Marketing principal Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing principal - Case Study Example The company’s major vision is creating brands that will run the market and achieving maximum profits from the brands (Narayani 1-36). Apple was started in 1976 and has since grown from a small business into one of the most valuable and successful brands in the globe. The brand has managed to plant a perception in its consumers’ minds that it is the very best of the total brands and has, therefore, gained total trust from its consumers (Mirachandani 276-277). The brand has portrayed excellent marketing techniques, and has established an ability to distinguish themselves from other brands. The company has other features such as realizing user friendly and innovative products (Sandoval 98-99). On the market of its products, a certain study revealed that the brand consumers who fall under the categories of high salaries, young ages and techno savvy tend to purchase its products. In the US for instance, about 22 million adults owned an iPod. Several products from apple target consumers who want to listen to music at a go (Mirachandani 276-277). Considering that apple is highly rated, several people desire owning one of its products. This popularity has enhanced sales for the company (Mirachandani 276-277). Apple, however, has some faults in some of its products. The iPod Nano for instance, is said to have a faulty screen that breaks easily. Issues such as poor battery life and software issues also portray weaknesses from the company in its brands (Mirachandani 276-277). The continuous release of music products is continuously generating high revenues for the company, putting it at par with the music industry (Jennings 402). This creates pressure on the company on what decision to take on the music industry. The company also stand gaining many market opportunities. ITunes for instance, is used to download legal songs (Jennings 402). If apple makes all cell phones and MP3 players

Coming to America, Scarface, and Borat Essay Example for Free

Coming to America, Scarface, and Borat Essay Motion pictures due to its nature, creates somehow a subliminal effect on its viewers. Certain dialogue and inherent acting can leave an impression to anyone who may watch it. These impressions have a large probability that what people see on screen could actually be real. Filmmakers on the other hand, know this effect on its viewers and create movies based on their own intention. For some filmmakers the purpose could be is to simply entertain, for others to educate. But even with this purpose in mind, some films made even though most likely unintentional, can cause a variety of reactions depending on the viewers perspective and comprehension of a specific film. A lot of these kinds of reactions may come from a twisting plot or a thought provoking characterization of its actors. The latter proves to have more reactions generated due to its social relevance, the characterization in films by the minorities of society. Since the inception of including minorities in film, a lot of criticisms were raised due to what others may deem offensive for the part of how the minorities are at times being falsely stereotyped and while others will consider it socially acceptable when analyzing it in a larger context (Sienkiewicz Marx, 2009). The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze three films namely Scarface, Coming to America, and Borat. The study will discuss the roles portrayed by the lead actors in which they are also considered as part of the social minorities. This paper will break down the stereotypes or negative images in which the film may convey and how does these films contribute to oppression of one group or another. Data Analysis Coming to America In this film, Eddie Murphy plays the role of Prince Akeem a soon to be King of his wealthy country Zamunda. The plot revolves around Prince Akeem’s motivation to find his bride, since the type of wives being offered to him by the current king his Father, seems to be like Prince Akeem’s soon to be slaves, due to their nature to obey and please whatever the Prince will desire. That part alone shows the characters of women, (in this movie majority of the women are black) especially growing out from poverty will do anything just to get married to a Prince. Although women here is not considered minority but the negative image conveyed by the film of their characters, except for the main lady Lisa McDowell (in which Prince Akeem soon married due to her distinct quality), are basically like Gold diggers and will do absolutely anything just to get rich. Another incident, in which the film portrays and intentionally to be funny, was when Akeem and his cousin went to America to find the bride of his dreams, they encountered deceit and theft mainly from black people living in the impoverished area of Queens New York. Criticisms here depends on the type of viewer perception, some may react that not all Black people are like that, and they might even add that they just did those crimes due to poverty, but others will just look at it as unintentional and as a way to create a joke, but based on a study social and political themes the proportion of blacks who resort to violence has risen substantially over the last decade (Powers, Rothman Rothman, 1996, p. 179). Also a scene worth noting, was when it showed the future Father in-law of Akeem, Cleo McDowell (played by John Amos) running his business, which have almost the perfect resemblance of McDonalds due to its signature usage of the Golden Arches, in which he calls the McDowell’s. This scene portrays another character of the black people engaged in playful deceit for the purpose of comedy, although ugh the scene naturally funny but again may create a message that in general black people are simply like that. Even on the way Cleo treats his daughter on finding the right man, he always preferred a wealthy young man to be his future son in law, thus Akeem here for his purpose to be loved by the way he is and not for money he assumed the role of a poor man, in which his Cleo totally disliked and preferred the more well off son of a rich family Daryl. Deceit lies and the motivation for money seems to be the underlying themes of this movie, although created as a comedy to somehow cover these types of elements, it was really shown clearly when the stereotyping ended on the scene when Akeem’s father the King went to New York to find his son and stop the potential marriage of him and Lisa, offered a significant amount of money to Cleo for his troubles, Cleo then stood up for his hidden principles and reacted as if it was an insult to treat her daughter like that. This could a positive affirmation and probably the filmmakers created this scene for viewers not to generalize and jump into conclusions on the nature of the black people in this film. Scarface On the movie Scarface, Al Pacino plays the role of a Cuban refugee named Tony Montana. As an immigrant Tony was depicted as a very strong character incapable of fear especially driven by his goal of making it big on a different country like America. This characterization of Al Pacino explains the American immigrant experience suggesting that crime which is the centerpiece of which is drugs cannot be disconnected from the American Dream (Sharret, 2001). After him and his best friend Manolo (played by Steven Bauer) went out the refugee camp after a tumultuous rebellion, they found themselves on having a job as dishwashers. This shows that in America most of the jobs for immigrants with little education end up as blue collared workers doing hard work and long hours. This kind of work only made Tony feels that it was nothing different from back home in which he tried anything possible to get away of the communism grip. He decided to results into what he feels he can do best. Violence and drug dealing, this has made the movie somehow more dangerous in respect to all immigrants trying to live an honest hardworking life in America, as viewers may perceive that this is the way immigrants are, due to their background on either poverty or a tough government from their own countries. Thus stereotyping again may exists, however this film offered much more than just the immigrant experience, from that foundation it went to describe the both the horrific image of drugs in the contemporary world and the violence and corruption attached to it (same as Sharret, 2001). It was not long when Tony Montana thought he had achieved the American Dream, he killed his former boss, took away his business and his wife and even his own bodyguard to work for him. This happened as portrayed, that tension occurs when minorities (like Tony the immigrant from Cuba) and his White boss tried; but failed to resolve issues and misunderstandings (Powers, Rothman Rothman, 1996, p. 180). Tony knows he cannot do it alone without the help of corrupt bureaucrats who actually assist drug traffic as part of the realpolitik of post-war foreign policy (same as Sharret, 2001). Those scenes have a tremendous negative effect on not only to the violence by an immigrant but on his ability to utilize the system of the society in America that seems to support the idea of competition and acquisition as hallmarks of success and accomplishment (same as Sharret, 2001). There was what it seems as turning point in the film, in which Tony, His Wife Elvira (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) and Manolo went to a fine dining restaurant. In this particular scene Tony now considered rich and powerful, went beyond as he insulted his wife for being a drug addict, and made a scene with the whole considered to be the elite class of the society. The film conveys the message that this kind of society only knows where to point fingers when it comes to trouble and it a lot of times it goes to the immigrants whom they perceived are the bad guys and specializes on dealing drugs and partaking in violence. This explains that those other diners may have no idea what an immigrant experience could be and possibly do not care except if it affects them directly, in this particular scene it did. A lot of people considered Scarface as an epic gangster film, due to its themes of the capitalist lifestyle (in contrast to communism) violence and effects of drugs. Borat Borat is a film, that is supposed to comedic in nature, turned out as a heavy racist context, full of offensive themes for both the Kazakhstan people and the Americans as well according to its critics. But is it really? again depending on the type of viewers’ point of view. The film portrayed the country of Kazakhstan as a medieval society in which rape and incest are cheerfully accepted, and sometimes combined, some audiences knows that this kind of joke is not on the country itself, but on the western perception that foreign cultures are backward (Ryan, 2006). The ploy is centered on the character Borat Sagdiyev, (played by Sacha Baron Cohen) Kazakhstans second-best reporter, going to America to analyze the attitude and nature of the American people. In his travel accompanied by his producer Azamat Bagatov (played by Ken Davitian), Borat tries to learn the American sense of humor by interviewing an American coach, this scene conveys that the joke in which adding the word and exclamation Not! At the end of every sentence is proudly of American Origin ( same as Ryan, 2006). The other particular scene in which Borat interviewed the Veteran Feminists of America, can be considered nothing more sophisticated than a prank at the expense of those who dont know what the joke is, or even that there is a joke (same as Ryan, 2006). But this scene in particular portrayed the seriousness of the Veteran Feminists which either way doesn’t want to be stereotyped as Borat would prefer. This somewhat immigrant experience of Borat has also led him to his infatuation to television personality Pamela Anderson. Borat then meet with a group of drunken friends ( which this scene is not scripted) and these guy showed Borat a videotape of Pamela Anderson having sex with his then boyfriend Tommy Lee, having seen this Borat feels very depressed, since in his country the belief of virginity is very important, and before he have seen the video he thought that Pamela is still a virgin, this again portrays that Kazakhstan people are primitive as well as naive. The guys who showed Borat the video claimed (since this was an actual shot) that they are unfairly represented in the film as sexist louts because of their drunken state, but during that scene their celebratory screening of the tape reveals their sexism indisputably (Metz, 2007). There a lot of scenes in the film in which can be easily concluded as racist tags or false stereotyping, but as some of the scenes which are shot are not scripted like, the scene discussed earlier, explains some of the actual nature of the Americans on how they sometimes treat an immigrant especially if they don’t have any background of a specific immigrant. The immigrant experience here shows that people in whom he interacts can be well perceived as if they are trying to understand the minority, but at the same time holding their ground if they see something is not just normal by their standards. Conclusion The influence of film on audience perception can really be significant. Especially when dealing with the social order of the society. In this study we analyzed three films on which the corresponding focal point is the immigrant experience by the main characters. They all seemed reacting on what the new society already has in place for them. For us viewers, we see these types of minorities and a lot of times we simply cannot enjoy a film as it is, due to the disturbance of the negative messages of violence, offensive jokes, racism, drugs, sexism and lot of subliminal messages the film itself conveys to us. The problem with this is clear from this study, that it indeed has an effect that can possibly create oppression for a particular group, and in this case the immigrant minorities of our society. Reference List Charles, L. (2006). Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. United States:Four by Two. De Palma, B. (1983). Scarface. United States:Universal Pictures Landis, J. (1988). Coming to America. United States:Eddie Murphy Productions Metz, W. (2007) Shark Porn: Film Genre, Reception Studies, and Chris Kentis Open Water. Film Criticism 31. 1 Powers, S. , Rothman, D. , and Rothman, S. (1996). Hollywoods America: Social and Political Themes in Motion Pictures. Boulder. CO: Westview Press. Sharrett, C. (2001). Cinematic Drug Wars. USA Today, Society for the Advancement of Education. Sienkiewicz, M. Marx, N. (2009). Beyond a Cutout World: Ethnic Humor and Discursive Integration in South Park. Journal of film and video 61. 2 Ryan, G (2006). Thongs of Freedom: The Kazakh Ace Reporter Uncovers Uncomfortable Truths about the US. New Statesman

