Friday, November 29, 2019

The Things They Carried an Example of the Topic Literature Essays by

The Things They Carried The Things They Carried is a novel describing the War in Vietnam as seen by a soldier who is both the narrator and the protagonist of the 22 stories that make up the book. Although the events are fictional, it is worth noting that the author, Tim OBrien who is also the narrator/character was deployed in Vietnam, so the descriptions of events and people are done using very realistic details, a technique called verisimilitude, which gives the novel a sense of authenticity. Women appear to play a small role in the novel but in fact they are crucial both to the story and the character. Present or not, named or unnamed, the role of women is incredibly important to understanding not only the novel itself, but particularly the characters. Thesis statement: the women in The Things They Carried are idealized by men and this ideal image is seen as a means of surviving the war, but in the end, their ideals are shattered by reality. Need essay sample on "The Things They Carried" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed Students Very Often Tell EssayLab support: Who wants to write essay for me? Specialists propose: Entrust Your Essay Paper To Us And Get A+ Custom Essay Review Review Essays For Money Do My Online Classes For Me Cheapest Essay Writing Company The title of the book is actually the title of the first story of the novel, a compelling description done by 21-year old soldier Tim OBrien, of the equipment that the average American soldier carried during the Vietnam War. In the end, the list is enlarged to encompass not only military equipment, but also the hopes, dreams, and fears that each young man carried into battle. The weight that the soldiers drug through the mud is thus not only physical, but deeply emotional. The women in The Things They Carried do not seem to have thoughts, fears, and feelings of their own. They are idealized and their imaged serves as a kind of solace from the atrocities of war; they represent what is outside their world, i.e. the battlefield. In fact, their presence is sometimes invoked, in the sense that with the exception of Mary Anne Bell, the rest of the female characters - Jimmy Crosss girlfriend Martha, Linda, OBriens first love, Henry Dobbinss girlfriend etc are not actually there; they are present through memories, photographs and stories (Bloom: 23). In the end, Jimmy Cross realizes that his love for Martha is not sustaining, but destroying him; he needs to leave his love for her behind which leads him to burning her letters (Posek). In fact, OBrien later explains his belief that in order to fill the emptiness in ones life, one must let go of some of the things that he may think he needs; in other words, the excessive burdens that weigh him down must be left, and only then can they become like the soldiers in their dreams who gave themselves over to lightness, they were carried, they were purely borne (OBrien: 22) (Posek). Mark Fossie brings his girlfriend from back home, Mary Anne Bell hoping that he could reconstruct their relationship and continue it during the war. She is de-idealized during the war because she loses her femininity and becomes more of a soldier than any of the male combatants. She arrives dressed in "White culottes and a sexy pink sweater" which was a very traditional outfit for a woman (O'Brien: 90) and is presented wearing cut-off blue jeans and a swimsuit top that was black (OBrien: 95) which made her attractive in the eyes of the male characters. Her shift is drastic; upon her arrival she is not only unprepared for war but also appears quite unwilling to become involved in the actual combat. Nonetheless, she becomes very fond of military paraphernalia and even blackens her face with charcoal and carries around an M-16 (OBrien: 102). Also, she stops using cosmetics and adopts a masculine look: "No cosmetics, no fingernail filling. She stopped wearing jewelry, cut her hair short and wrapped it in a green bandana"(OBrien: 98). Moreover, in the end she leaves Mark. Thus the loss of femininity along with her decision to leave mark destroys the ideal that was centered on her. In the case of Henry Dobbins, who carries his girlfriends pantyhose with him as a connection with the outside world, more precisely with his life back home, the love for his unnamed girlfriend is the element which gives him hope and something to look forward to during the war. His idealized memory of her is shattered when, upon returning home, she breaks up with him (Bloom: 27). Nevertheless, his experience with the war and the fact that he survived it determine him to hold on to the pantyhose and think it will still bring him luck. During the war, Jimmy Cross carries pictures of a girl he only went out with once; again, the love for Martha is what keeps him going and gives him something to look forward to, i.e. being with her. And again, upon returning home, Jimmy is faced with the impossibility of winning Marthas heart. Linda, the narrator/protagonists first love from the fourth grade represents a slightly different kind of idealized feminine image. She represents Timmys first experience with love: It had all the shadings and complexities of mature adult love, and maybe more, because there were not yet words for it, and because it was not yet fixed to comparisons or chronologies or the ways by which adults measure such things. I just loved her. (OBrien: 228); symbolically, on their first date they see a war movie; this establishes a deep connection between love and war, one that is recognizable in all the other romances too. Also, the fact that Linda had died establishes an inextricable link between love and death (OGorman), one that later develops and results in an implicit conclusion that in fact, the two are the same thing (OGorman) when Linda appears in one of Timmys dreams and tells him to stop crying and that death does not matter. Perhaps more significantly, Linda, their love, is the first in stance when OBrien the writer and narrator wants to write and immortalize a moment in time, a memory, a feeling: And as a writer now, I want to save Linda's life. Not her body her life. (OBrien: 236). The difference compared to the other romances is not only the naivet of their love, but also the fact that ironically, death is what keeps her image idealized in Timmys mind: I loved her then and then she died. And right here, in the spell of memory and imagination, I can still see her as if through ice, as if I'm gazing into some other world, a place where there are no brain tumors and no funeral homes, where there are no bodies at all. (OBrien: 246) His implicit conclusion at the end of the novel is that war only brings destruction, both in terms of actual war casualties but also in terms of those who survive the war whose lives are ruined and whose potential is never fully realized because of war trauma: If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. (OBrien: 68). His characters are victims of their own idealizations which never fully materialize simply because life is never ideal. Most importantly perhaps, a big part of the emotional burden that the men are forced to carry with them during combat consists of being forced to abandon ones individuality: You're a shadow. You slip out of your own skin, like molting, shedding your own history and your own future, leaving behind everything you ever were or wanted or believed in. (OBrien: 211). Even after the war, the psychologic al burdens of the former soldiers continue to affect them, and to them romantic rejection and failure are added; some of the soldiers, as OBrien tells us, have no one to share the pain and grief with, and are unable to come to terms with the experience of the war. Thus one can assume that this collection of war stories is OBriens therapeutic method of dealing with the past and contributing to others understanding of it as well. References Bloom, Harold. The Things They Carried: Summary and Analysis. Bloom's Guides: The Things They Carried. Infobase: 2005. p. 20-71. O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Penguin Books USA Inc., 1990. OGorman, Farrell. The Things They Carried as Composite Novel. War, Literature & the Arts. An International Journal of the Humanities Posek, Jacquelyn. The Paradox of Necessity in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. Fresh Writing 1997.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Biology essays

Biology essays Ontological Hierarchy and Moral Decisions Plato first posited the theory of an ontological hierarchy in his account of human beings a priori knowledge. He believed that humans gained universal knowledge through the direct contact between perfect, other-worldly Forms and our pre-natal souls. Augustine borrowed from this theory of an ontological hierarchy in his essay on moral decision making. In his, On the Free Choice of the Will, Augustine attempts to resolve the problem of how there could be evil in a world created by an all-powerful, all-knowing, and benevolent God, and how we might arrive at good, moral decisions with a corruptible free will. He starts at the very beginning by describing the nature of existence and being. He says that there is a hierarchical system at work in nature, as things that understand (humans) are better than things that merely live (beasts), which are better than things that simply exist (stones). Humans, because of their ability to reason and understand, are at the top of the natural hierarchical structure, but if there were something superior (higher in the hierarchy) to human reason, then that being would be God, unless there is something superior to it, which then would be God. With this theory in place, Augustine goes on to show that there is something superior to human reason, namely a common truth that exists. This truth accounts for the human understanding of numbers and wisdom, which could not be grasped simply by reason. Therefore, since there is something superior to human reason, there must be a God. The problem of how to make the right moral decisions still remains, though, for our free will has the ability to make bad or evil choices. Since we are imperfect beings, merely a deformed copy of the superior God, we are not fully able to make the right moral decisions simply based upon what we believe to be right, for evil is a deformity of the good, Go...

