Why the American Citizens are Adopting Children from Other Countries

Love Art 12 Best Art Blogs to Follow

Love Art 12 Best Art Blogs to Follow Nowadays there are so many art blogs, its hard to find the most interesting ones to follow. This is why, we have gathered our favorite blogs about paintings, photography and street art. Check them out, have fun and explore! Paintings and Fine Arts Paintings do not live in museums only. There are a lot of blogs that can show you real masterpieces of present and past and tell their stories. Here are some blogs about fine arts you have to check out: 1) Painters Table painters-table.com Painters Table is an online magazine for art lovers, curators, artists and people interested in painting. It is a great platform for exploring different blogs, which mostly focus on painting. It offers a huge variety of reviews and interviews with the most talented modern artists. 2) New American Paintings newamericanpaintings.com/blog New American Paintings is a great resource for discovering American artists. This periodical showed more than three thousand painters from different parts of the United States. If you like modern art, you should definitely check their blog! 3) Two Coats of Paint twocoatsofpaint.com Two Coats of Paint, based in NYC, was created by artist Sharon L. Butler in 2007. It is a place where art enthusiasts can share news, reviews and their comments about painting. 4) Carol Marines Painting a Day (or almost) carolmarine.blogspot.com Carol Marine loves to paint. So she decided to share her experience with other people. Shes been creating one small painting almost every day. Shes been posting her works on her blog since 2006. Carol is very inspiring, especially for people, who always procrastinate! Photos Are not that much into fine arts? All right then. We have something interesting for you to offer. Check out these best blogs for photography lovers: 1) Thomas Hawks Digital Collection thomashawk.com Thomas Hawk is a talented photographer from San Fransisco. He has more than 100,000 pictures on Flickr. His goal is to share one million hand crafted and lovingly created† pictures with people. His photographs mostly focus on America. 2) Samantha Murphy| Real Picture Blog realpictureblog.tumblr.com Samantha is a traveler from Chicago. She posts a lot of pictures from her amazing journeys in her Real Picture Blog. Samantha wants to share her experience with the rest of the world. Her pictures inspire people to start travelling! 3) My Life is a Trip mylifesatrip.com My Life is a Trip is a multimedia travel diary by Jen Pollack Bianco from West Coast. She is a photographer and a writer, who started traveling and posting great pictures from her adventures. 4) Adventure Freelancer adventurefreelancer.com Adventure Freelancer blog belongs to Jeff Bartlett- an adventurous photographer/writer, who started a blog to get people inspired to explore things around them. He likes to share pictures and stories about the outdoors. Street Art A lot of people notice some awesome graffiti on the street. Do you want to check the best street art around the world? 1)Vandalog blog.vandalog.com Vandalog began in 2008. This blog is created for people, who want to keep up on whats going on with street art. And you can find a lot of great stories and coverage of graffiti and experimental visual arts. 2) Streetsy streetsy.com Streetsy is a blog for people interested in the worlds coolest street art. Artists share their works and fans posts pictures of street art they liked. They also have an account on Flickr with more than 400,000 awesome graffiti pictures. 3) Street Art Utopia streetartutopia.com Street Art Utopia is a blog with a lot of street art photos and videos. People share street art works, they particularly liked, from all over the world. You can explore new trends in urban art and how it affects the world around us. 4) Brooklyn Street Art brooklynstreetart.com/theblog Brooklyn Street Art captures a creative spirit from the streets, studios and galleries around the world. The audience can check out new techniques in urban street art and graffiti. Do you have your person favorites? Maybe you follow some awesome blogs too? Let us know in the comments!

An Investigation into the Current Success Factors for Small and Medium Essay

An Investigation into the Current Success Factors for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand - Essay Example The type of businesses involved in this study is small and medium business enterprises (SMEs), which are characterized by being relatively smaller than larger enterprises (LEs) in terms of the number of employees or amount of fixed assets. The geographical region in focus is the country of Thailand in South East Asia. A range of different types of SMEs will be included from various sectors so that the findings are representative of Thai SMEs in general. Thus, it includes the production, wholesale and retail sectors. We shall adopt the classification of SMEs as defined by the Thai Institute for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (ISMED, 2010) as follows: Enterprises in the production/service sectors: no more than 200 employees or no more than Baht 200 million in fixed assets. Enterprises in the wholesale trading sectors: no more than 50 employees or no more than Baht 100 million in fixed assets. Enterprises in the retail sectors: no more than 30 employees or no more than Baht 60 million in fixed assets. Similarly, the study will not be confined to SMEs in a particular area of Thailand because that would not necessarily be representative of Thai SMEs. ... These are primarily related to the areas of administration, management, finance, technology, human resources, and marketing (Garengo, and Bernardi, 2007). For example, the problem of gaining access to sources of funding is very common. Often, SMEs are unaware of potential sources of finance, lack the management skills to satisfy lenders, and are unable to meet lenders’ rigorous assessment criteria and screening process (Atrill, 2006). Even then, SMEs are often not able to receive sufficient access to credit, as do LEs. The nature of this particular problem however is not unique to Thai SMEs as it is a similar situation with SMEs elsewhere, even in developed countries such as Europe (European Commission, 2006). Other problems include lack of employee-training (Thassanabanjong et al., 2009), especially in family-owned SMEs (De Lema and Durendez, 2007) an informal approach if not negligible regard to human resource management (HRM), and consequently low productivity (Huang, 2003) . SMEs seeking to grow are often unable to cope with globalization and e-commerce challenges (Tiessen et al., 2001) and in addition have difficulty gaining access to international markets (Worthington & Britton, 2009) and in developing successful growth models to expand regionally or globally (Li & Tan, 2004). Global SMEs looking to expand into Thailand often have difficulty in establishing ties with local networks (McNamara, 2005). Managers of SMEs typically have full responsibility for the organization, so management issues tend to be more acute in SMEs than in LEs where there are typically several tiers of management. In addition, as Kotey (2005) noted, management practices in SMEs tend to be â€Å"informal, unstructured and seldom focus on strategic

