Protecting Biodiversity through Science and Technology Essay Example

Protecting Biodiversity through Science and Technology Essay Protecting Biodiversity Through Science and Technology Heal the world; make It a better place for you and for me and the inure human race. Man can do or undo the environment. Crimes, wars, poverty, pollution ? name it, the world has it. It is a sad truth universally accepted that humans are the primary cause of these problems. It cannot be denied that human activities further uphold problems detrimental to the environment and to the whole community as well. To solve or minimize these problems, self-discipline must be everybody concern. Man knows what is right or wrong, so the right must prevail in his system. Biodiversity loss is caused by humans and their activities. Thus, man must think of ways beneficial to the conservation and protection of the environment. Let us pay off our debts to the environment. We owe our environment a lot. This can be done by merely starting at home. Lets help keep our surroundings clean always. Environmental sanitation at home will keep us free from pollution that will hinder the growth of bacteria that will affect our health. With this, we can still breathe fresh alarm and live a intended life. Technology. In one way Is harmful and causes lots of stress to the environment, thus promoting biodiversity loss. As human population increases, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation became rampant. Therefore, lets make use of technology to help save the environment and biodiversity, as a whole. Planting more trees and more crops that will help screen impurities in the air and water is one great way, for this will balance the increase in human population. We will write a custom essay sample on Protecting Biodiversity through Science and Technology specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Protecting Biodiversity through Science and Technology specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Protecting Biodiversity through Science and Technology specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Biodiversity supports almost all life forms and a number of natural ecosystem recesses. There should be awareness of what happens in the ecosystem. Man must see to it that there is ecological balance. What Is lost should be gained. What Is destroyed should be replenished. Science and technology can help save and protect biodiversity. The knowledge and ideas Imparted by science Is essential for us to know how to manage and conserve the worlds species. Science will guide us of what Is beneficial to our environment while technology, on the other hand can be beneficial If being used properly.

7 Time Management Tips for Academic Writers

7 Time Management Tips for Academic Writers Between a 12-credit course load and work assignments, the life of a student- whether part-time or full-time- can get stressful. But before you down that eleventh cup of coffee and spend yet another sleepless night trying to meet deadlines for academic writing assignments, here are seven time management tips for academic writers to make your semester less stressed.With the right kind of time management, your academic writing assignments can be less stressful. Photo by Kaylah Otto on Unsplash.#1. Establish a timeline and stick to itTheres really no way around it- academic writing requires time and preparation. This is especially true if you are in advanced undergraduate classes or graduate school. Gone are the days when you could procrastinate on a writing assignment, stay up all night the night before the due date to get it written, then still manage a good grade on the result. Its simply impossible to pull of when advanced research is involved.When youre given an assignment that will be due in one month, first determine the steps that will be involved with that assignment. For most academic writing assignments, such as essays or research papers, these steps will include:A trip to the library or online research to find sourcesTime to read through the sourcesTime to take notes and cite the sources usedTime to outline the intended direction of your writing and develop a thesis statement/argument/hypothesisTime to write the rough draftFinding an editor or second pair of eyes to look over your workTime to complete the final draftTime to complete the list of references or sources in a standard formatDepending on the scope of your assignment, locating and reading through your sources could take anywhere from an hour to several weeks, so its best to get started on this part of the academic writing assignment as quickly as possible. Some professors also place parameters on the types of sources you use or the dates they were published, which can add additional time and s tress to this part of the process.If your academic writing project is a thesis or dissertation, obviously, there are many more steps involved than the basic ones listed above. However, regardless of the assignment given, its important to plan out the steps that will be involved and establish a workable timeline that you can stick with.#2. Turn off your phone and social media accounts while writing/researchingWeve all been there- that moment when youre focused on a topic of study, or in the middle of writing, and your mind begins to move toward a deeper level of analysis. You begin to think clearly, the words flow smoother, and then suddenly†¦ding! A Facebook notification comes in and you lose it all.How much time did it take you to get to that place of focus- the place you found before the notification distracted you? Ten minutes? Maybe more? Youre now back at square one, with muddled thoughts, and a looming deadline that requires you to once again find focus.When youre in the process of researching and writing, constant interruptions can cause more delay than you realize, because its more than those few seconds of interruptions. Its the added minutes required to once again focus your thoughts on the task at hand, and often, those minutes add up to hours if enough distractions are around you. This is especially true of social media, which can end up causing you to waste time on scrolling through yet more mindless memes and cute cat photos.