Friday, November 22, 2019

Concept of oragnizations Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Concept of oragnizations - Research Paper Example As the economic situation continues to be difficult, organizations will find it difficult in abiding by their budgets. More resources and attention will be needed to manage and run organizations in the near future (Robbins, Campbell, & Judge, 2010). In my view, these are the most significant challenges because the new leaders of organizations are not adequately furnished with techniques, insight, and knowledge necessary for efficiency. Also, without addressing the issue of burnout, organizations may lose valued and experienced workers. Finally, leaders will be faced with difficult choices on how to adequately meeting the budgetary requirements while still strategizing for the future (Brickley, Smith, Zimmerman & Willett, 2000). The employer should permit a vibrant discussion or a healthy debate among people in the organization so as to choose the most appropriate solution to the challenges (Brickley, Smith, Zimmerman & Willett, 2000). I would choose these steps because if they are utilized, they will enhance the probability of successfully enforcing a change attempt. This is because all people will take part in identifying the problem and solution. The model is unworkable because organizations are affected by situations that frequently change over time. Also, an effective organization demands a comprehension of the core components of organizational principles and techniques, which most manages do not posses (Ott, Parkes & Simpson, 2008). Untested presumptions and inability to consider the informal organization force us to rethink classical design. Numerous presumptions made by classical design are not based on scientific examinations. They are based on value decisions that illustrate what they perceive to be correct attitudes and moral codes toward success. They fail to realize workers may have needs unconnected to work situations. Classical design also ignores informal associations as portrayed by

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Trying to fit in Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Trying to fit in - Essay Example The outcome was successful and I completed all tasks as expected by the group members. Before I expressed my willingness to join the group, I first assessed the openness and closeness of the group. It understood that the group was interested in discussing topics that concerned me since I could hear their conservations while seated next to them during my break time. I introduced myself sincerely and openly by greeting all members and telling them my name. I asked them on how long they had been working together and make a positive statement about the group. I also made a positive statement about myself and expressed my willingness to join and fit in the group since I shared the same objectives with all the group members (Crisp and Turner 108). The main objective of joining and fitting in the group was to combine our unique talents, skills and knowledge in accomplishing our classroom work. At the formation stage, each member talked politely and outlined the duties and responsibilities o f each individual. For instance, the group members openly provided suggestions on the time schedules of the meetings and also number of hours for the meetings. The members had adequate time to adapt to the unique personalities of each group member. For instance, the members selected a common mode of communication which was official English language (Crisp and Turner 109). ... In the group work decisions, the group laid down a framework of clarifying the factual ideas and suggestions of the members towards the discussion including reviewing academic literature that is contained in classroom notes. In addition, any arguments during the discussion were based on opinions, ideas and not individual personalities (Crisp and Turner 110). The members had diversity of opinions and view points on the discussion topics and the discussion process was well organised. Showing my confidence and asking questions made the other members easily accept me in the group. I also played an additional role of note taking and organizing the meeting venues which made me an active and crucial member of the group. At the fitting stage, I exercised my listening skills and leadership skills which were critical for the attainment of the group objectives. In deed, some members suggested that I should take up the group leader role due to my self-confidence, decision making skills, assertiv eness and politeness while dealing with conflicts or countering opposing arguments and ideas. Sitting next to the group and making positive comments made me easily join and fit in to the group. I attained my outcomes of fitting in to the group since the group provided me an opportunity to share my ideas and opinions and also counter the arguments of the rest of the members. I understood that individuals have different cultural backgrounds, personalities and values thus it is essential that group members focus on ideas and not differing personalities. It is important that group members familiarize themselves with discussion materials and clearly understand the rules and

Monday, November 18, 2019

International Political Economy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

International Political Economy - Assignment Example uni-polar world shifting to a truly multi-polar world as advantageous for the economic outlook and levels of freedom that global citizens can come to expect. However, the core assumption that is made is that a multi-polar world can indeed exist at all. The past several decades have noted a relatively quiet period of history in which two major powers co-existed peacefully; albeit with much animosity. Yet, one cannot interpret the lack of conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States as proof that a bi-polar or multi-polar world is inherently more peaceful and/or more equitable for the stakeholders involved. Interestingly, this is very much the assumption that the author in question has taken. The case of a rising Chinese economy points to the reality of a global super-power that is both economically and militarily superior to all others throughout the world. This is a unique situation; as the author notes, the Soviet Union only was able to project 25% parity with the United States at any point during its 70 year existence. Culturally, the article presents a core strength of understanding the United States foreign policy through the lens of history and a shared belief in what Americans refer to as â€Å"American Exceptionalism†. Ultimately, the author points to the fact that even as the economic power of the United States begins to wane, at least as compared to China, it continues to hold on to a historical legacy that encourages it to engage with China and seek to contain it. Yet, as the author notes, even though this strategy of foreign policy worked against the Soviet Union, in the face of a declining economy of the United States and burgeoning levels of social welfare and entitlement programs, it is doubtful if the military will have adequate resources to engage the Chinese in an actionable and/or effective way (Weisbrot 1). Moreover, the reader can note a degree of foreign policy bankruptcy; in the fact that the United States response to an

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Reasons For Legalising Euthanasia Sociology Essay