Business Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Business Plan - Essay Example The products will be the same from the farm, but I will be selling them as my own brand name. Proposition In today’s world, organic food has been touted as the best option as either genetically modified food or food grown under green house conditions are not nutritious comparatively. Food from organic farming is gaining prominence from consumers despite the price compared with food from these conventional sources. There are many reasons that support any business with a special focus on environmental sustainability, therefore, the current success in my franchise business. My plan is to build a brand that delivers the same promise to a wider clientele at with a vision to cover the whole country in five years and foreign markets starting from European Union. The market is growing tremendously with consumers who are able to afford, ever increasing. Clients visiting my shops have been more than willing to pay a premium for the vegetables, fruits, and animal products. The reasons wh y they are buying are many including health and safety benefits as they are highly nutritious when delivered when fresh. To the environment, organic farming conserves it by preserving the natural state of soil, no erosion and restoring where they are depleted. Water bodies are conserved as there are no harmful affluent substances from the farms besides not cutting down trees along rivers and trees under agroforestry to create a sustainable environment. The most important reason for growth in sales in organic food is the economies of scale in forming cooperative farming as more farms join the cooperative able to produce en mass. This result in reduced production costs eventually passed on to consumers through reduced prices. The franchise business I have been operating has been able to gain more customers as they place more orders. I have been able to buy a pick up that I have been using to deliver to customer residences regularly from the fee earned from Riverford Farm. There is a g reat opportunity to serve more customers with the right capacity and repackaging vegetables for delivery to a wider market network. The current stalls have been overstretched as they serve only a small clientele limited by the number of stocking of pre-ordered supplies and delivery. There is a great opportunity to expand beyond the current limitations by placing my own orders which I am able to service. In order not to be limited by the supplies from the farm I am planning to contact more farmers who are able to supply from other regions as I cover a wider geographical location as I expand in future. I will design and print my own delivery box and provide a wider variety of choices. Parts of my target clients are hotels which a have unique variety mix in vegetables, fruits and animal products. The box content can be changed to suit specific needs for each target client by having only fruits boxes, vegetables and animal products. Hotels and institutions may not fall in the kind of cl ient characteristic served by the current boxes but rather require each unique product in large quantities. I will be able to supply directly to Yorkshire Farmers Market to business people operating stalls. Marketing mix To succeed in my plan, I need a proper marketing mix that is able to deliver the promise of value to my business and to the target customers. I should be able to attract and retain

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

Case 3 - Essay Example The fact that they are stressed means that they cannot perform as required. Stress comes from various factors, and may affect employees directly or indirectly. In this case, the organization has put its employees under a lot of unnecessary pressure to perform by ignoring their plight (Robbins and Judge 558). This is evident in the number of employees complaining about the conditions in the company and airing their opinions about the best way to deal with the situation. Considering the industry the organization is involved – healthcare – the organization needs to pay more attention to employees’ needs because the industry is very sensitive. Deaths or serious complications could result from poor performances from employees if they are under stress. However, the company has done well to stem these concerns by developing a new approach to dealing with the situation at hand. In terms of fear, signs of change may spark feelings of uncertainty with regards to the ability to contribute to the change process and the security of their jobs. Pessimism, anxiety and different personal and professional ambitions are also a major factor in the spread of change-resistant fear. For example, an employee may feel afraid to take part in the change process because it will affect his professional development or inhibit personal growth. Employees may feel that they are capable of working with the organization to make proposed changes. Once employees start feeling that they their jobs are insecure and are threatened by proposed changes, they will withdraw their support to try and make the proposed changes fail (Robbins and Judge 561). However much employees feel afraid of changes, Parkway can mitigate these fears by managing them. Managing fear involves assuring employees of the security of their jobs and approaching them directly. Parkway can also provide employees with clear plans for proposed changes so that they can understand proposed changes and cooperate with