#3. Outline your writingWriting without outlining is like driving a train with no tracks. To achieve a cohesive, well-written essay, you need an outline that gives you a general direction to take. It will help save time in the end by ensuring that your writing moves in the right direction.The time you should spend outlining your essay is dependent on the time you have to write it. For example, if its an in-class assignment and you have an hour to write it, obviously, you shouldnt spend more than 5 to 10 minutes on the ou tline. However, if you have a month to pull together an academic essay assignment, you should spend several days creating an outline that will include all of the necessary elements the essay requires (e.g., introduction, thesis statement, body, and conclusion).If your academic assignment requires an abstract, your outline will be useful in writing it. The outline should contain an introduction to the problem, your thesis statement, and the points or hypotheses you plan to make. All of these will be necessary when composing your abstract.#4. Create your citations as you goAs you read through your sources and conduct research on the topic, go ahead and make a citation for each source used in the citation format your assignment requires. This is best done on note cards, placing the quote to be used on one side (along with the page number) and the full citation on the other. From this point, all that will be required is alphabetizing the sources used and typing them out in a references list. This is a great time-saving method and will cut a large chunk of time out of whats required to prepare the final draft before submitting your essay.To save even more time with citations, if while youre reading over your sources and you have access to the laptop youll be writing your paper on, go ahead and put the citations in a saved file. Some word processing programs will even put the citation in the correct format based on the citation style you choose. You can also use online resources such as Citation Machine to help with this part of the writing process.#5. Set a daily word count goal while writingAfter establishing a timeline for your academic writing assignment, you should know exactly how many days you have to work on the writing portion. Divide that amount equally by your word count requirement and make sure you reach your word count goal each day you write.For example, if your essay should be four to five pages long, double spaced and not including the citation port ion of your paper, that is approximately 1,200 to 1,500 words (300 words per page of double-spaced writing is a good estimate). If you have a week to research and turn in your assignment, set aside a day for research and gathering sources, a day for outlining and reading over sources, three days to write (with a goal of hitting 500 words a day), a day to have someone proofread and edit, then a day for you to wrap up the final draft.#6. Take breaks away from the screen and booksWhile taking breaks might seem counterproductive to saving time, it isnt. The strain of staring at small text in your source material and the bright light of a screen creates added tension that is best avoided by taking consistent breaks away from your research and writing work. Not doing so can produce headaches, blurry vision, eye strain and trouble sleeping- all of which could potentially affect your ability to work and think clearly the next day.If possible, be sure to take these breaks by going outside an d breathing in fresh air. If you cant manage to get outside for a few minutes, other healthy options are meditating, closing your eyes and listening to music, a yoga flow, and holding a plank position for several minutes to reduce stress on the lower back.When writing and researching, be sure to take these breaks by going outside and breathing in fresh air. Photo by Joshua yu on Unsplash.#7. Plan ahead for someone to check your workYou can spend days writing and preparing your academic paper, but a few misspelled words or grammar errors can end up costing you a passing grade on your work. Thats why you dont want to rely on software to check your work for errors.While your word processing program and online programs such as Grammarly might seem like a good option, particularly when youre pressed for time, evidence shows that they fail to catch even simple grammar and spelling errors.If you cant pay a professional editor to edit your work, many universities offer peer editing services in computer labs, libraries, or some other convenient spot on campus. Often, these services are free to students, but may require you to schedule an appointment in advance. If this is the option you end up taking, on the day you receive your assignment, be sure to call ahead and find out how to schedule a peer review session of your paper and leave yourself an extra day after that review to make any changes to the rough draft.However, you manage to do it, always have a second pair of eyes look over your writing before you turn it in as a final draft. Sometimes, its easy to miss even the most blatant grammar and spelling errors after focusing on one document for a long time. And no amount of research or preparation will make an essay full of typos an easy A.

