American Film Revised

If one were to sit up and pay attention to Jon Lewis' American Film: A History, they would realize that the history of American cinema is not merely a linear progression of historically significant dates or landmark moments, but a story in which history shaped the motion pictures and motion pictures shaped history. Like history, the story of cinema is not a dead thing – an easily understood as the story of artifacts left behind, but a story in which relationships bring things to the surface.Film is shaped by history as it chronicles the fears and hopes of an era, and its zeitgeist, just as it skews and re-frames, like any other form of artistic expression, our perception of our own history. In Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) director Stanley Kubrick makes satirical work of Cold War geopolitics by hypothesizing an absurdly inadvertent nuclear attack. Kubrick and his screenwriters also milk the material for a good puerile laughs by dep icting war imagery as a series of comical psycho-sexual symbols.While the film was produced and released at a time when few outspokenly criticized geopolitical thinking, its timeliness has accorded it a relevance that cannot be said for similar war satires produced in later decades. Contrast that with D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915), a politically charged interpretation of post-Civil War events. Unlike Strangelove, it was produced a whole five decades after the events it depicts. The Birth of a Nation functions as historical retrospective – conjuring up a period-based narrative openly hostile to the African-American people.Griffith's film rejects the notion that black people could ever be integrated into the civilized Aryan world by portraying them as savage Other infiltrating respectable white living. One novel form of historical signficance is the referential motion picture, which gives topical emphasis on film making itself. This is best exemplified by Singin g in the Rain (1952) in which glamorous star Lina Lamont's voice proves to be utterly unappealing for the ears and hearts of potential moviegoers and gets dubbed over by voice Kathy Seldon, an under-employed chorus girl.A historical picture in its own right, Singing in the Rain is set in the period after Jazz Singer (1927) brought sound to the movies, and gives audiences a comical look at the awkward transition from silent pictures to talking features in the late 20s. Other films, like Blade Runner (1982) are historical in how they hypothesize the future. It would be a mistake to call the film a majestic exercise of futuristic prognostication. Instead, it functions as a historical document by examining present concerns and where they may go if they continue their course into tomorrow.A rather uncomplicated romance mystery involving synthetic humans infiltrating Earth, Blade Runner examines society's xenophobia towards immigrants while contrasting it against an ironic reliance on tec hnology. All this happens in Los Angeles, 2019 – where the world is highly globalized, politically corporatized and environmentally devastated. Presenting history in film is also a means to reconcile the neuroses of individuals, if not generations with past events. Using advanced technology, director Robert Zemeckis revises history to assuage the boomer generation's discomforts in Forrest Gump (1994).A low IQ simpleton manages to stumble his way into just about every important event in American history from the 50s to the 80s. Armed with nothing but good old Southern morals, he survives three decades of social tumult in America while his self-aware peers succumb to AIDS, war injuries and other sorts of misfortune. History is smoothened out by digital technology, allowing a static view of history to prevail: one where the survivors never question their assumptions about the ways of the world.

Adidas Growth Strategies

IV. Introduction This analysis is about the company adidas that belongs to the adidas Group. The adidas Group sells products under the brands adidas, Reebok and TaylorMade-adidas Golf. Adidas is on the market over 80 years and sells products for every kind of sports. The adidas group was founded in the year 1949 by Adolf Dassler. A company that started with selling soccer shoes contains today a wide product assortment with footwear, apparel and accessories. The brand is further divided into three subbrands called adidas performance, original and sport style. TaylorMade-adidas also offers wide range of golf equipment and matching golf apparel and accessories. On their homepage the adidas Group claims to be â€Å"a global leader in the sporting goods industry† (adidas group, what we do). The company can be described as a global player because they have 170 subsidiaries in different countries that are directed from their headquarter in Germany which is the home of the adidas brand. Headquarters of Reebok and TaylorMade-adidas Golf are in the US in Massachusetts and California. Besides the international subsidiaries of the company, products of the group are available in every country through their online store. Their strategy to success is â€Å"continuously strengthen our brands and products to improve our competitive position and financial performance†. The following paper is going to analyze external and internal situation of adidas. Further, their marketing and growth strategies will be analysed. Major focus of this paper will be on the customer analysis. Growth Strategies The evaluation of the performance of a company is often measured trough growth in sales. Growth strategies determine how companies want to increase their market share or sales. They are crucial for the success of a company and should be selected carefully. There are different strategic options that companies have. Many companies pursue different types of growth strategies. Main decisions of a company are if they want to stay in existing markets or enter into new markets and further if they have existing products or if they develop new products. A combination of those four elements leads to the different types of growth strategies: penetration strategies, product-market expansion strategies, vertical integration strategies, differentiation, and diversification. Penetration Strategies (existing products/existing markets) Penetration Strategies means that companies sell their existing products on already existing markets. Companies choosing this strategy have to gain competitive advantage through pricing, marketing, etc. They want to gain market share and convince the customers of their competitors to buy at their stores. Adidas is definitely using penetration strategies. For over 80 years adidas is selling sports apparel and accessories. Through a successful established brand image adidas still sells their sports apparel all over the world. Their marketing efforts as described in the part promotion strategies help them to remain competitive. Product expansion strategies/Product Development (new products / existing markets) You can speak of product expansion or product development strategies if a company develops new products and try to sell them to existing markets. Adidas made also use of product expansion strategies through introducing adidas performance, originals and style in October 2000. The company expanded their products through a new style line that focuses more on fashion than on sports clothes. You can speak of product expansion because although the style is different it is still in the apparel sector. Further, adidas modifies their products continuously. In February 2010 they just introduced their new developed womens’ Body Mapping Technology that â€Å"defin[es] female-specific heat and sweat zones in order to place fabrics directly where they are needed the most, delivering optimised function to provide maximum comfort during workout. (Adidas, Press Room) The new technology will be used in adidas’ new CLIMA365 collection that will be introduced in Spring/Summer 2010. Another expanding of their products is heart rate sensing apparel so that consumers don’t need a pacer while running. Through developing new technologies to improve their sports apparel consumers feel that adidas is always up to date with new sports innovations. On their web site adidas also created an own section called â€Å"mi†. Customers have the possibility to personalize products. For example you can personalize shoes. Besides color and design, it is possible for customers two order the left and right shoe in different sizes and width. Customers have the possibility to identify with the adidas products through creating their own personal adidas clothes. Market expansion strategies/Market Development (existing products/ new markets) In this strategy companies try to sell their products to new markets. Cooperation of adidas with Stella McCartney and Porsche Design Sports can be seen as a market expansion. The reason for evaluating it as market expansion is that the new target market of these products is fashion. They target consumers that are interested in high fashion, who do not have to be interested in the sports sector. Fashion and lifestyle is in the focus of these apparel lines. Vertical integration strategies (existing market/ different stage of production) A vertical integration strategy describes â€Å"The degree to which a firm owns its upstream suppliers and its downstream buyers† (Blackwell Reference Online, Vertical Integration Strategy). In a value chain we have the manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer. If a retailer also owns a factory and manufactures its products it would be a backward integration. The purpose of vertical integration is to increase the control of the stages of development. In the early beginnings adidas produced all their shoes and apparel on their own. Through the huge expansion in the last decades adidas don’t produce all their apparel on their own. Today they own 9 own factories where they produce some of their products. Further, they have around 615 main suppliers from all over the world. Production is in Europe (27%), Asia (51%) and America (22%). (EVB, Adidas) Differentiation (uniqueness) The differentiation is a strategy with the main focus of developing a product, service or image that is unique and with attributes that are highly appreciated and valued by customers. Customers will value them higher as products or services of competitors. Through creating a unique image companies that make successful use of this strategy can often sell their products for a higher price. So it is easier for companies to present their products as unique because they get more money to cover their costs. Factors that describe companies that make use of differentiation are †¢ Access to leading scientific research. Highly skilled and creative product development team. †¢ Strong sales team with the ability to successfully communicate the perceived strengths of the product. †¢ Corporate reputation for quality and innovation. (QuickMBA, Porter’s Generic Strategies) A risk that companies have to face when using this strategy is that competitors will try to imitate the co mpany or change consumers mind/ taste. The brand adidas as mentioned before exists over 80 years. They had a long time to create their unique brand image. Adidas stands for quality and expertise in everything that is related to sports. Through supporting and sponsoring different kind of sports events such as the UEFA Champion League in 2008 adidas consumers’ view of adidas is always connected with sports. Further, in their adidas performance collection they make use of innovation such as the mentioned Body Mapping Technology. Showing the consumers that they are using new technologies and constantly improving their products differentiates adidas from their competitors. Customers feel that adidas uses all their possibilities to offer products that will help them doing a good performance in their sports. Diversification (new products/ new markets) Diversification is also a growth strategy. â€Å"The purpose of diversification is to allow the company to enter lines of business that are different from current operations†. (Thomas, Joe, Diversification Strategy) This means that companies try to sell new products to new markets. This strategy is risky because the company is moving in unknown markets where they do not have experience. (Tutor2u, Ansoff’s product/ market matrix) Further, we can distinguish between concentric, horizontal and conglomerate diversification. The first form, concentric diversification, is when a company â€Å"adds related products or markets†. Horizontal diversification is when a company sells products that are unrelated to their existing but would appeal to their customers. The third option is conglomerate diversification. It occurs when a company goes into a totally different market with new products. There is no relation between the already existing products. This would be for example if a supermarket also sells travels. A successful company such as adidas also wants to enlarge their markets and is searching for new ways to expand their business. Recently, in January 2010 adidas introduced the miCoach interactive training system guide. The program miCoach is available over the adidas website. Customers can choose between different training plans such as de-stress or learn how to run. It can be described as horizontal diversification because they now offer a service â€Å"personal training†. The micoach pacers that they sell can be seen as concentric diversification because pacers that measure your heart rate are related to sports and sports apparel. Another form of concentric diversification can be seen in their deodorant and shower gel that they are selling at drugstores and supermarkets. It is related to their main market because people who do sports need a good deodorant and have to take a shower afterwards. After analyzing adidas growth strategies you can say that adidas knows what they are doing. They focus on different growth strategies to gain market share and increase sales. Most of the time they focus on product extension to improve their product assortment. I think that because of a well-established brand name adidas should try more to make use of diversification. They can also sell other products or services because people trust this brand. A lot of people all around the world are fascinated by sports. Like the company jumba juice they could for example sell healthy drinks and juice to support a healty sport-oriented life style. Global strategy A company that has a global strategy views the world as one market and tries to standardize their marketing activities. Nevertheless, product adaptations are made where they are necessary. As mentioned before adidas is a global company. Their products are available in nearly every country on earth and their target markets are sports oriented customers all over the world. They sell their products successfully under the name adidas in every country. A comparison of the different country websites shows their standardization for different countries. If you enter www. adidas. com or www. adidas. de or www. adidas. fr it will only change the language and some actual topics but the whole design and offer is the same. Adaptations are only made where they are necessary. On the US homepage for example you can find Lacrosse under adidas Performance whereas on the German homepage it cannot be found because the game is not played in Germany. Adidas knows their markets and takes care of cultural or country specific differences. The company also says hat they know that they have to adapt to certain cultural differences. Further, they recognise the consumer buying behaviour and the unique retail landscape when operating in different markets. In 2009 the company reorganised their brand structure. They moved from a vertically integrated brand structure to a functional multi-brand structure. Now adidas has a Global Sales and Global Brands function. The Global Sales Function is responsible for the commercial activities where as the Global Brands function takes care of the marketing activities of the brands adidas sport performance, adidas sport style and also Reebok. For their 2,200 retail stores they set global guidelines so that they can increase efficiency and to create consistent conditions to ensure longterm profitability. These two new created functions show that adidas is focused on a global strategy. Together with the new structure of the organisation the adidas Group also decided on new measures. First, they want to establish joint operating models for adidas in most of their global markets. Second, they want to eliminate regional headquarters so that they have a more direct interaction between the global functions and the foreign markets. And third, they decided that they separated the responsibility for the Global Brands and Global sales. Now the CEO of the adidas Group Herbert Hainer is responsible for Global Sales and Erich Stamminger, a member of the executive board takes care of Global Brands. Main objective of these new divisions is to ensure that all chances on their operating markets and categories are taken through a development of well-structured and coordinated â€Å"Go-to-Market† strategies. They have to develop innovative products and communication strategies that can persuade consumers in the different markets. All in all, you can say that Adidas is a global player. They are selling their products around the world. It is easier for them to develop a global strategy because they see the world as one huge â€Å"sports market†. They target the customers that like to do sports and like the sports style for clothing. Nevertheless, they know the different type of sports consumers’ prefer in different countries. The only aspect that could be improved by adidas is to focus more on country specific sports. In the US for example football is really popular. They could create a special football line to satisfy the needs of the customers. Sources: Adidas Group, What we do, http://www. adidas-group. om/en/ourgroup/our_business/default. aspx, accessed on 17 April 2010. Adidas, Press Room, http://www. press. adidas. com/desktopdefault. aspx/tabid-11/16_read-10905/, accessed on 24 April 2010. Adidas, The adidas story year by year, http://www. press. adidas. com/Desktopdefault. aspx/tabid-28/41_read-1209/, accessed on 24 April 2010. Ansoff Matrix, W hat is the Ansoff Matrix, http://www. ansoffmatrix. com/, accessed on 20 April 2010. Blackwell Reference Online, Vertical Integration Strategy, http://www. blackwellreference. com/public/tocnode? id=g9780631233176_chunk_g978140511828629_ss7-1, accessed on 20 April 2010. Cateora, P. R. and Graham, J. L. , International Marketing, 13th edition, 2007, New York. EVB, Adidas, http://www. evb. ch/p25010738. html, accessed on 25 April 2010. http://www. gaebler. com/Growth-Strategies. htm QuickMBA, Porter’s Generic Strategies, http://www. quickmba. com/strategy/generic. shtml, accessed on 20 April 2010. Thomas, Joe, Diversification Strategy, http://www. enotes. com/management-encyclopedia/diversification-strategy, accessed on 21April 2010. Tutor2u, Ansoff’s product/market matrix, http://tutor2u. net/business/strategy/ansoff_matrix. htm, accessed on 20 April 2010. www. adidas. com www. adidas. de

