Friday, November 29, 2019

Brain Essays (744 words) - Cerebrum, Neuroscience, Neuropsychology

Brain Sides The article in which I chose to examine is called Right Brain, Left Brain: Fact and Fiction, written by Jerre Levy. In the past fifteen years or so there has been a lot of talk of left brain and right brain people. Levy's reason for righting this article was clearly to stop the misconceptions and show the truth about how our brain hemispheres operate. Levy first explores the myth of the left brain and right brain theory. She states that generally people see the left hemisphere of the brain controlling logic and language and the right, creativity and intuition. In addition people differ in their styles of thought, depending on which half of the brain is dominant. She believes that most of what these notions state is farce. Next the article explores the history of this fascination of the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Apparently the study of this aspect of the brain traces back to time of Hippocrates. Levy weaves in and out of the various theories and prominent people known for contributing to the confusion. It wasn't until 1962 when Roger W. Sperry began experimenting on certain aspects of the brain that contribute to the truth of the left and right brain theory. Sperry studied people who had undergone surgical division of the corpus callosum, the bridge between the two hemispheres. His studies showed that, "an object placed in the right hand (left hemisphere) could be named readily, but one placed in the left hand (nonverbal right hemisphere) could be neither named nor described. Next to branch off of Sperry's studies was psychologist Doreen Kimura. Kimura developed behavioral methods which involved presenting visual stimuli rapidly to either the left or right visual fields. Another important method developed was "dichotic listening" which centered around the use of sound to study the hemispheres. Through these tests and the continual study the theory that the left brain controlled ended. Instead a new theory was born known as the two-brain theory. This said that at different times one of the two hemispheres would be operating. An example of this is that the right hemisphere is in control when an artist paints but the left hemisphere was in control when a novelist wrote a book. This theory failed because of one physical studies showed that people with hemispheres surgically disconnected could operate in everyday life. Also, research demonstrated that each hemisphere had its own functional expertise, and that the two halves were complementary. Next, the article states its worth. The author shows the up to date agreed upon theory of the two hemispheres in five simple points. 1. The two hemispheres are so similar that when they are disconnected by split-brain surgery, each can function remarkably well, although quite imperfectly 2. Although they are remarkably similar they are also different. The differences are seen in contrasting contributions. Each hemisphere contributes something to every action a person takes. 3. Logic is not confined to the left hemisphere. Although dominant in the left logic is present in the right hemisphere. 4. There is no evidence that either creativity or intuition is an exclusive property of the right hemisphere. Same theory as #3. 5. Since the two hemispheres do not function independently, and since each hemisphere contributes its special capacities to all cognitive activities, it is quite impossible to educate one hemisphere at a time in a normal brain. Levy comes to the conclusion that people are not purely left or right brained. There is a continuum in which the hemispheres work together in harmony. Often the left or right hemisphere is more active in some people but it is never the sole operator. She concludes, "We have a single brain that generates a single mental self." Compared to what we did in class related to the left and right hemispheres of the brain, both what we learned and the article taught were extremely similar. Our exercise showed that we are not left or right brained but merely somewhere on the scale between left and right brain. Some of us were extreme left, few extreme right and most in the middle leaning left a bit (this is where I fell). I could not agree more with what we did in class and the article I read. The author wrote a fabulous complete article. In my summary which probably was a little lengthy, I feel I am not doing the author just. She had so much wonderful background that there was no way to include it all. She introduced the problem at hand