Measuring Customer Service at American Express :: essays research papers

Measuring Customer Satisfaction at American Express   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  American Express is a world wide travel related service company. American Express works with both consumers and business with their financial planning as well as offers numerous amounts of credit card products and travel assistance. They have many products and services that are used throughout the world by consumers and businesses. As American Express moves towards the future, like most credit card companies, they want to be competitive and responsive to the needs of the consumer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  American Express sends out customer service surveys to the card members that call in to the telephone service center. The surveys are sent out randomly with a coding on the bottom of the survey so that the results and comments are given back to the correct employee. The employees are aware that any card member that they speak to could receive a survey. With this said, each employee goes through extensive training on the telephone behaviors that must be demonstrated while speaking to card members. The employees also go through extensive training on the policies and procedures that each card product and service has. This training is to ensure that each card member is handled with the most utmost professional behavior and their issues are handled correctly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once the surveys are returned to the company, they are returned to the Customer Satisfaction Action Team. This team reviews the surveys, separates them by employee and then by the results.. The results are separated by â€Å"Excellent† and â€Å"Very Good† and then â€Å"Fair† and â€Å"Poor† marks. The card members that score a â€Å"Fair† or â€Å"Poor† mark on the survey is called back by one of the team members and the issue is discussed further to find out why the survey was marked that way. The comments that the card members make on the surveys are returned to the employee’s team leaders. The team leader gives the feedback to the employee and discusses with them their best practices or opportunities that need to be worked on.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This tool is an excellent way to get in touch with our card members and to see how they feel the company is doing and what they feel is going right and what needs to be worked on. By doing this the company can take this information and better the customer satisfaction by either up training of employees are reviewing and possibly changing the policies or procedures.

ETHICS AND THE COLLEGE STUDENT Essay

What is ethics? Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines ethics as morals or principles that Govern a person’s or a group’s behaviors or the branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles. In college students face many ethical dilemmas. This paper will explain the factors that affect a student’s ethical decision making as well as the ethical decision making process. The socialization process is a major influencing factor in our ethical decision making. While we are children, we absorb behaviors and develop our morals and values. Our family is the biggest influence in developing our morals. For instance, proper use of grammar, the importance of education, and strong work ethic are all values that family members help us to develop. Negative influences such as alcohol and drug abuse, poverty, and physical abuse can also shape our behaviors and attitudes. Peer pressure is also an important factor college students face when making ethical choices. In a study done by UCLA, 52% of students said that peer pressure affected ethical choices they made (Yeung and Keup 2009). In addition, the same survey showed how students’ perceptions of peer beliefs and behaviors were the best predictors of their own ethical behavior. Under age drinking, illegal drug use, and casual sex are some dilemmas that students must make choices about when they are attending college. In a review by Harris (1916), he states that underage age drinking had all but disappeared and drug use was unheard of in the early 1900s. But in a survey  taken by UCLA students in 2009 78% of students under the age of 21 admitted to drinking alcohol and 57% of all students admitted to using some type of illegal drug at least once (Yeung and Keup, 2009). In addition these students admitted that peer  pressure was a major determining factor. This information shows that over the last decade underage drinking and drug use has increased amongst college students or they priorities have changed.   Stress also causes students to make unethical decisions. In another study done by UCLA 82% of students would â€Å"consider† plagiarizing, cheating on a test, or lying to a professor when in a stressful situation like finals, mid-terms, or whe n facing academic probation (Yeung and Keup 2009). Social media also plays an important role in college students’ ethical decision making. In the book, â€Å"Philosophy for the Masses: Ethics†, Bruce D. Bruce writes that advertising and media can deceptive and persuasive (Bruce 2009 p.200). Bruce goes on to say that sometimes the media blurs the distinct line between right and wrong and our youth/young adults are most often the ones that have difficulty seeing that line clearly (Bruce 2009 p.200). As stated previously, plagiarism is major dilemma that plagues college students. Stress, peer pressure, and social media are all factors that affect students when deciding whether or not to plagiarize. Young and Keup (2009) noticed that even though many college students thought about plagiarizing when stressed, they felt it was morally wrong. They also discovered that students would rather steal food from the dining facility or even present fake identification to enter a club rather that plagiarize. Most of the students in their study felt condemned or even guilty just thinking about the fact. Time management and the Ethical PEAS will aid students when facing ethical the ethical decision making process (Frame Work of Ethical Decision Making, para 2-3). Students should set aside time for homework, study time, and extracurricular activities. Structure makes it easier  to get things accomplished without the feeling of being rushed. Setting aside study time will give students adequate time to research so they will not feel the need to plagiarize; they will be prepared. Students should also use the Ethical PEAS (Frame Work of Ethical Decision Making, para 2-3). As described in the â€Å"Framework for Ethical Decision-Making† by Montana State University, PEAS is an acronym used when executing the ethical decision making process: P – What is the Problem? E – What is the Evidence? A – Analyze; What guidelines or theories will help me in my process? S – What is the Solution to my problem? Some theories a student can use are (Frame Work of Ethical Decision Making, para 4): The Front Page Newspaper Test Would you be comfortable if your actions were revealed on the front page of the paper? End/Means Test Does and ethical goal (end) justify the way you get to that goal (means)? The Golden Rule Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Utilitarianism What act or rule results in the greatest good for the greatest number? Professional Standards of Conduct Follow the rules, regulations, and codes set before you. In summary, college students must make ethical decisions daily. Stress, peer pressure, drugs and alcohol, the socialization process, and a person’s morals and values all play a part in this process. If students exercise the  ethical decision making process it will make this process much easier. Ethical dilemmas will never go away. So, we must understand ourselves, how a far we are willing to go, and always try to do the right thing. References Bruce, B.D. (2013). Philosophy for the Masses: Ethics. Available from https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/374071. Harris, G. (1916). Ethics of a College Student. The Harvard Theological Review, 9, (2), 190-200. Yeung, P.F., & Keup, J.R. (2009). Ethical Decision Making in College: Choosing Between Right, Wrong, and the Space Between. Retrieved from http://cshe.berkeley.edu/. Montana State University. (2013). Frame Work for Ethical Decision-Making. Retrieved from http://montana.edu/teachlearn/TLResources/docuements.

Water and Acetic Acid

Do the following problems in your lab notebook. Be sure to specify the knowns & unknowns, the formulas used, show your work with labeled units and round you’re answers to the appropriate significant figures. 15-1 Molarity Problems: (M = moles/ liter ) 1. What is the molar concentration of a 415 ml solution containing 0. 745 moles of HCl? (A: 1. 80 M HCl) 2. What is the molar concentration of an acetic acid (CH3COOH) solution containing 3. 21 moles in 4. 50 liters? (A: 0. 713 M) 3. How many moles of KI are present in 125 ml of 0. 500 M KI? (A: 0. 0625 mol KI) 4. How many moles of ammonia (NH3) are present in . 360 L of 2. 3 M NH3 solution in water? (A: 0. 767 mol NH3) 5. How many liters of water are required to prepare a solution of 7. 25 M MgCl2 from 4. 89 moles of MgCl2? (A: 0. 674 L) 6. What is the molarity of a solution prepared by adding 58. 5 g of NaCl to 230 ml of H2O?(A: 4. 3 M NaCl) 7. What is the molarity of a KNO3 solution prepared by adding 151. 5g of KNO3 to 300ml of H2O? (A: 5. 00 M KNO3) 8. How many grams of NaOH are required to prepare 2. 0 liters of 2. 5 M NaOH solution in water? (A: 200g NaOH) 9. What is the molarity of a soltuion prepared by dissolving 5. 68 g of NaOH in enough water to make 400. ml of solution? (A: 0. 55M) 10. If a 2. 34 g sample of dry ice, CO2, is dropped into a sealed 500 ml bottle of orange cool aid, and the CO2 gas released dissolves virtually completely in the cool-aid, what is the approximate concentration of CO2 in the now carbonated cool aid? (A: 0. 1 M) 11. How many grams of HCl are required to prepare 250 ml of a 0. 158M solution? (A: 1. 5g) 12. Vinegar is a solution of acetic acid. What is the molarity of the solution produced when 125g of acetic acid (C2H4O2) is dissolved in sufficient water to prepare 1. 50 L of solution? (A: 1. 39M)13. How many grams of bromine, Br2, are needed to prepare 0. 500 L of a 0. 100M solution in water? (A: 0. 799g) Lab Prep: Calculate the number of grams of Ni(NO3)2*6H2O requir ed to mix up 50. 0 ml of 0. 40 M. (Hint: The gram formula mass of Ni(NO3)2*6H2O is ) 15-2 Dilution Problems: M1V1 = M2V2, V2 is the TOTAL volume after dilution) 1. What is the molarity of the new solution when 500 ml of H20 are added to 500 ml of 1. 0M HNO3? (A: 0. 5 M HNO3) 2. What is the molarity of the new solution when 200 ml of 10. 5M HCl is diluted with water to a total of 1 liter? (A: 2. 1 M HCl) 3. If you want to mix up a total volume of 2. 0 L of 3. 5 M NaCl, what volume of 5. 0 M NaCl should you start with? A: 1. 4 L)4. A 52ml of sodium cyanide poison leaked from a bottle into a bucket of water that originally contained 427 ml of water. The concentration of poison in the bucket was found to be 0. 85 M after the leak. What must be the concentration of the poison in the leaky bottle? (A: 7. 8M) 5. How much water will one need to add to dilute 100 ml of 10 % SDS to 1 % SDS? (A: 900 ml H2O) 6. If you dilute 25 ml of 4. 0 % CaCl2 to a total of 100ml what is the final concentrat ion? (A: 1. 0 % CaCl2)Lab Prep: Calculate the volume of 0. 40 M Ni(NO3)2 needed to prepare 10. 0 ml of each of the following diluted solutions: . 0. 080 M b. 0. 16 M c. 0. 24 Md. 0. 32 M 15-3 % Concentration (% = g/100ml) 1. Mr. Harry's new baby is sick and not nursing well. The doctor suggests pedialyte which is a dilute sugar solution along with vitamin C. If there are 25 grams of dextrose in every 1. 0 L, what is the percent concentration? (A: 2. 5%) 2. Infant Tylenol contains 80 mg of acetominophen for every 0. 8 ml. What is its percent concentration? (A: 10%) 3. Vinegar is sold at the grocery store with a concentration of 5. 0 % acetic acid. How many grams of acetic acid are in every fluid ounce? (Hint: ml –> fl. oz? ) (A: 1. 5 g) 4.Robitussin cough medicine contains the following ingredients per teaspoonful (5 ml): 100 mg guaifenesin and 10 mg dextromethorphan hydrobromide. What is the percentage concentration for each ingredient? (A: 2 % guaifenesin, . 2 % dex †¦. . ) 15-4 Parts Per Million (PPM = mg/L) 1. LD50 is a designation for the level of dosage required to kill 50% of the test subjects – usually lab rats. If it takes only . 063 grams of arsenic in a 1. 0 liter volume to kill 50 % of a sample of test rats, what is the LD50 for arsenic in parts per million? (A: 63 ppm) 2. A water purifier claims that it removes 95% of the lead ions from your drinking water.If your water normally carries . 125 grams per liter of lead, what would be the concentration in ppm found in a glass of water you might drink from? (A: 6. 2 ppm) 3. If an adrenaline rush can be experienced when your blood contains only 5. 4 ppm of the hormone, what total mass of adrenaline is required in the blood of a person who has 6. 5 liters of blood total for the hormone to kick in? (A: 35. 1 mg) 4. A tanker of mercury (I) chloride, HgCl, carrying 150 tons crashes off the Washington coast. What total volume of sea water must the cargo mix with to dilute it down below the t hreshold of 4 ppm? (A: 3. 4 x 1010 L)

