E-Business Paper

E-Business Paper Jim Jones ACC/340 Joyce Williams December 3, 2012 ? Barnes & Noble has functioned well as a brick and mortar store since its inception. The company has developed over the years by adopting new products and keeping up with e-commerce as it has started develop. The company has been able to keep up with changes in the economy due to the development of the internet and e-commerce. We will examine how e-commerce has affected how the world around has changed. E-commerce has taken affect on how supply and demand functions in markets. Price is a bigger point on an online purchase than it is in brick and mortar stores.It is much easier for customers to search for a product and the cost of them doing their research is greatly decreased. A customer is able to see all or most of the products that are available and are easily able to compare them side-by-side. Many retailers do not have brand recognition. This is due to the somewhat high turn around in the internet business along with newer existence of e-commerce. Online stores may not be able to exist in markets that have high demand products where the consumers want the product now. For this reason, there are not many online markets for perishable products.This is due to the delay because of shipping needs to occur and the high cost of immediate shipping. There is a lower cost for e-commerce because you have less overhead and you do not need to go through a middle man to get your product. Many internet stores will sell to customers that live nowhere near their physical location. This allows a company to break into a whole new audience that they would not have been able to develop with just one physical store. A deterrent for using an online store is the time it takes to get a product after it has been ordered.Most physical items that can be delivered through an online store are also available at a brick and mortar store. Consumers will weigh the opportunity cost of waiting to determine if it is worth the wait. For this reason, some brick and mortar stores can justify higher prices for high demand products. A risk that some businesses run into is their consumers’ personal information. There is an extra cost the secure their consumers’ information. Information like an address or a consumer’s social security number may be stored in the online system so it is important to protect this information.A large benefit from using a business through e-commerce is that there is a lower distribution cost. This often occurs because certain areas of the supply chain have been removed. The development of the internet has made it much easier to track trends. This means that there are fewer inventories that need to be maintained because we can easily determine when certain products will be bought. Since there is already a delay because of shipping times, it is less of a problem when something is out of stock versus a brick and mortar store. (Lieber, 2011)Barnes & Noble has been a ble to keep up with its main competitors Amazon and Google by investing in its Nook e-business and developing an online store for physical books and e-books. Over the second quarter in 2012, Barnes & Nobles’ â€Å"digital content revenue grew 38 percent during the second quarter, but that was down from a 46 percent increase in the fiscal first quarter. † (Anderson, 2012) Despite the shortcomings of the most recent fiscal quarter, the overall stock for Barnes & Noble has increased by 11 percent throughout the past year.Barnes & Nobles’ e-business continues to be challenged by the further development of Apple’s iPad Mini, new Amazon Kindles and Google’s Nexus tablet. Barnes & Noble has done fairly well to keep up with the e-business competition and has only lost 3 percent in revenue from brick and mortar stores. (Anderson, 2012) Where Barnes & Noble falls short is their lack of apps for their tablets. Some of the other tablets are selling better beca use they are multi-functional whereas the Nook primarily functions to read books and magazines.Barnes & Noble has done well to keep up with the competition and maintain a viable stronghold in the bookstore industry. ? References Anderson, M. (2012). Barnes & Noble reports net income for 2Q. Retrieved from http://www. miamiherald. com/2012/11/29/3118537/barnes-noble-reports-net- income. html#storylink=cpy Lieber, E. , Syverson, C. (2011). Onlive vs. Offline Competition: Prepared for the Oxford Handbook of the Digital Economy. Retrieved from http://home. uchicago. edu/syverson/onlinevsoffline. pdf

Natural monopoly Essay

The concept of â€Å"Natural Monopoly† comes from economics. It is a situation in which majority of the portion of market is covered by a single firm or company. The goods, services or products offered by the company covers the maximum portion of the market. A Natural Monopoly is a situation in which the cost of producing the product (goods or services) is lower due to economies of scale. In a situation of Natural Monopoly, there are no close substitutes to offer the same product or services. Economies of scale is a situation or condition in which the cost to a company of producing or supplying each additional unit of a product or service decreases as the volume of output increases. Economies of scale is not the only reason for the existence of monopoly. A Natural Monopoly also exists because of sole access to a particular resource or technology and because of the use of non-market means to eliminate competition, including buying up competitors and colluding with customers or suppliers to discriminate against competitors. A Natural Monopoly also exists even if there are multiple competitors in the market. In such case, the firm which can attain the largest volume of output and the lowest production cost will be called as a Natural Monopoly. All the other firms will have to exit the industry because they are unable to compete on a price basis. Basically, it is very difficult for any competitor to enter the market of natural monopoly because of very high cost of production facilities which includes the cost of infrastructure. There is also a high uncertainty among the intended competitors that they will be able to oust the existing monopolist. Some of the most commonly used examples for natural monopoly are utilities such as water supply system, electric power transmission system, railroads and pipelines. Though it is very difficult for any intended competitor to enter the market of natural monopoly, but it is very important for us to remember that natural monopoly is not permanent. This is because technological advances can lead to the development of new forms of competition for an industry, change its cost structure and affect the demands for its products. For example, canals were once a natural monopoly for bulk transport in parts of Europe and the U. S. , but these monopolies disintegrated during the nineteenth century as a result of the development of railway.

Act 3 Scene 5 dramatic in romeo and juliet Essay

The play Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona, Italy, in the 1600s. During this time violence and rivalry had been common around rival families; fighting and feuding because of their differences. Discipline was an issue in a household. Rules and regulations were to be obeyed and if one chose to break the authority, their sins would have to be confessed to the church. Religion was very important to a catholic family. Going to church and praying was an obligation. Parents had a strict conduct at the time. Weddings were arranged usually by the father of the household; mainly choosing a wealthy man to suit his daughter. Most children from rich and influential families were cared for by a Wet Nurse; normally a lady who had lost a child previously so she would care for another child as if it were her own. As Juliet grew up her wet nurse became a very important figure in her life. William Shakespeare creates tension when Capulet sends Lady Capulet to Juliet’s room to tell her of the marriage they have planned for her. The audience knows that Romeo and Juliet are married and actually in bed together. The audience wonders if the lovers will get caught. As Romeo and Juliet are lying together in Juliet’s chamber they discuss whether it is morning or night. †It is not yet near day: it was the nightingale, and not the lark†. Juliet is pretending that it is not morning, all the while Lady Capulet is on the way to her room. Juliet’s nurse breaks the atmosphere of tension when she warns that Lady Capulet is approaching the room. †Your lady mother is coming to your chamber, the day is broke, be wary, look about†. Romeo escaped out through the window just in time. †Farewell farewell, one kiss and I’ll descend† When Lady Capulet enters Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to cause confusion and misunderstanding between Juliet and her mother. †Indeed I shall never be satisfied with Romeo, till I behold him- dead†. Lady Capulet believes Juliet wants Romeo dead, however the audience is aware of the truth; Juliet’s heart is dead without Romeo. When Capulet enters he speaks kindly to Juliet at first but becomes insulting and violent. Shakespeare is the master of the Elizabethan insult. This makes the scene extremely dramatic for the audience. Capulet threatens Juliet †hang thee young baggage, disobedient wretch, I tell thee what, get thee to church a’ Thursday, or never after look me in the face†. Juliet’s father is confused at how his daughter isn’t thankful for the marriage arrangement he has made for her and takes it personally which makes him react unsympathetically. Lady Capulet stands back and watches, not wanting to help her daughter from unrestrained fathers anger. Juliet pleads with her mother to call the wedding off but she refuses to interfere. †Talk not to me for I’ll not speak a word, do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee†. The audience would feel pity for Juliet, as a parent deserting their child is a very dramatic statement. The nurse is aware of Juliet’s grief and hopelessness and she suggests that Juliet marries Paris even though this will be bigamy. †I think it best you married with the county, o he’s a lovely gentlemen†. Juliet is discomforted at her nurse’s proposal so she goes to see Friar Laurence to see if there is anything he could do to stop herself from marrying Paris. Juliet then states that if this fails she will kill herself. †Ill to friar to know his remedy, if all else fail, myself have power to die† this is a self-fulfilling prophecy, which the audience will understand because it was mentioned in the prologue. The fact that the audience knows that the ‘star-crossed lovers’ will die creates a dramatic atmosphere. Shakespeare makes act 3 scene 5 dramatic through the use of many techniques viz: dramatic irony; the creation of suspense; the use of insults and the prophetic prologue. All of this would have ensured that an Elizabethan theatre audience were sat on the edge of their seats throughout the dramatic and exciting performance. Of this, Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy.

Turnover Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Turnover - Research Paper Example = $ 2,059,200+ $ 187,200 = $ 2,246,400 The Administrative staff Turn Over Cost: 1- Administration turnover per year = 2 2- Number of Interviews to be conducted for one Administrative staff recruitment = 2* 3 = 6 3- Time taken in each interview = 45 min + 20 min = 65 min per interview 4- Total time required to be spent on Administrative staff turn over interviews = number of interviews * time of interview * hourly cost of interview = 6* [65/60] * $ 18 = $ 117 5- Total cost of Administration Staff for the University of Mellencamp = Hourly rate payment + Benefits + turn over cost = $ 2,059,200+ $ 187,200 + $ 117 = $ 2,246,517 Cost of Support Staff: Assumption: The working hours for an employee of the University of Mellencamp are 8 hours per day and the University works 5 days per week. e. Present Support Staff = 1200 f. Number of working hours in a week = 40 g. Therefore, working hours in a year of 52 weeks = 52*40 = 2080 hours h. So, cost of Support Staff to University of Mellencamp = Hours of work * Hourly rate* number of Support Staff = 2080 * $ 12 * 1200 = $ 29,952,000 (ii) Benefits to Support Staff = 2080 * $ 5* 1200 = $ 12,480,000 (iii) Cost of Support Staff = Payment of Hourly rate + Payment of benefits = $ 29,952,000 + $ 12,480,000= $ 42,432,000 The Support Staff Turn Over Cost for the University of Mellencamp 5- Support Staff turnover per year = 65 6- Number of Interviews to be conducted for one Support Staff recruitment = 65*2 = 130 7- Time taken in each interview = 45 min + 20 min = 65 min per interview 8- Total time required to be spent on Support Staff turn over interviews = number of interviews * time of interview * hourly cost of interview = 130* [65/60] * $ 18 = $ 2,535 5- Total...If more details of University courses being taught are made available it could help the decision making more viable. The above being the actual turnover position of the University of Mellencamp it is essential that the institution has to rethink on the points arrived as recommendations above. The activities of the institution will become cost effective only if radical changes are implemented with immediate effect.