Reasons For Legalising Euthanasia Sociology Essay What is euthanasia? There are a lot of definitions of euthanasia which have the similar meanings with each other, and here are some definitions from different say. From Medicine Net.com The word euthanasia comes straight out of the Greek eu, goodly or well + thanatos, death = the good death and for 18th-century writers in England that was what euthanasia meant, a good death, a welcome way to depart quietly and well from life. (Medical Net.com, Medical dictionary) From Answer.com The act or practice of ending the life of an individual suffering from a terminal illness or an incurable condition, as by lethal injection or the suspension of extraordinary medical treatment. (Answer.com, the worlds leading QA site) From wiseGEEK Euthanasia is the process of painlessly helping a terminally ill person to die. (wiseGEEK) Legalization of euthanasia The legalization of euthanasia is not common, it still cause intense debate among people. Up to now, there are two countries accept the legalization of euthanasia, Netherland and Belgium. Netherland is the first country that legalizes euthanasia, the House of Representatives in Netherland approved the proposed law of euthanasia on the 28th of November in 2000 and, finally the Senate in Netherland allowed the legalization of euthanasia on the 10th April in 2001. Belgium is the second country that approves the legalization of euthanasia. After two days debate, the lower house of the Belgian parliament approved the bill by 86 votes in favors, 51 against and with 10 abstentions. The Belgian parliament finally passed law partially legalizing euthanasia in 2002. Though these two countries allow euthanasia and mercy killing that carry out by doctors, they set up strict rules to govern it. For examples, the person who request to euthanize must be conscious and he or she must has suffered from the prolonged physical and mental pains of terminal illness, more than one medical opinion are needed to approve each case of euthanasia. Moreover, actually there are some places which are allow people to commit some kinds of euthanasia. For instance, physician-assisted suicide is allowed in Swiss, doctor can remove patients respirator in some special cases and, terminal patients are allowed to decide continue the treatment or not by themselves in Denmark. On the other hand, there are still lots of countries fight against the legalization of euthanasia, including Italy, Vatican, Russia, German and Britain..etc. Reason for euthanasia There are a number of reasons for euthanasia, including the pains that the patients suffered, the dead life that patients had, the family suffers and the economic burden to the society. More detailed explanations will carry out in the following paragraphs: The prolonged pain that the patients suffered People always say life is a divine gift to everyone, gifts should be enjoyable, and people should live enjoyably. However, for those who suffer from terminal illness, they have no hopes and they suffered from the great physical and metal pains in every moment, they are not enjoying their life, but being torturing. For those terminal illness patients, living can be a torture and euthanasia is an ideal way to die, people can die without any pains. So why dont people choose to die peacefully rather than live with pains? Prolonged death is not life Comatose patient or vegetable refer to person who is physically alive but mentally inactive. They cant move, cant do anything but just in coma condition all the time, it is not a life real indeed. Though they might recover, the probability is very small. Without own thinking and the ability to move, that means they are not really living. The pain and pressure that the patients family suffered Although terminal patients and vegetable are always being take care by the nurse and doctors and live in the hospital, it doesnt mean that their family members no need to take care of them. Since the staffs are not only take care of one terminal patient, so they can provide limited care only. For example, terminal patients and vegetable needs peoples care, it is important to have somebody talk to them even they cant response, thats what their family have to do. It is not difficult to imagine how tired they are keeping go to the hospital everyday and sometimes might be have to go there several times per day. So, euthanasia is not only a way to escape for the patients, but their family as well. Economic burden to the society As the report mentioned above, prolonged death is not life, so it is necessary for people to consider continue spending money on those patients or not. Terminal patients and comatose have a very low chance to recover, however, the medical expenses for maintaining their life is quite heavy. Generally, the expense for a comatose is $8000 $10000 per month, it seems that the cost is not so high. But, there are number of patients, lets take America as an example, the medical expenses spent on those patients cost 10 70 billions US dollars each year because of the large amount of patients. Although it is merciless to include the economic factor in the reasons of euthanasia, we are living in a century which is utilitarianism always comes first, we have to accept this ruthless fact. Arguments against the legalization of euthanasia After listing the reasons for euthanasia, it comes to another controversial issue which is related to euthanasia, the legalization of euthanasia. Up to now, there are only two countries legalize euthanasia, it reflects that the legalization of euthanasia still need more discussion and the report is going to point out the arguments against this issue. There are three arguments against the legalization of euthanasia. Euthanasia can be considered as murder Law functions as a tool that maintain the peace of the society and delimit the truth and falsehood in the society. Therefore, when considering the legalization of euthanasia, we must ensure it is not conflict with the existing law. Murder means someone kills the others, it is illegal in all countries. Euthanasia ends peoples life, actually it is a kind of murder too, and the legalization of euthanasia indicates the legalization of murder as well. To adhere the principles of law, euthanasia should not be legalized. Also, the concept of euthanasia is conflict with the ethics and violates the humanism, it is a uncivilized behavior that causes the wrong values in the society. Life must be protected and promoted in all circumferences life is a divine gift that no one has the right to take it away, except god. Life is precious to everyone, thats why we have being taught that killing people is definitely wrong when we were children and we also set up law to punish murderer. All these things are used to protect our life. Furthermore, a positive outlook of life should be promoted instead of treat the end of life as a way to escape. This positive attitude is what an improving society should have, look forward to the future and never give up in any situations. A favor is provided for lawless person The legalization of euthanasia allows people to end their life, at the same time, it allows people to end the others life too. As a result, there are lawless person can make use of this law to achieve their evil wants. For instance, people who dont want to provide for their aged parents may make use of euthanasia to end their parents life and, euthanasia can be a tool that help the lawless person to get the inheritance earlier by ending their parents life. Data from survey A survey on euthanasia has carried out, there are totally 30 people who come have different nationalities, religions, genders and ages do the survey. The survey consists of 7 questions, which focus on different aspects of euthanasia and some statistics will show below. To ensure all interviewees know what euthanasia is, the above question is the first question of the survey and the pie chart shows the result. According to the statistics, 70% of the interviewees know the term euthanasia, 