Creating an Information Technology System for Chin Bookmakers Essay Example

Creating an Information Technology System for Chin Bookmakers Essay Example Creating an Information Technology System for Chin Bookmakers Essay Creating an Information Technology System for Chin Bookmakers Essay Chin Bookmakers is a small independent bookmakers situated on Eden Hill Road in Peterlee. They currently have a small manual credit account for giving credit, on bets, to customers. At present Chin Bookmakers have approximately thirty customers to whom they give credit. They would like to extend the number of customers they presently give credit to but the system they use is time consuming and prone to error. At present amount of credit given to customers has to be checked manually by employees. This means checking backlogs to ensure previous credit has been repaid. The bookmakers would like a computerised system that will allow them to check customers credit allowance quickly and ensure that the information is correct and kept up to date. Also they would like the system to produce charts and graphs to give an overview of credit given and credit repaid on a monthly basis. The Current System An employee of Chin Bookmakers was interviewed to ascertain the exact procedure for entering logs into the credit book. The following was recorded. The customer places a bet in the usual way and asks for the bet to put on his credit account. The customer must then produce a Credit Account Card, which has printed on their name, date of birth, and an account number given by the bookmakers. It has also a small photograph of the customer and signature. The employee must then check last bet placed, on credit, in the credit accounts book. If the customer has adequate credit left on his/her account the entry is logged and the amount they owe is then updated. They then receive their normal betting slip along side credits receipt. If the customer wishes to repay credit they simply produce their Credit Account Card with payment and the amount owed will be again updated. All credit given by the bookmakers must be repaid within 30 days of the bet being placed. Failure to do so will result in the customers credit being stopped and normally placed bets will also be stopped until credit has been repaid. Once all of the customers outstanding credit has been fully repaid the customers credit rating will be restored. Source Document 1: Invoice Objectives of the New System The owner, Mr Chin, would like the new system to perform the following functions: * Allow data from the customer (Credit Account Number, bet placed and value) to be recorded quickly and accurately. * Calculate amount owed by the customer automatically. * Check credit status of the customer before the bet is placed. * Produce monthly charts and summaries over the past year. * New users must easily grasp the system. Data Flow Diagram (Level 1) Current System Performance Indicators The following performance indicators are to be used: 1. The new system should enter new credit accounts quickly and efficiently. 2. It should take no longer than 60 seconds to enter each bet on credit. 3. Customers account status should be validated automatically. 4. Customers account balance should be updated automatically, accordingly. 5. Credit receipts should be printed out automatically after each bet has been confirmed. 6. It must be impossible to accidentally erase formula, headings, etc. 7. The system must easy to grasp for new employees. Hardware and Software Chin Bookmakers has a Pentium 333MHz PC with 32Mb of RAM and 3 GB hard disk. It currently has Windows 98 and Office 97 installed on this machine. A laser printer is used for receipts and hard copies. Development of the new system will be carried out mainly at a college network and partly on a standalone home PC similar to the one above. All files will need to fit on a 31/2 floppy disk for easy transportation between college and home. (They may need to be compressed). The college network stations are 600MHz Pentium PCs with 124Mb of RAM attached to a laser printer. There are user areas on hard disk, so students have the option of saving here or on to floppy disk. Users Skill Level Users of the system will include Mr Chin, the owner, and his three employees who receive the bets. Mr Chin is computer literate but may need to be shown how to use the new system. The employees of Chin Bookmakers already use excel to process the current cash in hand bets and should have no problem adjusting to the new system. Design Choice of Software This system will be implemented using Excel 97. This package is ideal as it includes many features which can be used in customising the application, such as: * Sophisticated report facilities with the ability to format text, set margins and page layout, import a company logo if desired and preview before printing. * Ability to protect worksheets and workbooks so that the user cannot accidentally destroy formulae or headings. * Formatting to help make it clear to the user where to enter data. * Macros to perform various automated functions. * Customised menus and toolbars. * Auditing tools to ensure that there are no errors in the workbook. Worksheet Design System Overview The system will be based around one workbook containing a database of customers with credit, one worksheet for adding new customers and a worksheet each for taking out and paying back credit into their accounts. The system will also automatically tell the user if the customer in question has adequate credit in his/her account, if not the user will be prompted with an error message. A level 2 data flow diagram of the system is shown below Detailed Design The Credit Book workbook. This will be the only workbook and will contain; * Menu * Customer Database * place bet and paying in sheets. Sheet1 Menu This sheet will act as the front end and will be selected automatically using an Autoexec macro when the workbook is loaded. It will have 5 options as follows. CHIN BOOKMAKERS Ltd Sheet2 Customer Database This is where all the customers will be kept on the system. It will include details about the customers and will laid out as follows. Information here will automatically be updated by other sheets in the work book. All cells will be protected to ensure information is not tampered with or so that cells and formulae are not accidentally erased.The sheet will be protected by a password known only to authorised employees. Sheet3 Place Bet This sheet is required to debit a customers account. The customers account no. is placed in the space provided and their details are automatically displayed. All cells are locked apart from the account no. section and bet amount section which are the only cells from which data is inputted. There is one command button: 1. Clear Form This will clear the form ready for the next ( Macro Clear Form) Sheet4 Credit Account This sheet will be used to pay cash into a customers account after they have ran out of credit or wish to top up their account. Again the customers account no. is entered and details are brought up from the customer table. All cells are locked apart from account no. and amount paying in. There are two command buttons: 1. Clear Form This will clear the form ready for the next ( Macro Clear Form) Macros The following macros will be used: Add New Customer Select Credit Book worksheet Unprotect Credit Book sheet Find END OF TABLE Insert a new line above END OF TABLE Select first cell above END OF TABLE Display customer name box Display customer d.o.b. box Display customer address box Display customer telephone box Display customer credit limit box Copy formula from cell H9 Find END OF TABLE Move 1 row up, six cells across and paste formula Copy formula from cell I9 Find END OF TABLE Move 1 row up, seven cells across and paste formula Find END OF TABLE Move up 1 row, add 1 to value already in cell Protect Credit Book sheet Unprotect sheet Unprotect active worksheet Protect sheet Protect active worksheet Clear Form Select cell G10 and clear contents Select cell G22 and clear contents Select cell G10Go to main menu Go To Place credit bet Select place credit bet worksheet Go to Paying in Select Paying In Worksheet Go to Credit book Go to Credit book worksheet Security All worksheets will be protected to prevent accidental alterations. However only the Credit Book will have a password attached as data should never be directly changed into the Credit Book. Other sheets will be easily unprotected. Test Strategy The Test Strategy will include: Unit testing to test each macro under different circumstances Systematically testing all menu buttons and functions Testing the effects of entering invalid and extreme data Mock entry of customer being added and placing bet End-User testing to establish whether system meets End-Users requirements Test Plan The following tests will be performed 1. Open program and test that main menu pops up first 2. Add a new customer into the Credit Book and ensure that formulas are correctly copied and that account numbers are automatically generated 3. Test go back to main menu button from credit book 4. Test placing a bet with the new customer and check bet has been added to the total amount owing 5. Test customer making payment and make sure amount owing has been subtracted correctly 6. Test exit button Test Data and Expected Outcomes Test 1 No test data Expect main menu to appear. Test 2 Michael Charlton, 08-2-84, 25 Pickard Close, Peterlee, SR8 5LZ, 0191 5862456, à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½200.00 Expect above data to be recorded into appropriate columns. Test 3 No test data Expect main menu to appear. Test 4 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½50.00 Expect customers amount owing to change to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½50.00 and customers credit left to change to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½150.00. Test 5 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½25.00 Expect customers amount owing to change to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½25.00 and customers credit left to change to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½175.00. Test 6 No test data Expect program to exit. Schedule of Activities Week Task Home/College Comment Find out users current system and establish requirements by interview, establish user skills, software and hardware. Home Analyses write up. College Design workbooks and data flow diagram. College Create menu and worksheet (for entering invoices not macros) prototype and show user. Home Continue writing up design section, including front-end menu, test plan, validation of data and macros. Home and College Implement the system. Home Test system; attempt installing on users PC. Home Get user to try out system to get feedback make, final modifications. College Write up technical manuals for user. Home Write Evaluation, finish all documentation, but a folder and hand in. College Implementation and Testing Commentary on Implementation Choice of project Mr Chin (the owner of Chin BookMakers) Suggested that they need a new system to keep track of credit bets and record customers details accurately. Since Mr Chin owned a computer in store I offered to devise a new system for him. I explained that it was for my AS Level project and he agreed to let me construct the new system. The project seemed adequate and should be completed within the allotted time. Initial Design Decisions My first decision was to create a large customer database to hold 100 customers. I asked Mr Chin about this and he said he wasnt sure how many customers he was planning to give credit to. I then decided to use an end of table line to add new rows as they were needed. I also decided to create an add new customer worksheet but thought it more convenient to scrap this and create a macro with the command button situated in the credit book work sheet. Final Design My final design is as shown in the design section, The adding of new customers is very simple with pop up boxes asking for all the information needed. It is a step by step process and any new user should be able to use it. Commentary on Testing Test 3 Test 4 Test 5 Test 6 Program successfully exited. Evaluation Looking back at the objectives and performance indicators the following have been achieved: 1. Trials showed that it took the user about 30 seconds to enter each new customer well within the 60 seconds allocated. 2. User Manual Introduction Installation Backups Adding a customer Placing a bet Paying in Exiting the Application Technical Manual Installing the System Macros 4 20 Michael Charlton

