Modern Platos Cave Essays - Platonism, Dialogues Of Plato

Modern Plato's Cave In the Allegory of the Den written by Plato. In his writing he explains human beings live in an underground den, here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move. Being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. The three areas in modern American life that relate to Platos cave are school, community, and home or personal issues. One of the areas of modern American life that relates to Platos den is school. In grades 1-6 (elementary) kids don't really know anything bout life. Kids just play, act crazy, and don't think of other genders. After elementary is over they go to middle school. While in middle school, teenagers get pure pressured into doing something such as: drugs, steal, sex or alcohol. Teenagers also start to recognize other genders. They also start to argue with their parents. This is also know as the Electro\Oedypius complex. After they graduate from middle school they enter high school. They start taking responsibility and get more serious. They start to get stressed about work and essays. But after high school they start to think about freedom. But they really don't get freedom. Everybody has to do something to survive like working for money, food, and pay the bills. Another area in Modern American life that relates to Platos cave is community. The reasons why community is related to Platos cave is due to isolation, jobs, culture\race, crime, and the way people act. Ridgecrest for example, the town is a middle white race society. The society blames ethnic people of committing crimes and they wont be able to get a job. The ethnic culture in isolated towns is rare, when people see other cultures such as: Asian, Mexican, etc. Most people consider them as weird or when they hear other peoples language. In small towns, there are a lot of stereotypes. They don't wont change. The law is what also makes this world a cave. The law is created to stop violence and criminals. If you disobey the laws then you either get put in jail or put to death. It relates to being put in chains being prevented from turning our heads. The final reason is your personal issues or living at home. For instance your the rules of the house, being on home at a certain hour, and doing chores around the house. The chores relates of also being chained up, not being able to relax, watch television. Brothers and sisters keep on bugging you and not giving you any space. Going home at a certain time, not having the freedom of staying out as late as you want. In the Allegory of the Den by Plato, it talks about being imprisoned or feeling imprisoned and being put in chains. In modern American life that feel imprisoned are school, community and home. The three areas (school, community, and home) relate to the cave because all three have to do with freedom. Not being able to do what they want to is what makes them feel imprisoned.

Review for Crawfords ROMAN RE essays

Review for Crawford's ROMAN RE essays The author Michael Crawford wrote the book The Roman Republic to offer an interpretation about the Roman Empire. This was done to educate the reader about how Rome gained its greatness and became the military and cultural center of the world at that time. He wanted to inform the readers about how the Roman Empire grew from one city tribe, to dominate the Italian peninsula, and finally to conquer the Mediterranean coast. This conquest led to what was then the great Greek and Egyptian Empires. He also suggests the want and desire of the Roman people to acquire education, artifacts, and philosophy from the Greek cities. Furthermore, how the Roman people took this culture and molded it to make their own style and customs. Michael Crawford also documents the Roman Empires political structures. He writes how it went through the transition from a monarchy, early in the empires existence, to a Republic where the people had more say over the countries actions. He discusses the political scheme of Rome and how ''Senators'' were chosen and served the empire. Crawford states how the governing class of Rome seemed to question and change its idea of what the government should be on a regular basis. ''The prevailing ideology of the Roman governing class was one which facilitated change, including in the end, the abolition of the Roman government itself''(Crawford 1). This quotation suggests to the reader the ever-changing ideas of the Roman people and how they viewed their governing body. Michael Crawford states that the Roman society gave rewards for military victory. The people were often rewarded when an army experienced victory in a battle. ''The loyalty of the Roman population to its leaders was assured by a share in the rewards of victory''(Crawford 1). The people had a share of goods, moneys, lands, and slaves when a territory would be conquered. This did have a negative effect though. ''As the empire expanded it became ha...

Paul's view of Women in the Ministry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Paul's view of Women in the Ministry - Essay Example It is clear through Scripture verses that Paul, unlike many men of his time, was supportive of women actively teaching and praying in the ministry. One of the most profound references that can be found to the views of Paul is in the book of Romans. Romans 16:1-2 states: â€Å"I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also.† If Paul did not support women in the ministry, he would not be commending anyone, let alone a woman, by name. Furthermore, though Paul refers to Phoebe as a â€Å"servant†, he wrote his letters in Greek, using the word â€Å"diakonos†, from which the word â€Å"deacon† is derived (Fees). Though the translation reads â€Å"servant†, it has been speculated, that Phoebe may have actually been a church leader, such as a deacon, not a servant. In fact, the word is only translated once out of thirty-four times as â€Å"servant†, and that is when it has bee n applied to Phoebe; the rest of the time it has been translated as â€Å"minister† or â€Å"deacon† (Fees). Another female name of note is Priscilla, noted to be a tent-making team of husband and wife whose house Paul is a guest in, as stated in Acts 18:1-3. In Acts 18:24-26, it states â€Å"now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in Scriptures, came to Ephesus.   This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John.   So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue.   When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.† Priscilla, along with her husband, taught and explained the gospel to Apollos while Paul was staying under their roof and sharing their house

