Learn About Where Polar Bears Live

Polar bears are the largest bear species. They can grow to from 8 feet to 11 feet tall and about 8 feet long, and they can weigh in anywhere from 500 pounds to 1,700 pounds. They are easy to recognize due to their white coat and dark eyes and nose. You may have seen polar bears in zoos, but do you know where these iconic marine mammals live in the wild? Knowing can help us help this threatened species survive. There are 19 different populations of polar bears, and all live in the Arctic region. This is the area that is north of the Arctic Circle, which lies at 66 degrees, 32 minutes North latitude. Where to Go If Youre Hoping to See a Polar Bear in the Wild United States (Alaska)Canada, including the provinces and territories of Manitoba, Newfoundland, Labrador, Quebec, Ontario, Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and Yukon Territory)Greenland/DenmarkNorwayRussian Federation Polar bears are native to the countries above and occasionally are found in Iceland. A polar bear range map from the IUCN can be seen to view populations. You can see live footage of polar bears in Manitoba. If you want to see a polar bear in a completely non-native region, you can check out the polar bear camera from the San Diego Zoo. Why Polar Bears Live in Such Cold Areas Polar bears are suited to cold areas because they have thick fur and a layer of fat that is 2 inches to 4 inches thick that keeps them warm despite the frigid temperatures. But the main reason they live in these cold areas is that that is where their  prey  resides. Polar bears feed on ice-loving species, such as seals (ringed and bearded seals are their favorites), and sometimes walruses and whales. They stalk their prey by waiting patiently near holes in the ice. This is where the seals surface, and therefore where the polar bears can hunt. Sometimes they swim below the ice to hunt, directly in the freezing water. They can spend time on land and not just on ice banks, so long as there is access to food. They can also sniff out where seal dens are for another means to find food. They need the fat from the seals to survive and prefer these types of high-fat creatures. The range of polar bears is limited by the southern extent of sea ice. This is why we commonly hear about their habitats being threatened; less ice, fewer places to thrive. Ice is essential for the survival of polar bears. They are a species that is threatened by global warming. You can help polar bears in small ways by reducing your carbon footprint with activities such as walking, riding a bike or using public transportation instead of driving; combining errands so that you use your car less; conserving energy and water, and buying items locally to cut down on the environmental impacts of transportation.

Sexual Harassment And The Social Movement Essay - 1511 Words

Sexual harassment is a pressing issue that occurs on all platforms of the world we live with. It is unfortunately so very common, that is overlooked. Whether it is at the workplace or at home or even on the streets, it has a presence that is at times hard to distinguish from â€Å"just a bit of friendliness†, to a presence that is blatantly inappropriate. As unfortunate as it is, this issue does not hold black and white qualities, but rather falls in the grey area very often. Although it would appear to be a rather ignorant and uninformed claim to state that the conduct of sexual harassment occurs mainly through male to female interaction, rather through female to male interaction, statistics convey the notion that this statement holds truth in it. This truth is derived from rooted issues of gender that are ingrained in today’s society. Gender issues have caused a need for the social movement of feminism. Interestingly, this social movement itself has a strong interrela tionship with gender power relationships and sexual harassment patterns. Feminism is a method of fighting sexual harassment, however, unfortunately, all it does is aggravate that negative behaviour, rather than mitigate it. This essay will explain, evaluate and critically discuss all the above statements from a sociological perspective. It is vital to disclose that for the purposes of this essay, the focus will be on heterosexual sexual harassment. On the face of it, sexual harassment can be simply defined asShow MoreRelatedThe Code Of Conduct For Armed Forces1413 Words   |  6 Pagesdiscrimination, harassment, conflicts of interest, customer confidence issues, and/or use of corporate resources. The Armed Forces of the United States deals with major issues involving sexual assault/harassment and soldiers. Discovery. 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With hopes of a futureRead MoreDiscrimination And Harassment Against Women1349 Words   |  6 Pages Throughout the 20th century, women were often seen as eye-candies and mannequins at work, and in many cases, they even encounter sexual molestation. Discrimination and harassment against women is still prevalent in the workplace. During the 2013 fiscal year, Courts enforced 7,256 charges of sexual harassment, out of which, women comprised 82.6 % of victims, while there were 27,687 cases of gender discrimination. Our era has seen new conventions and le gal philosophies, which are steering towardsRead MoreDiscrimination And Sexual Harassment And Affirmative Action1594 Words   |  7 PagesDiscrimination and Sexual Harassment Most companies engage in some type of affirmative action policy. Affirmative actions are policies that are placed to engage in the improvement of underprivileged groups who either currently suffer or have historically suffered from discrimination and equality of opportunity. During our lecture, Dr. Kallfelz stated that affirmative action is a, â€Å"Proactive policy with primary immediate attempt to reform (and long term attempt to prevent and deter) socioeconomicallyRead MoreOnline Abuse : A Serious Issue Within The Past 2 Years1243 Words   |  5 Pagesthe impact of online harassment and identifies some innovations that can affect the social issue which includes creating awareness as well as the solutions. THE ISSUE The web, that has so amplified the voices of women, minorities, and LGBT people, continues to be a free-fire zone for those that would shame, silence, or abuse them. A 2014 study by the Pew Research Center found that twenty five percent of 18- to 24-year-old women have been the target of online sexual harassment. Last year the problemRead More Gender and Power in the Workplace Essay1644 Words   |  7 Pagescontemporary issues associated with gender and power in the workplace; which will specifically include a discussion of gender relations, stereotyping, women’s identity, the structuring of formal and informal power, sources of inequality, and sexual harassment. The concept of gender in relation to the division of labor in the workplace, and in relation to issues of power and control is an unfortunate, groundless stereotype. Suzanne Tallichet notes that the gendered division of workplace labor is

Military Industrial Complex Free Essays

President Eisenhower raises numerous questions to the state of America in his farewell address. The Military-Industrial Complex is a term he created to define monetary and foreign policy in the 1950’s and 60’s. It is a policy that invests most of its money to military. We will write a custom essay sample on Military Industrial Complex or any similar topic only for you Order Now It is suggested that the United States puts too much influence in its military and that it is a very imperialistic ideal. President Eisenhower also states its effects on American economy, politics, and spirit under the Military-Industrial Complex. His farewell address was a warning, that if America does not control its military investments, it will develop the Military-Industrial Complex. The economical outcome of building a large military creates less funding for other American Institutions. The more money spent on manufacturing weapons, tanks, aircraft and other palpable material will be money not spent on education, healthcare, and social security. However, if America decided to keep funding institutions other than military and was unable to fund more military institutions, the Military-Industrial Complex will find the need to borrow money and/or weapons internationally which would raise the national debt. America would not be able to develop a more educated generation if it were to impose a Military-Industrial Complex. More consequences could involve lower standards of living for Americans or an imperialistic foreign policy. From a political standpoint, building a strong military could influence political relationships around the world. Other countries, as well as ours, currently view America as the supreme super-power of the world. As much common knowledge as this is, it is argued that within human nature is the need to conquer, and because America has a large military, it will be used to involve themselves in foreign affairs, much like the Vietnam War, where American idealists wanted to bring democratic justice to that country. It is a very modernistic ideal that America should have a strong military, and not be needed to use it. However, this is never the case. In Chalmers Johnson’s book, Blowback, he describes the presence of military establishments in Japanese territory. The term Blowback was created by Johnson, and adapted by the CIA after the events on September 11th, 2001 to describe the events that occur resulting from clandestine operations in other countries. The military bases greatly affected the society of the Japanese civilization near them. Johnson describes an instance in his book where a soldier from one of the bases was driving and hit and killed a Japanese civilian. The soldiers would go to their nightclubs and eat at their restaurants. Their tanks and mortar field tests would leave large holes in Japanese mountains. American influence in other countries would be viewed as imperialistic and is just another trait of the Military-Industrial Complex that Eisenhower describes. America is viewed as the land of opportunity where you can be healthy, happy, and successful. However, it can be viewed as a nation that imposes their military power on other countries. Many immigrants come to America and bring their values with them. Many citizens do not agree with the need to be involved in many foreign affairs. American values of world peace are often hypocritical when the military involves themselves in Iraq and Afghanistan. Spiritually, the Military-Industrial Complex can cause a lack of integrity and pride. Eisenhower’s warning is still being examined even today. Many worry that President Barack Obama’s foreign policy is beginning to impose onto other countries. The term that Eisenhower coined in the 1960’s can be applied to the today’s situation politically and economically. How to cite Military Industrial Complex, Papers

Case Study of Dick-Free-Samples for Students-Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Identify the relevant issues in this scenario and advise on the law governing each issue and apply it to this scenario. Answer: Issue According to the case study, the issue has found that whether Dick has any ground to have parental leaves for his children and save his employment or not? Rules Under the Irish Law, the Workplace Relation Commission (WRC) describes the different legislations of Employment Rights and Duties for the employers. As per the employment rights, the employers get the comprehensive rights on the Employment Labor and Equity Law (Taylor and Emir 2015). The Employment Act 1994 provides the rights by which employees make can avail basic employment rights while they receive their employment. According to the terms of the employment, there are several terms where the employer and employee can entitle to the contract (Painter and Holmes 2015). It includes the rights of work date of commencement job title pay details terms and conditions relating to hours of work, and the period of notice The Employment Equality Act 1998 to 2011 helps to provide discrimination free grounds of employment, which protects employees from age, sex, religion, race, disability, marital status and many more. This act provides a fair employment for the employees in their workplace. The Safety, Health Welfare at Work Act 2005 ensure the protection for the employees in their workplace. This act provides duties and responsibilities of the employers towards their employees, which are related with the healthy and safety environment in the workplace. This act helps to protect every employee from hazardous in the employees workplace. When employees entitled to the employment contract, the contract deals with several terms which are the rights of work, job title, date of commencement, pay details, terms and conditions relating to hours of work and the period of notice, which the employer and employee are, required to give to terminate the contract. According to the employment contract, it consists with various leaves like annual leave, sick leave and sick pay, other types of leave from work, public holidays, parental leave, Carers leave, maternity leave, adoptive leave and paternity leave. Parental Leave Act 1998 provided the rights to parents to take parental leaves from their employment for taking care to their children. Under the European Union (Parental Leave) Regulations 2013 amended the parental leave for the children who are aged about 14 weeks to 18 weeks. This leave amendment provide extended leaves for the children who have long-term illness. Under this parental leaves, no employment rights get affected (Painter and Holmes 2015). The Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016 has stated the legislations for the parental leave where the person other than the mother can take leave from employment for the case of the child. The provisions apply to births and adoptions of the child and extended till 6 months of the process. In this term, the employment depends according to the employment contract. Sometimes according to the employment policies, during the paternity leaves the employer may not pay the person (Taylor and Emir 2015). The Carer's Leave Act 2001 provides the leave permit for those employees who want to take care for any person for temporarily to full time care. The employee is entitled to take leaves of at least 13 weeks up to a maximum of 104 weeks. Application According to the case fact, Jean Dark has died during her complicated labour time and her 6 weeks early child survives. Dick Francis is the father of the child who is the only person left in the house to take care of their child. When he applied for the parental leave for 1 year, the Phoenix Park did not allow him for that. Later his father also suffered due to sudden stroke and moved with, he is also require for a proper care (Taylor and Emir 2015). Now according to the Employment contract in Ireland, Dick has right to claim for leave according to the Parental Leave Act 1998, Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016 and Carer's Leave Act 2001for his new born child and father. The newborn childs mother has died due to the complicated pregnancy. Therefore Dick is needed a long-term parental leave for his child. For the term of his newborn child, he can take leaves for 6 months under the Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016. As the mother has died, the child needs extra care for at least 1 year. Therefore, Parental Leave Act 1998 provides the leaves for Dick where he can take leave for at least 14 weeks to 18 weeks. The leaves will not affect Dicks employment according to the laws under these employment legislations (Painter and Holmes 2015). Conclusion According to the case study, Dick has right to take leaves for his newborn child and sick father from his employment. References Barnard, C., 2014. EU employment law and the European Social Model: the past, the present and the future. Current Legal Problems, 67(1), pp.199-237. Countouris, N., 2016. The changing law of the employment relationship: comparative analyses in the European context. Routledge. Emir, A., 2016. Selwyn's law of employment. Oxford University Press. Painter, R. and Holmes, A., 2015. Cases and materials on Employment Law. Oxford University Press, USA. Taylor, S. and Emir, A., 2015. Employment law: an introduction. Oxford University Press, USA.