Monday, November 25, 2019

Sample of Product Proposal Essay Example

Sample of Product Proposal Essay Example Sample of Product Proposal Paper Sample of Product Proposal Paper The Personalized Arm Sleeve Is a sleeve made for athletes and teens who wants to say what they want to say whether In the court or In school. The sleeves design Is up to the customer, whatever he/she wants to put in it. It could be drawings, quotes, names of loved ones, or whatever they like, Just name it. Since the idea is still fresh, there are only few that are competing these days, international brands such as Nikkei and Ideas are top sellers. There are locals who re competing, having uniqueness with them, such as the tattoo arm sleeves. We personalize the sleeve for you to express yourselves, cheaper, An assessment of the domestic international market for the Idea: We are targeting the Dave market for the domestic market which is cheaper for us to introduce the product. We have also observed that more and more players are getting into this express yourself fad of today. As for the international market, its hard to tell having these big names in the larger scale of producing these things. There are many companies competing in the market and most of them are big companies such as Nikkei, Ideas, and Rebook. Response from the market is depending on the place or country and culture, there are countries where basketball or football Is not popular which makes products out of these kinds of sports wont sell. *since the idea is new to the market, there are still no statistics yet given by any research, we can only describe the overall industry, overall market, market segment, target market Overall Industry: Sporting Goods Overall Market: Sports Accessories Market Segment: Personalized Arm Sleeves Target Segments: Athletes and Students An assessment AT teen entrepreneur Ana teen team: This idea excites me because me myself is an athlete too, when I was in the varsity team, inspiration was our biggest motivation of winning, and my team-mates would even right the names of their loved ones on their shoes. On every game, coach would deliver an inspirational speech and ends it with a strong line. Since sleeves are a growing fad in the sporting world, and kids nowadays likes to express homeless on the things that they wear, we kind of hitched the fad and added some new materials in it. A discussion of the steps needed to make the idea basis for the viable business venture: We will have to find a supplier of cloths first, a tailor, and a printing shop. As for the designing of the sleeves, we think that we can handle it. The amount of sleeves to be produce depends on customer orders. For mass production, so far, we dont have the budget for that, but these depends on the outcome of what we will be doing now.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Risk assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Risk assessment - Essay Example All the above risks posses a challenge of exposure to risks of loss hence uncertainty and instilled fear in major economic, social and political pillars of the society (Adams,pp 23). Risk assessment on the other hand involves a systematic method of looking at or identifying work and field activities activities, considering all alternatives in relation to what could go wrong in is certainly likely to occur, and deciding on suitable control measures to prevent loss or help to avoid such losses, damage or related injuries in the workplace or work environments. Risk assessment is also the careful examination of the diverse and numerous factors that can bring about these risks. The Assessment should include the controls required to eliminate, reduce, and attach to cause or minimize the risks (Adams,pp111). REASONS FOR RISK ASSESSMENT Therefore, the need for risk assessment can never be underestimated given that it is the process that will always lead individuals into risk management activ ities. Risk Assessments are a critical requirement and necessity for most human and businesses organizations (Wisher,pp 155-9). If you don’t know, or appreciate where the risks are, you are placing yourself as an individual, your employees if any, your customers and your organization or business in danger and all the stakeholders that surround your operations. Therefore to an individual doing business risk assessment is a must thing to ensure minimization of risks and risk related activities, this leads to profit and wealth maximization hence successful business operations. Legal environment and systems surrounding businesses given their countries of operation also forces employers and owners of ventures or businesses must always look into all work involvements that are likely to cause harm in order to decide whether they are doing enough to meet their legal obligations so as to avoid legal risk which result into financial losses as payments are made due to court orders. In b usiness its always reasonably practicable for employers to meet the legal minimum requirement of operations as laid down by the law requirements of the land or state. The main aim of this should always be to assist reduce the risks as much as is 'reasonably practicable' (Gleason,pp275-7 ). Risk assessment is also meant to help reduce the costs of operating business. This is because when stringent risk control measures are put in place, there would be less payments for insurance premiums hence reduced insurance costs. Risk assessment also contributes to social well being of the societal members. This because with the psychological feeling of reduced risk comes the peace of mind and this puts in place a peaceful and healthy growing society. PROCEDURE OR PROCESS OF RISK ASSESSMENT Normally, there are no hard or fastened rules as to how risk assessment should be conducted due to the sole reason that each and every organization is unique and very much different from each other. This diff erence is on the diversified ways in which most organizations and businesses operate, the kinds of businesses in which they are involved which are also not the same and also the laws that govern each and every business (Luhmann,pp236).

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Toyota Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Toyota - Essay Example The company has developed a separate system called Toyota Production System (TPS) in order to manage its production operations. This system gives more focus on avoidance of over production and this strategy may sometimes adversely affect the expansional notions of Toyota. Hence, it is recommendable for the company to engage in more large scale production. Similarly, the Toyota must improve its competitiveness by introducing effective long term promotional strategies as the company economically lags behind Japan’s No.2 Nissan Motor Co Ltd and third ranked Honda Motor Co Ltd. The company must design a well structured employee development program that would establish a balance between an individual’s personal interests and organizational goals. Likewise, it is advisable for the management to make interpersonal relationships with employees so that it can ensure effective information flow between the organization’s top level to bottom level and vice versa. For this pu rpose, the firm may arrange for periodical meetings or appoint unit supervisors.

Monday, November 18, 2019

Discusses the nature of contemporary societal problems in general and Essay

Discusses the nature of contemporary societal problems in general and Dubai in particular (two to three pages) - Essay Example Even though the pollution problem cannot be considered new and is apparently diminishing within the developed world, it is still a rapidly growing problem globally and it’s most common effect today being global warming and unpredictable weather patterns. The rapid population growth is yet another problem and is considered as the side effect of advancements in improved life expectancy and diminished child mortality rates. The rapid population growth has put a lot of strain on the available resources and some of the recent wars can be linked to fighting over control over limited resources. Dubai has in the recent years rapidly developed to become a prototype of a modern city. Dubai’s advancements have of cause come with a lot of modernization advantages but have at the same time come with major disadvantages to the society. Among the problems experienced today is prostitution which involves adults and unfortunately, children too (Mooney, Knox & Schacht, 2008). There have been a few cases of children being abducted from other parts of the world and smuggled into Dubai to serve in prostitution rings. While there have been recent attempts to this vice, there still remain wide areas within the city where the vice goes on unchecked especially within low class hotels and parking lots where the police rarely intervene (Davison, 2008). Dubai’s successful free port is a haven for human traffickers and has provided them with an opportunity to do carry on with their illegal trade and in most cases, go unpunished. Dubai’s human trafficking trade has flourished to a point where Dubai is regarded as a major human trafficking centre. The large heterogeneous expatriate population, combined with Dubai’s attempts to create a friendlier environment for foreign tourists and investors has resulted in major erosions of some important components of the society in Dubai. Dubai is mostly made up of Muslims and the cases of binge drinking and