Amul Chocolates | Marketing Plan

Amul Chocolates | Marketing Plan Amul has been a market leader in dairy products for decades however Amul Chocolate is the only product which is not doing so well. Amul Chocolates was the market leader in 1970s but lost its place to Cadbury in the last 10 to 20 years. Amul has successfully extended its milkman image to ice cream, butter, cheese and other dairy products, but has made no headway in chocolate. The main reason behind the decline of the product is lack of promotion and concentration on other dairy products. Marketing Plan to increase the Sales of Amul Chocolates. Since Amul Chocolate as a product is declining incurring losses to Amul we now make a marketing plan to improve the performance of the product. We will concentrate on the domestic performance of Amul Chocolate which means we will make a plan to increase the sales of Amul chocolates in India. We would be using the SOSTAC model to describe the market plan for Amul to improve the sales of Amul Chocolates. SOSTAC is the abbreviation for Situation Analysis, Objective setting, Strategy Development, Tactics, and Action Control. Situation Analysis Situation Analysis is the study of trends within the economy and a comprehensive analysis of market, competitors and the company itself. Now, we will analyze the situation of Amul chocolates using Porters five forces framework which was developed by Mr Michael Porter of Harvard Business School in 1979. This framework helps us to identify forces that determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. Porters Five forces framework for Amul Chocolates 1. Bargaining power of the suppliers: In order to produce chocolates the materials required are cocoa, milk, sugar, butter, milk powder, fruits etc. Amul is a market leader in India in products like milk, milk powder and butter so it does not require any other supplier. Other materials like cocoa , fruits and sugar can also be bought easily as there are many suppliers considering that India is a land of farmers where Agriculture is the backbone of the economy. Also there are millions of farmers who supply fruits and sugar so the bargaining power of the supplier is very less. 2. Bargaining power of the buyers: India is a fast growing nation and buyers have a lot of options when it comes to deciding which chocolate they want to buy. Hence the bargaining power of the buyers is high. 3. Threat of substitute products: In the last few years, Indian sweets have been substituted by chocolates. So there is possibility that people can go back to sweets because nowadays sweets manufacturers have introduced different varieties of sweets like fat free sweets, sugar free sweets etc. Also lot of people these days prefers power bars and protein bars which are also delicious like chocolate but healthier as well compared to chocolates. Also there can be other substitutes like waffers, cakes etc. India is well know for making duplicate products of big brands like Daily Milk for Dairy Milk(Cadburys ace product) Kir Kat for Kit Kat(Nestlà ©s ace product).Chocolate manufacturers need to make sure they differentiate their products well make consumers aware of the difference because a large number of people in India are illiterate. 4. Threat of potential entrants: In the Indian chocolate market there are 3 major players namely Cadbury who is the market leader, Nestle Amul. These 3 companies have been sharing 99% of the chocolate market in India for many years which clearly explains that there is no real threat of new entrants. However, in the last 5 years, foreign brands like Mars have entered the market with products like Mars bar, Bounty Snickers which have become quite popular in major cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi. 5. Competitive Rivalry: The biggest factor that is affecting Amuls market share in India from last 10 to 20 years is the growth of its competitors like Cadbury Nestle. Now, with the entry of foreign players like Mars its getting tougher for them to increase the sales. Objective Setting Objectives are the motive of the companys operational activities. It is basically what the company wants to achieve. Nothing happens until we plan and good plans have goals and objectives. Setting objectives lays the foundation for the companys operations. It shows us the path to follow. Objectives can also be called as battle plans, the stepping stones on the path towards achieving our goals. Objective of Amul Chocolates The objective of Amul as a company is to give Value for money to its customers. Amul has a range of superior products, consumed by every age group. Since Amul chocolates is not doing well like Amuls other products like milk, yoghurt and cheese the objective of Amul Chocolates as a Business Unit would be to increase its market share in India from a 5% in 2010 to 15% in the next 5 years by carrying out proper promotion activities and to produce variety of chocolates to give consumer more options. Strategy development Now that we have set our objectives we need to make a strategy to attain the objective of increasing the market share by 10% in 5 years which is difficult because of the declining trend and competition however possible because of the Brand strength. We would be using the Ansoff Matrix, Market segmentation to describe the strategy of Amul Chocolates to increase its market share in India. Ansoff Matrix Market penetration: Market Penetration means when a company sells its existing products to the existing market. Amul can use this technique to increase sales in India. They also need to advertise and carry out lot of promotional activities to inform the consumers that they still exist and can provide them with what they want. Its been years that Amuls chocolate advertisement has been telecasted on Indias major television channesl like Start Zee. Sales promotions like discounts and free samples can help them to increase the Brand awareness and attract customers to switch brand from competitors. This is the Celebrity age and every big company uses a celebrity as a Brand Ambassador for its product. For example Amitabh Bachchan (Greatest Indian Actor) for Cadbury Rani Mukherjee (Indian Actress) for Nestle, Amul also use a brand ambassador for the promotion of its chocolate. Market Development: Market development is a situation where a company is involved in expanding into new markets with existing products. Amul as a company needs to target rural areas of Northern India like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal because most of the people in these states are farmers who have many children. Also one more benefit of supplying chocolates in these places is that its competitors like Nestle and Cadbury do not have a big market in these places. Amul has a strong brand name in rural areas because of its other dairy products and also has a strong supply chain and logistics to reach these places. The Indian Government will also provide them subsidy or lower taxes because they would be contributing socially by entering into rural markets. Product Development: Product development means a company modifies its product i.e. improves it to appeal to the existing market. Amul needs to make changes to its product (chocolates) like introduction of more flavours and attractive packaging because the wrappers Amul uses is not at all attractive compared to those used by Cadbury and Nestle. Packaging is very important because of majority of the consumers are kids and youngsters who like attractive packages. Many kids buy chocolates not because they like it but because of attractive wrappers. This would keep them in competition with competitors like Cadbury and Nestle. Currently there is a trend for low calorie and fat free food because people want to be fit; introducing low calorie and less fat chocolates would be a strong recommendation. Amul must into market alliances with various portals to offer products (on those portals that were developed for festive occasions such as Valentines Day and Friendship Da0y. Market Segmentation Market Segmentation is a process of dividing a large market into identifiable segments having similar wants, needs or demands. The objective of market segmentation is to design a marketing mix that matches the expectations of customers in the targeted segment. Every product is produced with a target in mind. Amul must divide its market using 2 bases of segmentation. 1. Demographic Segmentation 2. Geographic Segmentation Demographic Segmentation: Demographic segmentation is segmentation of market on the bases of factors such as age, gender, income, occupation etc Amul must divide its target market on age factor. Age 2 to 15 Age 16 to 35 Age 35 above For children up to 15 years old, Amul should produce chocolates like plain bars filled with chocolate in other words high on energy and sweet. The product should be rich in chocolate, nuts and milk. For children they must have a lot of variety because children have the tendency to try different chocolates. This is the most important target group for Amul considering the product. Hence, major focus should be on the products targeted to this market. For the market in the age group of 16 to 35, Amul should produce chocolates which are low on calories and less fattening as this market segment is diet conscious. Before taste they think about calories and putting on weight. For this segment Amul should also introduce protein bars which have become a trend these days. Youngsters who work out and are fitness conscious consume lot of such items to keep them full and away from high calorie food products. For the market in the age group of above 35 years, Amul should produce sugar free chocolates because at this age many people in India are diabetic or have been asked to consume less sugar. Geo-demographic Segmentation: Geo-demographic segmentation is a segmentation technique that classifies people according to where they live. The concept is based on the presumptions that people who live within a particular area exhibit common purchasing behaviour. Amul should