How do you configure hardware and software Essay

The most common colour depths are:   16 colours   256 colours   Ã¢â‚¬Å"High Colour† (16 bit, or 65,536 colours)   Ã¢â‚¬Å"True Colour† (24 bit, or over 16 million colours) Higher resolutions are greater number of colours require more memory. At 256 colours, each pixel requires one byte of memory. There are 8 bits in a byte, so each pixel in High Colour requires two bytes, and each pixel in True Colour requires three. Because of this, some video cards may restrict you to fewer colours in higher resolutions, due to the amount of memory required. For example, a True Colour display with a resolution of 1280 x 1024 pixels would require memory of 1280 x 1024 x 3 = 3,932,160 bytes, or nearly 4Mb! Drivers Different printers have different features, such as the ability to print in different fonts, and different resolutions (i. e. numbers of dots per inch) when printing graphics. Even where there are common features, such as the ability to print in bold, the codes that the computer needs to send to switch that feature on and off can vary from model to model. What the computer requires is some software called a driver, which can translate the codes generated by the program into codes suitable for the printer. In Windows, the drivers are installed centrally in the Control Panel so that each application, e. g. Excel or Word, can use the same drivers. In the days of DOS, each program often had its own printer driver. Other hardware devices, such as video cards, modems and scanners also require drivers. These perform the same function, allowing the computer to control the device. Sometimes the same driver can be used for similar devices (e.g. you may hear about â€Å"Hayes compatible modems†, or â€Å"HP LaserJet compatible printers†), but even in these cases it is often only by using the specific driver for that device that the most advanced features can be utilised. WYSIWYG and TrueType Fonts One of the problems with printing from a word processor or other application is that your text may not appear on paper as it did on the screen. With modern Graphical User Interfaces, this should be less of a problem, but with older â€Å"character-based† systems (such as DOS, or UNIX), fonts on the screen were not â€Å"proportionally spaced†. Characters could only appear at fixed intervals across the screen, and so it wasn’t possible to insert fractions of spaces to justify the text. This meant that sometimes you could print out justified text, but not see what it was going to look like on the screen. A solution to this problem came with the arrival of WYSIWYG user interfaces. WYSIWYG stands for â€Å"What You See Is What You Get†, and means that your print should appear exactly as it does on the screen. Word (in Page Layout View, at least) is a WYSIWYG word processor; you get exactly what you see as you are typing. Other word processors, such as WordPerfect 5. 1 offer a halfway house solution, with a character-based input screen, and a graphical print preview. Even with GUIs and WYSIWYG word processors, there was still the problem of the fonts being used in the printer not being exactly the same as the ones used for display on the screen. This could lead to things not quite lining up, or not appearing as expected. A solution for this came with TrueType fonts. A TrueType font is used by Windows both for display on the screen and for printing. When you select a typeface in, say, Word, the TT symbol indicates a TrueType font. If you select one of these, you can be sure that your document will appear in the same way on paper as it did on the screen. Limitations of Hardware and Software Sometimes, due to the limitations of the hardware or software being used, a system will not be able to fully exploit the features of a peripheral. You will not be able to use certain fonts that a printer may support, for example, if the word processor you are using will not let you select that font, or if you are printing from, say, Notepad. Also, there is no point in you being able to scan things in 24-bit colour (i.e. 16 million colours) if your monitor cannot display that many, or you need to save the image as a GIF (GIFs only support 256 colours; if you want more colours than that, save your picture as a jpeg). Some modern printer drivers are applications in their own right, and have minimum hardware requirements specified. The drivers for my printer at home, for example, will not run on a 386. Examination Questions When installing or configuring a particular word processing package, the documentation states that the correct printer driver must also be installed. What is a printer driver, and why is it necessary? (1997) A company sells a range of health foods at five different shops. It also sells directly to the home from a number of vehicles. There are hundreds of different items of stock and many items are seasonal, so items in stock are constantly changing. Customers purchase goods and pay by cash, cheque or credit card. The company is considering a computerised system to help manage sales and stock control. Discuss the capabilities and limitations of current   communications devices,   input devices,   output devices and   storage devices.