Lodox Statscanner X-Ray Unit Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Lodox Statscanner X-Ray Unit - Article Example Lodox Statscanner X-Ray Unit Lodox is a full-body, high-speed digital radiology device used in health care facilities and testing centres to save on time and provide a full x-ray image of the body. The system’s full marketing name is the Lodox Statscan, Xmplr-dr and is a radiotherapy (DR) X-ray system for scanning capable of registering high imaging speeds of upto13 seconds for a six-foot image without the necessity of retakes or stitching of images. The Lodox applies technology that amplifies safety. The design of Lodox meets cost effective expectations of some major customers around the globe. While it saves on time by producing high quality images within a short period, the device does not include imaging films and therefore operates with the use of flash memory, hence, the production of digital images. The usability and advantages of using the Lodox will be showcased and promoted through marketing mix to include product placement, advertising, price promotion, and mass media publicity. The company behind Lodox Statscan, Lodox, projects high economic expectations as few alternative products can compare with Lodox Statscan in terms of usability and the bleeding edge technology. Like most other companies, the appropriate growth strategy for Lodox is to provide a continued supply of quality Lodox Statscanner units to the existing and emerging markets to garner increased market share, worldwide recognition, and effective marketing strategies. In terms of market promotion, besides the initial $10,000 in capital, 20% of revenues coming from sales will stand as reinvestment capitals to acquire 20% market share within each financial year for the five year marketing plan.

COMPARISON of The great Gatsby Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

COMPARISON of The great Gatsby - Essay Example Examples of movies that can guide one to make comparisons are old Great Gatsby (1974) versus new Great Gatsby (2013) and Double Indemnity (1944) and Body Heat (1981). To start with, the theme of the movie Great Gatsby is an adaptation of the novel entitled Great Gatsby written by Fitzgerald. In the novel, the writer focused on the lives of the materials excess that rich people from Long Island in New York enjoyed in 1922. Carraway is a young man in the novel who narrates his story about his life in New York amidst rich people from Long Island. The 1974 Great Gatsby movie adaptation takes very many scenes that caraway describes in the novel and allows the scenes to unfold directly to the viewers. However, it has expanded on some scenes such as love affairs and the director have shot them with adequate backlighting and starburst effects. The witness storyteller in the novel could not have seen these events and hence making them more than just stylistic issues in the movie. On the other hand, the 2013 Lurhmann’s Great Gatsby movie has completely fabricated the story in the novel. ... The old Great Gatsby film is deliberately slow with a bordering soundtrack similar to that in horror movies, but it tries to confine into that time accurately using music and clothing fashions popular during that period. The new Great Gatsby film is an eye candy montage that has better quality that the old version with a blend of music and the theme of the twenty first century. The parties that Gatsby threw to lure daisy in the narrative could be likely to be similar of 1974 parties than 2013 parties hence the older movies depicts a clearer picture of the narrative than the new film. Additionally, the 1974 Great Gatsby film has a more mature tone than the 2013 Great Gatsby film as the characters representing Gatsby and Daisy in the movie seem to be older than the same characters in the novel. According to Lindsay (Para. 1-4), the new film has a much younger faces of Daisy and Gatsby, which gives a closer look of the similar characters as described in the narrative in terms of age. Ca rraway in the movie of 1974 has a fresher feel of the character in the novel than the person taking the same role in the 2013 production. Dern effectively demonstrated the character of Tom in the narrative but Joel has a better description of Tom’s physicality in the novel than Dern in the old production. Despite the differences, there some visible similarities between the two films with the new version of production viewed as an adaptation of the old production more than an independent adaptation of the novel. Sheppard (Para. 8-9) states that, one of the chief similarities is the picture of the society living between Manhattan and Long Island illustrate in the two films. Moreover, the two film productions have inserted