27% of them are not quite sure what euthanasia is and only 3% of them dont know what euthanasia is. This result reflects the issue of euthanasia is quite popular among people, but there are still some people not sure what euthanasia is. During the survey, we found that the reason of most people chose the answer NOT SURE is they dont know the difference between euthanasia and suicide. It can be concluded that most people know the term euthanasia but there is still misconstruction about euthanasia existing in the society. According to the statistics, the total number of people who think euthanasia is in conflict with moral values is 13, slightly higher than the number of people who answered NO. The distribution of the statistics is that the people in the age group of 18-29 are tending to answer NO while people in the age group of 30-40 and 41 or above are more likely to choose YES. It indicates the different thinking and values between the younger people and middle -agers and old people. In the youths values, they mostly think there is no conflict between euthanasia and their moral values, but in middle-agers and old peoples eyes, it is an irreconcilable conflict. Another remarkable point is people aged above 30 are generally having their stand on this question, only 1 of them has no stand on it. Comparing the number of the other age groups, the younger age groups have a total number of 4 people choosing the answer NOT SURE, it is obvious that the younger are not having definite view. This phenomenon occurs can be explained by the age of people, it is a comprehensive fact since people mental is mature with their age. The general trend is people are not agreeing on the legalization of euthanasia. Referring to the statistics, 9 people agree legalizing euthanasia, 14 people disagree the legalization of euthanasia and the rest of them have no stand. Among five groups of people from different countries, Chineses attitude on the legalization of euthanasia is the most clear and definite. There are 16 Chinese interviewees in total, 4 of them agree the legalization of euthanasia and 10 of them do not, it shows that more than 50% of them oppose the legalization of euthanasia, it is a definite statistics compare with the result of the other countries. On the contrary, Australian is more likely to agree the legalization of euthanasia, there are 4 people out of 8 people in Australia agree to legalize euthanasia, while the other 50% of the people are disagree or have no stand. Apart from the above two nations, the other nations are having an indefinite attitude, people from Japan, Korea and France are tend to choose NOT SURE. Referring to the result, there are 2 Koreans, a Japanese and a French chose NOT SURE. It reflects these three nations dont have an identical attitude on this issue. In this question, more than one answer can be chose, so the above result has more than 30 votes in total. According to the result, there are 28 interviewees think that the family members of a person should be authorized to decide the person commit euthanasia or not, nearly all of the interviewees chose this option. The number of people chose the option, himself or herself, is slightly fewer than the option, family members, just 3 more people have chosen family members than himself or herself. It reflects people concern on the patients family members decision the most, even more than the patients himself or herself. Doctor is the choice that falls behind the option, himself or herself, there are 14 people chose this option. It reflects that though doctors are providing professional medical advice, most people dont consider them to be the one who approve the commitment of euthanasia. It can be explained by the identity of doctors, since the doctor is just the person who cures the patients, the relationship between the family members and the patient is much closer than doctors and the patients. The least popular choice is his or her friends, there are only 2 people chose this choice. It is not difficult to understand this result, it is because friends are outsider in this case. Conclusion and Recommendation In this report, a lot of researches and a survey about euthanasia have been carried out. After researching into the issue of euthanasia, euthanasia can be concluded as ending a life without pains and there are both pros and cons on the legalization of euthanasia. Referring to the result of the survey, there are several discoveries after the analysis. To summarize, most people know the term euthanasia but there is still misconstruction about euthanasia existing in the society, older people are more likely to think the euthanasia is in conflict with their moral values while the younger do not, the general trend is people are not agreeing on the legalization of euthanasia and family members of a person is the one that people think they should be authorized to decide the person commit euthanasia or not. Base on the above conclusion and findings from report, a number of recommendations have raised. Firstly, I recommend people spend more time on knowing the true meaning of euthanasia since it is a popular issue in the society, but there are still some people misunderstand the term euthanasia. At the same time, it is the governments responsibility to ensure their citizens have enough understanding on the public issues, so I suggest the government try to use different ways to teach people a correct meaning of euthanasia. The last thing I would like to suggest is the government has to consider twice before legalizing euthanasia because it is an issue that affect a lot of aspects, like ethics and religion. If the government legalizes euthanasia thoughtlessly, the society may in a state of chaos.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Issues - We Must Accept Gays and Lesbians :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Don't Tolerate Gays and Lesbians    Tolerance. Preference. I am so sick of those words.    Why should people have to be tolerated? Tolerance should apply to annoying habits, like hearing the tapping of a pencil or cracking knuckles. People shouldn't have to be tolerated because of who they are. People shouldn't have to be put up with because of whom they wish to spend their time with.    I believe a person's sexuality is not a preference. It is not a choice or a decision. It is simply the way a person is born. Period. Some are born straight, some are born gay, and some are born loving everyone. There is no choice in the matter. One can, however, decide whether or not to live out who he or she is. Living a lie for a lifetime is not good for anyone.    I am proud of who I am. I am a teenager, and I am a lesbian. I haven't told my family yet because I am afraid of what they'll say. It's a really sad world where a daughter has to be afraid of being herself in front of her parents, but it is the world I live in.    It's a really sad world because I have to, essentially, move across an ocean to the Netherlands just to get married if I ever find a woman I wish to spend the rest of my life with. There are actually laws prohibiting homosexual marriages in the United States. In the land of freedom and opportunity, I am denied the right to love and marry as I see fit.    It's a really sad world where there are people in my generation telling me that I am wrong, that I can always go back to being straight, that I am disgusting.    Whether they're influenced by parents, religion, or other peers, I find it extremely disappointing that individuals in our nation, especially younger ones like me, can be so closed-minded and prejudiced.    My parents are the type of people who claim to be accepting of all, but really aren't. They are prejudiced against everyone - black people, Middle Eastern people, Asian people, people who talk with an accent, homosexuals - in short, everyone who isn't like them. I have learned to tune them out and ignore the cruel things that come out of their mouths.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Accenture Social Media Analysis