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Illusion in The Tempest

Illusion in The Tempest Throughout his thirty-six works which frequent stages around the world, Shakespeare was able to explore not only the human psyche and characteristics of humanity, but he also investigated the natural and unnatural world. In one of his more original plot lines, The Tempest, Shakespeare experimented with many themes, such as power, love, revenge, and pride. Shakespeare also explored the relationship between reality and illusion. Throughout the piece, Shakespeare portrays that illusion may be used to veil reality, but in the end, reality always makes itself apparent through the characters actions. The veil of illusion and unnaturalness can be centered around the character, Prospero. Prosperos whole life has been dedicated to the achievement of magical abilities. In the first act, Prospero tells his daughter, Miranda: I, thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated to closeness and the bettering of my mind with that which, but by being so retired, Oerprized all popular rate, in my false brother awaked an evil nature. And my trust, like a good parent, did beget of him a falsehood in its contrary as great as my trust was, which had indeed no limit, a confidence sans bound. He being thus lorded, not only with what my revenue yielded but what my power might else exact, like one who having into truth, by telling of it, made such a sinner of his memory to credit his own liehe did believe he was indeed the duke, out o th substitution and executing th outward face of royalty, with all prerogative. Hence his ambition growing. (1.2.89-105) Prospero reveals to his daughter that while he was caught up with perfecting his mind and his ability to control the unnatural world, he gave his brother, Antonio, the power to run the state in his absence. Antonio then betrayed him and took Prosperos title, and had him and Miranda marooned on an island. This is just one of the many clues given to the audience in the second scene that there is something unnatural about Prospero and his island. Later in the scene, Prospero reminds the spirit, Ariel, that, It was mine art, when I arrived and heard thee, that made gape the pine and let thee out, (1.2.345-347). As the story progresses, Prospero has the spirit, Ariel, conjure a large illusion of a storm, and wreck the crew of a nearby ship, which included his treacherous brother, on the island. Prospero has much control of the island, and through his various spirits, he controls much of the action in the play. In this way, Shakespeare creates a world of illusion. The characters go into most situations with an altered sense of reality. One example of this is when Prospero has his daughter meet the young prince, Ferdinand. Prospero leads the prince to believe that he is the only survivor of the wreck, and that his meeting Miranda is completely by chance, and he takes her to be a goddess and unnatural being. In reality, Prospero wishes Ferdinand to marry his daughter, so he leads them to each other. Another example is when the slave, Caliban meets Alonso, Sephano, and Trinculo. Although in reality, they are there, he believes them to be spirits of Prospero come to torture him: His spirits hear me and yet I needs must curse. But theyll nor pinch, fright me with urchin-shows, pitch me i th mire, nor lead me like a firebrand in the dark out of my way, unless he bid em. But for every trifle are they set upon me, sometime like apes that mow and chatter at me, and after bite me, then like hedgehogs which lie tumbling in my barefoot way and mount their pricks at my footfall. Sometime am I all wound with adders who with cloven tongues do hiss me into madness. Lo, now, lo! Here comes a spirit of his, and to torment me for bringing wood in slowly. Ill fall flat. Perchance he will not mind me. (2.2.1-17) After Caliban is given wine by Stephano, he believes them to be gods more powerful than Prospero, and he convinces them to overthrow and kill Prospero, and to rule the island in his stead. But Prospero uses illusion to cloak himself, and travels around the island invisibly. He unavoidably discovers the treacherous plan, and puts an end to it. The story ends with Prospero unveiling the reality of the island. His illusions are ready to be exposed. In the last act, Prospero claims, Now does my project gather to a head. My charms crack not, my spirits obey, and time goes upright with his carriage, (5.1.1-3). He confronts his brother, Antonio, saying, Flesh and blood, you brother mine, that entertained ambition, expelled remorse and nature, whom, with Sebastian, whose inward pinches therefore are most strong, would here have killed your kingI do forgive thee, unnatural though thou art, (5.1.78-83). Prospero later admits that the island was enchanted, You do yet taste some subtleties o th isle, that will not let you believe things certain, (5.1.124-126). Prospero then reveals that Ferdinand is not dead, and a veil rises, revealing him and Miranda, yet the King is slow to believe, if this prove a vision of the Island, one dear son shall I twice loss, (5.1.179-181). The last thing Prospero reveals is that the ship is not, in fact , wrecked on the shore, but merely harbored on the other side of the island: The best news is that we have safely found our king and company. The next, our ship which, but three glasses since, we gave out split is tight and yare and bravely rigged as when we first put out to sea! (5.1.229-233) The group then prepare to leave the island, and Prospero vows to leave his magic on the island, promising clear reality for the future. While Shakespeare portrays that illusion may be used to veil reality, in the end, reality always makes itself apparent through the characters actions. The relationship between reality and illusion is explored throughout this work, as well as a few of his other works. Shakespeares search to understand the world and the human being has led to a chapter of literature educational for all audiences. The world is lucky to still be frequented by his works, especially The Tempest.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Frankenstein’s Ambition :: Mary Shelley