Walmart Success In Mexico Canada And China Marketing Essay

Walmart Success In Mexico Canada And China Marketing Essay Global expansion has been gaining a lot of attention from all businesses that planned to expand abroad. Important factors that needs to be considered in the decision making process will be business strategies, entry modes, and threats and opportunities available in the markets. Appropriate strategies used will also help to minimize the risk of failure in the international markets. When a firm makes the right choice of business strategies and entry modes, the firm will then be able to succeed in the market and do well in the market as well. The choice of entry modes and business strategies will influence the future of the retailer in the targeted markets as well. Therefore, retailers who wish to go global should use the most suitable approaches to enter their targeted markets to ensure success to their business. Keywords: global expansion, business strategies, entry modes, threats, opportunities, Walmart Introduction Many researches had been done to study more about internalization of the retail industry and the majority of researches done are mainly used to describe the motivations and scales for international expansion by retailers (Akehurst Alexander, 1995; Williams, 1992). Besides that, many models of internalization explained the sequence of foreign expansion that shows that the companies who go international will do better in foreign markets that are similar to their domestic markets. This is why Walmart chose to enter the markets of Canada and Mexico (Johanson Vahlne, 1977). There are several reasons why international retailing had been a popular issue. Retailers who take the step to go into the international market is mainly because the domestic markets is saturated, needs for larger diverse investments, economic pressures and many external and internal forces that leads retailers to enter new markets and it is important for the retailer to choose the right market entry strategy into th e international markets (Sternquist, 2007). There are several researches done with a conclusion that retailers can minimize the risk of entry strategies by choosing the markets which are similar to the domestic market from the aspects of cultural, geographical and growth potentials. (Barkema Vermeulen, 1998; Welch Welch, 1996). Walmart is established in 1962, by Sam Walton. Walmart got its name from the family name Walton, giving Walmart the meaning of Waltons mart in long. Walmart is a strong company and it managed to survive in the 2008 recession hit in United States. Walmart had been growing fast throughout the years and the sales and market growth were increasing every year. For a fast growing retailer like Walmart, it is important to have use the best entry modes to enter a new market (Fred, 2011). Global expansion Global retail expansion has attracted many businesspersons, especially big sized companies which wish to increase their businesss profits and market share. Global expansion not only attracts large organizations but also small to medium-sized companies, some companies who are new to international expansion as well, and those who are in more mature organizations. The success achieved by newer specialty retailers in the international market, for example, Zara (Spain), HM (Sweden), and Shanghai Tang (Hong Kong) have motivated and created the way for other organizations to follow. However, there is also numerous numbers of well-known retailers who have failed in their expansion in certain global markets which is caused by several reasons, such as regulatory, legal and cultural challenges, competition, and trying to change shopping behavior (Cox, 2011). Besides that, retailers who made the decision to operate only in neighboring markets, as well as it is located geographically close to the ir home markets, will expect to face a lower level of such risks (Burt, 1993; Davis, Desai, Francis, 2000; Hollander, 1970: Knee, 1993; Robinson Clarke-Hill, 1990). Numerous top managers are also becoming more cautious on the problem of maintaining a common identity and culture in the process of trying to build up global enterprises (Joshua Chi, 2007). Moreover, it is very tough for businesses to make their decisions on choosing the most appropriate markets for their business development because there is no accurate and reliable information provided to the businesses. Domestic players in the markets will only portray the potentials side of the markets and hide the disadvantages just to attract businesses into the market (Jackson, Houdard, Highfield, 2008). Comparison of business strategies used by Walmart in Mexico, Canada and China There are different business strategies used by Walmart in Mexico, Canada and China. In Mexico, Walmart acquired Central American Retail Holding Co. who was struggling with accounting issues in 2006. After the acquisition, Walmart renamed the business with Walmart Centroamà ©rica. Central American Retail Holding Co. was previously the largest retailer in Central America. Walmart took the step where they re-launched the whole chain of retail stores under the Central American Retail Holding Co. with wider product assortments, and lower pricing strategy. The reason why they does this is because low pricing strategy is the basic strategy to expand Walmarts philosophy, Every Day Low Price to all part of the world (Basic Strategy: Be More Walmart!, 2011). Walmarts main strategy in Mexico is the multi-format strategy where through this strategy; Walmart can serve different groups of consumers at the same time being able to fulfill all the various needs of these groups of people. Bodega Aur rera in Mexico is the companys fastest growing format. There are three versions of this store. Bodega Aurrera Express stores are designed as very small outlets to serve urban areas such as Mexico City and Monterrey. Mi Bodega Aurrera is designed to serve rural towns and these stores created a great achievement for Walmart (Multiple Formats Equal Flexibility, 2011). In Canada, Walmart Canada is creating a new home branding effort that place the Better Homes Gardens license as the core for both hard and soft home categories (Wal-Mart International Improves Game, 2007). Every products offered has clear and obvious differences from any other products in the market and this will leave a strong image in the customers minds that these products were originated from Walmarts fashion and value chain (Wal-Mart International Improves Game, 2007). Besides that, Walmart Canada is implementing the use of Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFID) which involves 20 stores and about 12 of their suppliers. This implementation was influenced by the parent country in United States where this system will help eliminate inventories out of stock. The implementation was an important step in the United States and it is important to Walmart Canada as well. Walmart Canada will focus on the use of this technology to improve their supply chain as well as customer se rvices. Equipped stores will be able to use the system to track tagged items in the stores and they can take necessary actions if anything happens. The system is a very important goal to be achieved by Walmart Canada because it can reduce errors occurred in manual restocking methods and the most important issue is that it can reduce over stock in the stores, and it can reduce unnecessary transportation caused which then leads to reduction in emissions of carbons (Mammarella, 2007). The success of Walmart can also be seen through its achievement in having a large grocery insert in its Canadian discount stores where the insert was called Grocery Shelf that provides a big return on capital at low risk (Orgel, 2005). In China, Walmart is targeting to be one of the national retail chains in the country with no interrelated national distribution system.  With this aim, it can be obvious that the rewards are huge, if Walmart is able to succeed. Besides that, the mainland retail market are estimated to be worth US$750 billion by 2008 and this will be a supporting point for Walmart to succeed.  The only thing Walmart need to be worried about is the distribution system.  This is because; the company has given in to unionization demands from the state-run, All-China Federation of Trade Unions, where it shows an important climb down from Walmarts anti-union US point of view (Distribution critical to Wal-Mart China strategy, 2006). However, Walmart will not be influenced. The marketing strategies used by Walmart for BRIC and other developing countries will still involve great huge discounts and great values on all of their products like how they do it in their home country, maintaining low prices ev ery day to all their customers, especially middle-class customers, on the same time, maintaining the growth of their profits as well. According to JPMorgan and analyst Charles Grom, Walmarts main objective for future success is not to overdo Target in the United States. They also said that, Walmart will start to work on more interrelated marketing strategies and merchandising messages to serve their low end customer as well, instead on just focusing on middle-class customers and this could implied to the BRIC countries Walmarts expansions as well (Frazier, 2007). Besides that, Walmart in China had a great success in using cost leadership and this strategy had generated huge revenues for Walmart in China. Therefore, Walmart planned to continue with the cost leadership strategy, as well as implementing a new strategy, that is differentiation (George, 2007). Comparison of entry modes Another reason for retailers to expand into the global markets is because the market in their home country is highly saturated and this created a more competitive