Codes and Convention

Codes and conventions: In the short story what’s a Bum Mom, Kathleen Rockwell uses several convincing techniques to carry out the guiding question on civility. One accurate is metaphors, in the short story the author Kathleen Rockwell describes the scene in the story were they see a homeless women out the bus window. â€Å"She stopped at a wastebasket and retrieved a large discarded sketch book. She flipped through it until she found a blank page. Standing on the corner of sixth and 14th, she reached into one of her bags and found a marker.She made on a deft stroke, and then another, on the page another artist left her. My bus moved on. This can be carried out as a metaphor for society and how we view moreover treat homelessness people. Nevertheless we don’t acknowledge it, as a result of ignorance. We are use to pressing on as well as assume we never saw them or they didn’t exist. Hence moving on with our uncivil behavior. Kathleen Rockwell sees a person that h as something with I them. A talented women however she is homeless so society will ignore her and continue on with there daily lives.Another technique is she uses first person to relate with the short story. She asks questions moreover show that their scared, a feeling that many people have. They had to do it, anyone would have done it, but did they cry while they were doing it? † The photo essay state street family by Glenn H. Austin analyze the argument of homelessness and how society looks down on, preferentially ignores the reality of living on the streets. These pictures show how everyone has approximately the same feelings; therefore society doesn’t show the same character to the homeless.The couple in the photo their attitude shows carelessness as is seen no eye-contact with each other, and perhaps the desire to avoid any connection to homelessness. Another example is the first picture a homeless man holds a sign reading, â€Å"Talk to me†, how the homeles s, like anybody else, need some interaction, outside of their, â€Å"State Street Family. † The title is a technique putting all the images together showing the fact those living on the street are connected together as a family. 1st paragraph The short story what’s a bum mom by Kathleen Rockwell and the photo essay State Street Family by Glenn H.Austin answer the guiding question, who is responsible for civility? The text I have chosen to better answer the guiding question is what a bum mom. In this short story it shows you a better understanding of the vertices, moreover what can happen. The short story what’s a bum mom Deals with the terms of ignorance in society towards the homelessness and civility. Later we ask ourselves the question do we really know how to be civil to more than just our family, friends and people who are not homeless.We are fortunate and don’t know how to act when we are put into a situation like this. At the begging of the short s tory the homeless women ask for a quarter, nevertheless the women mad up an excuse like (†¦. Put one in about ballet and getting her hopes up). It showed she was nervous and didn’t know how to act in this given situation. She gave the homeless women excuses making her feel like she’s not worth paying any attention to. The author is trying to show according to society, she is below everyone else. Society is also enduring incivility towards younger human.Like Isabelle she is 5 years old and she has already taken into a count how to label society especially homeless people, drug addicts, bum, alcoholics, ECT. The author is saying we don’t only see the vertices we do our best to ignore them. This story is trying to show us that the incivility of ignoring homelessness is recurring again and again. Its not going to stop we arguing to keep on pretending their not their and move on with our lives. The only time they catch everyone’s attention is when violenc e occurs. The author says (the arm scene).The purpose of the photo essay is to show the fact that everyone wants someone to talk to, socially interact with, Moreover deserve the same civility as others that can be shown with social interaction. Like with the first text a homeless man wrote talk to me. The photo essay brings up the question on who’s responsible for civility. The author is showing the emotions within them, also showing how we just ignore it and move on. We don’t think of them as homeless or even consider them as, we call the bums. We ignore them and that’s not an excuse for incivility 2nd -Last paragraphAdmitting both texts deal with the guiding question the short story gave a better understanding of the guiding question. The author made it easy to describe and point moreover her struggle with her own responsibility with civility in terms of the homeless. Therefore it’s easier for us to connect to as present day society does the same thing as the picture essay and the short story. The movie bum fights this movie is about fighting and attempting amateur stunts in exchange for money, alcohol, and other incentives. In this movie men are hurting each other and people for money.Like in the, short story what’s a bum mom. When the woman was attacked by a man saying he mugged her 5 bucks (add the scene). Its also similar to the drawing homeless people be harassed by police officers moreover families on the street. Like in the photo essay it shows families struggling on the street or when the police officers harassed a homeless man for sleeping in the park. It all comes down to society thinks their superior than homeless people, like they don’t matter and they shouldn’t. The only thing the matters in society and to the government is the amount of money you have. Last paragraphThe author Kathleen Rockwell, the short story what’s a bum mom shows a better understanding on the guiding question. Who is r esponsible for civility? By giving us a text we can easily find a connection to moreover answer and think about the question she asked in the text. Aside from reading this story we start questioning our own civility therefore start asking are we civil to only the ones we love and know won’t hurt us. Or just the one we think we could trust. Although the photo essay comes to a conclusion on who’s responsible for civility, it catches our attention to the problem of civility but not as well as the short story did.

Audience Analysis Essay

â€Å"Audience analysis gives you the tools you need to shape your product and your message† (Locker & Kienzler, 2008, p. 41). When presenting the company’s quarterly sales information it is important to evaluate the audience so that you can tailor the message to their needs. Considering the characteristics of the audience; the more you know about the audience, the more you can focus your presentation on what they need to know. You will also need to determine which communication channel is the most effective to present this information. It is almost important to understand the diversity of the audience so that you aren’t focusing on one group of people. If you spend the time analyzing your audience you can ensure that your sales presentation is effective. The more you know and understand your audience the better your message will be; you can start by identifying the characteristics of your audience. According to Locker and Kienzler (2008), the demographic characteristics such as age, sex, race, religion, education level, and income may be relevant when analyzing the audience. Because the sales presentation is for the stakeholders of the company, particularly managers, sales, and the customers, the demographics of the audience may be irrelevant for this case. When analyzing the stakeholders for this presentation, it is important to evaluate what they have in common and what is important to them. For example, stakeholders have a stake in the company so they want to see the company succeed; the sales data should be detailed enough to see the true performance of the company. Performing an audience analysis can be simplified by focusing on who they are, what their needs and expectations are, and how they will use the information. Managers need the sales information to gauge the performance of the company and to help make decisions on the day-to-day operations. The sales staff can use the information to see if they are meeting their sales goals and customers want to know that their suppliers are operating consistently and solid. Knowing the specifics needs you audience needs will help you when you are organizing your information for the presentation. Effective communication is based on selecting the appropriate communication channel to convey your message. Communication channels are the methods that are used to send a message to the audience. These methods can vary in efficiency and speed to the number of people who are reached (Locker & Kienzler, 2008). These messages can be sent through brochures, letters, e-mail messages, telephone conversations, video conferencing, and face-to-face meetings (Communication Channels, 2011). You are currently planning your sales presentation for a face-to-face meeting with the stakeholders. By meeting face-to-face you can combine some of the communication channels for a more effective message. The written part of the message includes presenting the sales information in a PowerPoint that allows you to include detailed information incorporating graphs and charts. You can communicate the information orally providing a narrative that supports your PowerPoint slides. This can be a very effective method of highlighting specific points of the presentation to what the audience needs to capture. Other methods that can be used effectively in this scenario are a video conference or a conference call combined with Net meeting in order for everyone to access the PowerPoint during the meeting. Emailing this type of information is fast and efficient, but it would be ineffective. There is too much information that could get overlooked and misinterpreted regardless of how much effort you put into the audience analysis. Email channels are more appropriate for routine communication such as day-to-day activities. Selecting the proper channel can contribute to the success of the message. When preparing your presentation it is important to take into consideration the diversity of the audience. Living in a multicultural society it is important to recognize and be sensitive toward the different cultures and ethnicities of people. In addition you should understand the organizational culture. Organizational culture is a set of values and attitudes that can change from company to company. It can be an important part of delivering a successful sales presentation by understanding the culture of the company. In the sales meeting with the stakeholders you have a diverse audience of internal company managers and sales staff and you have external customers. You need to take this into consideration when determining the level of detail that you want to share in the meeting. With the presence of outside people, you may want to be cautious of how much sales information you present in the meeting. Too much information could be damaging; you don’t want your customer to have more information than necessary to get the message across. Analyzing your audience will prepare you for the diversity of your audience. In order to communicate effectively with your audience, you need to understand who they are, what groups they belong to, and what values they hold† (Locker & Kienzler, 2008, p. 41). One way to ensure that you deliver an effective message is to start by performing a thorough audience analysis. Organize the information that you are including the key points that you want to get across. Creating visual aids like graphs and charts that support your ideas can help to keep the attention of your audience. It is also helpful to know your material and have good speaking skills so that you can relay the information without interruption. When meetings run long you can start to lose the attention of your audience; keep the presentation to a time length appropriate to get the message across. Create an interactive meeting and ask questions; this way you will know immediately if the audience is clearly receiving the information that you are presenting. Presenting quarterly sales information requires a little bit more than throwing numbers on a slide and showing them to the managers, sales, and customers present in the meeting. To ensure that you are delivering an effective message put in the extra time to do the research. Evaluate the audience so that you can focus the presentation on what type of data and information that each group of stakeholders need. Prior to scheduling the face-to-face meeting; consider different communication channels to present the sales data, this will help to determine which method is the most effective. Include enough information to ensure that you deliver an effective message that benefits your audience. â€Å"Audience analysis is the first step in any communication process: it gives you the tools you need to shape your product and your message† (Locker & Kienzler, 2008, p. 41).