Exxon Mobil Resources and Capabilities Essay

Mobile is one of the most successful companies in the oil and energy industries today. But what makes them so successful? In an effort to answer this question, a thorough internal investigation can be helpful in determining what aspects of this company are making it an industry leader. Two aspects of this internal analysis of Exxon Mobile are the company’s resources and capabilities. Resources One of the most reputable resources that Exxon Mobil has today is a strong brand name. Exxon Mobil operates all over the world and is recognized in every part of the world (Datamonitor, 2008). When people all over the world know who a company is, what they do, and where they are located, the company gains a unique competitive advantage over the rest of the industry. A good way to analyze this resource is to use the VRINE Model (Strategic Management, 2007). This breaks down in order to analyze its value, rarity, inimitability, and exploitability. For this resource I’ll start by assessing its value. The question that must be answered is, â€Å"does this resource allow the firm to meet market demand or protect the firm from market uncertainties? † (Strategic Management, 2007). In the case of the brand name resource, I believe that it gives them ample protection against uncertainty and enables them to compete, if not lead, in the industry. Exxon operates in over 200 countries around the world (Datamonitor, 2008) The fact that this company is present all over the world, and not many other industry competitors operate in so many different regions, proves that this particular resource is very valuable to the company. If a company can possess something that another company cannot, value is inevitably created for that resource. This resource also protects them from uncertainty because this brand is already established itself within the market and can thrive in it without too much concern about the well being of the company, thus limiting some uncertainty. Next in the VRINE model is assessment of its rarity. Do any other companies possess such worldwide recognition as Exxon Mobil’s brand name can bring? There are some companies that have come close in competing with Exxon Mobil, such as ConnocoPhillips and Chevron, but none can compare with the unique profitability and opportunities that the name Exxon can bring to a region. The name is undoubtedly trusted throughout the world and rarely rivaled. Those aspects of the brand name recognition make this brand name a rarity. The next step in the VRINE model is to assess the inimitability. To assess this, the question of can competitors â€Å"acquire the valuable and rare resource quickly, or will they face a cost disadvantage in doing so? † (Strategic Management, 2007). The simple fact that the Exxon Mobil name is trademarked and registered makes it impossible for any other company to replicate its name. Also it would cost a substantial amount to buy out the company and gain its name. This alone makes the brand name inimitable. Now assessment of the nonsubstitutability is needed. The question arises, â€Å"is there protection against ready substitutes? † (Strategic Management, 2007). For Exxon, their name reputation is one that substitutes have a very difficult time matching. Exxon is leading the industry and continues to be a leader of almost every aspect of the industry today. Though substitutes are present in the industry, none can surpass the reputation of Exxon Mobil. The final step in the VRINE Model is to assess the resource’s exploitability. The question to answer is, can the firm â€Å" nurture and take advantage of the resources and capabilities that it possesses? † (Strategic Management, 2007). For Exxon, they can bring the company anywhere in the world and use the recognizable name to establish credibility and power in that region. This gives the company a considerable advantage when it comes to exploiting its brand name to establish the company around the world. After analyzing the resource using the VRINE Model, all aspects of the model have been met, so it is safe to say that this resource can give them a competitive advantage among its competitors. Another important resource that Exxon possesses is the presence of human expertise capital throughout the company (Datamoitor, 2008). Exxon employs many scientists and engineers that are researching and finding new ways to gain access to more energy resources and make the new innovations less harmful to the environment (Annual Report, 2007). This human capital has proven to be a very important resource for the company as shown by their development of new ways to increase liquid natural gas supplies and â€Å"enhancing heavy oil recovery† (Annual Report, 2007). Using the VRINE model again, I will assess this resource. In analyzing the value of the human expertise capital, again we must consider whether this resource helps the company meet market demand and can eliminate some uncertainty. In this case, I believe that the unique research department that houses these scientists and engineers is one that gives the company a great capability to compete in the market, and even excel within the industry. I believe it also eliminates some uncertainty because while the company is researching and developing cutting edge technology, it keeps them knowledgeable about all the new innovations and ideas that are throughout the industry. This makes the resource very valuable. Next, the rarity of the resource must be analyzed. I believe that this resource is rare because of the entire department (the Upstream Research Center) within the company devoted to letting these scientists and engineers use their knowledge to propel the company into the future (Annual Report, 2007). Some companies have R & D departments, but they don’t posses the funding for such expertise and capabilities within these departments like Exxon has in its Upstream Research Center (Annual Report, 2007). This makes the breadth of their scientists and engineers and rare resource among it competitors. Following the VRINE Model, inimitability is the next aspect to analyze. I believe that it would be very difficult for any company to gain the human expertise capital that Exxon has. Exxon pays particular attention to its scientists and engineers by providing opportunities to use their knowledge to help solve every day problems that the company is facing. Many of these scientists and engineers had PhDs in their respective fields, thus making their ideas more credible and valuable to the company (Annual Report, 2007). This make the human expertise capital an inimitable resource because it makes it hard for other companies to replicate the magnitude of the distinguished human capital that Exxon possesses. The next step in the VRINE Model is nonsubstitutability. It would be nearly impossible for a competing company to substitute an equally effective team of engineers and scientists. The cost would be too great for the company. Exxon is leading the way in Research and Development trends, and substitutes for the quality of employees that Exxon has would be very difficult for other companies, making the nonsubstitutability of Exxon’s human capital very high. The final step is to analyze the exploitability of the human expertise capital. Exxon has proven that the expertise that is present can be exploited to develop new and innovative ideas that help Exxon maintain as an industry leader. One example of the result of this exploitation is the development of Metallyte UBW-ES, which is a new polypropylene film for packaging that has unprecedented sealing power (Datamonitor, 2008). This example proves that the exploitability of this human expertise capital makes this resource a valuable asset to the company. After analysis of the human expertise capital resource using the VRINE Model, it can be said that this resource gives Exxon Mobil a competitive advantage in the industry. Capabilities After assessing the resources that Exxon has available to them, it is now easier to illustrate what Exxon’s capabilities are because of the acquisition and ownership of these resources. One of Exxon’s important capabilities is their extensive research and development capabilities. Exxon’s research and development capabilities are very dynamic in the sense that as new energy conservation and developments arise, they can adapt their research and development departments to meet the new technologies and innovations. Their research and development capabilities go insofar as to â€Å"improve existing products, and enhance service† (Datamonitor, 2008). Using the VRINE Model again, it can be easy to see if this capability really gives Exxon a considerable competitive advantage. First we have to look at the value of this capability. Exxon has utilized the company’s valuable resource of human expertise capital do help head the research for new improvements and innovations that help lead the way for Exxon to grow (Annual Report, 2007). One such innovation is the development of Enable mPE, which has â€Å"substantially reduced waste and energy consumption across a wide variety of film applications† (Datamonitor, 2008). This capability allows them compete within the market and gain headway in developing potentially high profit innovations, thus giving value to their research and development capability. Next the rarity needs to be assessed. Though almost all of Exxon’s competitors have research and development departments, none have invested the amount that Exxon has. Also there are only a handful of top competitors within the energy industry so that alone makes Exxon’s R & D department rare. In fiscal year 2007, Exxon invested $814 million in R & D. Though the idea of an R & D department is not a rarity in its own right, the amount invested and products produced because of their extensive R & D work makes this a rare capability among its competitors. The next assessment in the VRINE Model is the inimitability of this capability. As mentioned before many other companies have a R & D department, but not to the extent that Exxon’s is being funded and operated. In the past 5 years, Exxon has invested upwards of $3. 5 billion in research and development alone (Annual Report, 2007). Very few of Exxon’s competitors can match that without having an almost impossible financial obligation afterward. That is one feat that few companies can imitate. The next step is to analyze its nonsubstitutability.

Hamlets downfall stems from his inability to revenge Essay

Hamlets downfall stems from his inability to revenge. How is this fore grounded in the early parts of the play, breaking from the traditional conventions of an Elizabethan revenge tragedy? It can be said that Hamlet’s procrastination and inability to act result in his eventual demise. Shakespeare forewarns the audience of Hamlet’s flaws throughout the play, in his soliloquies and also through the exploration of the Elizabethan revenge tragedy. During the Elizabethan period, it was commonplace to write within the genre of the revenge tragedy. This particular genre was extremely popular with the public due to the themes it embodied. Namely restoring order through punishing vice and gaining personal retribution. Other features often included treason, incest and the appearance of a ghost. Hamlet’s belief in the occult and fear of damnation embodies the feelings of people at the time, â€Å"The spirit I have seen may be a devil, and the devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape†¦ perhaps out of my weakness and my melancholy†¦ abuses me to damn me. † Hamlet is unusual in that it is set in Denmark, a protestant country. When examining vice and human failings, Shakespeare and other writers often set their plays in catholic countries. The reason for this being that the examination of vice in Hamlet would not appear to be critical of the English court and also his ethical dilemmas would strike more of a chord with his audience. One such issue that is thought about by many people is suicide. Hamlet’s early mention of this prepares the reader for his eventual downfall. At the beginning of the play Hamlet expresses his wishes to die â€Å"Oh that this too too solid flesh would thaw, and resolve itself into a dew. † The use of ‘solid’ simply expresses his wish to just melt and disappear into nothingness. Some texts however, replace solid with ‘sullied’, giving the quotation a slightly more interesting meaning, perhaps referring to the incest occurring between his mother and his uncle, a subject on which he must not make his opinions known. It also implies that he is also talking of the corruption in his own flesh. Some interpretations of the play suggest that Hamlet has a possible Oedipus complex (sexual obsession with his mother); this is further highlighted in his later comments about â€Å"incestuous sheets†, although this probably just refers to his mother’s relationship with his uncle. Incest was a popular vice in the Jacobean genre, as it is regarded to be a mortal sin, specifically when involving a mother and her son. It is clear however that Hamlet does wish to kill himself, although he realises that God is against suicide as it is also a mortal sin, â€Å"That the everlasting had not fix’d his cannon ‘gainst self slaughter. † His religious beliefs also conflict with his need to revenge as the church also teaches that revenge is wrong under all circumstances. This conflicts with the Elizabethan revenge tragedy, which usually address’ the dynamics rather than the moral side of revenge. Hamlet’s role changes throughout the play; in the opening act, Hamlet plays the malcontent. He is still in mourning for the death of his father, almost a juxtaposition to the celebration around him due to his mother’s wedding. The burden of revenge and the corruption around him leads to his supposed madness, brought on by his inability to cope with the pressure, he comments earlier in the play that he is no ‘Hercules’. It is likely that Hamlet uses the disguise of madness to speak the truth, as it excuses him from the consequences of what he says. An example of this is Hamlet talking to Polonius about his mistreatment of his daughter, â€Å"You are a fishmonger [pimp]†, as Polonius uses his daughter to get to Hamlet. Hamlet does not wish to be used in this way by the ghost, who may be an evil spirit, and so damn his soul, the main reason perhaps for his procrastination. Shakespeare uses soliloquies to share Hamlet’s innermost thoughts with the audience, who sympathise with his various predicaments. These speeches establish Hamlets is more of a scholar than a man of action like his father; he realises this and admits that he is no ‘Hercules’. Without the encouragement of the ghost to revenge it is doubtful that Hamlet would have ever killed Claudius. He has sworn to suffer stoically, and hold his tongue. Even when he is sure that the ghost speaks truth, he will not kill the king while he prays for fear that Claudius will escape hell, â€Å"a villain kills my father; and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven†. In this sense Hamlet is very much an opposite of Laertes, who wishes to revenge his father’s death. Unlike Hamlet, he is not afraid of being damned for the act of revenge â€Å"I dare damnation†. Laertes is more of a traditional Jacobean revenger as he uses the stereotypical images and words of the hero â€Å"to cut his throat I’ th’ church†, and is an obvious opposite to Hamlet. It is ironic that Hamlet is incapable of acting on his filial obligation of his father’s â€Å"most foul and unnatural murder† when he would rid Denmark of corruption by doing so, but Laertes is prepared to revenge the murder of his corrupt father. It is debatable whether it is Hamlet’s procrastination that leads to his eventual death, as at the beginning of the play he threatens Horatio with his sword â€Å"unhand me gentlemen, by heaven I’ll make a ghost of him that lets me! † It could be suggested that Hamlet’s eventual death is due to his disobedience of the ghost’s orders, â€Å"taint not thy mind†, an almost impossible order as Hamlet is exposed to corruption firstly from his uncle, Claudius, the instigator of corruption, also through the accidental murder of Polonius, his doomed relationship with Ophelia and his immoral thoughts of his mother, Hamlet gradually becomes corrupted. Calderwood comments, â€Å"Hamlet’s solution for the moment is to take refuge in the cleft between action and inaction. He does not act but instead†¦ plays mad, which cuts his behaviour off from the world of pragmatic affairs in which action and inaction have no meaning. † Hamlet, after Claudius’ death would have become king, but through revenging he becomes part of the problem â€Å"It is a massy wheel†¦. to whose huge spokes ten thousand lesser things are mortis’d†¦.. When it falls, each†¦ petty consequence, attends the boist’rous ruin. † Hamlet’s death provides a fresh start for Denmark. He may not have perhaps made a balanced king, especially due to his outbursts of madness, thus he would be unbeneficial to the kingdom. This is expressed in the play when Rosencrantz says: â€Å"The cease of majesty dies not alone, but like a gulf doth draw what’s near it with it. † It is perhaps due to this reason that Hamlet must die, in order to fully restore order in Denmark. The breaking of the traditional revenge tragedy makes Hamlet so much more appealing to its readers, as it is not confined to the question of how to revenge. It answers questions to which everyone is prone to debate (do we â€Å"take arms† against our problems or suffer stoically? ), hence its popularity. Shakespeare alerts us to Hamlet’s various failings through soliloquies with the audience in which we hear his innermost thoughts. Hamlet’s eventual death is due to a combination of emotional stress an inability to act, and his desire to always do the right thing, causing him to slip into a world where he doesn’t have to act, but also to wastes valuable time. Hamlet is tainted by the corrupt, a reason in the end for why he must die.