market. Therefore, multinational retailers will choose to expand into markets which are less saturated than their home markets. For example, Sears, Kmart and Walmarts most successful expansion is to expand to Mexico and Canada, which is categorized in the North America region. How do multinational retailers choose their entry mode to the selected markets? Multinational retailers that are expanding to markets which are culturally diversified will choose to have a local joint venture with local retailers in the country to help them learn more about the country (Sternquist, 2007). Walmart in Mexico penetrated the market with a joint venture with its local player, CIFRA. CIFRA is the largest retailer in Mexico and Walmart is the largest retailer in the USA. With this reason, Walmarts decision to have a joint venture with CIFRA will definitely be a success because CIFRA will help Walmart have better knowledge on Mexican markets. In Mexico, CIFRA supplied Walmart will supplier connections, knowledge about the local culture as well as helping Walmart to work with local authorities. This will ensure successful expansion of Walmarts power in the Mexican markets, and Walmart can have the greatest influence in the shortest time period. In return of CIFRAs help, Walmart transfers their logistics knowledge to CIFRA which will also help CIFRA to improve on their supply chain management. (Sternquist, 1997). Under Walmarts agreement with CIFRA, Walmart opened membership warehouse clubs, known as Club Aurrera, which does catering to small businesses and selected groups of c onsumers. The first Club Aurrera was opened in Mexico City in December 1991. (Global Push Begins in Mexico, 2012). Besides that, CIFRA and Walmart also announced another two joint ventures, the first one is to start up a wholesale discount Aurrera stores, and the second one is to start up an import-export company that will provide CIFRAs Mexican suppliers to have access to other Walmart outlets in the United States (Millman, 1991). Walmart entered the Canadian markets through the entry mode acquisition. In 1994, Walmart announced its entry into Canada with the purchase of 120 out of 142 Woolco discount stores which are located on the north of the border from the Woolworth Corporation. In 1993, the Woolco stores had total sales of $1.14 billion (Woolco Purchase Yields Entry Into Canada, 2012). Walmart had avoided a time-consuming problem, which are faced by other American retailers who entered the Canadian market, which is to build up stores. Walmart had save their time because they took the step to buy the established stores of Woolco, where most of it had floor space of 100,000 square feet or more. Walmart had also benefited from the making choices for strategic and attractive leases (Woolco Purchase Yields Entry Into Canada, 2012). In 2011, Walmart Canada announced that it had also completed another acquisition from Target Canada with a total of 39 store locations which is currently occupied by Zellers (Canad a Newswire, 2011). Most multinational enterprises had the same thought that entering China is not an option for their business to expand, but it is a strategic necessity for the future of their business. The economy in China is growing rapidly that supports the living of the whole population in China, which is 1.3 billion. China is believed to be a country which has economic superpower and it is a very huge market in the 21st century (Schlevogt, 2000a, 2000b). On the other hand, Walmart is facing slow growth in the United States, and with these available attractive reasons, Walmart aimed to be the top in the retail sector in China with its acquisition of Trust-Mart (Naughton, Schafer, Ansfield, Lin, 2006). Other than using the acquisition strategy, Walmart also used the offshore sourcing strategy. Walmart sees that China is a major production or assembly source country and Walmart needed the help of China for the production and assemble of their products in the United States. Walmart then took the off shore sourcing strategy. Today, Walmart is the single largest export channel from Chinese manufacturers to the United States, with a record of at least 4% in Chinas overseas sales (Goldstein, 2003). Interestingly, Walmart does not have any manufacturing plants in China and it does not have a direct control over the production process of its suppliers in China. Instead, the suppliers are those who take control and responsibility to meet certain levels of requirements, for example cost, quality and delivery (Shih, 2004). With this strategy, Walmart can hold to their Everyday Low Price philosophy. This is because; Walmart can keep their production cost low, at the same time gaining the maximum benefits. Walmart also utilizes its strong bargaining position, at the same time maintaining a high level of ownership. This can be seen in their selling strategy, where Walmart buys the products at a cheaper price from China, and reselling them at a higher price in the United States and other pa rts of the world, at the same time gaining the profits and achieving their aim in providing the lowest prices. In other words, Walmart maintains a high level of ownership control but its management control is low (Goldstein, 2003). Comparison of opportunities and threats Threat and opportunity are two terms which are often used in terms strategic management in businesses (Mintzberg, Raisinghini, Theoret, 1976; Nutt, 1984). These categories are often used to make strategic decisions and it had become a necessity for firms to use these two terms to evaluate their selected markets. The results and issues obtained from environmental analysis are categorized as threats and opportunities faced by the business (Christensen, Andrews, Bower, Hamermesh, Porter, 1982). Opportunities Mexico In 2007, Walmart de Mexico had made a huge investment of $1 billion dollars for new developments and they opened 136 new units from all its existing business formats. This development includes opening of new units of 57 Bodega Aurrera units, 16 Walmart Supercenters, 6 Sams Clubs, 4 Superamas, 15 Suburbia stores and 38 Vips and El Porton Restaurants. The new stores opened spreads on two categories, the existing cities and new cities. The expansion in new cities can increase the firms coverage of new customers, and as for the existing cities, Walmart will have the advantage to dominate the market more widely. Besides that, the expansion of new stores will help boost the amount of new customer, as well as result in greater sales (DATAMONITOR: Wal-Mart de Mexico., 2008). The consumers today have changing preferences on choices of places to buy groceries and other daily products. customer now no longer prefer traditional retail, and they now prefer larger and more standardized hypermarket and supermarket chains, and the most important is the stores can offer lower and more attractive prices, as well as providing the convenience to the customers. In Mexico, the market share of modern formats of stores had increased almost 50% as compared from year 2005-2010. The change in the customers preferences will create an opportunity for Wal-Mart to expand its chains to more cities in Mexico (DATAMONITOR: Wal-Mart de Mexico., 2008). China Walmart Stores had signed an agreement to acquire a little stake of Yihaodian.com, Chinas largest online retailer. If the acquisition is successful, Walmart will have the chance to expand their business to the world of online shopping market, which will then generate more revenue. However, Chinas anti-monopoly bureau considers the acquisition might create an effect that exclude or restrict the competition of value-added telecommunications services market segments in China (China approves Wal-Mart control of Yihaodian., 2012). Apart from Walmart having control of services of Yihaodian.com, Yihaodian.com can also take the advantage of using Walmarts supplier and logistics resources to increase their stock-keeping unit by tracking the inventories closely using the system (Mass Grocery Retail., 2012). Another opportunity available for Walmart is the concept of discount store formats. Walmart can take the first step to start a discount store format expansion before other retailers do because the discount store format is now an attractive option for retailers in China. Walmart is the biggest retailer in China because of the acquisition of Trust-Marts 100-outlet-strong hypermarket network. Therefore, Walmart has the opportunity to expand in China, by launching a new discount compact hypermarket format formed under Trust-Mart in China (Mass Grocery Retail., 2012). Canada Walmart in Canada can expand its chain to the food retailing sector in Canada, since Target will be a competitor of Walmart in Canada. Walmart will have the competitive advantage over Target if they were to get involved in the food retailing industry because Target may be limited in food retailing (Orgel, 2011). Walmart Canada had announced the retailers planning of opening three supercenters in Quà ©bec. Walmart also ensures the quality of products they offer in the new store to gain customers confidence (Canada, 2011). Besides that, Walmarts low price strategy had given Walmart a great opportunity compared to other retailers in Canada, and this will ensure that Walmarts path in Canada will be stable (Swain, 1994). Another opportunity for Walmart in Canada is their decision to bring their warehouse club, Sams Club into Canada and this will help Wal-Mart by gaining increasing popularity in the market (Robin, 2003). Threats Mexico In February 2006, Mexicos retail association Asociacion Nacional de Tiendas de Autoservicio y Departamentales (ANTAD) sent many requests to the Congress to approved the proposals to upgrade the anti-monopoly laws to an international standards. This will affect Walmart de