Frankenstein’s Mistakes Victor Frankenstein was the creator of the monster in the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. He was an ambitious man who had high hopes and dreams. Even as a child, he was very intelligent, studying the sciences and scientists of the past. But, as ambition caused the downfall of Julius Caesar, it caused the downfall of Victor Frankenstein. As the creator of his monster, he had responsibilities as a mother has towards her child. Out of pride, he ignored his responsibilities. Even after his ambitious mistake, had he acknowledged his responsibilities, he could have saved himself from destruction. He made significant mistakes out of pride and ambition that brought unhappiness and destruction to himself and his loved ones. Victor was reared in a household where he had the proper environment to learn many things. His father was well-educated and encouraged Victor to further his knowledge. There was, however, one subject that he did not encourage Victor on; it was natural philosophy. Victor’s father told him not to waste his time on such trash. This remark fueled Victor’s curiosity and he studied further into it. At the age of 13, Victor â€Å"entered with the greatest diligence into the search of the philosopher’s stone and the elixir of life; but the latter soon obtained [his] undivided attention†. This foreshadowed Victor’s biggest mistake of his life that was to happen later in his life. When he entered the university, Victor started his studies in great detail and intensity. His greatest ambition was this: he wanted to recreate life out of something which life had already parted. He â€Å"described [himself] as always having been imbued with a fervent longing t o penetrate the secrets of nature†.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Asda Strategic Management Essay