Free Essays on Cat On A Hot Tin Roof - Mendacity

Discuss the roles of â€Å"mendacity† or various characters’ crutches in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Lies and Mendacity run rampant in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. They help keep the play going and keep it interesting. The play shows us the lies that people tell themselves and other instead of the truth that is hard to accept but must be said. The entire family is involved with lies to Big Daddy and Big Momma, as are the doctors. They tell them that Big Daddy does not have cancer, but only a spastic colon. Brick lies to himself about his feelings for Skipper until Big Daddy forces him to face it. He then understands that he is upset about the way his clean friendship has been misinterpreted. Gooper and Mae pretend to be loving and doting children, when in fact all they want is money and land. Big Mama lies to herself, think all the cruel things Big Daddy says are just jokes. She also lies to herself by thinking that a child from Maggie and Brick would turn Brick into a non-drinking, family man qualified to take over the family place. Big Daddy is even wrapped up in the mendacity. He admits to Brick that he is tired of letting all the lies. He has lied for years about his feelings for his wife, his son Gooper and his daughter-in-law Mae, he says he loves them, when in fact he can’t stand any of them. Maggie, who seem s to tell close to the truth the entire play, breaks down and lies about her pregnancy. Sometimes the lies are not even lies; they are just seen to be that. Big Daddy thinks that Big Momma is scheming to take over the place, when in fact she really does love him. He only sees this as a lie because of his feelings toward her. Brick seems to feel them same way about Maggie, and is surprised in the end when Maggie declares her love for him. Big Daddy and Brick are perhaps the only two that do not lie to each other. During their heart-to-heart Big Daddy says, â€Å"then there is at least two people that never lied to each ot... Free Essays on Cat On A Hot Tin Roof - Mendacity Free Essays on Cat On A Hot Tin Roof - Mendacity Discuss the roles of â€Å"mendacity† or various characters’ crutches in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Lies and Mendacity run rampant in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. They help keep the play going and keep it interesting. The play shows us the lies that people tell themselves and other instead of the truth that is hard to accept but must be said. The entire family is involved with lies to Big Daddy and Big Momma, as are the doctors. They tell them that Big Daddy does not have cancer, but only a spastic colon. Brick lies to himself about his feelings for Skipper until Big Daddy forces him to face it. He then understands that he is upset about the way his clean friendship has been misinterpreted. Gooper and Mae pretend to be loving and doting children, when in fact all they want is money and land. Big Mama lies to herself, think all the cruel things Big Daddy says are just jokes. She also lies to herself by thinking that a child from Maggie and Brick would turn Brick into a non-drinking, family man qualified to take over the family place. Big Daddy is even wrapped up in the mendacity. He admits to Brick that he is tired of letting all the lies. He has lied for years about his feelings for his wife, his son Gooper and his daughter-in-law Mae, he says he loves them, when in fact he can’t stand any of them. Maggie, who seem s to tell close to the truth the entire play, breaks down and lies about her pregnancy. Sometimes the lies are not even lies; they are just seen to be that. Big Daddy thinks that Big Momma is scheming to take over the place, when in fact she really does love him. He only sees this as a lie because of his feelings toward her. Brick seems to feel them same way about Maggie, and is surprised in the end when Maggie declares her love for him. Big Daddy and Brick are perhaps the only two that do not lie to each other. During their heart-to-heart Big Daddy says, â€Å"then there is at least two people that never lied to each ot...

3 Types of Faulty In-Line Lists

3 Types of Faulty In-Line Lists 3 Types of Faulty In-Line Lists 3 Types of Faulty In-Line Lists By Mark Nichol This post includes three examples of how sentences can go wrong because the writer has failed to support the sentence structure with the proper syntactical arrangement of words and phrases in relation to each other. Discussion after each example explains the problem, and one or more revisions demonstrate solutions. 1. The training materials should be communicated in a way  that is clear, appropriate for the users, and highlights  the key benefits of the change. This type of sentence is flawed in that the writer mistakenly assumes that a verb serves more than one list item, and therefore leaves one or more items bereft of support. Here, â€Å"appropriate for the users† requires its own verb (â€Å"is appropriate for the users†) to complement â€Å"is clear,† and the phrase beginning with highlights must be attached by a conjunction to, rather than separated with a comma from, the sentence element with which it shares a verb (with the insertion of a corresponding preposition for the first element and a complementary pronoun for the final one): â€Å"The training materials should be communicated in a way  that is clear to and appropriate for the users and that highlights  the key benefits of the change.† 2. Operational risk incidents can result in significant losses to the company, the industry, and, ultimately, to investors. This sentence has an error similar to that of the previous example, but in this case, a preposition, rather than a verb, is expected to handle a syntactical burden it is not qualified to carry- â€Å"the industry,† just like â€Å"the company† and investors, must have its own preposition: â€Å"Operational risk incidents can result in significant losses to the company, to the industry, and, ultimately, to investors.† (Alternatively, all three elements can share the first instance of the preposition: â€Å"Operational risk incidents can result in significant losses to the company, the industry, and, ultimately, investors.†) 3. Traditional financial institutions have significantly enhanced their risk and compliance programs by increasing resources, clarifying roles and responsibilities, upgrading their governance frameworks, as well as maintaining higher levels of capital. Here, a list is treated as if it consists of four items, but as constructed, the sentence has three items followed by a related item set off by the phrase â€Å"as well as†; because the last item is not part of the list, the item that does finish the list must be preceded by a conjunction: â€Å"Traditional financial institutions have significantly enhanced their risk and compliance programs by increasing resources, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and upgrading their governance frameworks, as well as maintaining higher levels of capital.† Better yet, simply incorporate the final phrase, for which distinctive treatment has no justification, into the list: â€Å"Traditional financial institutions have significantly enhanced their risk and compliance programs by increasing resources, clarifying roles and responsibilities, upgrading their governance frameworks, and maintaining higher levels of capital.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Using "a" and "an" Before Words3 Cases of Complicated Hyphenation20 Movies Based on Shakespeare Plays

The case of Radmacher v Granatino [2010] UKSC 42 was a welcome Essay

The case of Radmacher v Granatino [2010] UKSC 42 was a welcome development in the area of financial relief on divorce. Discuss - Essay Example Prior to the discussion, it is relevant to have an insight as pertains to the main issues in the topic of discussion. To begin with, divorce is passed by a court and nullifies the marriage between two married people. Following divorce, the court can provide ancillary relief to either of the parties and depending on the circumstances of divorce and support required by either party. However, there are agreements that are made prior to the marriage (pre-nuptial) or after the marriage (post-nuptial) and their weights are considered while making these rulings. One such ruling is the case in the title where the ancillary proceedings involved an existing pre-nuptial agreement . The case of Radmacher v. Granatino brought a decisive ruling by the court of appeal as pertains to pre-nuptial agreements. The court ruled that if couples divorced and had a pre-nuptial contract, none of the two parties were viable to make financial claims in opposition to the partner if form of proceedings. As pertains to the facts of this court, the contract was binding in August 1998 in German by Mr. Granatino a French man and Ms Radmacher a German. They both lived in London where their children were born in September 1999 and in May 2002 and they later separated in August 2006. Though the law was made in German, the proceedings following divorce were held in English court. It is of paramount importance to note that in English judicial system, pre-nuptial contracts are considered as opponents of public opinion and hence invalid and unenforceable. The courts in England and the United States have since proved it difficult for divorced couples to enforce proceedings as pertains to pr e-nuptial contracts.... Baron J however demoted the relevance of the contract on the grounds that there were no negotiations, Ms Radmacher did not disclose her assets, and Mr. Granatino was not given any legal advice. Moreover she affirmed that it was unfair to deprive Mr. Granatino the claim especially since he was in need of the additional support and also that the two children bound them in the holy matrimony of marriage. However, this case was taken to the supreme and its discretion with reference to4 reviewed. The court of Appeal with reference to the case of Macleod v. Macleod5 held that the husband should be rendered as accountable to the agreement since there were no factors emulating the contrary. This served as a ruling in similar cases pertaining to monetary agreements among divorced couples who had made an agreement prior to their marriage. This case served as a baseline to assess the weight upon which the agreement should be given in deciding the validity of the agreement. This agreement made p rior to marriage is defined as pre-nuptial or ante-nuptial agreement and will be referred to throughout this discussion. With this genesis of the facts and ruling to the case, a discussion will be presented outlining the financial freedom following divorce that has resulted from the ruling in the case of Radmacher v. Granatino6. Discussion In Favor Of Financial Freedom Following Divorce Lack of undue influence is a relevant factor that is considered in cases pertaining pre-nuptial agreements and aids in financial freedom of the plaintiff to litigation. With reference to the case of Mr. Granatino, the court took into consideration the willingness of the parties to enter into a contract prior to their being married to each other. This is used to evaluate in the contract is legally binding

Market Report on Australia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Market Report on Australia - Essay Example Vast resource endowment and strong export sector allows the economy to be one of the influential participants in international trade. After the occurrence of the global financial crisis, all financial activities within the economy are strictly supervised that eliminates any chance of unscrupulous financial transaction. However, there are risks associated with this economy due to the easy monetary and fiscal policy implementations. This paper presents a study on the economic prospects of Australia and their effects on the country’s financial market. 2. Economic prospects 2.1 Recent developments and the present situation Australia is the 13th largest economies in the world in terms of GDP measure. In the Asia Pacific region the country ranks third in terms of GDP after China and Japan. Australia boasts of having one of the most robust national political frameworks among the developed countries in the world. Over the last five decades, the country has developed strong economic in stitutions in the world and has a very competitive business sector operating internationally. Recently Australia has been recognised as a continent with a wide reserve of natural resources and it is currently enjoying the position of one of the largest supplier of natural resources and raw materials in the world, such as, coal and iron ore. Steady economic growth in the continent has been aided by this resource boom. Trade in such abundant resource sector accounts for approximately 9.6 per cent of the total economy of Australia. The remainder of the economy is comprised of the construction sector (7.7%), manufacturing sector (9.1%), and financial services sector (11.0%). This distribution depicts that the major sectors in the equity market in Australia are financial services sector with 32% share and natural resources sector with 31% share (Treasury, 2012). At present Australia enjoys a concrete positive international standing. The largest trade partners of the continent are the Uni ted States, Japan and China. Although China is still a developing economy, it is one of the fastest growing economies of the world and competes strongly with the other developed nations. The countries that make the largest amount of investment in Australia are the United Kingdom and the United States. These two countries are also the leading capital markets in the world. The financial services industry in Australian is well developed and highly-regarded due to its innovativeness. This stems from the fact that the country has one of the world’s most developed capital market. According to the data published by the World Economic Forum, Australia ranks 5th among the countries having most modern financial systems and advanced capital markets in the world. Currently Australia’s equity market has A$1.2 trillion market capitalization (on the basis of free-float market capitalization). On a daily basis, the average secondary trading extends upto A$5 billion in a normal day. Th e Australian dollar is one of the most traded currencies in the international market. This shows that the country’s foreign exchange market is quite strong and has high global turnover in this market. 2.2 Economic growth prospects The economy of Australia has experienced high and uninterrupted rate of economic growth over the period of the past ten years. This growth rate has been facilitated by a number of factors, such as, low level of inflation, low unemployment rate, significantly low public debt and most importantly stability in the