Ratio analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ratio analysis - Essay Example Financial ratio has its advantages to the company and the customers in equal or less gravity. In an article of transoceanic financial ratio analysis, it is easy for customer to look how the stocks look like. Customer will find it easy to evaluate the company-using price to earnings ratio. Such metric valuation uses the wisdom that that nonoperational aspects of the company such as asset impairment can affect earnings per share (Xiao, 2014).With this valuation, the company and customer can make advised decisions while investing or rectifying the areas of problem. Financial ratio analysis is also advantageous in that it is easy to come up with the components of returns. Such returns include pre-taxed interest and the pre-taxed margin. The two are the core profitability of the company before interest and the taxes. The higher margins show better prospects of the company. Another component of return is the assets turnover. Asset turnover is the revenue generated for the expenses of the assets (Xiao, 2014). In the Transoceanic financial ratio analysis article, it has a higher number indicating it is efficient in using its assets. On the disadvantages side, financial ratio analysis has couple of demerits. First and foremost, the financial ratio analysis cannot be used singularly or standalone method. They must be used hand in hand with an aggregate economy. The full economic cycle must be factored in, during analysis. Secondly, inflation can badly bloat the company’s balance sheet. On such scenario, the profit of the company will be affected in a bad fashion. In the long run of the financial analysis, the judgment will be will be interrupted on the patches where inflation infiltrated the company’s balance sheet. Financial analysis thus has its advantage and

Objectives to Advance Coca-Colas Financial Situation Assignment

Objectives to Advance Coca-Colas Financial Situation - Assignment Example The company is also set to be a responsible citizen on earth through the preservation of the environment. The company’s overall commercial strategy is to become a leader in business through passion, genius collaboration, Integrity as well as diversity. The company is also set to act quickly in a qualitative manner and remain responsive to change. Conclusively, the ventures of the company are to ensure efficiency in the daily operations. The overall strategy is to work smart with a focus on the current and future market vicissitudes. The company has a role of publishing annual reports on the company’s online website on Formula 10-K. The form thus publicizes the financial performance of the business on a yearly basis. The company being multinational has its operations spread over two hundred countries all over the world. In conclusion, the coca cola institution is one of the most efficient companies about protection of the company’s beverage and food formulae. The marketing strategy of the enterprise is also a no match in that the company experiences a massive following after every market venture. The institution  requires venturing into other market approach strategies. However, the company is still a leader in business, especially on the international scene. The company significant financial venture is in the increase of equity income and total revenue per share. The above objectives are also useful in the establishment of more taxes for shareholders, the owners, employees as well as partners.

Business Proposal for implementing MIS in the Company Assignment - 1

Business Proposal for implementing MIS in the Company - Assignment Example Management information systems entail the use of computer software, hardware, and processes that facilitate the storage and management of information in an organization. Information management systems facilitate efficiency in the business by enhancing business processes and procedures. In addition, they enable the business to provide efficient customer service, which is necessary for a competitive market. The organization is able to keep track of transactions and employees’ performance through effective management information systems. Moreover, information management systems enable the management to make multiple decisions regarding business operations effectively. Information management systems generally facilitate the creation, acquisition, and storage of information in the organization (Shajahan and Priyadharshini, 2004). Public relations companies enhance organizations’ public relations by providing the media with appropriate and promotional information regarding th eir clients. The adoption of efficient management information systems in various departments of a public relations agency facilitates the efficient and effective acquisition and management of information. In addition, the systems enhance sufficient and reliable research on the position of media regarding a client. Information systems provide the company with an overview of various public relations procedures required by a particular business. It also enables the organization to acquire information regarding the level of their clients’ public relations. The implementation of effective management information systems in the organization promotes efficiency and accuracy with respect to research and the dissemination of information. The business proposal aims at providing concrete information regarding the benefits of adopting an effective information management system in the company’s research and communication department (Shajahan and Priyadharshini, 2004).

Developing the Charter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Developing the Charter - Essay Example The managing director of the PROVISION Healthcare Technologies manufactures has authority to spend up to $90000 for this project. The managing director has established a committee that consists of project manager, financial manager and feasibility analysts. This committee is responsible for the budget estimation and authority to take the decision for the budget finalization. Here in this project we have the tasks divided in such ways that each team has independent but connective roles and responsibilities. In this section I will present the roles and responsibilities of each project team and their roles regarding the successful completion of the project. The team of the Product Development the Analysts is responsible for analyzing the main market demands and needed up-gradations. The Designs will design the products and finally the Testes will test the resultant product. The role of the Product Manufacturing; In the process of WANDS production the Designers will analysis the main up-gradation those are presently needed for the company business. Develops will develop the product. The team of the Product Distribution will responsible for the effective delivery of the product. The main functionality of the testers is the installation of the product effectively. Sales & Marketing roles: The Sales & Marketing team will be responsible for the effective promotion of the new product features and functionalities. This team have a very huge responsibility for the better promotion and advertisement of the product in the online as well as on the others mediums. 2. Crosby, Benjamin L. March (1992). Stakeholder Analysis: A Vital Tool for Strategic Managers; Technical Notes, no. 2. Washington, DC: Implementing Policy Change Project for the US Agency for International Development

Strategic Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Strategic Marketing - Essay Example In this respect, they have recognised their responsibilities towards its internal and business environment. For example, existing business organisation are more focusing on enhancing stakeholders’ value. Moreover, they are also concentrating on the welfare of society, environment and community as they have understood that these activities are very important for their sustainability and for corporate governance (Aras and Crowther, 2009, p.36). In post-modern organisations, management are using these concepts and theories as an important tool for marketing, brand development and for entire strategic management. This paper will attempt to present discussions on environmental marketing which is emerging as a tool for better strategic management. In this respect, the entire discussion will focus on critical analysis, and at first a brief overview of environmental marketing will be presented followed by critical evaluation of its increasing importance. Then, multiple influencing fac tors in environmental marketing will be assessed followed by an analysis on multiple issues in environmental marketing. ... Brief Description of Environmental Marketing Environmental marketing is an emerging concept in strategic business management and it refers to the marketing activities revolving around the environmental consciousness. The increasing environmental awareness among the management and consumers is the major reason for its development. Environmental marketing is also referred as the green marketing. Polonsky and Wimsatt have explained that â€Å"environmental marketing is rooted in the essential tension between environmentalism and modern mass consumption† (Polonsky and Wimsatt, 1997, p.38). Environmentalism involves the entire environmental related issues like global warming, air pollution, water pollution, resource depletion etc. Increasing industrialization and business activities have a greater negative impact on environment and being a social entity, the business organisations have now realized their responsibility towards the safety of environment. There is a conceptual relati on relationship between the green marketing, industrial ecology and environment. Oyewole (2001), have developed a model that clarifies this conceptual relationship. The model is given below. Figure 1: Relationship between Industry and Environment (Source: Zaman, Miliutenko and Nagapetan, 2010) As per the above figure, social cost (including monetary and non-monetary) is major factor that relates the industry and environmental aspects. Considering the social cost, business organisations are now practising green marketing management. For example, they are implementing innovative technologies to develop eco-friendly products focusing on recycling and energy conversation. Increasing Importance of Environmental Marketing Since last decade, the importance and necessity of

Rights, Law and the History of Ideas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Rights, Law and the History of Ideas - Essay Example I decided to pay special attention to works presented by Regan, Singer, and Francione because all of these animal rights theorists have always managed to present their approach concerning animal rights issue in a very engaging and unique manner. At some points, these philosophers even get purely judgmental about other intellectuals’ approaches and I felt that highlighting such judgments and arguments would help in getting the deeper flavor of the whole issue in a multidimensional manner. I basically tried searching most of the references from hard copies of books and peer-reviewed journals though I also took support of some credible websites about which I specially tried making sure that they contained valid and reviewed information. The books I referenced in the paper throw light on Regan’s and Singer’ works and I chose them because they help contrasting Regan’s approach from that of Singer’s. I also laid stress on books composed by Francione becau se his works help immensely in understanding the core ideology of animal liberation movement. ..