Business Model of Amazon

As the economy has moved from agrarian to industrial to information age, the focus of the businessmen or the wealthy and powerful has also shifted in terms of the ways of obtaining wealth or doing business. In the agrarian age there was shortage of land which made ownership of land as the determinant of value. Powerful land barons typically accumulated vast tracts of land and coerced people who were bound to the land and owned by the feudal lord into living on and working it. As economy moved from agrarian to industrial age, physical assets owned by a firm became the determinants of value and shortage of raw-materials led the powerful industrialists to conspire to control the supply of raw materials. In this age, the market could absorb as much product as the industrialists could produce. The current era in which we live has been defined as the information age wherein relationships and intellectual capital are more important than anything else. One is not worried about physical assets anymore. Companies don’t compete with each other over superior products as they are largely commoditized rather compete increasingly on the basis of value added customer services. The economic battles of today are fought over the mind-space of consumers. In the information age power-play customers are not passive participants, in the way that land and raw materials were in the agrarian and industrial ages. In fact, according to Zang Hailing, it is the customers’ time that is in short supply, and therefore for any firm to succeed, emphasis needs to be given to the importance of reducing the customers’ time to adopt a new product. Thus, in a world where technology is changing every day and the transformation of consumers has happened from â€Å"Price Takers† to â€Å"Price Makers† as they are armed with more options and information; the companies that control more and more customer relationships will be the ones that hold the power in an industry and reap the lion’s share of the profits. E-commerce or e-business is an important tool that enables companies to reach out to the global market at low cost and provides abundant information about the consumers’ requirements and preferences easily which was not so easy earlier. Following figure is a glimpse of the promising future that the ecommerce industry holds. The US E-commerce has seen a 40% increase in the sales over the past 5 years as a percentage of the total retail sales in US. Source: http://ycharts. com Now when thinks about e-commerce, the first name that comes to everyone’s mind is that of Amazon. com. Not only most of the people have heard about it but there are many people who have actually used its services. Amazon was not only one of the few of the companies that thrived throughout the period in which many dot-com companies struggled to survive but has been constantly performing exceptionally well in terms of revenue per visitor which is one of the key parameters for any commercial website. Amazon has had one of the fastest growths in the internet’s history with revenues reaching $2, 8 billion in the first five years with Google’s revenue reaching only $15bn in the first five years. Now, just like any other traditional business in order to clearly understand an e-business one needs to have information on the following components: a) Business Strategy which determines the products and service offerings by the firm, the firms targeted customers and the firms value proposition. It also helps firms decide on the choices and the tradeoffs that the firm needs to make. b) Organizational form or structure c) Business processes which refer to the unique ways in which organizations coordinate and organize work activities, information, and knowledge to produce a product or service. ) Value Chain i. e. the sequence of activities that a firm undertakes to create value, including the various steps of the supply chain but also additional activities, such as marketing, sales, and service. e) Core Competencies which are the collective learning’s of the firms and being distinctive create long term competitive advantage for the firm. From the beginning, the focus of Amazon. com has been on offering their customers compelling value. In the current report filing dated 04/13/12, Jeffrey Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon. om writes â€Å"We realized that the Web was, and still is, the World Wide Wait. Therefore, we set out to offer customers something they simply could not get any other way, and began serving them with books. We brought them much more selection than was possible in a physical store (our store would now occupy 6 football fields), and presented it in a useful, easy-to-search, and easy-to-browse format in a store open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. † The Value Proposition offered by Amazon. com is â€Å"earth’s largest selection—24/7, at competitive price. † Amazon. om has continuously focused on improving the shopping experience owing to which they substantially enhanced their stores in 1997. Though they started off with books, they now offer customers gift certificates, 1-ClickSM shopping, and vastly more r eviews, content, browsing options, and recommendation features. The company’s stated goal was to â€Å"be Earth’s most customer centric company for three primary customer sets: consumers, sellers and developers. † It targeted its first set of customers through its initial retail model where it sold only books. It offered the perfect combination of low prices, large selection and convenience or customer experience. The digital media allowed limitless inventory, boosted customer care and allowed higher