Mabe Case Essay

Internationalization Strategy MABE has a good internationalization strategy with widely spread manufacturing plants in Mexico and Latin America, such as Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. It relies highly on acquisitions and JVs with local brands to lower manufacturing cost and increase its market share by entering different markets. This strategy is valuable as it decreases net costs and increases net revenues. It is rare because one third of all gas, electric ranges and refrigerators sold in the U.S. are manufactured by MABE. It is also hard to imitate as MABE spent many years to develop its plants in Mexico and Latin America, thus, competitors would face a cost disadvantage in developing similar strategy. Its products can be easily substituted as GE is still one of the largest competitors. However, MABE has exploited the full potential of this strategy in the international market. Research & Development In the early stage of development, MABE formed alliance with GE and took advantage of the foreign technology and penetrated new market. Later on, it developed higher and more sophisticated technical skills and decreased reliance on GE and developed its proprietary technology. It has used its R&D capability to exploit opportunities in the electric stoves, refrigerators, dish washing machines and clothing dryers markets. Thus, its R&D skill is valuable. Also, it is rare and non-substitute because very few competitors possess these skills and it will be costly for competitors to duplicate. MABE exploits its R&D by constant adaptation and innovation to ensure success in the growing appliance market. Organizational Culture MABE has a well-established multinational organizational culture. It hired engineering graduates and assigned them with seasoned MABE and GE executives. It used GE’s methodology of â€Å"action learning† so that multidisciplinary teams of executives can work together to recommend ways to enter into new markets. This organizational culture is valuable as it plays an important role in shaping management and employees’ values, expectations, behaviors, and experiences. It is not rare as many multinational firms have good organizational culture. Notwithstanding, it is non-substitutable because organizational structure is set up by many years of business experience and every organization has its own typical organizational  culture, so it is hard to imitate from one to another. MABE is organized to fully exploit its resources and capabilities. Summary: MABE has a sustainable competitive advantage in the international market because it takes advantage of all of its uni que resources and capabilities and continue to expand its market and remain competitive. External Analysis Porter’s five forces Degree of Rivalry — Moderate to High In the Russian appliance industry, majority of the market share is shared among Indesit, Bosch-Siemens and LG. MABE occupies less than 1 percent of market share and falls far behind 9 other major competitors. Due to the market size (i.e. $3 billion) and profitability (i.e. two times the average operating margin), the appliance market is attractive to foreign investors. Thus, the degree of rivalry is moderate to high. Threat of Substitute — Low to Moderate Before entering the appliance industry, initial capital and technologies are required. MABE has existed for a while now and has continuously produced good quality appliances, therefore, no better substitute for stove, freezer and washing machine are available. However, due to weather conditions, living habits and customs, the consumption of canned food may substitute the freezer sales as it is convenient and easy to store. Hence, the threat of substitute is low to moderate. Threat of New Entrants — Moderate to high The threat of new entrants in Russia is moderate to high. On one hand, new entrants need to consider Russia’s culture, low foreign acceptance, trust issues, economic environment and unstable political position before entering Russian market. All these factors may result in potential risks in business. Conversely, the profitability of the appliance market in Russia attracts new entrants to the industry. Bargaining power of Buyers — Moderate to high Customers have many options in the Russia appliance industry. They can select products based on their preferences as there are nearly 9 strong brands to satisfy buyers various needs. Thus, the bargaining power of buyers is  moderate to high. Bargaining power of Supplier — Low to Moderate Suppliers have low to moderate bargaining power. When production is done by the JV, the supplier will have low bargaining power but when production is outsourced, supplier tend to have moderate bargaining power. Conclusion: Based on the analysis, the Russian economy is favorable with growing potential for the JV to exploit. Nevertheless, they have to pay more attention to the intensified rivalry and political and economic status and learn about customers’ needs as well as strive to increase economy of scale in order to achieve competitive advantage and increase profit and market share. PESTEL Analysis Political Russian State has high involvement and enormous influence over business activities and decision making. Moreover, there is political instability, weak legislative and enforcement regimes as well as immense corruption and bribery at all level. Therefore, it is vital that MABE understand the political risk when entering the market as it could have negative impact on their business as well as their reputation. Economic In 2008, the Russian economy was devastated by the recession which affected its monetary system. Among the BRIC countries, Russia has the highest FDI, per capita and discretionary incomes. It is also the world’s largest gas reserve and the second largest oil reserve. However, Russia economy offers low entry to small and medium size companies and its financial system is monopolized by one big bank resulting in a rather small domestic investment by locals and loan difficulty. Notwithstanding, there are still numerous opportunities for development that MABE can take advantage of if they can implement a method to handle these issues. Sociocultural Russia has a collective culture with informal social orientation and considers trust as a prominent factor in doing business especially with foreigners and it takes a considerable amount of time for foreign firms to earn the trust of locals. Therefore, the adaptation of MABE to the Russian cultural cues is essential. Furthermore, Russia is facing comparative  problems of population abatement, human capital deterioration, high mortality, low level of life expectancy, health and knowledge. In spite of the Russia’s vast natural resources, their declining human capital, low level of knowledge and other related issues have limited its social and economic development which will pose a problem for MABE to extract high skilled and competent workers. Technological Technological innovation and improvement is one of the main success factor to achieve competitive advantage in the appliance sector. In a merging market like Russia, with increasing competition, it is imperative that MABE invest more in technology improvement, innovation and development so as to stay abreast with the rapidly changing technological environment and improve their business efficiency, performance and competitiveness. Environmental Russia environment can be quiet hostile for foreign investment with several laws and regulations pertaining to environmental protection. For instance, doing AIDS test to obtain work permit and also, the hiring of several local work force in order for business to successfully operate in Russia. Additionally, there have been energy consumption regulations imposed by most government including Russia. Thus, MABE has to take into consideration these requirements and conditions. Legal Russia has had weak legislative and enforcement regimes with increasing corruption and bribery. Its biased legal and judicial systems, corrupt law enforcement, weak capital market institutions and poor private property right protection has relatively formed and increased the volatility and instability of its economy. This will lead to the loss of interest of existing and potential foreign firms to do business there. C onclusion Russia has an attractive and profitable appliance market with high technical innovation capabilities. However, the poor legislative and judicial system with a corrupt government that highly influences business practices makes it quite challenging and risky for entry into the country. Despite its social impediment and structure, there is still opportunities for successful entry in the market and for the joint venture to achieve its goal, it must adjust  itself to the Russian environment. CAGE Analysis Cultural Distance Administration and Political Distance Geographical Distance Economical Distance Attributes creating distance -Different languages, -Different religions, -Different ethnicity, Different social norms -Absence of colonial ties, -Different monetary system & currencies -Government policies -Different country size -Different climate -Limited sea access -Difference in customer income Cultural distance: Russia and Mexico have very distinct cultures. They have different languages, ethnicity, social norms and religions, hence, there is a huge cultural difference between them. Administration and Political Distance: Both country’s government have high influence on all aspect of business and other operations in the country. Although they suffer from the same poor political and legislative system as well as corruption and bribery, some administration and political differences still exist. Geographical Distance: Due to the large geographic distance between Russia and Mexico, goods can be exchange via transportation and most communication through information system. Economical Distance: Russia and Mexico are developing countries with similar economic situations such as average salary, GDP and population size. In this regards, the economic distance is little. Conclusion Russia and Mexico are somewhat similar in term of their political, economic and administrative situations while very different in term of culture and geography. However, as many factors need to be considered to adjust to the changes, the JV must adapt to the Russia environment. Alternative and Recommendation Decision Criteria Mabe has to make a decision based on its business objectives and these will be discussed below: International expansion Whether or not MABE decides to stop or continue with the JV, it will most likely still seek to go to other markets in the world since the JV was a result of its aim of wanting to explore new regions of the world and expand to other markets. If it decides to stay, it may partner with a local manufacturer in Russia as discussed in our third alternative or if Mabe decides to leave Russia, it may seek to enter into other markets in other regions of the world but these markets will also have their potential threats in addition to their opportunities and benefits. Business growth The major aim of Mabe wanting to expand operations to other regions of the world is to grow its business. In order to ensure that this happens, Mabe will have to tailor its next step on what to do about its JV in Russia to something that not only helps it expand to other countries, but one that also increases the growth of the business. Other factors Whether or not Mabe decides to continue with its present JV, go into another JV in Russia or go to another region of the world, it has to consider the current market situation there and the major market players to see if it can gain adequate market share that will sustain its business there. In addition to this, it also has to consider the business culture in the region and see  if its business can fit into their ways of doing things there. The available opportunities in those regions also matter but this may not be a huge problem in emerging markets unlike under developed regions. Even in the midst of these available opportunities, Mabe has to see if it has the resources that will enable it benefit from these opportunities. Another important factor is the threats in the region since they can serve as a major hindrance to not only taking advantage of opportunities, but also the growth of the business as a whole. The environment in which a business operates in goes a long way in determining how well it will perform. More on the external environment has been discussed in our external business analysis section. Alternatives Pros Cons -Strong customer purchasing power -Low economic and financial risk -Relatively lower cost of manufacturing -Transportation system is well established -Large number of potential business partners and investors -The level of price sensitivity is high. Thus, how to set up proper price becomes critical -Faces intense competition, i.e. Haier, Midea, Mitsubishi -A high level of government regulation and business requirements -Relative a high level of local bribery Recommendation According to the internal and external analysis, MABE should form a new joint venture with a Russian company for growth. Russia have one of the largest appliance market in the world with an impressive profit margin. However, it is relatively difficult and challenging to do business in Russia due to its political structure, sociocultural and economic environment. It’s best for MABE to work with a local Russian partner who knows the system and has extensive line of network in order to reduce the various connected risks. Furthermore, by entering the Russian market, Mabe will fully exploit its  resources and capabilities and will achieve its objectives of international expansion, business growth and increase in market share. Therefore, Alternative 3 is recommended. Implementation In order to resolve the above issue, it is important for MABE’s executives to comprehend and gain extensive knowledge of Russia’s business system and environment in order to be competitive. To implement the recommended alternative, a short and long term plan is discussed below. Short-run implementation Plan (See Exhibit 1) Phase 1 (day 1-7): A board meeting need be held to discuss and form a research team. A professional market analysts and few expatriates of MABE should travel to Russia on an exploratory visit to understand Russia market and find a reliable Russian manufacturer. At the same time, the research team should also hire local employees who are acquainted with the appliances market in Russia. In addition, the expatriates and executives should begin to learn the language and gain more knowledge about Russian culture because it helps to communicate with local manufacturers and employees in order to effectively operate the JV. Phase 2 (day 8-12): The research team should be divided into several groups to collect more information and make sure every aspect is considered. The groups should regularly meet to exchange information and insights to ensure that the current situation in Russia is updated. In this case, the advantage and disadvantage of each potential Russian company could be listed orderly by professional market analysts. Meanwhile, expatriates should keep learning. Phase 3 (day 13-19): Presentation should be well prepared for board members to show the knowledge and analysis about potential Russian partner. Board members will analyze and negotiate with these manufactures based on what is on the list. Phase 4 (day 20-31): With the help of lawyers, a contract will be drafted and negotiated with local partner about the business model, routine, strategy and management structure. Negotiation should not be stopped until the two companies are satisfied with the details. Phase 5 (day 29-38): The final contract should be prepared and signed by MABE and local partner. Then, the new Joint Venture would be set up and operation would begin. Long-run  Implementation Plan MABE should focus on the fastest growing segment, that is, the small and middle end products to increase profit and should show concern for the local employees and society by increasing salary, offering employee benefit and donating to the society. With extensive knowledge of Russia economy, MABE could forecast on the future trend of the Russian market and develop new strategies to compete in future situations There should be vast and continuous investment in R&D, technical innovations and process improvement in order to increase efficiency and competitiveness After fully develop in Russia, MABE could expand their reach in larger international markets like China to take advantage of the numerous growth opportunities. Contingency Plan If the recommended alternative does not work out, we would recommend that JV be dissolved and Mabe should exit the Russian market to another emerging market like South Africa. This is because it is relatively easy to do business there; it will help Mabe gain more presence in Africa as a whole which is politically and macro-economically stable with competitive labor costs. In addition, the country has better patent and copyright laws that will protect its innovations and designs from knockoffs as opposed to some other emerging markets like China.