Accenture Social Media Analysis MKT 436 Ian Cartmill Zach Crawford Edwin Huang Tyler Whitsett Introduction Accenture PLC is one of the leading consulting firms in the country and has developed an extensive social media platform to expand its reach in the business world. Accenture currently has a network of social media across many platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Through Facebook and Twitter, Accenture segments its markets by region, type of service, and career options by making a Facebook page or Twitter account exclusively for that market.With Accenture’s YouTube page, a wide variety of videos ranging from video blogs to educational content on company growth. Finally, through LinkedIn, Accenture profiles its different services as well as connects with professionals who would be looking for their services. In addition to the traditional social media sites, Accenture operates many different applications through Facebook, iTunes, Google Play as well as its own online publication, Outlook. After a description, an analysis will be given to measure the performance of Accenture’s social media’s efforts.Finally, recommendations will be given on how Accenture can improve their efforts to reach a wider audience. Social Media Description Accenture’s Facebook and Twitter presence is extremely large which is shown by the numerous pages on these sites. Currently, Accenture has over â€Å"40 different pages on Facebook and 30 different Twitter handles† (A1), each catering to a particular market. About half of these pages are targeted based on the region or country in order to provide information exactly aimed a country’s business environment.Within each of the country’s pages, discussions and interactions occur with customers and users through contests, interviews, philanthropic endeavors in the region done by Accenture, and information the company provides on different industries. Usually the cou ntry’s page will display resume opportunity linksin order to keep acquiring new talent for the company. If career opportunities are not listed on this page, an individual career page is listed to provide information on career opportunities at Accenture in that region.On Accenture’s main Facebook and Twitter pages, different examples of management, operations, marketing, and other strategies are presented so all customers can see the level of analysis they will receive from an Accenture team. Also, articles written by Accenture are shown on the pages that range from work events to in depth stories on industry trends constantly are posted weekly. Finally, the last sets of pages on Facebook and Twitter are used to provide customers with an in-depth look into the different services provided by Accenture.For example, the Sustainability Services Facebook page provides links to articles and case studies on sustainability in a business in order to reduce cost and create effici encies (http://www. facebook. com/accenturesustainabilityservices). They also engage their customers and users through surveys, games and other actions that keep users coming back to their page. In addition to Accenture’s Facebook and Twitter pages, YouTube and LinkedIn provide a unique and different way to reach out to their customers.Through their YouTube account, Accenture is able to provide different types of new information to both current and potential new customers with its â€Å"251 videos† (A1). For example, a Capital Markets video blog is used to describe different topics related to capital markets and the process of managing the risks with them. In another set of videos, a video podcast shows different traits of a high performance business model that can be emulated by other companies.All content that is put up on the YouTube account is used to attract new customers to what Accenture does and provide existing clientele insights as to how Accenture’s s trategies can better their companies. This is a more casual look at Accenture’s customer attraction actions. For a more formal approach to gaining new customers and staying connected with current clients, LinkedIn is utilized. With LinkedIn, Accenture can professionally show their â€Å"core competencies as well as present customer recommendations and feedback† (LinkedIn). They also demonstrate their corporate culture through employee reviews and insight.To go along with Facebook and Twitter, they also have a careers page to continue acquiring talent in every medium possible. Beyond the typical social media realms in which most companies are involved in, Accenture has also grown into new areas that differentiate themselves in the social media marketing. This is done through Accenture’s online journal, Outlook, and the development of apps to further their marketing efforts. Outlook provides a unique connection to existing and potential customers by giving article s that can be anything from industry specific trends or news to skill and service actions.This demonstrates the level of expertise Accenture can provide to new customers, and assist in providing additional offerings to their current customers. Finally, after all traditional online forms of social media are exhausted; Accenture also provides many of the same marketing sites in the form of mobile apps for the iTunes and Google Play markets. This gives customers the ability to see all content and information on the go as most business people are. These applications include a mobile version of Outlook and other service specific applications (Google Play). Social Media AnalysisAlthough Accenture has tapped into the most popular social networks, they don’t utilize them to their full potential. Their main strength across the social networking platforms is the ability to reach current and potential customers, employees, future hires, students, and anyone who might be interested in wh at Accenture has to offer. An example is their applications through iTunes and Google play. On iTunes they â€Å"have 14 mobile apps and on Google Play they have 11 apps compared to Ernst & Young’s 6 apps on iTunes and 3 apps on Google Play† (A1). Some apps are duplicates; some are strictly for employees, while others are for the public.The apps range from a National Postal Forum to Financial Services to Lux in Arcana. Since it is available on iPhone and Android platform, they are targeting the most popular smartphone users. Another metric to consider how large their social network presence is their main Facebook page, Accenture has over â€Å"145,000 likes compared to E & Y with 15,000 likes† (A1). With these many options and a well-known presence, they are able to increase their brand awareness and position themselves as knowledge experts in that field. Another strength Accenture has with their social platforms is that they are continuously adding content to t hem.On their Twitter feed, they â€Å"tweet an average of 66 times a week along with additional links in the message compared to E & Y’s 20 tweets a week† (A1). On their Facebook , they post â€Å"39 times a week compared to E & Y’s 2 times a week† (A1). More tweets and posts, enables them the opportunity to be noticed more by the market. This is shown through how many Facebook users are talking about them. Accenture has over â€Å"2,000 users posting about them compared to E & Y’s 390 users talking about them† (A1). A weakness of their social networks is the lack of integration across the different platforms.An example is their YouTube and Twitter page. In their description, it only provides a link to their home page instead of including their Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes store, and Google Play. (About Accenture). After an analysis of their YouTube channel, we determined that they could include more in their descriptions by including a summary of the video, tags, and follow up information. They need to make it easier for users to dive further into Accenture if necessary. Another weakness of their social networking strategy is that it does not incorporate a form of a push/pull strategy.Their current push strategy is not creating an atmosphere of a two way interaction. On their pages, they do not engage or follow up with the users to keep them coming back. Although they ask questions in their tweets, they are not going out of their way to search for potential topics they could enlighten a user about. From comparing Accenture’s social media networks to Ernst and Young’s networks, they both use the same platforms but Accenture has a larger social media presence with more content. In Twitter, Accenture has over 62,000 followers with over 5500 tweets compared to E & Y’s 37,000 followers and 2,600 tweets.On LinkedIn, Accenture has over 600,000 followers with 179,000 employees on it compared to E & Y’s 364,000 followers and 114,000 employees on LinkedIn. Accenture has the most presence and content in every category except for the amount of YouTube videos they have. Accenture has 251 compared to E & Y’s 485. Managerial Recommendations The heart of a successful e-commerce strategy is the ability to attract and engage a potential customer by offering easy access to a variety of different information channels about your company.Although Accenture offers many different informational channels that explain who they are and what services they can offer to potential clients, these channels are not easily accessible. When doing a simple search of Accenture on Google, you initially see a link to Accenture’s website along with a few key words with vague descriptions. In order for Accenture to attract and gain new clients they need to have access points to all of their different social networks.These social media access points will allow Accenture to promote its marke ting message to a larger business demographic who will feel more comfortable operating in one of these social media domains. Accenture also needs to do a better job at educating its customer base by explaining who Accenture is as a company and what kind of services they offer to potential clients. As it stands now customers who go on Accenture’s company website have to navigate through web page after web page to find a simple description on which the company is and what services they offer.Accenture’s homepage is full of key words and links to other parts of the company’s website. I would recommend that the include information on value added services that would differentiate itself for competitors. Accenture should elaborate on its many value added services that it has done in the past on projects that reduced cost, improved performance, innovative features, speed responsiveness and customization. These value added services will not only attract and sustain cust omers it will also help Accenture’s bottom line by causing customers to pay a higher premium for services rendered.Since most of the services that Accenture offers to its customers are intangible they need to do a better job at trying to make their services feel more tangible, instead of just offering detailed, long worded business plans and short, non-descriptive statements on services provided. Accenture could further demonstrate services that they provided to past customers through cost savings graphs, efficiency improvement charts, and customer testimonials. Also, to reduce customer uncertainty and address any questions a potential customer might have I would recommend that Accenture have a live web assistant messaging service on their home page.This service would allow the customers to speak in real time to a customer service representative. These simple tweaks to Accenture’s homepage will reduce some of the unknowns and risk that all customers undoubtedly face wh en searching for a new company to do business with. In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of B2B marketing Accenture should adopt a CRM system like its lead competitor Ernst & Young did to manage its client customer base.Ernst & Young adopted a CRM software called Aprimo to perform the following functions: targeted direct e-mails, ongoing lead management, inbound interactions via Web form submission, Webcast registration and follow-up, and project management (task assignment and follow-up) for their national and regional marketing teams (Shadick, 2012). Many of the components of the information within Ernst & Youngs Aprimo CRM system are shared with customer relationship departments within the firm.For example, opportunities are collected from events, tradeshows, sponsorships, webcast and direct communications, which are then distributed to the appropriate individuals for follow-up (Shadick, 2012). With the adoption of CRM systems like Aprimo, Accenture would have rea l-time access to client’s interest and inquires allowing them to tailor their response to new and existing client’s needs. Conclusion In Conclusion Accenture is a very dynamic B2B company that utilizes virtually all of the media outlets available to educate and attract new customers.Accenture’s B2B marketing campaign is unique in the fact that it leverages its current ongoing business initiatives with its own customer base through an online Journal called: Outlook. This journal boldly talks about what Accenture is doing now and in the future for its client base. This and many other creative marketing/informational channels that Accenture has created brings assurance and a sense of trust to customers who are uncertain with partaking in a service that really doesn’t produce a tangible outcome and cost thousands, if not millions, of dollars to perform. Works Cited Shadick, David (2011).Ernst & Young Better Manages B2B Marketing with Aprimo Marketing, Sun. 17 Nov. 2012. . â€Å"Services. † Linkedin n. pag. LinkedIn. Web. 17 Nov 2012. . â€Å"Apps by Accenture. † Google play n. pag. Google play. Web. 17 Nov 2012. . â€Å"Accenture. † About Accenture n. pag. YouTube. Web. 17 Nov 2012. . Appendix A1 – Social Network Metrics

