its business in the near future. The Nature And Source Of IMAX s Competitive Advantages Selecting Appropriate Theoretical Frameworks To begin with, there are two primary issues to be discussed. First one is which level of strategy should be used in this case. Basically, a company has two levels of strategies, which are business level strategy and corporate level strategy. Business level strategy concerns how to create competitive advantage in each of the business in which a company competes, whilst corporate level strategy concerns what business the corporation should in and how the corporate office should manage the array of business units. The main difference between these two is that corporate level strategy is what makes the corporate whole add up to more than the sum of its business units (Porter, 1996). IMAX has three different business units, therefore, it could be easily considered that the case more concerns with corporate level strategy. The next issue to be considered is which strategy should be selected to analyse the case based on corporate level strategy. There are two strategies which can be selected, the RBV (resource-based view) and the Positioning School. The RBV is more emphasis on the resources and capabilities controlled by a company as sources of competitive advantage, while the Positioning School is more focus on externally orientated and market driven (Barney, 2008). This case mentions a little about IMAX s market driven, thus there is not enough evidence to use the positioning school strategy for analysing its competitive advantage. In contrast, the case introduce IMAX s hardware, software, financial power, technologies and other special sources, which are helpful for using the RBV to analyse IMAX s competitive advantage. The Nature And Source Of Competitive Advantages Competitive advantage emerges from distinctive resources or capabilities that firms control, that is, something that firms do particularly well in comparison with their competitors (Peteraf, 1993). IMAX has its technology resource, brand image and organizational resource better than other film companies, which can conclude its core competence, therefore it is easy to get IMAX s competitive advantages from its core competence. Technology Resource IMAX has the technological capability to do RD on both hardware and software rather than its competitors in the film industry, thereby its technological capability can be regarded as its core competence. IMAX was founded as the only company in the world that was involved in all aspects of large format films, and its unique technological capability can lead to its first-mover advantage. It used its technique know-how to produce projectors with special features, to design large format films, to develop lightweight 3D camera and 3D directional sound technology, etc, and all the unique technology differentiate IMAX from other conventional movie technologies. IMAX could make its audiences enjoy its special IMAX experience which can not be replicated through DVDs or in conventional theatres, because of the unprecedented shock of the visual and auditory. Its advanced technology held 46 patents and had 7 patents pending in the U.S., also its technological prowess was the 1997 Oscar Award which received for Scientific and Technical Achievement. As the first-mover advantage, IMAX achieved the most advanced level of film technology, which can be considered as the competitive advantage so that I MAX can attract more audiences to have different experiences from conventional movies, to keep its market presence. IMAX kept innovation on its technology in order to maintain its growth. IMAX spent almost five per cent of its sales revenue on RD in 2007, and about $12.6 million in RD was spent in the last three years. MPX technology was developed to allow IMAX and theatre-owners to convert existing multiplexes screens to IMAX format, and a patented digital re-mastering (DMR) technology was designed to convert traditional 35 mm films into the large-screen format and even develop 3D versions. Those two technologies could help IMAX to launch more IMAX films, to expand the core audience and to make the box office revenue. Besides this, IMAX had solved the teething problems with DMR technology and the costs of conversion of Hollywood movies into IMAX format had come down. As a result, they led IMAX to have cost advantage. Brand Image IMAX had the capability to use its band image, which could be considered as its core competence and add more economic value to its corporation, and as a result, it could lead to brand effect within the film industry. Since the first multi-screen theater system launched in 1967 and the first IMAX film premiered in 1970, as the first-mover advantage, IMAX had made a good reputation and also had its loyal audience base. Moreover, choosing prestigious venues to locate IMAX had created a unique brand image, which would result in its brand effect within the industry. Organisational Resource Lado and Wilson (1994) proposed a widely accepted definition of organisational capabilities: managerial, input-based, transformational, output-based. IMAX used its unique organisational resorces to achieve the