Internet Tech Essays - Internet, New Media, Scientific Revolution

Internet Tech The Internet links people together via computer terminals and telephone lines (and in some cases wireless radio connections) in a web of networks and shared software. This allows users to communicate with one another wherever they are in the "net." This Internet link began as the United States military project Agency Network Advanced Research (ARPANET) during the Vietnam War in 1969. It was developed by the United States Department of Defense's (DOD) research people in conjunction with various contractors and universities to investigate the probability of a communication network that could survive a nuclear attack. For the first decade that the Internet was in existence, it was primarily used to facilitate electronic mail, support on line discussion groups, allow access to distant databases, and support the transfer of files between government agencies, companies and universities. Today over 15 million people in the United States and approximately 25 million people worldwide access the Internet regularly, including children. Many parents believe that depriving their children of the opportunity to learn computer skills and access the knowledge available on the Internet would give them a distinct technological disadvantage as they enter the twenty first century. Portelli and Mead state by the year 2002, the reported number of children who access the Internet from home is projected to increase from the current 10 million to 20 million (6). In addition to home access, Poretelli and Meads further stated that as of 1997 the percentage of United States schools that offered Internet access as a part of their regular curriculum was over sixty percent. There were over nine thousand public libraries across America in 1997, sixty percent of these offered on-line access to its users (7). In view of this information, one can concluded that the on-line percentage for both schools and libraries has increased notably since 1997 and the number continues to grow as more of these facilities "plug in and log on." Whether at home, at school, or at the public library, children are accessing the Internet. The word "children" is somewhat ambiguous considering the range of ages that it encompasses. For instance, eighteen is the normally accepted age at which a child reaches legal adulthood; therefore, "children" would refer to any age between birth and seventeen. Porterfield stated that a study conducted in 1997 by Gateway 2000, a leading computer manufacturer, concluded that most children Internet access and computer skills typically commence with their school work. Although in some cases it may be earlier and in some later, the typical age at which a child begins to learn computer skills are kindergarten age, or age five. For example at the Children Television Work Shop website, a young child can click on a query and in a few days an E-mail arrives. For the purpose of this analysis, the broad word"children" will be condensed to contain two age groups -- elementary level, ages' 5-12, and secondary level, ages' 13-18. At either level, the World Wide Web poses clear dangers to children. These children grow up enlightened with technology, which they take for granted and know exactly how to use it. Most parents are not conscious of what lies behind that innocuous screen. If you give one's child carte blanche use of a computer attached to a modem, it is as serious as handing a ten-year-old the car keys and telling them to have a good time. These "cyberchildren" are vulnerable to potential dangers as a result of Internet use. These perils include contact with dangerous individuals, exposure to sexually suggestive materials, exposure to explicit conversations and obscenity in chat rooms, and access to violent interactive games. One very dangerous downside to Internet communication is its potential for the telling of untruths. One can never be certain at any given time to whom one is talking or if the conversation is sincere and truthful. Clothier state that a recent issue of Yahoo! Internet Live reported that almost half of the Internet users they had questioned lied occasionally while on-line and ten percent were untruthful fifty percent of the time (2). Asch state that Gateway Global Research surveyed six hundred families in the spring of 1998. This research revealed that seventeen percent of elementary and middle school children lied about their age, or sex while chatting on-line (E1). This fibbing among peers is not where the danger lies. The real peril exists in those other, older individuals who purposefully lie with the intent to harm. Parents can no longer assume their children are safe because they are at home and the door is locked.

The French Expression Cest le pied

The French Expression Cest le pied The French expression cest le pied means that something is great, terrific. This positive meaning of pied is left over from old slang, in which it referred to ones share of the loot. Cest le pied can also be negated: ce nest pas le pied and- even more familiarly- cest pas le pied mean its no good, no picnic, no fun. Ne is often dropped in informal/familiar French. Expression: Cest le piedPronunciation: [say leu pyay]Meaning: its greatLiteral translation: its the footRegister: familiar Examples of Using Cest le Pied Tu dois voir ma nouvelle bagnole - cest le pied  !   Ã‚  Ã‚  Youve got to see my new car - its great!   Travailler de nuit, ce nest pas le pied.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Working nights is no picnic. Synonymous expression: quel pied ! (But be careful, because that can also mean what an idiot! Context is everything.)Related expression: prendre son pied - to get ones kicks, enjoy doing (particularly when talking about sex)

Ethics and Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethics and Business - Research Paper Example In short, ethical principle differs in different societies. Under such circumstances, it is difficult for a society filled with Muslims and Christians to standardise ethical principles. Business is one area in which ethical principles have relevance. The ultimate objective of many of the business organizations in this world is to make as much as profits possible using all the available means. Such greedy business organizations sacrifice ethical principles in business to generate profits. However, it is difficult for such organizations to survive in the business world in the long run. This is because of the fact that current consumers are valuing and respecting the reputation of the organization more while they take any purchasing decisions. Modern consumers respect organizations which demonstrate their social responsibility. In order to sustain business in the current heavily competitive business world, it is necessary for the organizations to give something back to the community in which they operate. Crane &Matten (2007) pointed out that â€Å"There appears to be good reason to suggest business ethics as a phenomenon, as a subject, but not as an oxymoron† (Crane &Matten, 2007, p.5). Business and ethics are not all contrasting each other. In other words, it is possible to do business in an ethical manner. Business ethics is important in decision making, personal integrity, social responsibility, law etc. This paper analyses the importance of ethics in business. Business Ethics as Ethical Decision Making   One of the fundamental handicaps of business is its misguided tendency to view ethics and business as if they can be treated as separate or separate-able. Business cannot and should not be disentangled from ethics and viewed in isolation any more than operations or marketing can or should be considered without regard for the products or services being inventoried or sold. The economics should not be paramount to ethics in business; if anything, ethic s should be paramount to economics (Elm & Radin, 2012, p.314). Business is part of human life and hence it cannot be viewed in isolation with our social life. In other words, whatever, the ethical principles one may follow in his personal life, should be followed in his professional or business life also. So, whatever the decisions taken in business should be in line with the ethical principles. A business person cannot follow one policy in his personal life and another policy in his business life. It should be noted that most of the parameters we come across in business may come across in our personal life also. Therefore whatever the ethics and morals we follow in our personal life should be followed in business life also. Manpower is one of the major resources needed for business. Unlike machines, man has emotions and feelings. So, a business person cannot treat manpower and machine power in the same manner. He should treat manpower separately and machine power separately. He can not ask an employee to work continuously just like a machine. Same way, in an organization, different employees may have different capabilities. It is difficult for a business person to ask all his employees to demonstrate a particular level of efficiency. In other words, a business person should take decisions based on the circumstances and humanitarian considerations. In short business decisions should be taken based on moral reasoning. â€Å"

The Economic Position of Some Prominent and Some Ordinary Canadians Essay

The Economic Position of Some Prominent and Some Ordinary Canadians - Essay Example Inequality in income is one of the key economic factors that have been noticed in the Canadian economy. The most important evidence for the income inequalities that exist in the Canadian economy is evident through the household spending data files and the household net worth data which shows the trend in the income equality trend in the Canadian economy. The wealth and living standards differ among people to people. â€Å"Economic inequality in Canada appears to be worsening, even as overall wealth increases† (Quarter et al. 2009, p. 82). The Canadian economy is a capitalist economy. Economic inequality is one of the key features of the capitalist economy. The important question that is raised in the Canadian economy is that ‘Does the labor market in the Canadian economy provide opportunities to the deserving candidates on the basis of their education or is it based on patterns of inequality in society?’ To this question the answer is both and that has been identi fied as one of the main reasons behind the unequal distribution of income in the Canadian society. Thus the distributive aspect of the labor market in the Canadian society calls for a study. ... Income inequality arises because of several factors like inequalities that exist in the work opportunities, the inequalities that are associated with distribution of income etc. Canada has experienced significant income inequality in Canada between the years 2000 and 2006. Income inequality is a prime economic indicator and is also covered by the national average. The three important factors associated with income inequality are the following: Change in population structure – the change in the structure of population is one of the main contributors to income inequality. With the increase in the non- income generating population there is less income in the hands of the dependent population which widens the economic inequality. The women and the aboriginal Canadians have a very small representation in the Canadian work force. The women workforce in the Canadian economy is being underemployed or unemployed. The increase in the capital income and self employment income - capital i ncome and self employment income are distributed unequally which has widened the economic equality. Disproportional per capita income especially in between the Canadian provinces has been a prime feature of the Canadian economy. Economic growth has played a mere role in the eradication of disparities in per capita income which cause unequal distribution of income. Earnings of workers are unequal with the rich growing richer and the poor becoming poorer which further causes inequality in the distribution of income. There is a very important relation between income inequality and economic growth. The wider the economic inequality in an economy, the lesser will be the economic growth of the country. The economic inequality in a country reduces the economic

Operations Management in Stickley Furniture Company Essay

Operations Management in Stickley Furniture Company - Essay Example I think that the production process being shown by Stickley Furniture Company includes batch, job shop and repetitive processes. The Company does not have a continuous because of the type of products they produce. In case of continuous process, it needs an automated system where raw materials are continuously placed or fed to the packing stage. The best mode of production I would propose to be used by Stickley furniture is batch because crafts and machines used to manufacture different parts of the products are distinct. The top is made separately, artisans, sanders and painters play their parts during production. To a lesser extent, I may propose that a continuous production process of furniture be used. This is shown at the sawing stage a stage where a computerized sawing machine is applied. Meanwhile, a manual identification of knots is done by workers. Tracking job status of employees is very significant in the inventory control and customer service. In order to keep track of job status in the company, I think that the management has set up automated and manual processes which can be used as a means of tracking job status of furniture in the production line. As a means of identifying product location, there is product stamping for dates such as drawers and cabinet doors so that manufacturing dates can be easily obtained by interested people. Based on my thinking, I think that the best way to manage the company operation is to first comprehend the market needs to be followed by making available all required financial and human resources to ensure that production cycle is well managed. The Company has adopted a system of the relating size of production lots with the immediate market requirements or demands which I think is the best system to avoid dead stocks. Suppose the company has received such a big order, there are certain spec ific plans, schedules and process which must be set up as a direction to manufacturing quality oak dining tables on time.