Explaining the FITT principle and how it can be applied to a Essay

Explaining the FITT principle and how it can be applied to a progressive workout plan - Essay Example The overall goal is having all students through self - evaluation, create and implement a personal fitness plan to be carried out over ten physical education classes† (Newshour, 2002). Every element is quantifiable, and can have different tools and activities paired to insure an optimal result. FITT is primarily used for students at the pre-college level and is used for people doing low to medium-rate excercising. But FITT can be applied to an individual person to raise their success. Frequency is an attempt to balance cardiorespiratory and strength elements as well as having a comprehensive strength approach by varying activities from day to day. Cardiorespiratory sessions should dominate, from three to six weekly sessions: More is not helpful. For strength, frequency varies on the goal. If the goal is even development of nurses from all sides and approaches, then thre e to four sessions weekly is a good goal. A good pattern for most elementary schools, then, might be three ca rdorespiratory and two strength tests. FITT teaches the individual working out that cardio is far more important than weight, and even if someone wants to boost weight for whatever reason more than cardio, cardiorespiratory skill is essential to consistently lifting weights and building strength techniques. Flexibility and general endurance are key parts of strength training. Strength should fit between sessions. Ideally, for a person working out for their own health, five cardiorespiratory sessions a week and three strength sessions would be a good balance. This means one day, likely on the weekend, will have a cardiorespiratory warmup and lifting after. The person can either take a break between the two or simply move on to both. Intensity is a measure of how much is being achieved and how hard the work is. Heart rate is the primary indicator for Intensity. Beats per minute is measured simply, by a finger on the wrist, arm or neck. Maximum BPS end up being around 220 – age. The target rate rate is 50-70% of that. Ten year olds, for example, may want to see a heart rate of 105 to 147. Advanced PE classes or sports clubs might go for 70-85 percent. Someone starting out this workout should measure their BP every five minutes throughout an activity. If the measurement is too low, they should increase their pace; if it's too high, they can start ramping down. Changes need to be gradual: Nothing causes inconsistent workouts faster than people overexerting themselves then running out of gas. Meanwhile, intensity can only be determined by the person themselves for strength. Bench presses, leg presses, squats, cleans and jerks, curls, calisthenic weights, resistance weight technologies, pull-downs, handlebars... all of them are going to have different performances. The intensity that should be aimed for is a feeling of dull aching in the muscles, a gentle burning. Some pain and soreness is okay, but if it is serious, feels like a pulled muscle or lasts too lon g, it's time to ratchet back for some time. Once someone gets a feel for how they can lift weights and build strength, the hope is to keep the same sensation as the goal and increase the weight so that there is a clear path of higher and higher weight intensity. Time is the next measure. Cardio training should always aim for about 20 to 30 minutes. Strength training is measured by

Management of Human ReSOURCES class discussion wk7 Coursework

Management of Human ReSOURCES class discussion wk7 - Coursework Example e job and there are many other applicants with similar qualifications, then the next screening stage should determine if they can be engaged employees in the company because they believe in and practice the organization’s core values and principles that shape its culture. A great example is Southwest Airlines that hires people who are fun-loving and can be team players. It is not focusing on the employee-job fit alone, but on the employee-organization fit. I believe that the elements of the employee selection process that are absolutely essential are determining valid and reliable assessment techniques because they must be able to measure the right predictors for the company. These predictors refer to skill, knowledge, ability, personality, and behavioral styles (including communication style) that are important for the organization and the job opening. For instance, the personality traits of being gregarious and exuberant are more important for a real estate broker than a computer engineer. HR must be able to use the proper assessment techniques that will predict the candidate’s employee-job fit and employee-organization fit. I think the methods of job applicant assessment that are most useful and/or provide reliable results depend on the job. I believe that, for entry-level jobs, work simulations would be useful in determining if the applicant can truly perform the job. An example is letting a call center job applicant take a mock customer call to determine if she can handle calls politely and effectively. Assessment centers are more appropriate for managerial and higher-level positions because they can observe and check the applicant’s actual knowledge, skills, and attitudes in different situations. Interviews are important for any position, nevertheless, because they can show how the candidates communicate and how they respond to different cases and

Criminal justice computer crime and patriot act Coursework

Criminal justice computer crime and patriot act - Coursework Example How has technology advanced these "crimes"? An evaluation on cybercrime legislation embraced by the different states of the United States of America is an informative exercise for various reasons. The states, which constitute the United States of America, have assumed fundamental cybercrime legislation that is completely different and unique to each State. There is a countless deal of disparity both in the coverage and in terms of methodology in the cybercrime legislation embraced by the different states. The cybercrime laws of states are seldomly modeled after federal registrations and as such, they contain very great variations (Schmalleger, 2012). This variation is the product of several reasons. One factor is the relative promptness with which cybercrime has risen as an individual problem. Cybercrime is a new phenomenon, and states, expectedly, differ extensively in the swiftness with which they address the kinds of behavior that can be classified as "cybercrime.† In additi on, the vague characteristic in the term of "cybercrime" are challenged by what appear to be completely new varieties of criminal action. This in turn needs the implementation of different substantive criminal legislation (Siegel, 2008). Other States are faced with "old wine in new bottles," For instance, the use of the Internet technology to enable the directive of long existing offenses such as fraud. This vagueness can produce misperception and delay among state legislators. Further, the complexity of the issue at hand, in that most of the criminal activity encountered in the real world unlike the types of illegitimate actions that transpire in cyberspace can be quite difficult and therefore present untrustworthy among lawmakers at both the state and federal level (Schmalleger, 2012). While one can validate the loopholes that presently exist in state cybercrime legislation, this situation should not continue particularly in a nation that takes pride in its technological progressi on. Breaches in the law, particularly in the law related to cybercrimes-benefits individuals who are involved in socially intolerable behavior at the expense of innocent people. Though it is an intolerable state of affairs, the effects of this failure to legislate can be predominantly be egregious in dealing with the cyber crime in the world in which persons can be ill-treated by people whom they have not met (Schmalleger, 2012). One feature of the cyber world is the ability to guard themselves from the frequently imaginative plunders of online criminals. Eventually, the implementation of applicable cybercrime legislation is a step taken towards identifying that cybercrimes characterize a different phenomenon in unlawful action such as the globalization of the conduct of criminals. In addition, the globalization of criminal conduct is a phenomenon, which all jurisdictions - national as well as sub-national - must combine to combat in order to handle the delicate issue of cyber crime . 2. Is it true that the only way to secure freedom is to curtail it during times of national crisis, such as free speech, right to privacy, etc? Why or why not? In America, freedom of speech is a cherished fundamental right. It is protected by the fourth amendment in the U.S constitution. However, in some cases this right can be withheld. This case include Incitement to crime, fighting words that might in themselves cause the hearer to breach peace since they are seen as a threat to the individual security and can easily cause violence (Jacques & Wright, 2010). The right to free speech faces the strongest challenges during times of crisis. In

Texting While Driving Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Texting While Driving - Essay Example The reality is that every day thousands of text messages and emails are sent and read from behind the wheel by America drivers, and indeed drivers all over the world. Driving while texting has been claimed to cause accidents for the following reasons; it reduces concentration and prevents the driver from focusing on the road and the cars ahead beside or behind him/her. This is because texting takes up a good deal of sensory, motor faculties which are required for drivers to put their full focus on the road. As a result, they are likely to veer off the road and/or cause accidents resulting in fatalities for the driver passenger’s pedestrians and other road users. Despite this, others claim that texting while driving is fine and no more dangerous than eating or talking to the passenger next to the driver in the car. In fact, by virtue of driving itself being dangerous, we have speed and age limits; therefore, it transpires then that if one is qualified to drive he/she should als o be qualified to text while driving. However, if the argument is followed to its logical conclusions it will imply actions be banned based on the rate of death. In such a situation texting and driving would not be the only thing banned, even driving itself would be outlawed given its high death toll even in the absence of distractions. Bearing in mind that texting has become almost second nature to most people, it begs the question whether people should be encouraged to avoid driving and texting or trained on how to do both. Quizzed on the effects of this, proponents of this debate assert that they did not find texting while driving to be a significant risk; some are of the opinion that texting is no more different from using GPRS to check for directions (Stephens). The American federal and state laws have tried to limit mobile phone activity while driving, and this has included banns or limitations from calling or texting while driving. However, it is notable that the matter is no t unequivocally agreed on since not every state has banns on texting or calling while driving. Thirty nine states have banned texting and driving while five have outlawed the same for novice drivers; school bus drivers in 19 states are not allowed to make phone calls, only in three states are they forbidden to text while driving; Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas (â€Å"Cellphone and texting laws†). In year 2010, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration realized that the number of Americans texting or otherwise manipulating cellphones and driving had risen to 0.9 percent (â€Å"Driver Electronic Device Use in 2010†). Majority of those who text while driving, fall in the teenage and young driver bracket, and they are likely to do more than just text since with smart phones they can access Facebook and other social networking sites which may be more involving than texting. Ultimately, despite the many opinions on the issue, the law seems bent on outlawing the pra ctice since the opinion of the majority is apparently not in favor of allowing it. This can be seen in that most states have outlawed it, and in most cases should a police officer find someone driving and texting in this states they may charge you with dangerous driving. One of the leading insurance firms in the country, nationwide insurance has also strongly supported the ban for Texting While Driving-TWD (â€Å"Nationwide Insurance†¦

International Business and Global Strategy Essay

International Business and Global Strategy - Essay Example As labor productivity rises, cost of production falls and producers profit rises (Baumol & Blinder, 2010). This leads to hike in overall wage rate in the economy. With rise in profit, there is technological advancement in the productive process and also capital per worker rises since the producer gets the incentive to expand production. This again boosts labor productivity (Bruce, 2004). When NAFTA was signed this fact raised concern since with lower productivity per worker the Mexican industries would deteriorate under free trade. 2. The Heckscher-Ohlin theorem explains that when a country engages in trade with another country, it would export those goods that utilize higher quantity of those factors of production, that are available in abundance in the country and would import those goods, production of which require relatively higher amounts of factor that is relatively scarce in the country (Arora, 2007). In simple terms, a country would export capital intensive commodities if th e capital to labor ratio is higher in the country compared to labor to capital ratio (Cherunilam, 2008). However, there is considerable debate regarding the validity of the Heckscher-Ohlin theorem. ... , although the United States has been acknowledged as a capital abundant country since the time of World War 2, it imports capital-intensive goods while exporting labor-intensive goods (Iastate, n.d.). Several economists have tried to provide an explanation for this paradoxical result, including Leontief himself. One reason behind this result is the notion of demand reversal. According to this concept, the US has relatively higher preference for capital intensive commodities. This raises price of capital while the price of labor is ultimately lower than capital. This indicates that US follows the H-O theorem while exporting labor intensive goods. Secondly, it is also argued that the US is a skill abundant country. Therefore, following the H-O theory the US exports labor intensive commodities. Although these explanations corroborate the H-O theorem, it is undoubted that the theorem in its own accord falls short of describing the pattern of international trade. Most of the assumptions underlying this theory are not realistic, such as; all countries do not have identical technology of production and all production processes do not follow constant returns to scale. Hence, according to my opinion, the H-O theorem needs to be reframed so as to be able to make more accurate predictions about international trade. 3. Flexible exchange rate system refers to the monetary system in which rate of exchange between two currencies belonging to two different countries is determined by market forces, i.e., the â€Å"forces of demand and supply† (Siddaiah, 2010, p. 43) existing in these countries. This system of determination of exchange rate between two currencies allows the foreign exchange market to determine actual worth of a currency. Therefore, changes automatically occur in the

