Open World essays

Open World essays In the Introduction to his book Open World: The Truth About Globalization, author Philippe Legrain writes, "Awarding the 2008 Olympics to Beijing was richly symbolica recognition of how far China had come," (3). Legrain continues to note that major multinationals like Coca-Cola, Visa, McDonalds, and Kodak look forward to being able to market to the humongous Chinese market. Using this example as a opening for his wide-ranging book about the implications of globalization, Legrain posits that globalization is ripe with potential for the international community, for which it offers economic, political, and social benefits. Moreover, Legrain critiques what he believes are common misperceptions about the history and meaning of globalization, which he states is "not shorthand for the way the world is today," (10). On these premises, Legrain presents clear and logical arguments in favor of the economic, political, and social trends that accompany globalization, pointing out that its critics are either misinformed or unduly alarmist. The author also demonstrates that globalization is a force that can be molded and transformed to suit the needs of the times and cultures it affects. Open World contains thirteen chapters, all of which are accompanied by detailed and academic references; plus a handy index for easy referencing. Although the author's stance appears starry-eyed and overly optimistic, Legrain nevertheless offers an enlightening perspective to one of the most heated debates of our time. In Chapter One, "Worried Workers," Legrain asserts that globalization should be the last thing that labor should be worried about in spite of fears that foreign workers are infringing on the prosperity of the domestic labor force. Competition in the domestic market and technological advancements cause the majority of pay cuts and layoffs, not foreign factories (Legrain 29). In fact...

Famous writers on writers block - Emphasis

Famous writers on writers block Famous writers on writers block Writing is easy: all you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead. So said Gene Fowler, the American journalist and author. If you and your forehead have ever felt the pain of writers block, its worth taking some advice from some distinguished fellow sufferers. Although many of these come from creative writers, the same rules often apply. Accept a degree of imperfection I think writers block is when you say to yourself, I could write something, but it wouldnt be good enough. Theres no such thing as a complete inability to write a sentence. Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word. Margaret Atwood, Canadian author Call it fear, call it perfectionism, call it Al. Whatever you call it, one thing is certain: an imperfect report or proposal will be much more effective than no report or proposal. Tough love Writers block a lot of howling nonsense would be avoided if, in every sentence containing the word WRITER, that word was taken out and the word PLUMBER substituted. Do plumbers get plumbers block? What would you think of a plumber who used that as an excuse not to do any work that day? The fact is that writing is hard work. Philip Pullman, British author The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. Mary Heaton Vorse, American journalist, novelist and activist Telling yourself you cant do it wont get it done. Telling yourself its a job, and one youve done before, might help to. And youre definitely not going to finish while youre gardening/taking up DIY/repainting the shed/learning to salsa etc. Get going You would think that after so many years I might have mastered the art not of writing but of putting myself in a position to write. Stephen Fry, British author, actor and comedian The scariest moment is always just before you start [writing]. After that, things can only get better. Stephen King, American author The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. Mark Twain, American author Have a routine and stick to it. And dont panic if you dont have one yet. Just set yourself a time to start. Work for a short period, and then take a five-minute break. Repeat as required. And if the ghost of the unwritten document is haunting you, break it down with planning exercises such as a mind map and a reader profile questionnaire. Keep going I have to get into a sort of zone. It has something to do with an inability to concentrate, which is the absolute bottom line of writing. Stephen Fry You could be distracted by fear or by the latest email to land in your inbox, but either way its possible to train yourself to concentrate. If this involves turning off your phone, listening to music or sticking in earplugs, so be it. Learn what works for you, and practise. By gradually increasing the length of each short burst of work, interspersed with breaks, you will soon get into the zone. Last resort And if none of these quotes have struck a chord with you, consider this one: Writers block is a fancy term made up by whiners so they can have an excuse to drink alcohol. Steve Martin, American actor Cheers. And for more block-busting tips, see the article Tips for breaking through the barrier.