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Collaborative Ventures Essay

1.0 Summary The competitive nature of today’s international business world pushes the companies to find a common ground between each other. Even market giants have considerable tendency in creating collaborative arrangements with their competitors in order to keep their positions in the market. The competencies of competitor companies differ from each other often. Collaborative agreements provide companies to gain varied knowledge and specialties with less R&D costs. Also competitors can access each other’s established markets with collaborative ventures. Nevertheless, the accomplishment of an international collaborative venture depends on the harmony between national and organizational cultures of the partners. Hence, the cultural examination of the venture has a crucial role in the success. The partners should state a suitable integration method considering the cultural impacts in the negotiation period. 2.0 Introduction 2.1Definition of the International Collaborative Venture Collaborative ventures, sometimes called international partnerships or international strategic alliances, are essentially partnerships between two or more firms. They help companies overcome together the often substantial risks and costs involved in achieving international projects that might exceed the capabilities of any one firm operating alone. (Cavusgil, et al. 2011) Cavusgil, et al. (2011) also state that there are two basic types of collaborative ventures: equity joint ventures and project based, non-equity ventures. In this essay we are going to examine an equity joint venture between Sony and Ericsson. Equity joint ventures are traditional collaborations of a type that has existed for decades. (Cavusgil, et al. 2011). According to Wallace (2004, citing in Ahmed and Pang 2009), joint ventures are usually formed on the basis of a common objectives or mutual goals of all the parties. This objective should serve the needs of the companies in a proportionate manner otherwise the success of the joint venture will be short-lived. 2.2The motives for Collaborative Ventures Daniels, et al. (2011) state the motives for collaborative ventures as: ââ€"  Spreading and reducing costs: When the volume of business is small, or one partner has excess capacity, it may be less expensive to collaborate with another firm. Nonetheless, the costs of negotiation and technology transfer must not be overlooked. ââ€"  Specializing in competencies: The resource-based view of the firm holds that each firm has a unique combination of competencies. Thus, a firm can maximize its performance by concentrating on those activities that best fit its competencies and relying on partners to supply other products, services, or support activities. ââ€"  Avoiding or countering competition: When markets are not large enough for numerous competitors, or when firms need to confront a market leader, they may band together in ways to avoid competing with one another or combine resources to increase their market presence. ââ€"  Securing vertical and horizontal links: If a firm lacks the competence and/or resources to own and manage all of the activities of the value-added chain, a collaborative arrangement may yield greater vertical access and control. At the horizontal level, economies of scope in distribution, a better smoothing of sales and earnings through diversification and an ability to pursue projects too large for any single firm can all be realized through collaboration. ââ€"  Gaining knowledge: Many firms pursue collaborative arrangements in order to learn about their partners’ technology, operating methods, or home markets and thus broaden their own competencies and competitiveness over  time. ââ€"  Gaining location-specific assets: Cultural, political, competitive, and economic differences among countries create challenges for   companies that operate abroad. To overcome such barriers and gain access to location-specific assets (e.g., distribution access or competent workforce), firms may pursue collaborative arrangements. ââ€"  Minimizing exposure in risky environments: The higher the risk managers perceive with respect to a foreign operation, the greater their desire to form a collaborative arrangement. 3.0 Information and analysis 3.1Information about Sony Ericsson Joint Venture (SEJV) 3.1.1The brief history of the SEJV Sony Ericsson, the mobile telephone company formed by Ericsson and Sony in 2001, was born of two, coincidental, serious crises. April 24, 2001, saw the announcement that the Swedish telecommunications equipment company Ericsson was merging its mobile telephone operations with Japan’s Sony, forming Sony Ericsson with each company owning 50 %.The new, mutual company was headquartered in London. Originally, the two companies were compatible partners for the joint venture. Sony was a major electronics brand with expertise in the industry and Ericsson was a leading company in the communications sector. (Nilsson undated) Finally, Sony acquired Ericsson’s share in the venture on February 16, 2012. (Sonymobile 2012) 3.1.2The main motives for the SEJV ââ€"  Spreading and reducing costs: Sony was desiring to increase its market share in the mobile phone industry. Ericsson had major financial problems due to delays in the production. Eventually, Sony made less amount of investment to the industry and Ericsson continued its business by reducing its costs. ââ€"  Specializing in competencies: One of the essential objectives of the venture was to merge Ericsson’s know-how in the telecommunication area to Sony’s wide experience in the electronics. ââ€"  Avoiding or countering competition: Ericsson desired to be the market leader. Also Sony wanted to increase its market share. So they combined their resources and knowledge to receive a bigger share. ââ€"  Securing vertical and horizontal links: Ericsson had serious problems in the value added chain due to its supplier Philips. Also, before joining, Ericsson had a problem of manufacturing their goods cheaply, which Sony’s affiliates and manufacturers solved for them. (Tharp 2009) Moreover, the brand awareness of Ericsson was an area which Sony is reputable. ââ€"  Gaining knowledge: While Sony was accessing the wide knowledge of Ericsson in the telecommunication, Ericsson also gained access to Sony’s expertise in the visual and digital technology. 3.2Examination of the SEJV from Sony’s perspective 3.2.1Examination of the main motives from Sony’s perspective One of the main purposes of a joint venture is to share the cost of building a new organization. Sony wanted to take a chance of the opportunities that were rising in the mobile phone industry in the early 2000’s. Despite that, the business environment in this industry was carrying a high risk for the new players. It would have been a great cost for Sony to form a new organization, which can challenge with top players like Nokia and Motorola. Consequently, Sony decided to enter the mobile phone market on a leading company’s coattails. (Tharp 2009) Ericsson was the 3rd big mobile phone manufacturer in the beginning of the 2000’s. Sony had hegemony in the audio, vision and chip technology for the electronic devices however; it had defects in the software and patenting in the mobile technology. With some 33,000 granted patents, Ericsson is the largest holder of standard-essential patents for mobile communication. (Ericsson 2013) Therefore, the specialization of Ericsson in the mobile phone industry provided a major advantage for Sony. Sony was not a preferable brand in the mobile phone industry in the beginning of 2000’s with a market share of less than 1%. Sony may not have been able to counter a competition in this industry by itself. Simultaneously, Ericsson was the 3rd major player in the industry  and was trying to get over its dramatic fell in the market share. Moreover, Sony, which had virtually no presence in mobile phones outside Asia, would gain a foothold in Europe and America, where Ericsson had distribution agreements with major operators. (Kapner 2001) Thus, Ericsson would be the ideal component partner for Sony due to its situation in the market. Sony had lack of the R&D management in the mobile phone technology. Despite that, Ericsson had an experienced R&D team specialized in the mobile technologies. This team fulfilled the gap of R&D management in Sony. Sony accessed the long-term gained knowledge of Ericsson in the mobile technology area with this joint venture. Sony was planning to integrate this knowledge into its specialized know-how in the electronic devices. 3.2.2Examination of the problems in the SEJV, which Sony encountered As we examined above the main motives about SEJV that Sony had, we would have expected a compatible partnership with Ericsson. Nevertheless, the implementation was not so successful. Bryan Ma of IDC Asia-Pacific said â€Å"They originally came together to incorporate the Ericsson technology and the Sony brand, but they haven’t been able to achieve much with the combination,† (BBC 2011) Moreover, â€Å"When the joint venture was formed, mobile phone technology was simple and Ericsson’s inputs in that area suited Sony’s purposes,† said Tim Charlton of Charlton Media. (BBC 2011) Parallel to these thoughts; SEJV was not at the place in the market where they desired to be in the beginning. Charlton also stated that now things have changed. Phones are much more advanced and Sony feels it is hampered by the fact that Ericsson doesn’t bring much to the table with regard to the smartphone segment. (BBC 2011) Analysts said the 50-50 partnership has played a role in hurting the company’s product development. Melissa Chau of IDC Asia-Pacific stated that whenever decisions are made at one end, they need approval from the other. That has hindered their ability to bring new products to the market at a fast pace. (BBC 2011) Sony expected to gain more knowledge and technology from Ericsson; however Ericsson didn’t contribute both of them enough to the partnership. The lack of R&D activities revealed phones, which were not representing an innovation. Consequently, the release of the brand new models of SEJV delayed and also disappointed the market. As a result of this, it gave a particular damage to the corporate image. Cultural separation was another problem in the SEJV. As mentioned by Lane and Beamish (1990) IJV partners from different national cultures tend to experience greater difficulty in terms of communication and coordination (Lane and Beamish 1990 cited in Pothukuchi et al. 2002). If we look at the organizational culture of both the partner companies, we see that there is also a significant difference on this account. The only similarity among them is the professional orientation towards work and open system that exist within the organization. When we make this comparison with Sony Ericsson, we find out that the culture integrated at Sony Ericsson is quite similar to that of Ericsson. The reason may be due to both the companies are based in Europe and also there is very less difference in their respective national cultures. Another reason for showing similarity with Ericsson is that the ratio of Swedish employees working at Sony Ericsson is quite high, thus giving a similar notion. It can be assumed that the culture incorporated at Sony Ericsson is partially based on some commonalities between the parent firms and partially influenced by the national culture as well. (Ahmed and Pang 2009) As a result of these facts, Sony acquired Ericsson’s share in the venture on February 16, 2012. While hailing the past decade’s partnership with Ericsson, Sony president and chief executive Howard Stringer pointed out that the market had drastically shifted since 2001 from focusing on loss-making simple mobile phones to highly profitable smartphones. The separation from the Swedish company was therefore a logical and strategic step that would enable Sony to more efficiently deliver devices that can connect to each other and open up new entertainment possibilities. By taking full control, Sony can integrate its smartphone operation with its tablet, hand-held game console and personal computer businesses to save on costs and better synchronize development of mobile devices. (Anon 2011) 3.3Examination of the SEJV from Ericsson’s perspective 3.3.1Examination of the main motives from Ericsson’s perspective As it was mentioned in the annual report 2001 of Ericsson (2002); year 2001 was a tough year in the telecom business. Like most of competitors, Ericsson incurred considerable losses for the year. Relative market position of Ericsson improved, however, and after decisive restructuring and cost  control efforts, Ericsson’s objective for 2002 was to achieve an operating margin of over five percent. Ericsson was looking for a partner to share the cost of this organizational restructuring in order to stay competitive in the industry. Sony was a reliable brand for Ericsson to keep on its business. Wojtek Uzdelewicz, managing director at Bear, Stearns & Co. (2001) mentioned Sony-Ericsson deal as a perfect union. He said â€Å"Ericsson has done a poor job of building brand awareness. That’s what Sony is famous for.