divide its market in to 2 segments Developed cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Kolkata and Delhi Under Developed states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand etc. People in developed cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi have a high purchasing power compared to other places in India. The literacy rate is high in these cities, people have access to different mediums of advertising and infrastructure is developed. Amul should produce and supply high quality products in these cities with no compromise on price. However, they must keep in mind that their competitors are already enjoying a great amount of market share in such places. Cadbury to some extent enjoys a monopoly in such cities because of its quality of products, availability and immensely strong brand name. Amul must match Cadburys quality to excel in the market. States like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are not developed like Mumbai and Bangalore. The literacy rate is less than 50% with poor infrastructure. Many people dont even have access to electricity. Majority of them are poor farmers. Amul has an advantage here because their competitors like Nestle dont have easier access to such places. Amul has a strong network because of its ace products like Butter, Cheese and Milk which are available all over the country. Amul should introduce chocolates which are cheaper but high on energy in these places. Tactics Tactics are the measures that help in achieving strategies. Tactics generally include the use and manipulation of the 7 Ps of marketing. In this case we would be using four Ps. Product: The major reason why Amul chocolate as a product is declining from the last 10 years is because of not meeting the demands of the consumers. Cadbury Nestle who are doing well in the chocolate market have continuously launches new products and have been successful. Every product has a life and it gets over one day. No product can live forever. Innovation is the key to survive in modern day. Companies need to modify and improve their product time to time. Innovation also led consumers to think that the company cares about their needs and changes time to time to meet their demands. For example, When Nestle launched Kit Kat in India it was a big hit. People just loved the taste of the chocolate its packaging. However after a few years it started losing its share then Nestle introduced couple of flavours Orange and Mint which increased the market share. Amul also needs to introduce new varieties of chocolates and improve its existing ones. They should introduce milk chocolates like Nestlà ©s Milky Bar, Chocolates with fruits and nuts like Cadbury has its Fruit and Nuts, Mint chocolates like Nestlà ©s After Eight etc. Introduction of power bars low calorie chocolates will also be a decent step to increase the variety of products. Also the packaging is a crucial factor because majority of the consumers are kids who are easily attracted by attractive and colourful packages. Amul has the history of unattractive packaging. If we compare the wrappers and boxes of Amul chocolates to Cadbury Nestle, the packaging of the competitors is far superior. Amul has to stop their ancient method of packaging and adopt modern methods. Amul must also spend a good amount of money on reaserch and development to identify the demands of the consumers and strategy of their competitors. 2. Price: Pricing is an important strategic issue because it is related to product positioning. Furthermore, pricing affects other marketing mix elements such as product features, channel decisions, and promotion. The objectives of pricing are to maximize profits, to signal high quality and also to survive in many cases. Pricing must take into account the competitive and legal environment in which the company operates. From a competitive standpoint, the firm must consider the implications of its pricing on the pricing decisions of competitors. For example, setting the price too low may risk a price war that may not be in the best interest of either side. Setting the price too high may attract a large number of competitors who want to share in the profits. Factors like cost of production, demand, competition, availability of substitutes and inflation should be considered while setting prices. Majority of people in India live in villages and have low disposable income. With such a heav y competition in the chocolate market, Price plays a very important role. In India, Brand loyalty is very rare. People will change their loyalty if they can spend less. Amul must produce high quality goods and sell it at a competitive price. Amul will have to follow competition based pricing technique which implies that they would need to set prices on the basis of what its competitors do in order to compete with them. Its said that India is a rich country of poor people. Since the sales are going down, in order to lift them they can sell at a comparatively lower price to boost their sales. For example, If Cadbury sells its Fruit and Nut for Rs 20 Amul can sell it for Rs 18. Place: Place in marketing is referred to the channels of distribution through which products flow from the manufacturer to the consumers. The channels of distribution mean intermediaries or middlemen who act as a link between the manufacturer and the consumers. Factors that need to be considered when choosing the place are the characteristics of the product, characteristics of the buyers, control and competitors channels. Since chocolate is an edible product, Amul should adopt an intensive distribution strategy where in they will manufacture products and make it available at various shopping malls, food joints, local stores, Chocolate parlours etc. Amul has a big brand name because of its dairy products. They can easily use it to increase the awareness of its chocolates using various distribution channels. Amul Chocolate Parlour Promotion: Promotion refers to exchange of information between an organisation and the consumer of its products. Consumers here include Customers, shareholders, employees, government and other parties related to the products like trade union and media. The aim of promotion is to inform the consumers, differentiate from other products and to persuade them to buy. There are many techniques of promotion like Advertising, Sales promotions, Direct Marketing Personal selling. Amul has been criticised for lack of promotion. Amul has a strong brand name because of its dairy product leadership. Amul must advertise its chocolates using media like newspaper, television and internet to inform the public about the quality the price of its product. Consumers have a short memory and its important for companies to remind them about the products. Amul has totally shifted its focus from chocolates towards milk and other milk products and have totally ignored chocolates. Using the mediums like Television and newspaper the company needs to remind the public that they are back with improved products at an affordable price. In order to survive in the competitive market where players like Cadbury Nestle enjoy the market share Amul has to be different. They need to give the customers a reason why they should buy their products. Amul has to use Sales Promotion effectively to announce their comeback. They can give price discounts, more for less offer free samples to increase their sales. Amul must also provide free chocolates to municipal schools where majority of children come from a low income family. Free gifts like pencils or Books can also attract their target market i.e. kids. Amul also has to focus on Business to Business customers. They can give special discounts or free samples to major retailers like Big Bazaar D-Mart to sell their products. Action Now that we have set the objectives marketing strategies, it becomes necessary to turn them in to action plans. Action includes 3 activities. Allocating tasks and responsibilities: Since our strategy is simple i.e. to innovate our product and promote heavily, we would allocate the task of product development to the manufacturing sector where they will check the products of successful competitors and manufacture chocolates in line with them. The manufacturing sector will be responsible for the quality of the product. The promotion of the product would be the responsibility of the marketing sector where they will advertise and provide special offers. The above Gantt chart shows the scheduling of activities of Amul Chocolates. $50 million would be the budget for product development and research related to production the activity will be carried from September 2010 to December 2010. The budget for Promotion would be $50 million (including Advertising Sales promotions). Here we have used the Objective and Task method technique of budgeting by estimating the cost of the production and sales activities. Control Control means taking corrective measures when anything doesnt go according to the plan. Amul must use the Sales Control method. They would be monitoring their sales every 3 months to check if they are meeting the set target. If anything goes wrong then they can take corrective measures. Advertising Sample as per the Marketing plan Value offered by Amul 1. Value for money: Amuls believes in giving value for money to its customers and it has always followed that principle. Its products are of high quality and available at affordable prices. Customer Driven: Amul as a dairy product manufacturer has always focused on customer satisfaction. Amul has consistently produced and supplied quality dairy products like milk, butter and cheese in India and other countries. Adapt quickly to the changing environment: Amul has always met the ever changing customer needs by being innovative in its dairy products. This is a major factor why they have been a market leader in dairy products for many years. Customer feedback: Amul has taken regular feedback from the customers worked upon the negative aspects to improve the quality and increase customer satisfaction.