Strategic Planning Model Case Study: Apple

Strategic Planning Model Case Study: Apple The computer industry is mainly taken by many companies and among these there are some of the most competitive ones, namely, Microsoft, Apple, Dell amongst others. Apple Corporation was founded in 1976 in a garage in Santa Clara, California. The two founders of Apple, namely, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs who were drop outs of college wanted at that time to provide computer users with something new and user-friendly to the market. The two Steves work together to produce some of the famous computers at times, namely the Apple 1, then after its launch, they came up with the Apple II, then Apple III. During their computer era, Steve Jobs and Wozniak came up with the computer called Lisa in 1983, Apple continued to its revolution in the computer world during the 1980s .In 1983, Steve Wozniak left the company and John Scully was hired by Steve Jobs as the President of the company. Apple continued to innovate and brought into the market new products, such as the Macintosh with the Graphic user interface (GUI) in 1984. In 1985, Steve Jobs left the company and John Scully was appointed as the new CEO. By the late 1980s, Apple faced big competitions from Microsoft, Which made Apples share to decrease drastically and forced John Scully out. In 1997, Gilbert Amelio was appointed as the new CEO and under his management, Apple, bought NextStep, and with its operating system, Apple made huge improvement and got back on the track. Steve Jobs was taken back in Apple in 1996, when the deal was officialised to buy NextStep Company. Jobs was reappointed as the current CEO when shareholders lost confidence in Mr Amelio. Jobs brought back many changes in Apple which has change its future in the company. Some examples are, In 2000, Apple presented the ibook, iMac and came up with the Ipod 2003 and lately, the iPhone was launched followed by the Mac book in 2009 and in 2010, the iPad was created. Apple is an American multinational corporation that designs and manufactures consumer electronics, computers software, personal computers. The companys best known hardware products include the Macintosh computers, the ipod, the iphone and the ipad. Apple software includes the Mac OSX operating system, the itunes media browser amongst others. Apple operates in around 284 retail stores and has an online store where, hardware and software products are sold. In 2010, Apple was recognised as the most technological company in the world. MISSION AND VISION STATEMENT Apple[1] Apples motto, Think Differently, is a concept that the company is doing very well by constantly innovating that continues to define the world of computer design. Other computer manufacturers have attempted for decades to replicate the icon classic appeal of Apple design, but none have succeeded in the manner of Apple. Apple mission is to produce high quality, low cost, easy to use products that incorporate high technology for the individual. We are proving that high technology does not have to be intimidating for the non computer experts METHODOLOGY The authors primary research was done by attending a series of Strategic Planning and implementation, which were given by Mr Bruno Alba, lecturer, London School of Management and Science The secondary research has been undertaken in order to gain extensive knowledge, from range of publications and news papers and by facts available on the internet. CHAPTER 1 STRATEGIC PLANNING MODEL FOR APPLE-IPAD The relative importance of a strategic plan for APPLE Corporation. The general idea of the strategic planning is based on the strategy development processes which are described below: 1. Intended Strategy Development: The intended strategy development comprises of some tool or frameworks that are being used by the managers of an organisation for the formulation of strategic analysis and evaluation and these factors are being used as well by managers for strategic planning purposes. 2. Strategic Planning Systems A strategic plan is set out to develop or coordinate the organisations strategy. According to some studies conducted by Rob Grant, the strategic planning is done in accordance to some process which is as follows: 2.1 Initial guidelines The strategic plan will depend upon some guidelines about the external environment. 2.2 Business level Planning This is where the business units or divisions draw up strategic plans to present to the corporate centre who will in turn discuss with the business managers and then decisions will be agreed at a certain point in time. 2.3 Corporate planning level The corporate plan will be the aggregation of the business plans. This coordination may be undertaken by a corporate planning department and then the corporate board will approve the corporate plan. 2.4 Financial and strategic targets These are aspects about the basis for performance monitoring of businesses key strategic priorities based on the plan. (Gerry Johnson et al.., 2009) Apple has come up with many new products during its existence and is continuing to innovate within the computer and technology industry. The ipad is the latest product that Apple has launched and it has done this to sustain growth and keep pace with the innovation world. Therefore, we can deduce, that the Ipad is part of the technology push, i.e, Apple, launching the product and partly, market pull whereby, launching a product according to market demand. The strategy for Apple was firstly, to be able to bring a new product, which was the new version of the product iphone in order to attain customers needs specifically the businessmen and journalists. However, there is an open demand, for the students and retired workers. Apples main competitor such as Amazon.com has brought into the market, the Kindle, with which now users can buy and access online books for reading instead of buying them physically. On the other hand, the strategy of Apple was to adapt the same concept of Amazon and use it in a different way to create another version which was the ibooks and which led Apple to create as well its online bookstore. THE IPAD hero_20100430[1] The iPad is regarded as a high value product that Apple is offering to their users. Apple vision was to win over the market of Smartphones users and laptops. The ipad, is a tablet computer, designed and made by Apple for internet browsing, media consumption, gaming and light content creation amongst many others. The ipad was launched in April 2010 and has the option of using the WIFI system of 3G date connection to browse the internet, load and stream media amongst many others. Apple developed the ipad with an improved functionality of the iphone. It also come with several applications such as the safari, mail, photos, video, you tube, ipods and itunes amongst many others. (http://apple-listing.com, http://enwikipedia.org/wiki/ipad) Below are some pictures of the latest IPADS: 220px-Steve_Jobs_with_the_Apple_iPad_no_logo[1] 220px-Apple_iPad_Event02[1] CHAPTER 2 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS OF APPLE APPLE SUCCESSFUL FACTOR The critical success factors are those factors which determine the success or failure of a company. According to Steve Jobs the CEO of Apple Inc, the company needs nine success factors out of which six are already in place as felt by the company that is what they already mastered and the other three as what they are still working on. Mastered Factors Concept. Apples is selling billions of dollars of product and theyre extending into the digital hub. New Product Pipeline. Apple is an innovative company. They have over 2,000 employees in their engineering groups who work towards developing high quality new products such as the ipods, iphone and now the ipad. Financing. Apple has the necessary financing with over $4 billion in the bank to carry out their operations. Marketing/Brand Names. Apple spends hundred million a year on advertising and has one of the most recognizable name brands in the world. Supply Chain Management. Apple is one of the best companies in the world at supply chain management and logistics, and they know how to extend into retail. Their retail stores are viewed as extra warehouses in the current system, so there is one supply chain group for the whole company. Information Systems. Apple has already built an IS system for its stores on top of its global ISP system. (www.apple.com) Less Experience factors However, there were three success factors at which Apple had no or less previous experience: real estate, store design, and store operation. Regarding real estate, Apple knew that the old adage of location, location, location was on target and the company realized that destination locations such as Best Buy and Office Depot wont work for the 95% of non-Mac computer users. Theyve got to ambush that 95% by being where theyre already at, by locating in high-traffic gathering places, such as malls, hip streets, and the new lifestyle centres, such as coffee shops, Jobs said. Were going to put our Apple stores in top tier locations. As for Store Design, Apple wanted a concept that would fit the needs of its customers and would showcase its products, but which would also be flexible enough for change and growth. To come up with the best concept, Apple actually built a prototype in a Warehouse. The result, according to Jobs is a solutions-focused store. When it comes to Store Operations, Apple realized it had to deliver a fantastic experience, the CEO said. That meant the right stores at the right place with great merchandise, incredible employees, and operational excellence, according to Ron Johnson, Apples new senior vice president of retailing. (www.apple.com) CHAPTER 3 ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANISATION AND ITS EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT Strategic planning is an important factor in determining success and many methods can be used, such as the SWOT analysis, the PESTEL analysis, and the STEER analysis amongst many others. Some of the external factors will be discussed this chapter, Our analysis is based on the Porters Five forces and SWOT analysis. The SWOT analysis will determine the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of APPLE. Firstly, some of the strengths of Apple are: Apple is one of the oldest hardware manufacturers and this give Apple a competitive edge over its competitors. It has control over the product it is making and their quality is optimum. It has products such as the iphones, ipods, laptops, which are easy to carry. It has a loyalty brand, i.e., users are still loyal to its products. Finally, Apple has a very strong RD department, which spend time and resources in the development of new and existing products. Secondly, some of the weaknesses of Apple are: Apple market share is far behind competitor Microsoft. The products are quite expensive Apple has also complaints from customers. Therefore, causing the companys reputation and image to be spoiled. Thirdly, we can look at the different opportunities of Apple which are: Apple is looking to get into new and less expensive products lines and produce quality products. It has a flexibility to its users Apples ipods products are now being used in new designed car models , therefore increasing the demand of the ipod Finally, the online sales are increasing and Apple are targeting new segments of the market. Lastly, we can look at the different threats of Apple which are: There is the pressure from competitors and the users are going for other products from other manufacturers. Technology is changing at a rapid rate thus Apple has to create products that will keep pace with the technology growth, such as the ipads. Competitors launching products such as Microsoft with vista and windows 7,all this making Apple to bring new products to sustain growth. Porter Five Forces Analysis on Apple i-pad Bargaining power of Buyers Apple is well known as an innovative company and there is a high demand for their products. Though buyers find many substitutes in the market for Apple products, they still attract to it because of the brand name and the uniqueness of its products which makes Apple a very profitable company. However regarding i-pad the buyers are somewhat more powerful. Somehow there will be alternatives for the i-pad in near future. Because of the relatively high price of the i-pad, it is a question whether the buyers will pay a premium for the brand reputation of Apple and its technology when their needs may be equally met by cheaper alternatives. Bargaining power of Suppliers Apple is mainly concentrated on design and marketing and they outsource the manufacturing of most of their products. Therefore it can be affected by the pricing of suppliers and costs because of the availability of raw materials. And also changes in minimum wage for labours can have effects on Apple. But due to the strong demand for apple products it has more power over its suppliers. Regarding i-pad even Apple outsource the parts which use to manufacture the i-pad, the software is the unique factor that brings all those parts together. Therefore the parts themselves are not that important as they as are readily available form many sources. Therefore in that case also Apple has more power over its suppliers. Threat of New Entrants Apple had many barriers to entry in the development of the i-pad but at the same time they must worry about the potential competitors like Google and Microsoft who are conquering as well. Economies of scale- As Apple already had experience in manufacturing mass market consumer electronic devices which also share components of the i-pad; Apple is not badly affected by this barrier. Product Differentiation- As the i-pad is significantly different than its competitors; overall this characteristic has positive effects on Apple. And also Apple has a certain amount of protection through the strength of its brand identity. But this product differentiation can be imitated to a certain amount by its competitors. Capital Requirement- regarding capital requirement, Apple enjoys a slight advantage. To compete with the i-pad effectively, competitors will have to invest immensely in certain areas. Cost disadvantages- Apple is able to reduce the impact of this threat as it has a number of manufacturing resources and channels available. But the new entrants may find these barriers as they have not got these resources. And also apple has invested a lot in knowledge and experience which will take time for its competitors to reach. Government policies- Apple was granted the ownership of patent for the i-phone and i-pad, which will give them, short term monopoly rights on some of its technology. It will stop their competitors imitating the product too closely. Threat of Substitutes Apple has been granted patent to the i-pad and its technology. However it is still likely that competitors in the market will soon deliver similar products. Most of the threats are going to come from the established players in the technology industry like HP and Sony and from potential competitors like Google and Microsoft. Competitive Rivalry Apple is mainly concentrated on design and marketing and is fairly vertically integrated towards customers. They do most of their business in their retail locations and on line stores. Because of this concentration on the customers and also as it is better equipped, Apple is able to compete with horizontal players like HP or Sony who are not as vertically integrated towards the consumers. It gives Apple an opportunity to create customer focused products which many of none vertically integrated players are not so good at. (http://www.csribd.com/doc/16788046/appleporters-five-force) CHAPTER 4 STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES AND OPTIONS OF APPLE STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES: Apple has a particular status; it doesnt have a listed set of objectives. All through our research, our group acknowledges that Apple always struggle to launch a new product in the market. Based on the executive overview of Apples report 2010 we can come out with a strategic objectives for their product named I pad. -To be the king of high-tech of Wall-Street -Increase their market value (get on over Microsoft), have over  £151 billion of market value. I pad is designed as a new generation of technology which to take over e-book and personal computer. That is to dethrone Microsoft at the king of high-tech By innovating in hardware which come obviously with its software, Apple compete with Microsoft who have a urge dominance on personal computer software, the launch of the Ipad announce the decline of the lap top computer. ( www.apple.com) Strategic options For an organization to have good success there is a need of having good strategic options. Strategic options are creative action-oriented responses to the external situation that an organization faces. Strategic options take advantage of facts and actors, trends, opportunities and threat of the outside world. It helps to identify and make a preliminary screening of alternative strategic options or perspectives. Strategic options for Apple iPad is to provide their clients with thorough and reliable information that may help enhance even the knowledge and skills. By doing so customers are able to page through websites, write emails, and flick through photos or watch movie, all on a big beautifully multi-touch screen. Another strategy is to have a continuous leap in technological advancements and a new or upgraded offering on average every six months. In order to have good strategies the apple company thought of what might give a continued competitive advantage and what markets should they enter and how. Which strategic options optimally fit the needs of the target group, the institutional options and aspiration of the stake holders, what supportive interventions are required to succeed in that option and threats? Apple on its product iPad focused on customer experience, they made a product which has no need of mouse, a keyboard configuration screens, and other advanced options such as touch screen. Strategic options help to make the vision into reality. SWOT analysis helps to get a better understanding of the strategic choices that company need. Strategy is the art of determining how one will win in business and life. It helps to make the most of companys strength circumvent their weaknesses, Capitalize on your opportunities and manage their threats. CONCLUSION Though Apples strategic model cannot be said, to be distinct, they are poised on taking Amazon and Microsoft head on. Their new products for example, ipad, suggests to be a real one in all product for the consumers. Apple success factors suggest that they have the ability and capability to become the market leaders. The major success factor being innovation. Behind their ability to innovate its strong research and development department. The latest product of Apple, the Ipad, however targeted on, the retired people and journalists, has received acceptance from the youth, students and the rest of the population giving Apple, a grab of the market. REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAGHY Exploring corporate strategy, 8th edition, Gerry Johnson et al.. http://www.csribd.com/doc/16788046/appleporters-five-force http://www.samples-help-org.uk/mission-statements/apple.computer-mission-statement http://apple-listing.com http://dudye.com/sneaking-intro-ipad http://enwikipedia.org/wiki/ipad http://www.apple.com