I.Introduction Asda was first formed in 1965 by a group of Yorkshire farmers and originally sold only grocery products. However in 1990 Asda sold its first range of clothing under the name ‘George’ and was soon in most of their stores. In 1999 Wal-Martbought Asda and has since moved into other retail areas such as electronics, home appliances and home, travel and motor insurance, as well as setting up an order and delivery service (Saunders, 2011). Now Asda is the third-biggest supermarket in the UK with over 500 stores across the UK and provide around 35,000 products to customer. The following report will illustrate business-strategy level of Asda by using some strategic analysis model like PEST, SWOT, Porter’s Five Force and Porter’s Generic Strategies.  This report also gives to Asda some advices for future development strategy. II.Content 1.The wider environment in the UK. PEST analysis is a simple tool, useful and widely used.It will help to capture the â€Å"overview† of political, economic, cultural – social and technological environment in the UK Political The political environment is ideal for business with a stable friendly government. The political environment in the UK is considered to be relatively stable. The UK is a nation under a constitutional monarchy. Head of state is the king, but the king only symbolic role. Executive power is exercised on behalf of the king, but in the hands of actual government. The head of government is the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is the leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives seat (Williams, 1998). Generally the British political system little changed. Even the legal system of the State policy also does not change much Biggest concern of businesses is the continuity of the rules and principles of conduct whether any of the parties are in power. A change in government, whether by election or coup not always mean changing the level of political risk. Contrary to the fundamental change in policy could create major instability. A sudden change in unpredictable government policies can also hinder business activities of the enterprise, regardless of the changing cause.Soï ¼Å'for political factor, in the future years and current, Britain basic political situation is stable. This situation is good for British supermarket industry to grow in strength. Read more:  ASDA Jobs Economic In the early 20th century, the global economy has made profound changes due to the volatility of the political situation in the world. The world economy achieved high growth rates in the 2000s and began to decline sharply after terrorism of 9/11 in America (Colin Grahame Bamford, 2002). The volatile world economy has profoundly affected European countries such as the U.S., Japan †¦ but the UK economy remains sustainable. UK also is an attractive market for foreign investors because the UK has many advantages, such as the financial centre of the world currency, infrastructure development, and tax is lower than the EU other, skilled workforce with relatively low labour  costs compared with developed countries. Currently, the UK is attracting foreign investment (FDI) in most EU regions. In 2008, the UK accounted for 30 % FDI in the EU, accounting for 9.3 % of world FDI. As predicted, in 10 localities FDI only leading the world in 2001-2005, England was ranked 2nd after receiving the U.S. with an average amount of FDI per year is estimated at 82.5 billion dollars. UK is also investing abroad largest EU. In 1998-2005, an annual average of UK investment abroad amounted to U.S. $ 119.4 billion, private investment in 2008 totalled nearly $ 250 billion (ONS, 2012) . The more important is the UK is The UK is the fifth largest economy country in the world, the second largest exporter and the third largest importer of commercial services, eighth largest exporter and fifth largest importer of merchandise. Social In 2007, the UK population was reached 61 million.UK is one of most densely populated countries. Growing of UK population isabout nearly 400,000 one year. Population growth tended to influence retail trade. More and more potential customers will be faced by ASDA in the future. The increasing population can give ASDA good opportunity for making more profit. Technology Science and technology is developed in the UK now.By 2008 in the UK,there is about 16 million households use the internet for buying food. This was UK households 65%. (Na 2008) 2.The competitive environment within the UK. Analysis of the Porter’s five forces for the purpose of establishing the position of a company in that industry. The factors in the model of Porter is: The five forces are threat of substitute products, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of sellers, competitor rivalry and threat of new entrants Future developments in the industry and the ability of the company to respond. The threat of substitute products The threat of substitute products is very low for ASDA. It is the product convenient hiding in the corner or the license can be considered as the replacement product. However, because the less of the product at the corner store so customers will still have to go to the supermarket to meet their shopping needs Bargaining power of buyers ASDA is the largest distributor of influence throughout the UK, the system of the ASDA distribution can affect many industries such as food, electronic goods, commodities and consumer goods daily. ASDA has enough power to negotiate with other companies on price, product quality and marketing policies to put products into your system. Threat of new entrants It can be said pressure of ASDA from competitors is very low. Because open a create a new supermarket or start to run a new business to enter the market you have to reach two conditions, which are invest a huge amount of capital and huge supply system to compete with ASDA. Bargaining power of suppliers The provider can afford to have bargaining power pay the price in a few cases when only a few suppliers. Bargaining power of suppliers is very low for ASDA when they supply goods under the terms were drafted. ASDA had concerns about branding and enhance the reputation, such as set up ASDA Foundation in 1988 to assist any charity in the UK, and it is benefit for brand construct and is to be a leader that enhances customer loyalty. And more and more buyers want to go shopping at ASDA so the supplier power will increase in this situation. Finally, ASDA’s productions are more and more competitive advantages. Existing rivalry between competitors The competition between existing competitors is very high because the supermarket industry in the UK is saturation. Therefore the competition within the industry appears to be intense. ASDA is affronting many internal and external competitors such as TESCO, SAINSBURY,MORRISON and AHOLD of the Holland. TESCO is the largest retailer in the UK. It can contend for markets with ASDA by its large number stores and attractive price. SAINSSBURY is the second one in UK, its productions famous for high quality. While AHOLD is the largest supermarket in Holland, therefore it has the absolute strategies. All of these have a high degree to share market with ASDA. 3.Asda’s strategic position within the UK. SWOT analysis will be the useful tool to point out the strategic position of Asda within the UK industry Strength Strengths of ASDA Group is a system consisting of many stores spread across the UK. Chain stores have proven to be an ASDA strong brand. Now, the corporations in approximately 136 company retail stores. ASDA pursue low pricing strategy. It aims to offer a shopping basket which is 10—15% lower than the chief competitors. ASDA considered the method that can use the Consistent low prices rather than advertisement to give the confidence to customer. It is that does not need to buy some products in other supermarket for pursue the value price. In addition, growing market share is strength, ASDA is the second largest food retailer in the UK, ASDA has outperformed the rest of the retail sector in terms of growth rate and continues to gain market share as shoppers respond to its reputation for low prices. Weakness Since this is a target retailers with cheap so some time in the company sold inferior quality products and this significantly affected the reputation of the company. The main weakness of ASDA is its lack of small and midsize supermarkets and small convenience stores in the UK, it is clearly that many European countries like France and Germany has places hard restrictions on construction of big stores in suburb and rural areas. Although most ASDA supermarkets fall into big style, but ASDA’s biggest rival has two-third of outlets are small or midsize supermarkets. (Matlack, 2005) states that â€Å"Even if ASDA big supermarkets are doing well, it is difficult to expand with that format.† Opportunities Also for large scale so the management and coordination of management activities is very difficult. There are many opportunities that can be exploited ASDA, which is expanding its market to potential markets such as the EU. In addition the company can exploit some other business sectors such as tourism, insurance. ASDA have many opportunities in many fields. Firstly, with the process of economic globalization, many emerging markets are growing fast, like the turnover of China retail industry is increasing about 30% for every year. ASDA can access to the new market in the future.  