† Furthermore, Ericsson would also gain access to Sony’s expertise in combinin g audio, visual and digital technology, a skill whose importance will grow with the introduction of a new generation of phones with Internet connections and other advanced features. (Kapner 2001) Another advantage for Ericsson was Sony’s expertise in mobile handset technology, which was a key sector Ericsson was hoping to break into at the time. (Tharp 2009) The annual report 2001 of Ericsson (2002) stated that the industry has a strong growth potential and Ericsson look forward with optimism on Ericsson’s role as the top-class vendor to top-class operators. Due to the uncertainty in the telecom market under current economic conditions, Ericsson believed a solid upturn may be a couple of years away. The long-term financial objectives of Ericsson were unchanged to grow faster than the market, which means a growth of more than 20 percent in a few years. This marketing objective was a crucial motive for Ericsson to create a joint venture. Indeed, Sony was known as a marketing genius worldwide. Both companies would benefit from each other’s established markets, making them fifth largest mobile phone producers in the world. (Tharp 2009) In 1998, Ericsson had b egun to experience technical problems with its telephones. For the next three years the company would be forced to admit to a number of problems and unexpected events, ranging from problems with circuits and new model delays to a fire at a subcontractor and lack of back-up systems. Still, the largest problem was probably the lack of skills with consumer products most clearly shown in the legendary answer to the question of why the Swedes did not try to imitate the highly successful Finnish telephone design: â€Å"If you want a phone that looks like a piece of soap, then† (Nilsson undated) In spite of that, Sony was a reputable consumer product manufacturer due to its quality management and design innovations. Also, Ericsson had a problem of manufacturing their goods cheaply, which Sony’s affiliates and manufacturers  solved for them. (Tharp 2009) Sony was a great information source for Ericsson to access. First of all, Sony was a global giant in the consumer electronics. The expertise of Sony in audio, visual and digital technology was fulfilling the gaps in Ericsson’s knowledge. Besides technology, Ericsson was also searching for a remedy to its marketing problems. Conveniently, Sony was famous for its branding, marketing and commercial activities. 3.3.2Examination of the problems in the SEJV, which Ericsson encountered Sony wanted to gain the market, which Ericsson already established in a long-term. Nevertheless, a deal would do little for Ericsson’s market position. Sony sold just five million phones in 2000. Adding them to Ericsson’s 43.3 million would increase Ericsson’s market share just one percentage point, to 10 percent worldwide, leaving it in third place behind Nokia of Finland (35%) and Motorola (14%). (Kapner 2001) At this point, Ericsson trusted the brand-new mobile phones, which were developed with its new partner, would have boosted their sales. In spite of that, their sales dramatically decreased in 2002 and 2003 and they even lost their position in the market share. Indeed, the average marketing management of Sony also disappointed Ericsson and caused this situation. As we mentioned before, Ericsson had a problem of manufacturing their goods cheaply. The pricing strategy of SEJV was quite high in comparison with the market average. This caused lower profits than they aimed. Furthermore, according to Hofstede (2001) research, the national culture of Ericsson can be described as having low power distance, low uncertainty avoidance, high individualism, very low masculinity and low long-term orientation. (Ahmed and Pang 2009) On the other hand, Sony had a high power distance, very high uncertainty avoidance, low individualism, very high masculinity and high long-term orientation national culture. (Ahmed and Pang 2009) These contrasts in the national cultures lowered the performance of Ericsson’s R&D teams. Moreover, due to this lack of performance, they have started lay-offs in the R&D departments. Eventually, this chain linked to outdated products. 4.0 Conclusions International collaborative ventures allow companies to reach their mutual  objectives by accessing each other’s resources, knowledge, specializations and established markets. Nevertheless, an ICV can be successful as long as the partners fulfilled each other’s gaps. The motives for the companies may be seen flawless; however the problems can rise in the implementation. The motives of Sony and Ericsson were also fitting perfectly to each other in the initial negotiations. Their interests in spreading and reducing cost, benefiting from each other’s competencies, increasing their market share, having a greater control and access in vertical and horizontal levels and gaining each other’s expertise knowledge were matching excellently in the theory. Sony was looking for a reliable partner in the mobile phone industry to increase its market share. Ericsson was under pressure due to crisis in the industry and had tendency to cut-off its production and R&D costs. Sony had competency in the electronic and digital technology, as Ericsson had the competency in the telecommunication technology. Ericsson had problems in the branding, marketing and manufacturing management. Sony had a worldwide reputation in these issues. Lastly, Sony and Ericsson had reputable expertise know-how in their areas. When we combine these assumptions, we might expect a new innovative brand in the mobile phone industry. Nevertheless, the implementation of the theory failed. The cultural differences between these two companies revealed unforeseen conditions. Ericsson could not represent its R&D department’s skills sufficiently due to Sony’s low-individualist culture. This result caused the manufacturing of outdated products. Outdated products decreased the profits and the percentage in the market share. Besides these, Sony could not successfully implement its branding, marketing and manufacturing management due to cultural discrepancy with the Ericsson’s native personnel. The new SEJV lost its 3rd place in the mobile phone industry as a result of these management failures. Finally, Sony broke this chain by owning the JV totally. Nowadays Sony uses the advantage of know-how which gained from Ericsson in the last decade and applies its marketing and manufacturing management fully. 5.0Recommendations In the initial periods of creating an IJV, the future partners should consider the cultural impacts. Thus, cultural researches should be done and examined carefully before negotiations for following a suitable management  path. Each partner also should realize the other’s competencies accurately and should leave those zones for the better one. Furthermore, partners should avoid hiding knowledge from each other because it brings only loss to the venture. In the Sony Ericsson example, if Sony had left the control of R&D department to Ericsson totally, the R&D failure would not have happened. The Sony management couldn’t able to notice the cultural differences at this point. Besides, Sony should have been focused on the marketing and branding activities more intensively. (Headlines, subheads and reference quotation information (author date) are excluded) 6.0References  ° Ahmed A, Pang Z (2009) â€Å"CORPORATE CULTURE IN AN INTERNATIONAL JOINT VENTURE† A case study of Sony Ericsson, Master Thesis, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Tecnology, Malardalen University. Available at: http://mdh.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:224194/FULLTEXT01.pdf [Accessed 12 October 2013].  ° Anon (2011) Ericsson and Sony go separate ways. The Local, 27 October. Available at: http://www.thelocal.se/36986/ [Accessed 12 October 2013].  ° BBC News Business (2011) Can Sony succeed where Sony-Ericsson partnership failed? Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk /news/business-15285258 [Accessed 12 October 2013].  ° Cavusgil S T, Knight G and Risenberger J R (2011) International Business: The New Realities (2ndedn), Upper Saddle River (NJ): Pearson. ISBN-13: 978-0-13-245327-1  ° Daniels J D, Radebaugh L H and Sullivan D P (2011) ‘Chapter 14: Direct Investment and Collaborative Strategies’ in International Business. Available at: http://drgeorgefahmy.com/labteachingtips /daniels14_im.doc [Accessed 10 October 2013].  ° Ericsson (2013) The Leader in Mobile Communication Patents. Available at: http://www.ericsson.com/the company/company_facts/patents [Accessed 11 October 2013].  ° Ericsson (2002) The Annual Report 2001 Financial Statements. Available at:http://www.ericsson.com/res/investors/docs/annual-reports-1970-2002/annual 01_financial_en.pdf [Accessed 12 October 2013].  ° Kapner S (2001) ‘Ericsson and Sony Discussing Mobile Phone Joint Venture’. The New York Times, 20 April. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/20/business/ericsson-and-sony-discussing-mobile-phone-joint-venture.html [Accessed 11 October 2013].  ° Nilsson T (undated) The formation of Sony Ericsson. Available at: http://www.ericssonhistory.com/the-ericsson-files engelska/Foretaget /Sony-Ericsson/ [Accessed 10 October 2013].  °Sonymobile (2012) Sony Completes Full Acquisition of Sony Ericsson. Available at: http://blogs.sonymobile.com/ press_release/sony-completes-full-acquisition-of-sony-ericsson/ [Accessed 10 October 2013].  ° Tharp A (2009) Joint Venture: Sony Ericsson. Available at: http://tortora.wordpress.com/2009/04/27/joint-venture-sony-ericsson/ [Accessed 10 October 2013].  ° Wallace, R. (2004) Strategic Partnerships: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Joint Ventures and Alliances, Chicago: Dearborn Trade, A Kaplan Professional Company. ISBN-13: 978-0-79-318828-4