Societies Case for Censorship. :: essays research papers

Pornography and obscenity is all we see and hear about today in the news, with no exception to most movies and even TV. As of 12 years old this issue strikes a bigger interest than in the past. When I flip through the channels and see the news or watch a TV show there is something always on that a younger child should not be watching or learning about unless they are older. When the world censorship is thrown around it is a very controversial issue with the rights of the people and the way the company’s want to present their product.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Irving Kristol wrote his article â€Å"Pornography, obscenity and the case for Censorship† he was putting down his views and his opinions the topic of censorship and all the other obscenities in the world. Kristol is proposing a very conservative and clean way to view American literature with all its freedoms to publish what ever is wanted. When reading his article it brings up many different points such as her main point of; â€Å"for the plain fact is that we all believe that there is a point at which the public authorities ought to step in to limit the ‘self-expression’ of an individual or a group†(604), this is exactly the way I feel on the topic.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When reading this article you have to look at the central claim that the author is making and agree with him or disagree. when going through this reading there where areas of its claims that have you thinking about our society and culture as a whole, that we are a species that loves its different types of uncensored media as well as its pornography and violence in their sports and everyday lives, â€Å"no society can be utterly different to the ways that its citizens publicly entertain themselves. Bearbaiting and cockfighting are prohibited only in part out of compassion for the animals; the main reason is that such spectacles were felt to debase and brutalize the citizenry who flocked to witness them† (604).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When Kristol speaks about his ideas of censorship; his claim that one day, not now but someday soon that the government is going to have to take this issue of censorship within a society and place in their hands. In essence Kristol is saying that this issue of censorship is not being carried out forcefully enough and it is hurting our society in the long run.

Land Cover And Climate Change In Minnesota Environmental Sciences Essay

Anthropogenic land usage alteration is an of import issue in planetary alteration surveies. Population growing has resulted in an of all time increasing demand for nutrient, which is in bend resulted in a world-wide enlargement and intensification of cropland and grazing land ( Turner et al. , 1990 ) . Most of the clip, this enlargement took topographic point at the cost of natural primary grassland and wood ( Goldewijk, 2001 ) . Changes in land screen have considerable impact on local and regional clime, including regional air temperature, hydrological cycling and biogeochemical cycling. Vegetation features like rooting deepness, canopy denseness, flora tallness and evaportranspiration rate ( stomata conductance ) can all impact the regional clime. Land screen alteration can modify the land surface reflective power, therefore change the energy balance of the Earth surface. Both leaf colour and canopy denseness contribute to albedo. If the homo induced cropland/pasture has higher reflective power, so the Earth surface will reflect more solar radiation and absorb less. The surface temperature of the Earth will be reduced, frailty versa. Cropland normally has higher evaportranspiration rate than natural grassland. Thus an country modified from natural grassland to cropland, for illustration, may increase the local H2O vaporization rate. The dirt will be drier due to higher evaportranspiration rate, but it is difficult to state if the precipitation will increase or diminish in this part harmonizing to increased H2O vaporization rate, because it is depending on the air circulation form of this part, excessively. The hydrological rhythm and the energy rhythm are non independent from each other. The stage alteration of H2O affect the energy rhythm through absorbing and let go ofing latent heat. Wind form may alter due to set down screen alteration. When a natural wood is cut down to turn harvests, for illustration, the surface raggedness will be mostly changed. Wind velocity within this part, as a consequence, will increase because of decreased shear emphasis & A ; Acirc ; at the surface. Change of land screen besides affects the green house emanation of the ecosystem to the ambiance.2. Evidences of Land Cover Change of Minnesota over the past 300 old ages2.1 Historical archiveIn 1837, land of Minnesota was purchased from the Sioux Indians around the St. Croix River. Lumbermans and husbandmans settled the first little towns of Minnesota, including St. Paul, St Anthony ( Minneapolis ) , and Stillwater. In late 1800s, wheat farms were started in southern Minnesota and Minneapolis became one of the universe & A ; acirc ; ˆâ„ ¢s taking flour centres. In 1878, 68.98 % of tilled land in Minnesota devoted to wheat production, the high point for wheat husbandmans in Minnesota.2.2 Land SurveySurveyors puting out Minnesota ‘s public land study system in 1848-1907 recorded the size and species of the larger trees they used as markers ( bearing trees ) , every bit good as general descriptions of the physical geographics of the landscape they traversed. Although non a complete flora study, the General Land Office records provide much valuable item about how the province looked at the clip of European colony. Figure 1 describes land screen informations from the mid-1800s, as recorded at the clip of European colony. & A ; Acirc ; The southern and western parts of the province are natural prairie. Oak gaps and aspen-oak lands, in assorted sunglassess of brown, expanse from the Northwest to the sou'-east. The northern wood in northeast portion of the province is a rag carpet of leafy vegetables, blues, violet-pinks, and greies. mnorveg.gif Figure 1 Minnesota Early Settlement Vegetation. Before Settlement, the West lodger and southwest portion of Minnesota is largely covered by prairie. Beginning: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.mngeo.state.mn.us/chouse/land_use_historic.html & A ; Acirc ; This map is besides known as the Marschner map. It outlines merely how much of the province was one time wet prairie, oak gaps, Big Woods, assorted hardwood, or any of a twelve other vegetive types that have been absolutely changed by 19th- and 20th-century human habitation.2.3 Proxy informationsFossil pollen informations are chiefly a placeholder for works copiousnesss and community composing. Pollen records have been used to gauge the flora alterations over North America ( Grimm, 2001 ; Williams et al. , 2007 ; Wright et al. , 2004 ) ; unluckily, pollen informations have been of small usage peculiarly for the appraisal of human impacts on flora and land screen ( Anderson et al. , 2006 ; Gaillard et al. , 2008 ) . Alternatively, Goldewijk 2001 used human population denseness as a proxy index to gauge the planetary cropland distribution and generated a planetary land screen alteration map during last 300 twelvemonth ( Figure 2 ) . past 300 years.png Figure 2 Global Land screen alteration during last 300 old ages adapted from ( Goldewijk, 2001 ) .If expression at Upper Midwest of United States, we can see that the biggest alteration happened between 1800 and 1900, which is precisely the clip of European Settlement.2.4 Modern land screen in Minnesota and decision of Land usage alterationThe land screen of Minnesota in 2000 is shown in Figure 3. Up to 44 % of the province is taken up by agricultural land. Most of the prairie in Figure 1 has been changed into harvest land. We can seldom see original native prairie now in this province. MN2000.png Figure 3 Land Cover of Minnesota in 2000. Beginning: hypertext transfer protocol: //lakesandland.umn.edu/browse.html Based on the historical archive, land study and placeholder informations, we can reason that the land screen of Minnesota experienced a monolithic alteration from native prairie to cropland largely in the West lodger and southwest portion of the province. This is largely due to anthropogenetic alteration during early colony.3. Evidences of Climate Change of Minnesota over past 300 old ages3.1 Historical ArchiveIn 1894, a monolithic wood fire caused by distinct logging dust encompasses Hinckley, MN. In 1899, Minnesota ‘s timber industry reaches its extremum. In 1900, Virginia, Minnesota destroyed by fire once more. In 1918, Cloquet and Moose Lake, Minnesota are destroyed by fire. From historical archive, we can deduce that in early 1900s, Minnesota was dry. Fire frequence additions if the environing air is drier. If this premise is right, so we can inquire the inquiry: Is land screen change the cause of this waterlessness in early 1900 in Minnesota?3.2 Instrumental informationsInstrumental information in this part goes back to 1890. Although there is no clime informations before colony, we can still acquire an thought how the clime looks like after the colony. For air temperature, we can see that the fluctuation of province broad one-year mean temperature has increased from 40.5oC to around 42oC during the last 120 old ages. The inter-annual fluctuation is about 0.4oC. Although the tendency is acquiring heater, the hottest twelvemonth did non demo up late but was 1932, around 0.5oC above normal. instrumental temperature.png Figure Minnesota province averaged one-year temperature. Red line is one-year temperature. Solid green line is mean over the full period. Dashed green line is the standard divergence. The bluish stars are the running means. This information is from Minnesota province climatology office-DNR Division of Ecological and Water Resources, University of Minnesota. Link: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/divplot1_form.pl? 2106 instrumental precipitation.png Figure 5 Instrumental informations of Minnesota one-year precipitation. Symbols are the same as in Figure 4. Precipitation dropped dramatically in the period of 1895 to 1935. After that precipitation bit by bit increased to a normal value. The bead of precipitation in late 1800s and early 1900s may hold something to make with the land screen alteration. However, we need more grounds to turn out that. We need the clime record before colony to compare with the instrumental information to see if this tendency from 1895 to 1935 is caused by land screen alteration or clime fluctuation. In order to reply the inquiry how land screen alteration has an impact on the regional clime in Minnesota, we need to happen alternate tools and proxy informations.4. Possible placeholder informations and tool that could be used in this survey4.1 Stable C isotope of tree rings The inter-annual waterlessness wetness differences and the microclimate displacement during a turning season have impacts on the tree ring stable isotope signature. There are two stable isotopes for C: 12C and 13C. Due to their different neutron Numberss, they have different weight. When workss carry oning photosynthesis, it is easier for them to repair the lighter carbon- 12C, and left more and more 13C in the air. This is called favoritism consequence. This favoritism consequence gives the works a more negative isotope signature: . The isotope signature is calculated as: . Here means the sample we are examine ( e.g. tree pealing fragment ) . is a invariable, which is a planetary criterion that all of the isotope ratios over the universe can compare to. When the environing air becomes drier, the works pore will be smaller to forestall H2O loss. This besides prevents CO2 from come ining the works leaves. Under this circumstance, the works will cut down its favoritism consequence, which makes itself more positive ( Figure 6, Leavitt, 2007 ) . isotope.png Figure 6 The relationship between C isotope ratio and regional waterlessness 4.2 Using Model to imitate how land screen alteration will impact regional clime Numeral surveies have been focused on how land screen alteration will modify local to regional clime. Among other surveies, Bonan 1997 utilizing LSM1.0 coupled with an atmospheric general circulation theoretical account to imitate effects of land usage alteration on the clime of United States. He considered non merely the grassland to cropland transition in cardinal North America, but besides deforestation and harvest planting in the Eastern United States. What he has found, nevertheless, is a small spot different from our hypothesis: dampening of the near-surface ambiance by 0.5 to 1.5 g kg1 over much of the United States in spring and summer. These alterations in surface temperature and wet extend good into the ambiance, up to 500 megabit, and impact the boundary bed and atmospheric circulation.DrumheadTo reason, land usage alteration affects on regional clime from different facets. In order to understand how land usage alteration in Minnesota has modified the regional clime, more proxy information is needed to widen the instrumental information thirster. Besides, theoretical accounts can be used to prove our apprehension of the mechanism, besides give us opportunity to retrace the old clime.