The Significance of Food in My Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Significance of Food in My Life - Essay Example By understanding our own food choices and the significance of food in our own lives, we can gain a clearer understanding of ourselves. For myself, I was born in South Korea and I lived there for the first 19 years of my life. This was very important to how I feel about food because the culture there is very focused on food as a way of bringing the family together and expressing honor and love to each other. Food is a very important way that the mother can express to the father, the elders and the children that they are important. In South Korea, it is still the elders who are most important in the home and so they are always the ones who get the best helpings of food. As a small child, if I got the best helping, I would feel very, very special, like I was the most important thing to my mother and the one she loved best. My mother always made sure we had enough to eat when we lived in South Korea. One of the things she made for every meal was Kimchi. Kimchi is a kind of food that is pickled vegetables that have been seasoned to be very spicy. I love to eat Kimchi because I ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day back at home. It makes me feel happy to think about spending time with my family and sharing meals together. Another kind of food that I like to eat because it reminds me of home is spicy soup. Like Kimchi, it was a kind of food that my mother would serve every day. When I eat these kinds of foods, the spicy flavor reminds me of home and the heat makes me feel very loved. Since I came to the United States, though, I have learned more about proper nutrition. I learned that a lot of spicy foods are not good for the body and that salt intake should be kept low. The kinds of food my mother made were great-tasting and ensured that we had plenty to eat all the time so that we felt loved, but the nutritionists in the United States indicate that it wasn’t the

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 141

Assignment Example en ways in which supply management has an impact on a firm’s sales are associated the following activities that integrate business management process across the supply chain. Customer relationship management, customer service management, demand management, order fulfillment, manufacturing flow management, supplier relationship management, product development and commercialization and management of returns, all of which determine market demand and production capacity of an organization. Support for strategic supply chain management has to come from the top management of an organization because of several reasons. Firstly, strategic processes require decisions from the top management because they relate to the main objectives of an organization. Secondly, strategic supply chain management involves application of various tactics that heave to be authorized by the top management. Lastly, strategic supply chain management incorporates operational decisions that also have to be directed by the top management because they relate to company objectives. Supply chain management position is important in organizational structure for two major reasons. To begin with, supply chain managers ensure that customer services are boosted hence increasing an organization sales. Secondly, supply chain managers ensure that an organization enjoys high profits by ensuring that product supplies are made quickly and using the most cost effective means. Many organizations use a hybrid approach to decision-making authority in their supply management in order to make informed decisions. In this case, the supply management authorities evaluate different alternatives available for organizations and then decide on one that ensures major objectives are attained. Cross functional teams are made up of stake holders with different skills within an organization. Therefore, individual members can contribute different ideas that can be used to enhance the value of products within an organization. In

Business and Trade Relationships between the United States and China Term Paper

Business and Trade Relationships between the United States and China - Term Paper Example As the business relationship between these two nations have gone through a many high points as well as low points, it has been an interesting topic of study for many researchers throughout the world. Furthermore, it is important to understand the different details of the trade relationship in order to get a better idea on how the relationship would continue in the future. This article focuses on exploring the business relationship between the United States and China. Traversing through historical trends, current state of business and future trends, this study would try to identify any potential opportunities for the future and how they can be utilized. In addition, it will also look at the possible challenges and ways to overcome those challenges. A Historical Perspective Early 18th century to World War II Before exploring the current and the potential of future relationships, it is necessary to take a look at way in which trade relations shaped historically. The first trade interact ion between two countries began around the late 1700s through the sea route. After the American Revolution, there was an attempt at sea exploration and American trader ship known as the ‘Empress of China’ arrived in the port of Canton (Dudden, 1992). This arrival of this ship in China was a very remarkable event because of the needs of both these countries. China had a huge demand for raw materials and Americans were on the hunt for anything exotic and oriental (Ng, 1983). This paved the way for a trade relationship between the two nations, which began to be popularly known as the Old China trade. The Americans were very interested in products like tea, cotton and silk, where as the Chinese were interested... Business relationships between the United States and China is a topic of discussion in this term paper. The researcher chose it because of the complex economic relationships between two countries and the way. The United States and China economic relationship has been one that has seen tremendous high points and equally strong low points. During the 1970s, the trade interactions between the United States and China were very less. However, the establishment of good bilateral relationship between both these countries resulted in the expansion of economic ties and hence, there was a considerable surge in the way in which trade and business grew. In due course of time, that is analyzed in the paper China become one of the top five trading partners of the United States and has become the largest market for the exported goods from China. The U.S companies have also been investing in China at a steady pace, especially during the past decade in avenues such as information technology. It is ve ry interesting to note how the trade and business relationship between two nations is heavily dependent on the way in which the political relationship between these nations is at a particular point of time. In conclusion, the researcher stets that while it is clear that trade between these countries have proven to be mutually beneficial, it would require a tremendous effort from the political and economic leadership of both nations to ensure that a strong momentum is maintained in times to come.

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 141

Assignment Example en ways in which supply management has an impact on a firm’s sales are associated the following activities that integrate business management process across the supply chain. Customer relationship management, customer service management, demand management, order fulfillment, manufacturing flow management, supplier relationship management, product development and commercialization and management of returns, all of which determine market demand and production capacity of an organization. Support for strategic supply chain management has to come from the top management of an organization because of several reasons. Firstly, strategic processes require decisions from the top management because they relate to the main objectives of an organization. Secondly, strategic supply chain management involves application of various tactics that heave to be authorized by the top management. Lastly, strategic supply chain management incorporates operational decisions that also have to be directed by the top management because they relate to company objectives. Supply chain management position is important in organizational structure for two major reasons. To begin with, supply chain managers ensure that customer services are boosted hence increasing an organization sales. Secondly, supply chain managers ensure that an organization enjoys high profits by ensuring that product supplies are made quickly and using the most cost effective means. Many organizations use a hybrid approach to decision-making authority in their supply management in order to make informed decisions. In this case, the supply management authorities evaluate different alternatives available for organizations and then decide on one that ensures major objectives are attained. Cross functional teams are made up of stake holders with different skills within an organization. Therefore, individual members can contribute different ideas that can be used to enhance the value of products within an organization. In

WORLDCOM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

WORLDCOM - Essay Example (1995), and MFS Communications Company (1996). WorldCom also acquired the mother company of Digex – the Intermedia Communications and sold all of its intermedia’s non-Digex assets to Allegiance Telecom. Until 2003, WorldCom was considered a telecom giant and second largest long distance provider in the U.S. A one-time high flyer like WorldCom should be held legally, ethically and socially responsible for having entered into a lot of business contracts with its customers and suppliers. WorldCom should be responsible for its intensive mergers and failure to use the public funds (coming from public shareholders) carefully. It remains questionable for a huge company that has been consistently greedy in entering into mergers with other similar companies to suddenly file a bankruptcy last July 2002. As of 2005, WorldCom is still facing some court trials regarding this matter. It is the legal responsibility of WorldCom’s employers to ensure that the company directors operate within the society’s accepted laws and regulations. It is their legal responsibility to register and communicate with the shareholders and ensure them that dividends are paid on time. Top management should also monitor on the company’s financial statement. WorldCom is facing huge financial and legal problems. The company is considered to have defrauded its investors by overstating the company’s earnings up to nearly $10 billion wherein the top management of the WorldCom also gain some profits from their own criminal acts. WorldCom has to be held responsible for taking investors’ money in excess of $176 billion and causing WorldCom’s employees, the state pension funds and shareholders through the lost of jobs, worthless stocks, and losses of 401 (k) savings. 2 The act of overstating of the company’s earning is clearly a criminal act and it is punishable by law. One way or another, someone has to be held responsible for such unprofessional