Contract Law on Offer and Acceptance Case Study

Contract Law on Offer and Acceptance - Case Study Example Hence Brenda succeeds on the both the counts against Andrew. Tuesday Morning: Brenda replied by e mail that the price of 50 was a mistake instead of 500 and offered to Andrew the car at a discounted price of 450.and kept the offer open till 12.00 p.m on Friday. and Andrew replied that he would consider the new offer though expressing annoyance at Brenda's mistake. Brenda had corrected the price on the website before receipt of Andrew's offer. An offer is made when one person signifies to another his willingness to do or not to do a certain act with an intention that it shall be binding on the offeror if accepted by the person to whom the offer is made. The latter is called 'offeree"1 The offeror's signifiying act called expression of willingness may be by means of a letter, newspaper, websites, e mail and also by conduct by which an offeror may be genuinely offering or just displaying an act what is known as 'invitation to treat" As such goods advertised are only 'invitation to treat'. 2 They are of unilateral nature i.e. open to the whole world to accept such as offer for rewards etc. 3 In Partridge v Crittenden [1968], appellant Patridge had been convicted for sale of banned variety of bird punishable under Protection of Birds Act 1954 by inserting a classified advertisement in a journal without mentioning the words "offer for sale" In the appeal it was held to be an invitation to treat and not an offer for sale and co nviction was set aside. On the other hand in the case of Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co [1893], an exception was made because the offeror meant business by depositing a certain sum of money as a reward for any one contracting influenza inspite of using medicine. So they could not escape liability stating their offer was an invitation to treat. Question arises website advertisements are offers or invitations to treat, relevant the instant case of Andrew v Brenda. .An offer is a set of conditions contemplating acceptance and capable of being accepted. "Thus in Thomson v James (1855) 18 D 1, Lord President MacNeill said, 'an offer is nothing until it is communicated' (at p.10). This is because an offer is not capable of acceptance until it has been communicated to the offeree" 4 "It is important to be able to differentiate between these invitations to treat and true offers, as acceptance of an offer creates a concluded contract whereas 'acceptance' of an invitation to treat is merely an offer. To assist in the identification of such invitations the law has developed presumptions as

Combining Nurse Leader with Advocacy Personal Statement

Combining Nurse Leader with Advocacy - Personal Statement Example This enables me to work with any medical organization in any part of America. However, due to the short duration that in the nursing profession, I have not managed to be a member of many professional associations, except in the Nursing Association of America, but am aspiring to be involved more and more in nursing and other professional associations (Manco-Herrman, 2006). Regarding career planning, I can say that I fully understand my role as a nurse, and know the requirements and description of my nursing profession. I understand that my greatest service is to the people, especially among the patients without showing any partiality. I am a goal driven individual, and my dream to become a renowned nurse in the nursing field driven my career. I would wish for a nursing profession where the nurses, particularly starting from me, will be able to deliver services to the customer, not just because they are in the profession, but because it is ethical to do so regardless of the money paid. I believe that this future career path can be achieved through determination and willingness to growth. Though career development might seem expensive, there have been sponsoring that offer training and financial support to nursing professionals who wish to grow and develop their careers. This enhances flexibility and gives the capacity of nurses to adapt to the future scenarios (Massella, 2005). As concerning the personal journey disciplines, I can rate myself as good, aiming to become excellent. During the short duration that I have been in the nursing field, I have been able to take part in action learning. This has enabled me integrate the problem solving techniques with the already acquired skills to enhance the delivery of services to customers. Normally, when left to make decisions regarding the welfare of the patients, I personally evaluate the condition or the situation, make decisions, decide on the most appropriate decision and personally reflect on those decisions to de termine their feasibility. However, I have not been fully involved in council planning, but I have participated in leadership trainings where I have acquired skills regarding leadership. Nevertheless, through the reflective practice, I have been able to assess my leadership development plan and determine my progress in active leadership behaviors. This has enabled me rate myself as far as leadership is concerned and enable me determine the most appropriate methods and practices in leadership to enhance my development as a leader (McClure, 2005). Rating myself in terms of reflective practice reference and behaviors, I always use the guidelines that facilitate my evaluation and reflection of involvement in nursing career. These include the skills acquired, identification of my role as nursing professionals, identification of the discrepancy in nursing and also I have been able to propose the most flexible means to enhance growth of the nursing profession in the future. I normally hold integrity as the key factor in my nursing profession and a leader, and to appreciate ambiguity since it acts as a driving force encouraging my advancement in nursing career. Whenever I feel inadequate in a certain area, I always seek clarification from higher professionals or through research. People in the nursing

Learning machine Essay Example for Free

Learning machine Essay The author believes that like a learning machine the human brain is capable of adapting anything new regardless of the age of the person. This she deduces this from a number of arguments in the form of research done from different points of view but all leading to her conclusion. The author is not describing other peoples’ opinions. Rather she uses their arguments as the premises to end at the conclusion that she states at the beginning of her excerpt. The author uses information on neural plasticity from presentation done by Gregg Recanzone using animals, Merzenich Michaels’ research on â€Å"shaping the machinery of our brains† using the elderly and   Alison Gopniks’ research on plasticity of the brain using children and the connection to the logic of imagination all from the University of California. Columbia University’s Walter Mischels’ discussion on the ability to control our desires based on the imaginations we put on them and Sir Michael Rutter of King’s college made a presentation of the effects of early institutional deprivation[1]. To arrive at the conclusion, the author used the data from done research as the premises to support her conclusion. Though the author does not use the solid research data to support her argument, she uses the findings of the research as her arguments. The research was done correctly. There are various experiments done where there was need for comparison. There was physical experimenting in the case of study. The author shows only one side of the issue. The author relies on isolated researches, which makes the findings reliable. The author makes a valid conclusion form the data that was well intended for showing that indeed the plasticity and changes in the brain is a life long process. At any time, the conclusions made should be based on concrete and sound arguments. Arguments based on facts or pre-proven researches are valid arguments. To make a conclusion, one needs to provide valid arguments that are in line with the conclusion to be made. The conclusion made should therefore be in tandem with the arguments presented to make a valid conclusion. This is because there can be a situation where there are valid arguments but an invalid conclusion. In the excerpt, the author has used valid arguments in the form done researches to arrive at the conclusion made. The conclusion is also valid. In making a good argument, there should be no assumptions made. In the excerpt, the argument that uses the animal species of a monkey to relate to the human situation is challengeable. Real research in the human context would have been the best line of action in the case study. The education sector in the United States today is a very good example. In the New York Times on 6th July 2010. The unions are accusing the government for â€Å"undermining public education†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Is the conclusion right? What is the basis of their conclusion? In the National Education Association’s convention that began on Saturday, there is no one from the Obama administration is set to speak in the convection. This is despite the previous two-year addresses that the president had made to them. They claim that they have not seen the change they hoped for from the government. â€Å"Today our members face the most anti-educator, anti-union, anti-student environment I have ever experienced,† Dennis Van Roekel, president of the union, the National Education Association, told thousands of members gathered at the convention center.[2] The angered teachers are being blamed for the prevailing situations in the public schools. There is a connection in the article and except, the teachers unions are deriving a conclusion from the arguments that I have briefly summarized among the many more in the article. The concept of using valid arguments to arrive at a conclusion is utilized here. Like any other animal man is no exception to nature. Nature requires that the species adapt to survive. The human brain is the control system of the human body, this makes it the first to respond to the changes and hence give directive to the whole body in order to survive. As we grow, the rate of responsiveness to changes will decrease. The brain is an organ in the human body, all the body tissues are subjected to wear and tear and old age makes the body not able to replace the worn out tissues as fast as before. Therefore, the brain will have worn out tissues that will make it unable to adapt as first as before. BIBLIOGRAPHY Dillon, Sam.2010. Teachers’ Union Shuns Obama Aides at Convention. The New York Times July 6th, 2010. Retrieved on 6th July 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/05/education/05teachers.html?_r=1hpw Nelson, Leah.2006. A learning machine: Plasticity and change throughout life. Retrieved on July 6th, 2006 http://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/getArticle.cfm?id=2029 [1] Leah Nelson. 2006.   A learning machine: Plasticity and change throughout life. Retrieved on 6th July 2006   http://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/getArticle.cfm?id=2029   [2] Sam Dillon. 2010. Teachers’ Union Shuns Obama Aides at Convention. The New York Times 6th, July 2010. Retrieved on 6th July 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/05/education/05teachers.html?_r=1hpw

SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE SUSTAINABILITY MONITORING SYSTEM

SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE SUSTAINABILITY MONITORING SYSTEM Introduction This paper describes about a monitoring system that monitors the sustainability of a business. It is very important for all businesses to measure their sustainability periodically from the people, planet and profit perspective to make the business operations more effective. Business monitoring system does the job of doctors where they use the medical monitoring systems to diagnose problems that cause hindrance to the sustainability of patients. The difference is that medical monitoring system monitors the health of patients while business monitoring system monitors the operations of a business activity. Proper monitoring of business can help to reduce risk by making proper decisions at proper time. Every business will have certain obligations to the people associated with it and also towards the nature. The economic aspect is also equally important. The triple bottom line or the three pillars people/social, planet/environmental and profit/economic are briefly discussed in the report. The paper also identifies and discusses the sustainability indicators of the leading energy and petrochemical company, the Royal Dutch Shell. Dimensions People, Planet and profit also called as the triple bottom line captures the essence of sustainability by measuring the impact of an organisations activities on the world. Variation in companys profitability and share holders value and its social, human and environmental capital is reflected by the triple bottom line (Savitz, A.W Weber, K, 2006). There is no universally accepted definition for triple bottom line but a positive triple bottom line indicates that the business operates in an effective manner. The figure shows the dimensions as three spheres of sustainability. People: The social impacts of the company are easier to measure when compared to the economic and environmental. Employee satisfaction, their health and safety, impacts on local community and consumers are the main factors to be monitored to ensure the social sustainability. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) identifies four core social performance indicators. They are: Labour Practices: Employment, Health and Safety, Management relations, Diversity, Training Education. Human Rights: Freedom of association, strategy and management, non-discrimination, collective bargaining. Safety: Community, Bribery corruption, political contributions. Product responsibility: Products services, Customer health safety, Respect for privacy. It is a challenge for all the organisations to be socially accountable even though the customers expect the businesses to be so. Polls conducted on corporate social responsibility found 45% of 25,000 respondents believing that higher ethical standards should be set by the companies and thus help to build a better society. 40% of them even opined to punish the companies which are not socially responsible (Miller, E, 2010). Profit: The economic dimension of sustainability concerns about the impact of the organisation on its stake holders economic circumstances. This dimension focuses on improving the economic status of stake holders rather than the financial status of the company itself. The financial indicators are considered to be the sub set of economic indicators as it focuses primarily on the profitability of the organisation for informing the stake holders and management (Slater, A, 2004). The economic performance indicators identified by the GRI are: Sales, Profit, Return on investment Tax paid Monetary flows Jobs created The economic indicators identified by the GRI divides the stake holders in to five major groups and figure the economic impact on them. The groups and the major factors that indicate their economic status are as follows: Customers: The monetary flow is indicated by the net sales and geographic break down of markets. Suppliers: The monetary flow is indicated by the cost of all goods, materials and services purchased. Employees: Total payroll and benefits that include wages, pension, redundancy payment etc indicates the monetary flow. Providers of capital: Increase or decrease of the retained earnings at the end of the period indicates the monetary flow. Public sector: Total sum of taxes and the factors such as donations to community, civil societies etc are the indicators. Planet: The ecological sustainability focuses more on meeting the needs of present generation without affecting the possibilities of future generation to meet their needs (Inge de Groot, 2001). It is important for all the organisations to give special care for nature by preventing the hazards caused to all living organisms by its activities. Companies should integrate the care for environment in to its business. This dimension considers the impact of companys activity on the environment. The environmental performance indicators considered by the GRI are: Materials: Volume of materials used and the percentage of recycled materials Energy: Direct and indirect energy consumption by the primary energy source, energy saved due to conservation, steps taken to reduce energy requirement by promoting renewable energy based products and also the steps taken to reduce indirect energy consumption. Water: Total water withdrawal and the percentage of volume of water recycled and reused. Biodiversity: Size and location of land owned near the protected areas of high biodiversity, Strategies for managing impacts on biodiversity etc. Emissions, Effluents and waste: Direct and indirect green house gas emissions and the initiatives to reduce it, emissions of ozone depleting substances, total volume of spills. Transport: The environmental impacts of transporting goods and materials used for the organisations operations and transporting the members of workplace. Company Description Royal Dutch Shell is an energy and petrochemical company operating globally which has its headquarter at Hague, The Netherlands. It is currently the global leader in oil and gas industry and also seeks to reinforce its position in order to provide a competitive return to their share holders while helping to meet the global energy demand. The company values honesty, integrity and respect for people, that forms the basis of their general principles. The company was established in the year 1907 by the oil export company named Shell and Royal Dutch, the petroleum company. The company expanded to Europe, Africa and America in the early twentieth century and excelled, as the mass production of cars has opened up a vast market. Many Shell operations closed down during the First World War, but after the Second World War, in the years 1950s and 1960s there was a dramatic increase in its oil output and sales. In 1980s, the company explored solutions for many environmental concerns by installing new technologies and launched new products. In July 2005, the parent companies Royal Dutch and Shell unified to form Royal Dutch Shell. According to the Fortune magazine, Shell has been ranked at second place in the year 2010 among the top 500 companies in the world and first among the oil companies followed by Exxon Mobil and BP, in terms of revenue. Rank Company Revenue($ Million) 1 Wall-Mart 408,214 2 Royal Dutch Shell 285,129 3 Exxon Mobil 284,650 4 BP 246,138 Shell operates in more than 90 countries in the world having around 101,000 employees working with it. It produces almost 3.1 million barrels of gas and oil everyday and has sold 145 billion litres of fuel. It runs more than 35 refineries and chemical plants. As a part of sustainable development, it has spent $2 billion on Carbon dioxide and renewable energy technologies over the last couple of years. $13 billion has been spent with locally owned companies in low and middle income countries in the year 2009. $132 billion has also been spent in the same year on social investment program. Indicators for the company This part of the paper explores the indicators used by the company to measure its performance and thus analyse the sustainability. The key indicators falling under each of the dimensions are listed below. Socio-Cultural: Human Rights: Shell has categorized the human rights into five layers. All the layers are shown below. Source: (The Shell Report, 2001, P.13) The inner layers identify the companys duty towards the staff, security and local communities, whereas the outer layer identifies the duty towards the government and also support the international codes. The company has designed a Health, Safety and Environment Management System (HSE) to protect its employees from harmful activities. Shell also supports the ILO declaration of principles and rights at work. Shell has played a major role in the development of voluntary principles on security and human rights. The company has come up with a new social management unit which identifies and promotes good practise and operations in communities. The company is also guided by the UN Global Compact, OECD Guidelines for multinational enterprises and Global Sullivan principles while investing in foreign countries. Diversity: The company has a systematic approach to manage its diversity. Shell believes that it will earn more respect if it attracts people from various backgrounds and experience. As a result, it will help the company maintain good relationship with others and help in competing in assorted cultures and markets. Security: Security involves the protection of the employees and safeguarding the shareholders investment. The company abides by the law and order which is at par with the international law enforcement standards. Armed security is used when there is any legal issue or when there is no alternative to manage the risk. There is security group that protects the employees, property and information. Health Safety: The company has a systematic approach to manage HSE. The company must follow all the Group HSE Policy and Procedures. Shell uses a parameter called Total Reportable Occupational Illness Frequency which monitors the health performance of all the employees. The year 2009 recorded the lowest mortality and injury rate for Shell. Source: (The Royal Dutch Shell Sustainability Report, 2009, P.35) ENVIRONMENTAL: Shell is always in search for new ways to reduce its harmful impact on the environment. It has come up with new substances that would cause less harm to the nature. The year 2001 was a disappointing year because it failed to meet the target and could not perform up to the mark. There was also an increase in gas flaring and oil spills which caused more harm to the environment. Climate Change: Climate change is one of the biggest challenges faced by the society today. To overcome this challenge, Shell is taking initiatives in building up an energy system for future that would reduce environmental risks. It has come up with 6 pathways that will reduce carbon-dioxide and help in achieving low-carbon energy for future. The six pathways are: Increase the efficiency of all the operations. Establish a substantial capability in CO2 capture and storage (CCS). Continue to research and develop technologies that increase efficiency and reduce emissions in hydrocarbon production. Develop low-CO2 sources of energy, including natural gas and low-CO2 fuels. Manage energy demands by growing the market for products and services that help customers to use less energy and emit less CO2. Work with governments and advocate the need for more effective CO2 regulation. Shell is now moving over to bio fuels, emphasizing more on the sustainability of the first generation bio fuels. It is an indication of the evolution of bio fuels which will help in reduction of CO2 gas in the near future. Green House Gas Emission: Shell is taking steps in inventing new technologies to improve energy efficiencies by reducing the green house gas emissions. It has been noted in the year 2009 that, the direct Green House gas emission from the facilities operated by the company were 67 million tonnes on a Carbon dioxide equivalent basis which is lower than in 2008 by 11%. Water: The World Health Organisation has stated that one out of three people doesnt get water to meet their needs. Shell uses advanced technologies to reduce the usage of fresh water though they cannot stop water usage for certain refining processes. Shells operations used around 198 million cubic meters of water in the year 2009 which is significantly lesser than the amount of water used in the previous year. The new technologies implemented by shell focuses on using recycled water instead of fresh water. Biodiversity: The company also operates in some areas which has the risk of harming the biodiversity. Shell considers protecting the ecosystem as an important factor and hence before starting any project, the company carries out analysis and tests that identify and measure the impact of the risk to biodiversity and develop strategies and procedures to minimize these risks. Ozone Depletion Substance: Halocarbons like Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) are released into the air which causes depletion in the ozone layer. In order to help in saving the environment, Shell has stopped the manufacturing of ozone depleting substances. Spills: In spite of having the procedures and systems to indicate and prevent oil spills, they do occur due to operational failure or accidents. Shell has spilled around 1,300 tonnes of oil last year which is recorded as the lowest till date. The company has suffered massive loss when a hurricane struck the Gulf of Mexico, fracturing all the pipelines. Source: (The Royal Dutch Shell Sustainability Report, 2009, P.36) Source: (The Royal Dutch Shell Sustainability Report, 2009, P.34) Economic: Shell is a group of energy and petrochemical companies that aims to meet the energy needs of the society which are environmentally, economically and socially feasible. The company generates substantial revenue for the government. $9.2 billion has been paid in corporate taxes in the year 2009. $80 billion in excise duties and sales tax has also been collected on behalf of government on the fuels and other products transported or sold. In 2009, the income of the company was $12.7 billion and returned $10.5 to its shareholders. The company also spent $1.1 billion on research and development. Their net capital investment of $28.9 billion would help their business to maintain sustainable in future. By December 2009, the production of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exceeded a total of 1 million barrels of oil. Shell came up with a new Mono-Ethylene Glycol (MEG) unit in Singapore which proved to be a key milestone for Shell Eastern Petrochemicals Complex that will be in action by mid 2010. The unit will provide a supply of 750,000 tonnes of MEG per year to the Asian Market. Shell has also started with two LNG projects called Pearl GTL which is the worlds largest gas-to-liquid plant and Qatargas 4. Pearl GTL will deliver 140,000 barrels a day of clean diesel and kerosene and 120,000 barrels a day of natural gas. Qatargas 4 will help in converting 1.4 billion cubic feet of gas into Liquefied Natural Gas. The companys financial, operational and sustainable aspects have been evaluated by certain key indicators and a score card has been set up by the company depending up on those. It can be noticed from the score card that Shell has a better sustainable development performance in 2009 compared to the previous year. Source: (The Royal Dutch Shell Sustainability Report, 2009, P.9) Conclusion The social, economic and environmental dimensions of Royal Dutch Shell have been monitored by using the relevant indicators. By analysing the figures mentioned in the report, it can be noticed that there is a consistent improvement every year in most of the areas of the company. If the social dimension is considered, the company has given more priority to the health and safety of the workers. It can be noted from the social data that the lowest injury rate is recorded in 2009 and there has been a significant reduction in the injury rate every year. $132 million has been spent by Shell on social investment, especially for projects on community development. It can be suggested that, the company should conduct a periodic survey regarding the problems faced by their workers to make their operations more employee friendly and effective. All companies especially oil companies should give major attention in protecting the nature. Recent oil spill at the Gulf of Mexico by B.P has caused huge loss for the company and also destroyed the natural resources and aquatic life. Shell has implemented new technologies to protect the ecosystem by preventing the hazardous impacts caused by their operations. It can be seen from the environmental data mentioned in the report that the company has taken steps to improve the energy efficiency, and the green house gas emission is recorded to be reducing every year. They have limited the usage of fresh water for their operations and also technologies for using recycled water have been implemented. The company should focus on preventing oil spills even though the amount of oil spilled was recorded to be lowest in the year 2009. From the graphs, it can be figured out that there is no consistency in the steps taken to reduce oil spills as it went high in 2008 compared to the previous years and again came down in the year 2009. Shell should take measures to employ new technologies to stop spills and invest more on it. The economic indicators of the company indicate that shell has made and continues to make good profits for its share holders. There is a greater transparency in the payments made by the company to the government and they have generated ample revenue for the government. The company has also invested a good amount of money for maintaining a sustainable business development in future. A significant amount has been spent on research and development. The annual income of the company and its return to share holders indicates that the Shell is economically stable. By monitoring all the performances of the company it can be concluded that Royal Dutch Shell moves in the right track of sustainable development by giving equal importance to people, planet and profit dimensions.