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

Music - Essay Example The group’s song â€Å"I’m Gonna Sing Till the Spirit moves† is one best example of their song which has uplifted the spirits of the many. The song is in â€Å"a capella†. Just the soft yet powerful voices of the singers can be heard. They just used their own voice, blended their tone qualities with each other and produced accompanying sounds making the song more effective and interesting to hear. The overall structure of the song is very solemn. In fact, this song can be sung inside the church. Listeners, like me, can even imagine to serious faces of the singers giving all their hearts and soul while singing the song. The mode and/or tone is very emphatic. It is as if the singers are directly talking with each listener. But despite this, listeners can enjoy every lyric of the song. I even noticed myself tapping my fingers and silently humming the song. Indeed the title of this song is very apt with its content and melody. It will not take too much of the time of the singers in singing the song because the listeners’ spirits will surely be moved in less than a time. Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry were two famous soloists during the early 1930’s. But these two tried sharing their music together and their fans loved them more for this move. Brownie was a superb and smooth guitarist and singer, while Sonny was known for his able playing of his harp and voice quality which is in a rough country style complete with whoops and hollers. Sonnys solo "Mountain Blues" from the 1938 Spirituals to Swing concert was one of his finest recordings and was sung completely in falsetto. Nearly blind since childhood Sonny had almost always played music, at first on street corners and later in recording studios with Blind Boy Fuller. Sonny met his partner of many, Brownie McGhee. Together they became the folk-blues musicians - recording and gigging with people like Lead belly, Woody

Faculty Members' Styles Of Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Faculty Members' Styles Of Leadership - Essay Example Scholars have identified various leadership styles and continue to refine concepts behind leadership to guide organisations in determining the appropriate leadership styles that will help organisations attain its goals. Huber states that school leaders are essential because they make a difference. Recognising the significance and crucial role of leadership in educational institution, this research will look into the various forms of leadership styles vis-a-vis its impact on the development of the faculty members. Specifically, this study intends to conduct a research on leadership styles and its impact on the development of faculty members at the College of Education at Ha'il University in Saudi Arabia to understand the connection between leadership styles and faculty development as the study centres on leadership and its impact on faculty development. The proposal will focus on the following areas. The introduction wherein research questions, the significance of the research and its aims are laid down. The literature review, which presents the discourses of scholars pertinent to the issue of educational leadership and faculty development. The research methodology that will be adopted in the conduct of the research. A qualitative case study will be used in this study as it attempts to answer the concerns of the research. In addition, the procedure for data collection, sampling of this research with great detail, validity and reliability, data analysis, ethical considerations, and conclusion will be discussed.... Huber (2004) states that school leaders are essential because they make a difference. Recognising the significance and crucial role of leadership in educational institution, this research will look into the various forms of leadership styles vis-a-vis its impact on the development of the faculty members. Specifically, this study intends to conduct a research on leadership styles and its impact on the development of faculty members at the College of Education at Ha'il University in Saudi Arabia to understand the connection between leadership styles and faculty development as the study centres on leadership and its impact on faculty development. The proposal will focus on the following areas. (1) The introduction wherein research questions, significance of the research and its aims are laid down. (2) The literature review, which presents the discourses of scholars pertinent to the issue of educational leadership and faculty development. (3) The research methodology that will be adopted in the conduct of the research. A qualitative case study will be used in this study as it attempts to answer the concerns of the research. In addition, the procedure for data collection, sampling of this research with great detail, validity and reliability, data analysis, ethical considerations and conclusion will be discussed. The Setting The research will be conducted on the College of Education at Ha’il University. The study will focus on the issue regarding the impact of styles of leadership in the College to the development of its faculty members. The research will involve the participation three (3) Department Heads of the College of Education at the Hail

Case Study Child Development Project Essay Example for Free

Case Study Child Development Project Essay Abstract After an extended period watching and observing Adrian, the bystander is able to see where Adrian is developmentally. He is growing physically, mentally, and emotionally as a child his age, four years old, should be maturing according to many theorists. While he has not mastered all the required steps for his age group he is achieving more and more of them each day. The following case study will discuss where Adrian is excelling and where he still needs a little work. A Case Study about Child Development Adrian is almost four years old and lives with his parents and older sister in an apartment. His father is a financial advisor in a bank, allowing him to spend time with the family on the weekends, while his mother stays at home as a housewife. They have a lot of neighbors and no pets. Adrian loves trains, cars, dinosaurs, animals, juice, and being inside and outside of his house. His favorite movie is Cars. He does not like the word â€Å"No† and often ignores something when it doesn’t interest him. Adrian has fun, loving, goofy, energetic personality. Throughout this study, the observation of Adrian will take place at two places: his house, inside and out and his grandmother’s house. Physical Development Adrian developed normally through the prenatal, infancy, and toddler stages. He was born on August twenty eighth in 2010 by natural birth after a full term, normal pregnancy. At birth, he weighed eight pounds eleven ounces and measured twenty-two inches long, which according to the Center for Disease Control (2000), put him in the seventy-fifth percentile for weight and ninetieth percentile for length. As an infant Adrian’s mother, chose not to breast feed and instead gave him formula. As a toddler, Adrian hit all the  important milestones, according to his mother, included learning to walk which occurred around fifteen months. As Adrian progressed from a toddler to preschooler, he continued to progress as he should according to the normal growth and developmental process. At four years, he is forty-two inches tall and weights around forty-six pounds, keeping him in the same percentiles as birth, again according to the CDC (2000). Most of this growth occurred, as it should, during the toddler years. Even though Adrian just turned four he had accomplished many of the required gross and fine motor skills according Berger (Chapter 8), he can run, hop, jump, walk up and down stairs alone, dress and undress, use the bathroom on his own. I have witnessed Adrian running or jumping many times whether it be running to tackle someone for a hug or a warm welcome, jumping on the bed/couch usually when he gets excited about a movie or favorite cartoon, or when he is playing with his cousin who is just a few months older. Going up and down the stairs at his grandmother’s house, this is not a problem problem because Adrian gets plenty of practice due to must of the time he’s visiting his gradmother’s house. Using the bathroom is a big accomplishment for him, because it took him a long time and has only mastered it within the last few months. However, he still needs practice skipping and being comfortable using scissors. Adrian is right where he should be with his physical development. Cognitive Development Similarly to Adrian’s physical development his cognitive develop is also maturing at what theorist would say is a normal rate. Piaget and Vygotsky writes that upon reaching the age of four a child should be rapidly expanding his vocabulary, beginning to think intuitively but still thinking almost entirely on himself. He progressed through the building blocks of language beginning with babbling and moving through his first word around fifteen months and first sentence a little while later. While his mother does not know the exact time when he started babbling and spoke his first sentence, she does recall this never being a concerned about the development. Currently, he is speaking in full sentences that vary in lengths and purposes. He enjoys watching television shows about super heroes and if given the chance, he will spend large amounts of time, sometimes up to twenty minutes, telling his listener all about them. Adrian’s cognitive  development in the area of language has a lot to do with the fact he is inquisitive and seems to enjoy learning. According to many theories and developmental checklist a four year old should be able to count and should be drawn to letters and sounds. Adrian demonstrates an inclination to want to read and will often ask someone around him to read him his favorite book or play with the magnetic letters his mom bought him. Additionally, by playing games like Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders where he can count the required spaces indicating a beginning understanding of numbers. Another example a time when I noticed Adrian genuinely wanting to learn and wanting things to be perfect, he spent a few seconds growing more and more frustrated as he angrily smashed the top and bottom boxes together. Eventually, he got the two pieces together but not before tearing the corners of them. However, when someone stepped in and showed him how to correctly put the two pieces together he welcomed the advice and was then able to properly close the box. Like Vygotsky mentioned the mentor provide scaffolding, or temporary sensitive support, to help the developmental zone. After getting the box together, he started to think of ways to fix the box. He suggested taping it, and was excited when that idea was welcomed and put to use. This not only demonstrated intuitive thought but helped Adrian feel intelligent and begin to learn that it is perfectly fine and acceptable to ask for help when needed. Adrian is developing cognitively a little more everyday and seems to be on his way to accomplishing all the key milestones. His language skills are growing each day and he is learning to try new things on his own with the idea that he can always ask for help. Emotional/Social Development As with physical and cognitive development, observer is able to see that Adrian is attaining the social developmental milestones as he progresses to the preschool age. While Adrian hit all the important points through in infancy and toddlerhood. For example, he was always able to show a wide range of emotions, classified as a key achievement by Freud and Erikson. He was quick to show observers his happiness, sadness, confusion, or frightfulness. He also quickly established a secure attachment to his mother, another one of Ainsworth’s milestones. Adrian was child who needed and wanted to be with his mother and would cry or search for her as soon as  she left his sight. By achieving both of these Adrian was able to understand that he could trust people, which allowed him to make the transition from toddlerhood to the pre-school period successfully. As an energetic and, for the most part, easy going four year old, Adrian is accomplishing many of the expected landmarks yet needs more time to complete other. Observers can watch Adrian feeling safe and comfortable in areas other than those he is familiar too. Similarly, however, he can/will lose complete control of his temper and lash out violently to those around him. Other noticeable developments for Adrian are his ability to play with others, cooperatively and the idea that he is beginning to get a sense of gender. He enjoys playing games with his cousin who is just a few months older and they will play with cars or whatever suits their mood that day. He will also play board games, such as Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders, with the understanding that it is not always possible to win. Presently, he is fascinated with Wonder Woman and when asked why he likes her so much his response was because she is a girl and has boobs, as reported by Adrian’s mother. He is getting to the point also, where he understands that there are boys clothes and girls clothes, last year for example he enjoyed trying on the clothes his cousin received for Christmas. Yet this year, when his family went shopping and glanced through the area with all the children’s clothes he had no problem telling everyone which ones were for boys and which ones where not. Over all, Adrian is where he needs to be given he still has two years left in the preschool stage to improve and grow socially and emotionally developmental wise. Reflection This experience has taught me a lot about how preschoolers act and why they do the things they do. I truly enjoyed watching Adrian in a different, more professional light during the past few weeks. I cannot say I am thrilled with how I did everything throughout the project but for the most part, I am happy. By observing Adrian for specific characteristics in the areas of physical, cognitive, and emotional growth I was able to bring the lectures and information from class to life and am thrilled to be able to say I am leaving this class with the understanding of how a preschool-aged child operates. While I am happy about learning the Adrian is on target with his developments, I wish I could have observed him at different times and  places. Also, it would have been interesting to see how he reacted at different locations but that did not work like I had hoped it would have at the beginning, instead, I primarily just watched him inside his house: inside because it always seemed to be either too hot or rainy when I would visit. By completing this case study, I was able to accomplish a lot. I now have a much better idea of where a preschool-aged child is cognitively, emotionally, and physically and if that is the age. I really enjoyed being able to step out of my family role and see how Adrian is from a different, more professional standpoint.