Directors Duties Problem Question

Directors Duties Problem Question The establishment of Shine Ltd was with the sole intent to produce industrial solvents and cleaning solutions. Appointment of the office of managing director was given to John to cover that post. During this course, the company acquired an agreement with XYZ plc a conglomerate. While still under the directorship of John the company came up with a new super glue. In his capacity as a director, he presented this to the manager with the hope that it would be supported, and the production would continue since he felt it would be a lucrative business. The board of trustees were however of a different opinion, and they ended up rejecting the project. The managing director of XYZ plc is a friend of John, and so he disclosed their intentions not to renew their contract with Shine Ltd. Their reason was that the partnership had not born as much success as they had hoped. He would, however, continue his dealings with John if only he were not attached to Shine Ltd. With this in mind, he resigned and instead formed his company, Flush Ltd. A company that later partnered with XYZ plc. The company also took up the project of manufacturing the glue Shine Ltd board of directors had rejected, and it has proved very profitable. The corporate opportunity dictates that the director is not allowed to take for themselves any business opportunity that otherwise would have been beneficial to the corporation. It falls within the fiduciary duty of loyalty applications. The conditions in the act are clearly stipulated. It becomes limited to the Director, officers, and controlling shareholders (Esser, 2007). The act specifies that it is applicable whether the transaction harms the corporation. That is to say should the director go against this rule in the process make the cooperation benefit it does not mean he gets exempted from having broken particular law. The other part of this rule is that the corporation should not have obtained information regarding the opportunity that was presented. In the case where the board is aware and declines to take the opportunity then the fiduciary would take the opportunity for himself. Should the rule apply however the corporation becomes entitled to the profit earning for the fid uciary from the transaction? Having considered all the activities that took place in case study this particular rule might not apply to John. While being the director of Shine Ltd, he took the idea to the board of trustees and following the rules stipulated in the Company act that would have been his responsibility. In this case, both John and the board of directors were aware of opportunity yet the board choose to ignore. With this in mind, it then becomes apparent that the opportunity would now belong to John. However, that does not mean that he gets to walk (Lowry, 2009). Section 170 deals with the responsibility of the director of an organization. In as much as they are given the top most job, this section dictates what is expected of them from the daily operation of the group. Section 174 deals with the responsibility of the director to exercise care, skill and diligence. Their knowledge needs to be such that they are helpful to the organization. The manager has to handle the activities of the organization about his or her skills in that position. A factor also emphasized in Section 175. The part worth highlighting would be the second rule that specifies that it would be in conflict of interest to exploit information or opportunity gotten as a result of the position they hold in the company. Section 176 talks about Duty not to accept benefits from third parties. Of note is the second part where the aspect of the third party gets explained into details. Anyone who falls within the organization as a partner of an associate falls within this section. S ection 177 deals with the responsibility of the organizations director who might find himself in a conflict of interest. He has to offer the board with a declaration letter to announce the presence of a conflict of interest before they get to discover on their own. Section 178 deals with the consequences of a breach of duty. It highlights that the section 171 to 177 having the same kind of punishment should the director have breached that contract. However, section 174 makes the management have an open idea concerning what can pass as a breach of contract since it is a section open to interpretation. Section 180 deals with the parts that can be considered to be in a position to assume. Having examined the effects and the position that they take make them be applicable or be ignored depending on the location. Examining the case studies the duties mentioned above of the director were never fulfilled by John in his capacity as director of the organization. He stands liable for all accounts of the negligence of functions of the Director. He exploited the chances that they had to make better the body and instead used this privilege to gain as an individual. The company is on the right to take legal action concerning the negligence of duties as director. The seems to be a violation of the equitable principle. That means that the data collected from the manager was wrongfully acquired. The breach of confidence in the English law gives room for a person to claim compensation for the violation of trust. The responsibility of the manager to have the clause of confidence falling within his doctrines translates to having a civil complaint. The rule applies specifically to situations where it would be unfair should the information be revealed. There exist three very fundamental aspects that would determine if a breach has taken place. Before ruling out that the case is worth being given a civil claim the three rules need to get approved to have existed. The information that is being shared should contain a certain degree of confidence. That is to say, it gets classified as being confidential. The provision of the information falls into the category of imposing on the application of obligation confidence. The information received was unautho rized when being used (Payne, 2008). Considering the case study provided it is clear that the above conditions were all fulfilled. Working as the director of Shine Ltd the information that he shared with his friend would best fit this category. The information should not have been disclosed to anyone since the company owned it. While the information was being given he was working as the director of Shine. While there seems to be no documentation on the issue of permission to use this product for profit. Lack of proper authority to present the solution in this case ruling out the possibility that the process was ever legal (Payne, 2008). Section 178 talks about the enforcement of the laws that govern the directors duties. In cases where the company has incurred losses due to the actions of the director then he becomes liable as a person. The director is to be made to restore the property of the company should he have lead to the destruction of any other property under his care. The director will have to account for any of the other profits they might have made while using the secrets acquired from the organization. It, therefore, becomes necessary for the board of directors to take into account section 178(2) when dealing with John (Sheikh, 2013). The director should defend himself on the grounds that he had presented the idea to the board and he had been told it would not be approved. In as far as production of the product it was well in his duty in accordance with section 174, and 175 to take up the deal for himself. When coming up with the verdict for the case study it will be prudent to consider the case of Cooley. In his capacity in the company, he exploited the information he got from the company for personal gain. His conditions, as presented, make a clear example of the exact position that John is in with his company. Following the verdict passed in the case of IDC v Cooley (1972), John should be found guilty of misuse of office and as such ought to pay the profits from the contract. It becomes irrelevant that his actions were not causing the company to lose the deal. The rule of conflict of interest stems from the fact the one might have exploited an opportunity that was rightfully in breach of his position. The opportunity might have gotten it in a way that is legal. The position John held concerning the company gave him the upper hand in the acquisition of the project. He is liable for damages regarding the section of the act that touches on conflict of interest. Following the verdict of Regal (Hastings) v Gulliver, (1942) John should be held liable for his choices. He should pay the company for the damages he inflicted using his profits he accumulated in the project that he got from the deal. The formation of Flush Ltd was for the sole purpose of making sure that the start of the contract with XYZ plc. John created a legal person as a shield against the legal actions with his former company. The action he took the lead to the company losing some of its clients and its long-time partner. All this he did knowing full well that his responsibilities to Shine Ltd would not allow him do what he was doing. The board of shine Ltd should also look into pursuing a lawsuit against Flush Ltd. The reason being that they have violated their position and in the process acquired some of its clients in the process. Following the case of Gilford Motor Co v Horne (1933), the court should grant an injunction against the company from soliciting Shine Ltd clients. References Ashraf, T. (2012). Directors duties with a particular focus on the Companies Act 2006. International Journal of Law and Management , 125-140. Esser, I. M. (2007). The stakeholder debate and directors fiduciary duties. SA Mercantile Law Journal= SA Tydskrif vir Handelsreg , 346-363. Keay, A. (2007). Tackling the issue of the corporate objective: an analysis of the United Kingdoms enlightened shareholder value approach. Sydney L , 577. Lowry, J. (2009). The duty of loyalty of company directors: bridging the accountability gap through efficient disclosure. The Cambridge Law Journal , 607-622. Payne, J. (2008). Legal Capital and Creditor Protection in UK Private Companies. European Company Law , 220-228. Payne, J. (2008). Legal Capital in the UK Following the Companies Act 2006. Sheikh, S. (2013). A guide to the Companies Act 2006. Routledge.

The Bluest Eye :: essays research papers

The Bluest Eye is a brilliantly written novel revealing the fictional trauma of an eleven-year-old black girl named Pecola Breedlove. This story takes place in the town of Lorain, Ohio during the 1940’s. It is told from the perspective of a young girl named Claudia MacTeer. She and her sister, Frieda, become witness to the terrible plights Pecola is unintentionally put through. Pecola chooses to hide from her disabling life behind her clouded dream of possessing the ever so cherished â€Å"bluest of eyes†. The Breedlove’s constant bickering and ever growing poverty contributes to the emotional downfall of this little girl. Pecola’s misery is obtained through the touch of her father’s hand and the voice of her community’s struggle with racial separation, anger, and ignorance. Her innocence is harshly ripped from her grasp as her father rapes her limp existence. The community’s anger with it’s own insecurities is taken out on thi s poor, ugly, black, non-ideal, young girl. She shields herself from this sorrow behind her obsessive plea for blue eyes. But her eyes do not replace the pain of carrying her fleeing father’s baby. Nor do they protect her from the shady eyes of her neighbors. Though this book discuses negative and disturbing situations, it teaches a very positive lesson. The theme of The Bluest Eye is that of depending on outside influences to become aware of one’s own beauty and to fabricate one’s own self image can be extremely damaging. I feel that Toni Morrison showed this through each of her characters especially the obvious, Pecola Breedlove. One incident, for example, is when Claudia, Frieda, Pecola, and Maureen Peal, a well-loved â€Å"beauty† of Lorain, are walking home from school. As the girls saunter down the street, they begin to bicker. The conversation ends with Maureen stomping away and establishing the fact that she is indeed â€Å"cute†. Claudia then thinks to herself, â€Å"If she was cute--and if anything could be believed, she was--then we were not. And what did that mean? We were lesser. Nicer, brighter, but still lesser. Dolls we could destroy, but we could not destroy the honey voices of parents and aunts, the obedience in the eyes of our peers, the slippery light in the eyes of our teachers when they encouraged the Maureen Peals of the world. What was the secret? What did we lack? Why was it important? And so what?. . . And all the time we knew that Maureen Peal was not the Enemy and not worthy of such intense hatred.

Describe the Main Features of the Fulling Industry in Pompeii.

Describe the main features of the fulling industry in Pompeii. The fulling industry was extremely important in Pompeii. We know this as there have been at least four fulleries found in Pompeii, the most famous of these fulleries is the Fullery of Stephanus. The Fullery of Stephanus is situated on the Via Dell Abbondanza. This Fullery was a dwelling with accommodation for the slaves working at the Fullery.Throughout the transformation of the dwelling into a Fullery the existence of the house was not lost, as the rooms were unchanged. I know that the fulling industry was important because of where the fulleries were situated, the Fullery of Stephanus was positioned on one of the main streets of Pompeii; this was important because it was surrounded by other small businesses and was next to a textile business, showing there was a strong chance that this industry was likely to be linked to other businesses especially in the cloth trade.From the evidence that has been found we know that cl oth was brought there to be washed and treated in a mixture of urine and soda, (and then trampled on which released the grease and then was bleached), we are told this by the elaborate red paintings on the walls. It also suggests that urine was collected in large pots in the streets which were used by passing pedestrians as it was a valuable resource.For the fulling industry you need good supplies of water and from the evidence of lead piping found, there was a good supply of water to the industry, this mainly would be because they could afford it; however there is also evidence that there were people and businesses were illegally taking water from the official supplies.As previously said the fulling industry was important to the Economic status of Pompeii, this is because the Eumachia building in the forum was built and paid for by family which were linked to the Fulling industry, many people believe they paid for this because of how vital it was to the cloth trade, and the wool in dustry. We also know that this industry was an important part to the city because it was involved in local politics, and fullers were believed to of stood for election. What evidence is there for the baking of bread in Pompeii?There is evidence for around 35 bakeries, and most of these in North side of town, close to the necessary supplies of grain. From the number of bakeries found archaeologists believe that bread was a staple to the Pompeian’s diet, and they would rather buy it than make it themselves. At the largest bakeries they had the facilities to grind their own wheat for the flour, as they had the mills, the bakery of Modesto being a prime example. They believe at Modesto the mills made of volcanic rock were turned by animal power.They added the grain at the top of mill which was then turned and filtered through to the bottom where it was collected on a stone tray. At Modesto there were also large ovens with the serving hatches nearby for the use of the public. We a lso know that the dough used for the bread was normally mixed by hand but on industrial scale wooden paddles were used. Once the dough was mixed it was shaped and marked by the baker. We know things were done on industrial scale because 85 carbonised loaves were found in one oven, this also shows there was a large demand for bread.The ovens found were fuelled by olive logs and large chimneys and flumes took away the smoke and some of the heat. There is evidence that there was a list of what was available on the wall, and all these were found in the oven carbonised from the eruption of Mt Vesuvius. There is also evidence that some of these loaves were sold on the street, we know this because there is a message scratched into the wall of the temple of Apollo that ‘bread is sold here’.What purpose did the Forum have in Pompeii? The Forum was not just a one building wonder; it had many functions. Not only was it the towns trading centre it was a place of religious statues a nd included a law court as well as places for business meetings. In the open space they think markets would have been held, this space was raised to the pavements and they think the road may have been closed to wheeled traffic whilst the markets were taking place.At the north end of the forum was the Temple of Jupiter and honorary arches dedicated to Drusus and to Tiberius to Germanicus. The south end of the forum was bordered by three municipal buildings. On the west side was situated the Basilica, the Temple of Apollo, the grain market and warehouse. On the east side stood the covered food market or Macellum, the sanctuary of Lares Publici, the Temple of Vespasian, and the Building of Eumachia and the Comitium. They believe the building of Eumachia possibly served as a wool market.The basilica was the main court of Law in Pompeii and was where legal business including trials would have taken place. The Temple of Apollo was next to the Basilica was a large imposing building surroun ded by 48 columns, this was paid by the local councillors which shows the wealth of Pompeii and its citizens. The Macellum, Eumachia and grain market show that Pompeii was a centre of trade in the religion and that the forum lay at the heart of this trade.The public weights and measures table at the northern end of the forum would have been used by public officials to check that sellers were being fair to their customers and selling the correct weights, which also shows that the people earned their money fairly. However at the times of the eruption the forum didn’t contain any of the statues of important citizens as they are presumed to be in safe keeping or in repair after the damages that Pompeii suffered in the earthquake of AD62 which contributed to Pompeii being a lost city.