operational process effectively. IMAX maintained long-term relationships with the vendors who supplied the components, produced movies and systems, and then distributed them to the theaters. IMAX also had its wholly-owned subsidiary, in which IMAX had 51 per cent ownership, and its subsidiary could help IMAX perform the post-production work. The talent organizational capability which was well used in the organization made its production, post-production, distribution link well and led to its operation efficiency. IMAX s Sustainable Competitive Advantage s Sources There is competition from Pixar/Disney which have the same target customers with IMAX, the only rival within the large format film segment, and the potential new independent firms to enter the industry with the increasingly development of new technology. On the other hand, many alternative sources of entertainment such as live plays, TV programs, the Internet, sport events attract viewers as well. Therefore, there is no doubt that IMAX has increasingly pressure come from the competitors within the industry. The resource-based view (RBV) of the firm holds that certain assets with certain characteristics will lead to sustainable competitive advantage (Black, 1994). The sources of IMAX s competitive advantages are going to analysed using the VRIO framework, sequentially to evaluate which one is sustainable. VRIO Analysis It is necessary to make the assumption that the firm resources may be heterogeneous and immobile in order to know the sources of sustainable competitive advantage, and a firm source must have four attributes to hold the potential of sustained competitive advantages, that the firm source must be valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and substitutable (Barney, 1991). Appendix shows whether IMAX s competitive advantages sources are sustainable using the VRIO framework. The sources of competitive advantages of IMAX could add value. Economic value could be added to a corporation through either increasing its total revenue, or lowering its costs. Innovating through its high level of technology resource allowed the conversion costs down and saved the costs, and developing MPX technology and DMR technology would expand the core audience and increase the box office revenue, both of them added more economic value to IMAX.. Most sources of the competitive advantages of IMAX were rare in the film industry. IMAX mastered a high level of technology resources in the film industry, and it only had one rival within the large format film segment. Besides, IMAX hold its unqiue brand image and also operated at a unique business model by using its organisational resources, which was also rare in the film industry. The particular capabilities were not controlled by numerous competitors, therefore IMAX s competitive advantages were likely to be rare. â€Å"Competitive advantage is more likely to be created and sustained if the organisation has distinctive or unique capabilities that competitors cannot imitate.†( Johnson, 2005) Most resources of IMAX s competitive advantages are difficult for its competitors to imitate. The conversion technology such as MPX technology and DMR technology and its designed projectors are hard for competitors to copy, because IMAX invested a large amount of money and time and also hire the talent employee on RD, innovation, marketing, which would be considered as sunk costs within the film industry. Besides this, IMAX technology held 46 patents and had 7 patents pending in the U.S., therefore IMAX s high level of technological breakthroughs which were carefully patented could be considered the unique capability in the film industry. In addition, IMAX made a good reputation and had its loyal audience base through the years, therefore it had its own brand image, which could make barriers for entr ants to copy. The competitive advantages of IMAX were explored by organisation. IMAX had fully explored and used of its technology resources, organisational resources and unique brand image, then organised and took full advantages of its sources and capabilities. Given the VRIO framework analysis, it is not difficult to conclude that most sources of IMAX s competitive advantages are sustainable, as they are based on the core competences of IMAX. Recommendations For IMAX s Future Development As the competitors are increasingly strong and the movie technology and film industry are changing everyday, IMAX may face some unprecedented challenges in the future. Based on the RBV and VRIO analysis, IMAX should sustain its competitive advantages and also gain some new competitive advantages to respond in the future. Two Larger Issues To Be Discussed IMAX faced two critical issues, which were whether or not to exhibit too many Hollywood movies, and whether or not sold itself to a larger studio such as Sony, Disney or Time-Warner. The two problems will be addressed firstly, and then some certain recommendations will be provided. Traditional IMAX films were often educational and entertaining, and involved documentaries of natural and scientific wonders which were mostly located in museums, aquariums, zoos and other institutions, and IMAX had engaged