Why I chose the engineering major Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Why I chose the engineering major - Essay Example antastic gifts such as cars and airplanes from my parents.I always had a deep affection of cars and airplanes as I thought that they were funy and they can move so much faster than human beings. On top of that, airplanes could also fly because they have wings. As I grew older, I realized that many things could be demystified by science hence my keen interest especially in engineering. Since middle school, I became more interested in computers. Whenever my father was fixing computers, I always carefully watched him. We own three sets of DIY computers and I helped him assemble one of the computers another day. I later assembled the third computer on my own and the feeling of this accomplishment was overwhelming and has since been inspirational. Through assembling computer parts, I learned a great deal of placements of the components and their uses. Since high school, I did voluntary service at MSKCC and Weill Cornell Medical College where I was introduced to different types of fascinating equipment like the confocal microscope, flow cytometry, PO2 measurement robots and so on. This experience aroused my keen interest in pursuing a career in the field of engineering. It is against this background that I would wish to apply for a place to study the College of Engineering at Cornell, which has a very fine reputation in the engineering community. Its engineering programs were recently ranked among the top seven in the nation, while its engineering physics program was ranked number one. My comprehensive curriculum at high school would help me prepare for the challenging courses that will be offered at Cornell. In junior year at Stuyvesant High School, I took AP BC Calculus, AP Physics B and right now I am taking AP physics C and AP chemistry. My average is a 4.0 and I also took SAT II physics and Math Level 2, which I got 760 and 800 respectively. All these academic achievements bear testimony in my self determination in pursuing an engineering career. Basically, I

Marketing Mix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Marketing Mix - Essay Example "On this path the business grows either by logical extensions of the existing product line (new performance levels, and added features or services) or the addition of related products" (Day 320). If only life was as simple as that. The marketplace is dotted with products that have fallen on the wayside. Product development involves a lot more than the whims of a few people within the organization. Prahalad and Ramaswamy claim that it is the customer who has the competence to create value. (Prahalad and Ramaswamy 81) "Price is the marketing mix element that produces revenue; the others produce costs" Kotler 456. The way a company prices its products depends on what its wants to achieve through that policy. The pricing objectives that companies usually want to achieve through their pricing However price is not a sustainable competitive advantage. Whatever the advantage that a company may accrue from its pricing policy, that does not usually result in sustained competitive advantage. When price is used as a tool for competitive advantage, it is usually low price. And low prices often trigger price wars. And invariably the victims of every price war, are the companies that used low price as a weapon. An instance is the "airline price wars of 1992" (Rao, Bergen and David 107) Place; one of the elements of the marketing mix, is a marketing tool from the organization's perspective. From a customer's point of view, place is seen as convenience. "Place" in the marketing mix refers to how a company makes its products available to customers. The primary consideration here is customer convenience. There are myriad ways in which a company can distribute its products. A company can take its products directly to customers or use the services of channel partners. There are several factors on which distribution decisions depend. One reason for the success of online grocery stores is convenience. Shopping for groceries is not hedonistic. And as such people would rather buy them online. Promotion The marketing mix element "promotion", comprises of all the actions that a company must take to make its products visible to its target market and educate customers about its 3 benefits. This could involve hiring sales personnel, appointing an advertising agency, and formulating promotional programs. The Four Ps Procter &Gamble (P&G) focuses on middle-of-the-market packaged goods, because that is where sales, for this genre of products, are the highest. In the early 1990s P&G made remarkable changes to its pricing, promotion strategy and distribution channel deals. It introduced a "value pricing strategy", gave its advertising expenditure a fillip, reduced its in-store displays and trade deals, while at the same time reducing its coupon promotions. The reasons for P&G to tweak or cut back on the marketing mix elements were "cost of administering promotions", its yoyo effect on production, and its impact on customer loyalty. Coupons only encouraged cherry pickers and discouraged loyal customers. As a consequence of its grand plan on marketing mix P&G reduced its coupon expenditures by 50%, reduced its place expenses by 20% and increased promotion expenses by 20%. At this time the general market trend was an increase in "deals and