Secondly, it can grow organic food market. Rising health awareness among consumers led to a higher demand for low calorie organic foods around the world. Customers are becoming aware of the risks associated with obesity and poor dietary habits. ASDA has taken many initiatives to cater to the health-conscious consumer. Threats Supermarket business is highly profitable industry, many investors want to invest. Currently in the UK there are several large supermarkets are competing with Tesco and Morrison’s ASDA. Initially, the UK retail industry is highly consolidated with Tesco and Sainsbury. Tesco is key competitor of ASDA. It operates through the multiple store formats, including Extra, Superstore, Metro, Express and hypermarkets. Besides in the UK, Tesco also operates in other European countries and Asia. Furthermore, the labour wages go up in the UK, according to the Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, labour costs are raising in the UK. It would adversely influence ASDA’s margins. 4.The competitive strategy of Asda. For a big retailer as Asda, a sustainable competitive advantage is the key to get success. A sustainable competitive advantage is about performing different activities or performing similar activities in different ways. That means, Asda must be capable of producing value for the consumer that is recognized as being superior to that of its competitors. The best ways to achieve this goal is that Asda should follow one of three generic competitive strategies which developed by Porter. Figure 1: Porter’s Generic Strategies The first strategy is overall cost leadership, this strategy requires Asda provide lowest-cost products to their consumers without reduce quality of products. Overall cost leadership allows Asada to outperform rivals within the industry because it can charge lower price and its lowest-cost base still allows them to earn profit. The second strategy is differentiation, if Asda use this strategy, Asda must provide different goods and services which  satisfy the needs of their customers. Differentiation requires Asda spend more cost to create and keep their competitive advantage. However, this cost can be offset in case Asda can increase revenue. The third strategy is focus, Asda can focus on cost leadership or differentiation in a narrow market. Asda can become the cost leader but only within a specific market or Asda can offer special products, service with high value within a segment of market. In pursue focus strategy, Asda could develop their brand loyalty which help Asda decrease threat of new entry. One of dangerous problem in applying Porter’s Generic Strategy is that some organizations try to do all three and become stuck in the middle. However, in case of Asda it not appropriate, right from the first days of establishment, the company has put out a formula for their business is cost reduction to always discount sales. That means Asda choose cost leadership strategy to achieve competitive advantage in the supermarket industry in UK. To following this strategy, Asda always guarantee give to their customer 10% cheaper than their competitor (Asda, 2014). Besides that, Asda also try to minimize their staff’s number by using shopping online and self-service check out to reduce cost. Online shopping will reduce retailer costs because less staffs are needed in shops to serve the customer. The annual report in 2009 show that self-service checkouts are becoming more favoured in Asda store and the wage costs was saved  £10 million. In addition, Asda also try to increase their economics of scale to reduce production cost in long term. In 2010, Asda paid  £778 million to take over the Netto – this is an aggressive bid to close the gap with market leader Tesco’ (The Guardian 2010). This action is evidence shows that Asda using economics of scale pursue cost leadership strategy. Another action shows the cost leadership strategy of Asda pay a large cost for their own machines and the result is that in the long term production of their own brands will be cheaper than other. Another measure of Asda in reducing costs is hard bargaining strategy with their suppliers. It means that they decrease power of suppliers, if their current suppliers do not meet their requirement they can simply move to another supplier that will meet their demands. More and more Asda is choosing to use suppliers from abroad because they are often cheaper than suppliers in Britain and regulation is less strict meaning they are able to achieve their cost leadership strategy. (The Guardian) 5.Future development strategy of Asda. Asda level strategy Asda has many stores around UK, but the company not expand around the world. The firm must develop and try to stay in the top of sales in the UK and try to compete with international companies. Asda now is the second largest retails in the UK by market share. Strategy of Asda, Asda will base on two strategies. First one internal growth and the second one is acquisition. First direction is internal growth, This direction will help the company to develop the products by using internal resources. Asda will open new electronic firm called Asda electronic, and this firm will produce some home appliances. This will help Asda to have more profit and to become the first largest retails in the UK by market share. This means the company will pay a lot of money in the beginning to build the new firm, and in the research but after that the revenue will rise. Second direction is alliances, It’s so important for any firms to extend to another country, but in the same time it’s difficult. The strategy for Asda is to alliances of another company like Aldi. Aldi is German company and has over 8,000 stores worldwide, the company opened in 18 countries around the world. And that’s very important for Asda to become multinational firm. This alliancewill help the firm to make more profit. Ansoff matrix, Figure 2: Ansoff matrix Asda will development new products to the market in the UK. And the firm will produce home appliances like cooker and microwave and all the home machine. New market, Asda plan to expand in different countries by alliances with Aldi. That will raise the revenue, and help the firm to become multinational. Criteria suggested Suitability The strategies suitable for Asda, these strategies will move Asda from local company to multinational company. Because the firm will alliances another company Aldi. This means the number of customers will increase, and the profit will also rise. Feasibility Now is the best time to do these strategies, Asda make huge profit in the last few years. This makes it easy to Asda to build the electronic firm and to acquisitions. Acceptability The strategies are acceptable to the stakeholders of the business, because it will raise the profit of the company. And in the same time they will not do loss money. III.Recommendation Based on strategy of view of us, Asda should choose market development like a future strategy. In more specific, Asda should do alliance with Aldi because of two reasons. Firstly, the market for supermarket in the UK does not have lot space to develop, so expand to international will give to Asda more profit. Secondly, Aldi is giant company with wide range of store on the word; alliance with Aldi not only helps Asda expand to Germany but also helpsthe firm will come multinational. All that will make the firm become bigger and have change to get stronger in the UK and capture the market share in other countries. In addition the firm will receive a huge profit as boost the revenue, build anextremelystrong brand image. IV.Reference 1.Na, 2008 People Prices Planet [online] Available at: http://www.about-asda.com/inside-asda/people-prices-planet.asp (Accessed 20/03/2014) 2.TRAVIS, LAN (2008) Boom in births brings UK population to almost 61m [online] Available at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/aug/22/population.immigrationandpublicservices (Accessed 10/04/2014) 3.Carol Matlack 2005 Wal-Mart’s Overseas Stumbles [online] Available at: http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jul2005/nf20050727_3355_db016.htm (Accessed 05/04/2014) 4.The Guardian (2009), Zoe Wood. Asda suppliers under pressure[online]. Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/mar/22/asda-supermarkets (Accessed 05/04/2014) 5.The Guardian (2008), Finch. J. Asda wants ethical code for UK suppliers only[online]. Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/apr/07/asda.supermarkets (Accessed 30/01/2014) 6.Porter, M. (1980), Porters (1980) Generic Strategies, Performance and Risk, pp 8 7.ASDA. (2012). Asda Official Webpage. Available at http://www.asda.co.uk (Accessed 13/05/2014) 8.Abraham, C. S. (2007). Strategic Planning: A practical Guide for Competitiveness Success. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing: 9.Colin Grahame Bamford, S. G. (2002). The UK Economy in a Global Context. London: Heinemann Education Publisher. 10.Kotler, P. (2007). A framework for Marketing Management. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. 11.Mike Storry, P. C. (1997). British Cultural Identities. London. 12.ONS. (2012). Office for National Statistic. Available at http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/index.html (Accessed 07/04/2014) 13.Porter, M. E. (1980). Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. New York: Free Press.