culture and conflict :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The culture of conflict is just as important as the conflict itself. The reasons for conflict and the inner agony of pride are all do to culture. The epic poem of Gilgamesh, and The Odyssey, the story of Genesis have many forms of many conflicts. Cultural conflicts have many different forms, but pride is usually at the root of all of them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The book of Gilgamesh has many conflicts, and battles. Gilgamesh was a flashy warrior and leader that resolved everything with primitive actions. He was a conflict all his own because the towns people didn’t like his leadership. His acts of womanizing and mistreating the towns people is what caused this hatred towards him. They all wished for an equal to come. Enkido was a forest man that was an equal to Gilgamesh. He came, and at first wasn’t an equal to Gilgamesh, but a rival. Gilgamesh and Enkido battled through the streets of the town. These actions were pride based and human nature must have had an impact. In anything once a leader is challenged he will do anything to keep his leadership and step up to the occasion. In this case, Gilgamesh the leader was challenged. â€Å"Enkido stood, guardian on the threshold of the martial chamber, To block the way of the king, The aura and power of the wild ox, Gilgamesh, Who was coming to the chamber and take his bride.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stormy heart struggled with stormy heart, As Gilgamesh met Enkido in his rage, At the marital threshold they wrestled, bulls contending: The doorposts shook and shattered; the wrestling staggered.† (Gilgamesh_14,15)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once the battle ended, Gilgamesh knew that they were equal. Being the leader that he was, he decided not to be rivals, but be friends. They decide to travel to the forest of Cedars, where they set to challenge the org Huwawa. Enkido doesn’t want to proceed with this thought but Gigamesh wants to continue. They show up and battle the superhuman guardian, kill him, cut down the forest, cut off Huwana's head as a trophy, build a raft, and head back to Uruk.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The really only cultural experience in this battle isn’t just the battle itself, but after the battle when they cut off Huwawa's head and made it into a trophy. Making his head into a trophy exemplifies their in their great victory. It demonstrates was gained and shows that they had something to remember it by.