Social Reference Groups Family Roles And Status Media Essay

Social Reference Groups Family Roles And Status Media Essay Nowadays, there are more and more products available in the market, often supported by advertising and strong communication. The objective of the study of consumer behaviour or more precisely the customer, is to understand how people buy and consume. This analysis is very complex because each individual is unique and versatile, so not always faithful. In addition, there are many factors you have to take into consideration and there are often uncontrollable. So the actions of buyers are quite difficult to predict. For that you have to understand: What they are What they do What they think How they decide and act According to Schiffman Kanuk, consumer behaviour is principally about the search, the purchase, the use, the evaluation and the disposal of the product and service that they assume will please they needs. Moreover they are some buyer characteristics and psychology, which influence their buyer behaviour. They are four important categories: Cultural: culture, subculture, social class Social: reference groups, family, roles and status Personal: age, life cycle stage, occupation, economic situation, lifestyle, personality and self concept Psychological: motivation, perception, learning, beliefs and attitudes Here we will analyse in which way people are influenced by their psychological need, with their personal and social self-concept. But we will also see the possible influence of the symbolic consumption, the reference group influence and also the cultural group influences. First we have to understand the meaning of these words. Self concept: totality of the individuals thoughts and feelings having reference to himself as an object (Rosenberg 1979) According to Burns and Rosenberg, real self is associated with how a person apprehends herself; ideal self is associated with how a person desire to apprehend herself and finally social self is associated with how a person introduces herself to the others. There are at least two reasons: the self-esteem and self consistency (Epstein 1980) The first is associated with the penchant for the search of experiences that reinforce the self-concept. The second is the penchant for someone to act constantly with her view of herself. These two notions could be rival. Symbolic consumption: According to Levy, it is associated with the penchant of the consumer to concentrate on the meanings, apart from the real physical aspect of tangible objects. This is more a social tool who to communicate between the individual and his references (Grubb and Grathwohl, 1967). If you want that your product or brand act as an emblem it has to be culturally spread and shared (Dittmar, 1992). Reference group: A reference group is the group, which forms a comparison or a reference in their attitudes or behaviour. You can be a member or not, but anyway it has an influence, great or no on your opinions, values or attitudes. According to Hebert Hyman, it also means that you use your group as a point of reference in deciding your preferences and believes. The size can be variable, small to very large like political party or religious institution. Cultural group: Culture is what a person of a society learns from family and other important institutions. It could be some: beliefs, values or customs. (Kotler, 1996). By culture you mean societys personality as the language, laws, religions, food customs, music, artà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Culture is something you acquire. So cultural group is people who shared a same culture, and you can have three levels of subjective culture: Supranational National Group (e.g.: families, friends, shopping group) IN WHICH WAY PEOPLE ARE INFLUENCED? As we have seen before, a consumer can be influence by some factors like personal, psychological or social characteristics. First, the personal characteristics are particular to one person: Age and life cycle (according to the Royal Bank of Scotland it exists 5 life cycle stage segments: youth, getting started, builders, accumulators and preservers) Occupation, which influence the goods and services who are buying by a consumer. Economic situation (personal income, interest rates, savings) Lifestyle: activities (work, hobbies), interests (food, fashion), opinions (business, products) Personality: multi-trait approach (five-factor model), single-trait approach (consumer ethnocentrism, need for cognition, consumers need for uniqueness) Self-concept: self-image The self-concept is a multidimensional assembly (Hamm and Cunfiff, 1969; Hughes and Guerrero, 1971; Guttman, 1973) that allows people to judge them in many circumstances of social situations. :aspects_of_self_concept_002-17.gif (Hunter 2012) Broad aspects of self-concept PERSONAL SELF-CONCEPT Self-concept is often linked to the brand personality (Levy 1959, Sirgy 1982), because people usually buy a brand they think they are matching with (Dent-Read Szokolsky, 1993; Zalthman, 1997). The aim is for the consumer to fraternize with the brand. Landon (1974) thinks that people are interested in brands that fit their self-concept and personality. E.g.: Body Shop: justice and equity Brand personality, according to Jennifer Aaker is the characteristics, which are accompanied with a brand. E.g.: Pepsi is seen as young while Coca-Cola is seen as real and honest According to Kardes et al (2011), if the main goal of the marketers is to do brand awareness, then they have to cultivate a communication with real self-concept. We can take LOreal with is slogan Because Im worth it or Apple with Im a Mac or Im a PC. To the contrary if they want to change beliefs about the brand, they have to focus on ideal self-concepts. For example: US Armys slogan Be all you can be; Pateck Philippe Who will you be in the next 24 hours?) But does the brand personality really count? According to Freling, Crosno and Henard (2011) they have demonstrate in one test the effectiveness of their system based on three constituents: favourability, originality and clarity. These are directly related to the purchase decision. Attributes of products can lead to a characteristic identity for a person. For example, a teenager his with fashion jacket, which is making him self-confident, and permit to feel like a cool guy. Most of the people are carrying about some of their objects that make them what they are. And sometimes if you loose them you feel like you have lost a piece of you. We can take the example of someone who would have been robbed; very often he will have the impression of being raped. It is the same with the natural catastrophes where the people feel very depressed or are experiencing a decrease of their sense of self. Another example is in Ireland nowadays, a tradition wants that people are buried with some of their very important values objects. So we can say that the products can influence the self-concept we use and have. Russel Belk has widely contributed to the development of the extended self-notion, but William James is at the origin of the conviction that the objects we have can help the construction of our identity and that people are thanks to what they have. His physical and psychological aspect does not only define the person but also his wife and his children or the house and clothes he owns. Another example could be the automobile, according to Banning (1996), for a lot of Americans it is a valuable piece of they self. They are spending a lot of time taking care of their car. Other people are decorating their office with personal items or pictures. They also like according to Tian and Belk (2005) people like to express their personality through objects they have on their desk as mobile phone or notebook. Some people think that they could not live without these technologies. They are like a part of their brains. Moreover, the choices of the aspects you decide to affirm in the workplace demonstrate the way you are arbitrating between home and work borders. Most of the products you have are independent from your physical aspect (except from the haircut, tattooà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦we can also talk about diet and plastic surgery). By buying a certain product you can show your singularity. According to Tian et al, the research of the singularity shows the need that people have to develop and improve their social and self-personality thanks to the purchase and use of products. It allows them to make a distinction from those who are buying other products. Due to this need marketers have developed the personalized purchases (e.g. Converse, Nike or some shop where you can do your own tee-shirt). Some objects have become indispensable, like mobile phone that are permitting people to be connected with the others, but also for the adolescent to feel more adult. SOCIAL SELF-CONCEPT According to Whyte, the possession of an innovative property demonstrates the model of the interpersonal communication. With his example about the air conditioner, he says that social conformity is very high in America. So when people are exchanging with their neighbours about their new purchase it animates them to do the same purchase. Nowadays, there are the same things in residential sphere with swimming pools, trampolines, and television satelliteà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Whyte also talk about the corporate norms, which stimulate conventionality in offices. Moreover, the word of mouth (viral marketing can be associated with it) is one of the most relevant things in influencing people, in a bad or a good way. People are widely influences by their relatives and people they are seeing like friends, work partners and journalists for example. As they are submerging by advertising the informal power is even stronger and often decisive. According to Charles Cooley, self-concept is directly related to the intercommunication with other people. :The_looking_glass_self.png Consumers are influenced by their culture. It could be seen as the personality of a certain society. As a human being, culture is made by some proper characteristics like demography, norms, art or traditions. It is not easy for a person of a society to certainly define how his culture is. According to Michael Solomon, as we dont face another type of culture or environment, it is difficult to realize what are the differences about the clothes, foods and way of interacting with each other. According to McCracken, a lot of significations in our everyday life products are developed by our culture. They are giving symbolic qualities to products consistent to our culture through advertising. E.g. Calvin Klein with is ads about thinness. It exists some different rituals according to the country: Wedding ceremony for the Jewish New years celebration in France Senior high school prom in America Moreover, people can also be influenced by subcultures. They possess the same value systems established on shared life experiences. There are some characteristics as race and origins. It exists 4 important subcultures in America: Hispanic African American Asian Mature consumers For example they have common characteristics like for American Hispanics (Mexican, Cubans, Costa Ricans): Shopping is something they do in family, they are willing to buy some goods of good quality (generics are not preferred), they are brand loyal and like companies who are interested in them. We can also talk about another subculture: age, with for example the Generation Y (born 1982-2000) who are willing to use more internet than newspapers, use a lot text messaging and spend time on online social networks. :3690640303001.png Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) The reference groups are groups that can form a comparison or a reference in forming attitudes of behaviour. It can be also aspirational, informal, primary and secondary or symbolic. With the reference groups we face new way of behaviours and lifestyles, but it also inspire our attitudes and self-concept. Moreover it can develop ways of pressure to conform to our group, it could influence our products and brand choices. It can be some rock stars, professional athletes, opinion leaders or group like for example Vocalpoint, a community for moms. Celebrities endorsement is usually use in advertising to convince the consumer to choose this brand. Very often, the consumer is not even aware of the behavioural influence of the group. This is especially true is the development of social networks like Facebook, Twitter or forum where consumers talk about their experiences. You are influenced, as this is a relevant aspect of your social life. But for that you have to share the same interests. (Michener Wasserman, 1995). Kathryn Mercurio and Mark Forehand (2011) have shown that when you are watching a television ad that makes you think about your reference group, it is easier for you to remember it. It exists different types of groups like shopping, work, consumer-action, friendship or virtual groups. Shopping group could decrease the risk of your purchase thanks to the opinion of the others. Consumer-action group is for example who are fighting for a cause like Greenpeace. Concerning the friendship group, we could say that its one of those who have the most important influence on purchases with the family one. They are often more trustful with their friends than the marketers. According to Emmanuel Rosen(2002), more than 43% of the people who are travelling have made their choices of planes and hotels thanks to the advice of their friends and family. So people are very attentive to their advices, also for clothes, for the brands their purchase but also for the magazines and the films they will choose. According to Tobi Elkin (2011), the influence of the peer is the first motive in the shopping behaviour of the teenage girls. Even if they are price-conscious and attentive to interesting deal, the most important thing is that their friends and family agree with their purchase decision. With the appearance and development of Internet, virtual groups are borne. Hoegg et al (2006) recognized five types: Blogs Wikis Podcasts Social networks Social bookmarking This kind of online activity has totally changes the ways people are influenced; it has a relevant role with brand connections. Because people can easily learn about the brand they like and people are sharing recommendations for brand through these sites. Finally they are a lot of ways whereby the consumer is influenced. It could be by discussing the product, or by the pressure of the peer, by imitation or by the influence of social media. We have seen that a reference group can have a wide influence on people, principally by playing an informational role. They could also have an utilitarian influence, because people are looking for acceptance and approval. Reference groups can also be value-expressive, because they are ready to conform to the group due to the psychological need to be part of the group. They can compare their selves to the others. (Schiffman et al., 2008). According to Saul Kassin, Steven Fein and Hazel Markus (2010), we all are animate by the actions of other people. (E.g.: when someone is laughing you are often tempted to laugh too or for the musicians who are putting some of their money to encourage people to donate). Consumer conformity is when people change their behaviour to adapt to the other consumers (e.g.: compliance or private acceptance). According to Solomon Asch(1951), during a study when the judgement of a person is in conflict with the opinion of most of the other participants, he generally changes is mind even if they are wrong. There is also the anti-conformist who is willing to stop buying a brand when it is too popular (e.g.: Apple) CONCLUSION To conclude, we can say that self-concept is not just about our essential values or interests but it is also about people who are around us like family, friends, intimate relationship and group of interest. (William James, 1980). Self-concept can be related to social connections with our peers, our families or even with our reference groups. They are often using the reaction of other people to construct their opinion and themselves but also by using social comparisons. So the personal and social concept is closely related to the symbolic consumption, reference groups and social groups. Relationships are something very relevant for the construction of themselves. We have also seen that we are more willing to process the information that is consistent with our self-concept and that our self-image could be multiple (family self, friend self, student self).

Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 Essay

Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 Both Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 portray hedonistic societies. The inhabitants of both societies seek to enjoy themselves for as much of the time as possible, however only citizens in Brave New World are truly happy. This leads to the conclusion that humans can never be truly happy, according to the authors, as their natural selves. The people in Brave New World enjoy themselves with promiscuous sex, complicated sports, movies called feelies that engage all the senses, and excessive use of the mind-altering drug called soma. Their schedules are always full. A Controller relates the workings of society to some adolescent boys, telling them happily that â€Å"the old men work, the old men copulate, the old men have no time, no leisure from pleasure, not a moment to sit down and think—or if ever by some unlucky chance such a crevice of time should yawn in the solid substance of their distractions, there is always soma† (Huxley 67). When they are awake they are working or playing sports with coworkers, during the nights they attend the feelies and the parties and go home with someone to have sex with. The people are conditioned to never want to be alone, to always be engaged, never thinking further than what their job requires. For the people whose jobs require little or no thinking, special castes are created with alcohol added to the brains, destroying cognitive functions. The hedonism portrayed in Fahrenheit 451 tends to be darker. People drive cars as fast as they can to get a sense of speed, regardless of who or what they may run into. The fun houses that people go to have â€Å"games† such as the window smasher, playing into ... ...tory system until the person can no longer breathe. The overdoses of soma are few and far between however, the Brave New World society appearing to genuinely believe in its happiness and the suicide rate being correspondingly very low in contrast to the nightly attempts in Fahrenheit 451. The majority of the aspects in the two hedonistic societies are equivalent. Conditioning the minds of the population appears to prove far superior to motivating them with fear. In Brave New World the only ones who are unhappy are those who do not respond to the conditioning, who do not receive conditioning, and those who are separated from society. No one is truly happy in the society of Fahrenheit 451. Works Cited Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: The Ballentine Publishing Group, 1953. Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. Garden City, NY: Country Life Press, 1929.