margins and hence lowest prices. In 15 years Amazon went from 1 category to 16 main categories of books. Amazon began with books and needed to grow big fast. From 1995-1998, Amazon moved from books to music and again through the same combination moved to become the biggest seller of music in just 120 days! Amazon moved on develop its own digital driven supply chain and distribution network by hiring from the expert: Wal-Mart. Amazon accelerated development through its strategy of â€Å"Build, buy, partner† a) Build: Amazon keeps on creating new categories. For example, Amazon kicked off a new service by the name MyHabit. com in May 2011 that made fashion available to consumers directly from designers and boutique brands. b) Buy: When there is a lot of competition in any area and the competitors have a strong hold, Amazon believes in buying out the incumbent. Few of the acquisitions made by Amazon include Internet Movie Database  (IMDb), Zappos (an online shoe and apparel retailer) etc. ) Partner: Amazon has also entered into a lot of merchant partnerships. It offers its technological service and ecommerce expertise to third- parties. For example in October 2011, Amazon. com announced a partnership with DC Comics for the exclusive digital rights to many popular comics, including Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, The Sandman, and Watchmen. As mentioned before as well, Amazon want to be the â€Å"wo rld’s most customer-centric† company, and so their focus is on the â€Å"Customer Service†. It ensures customer loyalty through three main approaches: a) Recurring usage b) Seamless Integration c) Lock-in The following table tells us how Amazon uses all above mentioned approaches for its both customers: Sellers and consumers. | Sellers| Consumers| Recurring Usage| a. Developed a customer base close to 615mn users that can’t be ignored by sellers b. Ensures profit through optimized and reliable technology c. Developed a trusted Brand name| a. Created an ecosystem through Kindle b. Stores user’s media library c. Offers personalization to customers d. Gives special offers everyday| Seamless Integration| a. Monitors sellers rating ratings posted by consumers and expels sellers with bad ratings b. Offers Fulfillment by Amazon service(FBA) which allows third party sellers to use Amazon’s large warehouse and distribution network| a. For customers, all the sellers are highly commoditized and invisible. They buy it because of the Amazons brand value b. Get benefitted by Amazon Prime and free super saver shipping| Lock-in| a. By controlling or owning the customer accounts b. High level of infrastructure development required to ensure same level of customer service as offered by Amazon| a. By providing digital content that works only on Kindle b. Amazon Prime Program which requires annual subscription| | c. | c. | Amazon developed a value chain of itself for internal appraisal so as to identify its strengths and weaknesses that would help it add value and maintain a competitive advantage. Amazon uses the value chain model from Michael Porter’s book, â€Å"Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. † The first table represents the Primary activities of Amazon which are needed to produce a product or services for the end customers. Inbound logistics| Operations| Outbound logistics| Marketing ; Sales| Service| Avoids the overhead and large amounts of inventory carrying cost because it orders the books from the distributors. Easy and fast payment systems. Online customer systems and feedback. | Operates a number of transportation hubs that they refer to as injection points. Injection point locations are located in heavily customer concentrated areas. | Customer tracking  is an Amazon stronghold through which it provides personalized customers’ exper ience| Free return policy within 30 days. Uses marketplace to increase channel and range of goods through 3rd parties and customers. Highly reduced returns to suppliers (such as unsold books and media) due to available accurate forecasting technology | Customized buyer experience| Ability to aggregate orders bound for specific locations. | Interactive shipping and parceling price calculations. Free delivery based on single transaction spends. | Price comparison of new products with used products in marketplace shops. | Efficiently gathering information about customer experiences to inform service inputs and inventory controls. | 24 hour warehouse operations to meet customer demands. |   Utilizes the capabilities of its supply chain partners to deliver orders directly to ustomers which bypass the Amazon. com internal distribution center network|   Discounts and price reductions made available with suggested product mixes. Similar products recommended to customers interactively. | Offers customers gift certificates, 1-Click SM shopping, and vastly more reviews, content, browsing options, and recommendation features. | The next table gives information about the various support activities performed by Amazon which help to facilitate or assist its primary activities. | Value Creation| Cost Reduction| Firm Infrastructure| Huge central customer data warehouse available to all business units. Amazon’s single technology platform with services being incrementally distributed to other worldwide locations, reduces costs by leveraging investments | Human Resource Management| Amazon. com has a great training for its employees resulting in talented, smart and hard working group. Offers employees unique benefits such as medical, paid time off and stock grants and relocation allowances and hence attract highly skilled workers| Amazon utilizes independent