Hamlet Essay

Act 1- Scene 1 The first entrance of the ghost is made impressive because Marcellus and Bernardo only told Horatio about them seeing the ghost in the two nights before during their watch. Horatio did not believe them â€Å"Horatio says ‘tis but our fantasy and will not let belief take hold of him touching this sight twice seen of us;† (1.1.23-25) What makes the siting of the ghost so important is that the two guard believe it to be the ghost of the dead King Hamlet. When the ghost appears and Horatio asks it to speak the ghost suddenly disappears. In its second exit the ghost returns and again they ask it to speak but as it spreads its arms the cockcrows and the ghost disappears yet again not saying anything. A superstition that is connected with the ghost is that the guards believe that it is the ghost of the dead King that is trying to warn them of some impending misfortune for Denmark. Act 1 – Scene 2 The new King Claudius attempts to justify his marriage to the Queen by giving a speech to his courtiers, explaining his recent marriage to Queen, his brother’s widow and the mother of Prince Hamlet. Claudius says that he mourns his brother but has chosen to balance Denmark’s mourning with the delight of his marriage. â€Å"With mirth in funeral, and dirge in marriage, in equal scale weighing delight and dole, taken to wife.† (1.2.12-14) In his soliloquy Hamlet expresses that he wishes he could die. He wishes that God had not made suicide a sin. He is also thinking about how it is possible for his mother to have move on after two short month that his father has been gone. When the line â€Å"Frailty, thy name is woman† (1.3.146) is spoken he is referring of his mother because just two months ago his father and her husband died and now she has just moved on to his fathers brother because she is weak and will not make it on her own or w ithout a husband and he finds that shaming. Act 1- Scene 3 1.Laertes believes that Hamlets relationship with Ophelia is not true, because someone of his ranking can not love someone like Ophelia because he is too far above her to love her honourably. Since Hamlet is not only responsible for his feelings but also the role that he will one day play as King Laertes believe that it will be impossible for Hamlet to ever marry Ophelia. Before he leaves he tell her to make sure she does not fall in love with him. â€Å"Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister, and keep you in the rear of your affections, out of the shot and danger of desire† (1.3.33-35) 2.Polonius has the same opinion of Laertes, and forbids Ophelia to associate with Hamlet anymore. He tells her that Hamlet has deceived her in swearing his love, and that she should see through his false vows â€Å"Affection pooh! You speak like a green girl, unsifted in such perilous circumstances. Do you believe his tenders, as you call them?† (1.3.101-03) Act 1- Scene 4 †¢Horatio, Marcellus, and Hamlet are keeping watch outside the class, while Hamlet tells the two men that the King has been spending his night drinking alcohol and how he believe that he is tarnishing the Danish people. †¢The ghost appears and calls out to Hamlet to follow him. †¢Even though Horatio and Marcellus tell him not to go and consider that the ghost could harm him Hamlet decides to follow the ghost anyways †¢Hamlet does not care if his life is in danger and follow the ghost off into the darkness †¢Horatio believes that Hamlet is now in the hands of God but Marcellus thinks that they should follow Hamlet and try to protect him, so the two set off after Hamlet and the ghost Act 1- Scene 5 In this scene King Hamlet reveals to his son that his death was cause by foul play and it was a murder. â€Å"Murder most foul, as in the best it is, but this most foul, strange and unnatural.† (1.5.27-28) The King then tells Hamlet that is was his very own brother that killed him. Now Hamlet, hear. Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, a serpent stung me. So the whole ear of Denmark is by a forged process of my death rankly abused. But know, thou noble youth, the serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown. (1.5.34-39 The ghost of the King tells Hamlet to â€Å"leave her to heaven† (1.5.86) which means he does not want Hamlet to do anything to his mother because the King realizes that she has been tainted by Claudius.