Mexico, because, if the laws are being approved, Walmart de Mexico will lose its advantage of its better technology and larger size as compared to other smaller retailers, to offer the lowest prices in the market. Walmart Stores is also facing this problem in the companys parent country in United States because, Walmart is a big retailer, and they are offering low prices and this will affect smaller retailers to quit from the industry. In this case, Walmart de Mexicos expansion plans in Mexico will be affected by the laws and regulations in Mexico (DATAMONITOR: Wal-Mart de Mexico., 2008). Other than that, another main issue that Walmart Mexico faces is opposition towards their expansion in Mexico, mainly from the government and local retailer. A slow growing economy will cause a lower purchasing power in a country. The economy in Mexico is an important threat to Walmart because the slow growth in the Mexican economy will affect the consumer spending and it will affect Walmarts growth in Mexico (DATAMONITOR: Wal-Mart de Mexico., 2008). Besides that, the intense competition in Mexico will also be a threat for Walmart. In Mexico, Walmart is also facing a strong competition from Mexican supermarket chains because the retail industry in Mexico is saturated. Some examples of Walmarts strong international and domestic competitors are Organizacion Soriana, Controladora, Chedraui, and Gigante. These retailers are having an intense competition with Walmart. The increasing competition from these retailers might affect Walmart de Mexico, especially in terms of profitability (DATA MONITOR: Wal-Mart de Mexico., 2008). China Walmart plans to expand bigger in China and the company had planned to open another ten stores throughout the urban areas. However, the effort faced some challenges, mainly from the government of China. Chinas state-controlled All-China Federation of Trade Union (ACFTU) had planned to take the action to sue Walmart as well as other non-Chinese companies if these companies do not have union branches in their Chinese operations. The main problem in this issue is, Walmart is well-known for their anti-union stance. In order for them to survive in the market, Walmart had agreed to respect the choice of their employees in China who wants to set up a union. This action may benefit China, but Walmart will have restrictions handling employee benefits and limited ways in resolving grievances. Even though there were many problems faced, as a multinational retailer, it is a must for Walmart to adapt to the specific markets they are operating in (Wal-Mart: in union with China, 2005). Canada Walmart Canadas largest threat will be the acquisition of Zellers Inc. by Target Corporation. The entry of Target Corporation will be another add-on to the intense competition of retailers in Canada. In the acquisition, Target took over 220 stores under Zellers, and this could impact Walmart as a big retailer because Target is growing fast after the acquisition (Orgel, 2011). The retail industry in Canada is very intense and saturated and the retail market is full of strong grocers and this will be a threat for Walmart because there will be more competition and this will slow down and eventually reduce Walmarts sales in Canada (Dunn, 2006). Besides that, Walmart also faces Canadas regulatory threats where Walmart needs to face the legal challenges from Saint-Hyacinthe certification (Springer, 2005). Besides that, Walmart is trying to introduce organic food in the country as well, and this will be a threat to Walmart because Walmart does not have a proper marketing strategy to market the product in their stores in Canada because there are other small-sized organic food suppliers which can offer a lower price (Goodbaum, 2006). Discussion Walmart is indeed a good example of a successful retailer that successfully expands and survives in the international markets. This also proves that there is the potential for retailers in domestic markets to expand their business into the international market with the condition that they use the appropriate marketing strategies and entry modes to penetrate the market. However, Walmart should also have sufficient information on the markets so that they can adapt into the market with lesser barriers. Walmart had been a successful retailer in the United States and today, and they are still growing across the world, mainly in United States, Canada and Mexico. Walmart also uses different types of marketing strategies and entry modes to dominate the markets, and this gives the large retailer a huge competitive advantage over other retailers in the market because, Walmarts philosophy, Every Day Low Price had been successfully applied throughout the world where this philosophy had helped Wa lmart greatly in surviving in different markets on the same time providing Walmart with a bright future. Walmart choices of strategies in the Mexican, Canadian and China markets also portray the firms success in adapting into the country. Walmart in Mexico used the multi format strategy to set up different types of stores to satisfy majority needs and demands of the markets, and this helped Walmart in achieving a greater amount of concentration of customers. The Bodega Aurrera store chains are proves the firms intelligence in dominating the market. These stores have different concepts such as discount stores and convenience stores that will serve different types of customers in different areas in Mexico. Secondly, in Canada, Walmart uses the retail format development strategy to approach the market. Walmart in Canda extend their offerings into the home furniture sector where these furnitures can only be found in Walmart. This will create brand awareness and brand loyalty towards Walmart in the customers. Besides that, Walmart also made full use of their satellite communication system to frequently check on the inventories in Walmart stores to decrease shortage in supply. In Canada, Walmart also have discount stores where these stores can generate high profits with low risks in the country. Thirdly, Walmart in China had achieved a huge success by using the cost leadership strategy in the country to attract more people. This is because, the population and economy in China is growing, and Walmart can have large sales volumes, with lower price, to achieve high sales records to maintain their sustainability. Other than these successes, Walmart had also used the appropriate entry modes to enter the markets. In Mexico, Walmart uses the joint venture mode with Mexicos largest retailer, CIFRA. This joint venture had benefited Walmart in the sense that, CIFRA can provide the firm with information on the markets in Mexico, and Walmart can save their time on the process of understanding the markets. This will give Walmart the advantage to grow faster in the market. The strategy used by Walmart in Canada is the acquisition mode, where the firm took over the operations of Woolco, a weak retailer in the Canadian markets. With this acquisition, Walmart does not need to worry on the locations of their stores, because the Woolco buildings were available, since the firm had took over them. In China, Walmart use the offshore sourcing strategy together with the acquisition strategy where Walmart can reduce their cost to find new locations, as well as reducing their production costs because production co sts in China is lower compared to the United States. From the different choices of entry modes that Walmart chose, all of the strategies are working well in different markets, where these strategies helped Walmart to have a strong base in the markets. Walmart have the potential in growing in the spread of their retail stores to outside their region. With the strong market base that Walmart is standing on, it will not be a major problem if Walmart were to expand into other regions in the world. However, Walmart needs to take care of the regulations of the countries they are penetrating, as well as the intensity of the competition in the markets. Conclusion Walmarts decision to expand globally had made a huge success to the firm and this can be seen in Walmarts domination in the markets. Walmarts success had been a glorious story in the business world for being able to sustain their businesses not only domestically, but also in the global context. The business strategies and entry modes used were wisely chosen and it ensures long term profitability to the firm. Even though there are challenges faced in the respective markets they penetrated successfully, Walmart still have outstanding performances in overtaking their competitors in the retail industry. Besides that, Walmart also have very strong strategic management skills because, Walmart choose their locations and targets countries carefully where this leads to the route of success for Walmart as well. Walmart success can also be credited to their efforts in satisfying their customers from all classes. Walmart offers a wide range of products where it covers all varieties of products, from the highest price to the lowest price which is still the lowest retail price in the retail industry. With this point, Walmart will have loyal customers that will make repeated purchases in the stores. Another notable success of Walmart is, the firm is able to survive even in the toughest period of the economy, during recession. Not all businesses can survive in the recession period, because during recession, the cycle of business processes will contract, which will result in slow business growth and there will be unemployment all around. Yet, Walmart still can survive and continue its business operations during the recession period. With only this point, Walmart is considered the most successful retailer in the retail industry for being able survive no matter what environment they are in.