Making Ebay Work

Table of Contents Introduction:2 PART A: Chapter Summary3 PART B: Background and Case summary5 EBay’s Background5 Case Summary: Making eBay work6 PART C: Case Questions7 Case Question #1:7 Case Question #2:10 Case Question #310 PART D: Implications and Recommendation12 Implications12 Recommendations13 Introduction: Strategic capabilities have become a source of competitive advantage for both small and large organization. Organizations that wish to survive and compete in today’s dynamic business world need to implement unique and high-value strategic capabilities. This paper takes you through in depth analysis of strategic capabilities and how it relates to the business environment. The organization in focus is eBay, an online sales company. EBay is one of the largest online sales and auction company with branches in over two dozen countries. Its unique resources and key competences are paramount to its ever-growing success in the industry. The first part of this paper will take you through the concept of strategic capability. This is the summary of the chapter 3 from the textbook, Exploring Corporate Strategy. This part will focus on definition of strategic capability, the importance of resources and competencies to achieving strategic capabilities, cost efficiency, and how strategic capabilities can lead to sustainable development. The second part focuses on the background of the case study company, eBay. There is a brief background about the company and summary of the case study. Part three seeks to answer the case questions. The questions are divided into three; the first talking about the analytical framework for analyzing eBay’s strategic capability. There are several analytical frameworks in the textbook, for in-depth and better understanding, the SWOT analysis was used. The second question seeks to know what kind of capabilities have provided eBay with competitive advantage. The last questions deals with managing capabilities such as new resources, investing and divesting in resources, and extending resources given new entrants in the marketplace and the changing nature of eBay. Each question has been answered by expert individuals with good knowledge of strategic capabilities. The paper concludes by taking into consideration possible lessons learnt from the chapter and case study. We also give recommendations for development in eBay or other organizations that seek to achieve the feat of successful organizations like eBay. PART A: Chapter Summary Strategic capability can be defined as the adequacy and suitability of the resources and competencies of an organization for it to survive, prosper and deliver in the future. The strategic capability contributes to the competitive advantage of an organization by creating and implementing strategies that competitors find difficult to imitate or match. Unique and rare strategic capabilities give organizations better reputation and goodwill when compared with their competitors. Importance of resources, competences, core competences and dynamic capabilities: An organization’s strategic capabilities mainly revolve around its resources. The resources are either tangible or intangible and they are grouped into four categories; an organization’s resources can be: Physical, Financial, Human, and intellectual. Physical resources include machines, building or production capacity of the organization. Financial resources are used in the day to day running of the business; they include capital, cash, debtors, creditors among others. Human resource includes the number and mix of people in an organization. Most organizations have human resource departments that help manage the welfare of the personnel in the organization. Intellectual resources are intangible resources that include patents, brands, business system, and customer database. Resources are important to an organization because they allow the organization to produce at lower cost or generate superior product or service. The resources in an organization are of no worth if they are not being utilized effectively. Organizations must utilize their resources by being competent. Competences in business policy are used to mean the activities and processes through which an organization deploys it resources effectively. Competences can either be threshold or core. Threshold competences are the essentials needed to compete in a given market, while core competences are the effective use of resources to gain competitive advantage. Importance of cost-efficiency: The management of cost-base of an organization can be a basis of achieving competitive advantage. Cost efficiency is driven by a number of cost drivers. [pic] How strategic capabilities can lead to sustainable competitive advantage: †¢ Value: Have resources that customers value in terms of products and services. Product or services must exceed consumer want and taste. †¢ Rarity: Having unique resources and competences in terms of personnel intellect, unique services rendered among other things. †¢ Robustness: A strong and well-built form of strategic capabilities that annot be imitated by competitors. †¢ Non-substitutability: Providing value to customers and possessing competences that are complex and casually ambiguous. Diagnosing Strategic Capability If organizations are to achieve competitive advantage by delivering value to customers, they need to understand how it is created. †¢ Value Chain: describes the activities within and around an organization whic h together create a product or service. †¢ Value Network: is the set of inter-organizational links and relationships that are necessary to create a product or service. Activity Maps: it shows how the different activities of the an organization are linked together †¢ Benchmarking: comparison of programs and strategic positions of competitors. †¢ SWOT: summary of key issues which affect the business environment. Managing and developing Strategic Capability: In order for managers to manage and improve the strategic capability of an organization, there are certain decisions and actions which can be taken which relate to the development of strategic capabilities within the organization and external environment. These include: Extending best practices: managers might identify strategic capabilities in one area of the business and then seek to extend this throughout all the business units. †¢ Adding and changing activities: this involves adding or changing capabilities so that they become more reinforcing of outcomes. †¢ Stretching competencies: managers may see the opportunity to build new products or services out of existing capabilities. †¢ Entrepreneurial Bricolage: strategic capability can be built by exploiting resources, skills, and knowledge which have been ignored: which is often what entrepreneurs who develop new business models do. Ceasing Activities: involves doing away with current activities not central to the delivery of value to customers. †¢ External Capability development: developing capabilities by entering into alliances and joint ventures. PART B: Background and Case summary EBay’s Background EBay is an online shopping and auction website where people and businesses buy and sell products and services. EBay was created in 1995 and they have over the years grown and expanded to over two dozen countries such as the United Kingdom, China and India. EBay recorded a profit of $367 million according to GAAP in their fourth quarter in the year 2008. Millions of collectibles, decor, appliances, computers, furnishings, equipment, vehicles, and other miscellaneous items are listed, bought, and sold daily on eBay. In 2005, eBay launched its Business & Industrial category, breaking into the industrial surplus business. Some items are rare and valuable, while many others are dusty gizmos that would have been discarded if not for the thousands of eager bidders worldwide. Case Summary: Making eBay work The ‘Making eBay Work’ case study is divided into three sections namely; eBay’s business model, eBay’s management and Competition and cooperation. EBay’s business model A business model describes the structure of product, service and information flows and the roles of the participating parties. Therefore the business model in eBay’s case includes its products and services and the interactions between buyers and sellers. The business model includes Value in eBay which is created by providing a virtual market for buyers and sellers. EBay listens to its customers and organizes Voice of the Customer groups which involve flying in a new group of about 10 sellers and buyers from around the country to its offices every few months to discuss the company in depth. Technology allows every move of every potential customer to be traced. Workshops and classes are held to teach people how to make the most of the site. EBay is governed from outside and within in the sense that the company’s system has a source of automatic control in the form of buyers and sellers rating each other on each transaction. Sales of illegal products are dealt with by withdrawing the item on sale and then banning the seller. EBay’s management Meg Whitman, an ex-consultant joined eBay in 1998 and has seen then heavily influenced the company’s management. Meg Whitman met a collection of Information Technology (IT) geeks who were handpicked by eBay’s founder Pierre Omidyar as top management of the company. Meg Whitman felt she needed to reshuffle and change the management as most of the top executives understood more of the IT side of the company rather than understanding the business side of the company. Respected consultants were then assigned senior management roles. This change brought about the company becoming data and metric driven: ‘If you can’t measure it, you can’t control it. ’ This simply means that category managers made decisions based on measuring and acting upon the data within their fiefdom or departments. EBay has in time upgraded its ability to ensure that technology does not fail. The company’s website was plagued with outages in 1999 which shut down the site for a period of 22hours. The problems were as a result of software problems and lack of backup systems. Maynard Webb joined eBay to become the president of the company’s technology unit and has since then ensured a secure website by constantly upgrading the system. Meg Whitman is a manager who is known for leadership qualities such as understanding and flexible. She is a leader who buys into the company in more ways than one by auctioning some of her furniture from her ski condo in order to have an eBay selling experience. Competition and cooperation As the internet has become a more competitive arena, eBay has definitely not stood still. The company tries to be aware and flexible. EBay bought Skype, the internet telephony organization in 2005 at the cost of $2. 5 billion. A lot of controversy marked this acquisition as people considered it too risky and eBay fired back by saying the company can create an unparallel e-commerce engine, pointing to their 2002 purchase of the online payment system, PayPal. eBay also supported their action by saying three benefits would be realized as a result of the purchase; ‘the more members the company will acquire, the more valuable the company will become, and lastly the more likely eBay will become a world leader in managing network effects. In 2006, eBay announced a deal with Google and has since then become one of Google’s biggest advert customers. EBay also partnered with Baidu Inc, a Chinese web portal bought by eBay in 2002. Baidu promotes PayPal Beibao as the preferred method of payment on Baidu. Despite eBay success in the west, it is not as successful in the east. EBay had to pull out of Japan and is cur rently struggling in Taiwan and lagging behind a rival in China. GMarket in Korea had a less complex system and so had a larger market base; so eBay had to come up with eBay express to meet up to the customer needs in Korea. PART C: Case Questions Case Question #1: Analyze eBay strategic capability using an analytical framework from the chapter Strategic Capability can be defined as the resources and competences of an organization needed for it to survive and prosper. EBay’s case shows us the necessity of an organization having sustainable resources and competences. In analyzing their strategic capability, the SWOT framework (strength, weakness, opportunities and threats) projects, clearly, the issues surrounding a business and deduces how this issues makes them strategically capable. Strengths: Bay’s greatest strength is that it is the first online auction site. Because of that, eBay is well trusted. The customer’s perception that he/she can buy a good without worrying, keeps him/her coming back. That is why, in 2006, eBay had 200 million customers. Out of that, 750,000 made their living from eBay. (Johnson, Scholes, & Whittington, 2008) From the case study, you can see a strong rel ationship between the business-to-customer and customer-to-customer relationship. For example, when a category manager sees a customer is having difficulty selling a product, he helps the customer by improving their presentation of the product. Also, eBay organizes â€Å"Voice of the Customer† were a group of 10 sellers and buyer are flown in from around the world, to discuss the company in depth. In regard to the customer to customer relationship, customers help each other by creating rules and norms to keep themselves safe from fraud. They also have websites, offering advice on how to sell on eBay. This relationship seems little, but it is not. It has taken at least 13 years to build it; that is why it would be very difficult for another company to break in. Another major strength eBay has is Meg Whitman who is a unique resource. She is well experienced. She previously worked with Procter and Gamble, Hasbro and Stride Rite, and went to Harvard business school. When she came in, she multi-tasked, filling many of the senior management roles such as the head of the US business, head of international operations and vice president of consumer marketing with consultants. Through her eBay has been re-defined; eBay has over thirty categories now (you can buy items ranging from books, cars, antiques to houses), their sales have increased and have acquired several firm- like Skype and PayPal- strengthening eBay alive and keeping it flourishing. Weakness Although things seem perfect, eBay has a number of weaknesses: Because items are sold online you can’t be certain of the person you are transacting with. EBay customers suffer from other fraudulent activities by other customers. For example, another customer maybe selling a Gucci hand bag for a reasonable price. When you pay for it and receive the bag, you realize the bag is not original. Another case of fraud occurs when stolen goods are sold. Fraudulent situations affect the customer to customer relationship. In addition, according to the case, in 1999 the site was shut down for 22 hours courtesy of software problems. This is a major weakness because eBay’s site cannot function when the system breaks down; auctioning cannot take place. During these periods, a lot of profit will be lost, affecting the business and customers. EBay would be affected more because of the amount spent on repairing. In the past, even the payment system, PayPal, has been shut down. Opportunities Opportunities are lucky breaks entrepreneurs use to get ahead of competition. Acquisitions provide new business strategy opportunities. In 2005, according to the case study, eBay bought Skype. It is an online telephone company. EBay acquired the firm for $2. 