Alliance Management At Forbes Marshall Essays

Alliance Management At Forbes Marshall Essays Alliance Management At Forbes Marshall Essay Alliance Management At Forbes Marshall Essay This report will highlight why FM chose to engage in alliances instead Of acquisitions as its primary method Of creating a competitive advantage as an innovative global manufacturing firm. Horizontal integration strategies offer certain similar advantages but have various differences that are attractive to companies depending on their objectives and ultimately their risk appetite. Strategic alliances and acquisitions both lead to operational synergies, increased market penetration, access to human capital, decreased competition and potential for greater profitability. However, in the case of FM, the company relied very heavily on alliances due to a number of reasons mentioned below and is also highlighted in Appendix A (Comparative Analysis of Acquisitions and Alliances): 1) Decreased Risk Capital- Risk Capital is defined as the capital that cant be recovered if the company goes bankrupt. FM has absolutely no exposure to their partners risk capital through horizontal integration as it allows them to sell products and reap the benefits as one entity but not be exposed to any potential suffering due to the others financial performance. Strategic alliances make it a lot easier to walk away from if the worst-case scenario were to occur, not only mitigating risk factors UT also eliminating downside risk as a whole. It becomes an alternate to vertical integration, without the problematic bureaucratic costs from inefficient production processes and lack technological progress within a very static company. Mergers through vertical integration may expose a company to reap all the benefits from the acquisition, however it also implies that the company inherits the risks involved. Fem. strategic alliance with Kronor is a great example as through the horizontal integration, FM does not have any control nor are they affected financially by the way Kronor operates in the German markets. This leads on to another strategic implication called due diligence. FM didnt have to conduct a very extensive due diligence prior to their alliances making the process of forming joint ventures significantly easier and a lot quicker proving beneficial for both entities involved. ) Increased Market penetration- Existing customer segments, brand loyalty, demand for existing products are some of the advantages of forming alliances in new markets. Alliances provided FM the opportunity to leverage an already existing brand in the market and capitalize on their profitability on unique and innovative products sold in the market. This can be directly related to attributes of the Fem. transnational strategy of gaining a competitive advantage through alliances in different markets thereby increasing their market penetration and brand recognition in India and Abroad. For example, the joint venture with Spiral allowed FM to capitalize on Spiral competitive advantage of providing products that would enable Indian companies save energy. By employing a localized customer oriented product offering, FM managed to compete with companies like Thermal Ltd ND Armstrong International that only brought foreign made products for sale in India. This reduced industry rivalry by portraying FM as a company that is a lot larger in size, enabling it to penetrate further into the market since their competitors werent customer focused at all. ) Retain Individual Operational Control and Cultural Differences: FM used alliances to grow as a unified business force in the global market by providing a diverse range of products tailored to specific customer needs, all while maintaining its individual core values and unique practices. Conducting any type of merger in NY foreign market exposes the companies involved to a variety of differences in cultural and operational matt ers across different borders. Through forming strategic alliances, FM collaborated conducted operations with companies that share the same core values without educate themselves on the different cultural norms these companies face with their specific customer segments. A number of important competences were gained from these alliances that FM previously lacked strengthening the company as a leader in Marketing and Sales, Logistics, and ultimately customer satisfaction. Although these synergies would have still been present through an acquisition, an alliance was more favorable as they didnt force the entities involved to change culturally or operationally, but allowed them to voluntarily improve their operational competencies and strengthen their competitive advantage. From a strategic perspective, this worked out very well, since customer preferences werent affected by these joint ventures, and demand for entity specific products continued to grow. ) Operational Synergies- For FM, reaching out to an international customer base, benefits from economies call through production, and learning innovative competences were the primary reason why they engaged in alliances. For example, FM gained a significant portion of Cadets technological expertise from the joint venture with Code, all while providing Coded with the enhanced opportunity to economically conduct business in India. An acquisition would also provide similar benefits but there is no certaint y that the operational synergies would stay the same after. Refer to Appendix B for key competencies gained from Fem. alliances. 5) Lower Costs Structure This strategic decision implemented y FM to keep the location of production in India while also engaging in a variety of business activities worldwide led to large growth and dominant success as a differentiated multinational company. The economic benefits that arose from continuing the value creation activity of research, development, and mainly production in the local plant situated in India were tremendous. One of the biggest advantages of forming alliances was an increased bargain power with suppliers that allowed FM to reduce costs for direct materials since they company can get volume discounts from being a argue buyer. Furthermore, forming alliances allowed FM to focus on continuing to reap the economic benefits such increased market power, lower product costs and production efficiency, while having newly ventured partners reap the benefits of on extracting the most out of their newly entered profitable Indian Markets. ) Differentiated Value Proposition and Customer Offering- FM enhanced the quality of its core business products by employing the strategies used by the companies they partnered with, thereby allowing them to strengthen their differentiated value proposition. For example, FM used the alliance with Kronor to develop several good practices in R and manufacturing that ultimately allowed it to be represented as the producers of the most accurate flow meter in the world. Acquisitions On the other hand do provide the same benefits, however they come with the added risk of ownership to the brand and thereby exposing the company to risks associated with fluctuating demand for products not necessarily in the parents line of expertise. To conclude, this report indicated that the benefits achieved through alliances re a lot more favorable when compared to acquisitions. It is not certain that Forbes Marshall engaged in numerous strategic alliances with in intentions of growing as a differentiated company that provided solutions tailored to customer needs and expectations. Instead of being an imported/exporter of products and innovations through their ventures, FM managed to capitalize on the expertise and competencies of the companies they ventured With and ultimately became a global leader in process efficiency and energy conservation. Appendix A -? Comparative Analysis of Alliances Vs. Acquisitions