Friday, November 8, 2019

A comparison of Death in Venice and Baron In the Trees essays

A comparison of Death in Venice and Baron In the Trees essays A comparison of Death in Venice by Thomas Mann and Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino Solitary individuals often exploit different views on our world, sometimes accompanied by a disharmonious way of living, as we can see in these two books. The concept of a distant view on life, is applied in both works, be it Gustav von Aschenbachs artistic dilemma in Death in Venice or Cosimos escape from rules and regulations by leaving the natural life on the ground, to live beneath the sky yet above the earth, in Baron in the Trees. What is it then, that drives them? Is it the pursuit of perfection, of utmost beauty? The wish to live independently, free from the humdrum routine of an earthbound existence? Or perhaps they are merely engaging in a quest for romance? Both of the lead characters are different from the rest; both are hermits in their own separate ways, and their views on our world are accordingly diverse. Death in Venice, written by Thomas Mann in 1912, is a symbol-laden story of aestheticism and decadence. Gustav von Aschenbach is an ascetic German author with a sense for discipline and formal perfection in literature, and writes thereafter. Upon travelling to Venice for vacation purposes, he encounters a young boy, named Tadzio. Obviously, this boy is a splendid example of Grecian, almost godlike beauty and innocence. Fascinated by this pulchritudinous being, Aschenbach is willingly engulfed in a whirlpool of decadence, sacrificing his once proud and dignified self in favour of an ever-increasing state of obsession for this boy and degradation of his former person. This infatuation eventually takes his life, when a lethal cholera invades Venice. He has the opportunity to leave, but cannot bring himself to leave what has now become an object of desire. Henceforth, his life ends in the embracement of madness. This novel undoubtedly deals with the role of the artist in society, and houses numerous images...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