Steel drums :: essays research papers

The recording I listened to is called Carnival Favorites. It is Caribbean steel drum music. It is the majority of what people listen to and play in the Caribbean. It can be related to the genre of music known as techno. Usually a basic beat is repeated while a featured instrument such as steel drums plays a melody or song. Caribbean bands are mostly comprised of a drum set player, steel drum player, and a guitar and bass player. Other bands will add in other instruments such as a keyboard, bongos, or African drums. It is played so that people will be entertained, is played to keep people’s spirits high. Steel drum music is also about dancing. Any song that is played you will most likely be able to dance to it. The music makes you want to get into groove. Unless a band is playing a cover song, the band might not have a singer. Steel drum bands, in particularly, use the steel drums to â€Å"sing† to the audience. Steel drum players are fascinating to watch because of how difficult it is to play, and players can play every note perfect in the steel pan with ease.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It differs from any American music because there are usually not any words, and is different from techno because the steel drum is used as a voice instead of a sound machine. Most music that I listen to is based on the guitar and the vocalists. Being a drummer makes me focus more on the drum parts, which is why I like steel drum bands because they are percussion featured. The steel drums, and other percussion instruments are the main attractions. The tempos of what I listen to, and Caribbean music, differ greatly. The genre of music I listen to can be up to twice as fast as Caribbean music. Caribbean music is at a mild tempo so it is relaxing and so nobody is over worked, either dancing or playing. Most steel drum players could not play at a fast speed.

Professional Marketing Report on Armani

A target market has also been chosen and studied and has appealed to the female racket. Market segmentation is also taken into consideration with the introduction of a new product as it identifies target markets by groups, which are identified by similar and distinguishable aspects while using the different segmentation groups. The report focuses on a ‘personal' profile of an individual from the target audience as well as using a score card approach along with perceptual mapping, which Indicates what the strengths and weaknesses of the fragrance may be.The fourth section of the report focuses on the product Itself as well as the different levels that are Involved In guaranteeing that the product Includes all complexities that encourage consumers to purchase the fragrance. The core, embodied and augmented levels of a product all have their own significant roles in the creation of a well-known brand. Giorgio Airman have considered whether keeping their obvious attributes or not f or the packaging and the branding of their new fragrance would confuse consumers of this well-known brand.However the new fragrance may have a different look to it, but still has the Giorgio Airman logo to reassure loyal customers of the brand's integrity. The fragrance will be classified as a premium fragrance, however Giorgio Airman have set their prices so that consumers that earn a medium income can also afford to purchase the new fragrance. This allows consumers with a medium to high Income to afford the product depending on the size bottle they wish to purchase. Promotion of the fragrance Is needed and the use of the pull and push strategy Is used to convince the target audience to purchase the product.Promotional material such as billboards, advertisements on the television, ‘pop-up' advertisements on the internet and advertisements in fashion magazines will be used to ensure publicity of the product and the report states how this will be achieved. Lastly, the distribut ion strategy is taken into consideration that involves the consistency of those of the competing suppliers. The places of distribution that Giorgio Airman will be introducing its new fragrance to will be discussed as well as the reasons behind the choice they have made to target certain wholesalers.

And of Clay We Are Created Essay

â€Å"..The weeping of orphans and wails of the injured filled the air, the little girl obstinately clinging to life became the symbol of the tragedy.† In the short story, â€Å"And of Clay Are We Created† Isabel Allende creates a story about a young girl who is trapped beneath gravel and mud. The author uses many different strategies to create this story. Allende utilizes imagery and tone to convey a better understanding of the story and its characters. One literary device Allende uses to enhance the story is imagery. Allende states, â€Å"..She was also held by the bodies of her brothers and sisters clinging to her legs.†(987). This quote tells the reader why Azucena, the young girl, was in pain while they tried freeing her from the mud. This quote is a good example of imagery because it makes the reader imagine younger siblings holding on for their lives, hoping that their older sister can save them. This quote helps the story create sympathy in the reader because losing a sibling can be one of the hardest things to do, but knowing that you were the one responsible to save them, but couldn’t and have them still there holding on, is an unimaginable feeling that Azucena dealt with. Isabel Allende uses imagery in the story many times. One of the many examples that stood out was when Allende states, â€Å"†¦Amputating arms without anesthesia.†(989). This informs the reader how people that were injured had to be treated without any anesthesia, which made it extremely painful. This quote demonstrates the use of imagery because it creates a very vivid gruesome picture in the readers mind by letting them know the extreme pain the people had to go through to be cured. This quote affects the story by emphasizing pain into the readers thinking. The author also uses good diction to establish a melancholy tone in the story. Allende mentions, â€Å"The sky is weeping.†(989). This tells the reader that it is raining, in a more dramatic way. This quote creates a melancholy tone because it instills a depressing feeling for the reader by showing that Azucena’s situation is so sad, even the skies were crying for her. Another  quote that Allende uses to establish a melancholy tone is, â€Å"†¦I felt his frustration, his impotence.†(989). In this quote Allende is stating that the character, Rolf, was so frustrated that she too, felt it. This extends the melancholy tone because it makes the reader feel sorry for Rolf since he feels weak and powerless due to the fact he cannot do anything to help Azucena. Using the good quotes, Isabel Allende makes the melancholy tone able to be seen clearly. In the story the author demonstrates imagery and tone to develop a better understanding of the story. Isabel Allende uses good examples of imagery to help the reader imagine the setting and what is happening in the story. She also uses diction to help set a tone for the story, to make the reader feel melancholy. Using imagery and tone makes a story more interesting and easier to understand, without them a story can be empty and plain losing the reader’s interest.

Our Visual Culture in Arts and Crafts Essay

Ours is a culture of spectacle, which is to say that we thrive on visual entertainment of all sorts (Mulvey, 2002). We love films, television, drama, ads, in addition to the art of the land expressed in art galleries throughout the world. We thrive on these visual entertainers, and so there is a huge industry involved in marketing visual thrills and using them on the people for a purpose. Visual culture is meant to influence the individual that enjoys it, so therefore advertisements add meaning to our lives by informing us about what is new and what is not in the all-important market of goods and services. Experts study the impact of their visual messages to people. In return for their efforts they have come to know that people are influenced by visual messages even if these messages last only a few seconds in an advertisement; and that the mind is like a long-term-memory photographer that may somehow retain everything in the subconscious part of itself. Henceforth are born marketing campaigns selling billions worth of goods and services to humanity. Films, too, cost billions of dollars. They, too, rely on the visual medium to make a living. What is more, films are seen as a necessity of modern life in terms of the culture that they allow ordinary individuals to relate to. Yes, films allow us to feel like we are a part of the culture they represent. Through films, humanity can connect. Connection and communication are the only essential facets of the media (that is, all mediums of communication). Visual art is special not only because it is related to the five senses of humanity; but also because it reveals a culture of science and imagination that we are invited to feel a part of. Every medium of communication is important in the modern world. The Internet plays an important part in the visual culture by bringing the world of visual arts into our homes. It shows us museums as well as the movies, icons of cultural visuals. Visual culture should be a subject of the communication field, as well as psychology and sociology, besides the fine arts. There are various understandings about what constitutes the visual culture, and so there are experts in visual arts that say paintings and similar art forms must not be open to visual-cultural interpretations. In other words, paintings are best left to the human soul to understand and judge (Kamhi, 2004). Visual culture is about quietude, just as much as it is about flourishing through science fiction movies such as the Matrix, and science fiction tv series like the Star Trek. These visual arts and crafts rely on the power of â€Å"effects† (which should also be read as special â€Å"affects†) seeing that these movies rely on the visual medium to produce pictures in the subconscious mind that would hopefully leave a lasting impression on the mind, depending on how powerful the visual message is. A very good medium of communication, such as the Internet encyclopedia by the name of Wikipedia, has a bad reputation because it is written by many experts and people do not always know whether those experts are real or not. Such reality conflicts are also obvious in the visual arts. Star Trek relied on special effects to make a lasting impression on the audience and also by its use of excessive, unique clothes and implements that never appeared real to the audience. We know that Star Wars is a lie, and yet we enjoy it. The reason appears to be that we enjoy unreal kinds of entertainment because they open the mind, allowing us to imagine things through the mind’s eye. All mediums of communication are open to competition and comparisons. Wikipedia may be compared to the Open Course Ware of MIT, for example, because many people find the encyclopedia useful. Wikipedia’s definition for â€Å"visual culture† appears very professional, concrete, correct and real: Visual culture is a field of study that generally includes some combination of cultural tudies, art history, and anthropology, by focusing on aspects of culture that rely on visual images. Among cultural studies theorists working with contemporary culture, this often overlaps with film studies and the study of television, although it can also include video game studies, comics, traditional artistic media, advertising, the Internet and any other medium that has a crucial visual component (â€Å"Visual Culture,† 2007). The above is actually just a part of the definition of the important culture of spectacle. Our generation of men will have literature about our visual culture in the days to come. Earlier generations of humanity did not perhaps have the kind of riches in visual culture that our generation possesses. We have excessive tv and movies that earlier generations did not have because they had not managed to make optimal use of electricity as well as scientific brains. This, indeed, is an important part of the definition of ‘our visual culture. ’ Like Wikipedia, there are visual means of communication that are rejected by certain kinds of people. In the Middle East, for example, it is considered a bad thing to enjoy Western television with girls kissing, beach babes, etc. And so, certain types of visual arts are not acceptable to particular groups of society. To put it another way, no visual culture or any other medium of communication can perhaps fully satisfy all people at the same time. Perhaps only nature can satisfy all people. Nature is an extraordinary feast to the eyes – a free form of visual art available for all and acceptable to all. Besides, nature could be compared to the films we watch and the photography we admire on the covers of golf magazines. Nature is represented by rivers, streams, oceans, mountains, lakes, green spaces, etc. What is a better feast to the eyes? We next explore how and why the visual culture of science fiction movies and tv shows is a visual form of entertainment. A viewer of both Star Trek and the Matrix may believe that one is better than the other, or that none of these visual entertainers are truly entertaining. In order to understand science fiction, it is necessary to know something about the science behind the phenomena being investigated in the film. Day after Tomorrow was a film that explored the possibility of an ice age suddenly hitting humanity when it’s time for global warming to show its true colors. It was a science fiction movie, and yet it was not an excellent representation of visual culture because the director(s) did not pay attention to good cutting/editing of the film. Similarly, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a famous name, a movie that cannot truly be understood unless one has read a book by the name of Guide to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Tom Cruise’s episode of the Matrix, on the other hand – a movie about the most handsome man losing his face after he had been in a dream machine – is more interesting because it is filmed beautifully. Beauty is a universal language, and so a viewer does not have to know the ‘secret beyond matter’ to understand the science behind the movie. It was not important to understand the science in this case because beauty was caught on tape. Both Cruise and his girlfriend in the movie are breathtakingly beautiful, and so the movie is a definite hit – one that would leave a lasting impression on the viewer. Then there was an Arnold Matrix with a similar story, and of course, the true Matrix with Keanu Reeves. Both were action-packed, and telling a different story about afterlife, or another life. Yet, Keanu and Arnold were not as handsome as Cruise perhaps, and the latter’s movie left a longer lasting effect on the girls as opposed to the boys. Keanu’s version was a hit especially among boys, although girls enjoyed eyeballing Keanu very much. Genders have differing interpretations of the visual arts. So therefore, it can be imagined that boys enjoyed Keanu’s Matrix more than the girls because boys like violent films – a sociological question to ponder, with reference to the visuals of the culture. The best visual culture of arts and films is made by the minds that work on lasting impression. Our visual culture has the capacity to change and shape people, which is why foreigners refer to Americanization as the standardization/globalization of American films and television shows available in all countries abroad. Those who enjoy Americanization and take comfort in a culture that appears tolerant and good to them, are lovers of the visual arts of the West. For them, movies such as the Matrix (all episodes) and shows such as Star Trek are culture definers. The world understands us better because of our visual arts. Thus, it is very important to concentrate on what we want others to know about us in the future. It is essential to ask: Is our visual culture going to be admired by our descendants? It would be easiest for future generations to understand us by looking at our visual arts preserved in museums, homes, books, and the on the World Wide Web. Improved technology has also made it possible to preserve films and television shows in good packaging and systems such as the DVD’s. We are providing improved quality of visual arts to our culture at all times. What we keep in our records will be taught in schools of tomorrow. Hence, it is very important to leave good messages behind, and in good quality films that easily leave a lasting impression on people. Science is a defining attribute of the modern era. What we leave behind in visual arts in terms of science fiction movies has got to reveal that we, as a society of the twenty first century, were thoroughly drenched in scientific facts and we were exploring the universe by the use of imagination. The latter generation of the twentieth century was already exploring time relativity in Back to the Future series. Besides time traveling, our society is interested in a lot more scientific details, such as volcanoes, trips to Mars, etc. Mission to Mars is a new film of bad-to-good quality, perhaps as well filmed as old Back to the Future series. Matrix is perhaps the most modern specimen. It is an unforgettable story, after all. I believe that Matrix is the paragon of modern science fiction films. But then, this is just a single person’s opinion. What society thinks collectively about a visual arts project is generally considered more acceptable an interpretation of the art form, although this argument may not necessarily be true. In the case of Matrix and its contemporary films, the fact is nevertheless that the episodes about life versus dreams were more important for the general public to enjoy in the era of quantum mechanics. Films such as Back to the Future were good in their own time – right after Einstein. Science is constantly moving ahead, and so we may expect science fiction films to improve further. Damien Broderick’s (2000) â€Å"Tearing Toward the Spike† is truly a work of art as far as the imagination of the author is concerned. Mankind is seeking knowledge at greater depths than ever before. What is the future of humanity? – Broderick’s paper answers the question with various creative scenarios, including a future that resembles a black hole, and a â€Å"‘dinosaur-killer’ asteroid† that strikes humanity in the middle of the day. At the same time, the author invites the reader to imagine any number of scenarios on his or her own. As a matter of fact, Broderick’s paper is an invitation for the reader’s very own stream of consciousness to burst forth. It is a mind opener, as well as an attempt to analyze unlimited possibilities. It is very easy to make a visual art treat using the imagination of the paper. Even so, it may very well be that the evolutionists would read the paper differently from the creationists. This is because the creationists are typically those that would like to remain compatible with their belief that the world would end when the Day of Judgment begins. On the other hand, there is no restriction on the faculty of the imagination in both the theory of creation and that of evolution. Both God and chance allow for unlimited possibilities, after all. What is more, in visual arts, it is best to have competitions of quality as well as theory. If evolutionists and creationists both make science fiction movies, they would most probably add to the spice of life in the modern world of spectacle. A variety of different visual treats is definitely good for the human soul. Besides, the greatest thing about visual arts is that it is possible for anybody in the world to join in and become an artist and/or an entertainer/performer. The quality of the visual medium must be taken care of. At the same time, since visual culture refers specifically to â€Å"culture,† it is an unforgettable truth about our world that certain forms of art are still not acceptable to all people of the world. In Iran, Buddha’s sculptures would be rejected. Similarly, Star Trek may be more entertaining than Matrix depending on what we are concentrating on in our appreciation of the craft of moviemaking. Various perspectives are involved in understanding visual culture. The fact remains, still, that our visual culture is a necessity in our lives, and must be good at all costs.