in alliances with commercial movie theatre owners. However, IMAX could not escape the crisis that hit the theatre industry in the late 1990s, and it began to have financial problems. IMAX had long-term debt through the years, and both its net income and cash flows were negative in 2006 and 2007. In order to solve the financial problem and survive in the future, IMAX has to change its strategy to maintain its growth. At that time, acquisition by a larger studio such as Sony, Disney or Time-Warner is a good idea and developing trend for IMAX in the future. Two firms which both had trustworthy brand effect combined will be greater than their economic value as separate entities. Through acquisition, large studio can not only address IMAX s financial problem and help IMAX to pay off its debt, but also can get more economic returns and add more value through IMAX. Besides, IMAX can ensure its survival and make more business opportunities in the future. After acquisition, the studio can install more IMAX digital theatres systems, and invested more money on marketing, to attract more audiences to watch its IMAX films and increase its box office revenue. Furthermore, the studio can convert its own films into IMAX large format films with lower costs or create new films combined with both studio and IMAX s brand, hence it will expand their core audience, therefore it will create more economic value to both studio and IMAX. On the other hand, to solve the same problem facing to IMAX, exhibiting Hollywood movies is a good idea for IMAX to increase its box office revenue. IMAX can sustain its competitive advantages, use its strong RD team developing DMR technology that allows converting traditional 35 mm films into the large-screen format Hollywood films. It keeps innovation and worked out the teething problems, as a result the costs of conversion had come down, consequently more IMAX screens will be open to launch Hollywood films. The IMAX strategy of moving into Hollywood films will increase its box office revenue and expand the core audience. IMAX can continue making educational films for families, students and tourists, while Hollywood films can also be launched during the evening. This will not make IMAX lose its differentiation, in contrast, it will create more IMAX s brand effect, because most of which come from the entertainment experiences. Other Recommendations Compete Among Rivals Some studios such as Pixar/Disney produced the films for the same targeted group, and within the large format film segment, IMAX faced only rival Iwerks, which was merged with SimEx, a ride simulation and animation production company. One possible solution to compete this rival is that IMAX is acquired by a larger studio, therefore overcomes its financial problems and also has the equivalent strengths to compete with it. There was also another film, Pollavison, which was engaged in consulting services for large format film theatres. IMAX could develop its technology and hold its core innovation capability to keep its leadership. Technology Development â€Å"Edutainment† Market Internationalisation Although IMAX did have marketing staff at its office in Canada, the United States, Europe, Japan and China to market its theatre systems and IMAX movies were showed in 40 countries, almost 60 per cent of the theatres were in North America. The film industry is now increasingly becoming international, and Asia-Pacific market is becoming the largest part of the global market, therefore IMAX can expand its market internationally and attract more international audiences instead of American audiences. IMAX can install a large number of its theatre systems annually across different countries especially Asia-Pacific market, and also market and advertise its film to help maximise its theatre attendance and increase its box office revenue. Conclusion Based on the RBV, it is clear that IMAX has its high technology, unique organizational methods and human resource better than other film companies, which can be treated as its competitive advantages. Using the RVIO model, it is not difficult to conclude that most of its competitive advantages are sustainable. However, as the movie technology and film industry are developing everyday, IMAX may face some unprecedented challenges. Therefore, IMAX should develop its sustainable competitive advantages and also †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ to address the problems in the future. References Peteraf, M.A. (1993) ‘The Cornerstone of the Competitive Advantage: A Resource-based View, Strategic Management Journal, 14: 179-91. Porter, M. (1996). From competitive advantage to corporate strategy. In M. Goold K. Luchs. Managing the multibusiness company: strategic issues for diversified groups, Lado, A. and Wilson, M. (1994) ‘Human Resource System and Sustained Competitive Advantage: Competency-based Perspective, Academy of Management Review, 19: 699-727. Black, J. A. Strategic resources: traits, configurations and paths to sustainable competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal 15(1994):131. Barney, J. B. 1991. Firm resources and sustainable competitive advantage. Journal of Management 17 (1): 99.