Obesity and personal responsability Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Obesity and personal responsability - Thesis Example However, over the past few years, this move has not been much successful and hence the decision to encourage individuals towards taking personal responsibility for reducing obesity was taken up by the government. Based on this move of the government, this research paper is initiated and is aimed towards resolving answer to the research question which is as follows: Is obesity can be really termed as a personal responsibility of the individuals? The research paper will be validated if the government’s move towards redefining obesity as a personal responsibility can be evaluated to be successful. Finding Solution to the Research Question During the year 2004, the â€Å"Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act† was passed by the House of Representatives aiming towards prohibiting the lawsuits which are held by the restaurants and this would make the restaurants responsible for the obesity of their customers. After this act was passed, a representative from the Department of Health and Human Services insisted the government to include the factor of personal responsibility rather than bringing changes to the policies. The inclusion of the personal responsibility factor was then started to be initiated by the government through various inventiveness like that of launching various advertisement campaigns for encouraging people to be more mobile and suffer from less fatigue with lesser fatty foods. The government’s move towards the creation of healthy environment within the country was supported by various people as they were of the opinion that the motive was to encourage healthy options for appetite and not discouraging the freedom of selecting food. After the move of the government, various psychologists even indulged themselves in making the people learn the most effective techniques of changing their behavior towards consumption of healthy foods. But the success of these aspects is doubtful as evident from the lower percentage of people doing regular fitness exercise and they are merely involved in any structured activity. Since the government initiated the move towards inducing personal responsibility in obesity, is has been argued that the move cannot become successful. One important reason behind this is the people’s preferences for food based on the biological aspect inside their body. The biologically diverse pattern among the humans influences them to p refer certain food such as sweets to other foods such as spicy and vice versa with lots of other preferable choices (Sallis, â€Å"Obesity: Is personal responsibility the answer?†). There has been presence of various articles defining the people’s irresponsibility as the most vital reason of obesity since the government’s move towards either eradicating or reducing the same. With regards to these articles’ arguments, one might expect evidences of irresponsible nature of the people towards obesity. But the actual data reveals something opposite to the expectation. The following two figures explain the effectiveness of the government’s social move towards the aim of reducing obesity within the country. Figure 1: Trends in case of adolescent Figure 2: Trends in case of adults The above figures showing the trends in the movement of responsible nature

Criminal Profiling And Remote Monitoring Of A Computer Essay

Criminal Profiling And Remote Monitoring Of A Computer - Essay Example Although technology has most definitely benefitted us in every possible way, there are some areas in which it has created numerous problems for us. One of these main problems is criminal activity, which has become even more common due to the technological advancements of today’s world. It has also become challenging for the police or investigators to trace the criminals or solve the crime, as now instead of just physical evidence like eyewitnesses and statements, the scene of the crime now consists cybercrimes, spam’s, frauds etc. on computers or a network. Due to this, the sector of digital forensics investigation has been opened and is in continuous development, in order to come to date with the digitally advanced types of crimes. Criminal profiling has been present for some time now. The earliest effort to practice criminal profiling was done in the early twentieth century. During World War II, criminal profiling was used and a profile on Adolf Hitler was prepared, w hich helped in his eventual capture. Criminal profiling can be divided into two categories: inductive and deductive. Inductive profiling of criminals is done by studying different types of behavior, gathered from various data. It is a type of profiling where conclusion is reached based on observation and determines a general behavior from a group of criminals. This type of profiling allows using information from the data collected on a group of criminals, and is then used to guess the personality or characteristics of the whole group. This plays a critical role in understanding the mind of the criminals and their next move. Deductive profiling is more specific as compared to inductive profiling. While inductive profiling is more general in nature, deductive logic requires a more precise approach. A single case is studied, and then a behavioral profile is formed on that case. But no matter which type of profiling is used, this method usually does not single out the suspect but reduce s the number so that it becomes easier to identify the suspect. (Marc Rogers). Both the types of criminal profiling help in the digital forensic investigations. The number of suspects or the amount of evidence gathered in a network check leads to the collection of lot of data. From this data, the suspect needs to be identified and criminal profiling helps the investigator in doing that. The results acquired during criminal profiling aid in carrying out a distinctive search and the focus can be easily placed on a particular area. (Criminal Profiling in Digital Forensic, 2011) Discuss tools that could be used to remotely monitor a computer (with or without the computer owner’s awareness). You can discuss the technical solutions and the legal impacts. Also will this kind of evidence admissible? Are they admissible under which conditions? Monitoring different computers in an area and examining the activities on those computers is called remotely monitoring a computer. This superv ision of a network of computers is used extensively by investigators nowadays, but it is a fairly new practice, which began less than a decade ago. To monitor different computers, various Internet or computer management tools were introduced, which have now developed into mechanized practices used by forensics experts to find evidence from computers during an investigation. The courts have allowed the authorities to monitor the computers of people under probation, so that their activities are kept under check. Different types of software and tools have been developed since the monitoring of computers started. Field Forensic

Letter of Advice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Letter of Advice - Essay Example It is important to note of the barriers that hinder effective communication and relationships. Most barriers in communication stem from self-protection. However, there are unavoidable circumstances, especially, if partners come from backgrounds that possess disparity (Wood, 2012). The intensity of the situation regards the level of disparity. The crucial thing for partners is that they realize these differences. In turn, they should be aware of how the same affects their communication. Individuals possess fears and insecurities that hinder one from wholly experiencing the benefits of a relationship. The light thing about these fears is that people learn about the same. This comes from the fact that partners may fear judgment from the same. Besides, they fear ridicule and appearing stupid in front of partners. This fear is coupled comes with the view that someone is sensitive of being overpowered. In this sense, fear impairs communication in notable ways. To begin with, a partner woul d not communicate true thoughts because one preempts what the other partner would like. This creates a situation where an individual stifles one’s emotions and thoughts. Another barrier of proper communication concerns with the case of insensitivity. It relates to inadequate care for a partner’s feelings. In addition, it entails inaccurate perception and portrayal of one’s feelings (Allen, 2002). It relates to detachment of an individual in the relationship until one becomes only preoccupied with oneself. It articulates as a case of personal insulation. Insensitivity expresses in notable ways. For instance, it comes as a method of diverting others’ concerns. In typical instances, one would turn a mutual conversation towards oneself. It deviates from the person who engages in talking. This occurs when a partner does not have proper listening skills. In certain instances, it comes as