One Sony Analysis Essay Example for Free

One Sony Analysis Essay Sony is Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation with the revenue of US$71.87 billion (FY11). Sonys principal business operations include Sony Corporation (Sony Electronics in the U.S.), Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Mobile Communications, and Sony Financial, which are engaged in business through 4 segment: Electronics, Motion picture, Music and Financial services. This conglomerate corporation is known with slogan: â€Å"Sony. Like no other†. Growth from a company with initial capital of US$2000 in Nagoya,Japan in 1946, becomes one of Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders, third-largest television manufacturer in the world, after Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, third-largest mobile manufacturer in the world after Samsung Mobile and Apple, but Sony now is in the hard time and in process of recovery. Before the current reorganization, Sony have implemented quite many of reorganization but they seem didn’t work, in the first months of 2012, Sony have been face with foundering TV business and the massive tax charge, that make them lost US$6.4 billion. Come up with the newly strategy â€Å"One Sony† in April 2012, new CEO Kazuo Hirai aims to revitalize and grow the electronics business to create new value, strengthen the core business which are: 1. Strengthen core business: Digital imaging, Gaming, Mobile. 2. Turning around the TV business 3. Expandiing business in emerging markets 4. Creating new business, accelerating innovation 5. Realigning the business portfolio and optimizing recources (Source: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201204/12-056E/index.html) The new CEO have plan to reorganize the corporate, sell some business, reduce by 10,000 job to have fund for the return of Sony and no information for Sony Financial change. Sony target US$67.42 billion revenue and operating income margin of 5% in its electronics business and sale of US$ 95.51 billion, operating income margin of more than5%, and ROE of 10% for the Sony group overall (FY14). I. Environment analysis: 1. Marco environment: 2.1 Economics: With the globalization, the world now is more â€Å"flat†, allow to customer from  more and more countries can access to foreign products, also it enhanced the production, created more value for human on the world, so the demand of product is expanding rapidly, Sony ‘s products are one of the highest expanding demand products. Although the world economy continues to struggling with post-crisis started from US in 2008 and the global economic growth have weakened further, the world still witness the success in business of big electronics and mobile company such as Apple, Samsung 2.2 Social and demographic: According to UNICEF, the world’s population is 7 billion as the end of 2012 and expected to increase in next 5 years. This means that the demand of all the products will increase along. There are more than 67% of American household play video games, 40% were women and they almost under 25 year old. This show that this form of entertainment is mainstream now in US. The trends are similar in Europe and Japan. The other country market show the optimistic with the rapidly increasing of gamer. The demand of the other electronic entertainment and mobile is clearly growth in the past decade. 1.3.Technological: Coming along with the rapid growth of the Internet is the new services on it such as internet storage (Mediafire, Dropbox, Box.net,†¦.), internet integrate with TV (which is now one of Sony ‘s TV line), internet calls, internet service on mobile,†¦creating wider market and more direction to expand business for Sony. But also there are difficulties for Sony, the margin for technology advancement is now diminishing, which is unfavorable for the pioneer of technology such as Sony. 1.4. Political: As one of the biggest company and contributed significantly for the growth of Japanese economy, Sony have received the back up from Japanese government. For instance, in the last months of 2011, Japanese government provided US$2.6 billion to Sony, Toshiba Ltd and Hitachi Ltd for their plan  to merge their liquid-crystal display operations, in the effort to compete with the rivals from Taiwan and South Korea. 1.5. Legal: Intellectual property as well as commercialization and protection have given the corporation a significant source of comparative advantage. So the macro environment is favorable for Sony to implement it’s new strategy â€Å"One Sony†. 2. The competitive environment: 2.1 The threat of new entrants: The threat of new entrants is low. The electronics industry requires huge capital to build the manufacture, buy the equipments, fund to RD; economics of scale; technology and innovation to produce the produce and create product differentiation. Moreover, the new entrants will meet a lot of difficulties with prevention of the big companies in the industry such as Sony, because these companies have huge capital and power to create a lot of barrier to the new comers and usually buy the new comers if they have potential to gain profit (unique technology, intellectual property,†¦), then turn them as one of the company’s SBU. One thing need to mention also is the legal requirements, to enter the electronics industry, the new entrants are required to obtain approval from the government, which require plenty of high requirements. These make the potential entrant in the low level. 