Amazons Strategic Positioning

Amazons Strategic Positioning Executive Summary This report reviews Amazons strategic positioning in the E-commerce segment in the recent period and how it (the company) has been able to maintain competitive advantage by constantly evolving itself in the dynamic market. It also reflects how Amazon can continue to grow in constant endeavour to achieve its mission and vision of being earths most customer centric company (Analysis of this statement would help the board understand how Amazon measures up and h they as a board see the progress of the company. The recent financial crisis has weakened the retail sector but Amazon has succeeded in maintaining growth in its 3rd quarter of 2009. The result of the financial analysis indicates that Amazon is in a good financial position, though these strong figures are partly based on the good credit terms obtained from Amazons suppliers (so a risk? How great etc). We further suggest strategies for the short, medium and long term which focuses on consolidating operations, market research analysis (for what?) and foray (drive/push/entre/test) into the emerging markets to evolve as global leader in its niche business area respectively (explain more [emailprotected] niche). The report concludes by exploring Amazons future plans in terms of products, markets and strategy. Directors Reports Finance Amazon has recorded total revenue of $15billion in first three quarters of 2009, which is 20% higher than total revenue during the same period in 2008. In 2009 (why, with consumer demand down has the company opened up new markets, taken market share from competitors, increased its penetration of the existing markets etc?, the gross profit has increased from 22.6% in 2008 to 23.7%. Our increased sales and operational efficiency have helped us to maintain the profit margin (so savings of sale or margin contribution?) although there is an increase in operational costs (margins then were higher, diluted by increased operating costs.? Our operating margin has been stable at 4.4% over the past years showing a consistency in operations. (So the increased sales did not lead to improved operating income?) Based on our previous years performance and experience, we project total revenue of $8.5billion in the last quarter of 2009. This will lead to total revenue of $23.5 billion for 2009, which will be an increase of 22.6% from year 2008. The steady increase in yearly revenue primarily reflects our market competitiveness. Our projection in the increase of sales by 22.6% in 2009 is based on the global economic slowdown and changes in customer purchasing preferences. Meanwhile, the basis of our estimate for the current quarter is based on our previous trend wherein sales increased during the Christmas season and low price offering. Based on our previous sales records, our last quarter sales were 35% to 37% of total revenue. The inventory turnover has improved (explain 11.5 from 13 is a decrease?) by 12% in trailing twelve months of September 2009 to 11.5 from 13.0 in 2006 and 2007. The asset turnover has increased slightly in trailing twelve months of September 2009 to 2.79 from 2.31 and 2.29 in 2008 and 2007. This reflects our improved efficiency in inventory and asset management. Our current ratio and acid test ratio have improved marginally to 1.40 and 1.05 from 1.30 and 1.00 respectively in 2008.These ratios augment confidence of our investors and suppliers on us in this global credit crunch where cash or liquidity is considered vital for continuing operation. We have been able to lower our debts through regular repayments. As at 30th September 2009, our debt to equity ratio is 0.03. This is a considerable improvement from debt to equity ratio of 0.18 and 1.09 in 2008 and 2007 respectively. Our account payable days were 62 and 57 for 2008 and 2007 respectively. Our account receivables day of 17 days is low because quick settlement of customer payments made through credit/debit cards. Our principal source of fund is generated from operations and cash/cash equivalent received from customers, suppliers and sellers. The cash/cash equivalent and marketable securities were $3.7billion and $3.1billion in 2008 and 2007. In terms of market performance, our share price drop to $43.20 in October 2009 and subsequently went up steadily to $134.03 as at 25th November 2009. The share value has increased by more than $90 after the announcement of our 3rd quarter results. The appreciation of share prices reflects share holders trust on Amazon, and it will further help us in Zappos.com acquisition. Sales and Marketing Sales Amazons sales are generated from media, electronics, other general merchandise and non-retail activities such as other seller sites, co-branded credit card agreements and miscellaneous marketing and promotional activities. Marketing We direct customers to our websites through a number of targeted online marketing channels such as our Associates program, sponsored search, portal advertising, e-mail campaigns and other initiatives. The marketing expenses are largely variable based on growth and changes in ex. rates. Our marketing expenses increased from $344 million to $482million in 2007 and 2008 respectively due to increased spending in variable online marketing channels, such as our Associates program and sponsored search programs. By September 2009, we had incurred $406million on marketing, a 30% increase from $313million in September 2008. (Is the 40% year of year run rate slowing?) The recent launch of Amazon Mobile Payment in October 2009 has increased the choices of mode of payment for the customers and it will be the stepping stone for the company to enter markets where mobile penetration is high but banking infrastructure is developing. (How reliable is the method?) In order to boost sales, the company strategy needs to be aligned with the growth prospects in E Commerce in emerging markets. Tapping booming market segments in on line gaming and Travel sector in India and on line gaming in China seems a viable option in this direction. (What research statistics/data do we have to support this market entre?) We will continue to rely on customer loyalty and innovative advertising as well as other platforms available to us. (To do what?) Operations We create value for our customers by offering satisfactory (or superior) services. This is done by managing retail operations with efficient use of technology. Operational efficiency is a basis of strength for Amazon and supports the management to maintain our competitive advantage and enhance corporate performance. (Will we become more efficient?) Our principal sources of liquidity are cash flows generated from operations. In that regard, one way of reducing operational and performance variation, is to implement a uniform production platform increasing process efficiency. (Is this part of our planned strategy?) As can be gleaned from our third quarter report for fiscal 2009, compared to the same period in the prior year, operating expenses have increased. This is due in part to a settlement to Toysrus LLC for $51million and increase in other costs. There are a number of pending lawsuits against Amazon that must be factored in our decisions. (Is operation efficiencies are to be improved then reducing law suites is a way forward?) As our operations are segmented between North America and International, there are a number of issues we are uncertain about, but actual results could differ. These concerns are: fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, (do we hedge as a practice?) changes in global economic conditions and consumer spending, world events, the rate of growth of the Internet and online commerce. Information Systems Future Development Amazon will continue to improve the IT services related the e-commerce and supply chain management. The areas of future development include: Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) is a web service that provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud. It is designed to make web-scale computing easier for developers. Amazon S3 Storage Amazon S3 provides a simple web services interface that can be used to store and retrieve any amount of data, at any time, from anywhere on the web. It gives any developer access to the same highly scalable, reliable, fast, inexpensive data storage infrastructure that Amazon uses to run its own global network of web sites. The service aims to maximize benefits of scale and to pass those benefits on to developers. Amazon Cloud Front Amazon Cloud Front is a web service for content delivery. It integrates with other Amazon Web Services to give developers and businesses an easy way to distribute content to end users with low latency, high data transfer speeds, and no commitments. Amazon Fulfilment Web Service Amazon Fulfilment Web Service (Amazon FWS) allows merchants to access Amazons world-class fulfilment capabilities through a simple web services interface. Merchants can programmatically send order information to Amazon with instructions to physically fulfil customer orders on their behalf. Amazon continues to develop the IT systems related to the support of the Kindle e-book reader. In particular the online Kindle Book Store and the related Whisper net' wireless distribution network. Kindle issues An Overview Amazon Kindle is a software and hardware platform developed by Amazon.com subsidiary Lab126 for rendering and displaying e-books and other digital media. Three hardware devices, known as Kindle, Kindle 2, and Kindle DX (Figure 1) support this platform, as does an iPhone application called Kindle for iPhone. The Kindle hardware devices use E Ink brand electronic paper displays, and are able to download content over Amazon Whispernet using the Sprint EVDO in the USA or, for newer Kindle 2 devices, ATTs network internationally. Kindle Sales and Earnings We are yet to make profit on Kindle. The Kindle hardware is based on a cut-down Linux/PC configuration. As you can see from Figure 2.4 the teardown cost for the Kindle 2 have been estimated to be $185 per unit. This represents approximately 50% of the present sale cost of $400. Therefore, the margin per Kindle must be slim once development, manufacture, shipping and promotions costs have been factored into the unit price. The Future of E-Book Readers: The Potential Market A number of analysts have predicted a large market for e-book readers. Forrester research has predicted the potential market (Figure 2.5) based on the sales of similar products, such as IPods and mobile phones. If Forresters predictions are correct then there is a large potential market. Threats to Kindle The main factor in determining if Kindle will be a successful is content. There are number of free books that have elapsed copyrights, which are available for the Kindle and other e-book readers. However, the main source of revenue for the e-book market is predicted not to be books but newspapers, magazines and journals. These limited life documents would be transmitted directly to the reader via the mobile phone network: the Kindle DX, Sonys e-reader and Barns Nobles Nook have this functionality. (Googles recent announcement on e-books? Do newspapers and similar already offer some for of e-news through their web portals?) Sony has been creating alliances with a number of publishers to produce content for its e-reader. The highest profile publisher is Rupert Murdochs News Corp that prints large number of leading newspapers and magazines. This is the main threat to the success of Kindle. This situation has similarities to the format battle between HD DVD and Blue Ray DVD formats. Sony won this format battle by forming alliances with the Hollywood studios. These studios agreed to produce content solely for the Blue Ray format. Human Resources and Administration For 2008 fiscal year, our payroll and administration expenses were $279million compared to $235 million in 2007 and the increase was primarily due to increase in staff recruitments, payroll related expenses and professional services fees. In reference to our employees, staff complement increased by 22%, from 17,000 in 2007 to 20,700 in 2008. At present, there have been no redundancy exercises made in the company and we are focusing on retaining employees in order for them to remain engaged and loyal to the business in the long-term. (Have we increased manning in 9m to 30/09/09, over and above seasonal increases?) As the companys main revenue comes from the 4th quarter, we expect to increase the volume of temporary employees in order to meet customers orders. We will continue to supplement all our teams with additional staffing and will continue to add some capacity particularly in the international region to prepare ourselves to serve our customers during our busiest time of the year. In 2008, Amazon UK was accused of treating staff harshly. However, this has been hyped by the media and till date there is no accusation of breaching the law. (There is a difference between breaching the law and treating staff harshly are we sure of our position?) We greatly appreciate and reward our employees with a basic wage complemented by performance related pay. Meanwhile, employees are represented by a democratically elected employee forum who meets regularly with senior management of which any matters will be discussed accordingly. (Is this window dressing or does the method work, how is it implemented globally?) Business Development We recently acquired the online shoe retail shop, Zappos.com for the sum of $928million and $40million during the year for acquisition of Yieldex, Lexcycle Inc., Booktour, Foodista, Talk Market Inc, and Snap Tell Inc. These acquisitions will help us maintain the sales growth rate in this current crisis. (Has there been analysis to support these statements about growth rates?) Our international activities are significant to our revenues and profits, and we plan to further expand internationally in the long term due to the recent economic situation. Our international expansion will be focused on the BRIC countries specifically China and India as the markets are still untapped and will be good for us. Based on the little experience in the future market segments, proper research and risk analysis have to be done to enhance our? Legal Amazon has always ensured that we comply with government and other regulatory authority policies in the different countries that we operate in. We are involved in claims, proceedings and litigation dating back from 2001 to date. We currently have fifteen patent infringement cases against us pending in various courts with ten claims filed in 2009. We were acquitted in our lawsuits with Actus and Cordance in September 2009. (Is the board worried about this level of litigation?) In order to reduce the volume of lawsuits against us, we have decided to: Conduct a proper research of existing technological platforms before embarking on the usage and deployment of the platform. Where the already platform already exists, we will seek permission or leave of the rights and pay fees for the usage. We will also embark on developing our own technological platforms. We are also involved in the issues relating to the avoidance of sales tax in some states in the country. These states include New York, North Carolina and Hawaii. New York Legislative has passed a bill compelling Amazon to pay sales tax and other states are hoping to follow soon. Financial impact analysis of this legislation? Are disputed sales taxes reserved for in the B/S? Supply Chain Management In Amazon, the inventory policies drive the operating expenses and working capital requirements. Items are shipped as and when customer orders are received through the central servers. Our ability to meet customers demands with precision timing and accuracy has been a source of competitive advantage and customer loyalty. We currently have fulfilment centres (how many and located where?) for stocking the merchandise. We aim to improve our delivery time to gain more advantage, loyalty and long term alliances by introducing the cross docking concept where we identify suppliers who can readily agree to facilitate unique packaging facility at their locations. The financial burden of this arrangement will be borne by Amazon but the cost of packaging will be offset by the savings generated from reducing the inventory. What is the model for this? Is there an upside supplier cost, now or at some time in future? Section 4.1.1 bullet 1 lists $20m saving or 1.5% We hope to use this to reduce the inventory holding costs, shipping costs, operational costs as well the working capital requirement for the supply chain function. Strategic Analysis Internal and External Analysis Amazons brand has established high levels of recognition around the world, making it the first port-of-call for much of the rapidly expanding internet retailing consumer base, with the reputation of offering a wide choice of products and services. To this end, detailed analysis of the following will be undertaken: Amazons internal capabilities and resources (see appendix SWOT Analysis and VRINE Analysis) Weighing our competitive advantage (see appendix External Analysis (Porters Five Forces). To expand in China (see appendix E-Commerce in China and PESTLE Analysis) Strategic Position Amazon has been able to maintain sustainable competitive advantage based on three operational strategies. These are low cost-leadership, customer differentiation and focus strategies. Low cost-leadership is pursued by Amazon by differentiating itself primarily on the basis of price. We believe that offering low prices to our customers is fundamental to our future success. We seek to partially mitigate the costs of lowering prices over time through achieving higher sales volumes, negotiating better terms with our suppliers, and achieving better operating efficiencies. Amazon makes sure that it offers the same quality products as other companies at a considerably cheaper price. Analysis of competitors? Are there services we (can/could) offer using our infrastructure that could command a premium price? With our customer differentiation strategy, Amazon provides current and prospective customers with differentiation through design, quality or convenience by selecting a strategy that is different among the competitors. The focus strategy takes one of the two other strategies and applies it to a niche within the market Based on this, Amazon focuses on outstanding customer service as a niche but not the whole market because each niche has its own demand and requirement. Expand? Recommended Strategies Survival through Operational Efficiency The recent financial crisis and Amazons financial performance in recent years has shown that we have to optimally utilize organisational resources hence to be in better position to handle crisis situation and hence we propose the following: Reduce Operational Costs Sales are high but the costs associated with the sales have ranged between 75% -80% of sales in recent years. In order to be more efficient in our operations, we propose to cut the expenditure by 2 % in the following: Reducing cost in inventory by usage of cross docking by which we project to save $20million i.e. 1.5 % of the fulfilment? cost by the next fiscal. Research Development cost projected to be cut by $50million which 5 % of the present budget. How? Marketing budget projected to be slashed by $10 million. Impact? Put a hold on diversification and acquisitions. A review of existing alliances, diversifications and acquisitions should be done to determine the non-profitable business and decisions should be made about the appropriate strategy to be considered. The review has not been done before? Legal Dispute Settlement The sum of $500million has been set aside to settle the lawsuits pending the court judgements. Analysis needed why we have so many law suites, is this now part of our culture and that we ignore risks in the belief we are smart etc? Improve Kindle Sales It is clear that the e-reader market is embryonic and has great potential. For the Kindle to survive, Amazon has to adopt a similar strategy to that of Sony, which is to develop alliances with content providers. Googles recent announcement? We can consider cutting Kindle prices based on increase in sales in the future leading to economies of scale which can help boost our profit margin. (What is the model for this?) If this can not be achieved, in the long-term, should consider selling the Kindle design and patents rights to a third party who has a greater expertise in hardware development. F/A? Short Term (1-3 years) Expansion to China Objectives To attain a market share of 20-30% of Chinese internet retailing sector. How? Target Company for acquisitions Sohu.com Inc Sohu is a China based internet media company providing a network of web-properties and community based web 2.0 products which offer an array of choices regarding information, entertainment and communication to the Sohu user community. Sohus products and services are advertising, aggregated content, e-commerce, communication and community tools, internet access and services, search engines, sponsored search, web-properties, wireless communication, on-line games. (Might this company be in the process of dressing up their performance to attract a buyer?) Price of Acquisitions The ultimate purchase price will depend on a number of specific factors, including the targets current market value, its intrinsic value, and the value to be gained from any potential synergies between the target and buyer. Approximate costs of acquisitions can vary from $700million. To what? Potential Obstacles and Challenges Small number of credit card users 75 million credit cards in circulation by 2007. Payment systems are now safer no longer a technical problem, but a problem of customer confidence. E-commerce logistics: Size and vast distances in China delivery for most companies limited to major metropolitan areas using couriers Cost as a % of sale price compare with other locations? High delivery cost due to the small scale of some logistics enterprises Over 70% of all purchases in the B2C market are paid cash-on-delivery. Over 70% of all purchases in the B2C market are paid cash-on-delivery Duplication of point 4? Buying online is a dramatic change from conventional shopping practices: Consumers in China still prefer to look over the goods, determine their quality, and then, if satisfied, pay in cash. Probably a model which existed in west in earlier years when discretionary spending was limited? On-line commerce, in comparison, is an alien experience that only increases risk. Kindle clone $190. Define more clearly? Risk Factors Intense competition. Expansion into new products, services, technologies and geographic regions are subjects to additional business, legal, financial and competitive risks. Unsuccessful in efforts to expand into international market segments. Foreign exchange risk. Hedge? Payments related risks. Credit cards? SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS Largest e-retailer with lions share of the e-commerce market. Strong brand position and brand associations. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Information Technology (IT) support Amazons business strategy. Amazon is a huge global brand. It is recognisable for two main reasons. It was one of the original dotcoms, and over the last decade it has developed a customer base of around 30 million people. Highly effective advertising and marketing. Effective use of technology and partnerships. Recent positive cash flow. WEAKNESSES Loss of focus on core products. Weak economy which could lead to low sales. High advertising and marketing costs due to no brick-and-mortar presence. OPPORTUNITIES Selling of developed technologies. Extension of brands into new areas. International expansion specifically India and China and other emerging markets. Opportunities with non-competitive businesses for mutual benefit. THREATS Unexpected changes in regulatory requirements both in the U.S. and abroad. Legal Issues in patent infringement: 15 court cases. International issues export and import restrictions, tariffs and other trade barriers, fluctuations in currency rates, political instability, longer payment cycles, adverse tax consequences External Analysis Porters Five Forces Threat of new entrant High The cost involved in setting up an online bookstore is low and this poses a threat. With the right resources and knowledge, a new entrant could set up a similar website to compete with Amazon. Low Amazons technology platform and knowledge might make it difficult for entrants to come in and compete as the costs and experience involved might be high. Brand Recognition and customer loyalty may also make it difficult for a new entrant to compete Bargaining power of supplier High Bargaining power of supplier is relatively high in their electronic business sector. Amazons Low Cost strategy has made it difficult for it to buy electronic product directly from the main distributors such as Sony, Panasonic and Pioneer. Medium However, bargaining power of supplier in Amazons online book sector is relatively medium. Their power is medium as Amazon.com is dependent on Publishers for its supply. Threat of product substitute High Threat of product substitute is very high in Amazon.com online business. Physical bookstores have an established brand name in their brick-and-mortar business and customers might not be comfortable buying books online. A competitor that might be able to offer better services and prices might be able to substitute Amazons products. However, Amazons One-click shopping might be able to reduce the threat. Industry rivalry High As the result of huge and wide presence of competitors for the book business, Amazon.com faces high industry rivalry in their online book business. Established bookstores have the advantage of a larger and well established customer base, brand recognition, awareness and a wider selection of books. The entry of established bookstore into the online arena has further increase industry rivalry in this sector. Amazon.com also faces intense rivalry from their online music sector. For example, Amazons entry into the online music market has caused CD-Now to take steps in reduce Amazons threat in the sector. CD-Now has more advantage because they are well established and has more brand recognition in comparison to Amazon.com. E-Commerce In China Reason for expansion One of the fastest developing countries in the world. Leading and most reliable emerging market. World largest foreign direct investment (FDI) destination country since 2002. Market realization from potentiality due to recent well-ordered economy development, personnel disposable income increasing, infrastructure and transportation investment, rural economy development, speeding-up of foreign invested retailers in China. Market overview Transaction volumes of online retail in the country reached $18.8 billion in 2008, up 129% from 2007 according to iResearch, a Chinese internet research company. The market is predicted to reach almost $35 billion by the end of 2009 and offers huge potential. The number of online shoppers rose against the economic crisis by nearly 14 million from 74 million to 87.88 million. One out of four Chinese Internet users shops online, while two out of three Internet users in countries with high Internet Penetration like Europe, America and Korea are online shoppers. Chinas potential of online shopping is yet to be released. Additionally, the government has attached great importance to e-commerces stimulus to the economy, and has released a series of policies to regularize and guide e-commerce development. Industry e-commerce also grew vigorously, with more e-commerce platforms emerging and more and more farsighted traditional enterprises setting out for e-commerce. Against the general background, e-commerce is expected to maintain fast growth in the coming years. PESTEL Analysis for China Political Single party leadership with consistent policies. Unique socio economic political model centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented version with a rapidly growing private sector. Good relations with the US, Free Trade agreement with ASEAN (by 2010). Has been able to maintain a stable growth rate of 7-8% in the last few years. Inflation is between 4-5 %. Government focus on equitable growth thru liberalization policies by building good relationship with other countries which lead to a growth in its trade. Have good road, railway, air and shipping links to support the business activities. Economic Maintained strong economic growth over the years, 2003-2008, average GDP growth of 10.3% due to capital inflows, low real-interest rates and free market economy. Unemployment rate is high due to rural-urban shift. Transition shift from agricultural to industrialized country of which the service sector provides secure wages. The reformed IT and telecom policies and focused initiatives for the development of core technologies showcase Chinese plans to build its domestic prowess. By 2020, China will invest around 2.5% of its GDP in RD. China also wants to raise the contribution of technology to economic growth and limit its dependence on imported technologies. The country has also emerged as one of the main hubs for investments in RD, IT and ICT services. Socio Cultural Rising population with increase life expectancy and education level. Reduced poverty level by increasing per capital income. In 2008, Chinas per capita income was $2,770, which is one of the highest in Asia. Social richness prefers to inspect products before purchasing and haggle pr