Jean Rhys Novel

Jean Rhys Novel In Jean Rhys's compelling novel about racial tension amidst confusion and anxiety, the author addresses this subtext in such a way as to portray Antoinette as a product of an intolerant society. While more of an underlying theme, the character's racial inner struggles in Wide Sargasso Sea represent a significance to the story's overall flavor and intensity, being that Antoinette is torn the entire time between calling herself black or white. Who is she really, and why is she having such a difficult time coming to terms with her true identity?In Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea, Antoinette is perpetually faced with having to deal with her racial obscurity. Not only does she lack a distinct perception of herself as a human being, but she is also absent of any ability to escape ultimate self-destruction. Indeed, these two issues are critically important when assessing the reasons why Antoinette is unable throughout the entire novel to come to terms with which culture she really represents.Ant oinette VII (French plane, for military use)It can be argued that the author characterizes Antoinette as decidedly more white than black, and then goes on to depict the black characters as inherently more free. This is what lays the foundation of Antoinette's identity crisis, because she is forever being given conflicting signals regarding both races. "They say when trouble comes close ranks, and so the white people did. But we were not in their ranks" (17).

Module7-mob Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Module7-mob - Case Study Example ood at these points: (1) they discussed the plan thoroughly before starting work; (2) they set goals based on realistic figures; (3) they all agreed on what was written on the plan and expressed their commitment to it; and (4) Parker tried to motivate his crew with a bonus. However, here were the results: (1) two members kept on failing to reach their daily targets; and (2) they did not finish on time. Flaws on how Parker managed the project include: (a) failure to acknowledge the problem in a timely manner; (b) failure to work out a performance improvement plan; (3) rejection of constructive criticism; and (4) failure to motivate members on a regular basis. Parker’s poor management of the project resulted to Millar quitting working for the company while Boyce stopped accepting assignment on a regular basis. The following suggestions could have remedied the situation. Parker should have: (1) shown empathy to his crew and listened to their concerns; (2) motivated his crew on a daily basis instead of going into a verbal tirade each time they fail to meet their goal; and (3) consulted with his crew on how to improve their

Description of pictures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Description of pictures - Essay Example Moreover, with regards to the colors which were used, these are almost invariably either bright earth tones or dark browns/black. This has the added affects of portraying a scene that is indicative of fire and the consumption of nature by such a force. Objects in the background are obscured by the vociferous action and drama that the flame-like brush strokes portend. Rather than seeking to understand the painting as a single undifferentiated unit, the viewer would perhaps do better to understand the painting as a result of its component pieces. Due to the fact that the painter has presented the viewer with several punctuated levels of energy/passion/drama upon the canvas, each of these can and should be integrated with upon a different level. To this author’s understanding, there are 4 such punctuated scenes that are exhibited within the artwork. Although it is beyond the skill-set of this author to define what each of these specifically mean, understanding that there exist 4 punctuated scenes within the broader scene is in and of itself a start to seeking to define and understand the intention of the artist to a more full and complete degree. The second picture represents a stark contrast to the first due to the fact that it has strong overtones of cultural understanding within its themes. Firstly, the viewer can and should realize that the pyramids are pictured beside the skyscrapers that exist within the background. This juxtaposition of old and modern helps to give a broader understanding to the tribal individual that is featured and represented in the foreground. With respect to this individual, there are several further thematic elements that serve to contrast and confuse the viewer. Firstly, although he shape of the pyramid along with the mountains in the background lead one to assume the painting is indicative of the Aztecs of Mayans, the tribal individual in the foreground represents much the same dynamic except for the fact that he has protrudi ng from his mask a set of elephant tusks; this of course helps the viewer to understand that the scope of the painting may very well be integrating with a more complex dynamic than merely showing the means by which a tribal Mayan/Aztec would understand and relate to the way in which the modern representation of life is so drastically different from his own. In such a way, the artist may be trying to convey the understanding that all ancient cultures are dramatically and irrevocably removed from the current society. In keeping with the theme of analyzing artwork that speaks to the experience of native peoples, the preceding piece of course shows a male and female Native American staring wistfully at an imaginative representation of a full moon. Two dynamics strike the viewer upon a closer examination of this particular piece. The first of these is the festive banner that spans the painting along the lower 1/3 of the artwork. This leads one to believe that some type of festive celebra tion or tribal activity may be ongoing; further reinforced due to the presence of a full moon in the sky. Accordingly, the second dynamic that strikes the viewer is with regards to the strange representation of imagery that is within the right hand of the man within the painting. As such, he appears to be holding a torch that is flaming both behind the head of the female and upon the heart of the male. Additionally, upon his hand there is a white star that is highly reminiscent of the star