Business operation & system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business operation & system - Essay Example Contrary to few decades ago, nowadays, operations managers are enjoying a noteworthy status and importance in the companies; however, at the same time, they are confronting the pressure of ensuring efficiency and efficacy in different processes of the business. In particular, this report is an attempt to identify and examine different aspects of operations management while utilizing case study of an organization that will enable a comprehensive understanding of different strategies and techniques of operations management that will be beneficial for huge number of organizations globally. Business of Choice As mentioned earlier, the report includes a case study that will make it easier to understand the importance of operations management in an organization. For this reason, the researcher has selected ‘Tesco’ (Humby, Hunt & Phillips, pp. ... Contrary to other organizations, Tesco has not only been able to tolerate the adverse impact of global recessions and economic booms but one can observe significant expansion and development in its outlets and centres that is one of the major reasons of its success in the British, as well as global market. For this reason, the Tesco has been the choice of this report that will include its different processes, infrastructure, and activities to carry out the process of scrutiny in the context of operations management. (System Diagram of Tesco’s Retail Store) From this introduction of Tesco, the company does not stand less than a legend in its field as it has been successful in surviving with success for so many years since its establishment in the year 1919. Due to such long success story, Tesco has remained in focus of critics and business experts (Humby, Hunt & Phillips, pp. 15-46, 2007) since a long time, and everyone is always looking for the magic formula of Tesco that has enabled the company to survive, as well as achieve success during recessions as well. Once again, contrary to usual organizations, Tesco has put no efforts in hiding its magic approach, and has been discussing it everywhere, calling it ‘Tesco’s way’ (Humby, Hunt & Phillips, pp. 41-77, 2007). While analyzing Tesco’s way, it is an observation that it is nothing but an efficient application and implementation of operations management’s strategies and methodologies that have facilitated the organization to achieve success in the field. In particular, integration of technology with trained staff, and amalgamation of infrastructure with efficient planning in different

International Relations Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International Relations Theories - Essay Example In fact, for realists the desire to maximize state interest within a situation of global anarchy is the most crucial component required in the understanding of political actors and state behavior. First and foremost it is important to remember that state interest operates within an anarchic environment.The international system is inherently unstable and is aptly characterized by widespread anarchy. Due to the absence of a suprastate or overarching Leviathan authority, states are placed in inevitable and perpetual competition, described as the security dilemma. Because of the anarchic nature of international affairs, states are perpetually concerned with their survival. For realists, the international system is a â€Å"dog-eat-dog world† and ensuring survival is paramount for any and all states. According to Hans Morgenthau, pioneering German political scientist and an early proponent of realist thought, due to the inherent instability of the international system, the fundament al national interest of all states is to â€Å"protect [its] physical, political, and cultural identity against encroachments by other nations† (Morgenthau, 1952, 67). Specifically, threats to states are determined by their relative power vis-à  -vis one others in the international system. The structure of the system – the distribution of power and capabilities state wide - is important because threats or challenges facing a state which affront the national interest should be â€Å"calculated according to the situation in which the state finds itself† (Waltz, 1979, 77).

Human Resources- Result PartThe relationship between supervisors Essay

Human Resources- Result PartThe relationship between supervisors leadership style and subordinate perceptions of job satisfaction paper - Essay Example is, these hierarchical models will allow us to assess the extent to which regression coefficients vary across the different groups while taking up strength from the full model. A hierarchical regression is used because the independent variables are extremely correlated. When these correlated variables are simultaneously included in the regression model, multi-co linearity comes up. Data presentation was done under different aggregation variables. The variables include age, gender, work experience, position held and the level of education. The data analysis has a constant of 1.065 in column B and a constant standard deviation of 0.411 in model 1, a constant of 0.404 in B column and a constant standard error of 0.353 in model 2. Model 3 has a constant B column of 4.53 and a constant standard error of 0.367. To complete this data, the three sets of data from the models have been evaluated. The evaluation focused on the reliability of information from the variables from the different questionnaires, the representativeness of the population of the dependent variables and the bearing of substantial differences between the models. Communication competence and working hours t-test figure arrived at is zero (0.00). This shows they have a low effect on the employee job satisfaction from the analysis of the data. The first two variables, age and gender, show negative unstandardized coefficients in model 1. The fourth variable, ORG tenure, also has a negative unstandardized coefficient in B column in model 1. Education level has a negative figure in model 2 and 3. The leadership style in model 3 is portrayed as a negative. The negative figures are indicated in the unstandardized and standardized coefficients and the t-test result figure. The negative figure indicates that the variable has an insignificant effect on job satisfaction and stress. From the data collected from different individuals of different ages, education levels, employment nature and different employment

Causes of Immigration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Causes of Immigration - Essay Example Let us discuss both of these factors in some detail. The economic factor is the most considerable factor for many people who migrate or want to migrate to the developed countries. Better job opportunities, wage differences, better standard of living, and growth opportunities are some of those economic factors, which motivate a large number of people to migrate to the developed countries. Some other economic factors, which make migrate, include overpopulation, lack of jobs, and the high cost of living in their home countries. On the other hand, there also exist many economic pull factors, which make developed countries allow immigration. Some of such factors include cost-effectiveness of the immigrant labor, less number of native workers, and economic expansion. Today, people seek better employment opportunities to excel in life. If they do not find such opportunities in their home countries, they move forward to such countries where they can easily find such opportunities. The economic benefits of immigration attract many people towards developed countries. The average income of a person is generally very low in a developing country due to poor economic conditions of that country. A person finds it very difficult to fulfill all requirements of life with such level of income and plans to move to a developed country to earn more money. Second most important factor, which makes people migrate to other countries, is the presence of social networks and connections in the developed countries. Today, many people have their relatives living and working in different countries. When people see the standard of living of their relatives living in other countries, they also want to have such living standards. Therefore, they try to migrate to those countries where someone is already there to assist them in getting suitable job and housing facility.

Equity and Trusts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Equity and Trusts - Essay Example If it is developed in the country where monarchy system is followed, then monks would be required to live in the property. Therefore it may be concluded that it is not necessary that the idea of Trust Law will always find its origin in the English system only1. In this paper different aspects of the contemporary trust law will be studied and the importance of the beneficiary in this law would be discussed. The Origin of the trust law The historical origin of the trust can be found in the so called crusades in which the English noblemen fought and were away from England for years. The noblemen were significant land-owners in England under the feudal land system. The problem arose as to who would be using the land and in what way when the noble men were out of the country. As a consequence the rule of equity recognized that the land left unused by the noblemen, who were unable to exercise their legal rights on the other, will be used by other men. So the equity recognized an arrangemen t where the right of the noblemen will be retained. The nobleman was regarded as the person who will have the ultimate beneficial right and the person who will be benefiting from this arrangement is known as beneficiary. In the absence of the nobleman, the Stewart who accepts the charge of the land is entitled to raise taxes on the land and so on. So in such an arrangement the nobleman passes their legal rights of the land to the trusted person referred as â€Å"trustee† but the ultimate beneficial right of the property remains with the nobleman who serves as the â€Å"beneficiary†. The core duty of the trustee is to stick to the terms and condition of the trust2.Therefore the â€Å"beneficiary† is referred to have the â€Å"equitable interest â€Å"in the property3. A major traditional practitioner’s Lewin gave the following description of trust. He defined trust as â€Å"a duty or aggregated accumulation of obligations that rest upon the person descr ibed as trustee. The responsibility bestowed on him is due to the property held by him under his control. The property is compelled by the court in the equitable jurisdiction to administer in the manner lawfully prescribed by the trust instrument or where there be no specific provision written or oral, or to the extent of such provision is invalid or lacking in accordance with equitable principle†4. Problem with the Law In California, people presented petitions and pleaded for justice to the Chancellor (the keeper of the King’s conscience) stating that the property given to the trustee for their benefit was mis-applied. So the court of Chancery built up two ideas: first, â€Å"the obligation of the feoffee to uses or trustee to hold the property for the benefit of the cestui que use or beneficiary†5 and second, â€Å"the right of the beneficiary to obtain the use of the property†6. Thus this notion backed that the trustee’s obligation with regard to the property was correlative to the beneficiaries’ right in it7. A major traditional practitioner Lewin argued that the consequence is such that the benefits and the advantages accrued will not go to the trustee and in turn will go to the person called â€Å"cestui que† that is the beneficiary. The trustee may be the beneficiary in the case where the advantage accrued will be in his favor to the extent of his beneficial interest8. Importance of Beneficiary The central tension in the Trust Law is regarding the