Soccer :: essays research papers fc

Procedures 1. The team that wins the coin toss may choose to kick off or defend the goal of its choice. 2. All players must be on their own half of the field before the kickoff takes place. 3. Defensive players must be outside the center circle, at least ten yards away from the ball, for the kickoff. Players 1. Each team has up to eleven players; one is the goalkeeper. The other players are known as defenders, midfielders, and forwards, or strikers. 2. In major competitions, a team may not use more than three substitutions in a game. In other competitions up to five may be used. 3. A substitute must be summoned onto the field by the referee and must enter the field at the centerline after the player she/he is replacing has left the field. Equipment 1. The ball is round, covered in leather or in leather like material, and is between 27 and 28 inches in circumference. It must weigh 14 to 16 ounces and have 14 pounds of air pressure. 2. Players dress in team shirts, shorts, shin guards, and socks. Shoes may have studs if they are rounded, no longer than .75 inch, and no less than .5 inch in diameter. Goalkeepers often wear elbow and kneepads and gloves. The goalkeeper wears different colored uniform than his teammates. 3. Any equipment deemed dangerous to players may not be worn. This includes, earrings, glasses, necklaces, bracelets, watches, and casts and braces that the referee considers dangerous. Modifications 1. Soccer is played on various sized fields w with competitions ranging anywhere from 3 on 3 players through 11 on 11. Offside, and Goalkeeping Offside A player is offside if he/she is closer to the opponentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s goal line than the ball is, unless the player is still in his/her own half of the field or at least two opponents are closer to the opponentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s goal line. Offside is determined by the playerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s position at the moment of the pass, not at the moment he/she receives the pass. A player is not offside when he/she receives a ball that, bounces off a defender who had possession of the ball, comes at him directly from a goal kick, corner kick, or throw in; was deflected by the goalkeeper, or was shot at the goal and bounces off a defender. Nor is player offside when he/she is in line with a defender a⁴桴⁥潭