Moral Panic: Youth Slashing in Singapore

Moral Panic: Youth Slashing in Singapore 1. Introduction Slashing cases involving Singaporean youth gang members gain immense notoriety in 2010. The visibility of such criminal acts is amplified further by the mass media. Such reports provoke the publics latent fear of being attack by youth gangs especially so when high-profile cases such as the murder of Darren Ng at Downtown East was reported to occur in the evening between 5.30pm and 5.57pm at a time period where school-going children would be making their way home. This fuel the anxiety felt by already paranoid parents of school-going children. Moreover easy access to gruesome and explicit pictures of the victim that were splashed across both printed and online medias, further fuel widespread panic of youth gang members being more daring to strike anytime in the day. Such panic is contrary to updated statistics proving that crime rates in Singapore have been steadily on a downward trend. The question at hand then is What caused this mass panic of youth slashing in Singapore despite there being no actual spike in crime rates? In our assessment of Singapore youth slashing, several critical tenets of moral panic were identified; high concern over youth violence and gang associations, increase hostility towards the group seen as a threat (people, who were caught carrying weapons, at-risk youths), disproportionality in depiction of the problem and short life-span. This paper seeks to investigate moral panic on youth slashing in Singapore. In our essay discourse, we argue that the surge in news reports youth and gang violence attributes to the moral panic of youth slashing in Singapore. The increased visibility of such criminal acts and detailed reporting has push the issue of youth delinquency to the spot light. This paper will first consider the crime trends in Singapore with an emphasis on youth statistics to ascertain whether the crime rates show any spikes which may be a cause for panic for citizens. In our use of statistics, we assume that all criminal acts were reported accurately. Next, a study of news reports by the Singapore printed English media- Straits Times and New Paper would be conducted to see how frequent such reports were published. 2. Crime Trends in Singapore In the latest Singapore Police Force Annual 2009, it published a 10 year trend of crime rates for Singapore. It captures official crime statistics that includes only reported criminal cases. Figure 1 show that the overall crime and overall crime rate is relatively stable, reaching its peak in 2005 and gradually decreasing over the next 3 years. The year 2008 saw a marginal increase of 1% in overall crime from 32,796 cases in 2007 to 33,113. However according to the SPF annual, the crime rate per 100,000 population mark has actually fallen from 715 in 2007 to 684 in 2008. Further statistics from SPF website records that in year 2009, the number of overall crime cases recording a marginal increase of 0.2% as compared to the previous year. However, overall crime rate in 2009 was 665, lower than 684 in 2008. In 2010 then, overall Crime reportedly fell by 0.6% (or -200 cases), from 33,186 cases in 2009 to 32,986 cases in 2010. There was no mention of crime rates. Comparing the total crime cases reported in 2010, the general crime trend for Singapore would be seen as gradually decreasing. In 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010 reports, youth crime was highlighted as a key crime concern. The majority of crimes among youths were for shop theft and other theft. Only in 2007, did rioting become the second most common crime among youths. At the peak of 4608 recorded cases of crimes against persons in 2005, only 21 of them were murder cases (Singapore Police Force, 2010). 0.004% of crimes against persons were murder cases at the peak of crimes against persons. There were no statistics that confirm what percentage of the murders was committed by youths. However, the overall crime against persons has remained relatively unchanged since 2006, and we would extrapolate that the number of murder cases would accordingly remain stable. Contrary to the statistics, there was a surge in news reports youth and gang violence in 2010. In the official crime summary for 2010 it was reported that there has been an increase in the number of youths arrested for rioting from 468 persons in 2009 to 531 persons in 2010. However the number of youths arrested for rioting 2010 is still lower from that in 2007 whereby 573 persons were arrested for rioting. Yet in 2010, the responses towards youth and gang violence were more fervent. The public members were organising Citizens-on-Patrol (COP) Programmes (Lim, 2010) and increasing the frequencies of such patrols in the wake of the Bukit Panjang Slashing case. One cannot help but ponder what incites such panic among citizens regarding neighbourhood safety when the statistics seem to show a relatively stable decrease in crime rate. In our essay, we argue that the surge in news reports youth and gang violence attributes to the moral panic of youth slashing in Singapore. 3. Literature Review From a sub-cultural perspective, using Cloward Ohlin(1960) theory of differential access in illegitimate society we could see street corner gangs as a form of conflict subculture, and their senseless violence a product of status frustration. Subcultural theories looked at how crime occur as individuals internalize a set of norms and values that brings them into conflict with the law. As described by Miller (1958) in the focal concerns theory of lower class where he identified trouble, toughness, smartness, excitement, autonomy, fate as concerns deeply embedded in the culture of the lower class. While many studies have attempted to explain street corner gangs and youth violence, there are also many others that looked at the social construction of the crime. Media constructions of crime have been immensely studied in the field. Research on media and crime generally agreed that crime is staple in news and popular programming and that uncommon events tend to be overrepresented (Pizarro, Chermak, Gruenewald, 2007). In studies of gang and youth violence, it is established that particular media portrayals of gangs and youths have shaped the identity of this group and the societys attitude towards them (Dorfman et.al, 1997; Thompson, et. al, 2000). Esbensen Tusinski (2007) discussed medias tendency of stereotyping gangs and their associations with violence and organizational capacity. Where youth violence is concerned, there are also studies particularly on school shootings in US public schools (Frymer, 2009; Waldron, 2002; Muschert, 2007) and knife crime in UK (Squires, 2009; Wood, 2010). The concept of moral panic however goes further to explore the profound influence of media as an instuitution of social control through amplifying deviance. Attention is given to the ideological role of media and the construction of meanings. In Cohens work of mods and rockers this concept is useful in understanding how they were labelled and controlled, as well as explaining how and why the societys reaction was formed. Concept of moral panic can be characterised by a heightened fear over evildoers and the threat they bring to society. It must have a scapegoat and an obeject to be panicked about. This usually brings about a strengthening of social contol apparatus such as stricter regulations. The indicators of moral panic included high concern over the problem, increasing hostility toward the group engaged in the behavior, widespread agreement that the threat is real, disproportionality in the depiction of problems and volalitily (Goode Ben-Yehuda, 1994). Goode Ben-Yehuda (1994) used three theories to explain what brings about the panic. Interest-group theory looks at moral entrepreneurs use media to publicise their concerns their claims taken up by significant section of the media and presented as factual (Jenkins, 1992). Elite-engineered theory see the ruling class as deliberately and conciously creating a moral panic over an issue which they see as not terribly harmful to the society to diver t the public from more serious issues. The third- grassroots theory- presented by Goode Ben-Yehuda (1994) is a bottom-up rather than top-down theory of moral panic. This theory looks at public participation in moral panic, where media then magnify real public fears about crime. There has been increasing application of this concept in studying youth and gang violence (Welch, Price, Yankee, 2002; Bartie, 2010; Killingbeck, 2001), and we believe that this concept is relevant to the current issue we are studying. Yet it would be inadequate to dismiss Singapore slashing case merely as a moral panic. As Squires (2009) argued, Cohen (1972) study of Mods and Rockers did also present how moral entrepreneurs have exploited societys reaction for their own agenda. Henceforth, this paper would like to discuss whether the attention given to local cases could be attributed to moral panic. 4. Case Studies of Youth Slashing in Singapore One of the first incidents, though did receive much attention include one at Pasir Ris on 5th March. The incident was only reported in June where the attackers were prosecuted (tell me if you find another article about this). The other is at Kallang area where a a gang of Sarawakian robbers committed 4 violent thefts, where 1 Indian national was murdered. Below are the high-profile cases: 1) 30th October 2010 at Downtown East 19-year-old Darren Ng Wei Jie died after being assaulted by a group of gang members. The attack started with staring and angry words before he was attacked with choppers and knife. A total of 11 youths were arrested and charged with murder, all of whom were Chinese. The incident was seen as gang-related. Ng was later found out to be a member of one of the gangs. 2) 8th November 2010 at Bukit Panjang 20-year-old Jayasiva Shangar Guru was slashed and stabbed by a group of gang members. The gang also attacked at Jelapang Road, where another six youths were assaulted. In both incidents, the victims were attacked after denying being a member of Pak Hai Tong gang. The attackers were believed to be members of Sah Lak Kau. There were speculations that nights incident was related to a gang fight earlier that day at 6pm where a group of men were chasing after a teenager taunting him to fight back. A total of fifteen men were arrested. Following the two high-profile slashing cases, there were reports of three others. On 18th November at Ang Mo Kio, two youths got into a dispute outside a fast-food outlet, where eventually one of them attacked the other with a knife. On 24th November at Teck Whye, an off-duty auxiliary cop was attacked by 7 street-gang members who deliberately bumped into him. In December at Yishun Ring Road, a 23-year-old man was reported to have been assaulted by 3 youths of age 13, 15 and 18 after a dispute of missing handphone. 