2.2. The bargaining power of buyers: The power of buyers is high. With the access to the internet, the customer can get the information about the product fully, including the price, the hardware, the software, methods of delivery and compare between difference companies to choose the best set for their demand. Moreover, the switching cost from one brand product to another is almost zero, especially in Europe, USA and Japan. Hence, the companies always try to optimize and offer the customer their best set to satisfy the customers to pull them to the company 2.3. The bargaining power of supplier: The power of supplier is low. Sony do not buy the supplements from one supplier but it buy them from the best offer. Like another conglomerate corporation, Sony have their own research centre to create their own product differentiation and avoid from rely on the supplier. 2.4 The intensive of rivalry among competitors in the industry: The competition in electronics industry is high. The product between different brand is not different much, the margin of technology advance is now shorter, the product cycle therefore is shorter too while the cost for RD is more and more higher. 2.5 The threat of substitute products and services: The threat of substitute products and services for electronics industry is low due to the growth quickly of the electronics industry (although it have slower than the period of 1980-2000), there are no type of product and services can compete with electronics nowadays and if it have, the big companies on this industry will the first who have them. So the electronics industrial will not the good for the new players, it just the ground for big player such as Sony, Samsung, Apple, HTC, Nokia,†¦ to compete each other, mainly in the new technology , differentiate their products. 3. Internal environment: According to Value chain analysis mode which devised by Porter(1985), a company have primary activities( inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketingsales, service) and support activities(firm infrastructure, human resources management, technology development, procurement). The analysis below will show the pros and cons of Sony. 4.3 Inbound Logistics: Ability to conduct the various complex in-bound logistics activities well to facilitate smooth operations and productions 4.4 Operations: The religious zeal to innovate coupled with tacit knowledge to build revolutionary products that memorise customers into buying them. The long  tradition and experience will help Sony create the best optimize for its operation. 4.5 Outbound Logistics: Possess the capability to train employees and associates to manage and perform the vast and complex out-bound logistics activities that enhance operations protocol. Moreover, the logistic companies will be the considerable choice for Sony’s logistics activities when needed or to cut-off some activities and concentrate to the main ones. 4.6 Marketing Sales Possession of a world-class marketing acumen and tacit knowledge that has made Sony a global mega brand. 4.7 Services Able to integrate the various resources and functional activities to meet the needs (innovative, quality and reliable) of global customers. 4.8 Infrastructure Finance Possess the necessary physical resources to help generate value-creating competitive advantage as well as a large reserve that can be leveraged to invest in infrastructure to further lower costs. 4.9 Human Resources Able to leverage on financial resources to provide competitive numeration packages and training that help to motivate and insentitives. Staff who shows managerial potential is cultivated to take over leadership posts. With the middle-managements and low level managements, Sony provided the training in management, updating market information, delivery by in-side or out-side â€Å"teacher†. 4.10 Technology Able to leverage on technologies well and ahead of its competitors to create innovative and high quality products, be one of the pioneers on the new high technology products. 4.11 Procurement Possess procurement know-how that leads to quality input at lower costs. With above analysis, we can see Sony have capabilities and advantages to implement a strategy take Sony back to the track and make more and more profits in the years after. II. One Sony strategy: Sony offer different products for different customers, it’s product line is very large with electronics products (video equipment, audio equipment, television, mobile, components), entertainment products( famous PlayStation, games, movie and music). â€Å"One Sony† strategy with key initiative to transform the electronics business are: 1. Strengthen core business: Digital imaging, Gaming, Mobile. 2. Turning around the TV business 3. Expanding business in emerging markets 4. Creating new business, accelerating innovation 5. Realigning the business portfolio and optimizing resources. (Source: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201204/12-056E/index.html) In this period of time, the global economy is still struggling post-crisis and the growth of economics is slower further, the customers are still cut-off their spend on buy products, the competitive in electronics industry is more and more. The One Sony strategy ‘s one aim to accelerating innovation, create the differentiation but mostly they still focus on the core business: Digital imaging, Gaming and Mobile. In the core business Sony have the advantage as one of the leaders of the market with wide-known product such as Xperia mobile, PlayStation console game, Home theatre,†¦ This will retain Sony as the famous company in the electronics industry, know world-wide (keep them from the situation as Nokia), the profit of the core business will provide fun for RD, which essential for any companies in the electronics industry, creating new business, accelerating innovation. Although Sony choice the focus strategy, but as any strategy, Sony then have to create differentiation on its products (create new business, accelerating innovation) come along with reduce cost (realigning the business portfolio and optimizing resources). This movement will help Sony have the advantage on compete with the rivals, whom desperately want to gain more market share.