China Export Strategy

China's Export Strategy: What Can We Learn From It? Arvind Panagariya As much as by luck as by design, China stumbled onto an export and foreign investment strategy that has proved remarkably successful, helping the economy move quickly to a market-based system. experience serve as a model for other countries? But can the Chinese After three decades of inward-oriented trade and foreign investment policies, in 1979, China switched course and launched an â€Å"open-door† policy. During the 15 years that have elapsed since then, the country has ersistently, albeit gradually, liberalized its trade and foreign investment regime. This has been accompanied by a spectacular growth in GDP and During 1980-90, GDP grew annually at an impressive rate of Over the same period, exports grew at an annual rate of 11 foreign trade. 9. 5 percent. percent–more than twice as fast as world trade–and imports 9. 8 percent. More recently, in 1992 and 1993, GDP has shown annual growth rat es exceeding 13 percent. The annual growth in exports and imports during these two years has been 13 percent and 27 percent, respectively. What are the key trade and foreign investment policies that have led to this dramatic growth in China's foreign trade and GDP? And what lessons can we derive from China's experience for other economies in transition? (see box)? In the following, we examine the nature of reforms and why they worked well or poorly in particular cases. Though this study focuses on external economic policies, it is important to remember that the promotion of non-state enterprises has closely complemented China's outward-oriented – 2 strategy. These enterprises, owned collectively by local authorities in urban areas, townships or villages, enjoy a high degree of autonomy in their operations. Consequently, they have been most successful in taking advantage of the outward-oriented strategy. Promoting an â€Å"export culture† On the external front, three factors combined to give rise to China's success: adoption of an aggressive pro-export strategy by central authorities, active participation of local authorities and the presence of Hong Kong and Taiwanese investors looking for a source of cheap labor. With he beginning of the open-door policy, the central authorities began sending clear signals in favor of an export-oriented trade regime. A variety of instruments were employed to promote what may be called an â€Å"export culture†: geographical targeting, sectoral targeting, a liberal foreign investment regime, and liberal provision of export financing. Geographical targeting. China set up the so-called Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Open Cities within which economic activities– manufacturing, banking, exporting and importing, and foreign investment-took place in a more liberal environment than is available in the rest of the economy. These zones helped to serve as focal points for investment from both domestic and foreign sources and to allow China to develop links with the world market, brought in part, by Hong Kong and Taiwanese entrepreneurs. Originally there were only a handful of such zones, all in Guangdong and Fujian provinces. Over time, many features of SEZs were extended to other cities. Two features of SEZs distinguish them from the rest of the country. First, the SEZs enjoy considerable administrative autonomy in the – 3 areas of investment, pricing, taxation, housing, and labor and land management policies. require virtually no Most foreign investments can be approved locally and central clearance. Second, the SEZs offer many The economic incentives to investors not available in the inland provinces. corporate income tax, normally 33 percent for foreign funded enterprises and 55 percent for state owned enterprises, is 15 percent for all enterprises in the SEZs. All imported inputs used in exports or sold within the Zones are In addition, tax holidays free of import duty and other indirect taxes. available to foreign funded enterprises are more generous in the SEZs than those available under the national tax legislation. Depending on the amount of investment, nature of the technology, and duration of the project, tax holidays of up to five years are available. The SEZs and open cities exhibited spectacular economic performance. In 1979, the three SEZs in Guangdong were small fishing villages with virtually no industrial activity. transformed into modern cities. By the end of 1980s, they had been In 1990, the SEZs and open cities accounted for 52% of total realized investment and more than half of total exports. During 1985-90, industrial output in Guangdong and Fujian grew at annual rates of 16% and 14. % compared with 6. 9% in the rest of the economy. Sectoral targeting. Side by side with geographical targeting, China has also engaged in sectoral targeting for exports. Targeted sectors, chosen at a broad level, have included light industrial products, textiles, and machinery and electronic goods. The most important instruments of targeting were production networks for exports (PNEs) and higher excha nge retention rights to targeted sectors. – 4 The Seventh Five Year Plan (1986-90) provided for the creation of PNEs. The idea was to bring the leading factories within the targeted ector into a network and support them through subsidies for technological upgrading, guaranteed supplies of raw materials and power, preferential access to transportation, attractive purchase prices for their goods, and higher exchange-retention rights than other enterprises in the same industry. The aim of the networks was to expand both the quailty and quantity of exports of the participating factories. The first industry group to benefit from this scheme was machinery and electronic goods. PNEs have also been created in light industrial products and textiles, and farm and sideline products. Rights to foreign exchange generated by exports are shared between the central and provincial governments. For targeted sectors, the allocation of retention rights was more favorable to the province and the foreign trade corporations (FTCs), which procure and export more than 80 percent of China's exports. In the case of light industries, arts & craft, and knitwear, foreign exchange was divided in the ratio of 20:80 between the center and province. Similarly, in machinery and electronic goods, for within-quota exports, the split between the center and provinces was 35:65. Though the retention rights have been revised recently, the bias in favor of FTCs has been retained. From the available data, it is difficult to judge the impact of sectoral targeting primarily because it was broad based. textiles and light industrial products in total exports The share of did expand significantly after 1985. But the effect on machinery sector is less clear. – 5 Overall, one thing which is clear, however, is that the export share of labor intensive sector has gone up in the latter half of 1980s. export shares of heavy and light industries were 47. % In 1982, 37. 6%, and respectively, in 1982. 52. 9%. By 1989, these shares had changed to 31. 9% and Liberal foreign investment regime. China's striking export performance is related to the size of foreign direct investment flows into the country (see table). Foreign investors have been lured to the Chinese market for three reasons. First, both policies and procedures have been designed to facilitate foreign investm ent. A 25 percent foreign investment gives an enterprise the At status of a joint venture and qualifies it for various tax incentives. he same time, foreign equity investment can rise all the way up to 100 percent. Restrictions on the choice of sectors are minimal; any preferences, sectoral or otherwise, take the form of extra incentives. As a result, joint ventures have been established in sectors ranging from hightechnology to consumer goods, services, and raw materials. lower or upper limit on the amount of foreign investment. There is no In large open cities such as Shanghai, foreign investment projects up to $30 million can be approved by local authorities. The limit in smaller open cities is $10 This autonomy has illion while that in unopened cities is $3 million. greatly simplified the approval procedures. Second, employment, wage and pricing policies for joint ventures are flexible. contractual Joint ventures are free to employ any required personnel on a basis. Employees ar e subject to warnings, wage cuts and – 6 dismissal. Except for a few product categories for which prices are set by the state, joint ventures are free to set their prices both domestically and abroad. Products or services for which prices are fixed are of two types. In the first category, prices are completely fixed (e. . , products such as grain, oil, and fuel; and services such as electricity and rent). In the second category, prices are allowed to fluctuate within prespecified bands usually ranging from 10 to 30 percent (e. g. , steel, cement, timber, coal and other major capital goods). Finally, China has given extra incentives to joint ventures. As already discussed, these incentives are particularly generous in the SEZs and open cities. Since 1986, additional preferential treatment has been The available to export-oriented or technologically advanced projects. ncentives include: o Exemption from state subsidies paid to employees to cover the benefits provided by the gov ernment of China; o Priority in obtaining Bank of China loans; o Tax exemption on profits remitted abroad; o Longer tax holidays from corporate income tax; o Extra tax benefits on profits reinvested in export-oriented or technologically advanced projects; and o Further reduced land-use fees, priority in obtaining utilities, transport, and communication facilities. Duty exemptions. China has also instituted an elaborate system of Under these schemes, uty exemptions on imported inputs used in exports. the concessional share of imports was 35 percent in 1988 and rose to 50 – 7 percent in 1991. played an The schemes, introduced in 1984 or later, seem to have role in expanding China's exports. Total exports important associated with concessional import arrangements account for 64 percent of China's manufactured exports. These exports doubled between 1988 and 1991. The domestic value added of these exports is, of course, lower than of other exports. Export financing. Ready access t o export credits is believed to ontribute favorably to export performance. The Bank of China, which is the primary bank dealing in foreign exchange, provides trade credits. Credit, offered in domestic currency, is available for working capital as well as fixed investment for the production of exports and import substitutes. main beneficiaries of these credits are FTCs. of total trade credits in 1991. The They accounted for 85 percent The Bank of China also offers loans in terms of foreign exchange, primarily to enterprises in which foreigners have invested, for working capital and fixed investment. Though contributing favorably to exports, the liberal credit policy has led to a rapid expansion of outstanding loans. The total volume of outstanding trade loans at the end of 1991 was more than three time that at the end of 1985. In part, this expansion was due to the growth of exports. But perhaps it also reflects a rising ratio of export credit to total exports. According to one calculation, this ratio was 150 percent in 1988. The Hong Kong connection A key element in China's success in the world markets so-called â€Å"Hong Kong connection†. as been the In the mid-1980s, Hong Kong entrepreneurs began shifting manufacturing facilities to China, attracted by lower labor – 8 costs as wages rose rapidly at home. This link with Hong Kong has not only brought much needed capital to China but also supplied new technology, modern management practices and critical links to the world market. Today more than half of China's exports to the rest of the world are handled by Hong Kong. Of the $45 billion in cumulative foreign investment commitments to China through 1992, 70 percent came from Hong Kong. This investment went mainly to export-oriented joint ventures. A large proportion of Guangdong's export production is supervised under contract by firms in Hong Kong. Processing activity for exports in Guangdong is also carried out largely in collaboration with partners in Hong Kong who supply materials. Many items, particularly in the toy and