5. Societal Response 5.1 Media Attention The series of attacks have triggered a search for explanations on the phenomenon of rising gang violence. Society seeked to explain the nature of fights, whether it is random or due to revenge, and the structure of gangs, now observed as loose associations different from tradition secret societies. Following Downtown East incident, many reports talked about youth gangs- how staring incidents can lead to violent fights, why youths joined these gangs. News reports of ensuing cases tend to remind readers about the significant attack at Downtown East and Bukit Panjang that inadvertently create concerns over gang-related violence in Singapore. There were also follow-up reports to keep public updated on who has been arrested and charged. Reports of being arrested were frequent to remind the society of the strict laws and the consequences of such acts. 40 suspected gang members were arrested in blitz carried out by police officers (Yong, 2010). Although there were no details mentioned, the report came with comments by Minister of Home Affairs, K. Shanmugam, to assure the public tough acts were taken to tackle youth gangs. Comments by public figures like Minister of MCYS also bring public attention to at-risk youths on the importance of increase community initiatives to prevent them from gang associations. Beyond print media, interactive news media seems to play a role in public discourse over the slashing incidents. According to Straits Times on 6th and 4th November 2010, online articles related to the incidents were most read and commented on. News of Bukit Panjang slashing received overwhelming amount of comments from members in ST forum and STOMP and Asiaone News (STOMP: Singapore Seen, 2010;, The Sraits Times Discussion Board, 2011; Asiaone News, 2010). While many comments were neither constructive nor substantial, they do reflect publics concern over gang violence and more importantly, question the safety and security of Singapore society. Again, comments are a way of making sense of the incidences: they were many questions of what is happening in society and the youths and whether there is a come-back of gangs. News and visuals in interactive media allow netizens to fuel speculations and fear over these incidences. 5.2 Legislation: Tackling Gangs In the wake of perceived insecurity at Downtown East, police patrols were stepped up. Zero-tolerance policy was affirmed, as showed in reports where teenagers carrying offensive weapons were arrested and suspected of involvement in gang activities (Straits Times, 2010). In a parliamentary debate, Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam stated that 93 gang members were arrested since end October 2010. He also stated the possibily of giving police additional power to prevent gang formations which include getting youths to observe curfew hours or to attend intervention programmes (Parliament of Singapore, 2011). There was also a suggestion of considering regulating the sale of knives (Parliament of Singapore, 2011). Youth crime was one of the three crime types identified by the police this year (Singapore Police Force, 2011). This is despite a decrease in total number of rioting cases last year. Police efforts of combating youth crime which include working with schools in identifying youths at risk and the StreetWise Programme- that aims to divert youths away from involvement in crime- have been re-emphasized. Such focus can be seen as a way to assure public that something is done to contain the problem of street gangs. It is clear that the series of incidents heightened the fears over youth violence. Before 2010, reports of such slashing incidents were rare.(keywords youth violence and gang violence produced mainly stories from US about American street gangs in Factiva search builder when sources are limited to Straits Times and New Paper.) And because there were little reports, there were little discussions in online forums about gang violence. In list of parliamentary reports from 2006, youth violence only came into attention recently after the incidents. Minister of Home Affairs have emphasised that the crime rates have continually decreased over the years and there is no increase of gang violence lately in Singapore (Parliament of Singapore, 2011). Henceforth, one can conclude that the attention given by the public on slashing and gang violence are a product of a moral panic constructed by the various media portrayals of the incident. 6. The Media Politics of Youth Violence in Singapore Therefore, by concluding that the public concerns on slashing and gang violence are formed as a result of moral panic, we can also conclude that the media plays a pivotal role in the construction of moral panic. The media has universally being respected as one of the major actors of disseminating information over the years. Therefore, the media has been trusted to convey the information to the public, operating as moral entrepreneurs informing the readers the goods and bads of society (Cohen, 1972). This influence has made almost every fact conveyed in the media being perceived as the truth, and when the moral value conveyed in the media intercepts with the societal value that needs to be protected, even the minor happenings in society will generate concerns and instigate fear that some measures should be taken. Thus, the media has used this authority by providing news that instigates fear to the public and arouses concerns about the slashing issue. The frequent follow-ups of the Pasir Ris slashing incident are continuous in nature whereby it tracks down from the initial crime down to the news coverage of the murdered teens funeral and the eventual revelation that he is part of the gang. This surge of news reports are aimed to cause panic and fear of the crimes, and also warns the public about the dangers of gang involvement-as seen from the reports that Darren is part of gang- and the consequences of engaging in such acts. This has instigated fear to the public whereby concerns were directed to the safety of the neighborhood, and parents not allowing their children to return home late at night since the incident happen. The incident in Bukit Panjang has encouraged more residents to take part in the Citizens on Patrol (COP) programme formed by the Zhenghua division in Bukit Panjang, in order to beef up security in the area. (Ismail, 2010) In addition to that, the interest groups, the state as well as the grassroots have used the media as a social control agent to express their concerns towards the conditions of the society. These moral entrepreneurs reach the public through the media such that the news will generate some concerns from the public and get their support in controlling the crime before it goes off-hand. The media amplified the situation by describing the criminals as young, in their teenage years and living in subcultural environment of gang violence (Wong,2010). These facts have amplified the publics response towards the crime when Teen Challenge, a voluntary welfare organization received 20 percent more calls from parents since the slashing cases. The grassroots leaders are working with schools in order to control the issue of gang violence. This is to allow the youths to feel that they are part of the community, and they will feel how important it is to feel accepted by the society. There is therefore, a profound influence of the media as a social control by reporting deviance in a moral provoking manner. 7. Criticism of Moral Panic The moral panic concept has its own criticisms. The problem lies with the proportionality between the cases reported in the media and the reality. The medias role as the medium of disseminating information is regulated by the higher political and commercial forces, The news were received by citizens at second hand which means that is has been manipulated (cohen,1972).Therefore, the citizens panic might not be justified since the reality of the case is not known. The issue reported by the media might not carry the same severity as the reality. As most of the time, the media is amplifying the slashing cases in order to instigate fear and gain concern from the public. However, in actual reality, statistics provided by the home affair ministry have shown that crime cases, which include the case of gang violence, have been decreasing (Parliament of Singapore, 2011). It is only when the citizens panic has reached its point (which means that the government has received enough support and concern from the citizens), will then the reality of the case is revealed and the public will then realize that the case that they have been panicky about was an isolated one. On example of this is the Downtown east incident, whereby Pasir Ris MP Dr Ahmad Magad said that the case is an isolated one, and the neighborhood is peaceful. This was stated after receiving feedbacks from worried parents about the safety of their children and security around the neighborhood has already beefed up by the citizen as well as police patrols (Toh, Tee, 2010). This has shown the proportionality between the case reported on media, and the reality, and the citizens agenda of using the media to exaggerate the case only to gain support and concern from the public. Another point is that the publics reaction towards the issue might not be directly due to panic generated from the media reports, those reaction might be one of the societys concern towards the issue and they would like to help the state take control of the problem before it becomes worse. This is also evident from the states intervention of the matter, describing the re-examining the sentencing options as allowing an early intervention , in order to help the gangs who are yet to commit criminal offences (Ismail,2010). This implies that the situation is not as serious as it seems to be, and the state is only exercising measures to control the spread of youth violence by controlling its growth before it is too late. In addition to that, the media labeling of the criminals highly deviant and depiction of the gangs as a danger to the not only serves as a self-fulfilling prophecy to the deviants and induce them into committing more offences in the future. Thus, the moral panic not only causes the heightened attention by the public, but also exerts the identity to the gangs that they should be feared. They gain their self-defined meaning of success through displaying their masculinities and these hateful reports are only making these gangs to pursue their goals (Mcrobbie, Thornton, 1995). On example is the follow-up of slashing cases since the downtown east incident, one of which is the Bukit Panjang slashing incident involving 6 youths. It was featured in the Straits Times entitled beware the rise of copycat gangs as well as discussion forums such as Stomp and Straits Times, sparking interests that the case in Bukit Panjang might be a sequel of copycat gang-related attacks to the one in Downtown Ea st. This shows that the moral panic caused by the media did not really help to engage the community and help to eradicate the crime but rather helped the criminals in engaging with more acts as labeling them as gangsters will just reassert their identity and make them continue with their criminal behaviors. However, the media is still regarded as the most reliable medium to get current news reports and therefore its credibility rarely goes unchallenged. The frequent follow-ups by the media, portraying the numerous pictures of the crime scene viewable on the television brings these cases close to reality, with the pictures of the victim that could engage the viewers into believing that something needs to be done with these criminals.(Estrada,2001) 8. Conclusion The case of youth slashing incidents in Singapore has illustrated to us how the media induces moral panic in a society. The concept of moral panic further to explore the profound influence of media as an instuitution of social control through amplifying deviance. Attention is given to the ideological role of media and the construction of meanings. This paper also suggests that moral panic is superficially created by incessant reporting of youth slashing incidents rather than a significant spike in crime rates. In other words, this paper argues that rather than an increase in crime rates involving youths, there was an increase in visibility of such criminals act through exposures from mass media.