Center5812100 Essays - Economy Of Kazakhstan, Economy, Free Essays

Center5812100 Essays - Economy Of Kazakhstan, Economy, Free Essays center5812100 Development of measures to implement controlling in the management system of investment projects of Samruk-Kazyna Invest LLP Location: Astana Course Code: TOP101 Course Name: Business Research Professor: Dr Oliver Elliott Student(s) Name(s): Nurzhan Sikhimov 1. Research proposal The theme of my research is "Will the introduction of a controlling system in the management of investment projects of Samruk-Kazyna Invest LLP be effective?" The relevance of the chosen topic is that today the issue of improving the management system of companies' activities is acute. We have chosen one of the most promising enhancements to the effectiveness of the management system, this is the introduction of controlling, as a modern toolkit that is gaining popularity all over the world. The purpose of our study was to study and analyze the development of practical measures to introduce controlling in the investment project management system. The work is the result of a study, where the materials of practical research clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of the process of implementing projects controlling in the investment activity of the company with application in practice. The entry of Kazakhstan into the world economic space gives impetus to the improvement of the management system at the largest companies of the country. The condition for the formation of a successful state, its strong economy and huge human potential is itself the development of a high level of innovation and variability, as well as the search for new approaches in the management, monitoring and subsequent forecasting of companies' activities. We can confidently say that in the current conditions of reforming the country's economy, the application of the controlling system that we offer becomes an integral part of the process of forming competitive enterprises and companies, as well as a competitive state. The thoughtless introduction of foreign experience in the management of companies in the companies of the CIS countries, based on the still not fully formed conditions of the developing economy, did not give the desired effect. Hence, the need arose to find new effective ways of managing. Our analysis of this problem demonstrates the inadequacy of its study in the work of economists and specialists in the field of management. In the course of the study, it became clear that there was a need for comprehensive and comprehensive monitoring and, accordingly, analysis of the activities of companies without which it is impossible to manage complex economic processes and make rational decisions. Therefore, we conducted a detailed study and systematization of methodological approaches to project management and, as a result, the application of the controlling we propose. Given the development of market relations, a particular influence of a number of factors on the control, management and adoption of important decisions will increase: competitive struggle, universal computerization in the process of processing economic information, constant processes of introducing amendments to the tax system of countries and so on. All indicators of the company's activities can be obtained by making an objective control and analysis, through which the actual position of the company is evaluated, and as a result, a reasonable objective allocation of all resources: material, labor and financial, with the introduction of innovative achievements in scientific and technological progress, productive forms of management and management of the company's production, activation of entrepreneurship, and mobilization of previously unused reserves. Formation and development of controlling in Kazakhstan is conditioned by unified objective requirements and conditions, satisfaction of practical needs and solution of many theoretical issues in project management. In our study, we will consider the activities of one of the largest investment company of Kazakhstan - Samruk-Kazyna Invest LLP, which manages and monitors investment projects in Kazakhstan. Within the framework of this company, there is a need to reorganize the control system for investment projects, to improve this process and increase the effectiveness of the activities undertaken to increase sustainability, and the level of competitiveness. Thus, the study of the conceptual framework and identification of the problems of implementing the controlling system in project management in the investment activities of Kazakhstan companies made it possible to determine the importance and necessity of their solution, search and make recommendations for practical impleme ntation. 2. Literature Review The study of the problems of formation and development