contractors and temporary personnel to supplement their workforce, particularly on a seasonal basis. Although Amazon has works councils and statutory employee representation obligations in certain countries, Amazon’s employees are not represented by a labor union| Technology Development| High investments in technology development (e. g. , Kindle) to best leverage digital products. Innovations such as personalized recommendations, one-click ordering, and search inside the book are all Amazon. com innovations. Highly customized software applications that support their supply chain business model. For example, Amazon. om is linked into Ingram’s systems to see Ingram inventory levels when deciding whether to use Ingram to drop ship an order to a customer | Building an IT strategy, IT infrastructure and Data Centre on Linux open source software thus reducing cost of technology development. Renting computing resources to other companies reduce total cost of ownership Using standard hardware systems from HP to reduce cost of maintenance and compatibility| Procurement| Utilize s a Sales and Operations (SOP) planning process to determine forecasts for each roduct that it stores in its distribution center inventoryUses the strategic business unit – Booksurge to keep a rich inventory of digital copies of books so as to make this readily available for customers through print-on-demand and reduce the time of delivery | Specially built distribution Centers, warehouses and fulfillment Centers to increase the speed of order processing thus avoiding transaction costs of contracting out| In addition to the business strategies the value chain components mentioned above, the success of Amazon. om can be attributed to the entrepreneurial spirit of its founder chief executive officer Jeff Bezos and the strong inclination of the firm towards bringing about innovation in the business model. Let us discuss both factors one by one. Entrepreneurial Spirit of Jeff Bezos: Jeff Bezos can be regarded as the forward-looking CEO responsible for the success of Amazon. com. He has not only efficiently managed the present but through his long term vision always taken steps to create the future. The computer science and electrical engineering graduate from Princeton University moved to Seattle after resigning as a Senior Vice-President at D. E. Shaw, a Wall Street investment bank. At the time Bezos didn’t know much about the Internet but he came across a statistic that the Internet was growing at 2300%, which convinced him that it was a large growth opportunity. Without knowing anything more, he plunged into the world of e-commerce with no prior retailing experience. It was his decision to locate the company in Seattle because it had a large pool of technical talent and since it was close to one of the largest book wholesalers located in Rosenburg, Oregon. Moreover, the sales tax laws for online retailers state that one has to charge sales tax in the state in which one is incorporated. Therefore it was logical to locate in a small state. Under his guidance and logical thinking Amazon. com quickly became the leader in e-commerce. Operating 24 hours a day, the site was user-friendly and encouraged browsers to post their own reviews of books and offering discounts, personalized recommendations, and searches for out-of-print books. In June 1998 it began selling CDs, and later that year it added videos. In 1999 Bezos, looking at the future trends, added auctions to the site and invested in other virtual stores. The success of Amazon. com encouraged other retailers, including major book chains, to establish online stores. As more companies battled for Internet dollars, Bezos saw the need to diversify, and by 2005 Amazon. com offered a vast array of products, including consumer electronics, apparel, and hardware. And with the Jeff Bezos vision to make every book ever in print in any language available to the consumer in 60 seconds, Amazon launched the handheld device called Kindle in 2007. Bezos is the quintessential dot-com icon. He proved to the business world that the Internet was about more than knowledge. He proved that it is possible to overcome fears about purchasing online, to drive down transaction costs, and to build an international e-commerce business over the Internet. He had the courage to attempt something that people doubted could be done. . At the age of 35, Jeff Bezos was picked as the 1999 Time person of the year. Describing why it chose Bezos, Time magazine said, â€Å"Bezos’  vision  of the online retailing universe was so complete, his Amazon. om site so elegant and appealing that it became from Day One the point of reference for anyone who had anything to sell online. † Innovation in the Business Model: Amazon survived the dot-com bust because it had a viable and innovative  business model  built around a market-changing customer value proposition and a radical profit formula and over it has been able to sustain its position as the leader in e-commerce by bringing about continuous innovations in its business model. Let us look at some of the different dimensions wherein Amazon. om has been able to bring about business innovation. a) Offerings: By offering a handheld device dedicated to reading, Kindle, Amazon. com revolutionized the books industry. By creating a product like Kindle, the created a perfect, integrated and streamlined customer experience. b) Platform: With Amazon Web Services, Fulfillment By Amazon, and Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon is creating powerful self-service platforms that allow thousands of people to boldly experiment and accomplish things that would otherwise be impossible