Proces art Essay -- Essays Papers

Proces art In mid 20th century, the art world completely changed into a new way of expressing ideas. Many artists began to look for different ideas and styles. It started in the 1960s and 1970s, as many artists attempted to free art from the art markets—a system in which works of art become commodities to be bought and sold or held as a financial investment (Lucie-Smith 220). They wanted to create art that would be too short-lived to be sold. To them the beauty of their work is the process of it. This includes the Earthworks artists Robert Smithson, Michael Heizer, Walter De Maria, and Nancy Holt, not only they were interest in the process of making it, also intrigued by how the forces of nature could be incorporated in a work of art. As the technology become more advance; these artists chose to move their work outdoor. Instead of brushes or pencils, â€Å"they used bulldozers and other machinery to move earth into giant sculptural forms†(). They believed that everything on this world is a part of a process. According to philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, every real-life object may be understood as a similarly constructed series of events and processes (Donald, 852). They began to see the importance of forces of nature and the process of their work. Earthworks artists has been developed in many ways, such as the processing idea and social influences, the subject matter, and the style. These artists were influenced by the idea of process, when Whitehead introduces the notion of an actual occasion. According to his view, an actual occasion is not an enduring substance, but a process of becoming (Donald 852). This influenced the thinking of process, and the notion that sometime things falling apart are far more interesting than building it. As we see in Smithson's work Spiral Jetty (1970), which made a giant coil of earth, rock, and salt crystals extending outward from the shore of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. He left it vulnerable to the natural forces of rain, wind, and erosion. To him, time of his work is so important that is one of his most important mediums (Flam XIX). He also mentions the idea of entropy. In nature green plants use light energy from the sun to manufacture carbohydrates for their own needs. Most of this energy is processed and dissipated as heat in respiration. After that it converts the remaining energy to biomass, to both woody... ...ny canyons. You cannot tell the difference of these changes when you look at it, but a stone from there can tell you a lot more, because it show the process. Of course a scientist can tell the changes in a site, but a stones are easier. To us, an abstract way to think about that stone is way deeper than the site. The idea of whole site tends to evaporate. â€Å"The closer you think you're getting to it and the more you circumscribe it† (245). The site is a place where that stone should be but isn't, now the stone is elsewhere, where it cannot evaporate as fast. Now the stone brought back into non-site, where it could be a room. Its regular process will â€Å"take place outside room. But the room reminds us of the limitations of our condition†(245). So, that we understand what process is all about. Work Cited Donald W. Sherburne, "Whitehead, Alfred North", in The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Robert Audi (ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Flam, Jack, ed. Robert Smithson: The Collect Writing, University of California Press, 1996. Traver. Ancient forests, 1998 online. Greenpeace USA. Internet. 19 Sept. 2002. Available: http://greenpeaceusa.com/forests.

Power Relations in Melville’s The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Power Relations in Melville’s The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids In the mid-nineteenth century, the United States heralded the coming of the â€Å"new industrial order.† With the advent of railroads, industrialization went into full swing. Factories and mills appeared and multiplied, and the push for economic progress became the grand narrative of the country. Still, there was a conscious effort to avoid the filth and poverty so prevalent in European factory towns. Specifically, the town of Lowell, Massachusetts, was held up as an exemplary model of industrial utopia. The mill town included beautiful landscaping and dormitories for the women workers. Indeed, it looked much like a university campus (Klein 231). Nevertheless, this idealized vision eventually gave way to the reality of human greed. The female factory workers worked long hours for little pay as their health deteriorated from the hazardous conditions (238). (Specifically, Carson’s Mill in Dalton, Massachusetts, served as the model for Melville’s short stor y [Melville 2437].) In this way, industrialization (and the subsequent desire for economic wealth) became incompatible with democratic principles. Originally, the prevailing consciousness was that industrialization would further democracy and the two would become a complimentary pair. However, the reality was that these societal changes brought economic divisions; the boundaries were drawn more clearly between the privileged class and the working class. Industrialization finally results in the separation of the classes and the subsequent dialectical tension of production and consumption. This dualistic separation is made possible through the machine, the integral element that cements the unequal distribution of power. In his moral diptych, Melville questions industrialization by exploring these class divisions and the power relations within them. Ultimately, he concludes that it results in an exploitative system that thrives on both connection and isolation. Although the two spheres are physically and emotionally separated, they depend on each other for their continuation. Melville’s â€Å"The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids† expertly shows this interrelationship between the owners of the means of production (the bachelors) and the workers (the maids), and how it finally results in the oppression of the workers. The first part of the tale illustrates the paradoxical life of the industrial class; they are gluttonous consumers and yet live out an empty existence. This wealthy class is represented in the form of bachelor lawyers.