Essay on INTERNATIONAL MARKETING

Essay on INTERNATIONAL MARKETING Essay on INTERNATIONAL MARKETING Essay on INTERNATIONAL MARKETINGThe most important task of strategic management is to establish and maintain a dynamic interaction of the organization with its environment, designed to provide it with a competitive advantage, which is achieved by providing a product to the customer. Therefore, marketing objective occupies the position of one of the leading strategic management functions. For a number of organizations, depending on what goals they pursue and what strategy they implement, marketing is a key feature to ensure their successful operation. Moreover, companies turn to a management philosophy, according to which a company must focus its activity completely on customer needs (market driver management) and not try to make convenient products trying to sell it. Therefore, marketing becomes something more than just a separate function of management.Marketing is increasingly used all areas of business activity of the company. Thus, marketing plays a special role in the strategic management, significantly beyond the scope of functions of sales and demand analysis.Local marketing researchToday, setting new ambitious goals, every company faces many problems inherent to the market economy. The real problem of doing business has become the problem of finding effective demand. It is not enough to only produce goods, it is necessary to organize the work in such a way to make a profit from the sale of this product.Local marketing research is a systematic search, collection, analysis and presentation of data and information related to a particular market situation, which the company faces in its country (Lipovetsky, Magnan, Zanetti-Polzi,  2011).The objectives of marketing research:Searching goal collecting information for a preliminary assessment of the problem and its structuring;Descriptive goal description of the selected events, research subjects and the factors affecting their condition;Causal purpose check of the hypothesis of a causal relationship;Test objectives selection of promising options or assessment of the correctness of decisions;Forward-looking goals prediction of the state of the object in the future.The principal feature of marketing research, distinguishing it from the collection and analysis of internal and external current information, is its target aim to solve a particular problem or set of problems of marketing.Each company determines the topics and scope of marketing research according to its capabilities and needs in marketing information, so the types of marketing research conducted by various companies can be different.Iinternational marketing reserchThe term international marketing research refers to the collection, analysis and reporting on clearly defined problem of the operation of companies in foreign markets. International marketing research of different depth and breadth of coverage and the underlying information base are the base for all decisions (Webster, Lusch,   2013).Before entering interna tional markets and creating information marketing base, a company should collect information about the overall status and trends:1) industry of manufacturing products,2) countries, which are producers and consumers of these products,3) individual manufacturers, consumers and resellers.The study of international markets is based on the following characteristics:1) products (industries, types of products, manufacturers, methods and forms of sales and service of products)2) consumers (industries, types of products, manufacturers and buyers, goals and methods of consumption)3) location of the market (region, country, territory).On the first stage of international market research, a company should study the broadest possible segment, that is the world market of the product. It must collect information about what companies in which countries produce, trade and consume this type of product and services (Mihaela,  2010).The similarities and the differences between local and international marketing researchLocal and international marketing research are very similar, as they have almost the same goals and objectives, as well as methods of conducting research. Both types of studies provide a comprehensive study examining objects such as the market, consumers, and competitors. Local and international marketing research have the same scheme of marketing research, which involves the following steps:Defining a problem, objectives and methods.Developing research plan.Data collection and analysis.Interpretation of the results and giving them to the management of organization.Differences between local and international marketing research is that the evaluation of the international marketing environment is carried out mainly from the standpoint of economic purchasing power of the population in various countries, the levels of its income, industrial structure, orientation of the economy (agricultural, raw materials, etc.), overall level of economic development (Levy, 2012). Nev ertheless, a potential exporter or importer should explore political and legal environment of the country: stability of government, its laws in relation to the economic sphere (quotas, restrictions, confiscation of property of foreign businessmen, foreign exchange controls). This may also include the availability of market information, organization of statistics, work of customs and tax authorities. Social culture of the country should also be a subject of international marketing research. Local marketing research does not include these questions.The steps of marketing researchMarketing research process consists of several stages.Defining the problem and research objectives. It is difficult to start any research before the problem is determined. Stage of recognition and definition of the problem is the first step in the process of finding solutions. Failure to comply with the tasks of sales, a growing number of unpaid bills and low turnover are the signals or symptoms of more seriou s problems. Researchers should recognize and identify the problems behind these symptoms. Incorrect definition of the problem can lead to wrong decisions. Objectives are derived from market research to formulate the problem. Objectives should be clearly and precisely defined, and be sufficiently detailed, it should be possible to measure them and evaluate their level of achievement.Definition of the objects of research.When a problem is defined, it is possible to formulate the research problem. As a rule, the study includes a solution to one of the four objectives: to develop, describe, test hypotheses and predict. The study is carried out to develop when you need to get more information on the issue and more clearly formulate hypotheses. Research to describe the problem is held when it is necessary to describe objects such as market, define their characteristics based on statistical data. If the task of marketing research is testing the hypothesis of relationship between the indepe ndent and dependent variables, companies conduct research to identify the causes of the emergence of the problem.Development of a research plan. The creation of a research project is perhaps the most important step in the process of marketing research. Research project is a general plan of marketing research. It defines the requirements for a variety of data and its collection, processing and analysis. This stage includes not only the choice of certain methods of marketing research and development of specific tasks within the market research. At this stage, researcher determines the need for information, type of required information, sources and methods of its collection.Data collection. From the perspective of the process, there are at least three alternative approaches to data collection: by the staff of marketing service, by the specially created group or with the involvement of companies that specialize in data collection. The process of gathering information is usually the most expensive phase of the study. Furthermore, it may have a sufficiently large number of errors during implementation.Analysis of the data. It begins with the transformation of raw data (error checking, encoding, representation in matrix form). This allows transferring a lot of raw data into meaningful information.Presentation of the results. Results of the research are presented in the form of the final report and submitted to the management of the company (Shaw, 2012).From national to international marketingDevelopment of international economic relations, primarily on the basis of the international division of labor, is the characteristic process in todays global community. These are objective, stable commercial relations between individual countries or groups of countries.Essentially, each country in addition to conducting internal trade tends to carry foreign trade, implying a complex mechanism of relations arising in the process of sale of goods and services in the international market. Development of the international cooperation significantly increases the tendency towards the internationalization of economic processes, promotes international specialization and cooperation in production, trade, exchange of scientific and technological developments.International marketing is a response to the world of commercial processes such as growth and expansion of partnerships in the international market, increase of production capacity, quick update of product range, frequent changes in the nature and structure of the market demand, market fluctuations, increased competition, increased and improved quality of information support. International marketing provides a systematic, ongoing, active involvement in the international market at different stages of the promotion of commercial products (services) to the consumer. That is why we should distinguish the concept of international marketing from the concepts of sale and export, since the latter consists in the fact th at sellers are limited to delivery of its products to foreign importing companies. At the same time, suppliers are generally not interested in how consumers are satisfied in these products. A distinctive feature of international marketing is a complete and clear orientation on foreign consumers, the desire to satisfy their needs and requirements.Marketing research is a necessary condition for the success of the company in international markets at all stages of its operation and product life cycle. The better boundaries and objectives of the study are defined, the more useful received information is, and the more accurate calculations are. They help to better understand and adapt to the needs of the buyer, determine the best value for money and quality of the goods, find new customers, find a way to draw attention to your company and products. Market conditions are constantly changing, so there is a need for such work all the time, which greatly increases the effectiveness of company on the international markets (Mihaela,  2010).ExamplesThere are many examples of successful marketing of companies operating in the domestic and foreign markets. Here are some of them.Marlboro. Marlboro invented pack of cardboard with flip-top lid, which are now standard package of cigarettes not in order to demonstrate innovation or design ideas but for promotional purposes. Smokers were able to pull out cigarettes from soft packs without removing them from the pocket, so others did not see the brand. Flip-tops made smokers take the pack out of the pocket so that everybody could see it, and the new always attracts attention.Estee Lauder. There is a beautiful legend about how Estee Lauder began selling its perfumes. The young Miss Lauder came the biggest perfume shop in New York accidentally split the bottle of her perfume on the floor. Buyers asked about the wonderful smell and store just had to sign a contract with Estee Lauder.Heinz. In 1896, Henry Heinz was walking around New York and saw an advertisement of shoe store, which offered clients 21 style of shoes. By analogy, he decided to write on their ketchup and sauces 57 options. This number had nothing to do with the actual figures range, but Heinz liked it. And it impressed buyers.Harley-Davidson. The most famous manufacturer of motorcycles in the world holds the first place in terms of branded tattoos for more than a dozen years. It all began with the fact that Harley announced impressive discounts on bikes for those who would come to buy a motorcycle with a tattoo in the form of its logo.One of the largest tobacco companies,  «R. J. Reynolds International », was able to create a special Russian image. The company began to produce new cigarettes, which were called Peter I ». Until now, non-standard advertising of the company emphasizes that these cigarettes are created by Russian designers specifically for Russian consumers. Company  «R. J. Reynolds International » was able to show how eff ective PR can work in terms of the binding of marketing programs to local traditions and mentality of the target audience (Slater,   Andriopoulos, 2013).ConclusionMarketing research includes studies to support marketing activities, as well as statistical interpretation of data into information. This information is then used by managers to plan marketing activities, assess of the nature of trading environment of the company and to obtain information from suppliers. Market research use statistical methods such as qualitative and quantitative research, hypothesis testing, chi-square test, linear regression, frequency distribution, binomial distribution, etc. These methods are needed to interpret the results and transform data into information. The process of marketing research covers a number of steps, including identifying a problem, developing a plan of analysis, data collection and interpretation, presenting information in the form of a formal report. The task of market research i s to provide management with relevant, accurate, reliable and valid data.

Guam Trans-Pacific Telecommuncation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Guam Trans-Pacific Telecommuncation - Essay Example Historically, the region served as a military base for the Second World War, and since then, the importance of the island to USA has never diminished. This research paper looks at the Guam Trans-Pacific Telecommunication, drawing materials from internet sources. It looks at the history of telecommunication network of the island, its significance in the Trans-Pacific Telecommunication and roles that Guam plays in facilitating this. Introduction Historically, the importance and significance of Guam cannot be underrated. Strikingly very important to America, the island won recognition of many people. Musicians sang about Guam, while historians and scholars studied and wrote history about it. The size of the islands is quite small, with a very little population. Yet, it is highly regarded due to the military base in San Diego among other factors. Historically, Guam has served as the biggest military base in America especially in the Second World War. The military base, so big and well eq uipped, has the likelihood of controlling half of Africa and Asia by the year 2015. The importance of Guam has constantly been increasing with time. Currently, Guam is the hub of trans-pacific telecommunication. This paper will discuss the significance of Guam in the Trans-Pacific telecommunication network. Importance of telecommunication In the modern world, the importance of telecommunication cannot be underestimated. Everything happening in the world is because of proper communication networks. Effects of good communication networks cannot be underestimated. Globalization for instance entirely relies on solid telecommunication network, which facilitate cross boarder business. The many American businesses that have global in the recent past can attribute this success to the telecommunication sector. Educationally, people take online classes, and still receive support from their instructors through good communication networks. The government on the other hand remains in contact wit h the rest of the world especially its ambassadors and agents through good telecommunication networks. The government, citing the unlimited importance of telecommunication, has increasingly invested in laying down a solid telecommunication network. History of Communication System of Guam Historically, Guam had close relations with the United States. In the year 1899, the local postage stamps were overprinted â€Å"Guam† as was the norm with the former Spanish colonies. However, after this period, the trend stopped and the United States stamps started took effect ever since that time. The mailing system of the United States charges was set at a domestic fee instead of an international fee. Up to date, the island uses postage stamps of the United States, which has increasingly revolutionized the way locals of the island operate their businesses. Significance of Guam in the American Telecommunication Network According to â€Å"International Business Pub USA† (236), Guam I sland, due to its strategic geographical placement serves America in a number of ways and most significantly the current boom in the telecommunication sector. Lying in the western part of the pacific ocean and close to three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines, it Guam is one of the largest island among the Mariana group of islands archipelago, located at the furthest

Environmental Science Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Environmental Science - Research Paper Example Middle Eastern cultures also used resin, combined with beeswax, specifically because it could be chewed with a softer texture. The first gum in America was noted in as early as the 800s when spruce tree resin was taken from the bark and chewed on. This chewing gum continued to be used until the 1800s when it became a commercial product (Ford Gum, 2011). When chewing gum was first processed, it began with taking gum from spruce trees. There were also options to have a silicone base with the gum. However, neither of these options allowed for continuous manufacturing of the gum. The process used today began by Thomas Adams. Adams was introduced to chicle, a rubbery textured tree sap that is found in both Mexico and in Central America. The chicle is scrapped from the trees and immediately consists of a rubbery substance that can be chewed. The gum is then processed to make a different consistency and size. The chicle is placed in hot water until it begins to reform into a putty type of c onsistency. After the putty is made, the gum is processed into different flavors. The ingredients include sassafras and licorice, which creates the main taste for general bubble gum. Other types of gum will also add in other flavors, such as mint, peppermint or fruit flavors.

IPSec and Cryptography Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

IPSec and Cryptography - Research Paper Example IPsec is very vital since it offers numerous solutions to virtual private Networking (VPN), by giving communication security against untrusted network like the internet. Cryptography refers to the change of plaintext information into a coded form. The aim of cryptography is to offer the necessary security and frontier access to private information. This paper offers a clear discussion of the major functions of IPsec in relation to the cryptographic functions employed by the protocol suite during the packet exchange process. The paper further discusses the limitations of the IPsec in relation to the used algorithms and attacks against IPsec. Functions of IPsec There are numerous functions that the IPsec performs. First, the IPsec is used for data confidentiality. The function is achieved by the IP sec sender encrypting the data packets prior to sending them to another network. The second function is data integrity. This requires the IPsec receiver to authenticate the data packets rece ived from the IPsec sender in order to guarantee the safety of the received data packets. The third function of IPsec is data authentication. This enables the IP sec receiver to confirm the origin of the sent IPsec packets, although the success of this function relies on the data service. The replay function is the fourth function played by the IPSec (Pachghare, 2009). In the execution of this function the IP sec receiver is capable of sensing and eliminating the repeated packets. The above services are offered at the IP layer, thus they can be employed at any upper layer protocol. Such as TCP, UDP, and ICMP, just to mention a few. The IP DOI is also responsible for the provision of the IP compression; this is achieved through the encryption that is done in the IPsec. This hinders sufficient compression by the lower protocol layers (Elkelany, 2002). At the IP layer, the IPsec offers the necessary security that allows the system to choose the suitable security protocols, establish th e algorithms to be employed for the task and reorganize the cryptographic keys needed to offer the application. IPsec are capable of providing sufficient security to more than one path between a protection gateway and host (Pachghare, 2009). IP sec can establish the areas that are susceptible to attacks, thus providing the necessary security. This is achieved by configuring admission lists that are further interfaced in the crypto map sets (Pachghare, 2009). At this point the traffic may be chosen in basing on the origin and destination. There can be several users on a particular traffic, and at the same time the crypto map set might have several admission lists. In order to guarantee the security, a specific sequence must be employed when searching the crypto maps. The traffic usually tries to match the packet in order to gain admittance. When packet gain admittance to a specific data list, the corresponding crypto map is marked as Cisco and the required connections made. IPsec is usually activated whenever the crypto connection is marked as ipsec-isakmp. In the absence of the SA that the IPsec can use to provide the protection to the affected routes, the Internet Key Exchnage (IKE) is usually used to discuss with the secluded users in order to come up with the required IP sec to facilitate the smooth streaming of information. The discussions are usually based on the data specified in the crypto m