or impractical. ) Customers: In 2002 Amazon launched a web services platform and identified a new area of potential growth by finding another new customer—the IT community. Serving this new customer’s needs required different processes, different resources, and a different profit formulaâ€⠀in short, another  new business model. d) Customer Experience: 1-Click combined with Gift-Click and Wish List made Amazon. com the most convenient, easiest-to-use shopping destination the holiday season. Wish List allows customers to post the gifts they’d most like to receive from family and friends, while Gift-Click allows customers to send gifts easily by entering just the e-mail addresses of their recipients. e) Value Capture: By opening up its storefront to other retailers that were essentially competitors, Amazon transformed its business from direct sales to a sales-and-service model, aggregating many sellers under one virtual roof and receiving commissions from the other companies’ sales. ) Supply Chain: Fulfillment by Amazon service (FBA) by Amazon is a classic example of innovating business model through supply chain. FBA allows third party sellers to use Amazon’s large warehouse and distribution network and in the last quarter of 2011, shipped tens of millions of items on behalf of sellers. When sellers use FBA, their items become eligible for Amazon Prime, for Super Saver Shipping, and for Amazon returns processing and customer service. From the above discussion of Amazon’s business strategy, value chain analysis and the success factors we can conclude that Amazon has a robust Business model. Amazon’s business model fends off all the four threats. It has the costly-to-imitate financial and technological resources, it has developed protection against holdup by seamlessly vertically integrating its both the customers i. e. the sellers and the consumers. Reduced slack by locking-in the customers and the sellers and fights substitution through innovation in business model. Business Model of Amazon As the economy has moved from agrarian to industrial to information age, the focus of the businessmen or the wealthy and powerful has also shifted in terms of the ways of obtaining wealth or doing business. In the agrarian age there was shortage of land which made ownership of land as the determinant of value. Powerful land barons typically accumulated vast tracts of land and coerced people who were bound to the land and owned by the feudal lord into living on and working it. As economy moved from agrarian to industrial age, physical assets owned by a firm became the determinants of value and shortage of raw-materials led the powerful industrialists to conspire to control the supply of raw materials. In this age, the market could absorb as much product as the industrialists could produce. The current era in which we live has been defined as the information age wherein relationships and intellectual capital are more important than anything else. One is not worried about physical assets anymore. Companies don’t compete with each other over superior products as they are largely commoditized rather compete increasingly on the basis of value added customer services. The economic battles of today are fought over the mind-space of consumers. In the information age power-play customers are not passive participants, in the way that land and raw materials were in the agrarian and industrial ages. In fact, according to Zang Hailing, it is the customers’ time that is in short supply, and therefore for any firm to succeed, emphasis needs to be given to the importance of reducing the customers’ time to adopt a new product. Thus, in a world where technology is changing every day and the transformation of consumers has happened from â€Å"Price Takers† to â€Å"Price Makers† as they are armed with more options and information; the companies that control more and more customer relationships will be the ones that hold the power in an industry and reap the lion’s share of the profits. E-commerce or e-business is an important tool that enables companies to reach out to the global market at low cost and provides abundant information about the consumers’ requirements and preferences easily which was not so easy earlier. Following figure is a glimpse of the promising future that the ecommerce industry holds. The US E-commerce has seen a 40% increase in the sales over the past 5 years as a percentage of the total retail sales in US. Source: http://ycharts. com Now when thinks about e-commerce, the first name that comes to everyone’s mind is that of Amazon. com. Not only most of the people have heard about it but there are many people who have actually used its services. Amazon was not only one of the few of the companies that thrived throughout the period in which many dot-com companies struggled to survive but has been constantly performing exceptionally well in terms of revenue per visitor which is one of the key parameters for any commercial website. Amazon has had one of the fastest growths in the internet’s history with revenues reaching $2, 8 billion in the first five years with Google’s revenue reaching only $15bn in the first five years. Now, just like any other traditional business in order to clearly understand an e-business one needs to have information on the following components: a) Business Strategy which determines the products and service offerings by the firm, the firms targeted customers and the firms value proposition. It also helps firms decide on the choices and the tradeoffs that the firm needs to make. b) Organizational form or structure c) Business processes which refer to the unique ways in which organizations