Group Counseling in Elementary Schools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Group Counseling in Elementary Schools - Essay Example Due to this legislation school counselors are being expected to contribute more towards the academic achievements of their student body (Brigman & Campbell, 2003). The following paper aims to inform the reader about two interventions that are currently used as part of school-based group counseling. First, a brief outline of the purpose behind group counseling for elementary students shall be provided. Second two group counseling intervention activities shall be presented. Next, an outline of ethical and best practice principles shall be identified that align with a learner-centered approach to group counseling. Finally, a conclusion shall summarize the key themes of this paper. Group counseling within the elementary environment has more recently taken on a learner-centered approach to school counseling (Stroh & Sink, 2002). Recent changes to education legislation emphasize a focus on student academic achievements (Brigman & Campbell, 2003). ... School-based group counseling is proving to be an effective intervention for positive change in student behavior (Schechtman, 2002). Group counseling intervention activities may be centered around a diverse range of topics, such as friendship and social skills study, anti-bullying, organizational skills development, building self-esteem, changes to family dynamics and grief, just to name a few (Schechtman, 2002) .Group counseling has been found to significantly reduce rates of acting-out behavior in elementary students considered to be at risk (Stroh & Strike, 2002). Interventions that have included group counseling have also been found to be beneficial at improving overall behavioral adjustment of elementary students (Stroh & Strike, 2002). The use of small group counseling interventions have been found to positively affect the racial attitudes of elementary students (Stroh & Strike, 2002), as well as increase scores on measures of self-concept amongst school aged children (McGannon , Casey, & Dimmitt, 2005). In 2002 Chemtob, Nakashima and Hamada conducted a community wide school-based study of elementary students with ongoing disaster-related trauma two years after Hurricane Iniki. The sample was comprised of 2 358 children in grades 2-6 on the island of Kauai. There were 248 children who rated highest on scores of psychological trauma. Children awaiting treatment comprised the waiting-list control group. The other children were randomly assigned to either the individual or group counseling treatment. Following four treatment sessions there was a significant reduction in self-reports of trauma-related symptoms as compared to the waiting list group. Although,

Should Adultery be illegal Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Should Adultery be illegal - Research Proposal Example Although adults are consenting individuals and should be permitted to sleep with whomever they choose, adultery should be illegal because it is a violation of a legal contract and a cause for divorce. Adults are consenting adults and are permitted to sleep with whomever they choose to unless he/she is a minor. Currently, the American society comprises of different sexual relationships including heterosexual and homosexual associations, and although homosexual marriages remain largely illegal in several states, others in the US have legalized the practice. Legalizing same sex marriage is a clear indication of the respect that the law accords individuals in the choice of a marital partner, if both partners are adults (Ethridge and Stephen, 2004). Even though adults are consenting and permitted to sleep with whomever they want to, adultery should be illegal because it is a major cause for fault base divorce. According to Arterburn, Fred, and Yorkey (2000), one or both parties in a marit al union dissolve most of their heterosexual marriages in United States on allegations of adultery. This leads to psychological, economical and social suffering to all concerned parties, including children.

The leadership style of Catherine the Great Research Paper

The leadership style of Catherine the Great - Research Paper Example The empress Catherine II is one of the brightest phenomena of the Russian history. The first half of her life, up to the accession to the throne, is represented as a series of fortunes, which did not depend on personal qualities of the modest German princess. But she managed to play the results of each of her successes in the best way, showing the rare ability to overcome any constraining circumstances as well as a moral ban, if was necessary for the achievement of a specific goal. The second half of the biography of Catherine The Great, a Russian Empress, is a series of the episodes, which arose spontaneously, not due to someones conscious will, and quite often had the most improbable endings. A motley round dance of events, in which the wisest plans and projects stuck and broke up, and instinctively made situational decisions often led to historically important consequences. This chaotic kaleidoscope developed a majestic picture of an eminence of the Russian Empire. Having headed t he triumph of her second homeland, the Empress Catherine II occupied a deserved place among historical heroes (Cronin, 1978). Catherine was not tall, but always held her chin highly lifted, and her back ideally straight. One her glance was enough to show his place to an impudent. â€Å"The double doors opened and the Empress appeared. I have said that she was quite small, and yet on the days when she made her public appearances, with her head held high, her eagle-like stare and a countenance accustomed to command, all this gave her such an air of majesty that to me she might have been Queen of the World; she wore the sashes of three orders, and her costume was both simple and regal; it consisted of a muslin tunic embroidered with gold fastened by a diamond belt, and the full sleeves were folded back in the Asiatic style. Over this tunic she wore a red velvet dolman with very short sleeves. The bonnet which held her white hair was not decorated with ribbons, but with the

Environmental impact assessment of West field Shopping Centre in West Essay

Environmental impact assessment of West field Shopping Centre in West London - Essay Example Proper management of these is important The proponent will use qualified contractors to construct the buildings Westfield shopping Centre is located in Shepherd’s Bush, West London and is developed on a large Brownfield site which was once the location of the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition by the West Field Group. This site is bounded by the Wood Lane, the West Way and the West Cross Route. This site is part of the White City that contains many other developments in various stages. The project parameters can be represented in a flow diagram as shown in Fig.1 Roads leading to the area will experience an increase in the number of pedestrians and traffic since there will be more people in the area. It will however be able to cope with it since it coincides with several other London infrastructure projects that serve West Field and its environs. These projects include the Shepherds Bush railway station built on the West London Line, a bus and taxi rank on the Shepherd’s Bush Interchange and new cycle routes. There is also a grade-separated junction connecting to the West Cross Route and running along the site. b) Employment of about 50 – 60 workers during construction, this has the knock on effect of creating a market for food vendors as well as the obvious benefits to those who depend on the workers employed here The project helps in alleviating office problems around West Field as it seeks to provide modern buildings complete with accessories. It will provide job opportunities to many people especially during construction phase. This will have a multiplier effect with the income spreading to more people. It will open new business opportunities for grocery and other businesses in West Field. The project however calls for proper management to avoid the waste generated ending up in rivers and other waterways. It will affect the scenic value of the surrounding environment but it will add to the aesthetics of the area as well