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Free Essays on Crucifixion As A Means Of Execution

Crucifixion as a Method of Execution I. The Definition of Crucifixion II. Symbolism of the Cross III. History of Crucifixion A. Persia and Alexander B. Roman Empire C. Isalmic World D. Medieval Japan E. Mesoamerica F. Modern Crucifixions IV. The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ A. The Trial of Jesus Christ B. The Crucifixion C. The Resurrection Table of Contents Crucifixion The definition 004 The Cross Symbolism of the Cross 005 History of Crucifixion Persia and Alexander 006 Roman Empire Islamic World 007 Medieval Japan Mesoamerica 008 Modern Crucifixions The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ The Trial 009 The Crucifixion The Resurrection 015 Crucifixion is the execution of a criminal by nailing or binding to a cross. It was a common form of capital punishment from the 6th century bc to the 4th century ad, especially among the Persians, Egyptians, Carthaginians, and Romans. Crucifixion was hardly (if ever) performed for ritual or symbolic reasons; usually, its purpose was only to provide a particularly painful, gruesome, and public death, using whatever means was most expedient for that goal. The Romans used crucifixion for slaves and criminals but never for their own citizens. Roman law provided that the criminal be scourged before being put to death; the accused also had to carry either the entire cross or, more commonly, the crossbeam from the place of scourging to the place of execution. The practice was abolished in 337 by Constantine the Great out of respect for Jesus Christ, who died on the cross. The crucifixion of Christ between two thieves is recorded in the New Testament by all four evangelists (see Matthew 27:33-44; Mark 15:22-32; Luke 23:33-43; John 19:17-30). The significance of the crucifixion has been a subject for theological discussion throughout church history. (Microsoft E... Free Essays on Crucifixion As A Means Of Execution Free Essays on Crucifixion As A Means Of Execution Crucifixion as a Method of Execution I. The Definition of Crucifixion II. Symbolism of the Cross III. History of Crucifixion A. Persia and Alexander B. Roman Empire C. Isalmic World D. Medieval Japan E. Mesoamerica F. Modern Crucifixions IV. The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ A. The Trial of Jesus Christ B. The Crucifixion C. The Resurrection Table of Contents Crucifixion The definition 004 The Cross Symbolism of the Cross 005 History of Crucifixion Persia and Alexander 006 Roman Empire Islamic World 007 Medieval Japan Mesoamerica 008 Modern Crucifixions The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ The Trial 009 The Crucifixion The Resurrection 015 Crucifixion is the execution of a criminal by nailing or binding to a cross. It was a common form of capital punishment from the 6th century bc to the 4th century ad, especially among the Persians, Egyptians, Carthaginians, and Romans. Crucifixion was hardly (if ever) performed for ritual or symbolic reasons; usually, its purpose was only to provide a particularly painful, gruesome, and public death, using whatever means was most expedient for that goal. The Romans used crucifixion for slaves and criminals but never for their own citizens. Roman law provided that the criminal be scourged before being put to death; the accused also had to carry either the entire cross or, more commonly, the crossbeam from the place of scourging to the place of execution. The practice was abolished in 337 by Constantine the Great out of respect for Jesus Christ, who died on the cross. The crucifixion of Christ between two thieves is recorded in the New Testament by all four evangelists (see Matthew 27:33-44; Mark 15:22-32; Luke 23:33-43; John 19:17-30). The significance of the crucifixion has been a subject for theological discussion throughout church history. (Microsoft E...

Monday, November 4, 2019

How does our design fit in with the design challenge Essay

How does our design fit in with the design challenge - Essay Example The design allows the pedals to adjust their force accordingly, such that when the user’s strength decided the degree of assistance coming from the pedals. As the user exerts more power, the pedals provide less assistance in response to the additional energy. In that sequence, the user can use less force as they cycle uphill and downhill, thus ensuring constant and less tedious movement. Another innovation in the design of the electric bicycle is the flywheel. The flywheel on the bicycle operates on electric power generated from a battery pack. As noted earlier, people have less power to cycle in old age. The electronically powered wheel can spin continuously, enabling the bicycle to keep moving even when the bicycle moves at considerably low speeds. The wheel’s design may assist people in their old age to maintain mobility in instances where they would otherwise use more energy to keep the bicycle mobile. These two features give due empowerment and motivation to the elderly, enabling them to use less energy as they cycle during old age, thus satisfying the requirements of the design

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Analyze Text from New Testament Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analyze Text from New Testament - Essay Example Applied at a wider scale of religious purview, the troubles of life are often compared to the storms of a sea that can arrive without prior awareness and indicate certain doom. A storm represents various difficulties that individuals are facing in their daily life. In such a situation, the storm seems no less than an evil and its short but significant battle with Jesus portraying a ‘combat myth’, to that of the ‘cosmic battle’ between good and bad – God and Satan. Nonetheless, such situations help an individual to increase faith in God, which further indicates ‘dualism’ signifying both good and bad. Correspondingly, religious implications of this text are undoubtedly important in the life of any individual (Bible Gateway, 1989). The trip across the sea represents a classroom where Jesus teaches a lesson on faith to His disciples. Jesus suggests to His followers to move from one corner of the sea to the opposite shore. This particular text in Mark signifies the eternal emphasis of Christianity on the importance of Faith, especially when considering the cosmic battle of the Evil and the God. As per the religious belief persistent, Evil is always in an attempt to influence the followers of God and distract them from their devised path of rightness, morality and eternal peace. It is likely that evil shall win if the followers lack faith in God that He would protect them even if He were asleep with closed eyes and rested hands on a cushion. Followers need to believe that they are in safe hands, provided they offer themselves to the God with all their soul and have trust in Him. It is thus that Jesus said, â€Å"Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith† (Harland, 2006). The text also suffices another key belief of Christianity that evil can bear any face or identification. It is its intention to destruct what has been created by God, which can only help to identify the evil. Even in this text, Mark indicates Satan in the face of