Motivating a clerical assistant

It has been found out that morale and high productivity or output always go together. They have a positive correlation. If the worker likes his work, his fellow worker , and the company, his high productivity will bring him increased acceptance and prestige among the workers and management, as well as increase in pay and advancement in position. He finds these things rewarding and is stimulated to work conscientiously. As a wise and effective supervisor to the clerical assistant, I should aim at both high morale and high productivity to be developed and sustained during these times and in the coming hectic season. Some specific things I can do: 1. Provide good physical conditions for work. I cannot literally give to the assistant because I do not own the company nor even position myself as the manager. But I will try to influence my big boss/es that those things that can help improve his/her work be provided like small amenities as supply of office materials needed to speed up his/her work to a ventilated workplace. 2. Reduce work frustration on the job to a minimum by means of a good environment and/or working relationship. 3. Treat him/her as one that has a personality that can be hurt. Hence, with the assistant around, I will influence others in treating the assistant as somebody who is needed and must be encouraged by thoughtful words and tact. 4. Have a good communication system. This is related with item #3. It is my job to facilitate smooth flow of interrelationships in the department. I believe I can do this by proper feedback of things that add credit to the assistant and back to others especially the director. The person with high morale has confidence in himself, thinks his work is worth doing and that he is doing a good job (Landy, 1985). Perhaps, one good exchange I can probably offer him/her is flexible working hours. I can suggest this to the management especially when the assistant has other pressing responsibilities at home. Another is schedule trips that can be given away as incentives after the hectic season (Baron, 1983). Reference: 1. Baron, R. Behavior in Organizations: Understanding and Managing the Human Side of Work, Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1983. 2. Landy, F.J. Psychology of Work Behavior (3rd edition). Dorsey press, 1985. Â  

Equality essay Essays

Equality essay Essays Equality essay Essay Equality essay Essay Joel Augustine Response to class exercise: Today in our group the task at hand was to build the tallest freestanding structure using spaghetti, tape, string, and a marshmallow. We only had 18 minutes to build it and the final measurement would be measured from the top of the desk to the marshmallow at the top. When the timer went off our group was silent. I guess everyone was trying to plan out how we were going to do this. I decided it would be best to start of by making a base for this structure. It felt weird to be the first one to put an idea out, but the clock was ticking down, and the pressure was intensifying. After we built to base, which was a tripod of sorts I started to see assurance in the face of the people in my group. In my head I only had one thought, I had to win, well my group had to win. So I was putting out idea after idea, and melding them with the ideas of the my teammates. When we had about 20 inches, I saw that the spaghetti was leaning to one side. Thats when one of my teammates, I wont mention his name for his sake Ill call him Y. V kept saying that this ideas was not going to work and he kept moving the base of our structure, it almost fell. I got frustrated and told him to stop because I really didnt want to lose. I told him to not touch it unless I tell him to move something. Even though I saw that it was leaning I decided what the heck well just keep doing what were doing. And I became anxious when I saw the clock we only had about 8 minutes. We had enough time to come up with another idea put the pressure was too much. Then I decided to shake off the pressure, I had to, if we wanted to win. But it was too late. I was so caught up in myself and me winning I sort of blocked out what everyone around me was saying. One of the people in my group suggested using the string and tie to the top of the structure and then tape it to the desk so that it would stop leaning. I weighed out the outcomes and to me it looked pretty good. But it was too late we had about 30 seconds and only enough time to put on the marshmallow and watch the entire structure fall to one side from the excessive weight of the marshmallow. I think the reason I didnt listen to anyone about it leaning and soon falling was because I was so proud my plan, the plan I came up with was working. Also I wanted he people in my group to think I was smart and had good ideas. So when someone pointed out a defect, I couldnt stand for that. Also I didnt come up with any new ideas because every time I looked at the clock the time was ticking down faster and faster. So my brain sort of paused and I couldnt come up with anything to fix the problem at hand other than adding more spokes to the base. I wish I was able to clear up my mind. Maybe then I wouldnt have freaked out about not having enough time and maybe I would have listened to what everyone else was saying. Equality essay By Joel-Augustine