6 billion. Skype's software lets PC users talk to each other for free and make cut-price calls to mobiles and landlines. A lot of critics didn’t see the essence but for eBay it was a great opportunity. They were strengthening their threshold and unique resources. Skype is a unique resource because not a lot of businesses can afford to imitate that feat (spending $ 2. 6 billion). It is a threshold resource because Skype helps customers communicate more effectively. Through Skype, customers can see and hear each other; reducing the rate of fraudulent activities. In addition, eBay has opportunities through new and emerging markets. EBay has over 30 sites, were language differs. For example, if you go to the Chinese site, it wouldn’t be in English. But it wasn’t always like that before. This opportunity occurs when a country becomes more modernized, like Singapore. When it happens, eBay has an opportunity to increase its market segment. This is how eBay has been able to grow, over the years. Also, a product produced 5 years ago can still be sold and found on eBay. In a way, eBay keeps products alive. You can find a first edition magazines and old models of cars on eBay. This is one of eBay’s core competences. EBay keeps Markets current. Threats As with many of the global Internet brands, success attracts competition. (SWOT Analysis: Lesson, 2008) Competition is a threat because it reduces the amount of customers you have. From the case study, eBay has a big threat in Korea. GMarket is the Korean version of eBay. It is partly owned by Yahoo. Although Yahoo’s auctioning unit isn’t as strong as eBay, it can become a threat in the future. Already, because of Yahoo in Japan, eBay has pulled out. It doesn’t do well in the East because international competitors have a cultural edge over them. Furthermore, some costs cannot be controlled by eBay, which is a threat. â€Å"It is a threat because if a customer doesn’t understand why he has to pay extra, for example delivery charges and credit card charges, he might feel cheated. If fuel prices were to rise, the cost is passed on to the consumer in terms of delivery and postal fees. This could make the overall cost of an auctioned item too expensive, making customer’s look for cheaper prices†(SWOT Analysis: Lesson, 2008) Also, individuals pretend to be eBay staffs, using their logos, the send illegal e-mails. Case Question #2: What are the capabilities that have provided eBay with competitive advantage and why? hjogdnfjuhfe Case Question #3 Using the concept of sustainability and dynamic capabilities how would you manage (creating new resources and competences, investing/divesting in others extending others) Given: New entrants to market and the changing nature of eBay. Concept of Sustainability: Concepts of sustainability and dynamic capabilities are major strategies that organizations use to capture competitive edge over competitors. Sustainability of strategic capability deals with the criterion that organizations use to achieve and maintain competitive advantage over a long and sustainable period of time. Three main factors influence sustainable strategic capabilities; Inimitability, Rarity, and Value. Inimitability refers to the robustness or sturdiness of the strategic capability. It involves â€Å"identifying capabilities that are likely to be durable and which competitors find difficult to imitate or obtain† (Johnson, Scholes, & Whittington, 2008). Inimitability can be achieved through three main ways, they are; Complexity: Complexity of strategic capabilities is the quality of being intricate and compounded. When organizations like eBay have very complex strategies, it will be very difficult for new entrants to the market to imitate such strategies. An example of a complex strategy in eBay could be the internal linkages in the organization. These internal linkages deal with how eBay internally links activities and processes together to deliver customer value. Internal linkages can be in form of relationship between top-management, middle-management and lower management staff. EBay has a very good communication network that allows for efficiency which will in turn produce efficiency and increase customer satisfaction. Organization can also build external interconnectedness with its customers to make it difficult for their strategies to be imitated. When developing new resources, organizations can seek opinions or partner with their customers or clients to generate idea that will add value to the company and also generate strategic capabilities that are robust in nature. †¢ Culture and history: Culture and history are very unique to each organization. It is almost impossible to find two organizations with similar cultural background. When investing or divesting in resources, organization should make sure their investment is culturally inclined. When strategies are linked to cultural embeddedness, there is the â€Å"likelihood that such competences have developed over time and in particular way. The origins and history by which competences have developed over time are referred to as path dependency, are specific to the organization and cannot be imitated† (Johnson, Scholes, & Whittington, 2008). Causal Ambiguity: Ambiguity deals with not being able to discern the meaning or cause of a particular effect. It is very difficult for organizations to imitate another organization when the former cannot easily discern the cause and effect of the latter’s success. Organizations like eBay have varying causal factors that affect its success in the industry that other competitors find hard to discern. Other factors that affect su stainable development include the rarity and value of the strategic capability. When an organization is seeking competitive advantage, it needs to make sure the resources it’s investing in have huge values to the customers and they should be very unique and rare capabilities. Unique resources and competences can include marketing strategies that are peculiar to the particular organization. Dynamic Capabilities The changing environment in the business world today calls for the implementation of dynamic capabilities. Dynamic capabilities are â€Å"an organization’s abilities to renew and recreate its strategic capabilities to meet the needs of a changing environment† (Johnson, Scholes, & Whittington, 2008). Dynamic capabilities help organization to integrate, build, and reconfigure internal and external competences to address the ever changing environment. When an organization is developing, investing, divesting or extending in resources, it should be able to transfer and modify existing resources to keep competitive edge over its competitors. The organization should have intellectual skills that can easily implement new capabilities to foster development. PART D: Implications and Recommendation Implications The following are the implications of the case study Making eBay Work: Competitive and Cooperative: Competition and Cooperation are one of the major elements used to successfully excel in the business world. Form the case it is observed that eBay is very competitive and cooperative. Competitive in the sense that eBay bought companies like Skype, the internet telephony organization (http://www. skype. com/) and PayPal an online payment system (www. paypal. com/) in order for it to keep up with the evolving activities on the internet. GMarket in Korea had a less complex system; so eBay created eBay express to meet up to customer needs in Korea. Bay is cooperative in the sense that it partnerships with companies like Google, yahoo and Baidu in other for it to be more effective in its services. Customer Friendly: Some organizations do not pay attention to the needs or complaints of their customers and take the appropriate measures to satisfy them, but eBay listens to customers and tries to keep up with what they want to sell, buy and how they want to do it. This brings about profitability, good reputation and more customers. So every organization should try to be customer friendly because it serves as an advantage to them. The great importance of Technology: The basis on which eBay operates is technology that’s why it’s of great importance to them. eBay endeavours to up grade their systems to fit the latest technology, make sure the site is accessible at all times, ensure no fraudulent activity or illegal transaction is carried out in the site and also ensures that the site is virus free. This helps eBay to operate effectively. Staying Aware and Flexible: eBay tries to stay aware and flexible at all times. The company tires to get feedback from customers, complaints, suggestions and also take note of customer activity on the site. This helps eBay to make necessary adjustments in other to satisfy their customers. Nearly all of its fastest-growing new categories emerged from registering seller activity in the area and quietly giving it a nudge at the right moment. For example eBay noticed a few car sells on the site so the company created a separate site called eBay Motors which has special features such as vehicle inspection and shipping. Organizations should try and stay aware and flexible in running while running their business. Good management can make a positive difference in an organization: Having a good manager or management body in an organization can make the organization excel. When Meg Whitman came into eBay in 1998 she made eBay become data and metric driven and she also brought about strategies which made eBay work better. eBay had a software problem and this caused the site to be shut down for 22 hours. When Maynard Webb was brought into the company as the president of eBay he quickly upgraded the systems and make sure they are upgraded constantly and this makes the site function more effectively. Have a good knowledge about a particular market before entering it: It is observed from the case that eBay is not doing well in the east but is doing well in the west. It pulled out of Japan, is suffering in Taiwan and it lags behind a rival in China. This shows that eBay those not have the right strategy to excel in those areas so it is advisable to have a vivid knowledge and strategy about a particular market or area before entering it in order to excel. Recommendations The following are the recommendations for the case Making eBay Work. eBay is not doing well in the east, in order for eBay to do well in the east it should either buy GMarket or partnership with GMarket in other to be successful. Since GMarket is big and successful it would not allow eBay to buy them so if eBay partnerships with GMarket it will be more successful in that area. If eBay is very tactical they can be better than GMarket in the long run. Like the saying goes â€Å"If you can’t beat them join them †. So eBay will be better off if it partnerships with GMarket. eBay pulled out of Japan, is suffering in Taiwan and it lags behind a rival in China. In business it is advisable never to give up so eBay should reengineer its self so it can function better in countries like Japan, Taiwan and China. †¢ One of the lessons of the chapter 3 (Managing strategic capability) is that strategic capability often lies in the day-to-day activities that people undertake in organizations. So developing the ability of the people at eBay in other to recognise the relevance of what they do in terms of strategic capability of the organization is important. Bay should organize training and development in specific areas and also develop people’s awareness that what they do in their jobs matters. This will help achieve competitive success and increase their motivation. Bibliography Johnson, G. , Scholes, K. , & Whittington, R. (2008). Exploring Corporate Strategy. Essex: Prentice Hall. S WOT Analysis: Lesson. (2008, February 12). Retrieved March 23, 2009, from Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT): http://www. marketingteacher. com/Lessons/lesson_swot. htm ———————– Experience Supply cost Product/process design Economies of Scale Cost Efficiency