Authors Treatment of Fate and the Supernatural in Short Stories Written Before 1914 :: Short Stories Yellow Wallpaper Lost Hearts Essays

Author's Treatment of Fate and the Supernatural in Short Stories Written Before 1914 Using a selection of short stories written before 1914, compare and contrast their authors’ treatment of fate and/or the supernatural I understand the term supernatural to be an event or being that is abnormal in some way and for which there is no rational explanation. Although traditionally the supernatural is confined to spiritual beings, such as ghosts, I perceive it to have a much wider meaning. I will be investigating how certain writers of short stories view the supernatural and how they adapt it into their stories. The authors I will be looking at in this essay are M.R.James, Thomas Hardy and Charlotte Perkins Gilman; their stories, Lost Hearts The Withered Arm and â€Å"Yellow Wallpaper,† respectively. I will be focussing mostly on the supernatural in this essay, but will also investigate the question of fate briefly. Fate is the suggestion that all events happen for a reason, and that there is a greater power watching over us. Both these subjects are ones that greatly interested the Victorians, the era in which these stories are written. They were especially intrigued by the spiritual world, and the upper classes held sà ©ances, attempting to contact the dead. This preoccupation with the supernatural, and indeed fate, is one that emerges repeatedly in these short stories. The first story that I will be looking at is The Withered Arm by Thomas Hardy. Hardy’s style was very progressive for the time, but also reactionary; conservative, even, in certain aspects. His stories have a preoccupation with fate and the inevitability of death. The main supernatural aspect is the vision of Mrs Lodge that Rhoda sees. The vision taunts her, and Rhoda retaliates by grabbing its arm. The vision appears sitting on her chest whilst she is in bed: â€Å"The pressure of Mrs Lodge’s person became heavier,† and yet is not Mrs Lodge as she should be – â€Å"But the features were shockingly distorted, and wrinkled as by age.† Although Rhoda can feel its presence, it is extremely strange that it should be sitting on her chest in the middle of the night, and it is undoubtedly a vision or a distortion of a dream. Harding even describes it as a â€Å"spectre.† This is further confirmed by its sudden disappearance, â€Å"She looked on the floor whither she had whirled the spectre, but there was nothing to be seen.† The whole story really revolves around the actions of the spectre or vision, and this is the definite supernatural element in the story. Later on however, both women go to see a â€Å"Conjurer Trendle,† and Mrs Lodge sees the face of the person who cursed her in

Crime and Legal System Essay

In the broad field of criminal justice, one particular issue critically relevant in the concern of crime prevention and social control is juvenile delinquency due mainly to the fact that its target population are the minors in the society. The concept of juvenile delinquency generally encompassed numerous concerns namely the crimes involving minor offenders, the court system to address these cases, the punishment approach for the young individual, and others relevant in achieving an effective approach for achieving the ideal justice for these young offenders. In this pursuit, incorporating sociological concepts can indeed promote development in the effectiveness of the criminal justice system for cases of juvenile delinquency. In analyzing the criminal justice system for minor offenders, it is critically important to consider several factors directly related to the effective achievement of its function. Among these factors are the effect of the punishment to the minor offender, beneficial alternatives for the criminal punishment, motivational strategies of behavioral development, influence of personality background, and others. Incorporating the sociological perspective in this concern, the said field explains that the family structure, environment, and culture are influential factors to the individual’s personality and behavioral development as such, should be considered in determining the appropriate action for cases of juvenile delinquency. Indeed, incorporating this approach will reveal a more appropriate, effectively altercating, and motivational action towards addressing the personal problems of the young offenders resulting to their juvenile delinquency. Indeed, sociological, the youth period in the timeline of each individual is a critical condition wherein the person encounter personality confusion and identity struggle. During this period, the erratic behavioral changes in the person can result to aggressive actions and decisions and if influenced by negative factors can result to juvenile delinquency. As such, approaching the view through a sociological perspective, it is more advantageous to tackle the problem by helping the offender cope up with his or her personal changes and struggle and guide the person to the proper way. Indeed, developing the punishment system in this approach can result to an effective juvenile justice system that promote healthy development through guiding the misdemeanor of the minor offenders towards fruitful growth and development for their benefit. In this approach, the issue of juvenile delinquency will be addressed by minimizing the problem and taking this approach as a mean of helping the youth through the growth.