Alcohol Abuse Essay Example for Free

Alcohol Abuse Essay Alcohol abuse is perhaps one of the biggest problems in the United States today. It is not only a personal problem that dramatically affects an individual’s lives, but moreover those that surround such a life. In the essay â€Å"Under the Influence† by Scott Russel Sanders, he expresses his emotions through a poem. â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† by Theodore Roethke. â€Å"The whiskey on his breath could make a small boy dizzy; but hung on like death; such waltzing was not easy. † (258). This poem is one of many effective devices that Sanders uses to clearly and decisively convey to us the readers of how profound the effects of alcoholism are. Sanders reflects back to his childhood and explains his complex relationship with his alcoholic father and the after effects now that he is a grown up. One of Sanders memorable comments in his essay is when he states his father â€Å" He would not hide the green bottles in his tool box, would not sneak off to the barn with a lump under his coat, would not fall asleep in the daylight, would not roar and fume, would not drink himself to death, if only I were perfect† (255). What a strong point of view in a little boys mind; to think, â€Å"if only I were perfect† his father would not drink! Sanders tell us how our children experience the burden, of the effects of alcoholism. Sanders said, â€Å"Father ‘s drinking became the family secret. While growing up, we children never breathed a word of it beyond the four walls of our house† â€Å"I asked my mother if she ever spoke of his drinking to friends. ‘No, no, never’ she replied hastily. ‘I couldn’t bear for anyone to know’†(257). It must be very difficult for a family and, especially for a child not to be able to communicate their suffering to others. Sanders as a chills wasn’t able to be honest; he was force to live a lie. Another comment from Sanders was, â€Å" I hated also the Gallo brothers, Ernest and Julio, whose jovial faces shone from the labels of their wine†¦Ã¢â‚¬  †I meant to go out there and tell Ernest and Julio what they were doing to my father, and then, if they showed no mercy. I would kill them† (259) Sanders contrast the jovial faces on the wine label to the reality of his father’s fuming. character. Sanders closes with, â€Å"I still do- once a week, perhaps, a glass of wine, a can of beer, nothing stronger, nothing more. I listen for the turning of a key in my brain† (266). Sanders is comparing his drinking to his father’s drinking as an alcoholic. Unlike his father, Sanders is not an alcoholic and has the ability to control his drinking. Work Cited Sanders, Scott Russel. â€Å"Under the Influence† Fifty Great Essays Editor. Robert Diyanni. Pearson. 2011 Pages 258, 255, 257, 259.