Plato&Socrates Excellence in Virtue Essay Example for Free

PlatoSocrates Excellence in Virtue Essay â€Å"Socrates’ positive influence touches us even today† (May 6) and we can learn a great deal about him from one of his students, Plato. It is in Plato’s report of Socrates’ trial a work entitled, Apology, and a friend’s visit to his jail cell while he is awaiting his death in Crito, that we discover a man like no other. Socrates was a man following a path he felt that the gods had wanted him to follow and made no excuses for his life and they way he lived it. The passage I have chosen from Plato’s Apology is the main passage to which Socrates believed in until his death and gave the basis for his life and they way he chose to live his life. It is this passage that makes clear all of Plato’s writings and perhaps why even in living his own life he chose emulate and follow Socrates and ultimately became one of his better-known students. To prove this, the paper is organized into four sections. In the first section, I will give the key passage, along with some textual context to give background details. In the second section, I will provide some relevant biographical/historical information about the author and the time period for when the text was written. In the third section, I will provide a detailed analysis meaning and arguments of my key passage and in the fourth section; I will explain the meaning of three passages that support the key passage of the paper. However, before we can move any further into this process, I will present my key passage on which this paper is based. key passage. â€Å"As long as I have breath and strength I will not give up philosophy and exhorting you and declaring the truth to every one of you whom I meet, saying as I am accustomed, ‘My good friend, you are a citizen of Athens, a city which is very great and very famous for its wisdom and power-are you not ashamed of caring so much for the making of money and for fame and prestige, when you neither think nor care about your wisdom and truth and the improvement of your soul? ’ If he disputes my words and says that he does care about these things I shall not at once release him and go away: I shall question him and cross-examine him and test him. If I think that he has not attained excellence, though he says that he has, I shall reproach him for undervaluing the most valuable things, and overvaluing those things that are less valuable. This I shall do to everyone whom I meet, young or old, citizen or stranger, but especially to citizens, since they are more closely related to me. This, you must recognize, the god has commanded me to do. And I think that no greater good has ever befallen you in the state than my service to the god. For I spend my whole life in going about and persuading you all to give your first and greatest care to the improvement of your souls, and not till you have done that to think of your bodies or your wealth. And I tell you that wealth does not bring excellence, but that wealth and every other good thing which men have, whether in public or in private, come from excellence. † (Baird Kaufmann 29-30). In this passage Socrates is our speaker and he is presenting his defense against the charges that have been brought against him by Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon. The charges they have brought against Socrates are for corrupting the youth and worshipping gods other than the ones all other Athenians worshipped at that time in Ancient Greece. This passage is one of many times that Socrates brings to light the fact that what he has been doing by going around questioning people about their beliefs is commanded by the gods and that he should not be put to death for doing what has been asked of him. Socrates presents many times that what he is doing in trying to get people to not just question what they believe, but to work on the improvement of their souls. He believes and so states in the passage that wealth and fame do not bring excellence to a person’s life, but you become a better person first by improving your soul and that is actually where excellence can be found. Once a person has done this then they can concern themselves with other matters. Stating that you first turn your attention inward and then outward to the larger society could sum up the general message of Socrates. While he does not explicitly say this one could reasonably interpret from Socrates defense that he believes the reason for the charges that have been brought up against him are due to a lack of understanding by the Athenian public of his mission and purpose as well as the authority he has to do it. This is what he is attempting to do in this passage, explain what he has been doing and that the god of all Athenians commanded him to do this work and that he has done nothing wrong. historical/biographical information. Though Socrates ran no formal school, one can find in any number of books on Plato, that he was a student of Socrates in Ancient Greece. According to Baird and Kaufmann Plato probably first began following Socrates sometimes in his twenties, though one cannot be sure of the exact date (4). The Apology, along with Crito, are just a number of texts written by Plato on the teachings and beliefs held by Socrates. â€Å"The Apology is generally regarded as one of Plato’s first and as eminently faithful to what Socrates said at his trial on charges of impiety and corruption of the youth† (Baird Kaufmann 5). The time of Socrates trial was around 399 B. C. in Athens, Greece and â€Å"many contemporary scholars maintain that Plato’s Apology was writing within the first two to three years following Socrates’ trial and execution† (Brickhouse Smith 1). The charges against Socrates were corruption of the youth and worshipping some other god rather than the ones commonly held to be believed in by other Athenians. It is important to note as reported by Brickhouse and Smith that, â€Å"Athens had only just concluded the Peloponnesian War. The effects of the war had been disastrous on her economy; factions blamed each other for her defeats, and suspicion and power-mongering were rife† (19). By this very fact they were looking for someone to blame for their problems and Socrates was an excellent choice. It should come as no surprise â€Å"that Athenians looked for the guilty among thinkers like Socrates. After all, by their very nature and regardless of their particular persuasions, such intellectual challenge established wisdom and tradition† (Brickhouse Smith 19). Then the charges brought against Socrates and his trial were a course of action that the Athenians could see nothing wrong with at that time. Socrates was definitely a man before his time. Socrates was placed on trial for the questioning he did of others because he was pushing people in their long-held beliefs, which probably gave rise to fear. Even though Socrates felt justified in his actions many did not hold that same theory. In fact, May states, â€Å"most people would be quite irritated if someone criticized their moral beliefs. Imagine conversing with someone who continually pointed out the weakness in your beliefs† (5). There are very few people that when pushed into why they believe what they do can generally come up with a concrete answer as to why they believe that way. In my opinion, much of what people believe in is based on tradition; either from your own family or culturally and many times occurs as a combination of both. Plato’s dialogues are perhaps a fair representation of Socrates’ teachings however, he does not give a consistent portrait of Socrates (May 20). May goes onto say that â€Å"character ‘Socrates’ is portrayed differently in some of Plato’s dialogues because in some of them. Plato is writing in order to chronicle the historical Socrates, whereas in others, Plato uses the character ‘Socrates’ as a mouthpiece of his own philosophical position† (20). â€Å"Although Plato originally started to write his dialogues in order to chronicle the historical Socrates, he eventually started to write dialogues that were devoted to Plato’s actual philosophical views† (20). It was this writing that caused Plato to formulate his own views in an attempt to answer some of the questions that Socrates had posed along the way (May 20). Regardless of which Socrates is speaking the message however is the same in that excellence can be found in virtue over any other thing a person may possess. In addition, Socrates did not do any writing himself so all we have to go on is what Plato presented to us in his various texts. anaylsis In this passage, Socrates is telling the Athenian jury that he is innocent on the charges brought against him and why he is innocent. This passage is of extreme importance of understanding and interpreting Plato’s writings because it is a theme that is repeated throughout his works. Our character Socrates feels that people should be more concerned with the perfecting their souls more than anything else in their life. He believes that in his quest to help people find their way he is actually doing as the gods dictated. Socrates also states that the only reason his is wise is because he knows that the only thing he does know is that he does not know anything worth knowing (Brickhouse Smith 129). In fact he so states in his defense when he says â€Å"I am wiser than this man; neither one of knows anything that is really worth knowing, but he thinks that he has knowledge when he has not, while I, having no knowledge, do no think that I have, I seem, at any rate, to be a little wiser than he is on this point: I do not know what I do not know† (Baird Kaufmann 24). Socrates believes that it is really the gods that are wise and humans do not possess any wisdom. He believes that the best a human can do is to work on improving their souls and it is through this action that a person can achieve a life of excellence. In fact, in a later section of the Apology, Socrates even states, â€Å"an unexamined life is not worth living† (Baird Kaufmann 34). That statement speaks to the true nature of Plato’s writings and how he wanted to impress upon others to live a better life. May even supports this idea when she states, â€Å"Socrates claims that the meaning of Apollo’s oracle that humans cannot possess wisdom. Remember, Socrates does not believe that even he possesses wisdom, as he believes that real wisdom is the property of God† (44). While taking into account the turbulent times of Athens one could easily understand why that anyone questioning â€Å"the establishment† would gain much notoriety and attention. While repeatedly Plato reports that Socrates felt he was doing gods work others were not as easily persuaded. Change is never welcomed by a society, because change means the known is questioned and people are stretched in ways they had not anticipated. One can find numerous examples of this throughout time ranging from slaves being released to live as free men, the flight of Kitty Hawk, Hitler, and even as recent as the presidential race of 2008 which was highlighted by frequent reports that Barak Obama was a terrorist. All of these things created change in the world around them and opened up countless avenues to others while many people stayed behind too scared to move forward. Reeve states that, â€Å"Socrates presents himself†¦ as someone who questions others in the matters of virtue and who examines or refutes them by mean of an elenchus when they have answered inadequately. † (x) An elenchus is Socrates’ characteristic method of inquiry and refutation some might consider it badgering (Reeve x). He also presents himself as a servant of Apollo whose mission has been divinely inspired and it is not simply to question people. â€Å"But to get them to care about virtue and their psyches – their souls – above everything else. † (Reeve x) Even in his later work of the Crito, in which Crito comes to visit Socrates in prison offering him a chance to escape, Plato does not have Socrates change his beliefs and escape to a foreign land. â€Å"In the Apology, Socrates claims that a human being has only one thing to consider namely whether one is acting rightly or wrongly (28c). This is repeated in the Crito when Socrates states that his duty to consider just one question, whether it would be right to escape or wrong† (May 78). As he continues to examine the option before him Socrates cannot come up with any reason why it would be right for him to escape and that to do would be morally wrong and go against everything he has stood for his entire life. The selfish action of escaping would have disastrous results and wipe out years of Socrates work. One can easily see how Plato has carried the message of Socrates throughout his writing and used it to his benefit. In order to be considered wise by Plato, a person needs to examine their beliefs and knowledge to better their soul before any other task is undertaken. It is this that will last far longer than any wealth, power, property or prestige that is attained. Because as Socrates says â€Å"I spend my whole life in going about and persuading you all to give your first and greatest care to the improvement of your souls, and not till you have done that to think of your bodies or your wealth† (Baird Kaufmann 30). supporting passages. This is the first of three passages that supports the fact that the passage quoted at the beginning of this paper and ultimately makes clear all of Plato’s writings and gives further insight into Socrates’ life. â€Å"But then I again proved, not by mere words but by my actions, that, if I may speak bluntly, I do no care a straw for death; but that I do care very much indeed about not doing anything unjust or impious. That government and all its power did not terrify me into doing anything unjust† (Baird Kaufmann 31). This passage comes from Apology shortly after the key passage in which Socrates is defending himself against the charges of corrupting the youth and worshiping false gods. In this passage he is telling how that when ordered by the government to bring Leon the Salaminian to them so that they might put him to death he chose to live by his values even though he was defying the government. He goes onto to explain that it is a person’s actions that mean more than the mere words they utter. He states how that even in the face of death he chose not to anything unjust or impious, but to live according to the gods decree for his life. He goes on to say that if the government of The Thirty had stayed in power he would have certainly been put to death, but he did not care one way or another. He is saying in no uncertain terms that he will not be coerced or bullied into doing anything that goes against the will of god. The position that he takes shows that he is strong-willed and a man who is true to his word and that even if this current group of Athenians puts him to death he will not fight them unnecessarily. This passage relates to the key passage by showing that by following one’s beliefs and doing what is right and just helps to lead a person closer to excellence in virtue and to living a better life. The second passage also appears in the Apology and comes after Socrates has been found guilty by the Athenians of the crimes of which he was accused and now is speaking about what a suitable punishment might be for him. â€Å"And if I tell you that no greater good can happen to a man than to discuss human excellence every day and the other matters about which you have heard me arguing and examining myself and others and that an unexamined life is not worth living, then you will believe me still less† (Baird Kaufmann 34) Plato is once again writing in reference to the first idea presented by Socrates that in order to be great people should first improve their inner self and not worry about things outside of themselves until they have reached that point. It is only by doing this that a person can achieve an excellence in their virtue far greater than any material possession or status one may achieve. Socrates is again stating that he has only been doing what the gods have asked of him and that he has been attempting to impress upon others the importance of personal virtue rather than material gain. He is again stating how he personally did that and was only attempting to get others to see the world as he saw it. In fact, Socrates believes that death is not justice in his case, but since he has lived his life as a pauper that he should be sentenced to life in the prytaneum, which is the town hall of Ancient Greece used to house distinguished visitors and guests (Dictionary.com). He states in there he would be forced to live a life in complete opposite of what he has known since it would be rich and lavish and in addition he would receive three full meals a day. This according to Socrates is the polar opposite of the way he has been living and would actually be a punishment to him since it goes against what he has been doing. This passage relates to the key passage by not only re-stating what was said previously, but provides further evidence that Socrates was committed to the cause of excellence even after he was sentenced to death. This third passage comes from Plato’s Crito when Socrates’ friend Crito visits him in prison. â€Å"Are we to start our inquiry from the premise that it is never right either to act unjustly or to repay injustice with injustice to avenge ourselves on any man who harms us, by harming him in return? Or do you disagree with me and dissent from my premise? I myself believed in it for a long time and I still believe in it. † (Baird Kaufmann 43) Crito actually bribes a guard in order to be allowed into Socrates’ prison cell and Socrates is not at all pleased by that action because it is an unjust act. The purpose of his visit is to convince Socrates to escape and continue to live a free man. Crito informs him that many people are willing to help him escape and continue his work of helping others in another country where he will be free from the narrow-mindedness of the Athenians who have sentenced him to death. While many people would jump at an opportunity to escape and continue to live their lives, even if it meant being a fugitive, Socrates refuses. But here again we see that Socrates is adamant about his position. In the above passage he states that it is wrong to escape because it would mean going against everything for which he has stood and argued for his entire life. He feels that it would a mistake to escape and repay an injustice with an injustice; there is no virtue in that action. He believes even as his death nears that what he has stood for; looking for excellence in virtue and by becoming a better person by looking inward first to improve the soul, that he is correct and nothing will veer him off his course. This passage ties to the key passage by showing how through his actions Socrates believed that living justly and rightly were more important than living a life where a person would simply exist because they were following the dictates of others and not living, as they truly believed. conclusion In conclusion, the key passage from Plato’s Apology that I have discussed here is the critical point of all his writings. In the key passage as well as the three supporting passages I discussed one can see how living a life of excellence as found through virtuous actions was the central theme throughout his writings. One can easily see why Plato would have chosen to be a student of Socrates and spend a great deal of his writing career recalling the events of Socrates life and death. At the time of his writings and Socrates’ death, Athens was in need of a good and moral hero and Plato chose Socrates to help others learn that success was measured not by material goods but through good actions based on right motives. Works Cited Baird, Forrest E. and Kaufmann, Walter. From Plato to Derrida. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. 2008. Print. Brickhouse, Thomas C. and Nicholas D. Smith. Socrates on Trial. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1989. Print. Dictionary. com. n. d. n pag. Web. 22 Nov. 09. May, Hope. On Socrates. Belmont, California: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2000. Print. Reeve, C. D. C. Socrates in the Apology: An Essay on Plato’s Apology of Socrates. Indianapolis, Indiana, 1989. Print.