coordinate and organize work activities, information, and knowledge to produce a product or service. ) Value Chain i. e. the sequence of activities that a firm undertakes to create value, including the various steps of the supply chain but also additional activities, such as marketing, sales, and service. e) Core Competencies which are the collective learning’s of the firms and being distinctive create long term competitive advantage for the firm. From the beginning, the focus of Amazon. com has been on offering their customers compelling value. In the current report filing dated 04/13/12, Jeffrey Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon. om writes â€Å"We realized that the Web was, and still is, the World Wide Wait. Therefore, we set out to offer customers something they simply could not get any other way, and began serving them with books. We brought them much more selection than was possible in a physical store (our store would now occupy 6 football fields), and presented it in a useful, easy-to-search, and easy-to-browse format in a store open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. † The Value Proposition offered by Amazon. com is â€Å"earth’s largest selection—24/7, at competitive price. † Amazon. om has continuously focused on improving the shopping experience owing to which they substantially enhanced their stores in 1997. Though they started off with books, they now offer customers gift certificates, 1-ClickSM shopping, and vastly more r eviews, content, browsing options, and recommendation features. The company’s stated goal was to â€Å"be Earth’s most customer centric company for three primary customer sets: consumers, sellers and developers. † It targeted its first set of customers through its initial retail model where it sold only books. It offered the perfect combination of low prices, large selection and convenience or customer experience. The digital media allowed limitless inventory, boosted customer care and allowed higher margins and hence lowest prices. In 15 years Amazon went from 1 category to 16 main categories of books. Amazon began with books and needed to grow big fast. From 1995-1998, Amazon moved from books to music and again through the same combination moved to become the biggest seller of music in just 120 days! Amazon moved on develop its own digital driven supply chain and distribution network by hiring from the expert: Wal-Mart. Amazon accelerated development through its strategy of â€Å"Build, buy, partner† a) Build: Amazon keeps on creating new categories. For example, Amazon kicked off a new service by the name MyHabit. com in May 2011 that made fashion available to consumers directly from designers and boutique brands. b) Buy: When there is a lot of competition in any area and the competitors have a strong hold, Amazon believes in buying out the incumbent. Few of the acquisitions made by Amazon include Internet Movie Database  (IMDb), Zappos (an online shoe and apparel retailer) etc. ) Partner: Amazon has also entered into a lot of merchant partnerships. It offers its technological service and ecommerce expertise to third- parties. For example in October 2011, Amazon. com announced a partnership with DC Comics for the exclusive digital rights to many popular comics, including Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, The Sandman, and Watchmen. As mentioned before as well, Amazon want to be the â€Å"wo rld’s most customer-centric† company, and so their focus is on the â€Å"Customer Service†. It ensures customer loyalty through three main approaches: a) Recurring usage b) Seamless Integration c) Lock-in The following table tells us how Amazon uses all above mentioned approaches for its both customers: Sellers and consumers. | Sellers| Consumers| Recurring Usage| a. Developed a customer base close to 615mn users that can’t be ignored by sellers b. Ensures profit through optimized and reliable technology c. Developed a trusted Brand name| a. Created an ecosystem through Kindle b. Stores user’s media library c. Offers personalization to customers d. Gives special offers everyday| Seamless Integration| a. Monitors sellers rating ratings posted by consumers and expels sellers with bad ratings b. Offers Fulfillment by Amazon service(FBA) which allows third party sellers to use Amazon’s large warehouse and distribution network| a. For customers, all the sellers are highly commoditized and invisible. They buy it because of the Amazons brand value b. Get benefitted by Amazon Prime and free super saver shipping| Lock-in| a. By controlling or owning the customer accounts b. High level of infrastructure development required to ensure same level of customer service as offered by Amazon| a. By providing digital content that works only on Kindle b. Amazon Prime Program which requires annual subscription| | c. | c. | Amazon developed a value chain of itself for internal appraisal so as to identify its strengths and weaknesses that would help it add value and maintain a competitive advantage. Amazon uses the value chain model from Michael Porter’s book, â€Å"Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. † The first table represents the Primary activities of Amazon which are needed to produce a product or services for the end customers. Inbound logistics| Operations| Outbound logistics| Marketing ; Sales| Service| Avoids the overhead and large amounts of inventory carrying cost because it orders the books from the distributors. Easy and fast payment systems. Online customer systems and feedback. | Operates a number of transportation hubs that they refer to as injection points. Injection point locations are located in heavily customer