A business analysis project for Amazon.com

A business analysis project for Amazon.com INTRODUCTION Business analysis, a process of finding the needs and problems in business and generating solutions to cater to those problems. These Solutions should focus to achieve improvements in the process, incorporation of organisational change, planning and development to set a system of operation that is result oriented and effective. There are numerous tools and techniques used depending on the situation and requirement; few are PESTEL, PORTERs model, SWOT analysis, HEPTALYSIS, MOST, CATWOE, DeBonos six thinking hats, MoSCoW, five whys, VPEC-T and more; however only few of the above tools are used, very frequently in critical analysis at the initial stages. ABSTRACT In this case we analyze as how Amazon.com has been performing off late, using the tools mentioned above. The advantages and disadvantages Amazon.com has over their competitors, where they have been lagging, their financial performance and strategic approach. Critical analysis will be done on their business environment and strategic approach to highlight any possible shortfalls and to provide with appropriate recommendations for improvements. Internal and external analysis will be undertaken to determine their marketing strategy, their response to global e-retailing industry. COMPANY PROFILE Amazon.com based in Washington and found by Jeff Bezos in 1994 is global leader in e-commerce and it was the first company to introduce the concept of selling goods on the Internet. Initially Amazon.com started as an online bookstore and its success led Amazon to diversify into other products such as gifts, music, electronics, groceries, toys and many more. Probably today there is no product that Amazon.com doesnt sell. Amazon.com has developed different internet portal sites for different countries such as Canada, UK, Germany, France, China and Japan. Amazon.com was named after worlds largest river Amazon and was assigned with a logo of an arrow starting from A to Z representing the customer satisfaction as the highest priority and fill their store houses with every product in the alphabet. Amazon.com was open for trading under NASDAQ with a symbol AMZN for the first time on 15 may, 1997 by issuing initial public offering at a price of US $ 18/share. Amazon.com in its early stages was not very successful and did not produce any profits, which made investors rethink about their portfolio, major business and process restructuring was required; they had to cut down their costs to increase the profits and were tied up from diversifying into more products, however Amazon.com survived the dot com bubble in 2000 which was the core reason for many e- businesses to close down and this was the turning point for Amazon.com after which they finally in the fourth quarter, 2001 they made their first profit which generated revenues of more than a billion$ and $ 5million profits in just 1 quarter. This led Amazon.com to prove to the world that their business model was profitable and also they popularized online shopping which was recognized by time magazine and awarded Jeff as the business person of the year. 1.3. MISSION VISION STATEMENTS Amazon.com vision: Our vision is to be earths most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online. (Amazon.com, 2010) Above statement reflects that amazon.com wants to be global leader in e-retailing business by providing the quality products at affordable price using latest technology to build the customer database and gain their loyalty towards the brand; thereby catering to the stakeholders interests and generating profits to the company. Expand themselves all over and build a virtual market place where customers can shop comfortably from at home. ANALYSIS 2.1. EXERNAL ANALYSIS The external environment also referred to as the macro-environment, plays a very important role in the operations of any business. Key environmental factors such as political, economical, social, technological, legal, etc. affect the organisations at various levels. It has become the need of the hour to consider the potential impact of the external factors on the individual organisations. (Johnson et al, 2006). 2.1.1 PESTEL analysis PESTEL analysis is conducted to determine current and future trends in political, economical, social, legal, environmental and technological environments, might influence the performance of business and what measures to be taken to avoid any shortfalls. PESTEL Factors Key Points Relevance to Amazon.com Political Government policies incorporate competition and promotion by liberalizing telecom and e-commerce legislation Increase in affordability and internet usage. Investing in national ICT infrastructures by government (Euro monitor) Reliable, faster and better internet usage for the national users. Relaxation of competition policies in industry as compared to heavy industries in EU and North American regions Expansion of markets at greater a pace by mergers and acquisitions. Economic To control inflation, interest rates varied which slows down the consumer spending in UK. Off late spending has seen a downfall in US and rise in Asian markets due to economic growth; main reason being the credit crunch and tightening the housing loan (The Times online, 2008) Opens the gates to other global markets to such as India and china. Between 2006 and 2011 e-retailing grows tremendously by rising sales over 100%. This growth is backed by increase in the number of internet users in US, which has increased approximately by 85% after 2000. (Euromonitor International from national statistics) Increase in potential customers for Amazon.com The annual disposable income exceeds US$5,000. by 2011 covering around 620 million households; of these majority will be in Asia- Pacific next to western Europe. (Euro monitor International from national statistics) Increase in potential customers for Amazon.com leading to the concept of globalization. Social Popularity and increased use of online social networking. Added advantage to market the product and the website Interface available for users to shop and the increase in number of products lead to drop in online shopping. Has to come up with a solution to reduce the security and financial risks to users. Growth of internet from 2002 to 2011 is 288.7%. 28.9% of world population use the internet (Internet World Stats, 2009) Huge market available to exploit and establish. Technological Innovation of latest technologies increased broadcasting, internet access at cheaper cost. Increase in number of users of technical devices such as mobile, iPods, TV, led for increase in internet access for online shopping. Innovations and development of high-speed internet services (broadband) has increased usage rich media applications. Rich media applications are easily available to shoppers on internet. Environmental Awareness about pollution and global warming. Reduced travel and more shopping online. Corporate social responsibility and global pressure to go green. Can incorporate concept of green within postage and packaging, methods. Legal No standard regulations governing e-retailing covering entire globe. Eg. Federal trade commission in USA and data protection act in UK. Should be well aware of both domestic and international legal laws. European E-retailing directive Could impact the cross continental growth of e-retailing considering strict regulations (Jacobson, 2008 as cited in Zugelder et al, 1999). The invention of electronic signatures Law. Removes traditional legal methodologies and instate more secure and transparent legal environment. Summary of PESTEL PESTEL factors indicate attractive global market to be exploited by Amazon.com. Asian markets have reflected tremendous growth opportunities in recent past. Advancement and usage of internet for social networking has led to new opportunities to be exploited. Amazon.com should support environment friendly actions as increased importance is been given to environment these days, also to be a true global company Amazon.com has to incorporate single global strategy which involves legalities common to all of the globe. 2.1.2 Industry competitor analysis (PORTERs Model) For any organisation the industry and competitor analysis is important as it comes handy for businesses to understand the competitive forces, market status, factors influencing, competitive strategic implementations. Porters Five Forces analysis is used to assess the attractiveness of different industries, and therefore, it can help in illustrating the sources of competition in a particular industry (Johnson et al, 2006). Porters five forces High Low Power of suppliers Suppliers retain the control as few brands and special products increase the cost down the network. For example Harry Potter books are exclusive from publisher which is an advantage for Amazon.com E- Retailing sets a stage and makes it much easier for businesses to sell products directly to consumers without any third party in-between. Power of suppliers rise if the control of certain type of products rests with one supplier than fragmented. Products available easily pose low power to suppliers and they have to act to a mower margin. Wider the market, wider is the scope for suppliers thereby increasing number of suppliers. Power of buyer Increased market competition has increased the power of buyers. Increase in number of online stores and comparison sites makes e-retailing business even more difficult. Threat of new entrants Initial capital required for such a business is very low as it doesnt involve any inventory and storage costs and will only need to implement technology Strong brand image incorporates good customer relations and trust. Since the competition is very tight the suppliers who emphasize on economies of scale and consider business turnover over profits make more business and profits in the long run Leaders in the online retail industry hold the advantage of customer loyalty and database while giving edge over the cost. Threat of Substitutes Latest marketing factors such as feel, touch, hear physical stores; makes an effect. One of the major threats to Amazon.com is online rentals instead of purchase as posed by texbookflix.com, bookrenter.com which reduces cost and pile of trash to a major extent. Internet is a global marketplace where consumers can get information and products which are much better in quality and from overseas online for no or very little cost. E-libraries, $ and pound shops mark greater threat nowadays. Mail orders, network marketing, catalogues although not very popular and effective yet pose threat to online buying Competitive Rivalry Search engine plays a major role at the consumer end for it acts as interface between seller and buyer which generates opportunities and PR to other e-retailers. Due to low initial investment costs there are a numerous affiliate online stores which are smaller still increase the competition. Summary of key findings from Porters Five Forces The competition in e-retailing industry is intense. There are number of small organizations adding frequently making the situation even worse. Main competitors to Amazon.com are BN and E-bay. The threat posed by small players and new entrants who can equally compete directly with Amazon.com is very low. When consumers consider prices of goods they also consider brand image and if they are reliable, most of customers expect quality service than just quantity and lower priced service. 2.1.3 Competitor analysis / Benchmarking Amazon.com has a wide product range and equally wide number of websites that compete with Amazon.com. Most of the e-retailers concentrate on introducing variety of products in the current available market or entering the new markets across the globe or both in order to maintain economies of scale which helps catch up with the pace of e-commerce industry. If we consider how diversified the product line is and the geographical markets catered, eBay poses direct competition to Amazon.com. However Amazon.com is the market leader in current trend and they have immediate urgency to expand both their product line and geographical reach to remain as leaders. As we can notice in the above graph, in 2006 Amazon.coms growth rate as compared to that of walmart was very low because walmart was a strong brand by then and had advantages of cross channel synergies and in-store pick up. In 2007 we observe the amazon getting closer to walmarts growth rateas they diversified into products such as music, cds, dvds, mp3 players and more; due to increased competition from these players walmart has been losing its market share continuously and however once can see that by 2008 Amazon.com is almost overtaken the walmart by providing with various offers such as free delivery and customer reviews. (Source: Data monitor) The above table shows position of Amazon.com but they are more diversified into the product line and geographically well spread. Companies like apple, hp, and dell do online retailing only for focussed group of products. However store based companies grew very strongly in 2008, but due to economical, hit not too many companies was able to survive. Amazon.com did by lowering delivery charges and provided with best offers. They also introduced ad-free TV and own download service and film streaming service in 2008 to outplay all of their competitors. Through competitor analysis it can be concluded that BN.com is the leading competitor to Amazon in lifestyle goods and books. However, Amazon has a diversified product range. Wal-Mart.com has almost similar prices as compared to Amazon but they have better product range such as pharmacy, photo printing and etc. Ebay.com also has a wider product range and better geographical reach but their concept is different to Amazon.com More competitive threat posed by Tesco, Wal-Mart as they have physical stores and eBay has better geographical reach, but however Amazon.com has option to develop the strategic alliances as they did in Japan with Lawson to capture the market. Amazon.com has to design its strategies to address these competitive threats. 2.1.4 Global internet trends Internet Usage: china, US, Germany, India, Brazil, Japan are amongst the top 5 countries where internet is used the most; Amazon.com has made its impact in all the above countries except for India. This implies and directs Amazon.com to exploit hidden opportunity in Asian market and huge business potential for future. Graph below shows the popularity of internet in the 21st century, which indicates the future of e-commerce as trends keep changing. C:UsersWELCOMEDesktoptop202010.jpeg (Source: Worldinternetstats.com) The graph below shows the dominance of Amazon.com sector wise. The balloon shows of all the business done by amazon.com majority has been in internet retailing; direct selling, vending and home shopping is almost void. This reflects the influence of internet on the business of Amazon.com. It is also seen below emerging markets and present markets where currently Amazon.com has its presence. Of all the retail sales value Amazon.com holds a very small share but then future trends look brighter as the CAGR expected is highest in India by 2011. This lays a pathway to Amazon.com as to establish themselves without any delay in India. (Source: Data monitor) (Source: Data monitor) 2.2. INTERNAL ANALYSIS Internal analysis can be conducted to determine relationship between the organizations available resources and its application to generate value proposition to the customer, it can also be used to determine the limitations, advantages and disadvantages within the organizations. 2.2.1 The Value Chain The value chain analysis helps determining the effectiveness of actions that makes organizations standout from their competitors and take a lead; i.e. activities that are difficult to duplicate. Applying the framework laid by Amit and Zott (2001) analytical objective of value chain is attaining of transaction cost economies value creation. Amazon.com focuses on reducing the costs in creating unique value to its customers. Support Activities Value creation Firm Infrastructure All of the business units are provided with central customer data warehouse; and planning functions from headquarters. Human Resource Management Amazon.com employees enjoy benefits such as stock grants, relocation allowances, paid Time off medical. Such an approach invites warehouses to be in cheaper locations yet attract skilled labour. Technology Development Amazon.com implements latest technology to leverage opportunities in digital sales such as videos, music, eBooks (The Economist, August 2006) Being able to digitize media for online download or for Search inside the book service. Usage of hardware systems to reduce cost of maintenance and compatibility Procurement Using the SBU-Book bank to maintain inventory of digital copies of books so as to make it available readily for customers on-demand and reduce time of delivery (The Economist, August 2008). Usage of recyclable cardboards for packaging. Primary Activities Inbound logistics Robust forecasting technology ensures no or very returns of goods to suppliers. Collection of customer feedback and experiences to defragment inventory and delivery controls. Operations Secure and fast online payment systems. Employ 24/7 warehouse services to meet consumer demands. Outbound logistics Built in close proximity of a robust transport system e.g. Bedfordshire fulfillment centre located next to M1. Ability to collate orders from around same locations. Marketing Sales Live customer interaction to offer suitable products at discounted prices and product mix, leaving customer feel more valued. Robust shipping price calculation and shipping all the products for the price of one. Service Free consumer friendly returns policy within 30 days on unsatisfaction, inviting consumers to try more new products. Provision to select between old and new products with price comparison 2.2.2 Financial analysis In Q4 2009, Amazon reported 42%, $9.52b rise in sales as compared to worldwide sales of previous year which was $24.51b, a mere 28% rise under the economic pressure; they also benefitted from the investments into customer services in Q3; however rise in their revenues all over the world doesnt imply high profit margins. As compared to the consistent rise in sales, the profits have been fluctuating, however their margins are very low as compared to the turnover, reason being the economies of scale and competition. (Source: GMID) Amazon.com did see a drastic rise in number of active customers in latter half of 2009, in the final quarter the average revenue/ customer rise more than $90, a mere 63% hike as compared to previous quarters. However rise in sales and number of active customers also rise their expenses significantly except for technology costs. $274m, 84% more as compared to previous quarter was spent on marketing activities. They invested money on paid search engine marketing, search engine optimization and content development. Also they entered into price war with their competitors to tie-up consumers by reducing their prices of electronic goods persuading consumers to buy from them which raised the revenues and number of customers. Amazon Global Revenue and Active Customers 2009 (www.365daysofretail.com) Amazon 2009 Expenses: Fulfillment, Technology, and Marketing (www.365daysofretail.com) Below shows a summary of balance sheet and income statements for 10 years, as we can observe amazon.com has been adding value to its stakeholders year on year where EPS has rised to 2.04 from 1.49 previous year. Amazon.com has been very consistent ear on tear however between 2005-2006 their EBIT dropped because they had high budget on marketing and investment in systems which allowed them to stay ahead of competitors. C:UsersWELCOMEDesktop11.bmp C:UsersWELCOMEDesktop12.bmp (www.msnfinance.com) Debt, Capital and gearing ratio indicates the ratio of debt to capital invested. 82% of the finance was from borrowing in 2005 which reduced to 68% in 2006 and has further reduced dramatically. Debts lead to the interest payments decreasing the profit margin, however if the cost of debt is less than capital cost then one can opt for debt, but Amazon has been continuously reducing their debt cost year o year and is just $109m in 2009. New projects has to be financed which emphasizes amazon.com to borrow, this can be justified by the data where interest cover has increased regularly concluding amazon.com ability to pay interest by 33.1 times is profitable. Amazon has huge financial reserves and can used for innovative research and development programs and technological implementations where they can incorporate single global strategy and also penetrate more geographic markets to create value to the stakeholders and customers. 2.3 SUMMARY OF ANALYSIS 2.3.1 SWOT analysis From a detailed Internal and external analysis we can conclude and summarize the Amazon.com strengths, weakness, threats and opportunities from the following SWOT analysis. Strengths Globally recognised brand Research and development programmes Geographical presence Customer focussed vision Diversified product line Incorporation of latest technology Amazon.com affiliate and merchant Program Highly skilled employee base Best inventory and logistics. Huge economies of scale Weaknesses No physical stores Lower profit margin due to high competition Low cash flows Lower market share in countries like India and china. Opportunities Tremendous growth in digital downloads Popularity of social networking Increase of online shoppers in Asian markets Open options for expansion via MA. Increase in e sales and growth of e-retailing Advancement of digital technology Rise in consumer spending across the globe Threats Vastly dependent on vendors Huge competition as it requires low capital Applicable Patent regulations. Piracy Concentrated business vision. CONCLUSION RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 CONCLUSIONS Analysis tool Key point Strategic essence PESTEL Rise in number of internet users. High priority to environmental issues Various government policies aiding now than before. Rise in internet usage opens new markets like china and India. Environmental issues can be utilized to advantage by incorporating proper CSR. Legal and government policies usually are havoc. Porters 5 forces Rise in competition levels taking into consideration the porters five forces. Amazon.com has the competitive advantage and the value proposition. Competition Competition from new entrants and stores are growing at a very high pace and geographically. Amazon.com strategy and diversified business focus leading to innovation should be implemented. Future internet trends USA, China, Japan, Germany, Brazil and India are the top internet users between 2006-2011. Amazon.com has a presence in all these countries except in India. The value chain Amazon.com is equipped with global IT, high investments in technology and systematic logistics with a centralized management. This stands out Amazon.com from other players in the market hence they should hold the competitive advantage of brand image. Resource Based View Biggest asset of Amazon.com is customer base, web personalization and value proposition they offer to their customer. Utilize the available resources, technology and global strategic reach to outplay competitors. Financial Analysis Rise in revenue every year and %CAGR growth has not led to high profits. Manage costs, resources and economies of scale more effectively to generate more profits 3.2 RECOMMENDATIONS Long-term focus Internet retailing presents a challenge to traditional retailing to see increased investments from store based retailers such as wal-mart making it more crucial for amazon.com to maintain a long term vision and invest in innovation, customer experience, diversified product range in spite of profit maximization expectations. Exploit New Markets Amazon.com should consider entering into more new markets especially Asian where the buying power, standard of living and the demand has rised dramatically over past few years as global economic changes take place. Downloads Expansion Amazons core business in future will be digital downloads, although they were latecomer in the field of film, music, TV downloads they have to cater to the demand in a highly competitive market along with their diversified product line. Also they have to concentrate on eBooks media division. Sensitivity to changing variables It is very important for amazon.com to be sensitive to the minor particulars such as changing trends, tastes, preferences of consumers from time to time as the purchasing power and changing lifestyles generate more demand leaving companies like Amazon.com to respond hence such a market research and imagination will be an advantage. Build selling opportunities Amazon.com should seek ways to sell products to customers with less havoc, instantly and securely as they did in text message selling without internet. In order to achieve this they need to have high end technical skills. Recently released kindle can also be used as a tool to increase the download sales.