clothing sectors, which were previously exported by Hong Kong are now exported by Guangdong. Local policies China's economic system is highly decentralized now and the implementation of policy is largely under the control of provinces. Hence, in the fast-growing provinces, provincial and local officials have been deeply involved in the development process in general and export promotion in particular. The role of local authorities in facilitating foreign investment has been described earlier. In addition, there are a number of ways in which local authorities promote exports. First, the center gives mandatory targets or export quotas for only a limited number of items or in limited volumes. But in some provinces, for Moreover, example Jiangsu, the export-quota-system is far more elaborate. aking advantage of their monopsony power, FTCs are able to buy goods from enterprises at prices well below the corresponding domestic prices. Though – 9 the economic desirability of â€Å"exports at any cost† has been questioned, the FTCs have certainly been able to operate profitably on account of the monopsony power. Second, operating within the center's guidelines, provincial authorities have been expanding Direct Export Rights (DERs) to enterprises. Because the criteria for obtaining such rights are stringent, the DERs have not expanded as rapidly as would have been desirable, however. ith DERs account for only 5% of China's exports. Third, within the State's guidelines, provincial and city governments decide the allocation of raw materials imported by using locally retained foreign exchange earnings among enterprises, collectives and TVEs and across different sectors. Provinces and cities also provide indirect export Enterprises subsidies through the provision of critical inputs such as electric power to export oriented enterprises. higher bonuses for Further incentives are provided in the form of and employees on the basis of export managers erformance. Within the guidelines laid down by the State, provinces can confer rights to trade directly upon enterprises and enterprise groups. Finally, local authorities establish joint ventures between FTCs and enterprises to promote exports. establ ished 160 of these ventures. establish another 200 such ventures. The central lesson Perhaps the most important lesson, also consistent with the experience of other East Asian countries such as Korea, Taiwan Province of China, During the Seventh Plan, Wuxi City alone In the Eighth Plan, the city intended to 10 Singapore and now Thailand, is that the key to high GDP growth rates is export orientation and eventual success in the world market. The success in export expansion, in turn, depends on the policy package, which conveys a message in no uncertain terms that, rather than shelter import competing industries, the country will give priority to export oriented activities. China benefitted greatly from the clarity of signals sent by its policy reforms. Once the reform process began, there was rarely any doubt Despite occasional policy reversals, provincial and about its direction. ity governments, which implemented policies and enterprises, both state and nonstate, were convinced tha t the country was headed towards an export oriented regime. geographical In terms of static efficiency, virtually all policies-preferential treatment of foreign investment in targeting, general and in export sectors in particular, and discriminatory exchange retention rights–were highly distortionary. Yet, they combined to give a loud and clear signal that the government was determined to change the economy's orientation away from import substitution to export promotion. – 11 – Box Can India benefit from China's experience? Operationally, the Chinese model is not very applicable to the economies of Eastern Europe or the former Soviet Union. These countries have largely rejected the planning model, which has remained an integral part of the Chinese development strategy. The countries in Eastern Europe The have already evolved far closer to the market model than China. countries emerging out of the former Soviet Union, on the other hand, are still struggling with the problem of macroeconomic stabilization. The country for which the Chinese experience is most relevant is India. Both are highly populous and, by developing-country standards, large economies. They began their development process approximately at the same time and stressed self-reliance. Both relied increasingly heavily on import substitution policies and ended up with a highly capital intensive production structure. China changed course in 1979 while India continued (with modest liberalization) on the old course. In 1991, in many ways, India stood where China stood in 1979. China's in 1979. Import and The trade-to-GDP ratio was the same as controls were rampant and the investment domestic currency was overvalued. Despite these similarities, even in India's case, lessons from China are limited. In addition to the obvious differences in political systems which lead to very different political-economy processes in the two countries, there are three reasons for this. has been highly interventionist. been in China and elsewhere in First, the Chinese approach This approach can be successful–as it has East Asia–provided the government can – 12 implement â€Å"right† interventions judiciously. India's experience during the Second, India's last four decades in this respect has not been encouraging. conomy has already evolved far closer to a market economy than that of China. have For instance, export targets and foreign exchange contracts, which helped create a pro-exports ethos in China are neither arguably desirable nor feasible in India. greater role in India than in China. Similarly, private sector plays a far Finally, India has already carried out For example, in the a rea of many reforms that China is still contemplating. exchange rate, China has a multiple exchange rate system and its exchange market is not organized along the lines of market economies. India has chieved virtual current account convertibility and its foreign exchange market is organized along modern lines. Of the lessons that have general relevance to India, the following points would seem to be the most pertinent. o First, creating a liberal and flexible economic environment along the lines of SEZs in China would stimulate greater foreign investment. The country can begin with a small number of cities–e. g. , Bombay, Bangalore, Cochin, and Madras–and, as in China, local governments may be given full authority to approve foreign investment up to a certain limit. Most important, rules of entry and exit in the zones can be made more flexible. Because these zones will be introduced in limited areas with a high growth potential, political consensus may be easier, even if this requires new legislation. Eventual success in the open zones may open the way for Currently, India does have export political consensus on a wider scale. processing zones. But the geographical area over which such zones operate – 13 is far too limited to allow for the full play of liberal policies and make them focal points of investment activity. Second, provision of infrastructure facilities through active In participation of local authorities in the reform process is critical. the fast growing provinces in China, local authorities–especially mayors of the cities–have been deeply involved in the process of development. They try to ensure that investors get speedy clearance with respect to land use, supply of electricity, water and other facilities. In India, so far, it seems that the enthusiasm for reforms has not filtered to state governments and the center may well have to take a lead in this regard, offering both carrot and stick. All incentives and reforms at the central level can be rendered ineffective if the state and local authorities, which must provide land, power, communications facilities, and environmental clearance, do not cooperate. There is an urgent need to study caefully how such bottlenecks can be removed. o Third, there is a need for a shift in the production structure towards more labor intensive industries. The share of capital goods imports in total imports is rather small in India when compared with China and other fast-growing countries in East Asia. This, combined with the fact that India's import-to-GDP ratio is small, suggests that India is far more deeply into the production of capital goods than China and other comparator countries. In late 1970s and early 1980s, China also suffered from this problem and adopted policies to change the structure of production in favor of labor intensive goods. An important part of this strategy was targeting of a few – 14 sectors, especially for exports. this route. For India, it is perhaps unwise to follow Given the country's generally neutral and rules-based approach to reforms, it is perhaps best to rely on the standard trade policy tools, particularly the structure of tariffs. Recent reduction in tariffs on capital goods should help move the economy towards more labor intensive goods. What is needed is resistance to policies that reverse the impact of this policy change. In particular, there is need for labor-market reforms. The country will not be able to take advantage of low wages of skilled and unskilled labor unless potential investors are sure that they can operate factories around the year without fears of recurrent labor disputes. This fear has been behind the highly capital intensive technologies chosen by investors in recent years. Fourth, duty exemptions for assembly type operations combined with rapid processing of imported inputs and materials by customs authorities made a significant contribution to China's export growth. In India, duty exemptions for exporters exist but an improvement in their administration and simplification of procedures leading to speedy processing by customs will help boost exports. Also, for small exporters who rely on duty drawbacks, delay in getting the drawback as well as in obtaining inputs from abroad are common. An improvement in this direction is also desirable. Fifth, it is important to note that China was welcoming of foreign investment for both domestic and foreign markets. Most of the incentives– tax holidays, lower fees on land use, flexibility in the employment of labor etc. ,–were available to all foreign investors. ventures, some extra incentives were provided. For export-oriented joint The lesson here is that – 15 fears of tariff-jumping type of foreign investment should not lead to erection of barriers. Instead, if the regime is to be tilted in favor of export-oriented foreign investments, it should be done through positive incentives. Imposition of barriers to foreign investment will only add noise to signals of openness that India has been sending. A final point concerns the importance of a â€Å"Hong Kong† connection. In India's case, there are no geographic neighbors that are as economically dynamic as Hong Kong or Taiwan, Province of China. But through cultural ties, the most India can do is to attract investments from Indians in Hong Kong and Non Resident Indians (NRIs) elsewhere in the world. While this is obviously worth doing, India has to rely on a more diversified base of foreign investors. It may be argued that to meet the East Asian challenge, investors in the United States and Europe will be increasingly looking for sources of cheap labor. With its vast pool of cheap unskilled to middleMoreover, level skilled labor, India clearly fulfills this requirement. India's economic and political institutions are also familiar to western investors. What is needed is more open policies, transparency, and infrastructure. If this can be accomplished, India may well become the primary export base for the United States and European Community in the 21st century. Arvind Panagariya an Indian national, was a Principal Economist in the Bank's Trade Policy Division and is a Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland. He earned his PhD from Princeton. – 16 Direct foreign investment into China (billion dollars) Commitment 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 (first half) Cumulative, end 1991 5. 3 5. 6 6. 6 12. 0 14. 5 48. 9 Actual n. a. 3. 4 3. 5 4. 4 3. 4 20. 3 ——————————————————————- Sources: China Statistics Yearbook 1990, 1991, Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade, China.