The Thing Only You Can Bring to Your Writing

The Thing Only You Can Bring to Your Writing Today’s guest post is by James Scott Bell. Bell is a bestselling thriller author and writing teacher. His seminal book, Plot Structure, has been the #1 craft book from Writer’s Digest Books for over a decade. At a recent workshop I was teaching, I began by showing a clip from the amusing Albert Brooks film, The Muse. It’s the story of a middle-aged screenwriter facing a career crisis (which, in Hollywood, is almost redundant). Early on, Brooks is having lunch with a studio honcho who is about fifteen years his junior. Brooks has submitted an action script and wants feedback. The honcho says, â€Å"Let me put this in a form that’s not insulting, because I tend to be too direct. All my friends tell me that. The script’s no good.† Brook says, â€Å"That's the form that’s not insulting? What would the insulting form be?† When Brooks asks what’s wrong with the script, the honcho replies, â€Å"What’s wrong with the script ... is you.† Brooks presses for more specifics. The honcho finally says, â€Å"You’ve lost your edge.† Brooks looks at him with that Albert Brooks existential-angst expression he has practically trademarked. The honcho further states that the studio needs Brooks to vacate his office so Brian De Palma can have it. â€Å"You can’t give Brian De Palma my office!† Brooks says. â€Å"It’s not really your office,† the honcho replies. â€Å"We’re all just using space here. I’m where Lucille Ball used to be.† â€Å"Too bad you’re not where she is now.† In short, the lunch does not go well. After the clip, I told the class part of the reason they were at Story Masters was to avoid ever being subjected to a conversation like that. How? By finding and keeping their edge. Which every writer has, by the way. The challenge is to dig it out and give if form on the page. Just what is the edge? It’s you. It’s what sets you apart from every other writer. You are a unique human being, a package of singular experiences, passions, joys ... not to mention DNA. The trick to this edge business is marrying your distinctiveness with craft mastery and an overall strategy for your novel. Yeah, that’s all. I then showed the students a quote from a former acquisitions editor at Penguin, Marian Lizzi. She was writing about the things that cause a house to say no to a manuscript. One of these is that the book is not â€Å"remarkable/surprising/unputdownable enough†: This one is the  most difficult  to articulate – and yet in many ways it’s the most important hurdle to clear. Does the proposal get people excited? Will sales reps and buyers be eager to read it – and then eager to talk it up themselves?  Ã‚  As my first boss used to warn us green editorial assistants two decades ago the type of submission that’s the toughest to spot – and the most essential to avoid is the one that is â€Å"skillful, competent, literate, and ultimately forgettable.† These words are more important now than ever. We all know about the â€Å"tsunami of content† competing for attention and repeat business, even though so much of it is (how do I put this in a form that’s not insulting?) no good. However, a lot of it is good. Over the last nearly quarter-century of teaching the craft, I've seen the level of competent fiction rise significantly. With all of the teaching and critique-grouping and editor/agent-paneling and craft books and blogs out there, anyone with a minimal amount of talent- and a whole lot of grit- can learn to write competent fiction. Which means we have to be more than good to stand out from the morass. The edge is critical to getting us there. An old preacher once told his ministerial students that a sermon is no good unless it makes the congregation sad, mad, or glad. There is much truth in that. So try this exercise: Write down three things that make you sad, three that make you mad, and three that make you glad. (Note: just for variety, try skipping anything political!) Next, take each of these nine items and write one page about why you feel this way. Go deep. Use your life experiences, how you were raised, what you've observed, specific scenes from your past. You never have to show these pages to anyone, so rant and rave and cry all you want. Hot tears forge sharp edges. You now have nine pages of emotional response, unique to you. When you develop your main characters, give them a sad, mad, and glad set. They don’t have to overlap yours, but certainly may. Now create backstory to justify each feeling, keeping at it until you feel it too. Your edge will emerge. Follow it, put it in the sinew of your characters and the tension of your scenes. If you do that, there will be no need for an uncomfortable lunch. You can finish your book instead.       James Scott Bellis a bestselling thriller author and writing teacher. His seminal book, Plot Structure, has been the #1 craft book from Writer’s Digest Books for over a decade. A sought-after speaker at writers’ conferences, Jim’s popular course â€Å"Writing a Novel They Can’t Put Down† is now available online. You can visit his website at www.jamesscottbell.com.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Proposal for the Creation of Best Town Police Department Research Paper - 1

Proposal for the Creation of Best Town Police Department - Research Paper Example The overall conclusion tries to draw a relationship between all the existing factors that are involved in designing an able and efficient police department, in light of Best Town. The general aim of this proposal is to provide recommendations for a police department for Best Town community based on reports that the community is not satisfied by the services provided by the county police department. The town therefore feels the need to have their own police department, and this proposal aims to provide recommendations and ideas on how to implement such a department. The department would take up all the crimes committed in the town, as its sole mandate would be to ensure proper law enforcement for Best Town. There are various elements that define life in any society. These include the social, political, environmental, technological, economic, and even cultural factors that all have a bearing on how a society is going to structured. Each of these factors has its own distinctive characteristics that make it efficient in the part that it plays in the society. In addition, all of them relate, and have some form of interdependence such that for the maximization of any of the factors, the others also have to be enjoying some level of stability. This means that for the economic factors to be at their best, the political and even social elements have to be just as successful and in a stable state. The converse is also true. This type of relationship reduces any instance of impasse that would arise should one factor fall greatly behind. Through all this, security is of key significance. Security is like the bond that links all the aforementioned factors. While some of them may be relatively effi cient in the absence of the others, like environmental factors being favorable at the expense of technological advancement, none can have a substantial amount of success at the expense of security. This highlights the

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Methodology chapter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Methodology chapter - Essay Example These differences, which can be considered to be improvements on the latter approaches, are what make design-based research a good fit for this research study. Design-based research differs from lab experiment re4search in a number of ways, especially in the education domain. While using lab experiment research in this case would have required a laboratory setting to ensure that there were no significant interruptions from confounding variables, design-based research will enable the current research to account for the dynamics, complexities, and limitations of the real world classroom (Behrendt, 2010). In addition, despite the existence of significant dependent and confounding variables in the classroom, DBR does not seek to consider all the former variables. This ability to choose from a number of dependent variables offers an advantage for using DBR to study the use Adobe Connect in learning a second language, especially since lab experiments have a fixed procedure due to attempts to manipulate one variable and control for the rest. By revising the research design iteratively and flexibly over the course of the research, it will be possible to characterize the complexities of how participants develop competency in the use of technology (Behrendt, 2010). Moreover, the fact that DBR will allow for social interactions with the ESL teachers, as well as between the ESL teachers and their students. This is due to its â€Å"real world† orientation, which lends it an added advantage over lab experiment research that would isolate the ESL teachers and prevent their interaction with researchers. Due to the complexities portended by the language barrier and learning new technology, it will be difficult to come up with a hypothesis from ini tial investigation of the research problem, which is a requirement of experimental investigations (Behrendt, 2010). By using DBR, however, the researchers will be able to develop practical design profiles