Karl Benz and the First Practical Automobile

Karl Benz and the First Practical Automobile In 1885, a German mechanical engineer named Karl Benz designed and built the worlds first practical automobile powered by an internal-combustion engine. A year later, Benz received the first patent (DRP No. 37435)  for a gas-fueled car  on January 29, 1886. It was a three-wheeler called the Motorwagen or Benz Patent Motorcar. Benz built his first four-wheeled car in 1891. He started Benz Company and by 1900 became the worlds largest manufacturer of automobiles. He also became the first legally licensed driver in the world, when the Grand Duke of Baden granted him the distinction. Whats especially remarkable was that he was able to achieve these milestones despite coming from a relatively modest background.   Early Life and Education Benz was born in 1844 in Baden Muehlburg, Germany (now part of Karlsruhe). He was the son of a locomotive engine driver who passed away when Benz was only two years old. Despite their limited means,  his mother ensured he got a good education. Benz attended the Karlsruhe grammar school and later Karlsruhe Polytechnic University. He studied mechanical engineering at the University of Karlsruhe and graduated in 1864 when he was only 19 years old. In 1871, He founded his first company with partner August Ritter and called it the Iron Foundry and Machine Shop, a supplier of building materials.  He married Bertha Ringer in 1872 and his wife would go on to play an active role in his business, such as when he bought out his partner, who had become unreliable. Developing the Motorwagen Benz began his work on a two-stroke engine  in hopes of establishing a new source of income. He had to invent many parts of the system as he went along, including the throttle, ignition, spark plugs, carburetor, clutch, radiator, and gear shift.  He received his first patent in 1879.   In 1883, he founded Benz Company to produce industrial engines in Mannheim, Germany. He then began designing a motor carriage with a four-stroke engine based on Nicolaus Ottos patent. Benz designed his engine and the body for the three-wheel vehicle with electric ignition, differential gears, and water-cooling. In 1885, the car was first driven in Mannheim. It achieved the speed of eight miles per hour during a test drive. After receiving a patent for his gas-fueled automobile (DRP 37435), he began selling his automobile to the public in July of 1886. Parisian bicycle-maker Emile Roger added them to his line of vehicles and sold them as the first commercially-available automobile. His wife helped promote the Motorwagen by taking it on a historic 66-mile trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim to show its practicality for families. At the time, she had to purchase gasoline at pharmacies, and manually repair several malfunctions herself. For this, an annual antique auto rally called the Bertha Benz Memorial Route is now held annually in her honor. Her experience led to Benz adding gears for climbing hills and brake pads. Later Years and Retirement In 1893, there were 1,200  Benz Velos produced, making it the worlds first inexpensive, mass-produced car. It participated in the worlds first automobile race in 1894, finishing in 14th place. Benz also designed the first truck in 1895 and the first motor bus. He patented the boxer flat engine design in 1896. In 1903, Benz retired from Benz Company.  He served as a member of the supervisory board of Daimler-Benz AG from 1926 until his death. Together, Bertha and Karl had five children. Karl Benz passed away in 1929.

Email Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Email - Essay Example The survey is an illustration of a mechanism that can be used in profiling employee’s whit the highest level of job satisfaction thus giving the highest possible performance boosting a company’s productivity (Kuballa 2007). Employees who are satisfied with their job are less likely to leave the organization. This makes it easy for companies to retain talent in the current age where having skilled employees is being used as a source of competitive advantage (Fields 2002). Tenure is examined in this report because it is a crucial aspect in ensuring employees satisfaction. For employees to perform their duties satisfactorily, they should feel that their job is secure and that they cannot be fired any time. Age is also an important aspect in understanding the needs of the employees. If the highest percentage of the employees is of the age 50 and above, they would perform better if they were offered good pension plans and retirement benefits. Workers of the age 18 to 40 are more concerned on getting benefits such as health insurance and job tenure. Gender is also crucial. This is because increase in diversity in the workplace is crucial as it has been observed that it increases workers performance. Ensuring that there is gender balance in the workplace is important in order to promote better performance and good decision making (Cook 2008). This is because people from diverse groups are able to give their different contribution coming up with many alternative solutions. As have already been started, the size of the sample used in this report is 30 employees. This consisted of 60% males (18/60) and 40% (12/30). Tenure Distribution by Gender: 42% of the males have been in the company for more than 2 years 25 % males have been in the corporation for 2-5 yrs 8% males have been in the company for exactly 5 yrs 50% of the females have been in the company for more than 2 yrs 24% of the females have been in the company for 2-5 yrs 4% of the females have been i n the company for more than 5 yrs 20% of the employees interviewed were in the human resource department, 15% came from the administration department, and 30% was from the sales department, 25% from the direct production department. The extrinsic value by gender is measures on a scale of 1-7 with the females taking the value of 5.407 and the males 5.318. The probability that the individual chosen for this survey is between the age of 16-21 is 0.20. The probability that an individual job satisfaction is 5.2 or lower is 0.40. The probability that a person chosen for this survey is from the human resource department and is a female is 0.23. The probability that the individual will be a salaried employee whose intrinsic satisfaction value is 5 or more is 0.32. Besides the mentioned ways in which a company can use the probabilities above in promoting employees performance, the probabilities mentioned above can be used in several other ways. One way is to check whether the incentive plan and benefits package that the company is implementing in the company is working. The management has the role of understanding which kind of motivation work for different employees. According to Maslow’s theory of motivation, there are different levels of motivation and it is the work of the management to know which stage of development an employee is in and thus give them incentives that completely satisfies their current needs. For instance, according to the probability he notices that employees on the

Death of a Salesman Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Death of a Salesman - Assignment Example Willy was consistent on his belief that the key to success is being well appreciated by others. He regrets how he led his life at the age of sixty and wished that he would have better earn money rather than caring about sentiments. (BookRags Book Notes. (2000-2009) Â  All his life, Willy made sure that he passed his own key to success to his sons: Happy and Biff. Biff was the eldest son and Willy tried hard to ensure he follows his father’s key to success in the business world. But Willy’s teachings were a failure for Biff as he couldn’t continue in the business world. He could not live up to his father’s expectations as reality was far harsher than his father made them believe. His life began to deteriorate. He is more liked by his father as he left the business world because he could not follow orders from others and Willy taught him to steal which was the reason for him to get caught now and then in the business arena. He works on the farmland and ranches. Biff knew his father has been lying to him the entire life and want to expose the lies, but Willy won’t let that happen. They would argue and fight whenever Biff gets home and subsequently Biff decided to leave home for good. The financial conditions of family worsened as Biff was incapable of holding a 9-5 job. (Wade Bradford) Â  The younger son Happy was ignored throughout Willy’s life. He kept assuring his parents that he will get married and will go far in business. But the reality is that he never does and is also a failure. Willy acted in front of his sons that he was a reputable, important, valued and victorious salesman so that his family love and envy him.