concentrated areas. | Customer tracking  is an Amazon stronghold through which it provides personalized customers’ exper ience| Free return policy within 30 days. Uses marketplace to increase channel and range of goods through 3rd parties and customers. Highly reduced returns to suppliers (such as unsold books and media) due to available accurate forecasting technology | Customized buyer experience| Ability to aggregate orders bound for specific locations. | Interactive shipping and parceling price calculations. Free delivery based on single transaction spends. | Price comparison of new products with used products in marketplace shops. | Efficiently gathering information about customer experiences to inform service inputs and inventory controls. | 24 hour warehouse operations to meet customer demands. |   Utilizes the capabilities of its supply chain partners to deliver orders directly to ustomers which bypass the Amazon. com internal distribution center network|   Discounts and price reductions made available with suggested product mixes. Similar products recommended to customers interactively. | Offers customers gift certificates, 1-Click SM shopping, and vastly more reviews, content, browsing options, and recommendation features. | The next table gives information about the various support activities performed by Amazon which help to facilitate or assist its primary activities. | Value Creation| Cost Reduction| Firm Infrastructure| Huge central customer data warehouse available to all business units. Amazon’s single technology platform with services being incrementally distributed to other worldwide locations, reduces costs by leveraging investments | Human Resource Management| Amazon. com has a great training for its employees resulting in talented, smart and hard working group. Offers employees unique benefits such as medical, paid time off and stock grants and relocation allowances and hence attract highly skilled workers| Amazon utilizes independent contractors and temporary personnel to supplement their workforce, particularly on a seasonal basis. Although Amazon has works councils and statutory employee representation obligations in certain countries, Amazon’s employees are not represented by a labor union| Technology Development| High investments in technology development (e. g. , Kindle) to best leverage digital products. Innovations such as personalized recommendations, one-click ordering, and search inside the book are all Amazon. com innovations. Highly customized software applications that support their supply chain business model. For example, Amazon. om is linked into Ingram’s systems to see Ingram inventory levels when deciding whether to use Ingram to drop ship an order to a customer | Building an IT strategy, IT infrastructure and Data Centre on Linux open source software thus reducing cost of technology development. Renting computing resources to other companies reduce total cost of ownership Using standard hardware systems from HP to reduce cost of maintenance and compatibility| Procurement| Utilize s a Sales and Operations (SOP) planning process to determine forecasts for each roduct that it stores in its distribution center inventoryUses the strategic business unit – Booksurge to keep a rich inventory of digital copies of books so as to make this readily available for customers through print-on-demand and reduce the time of delivery | Specially built distribution Centers, warehouses and fulfillment Centers to increase the speed of order processing thus avoiding transaction costs of contracting out| In addition to the business strategies the value chain components mentioned above, the success of Amazon. om can be attributed to the entrepreneurial spirit of its founder chief executive officer Jeff Bezos and the strong inclination of the firm towards bringing about innovation in the business model. Let us discuss both factors one by one. Entrepreneurial Spirit of Jeff Bezos: Jeff Bezos can be regarded as the forward-looking CEO responsible for the success of Amazon. com. He has not only efficiently managed the present but through his long term vision always taken steps to create the future. The computer science and electrical engineering graduate from Princeton University moved to Seattle after resigning as a Senior Vice-President at D. E. Shaw, a Wall Street investment bank. At the time Bezos didn’t know much about the Internet but he came across a statistic that the Internet was growing at 2300%, which convinced him that it was a large growth opportunity. Without knowing anything more, he plunged into the world of e-commerce with no prior retailing experience. It was his decision to locate the company in Seattle because it had a large pool of technical talent and since it was close to one of the largest book wholesalers located in Rosenburg, Oregon. Moreover, the sales tax laws for online retailers state that one has to charge sales tax in the state in which one is incorporated. Therefore it was logical to locate in a small state. Under his guidance and logical thinking Amazon. com quickly became the leader in e-commerce. Operating 24 hours a day, the site was user-friendly and encouraged browsers to post their own reviews of books and offering discounts, personalized recommendations, and searches for out-of-print books. In June 1998 it began selling CDs, and later that year it added videos. In 1999 Bezos, looking at the future trends, added auctions to the site and invested in other virtual stores. The success of Amazon. com encouraged other retailers, including major book chains, to establish online stores. As more companies battled for Internet dollars, Bezos saw the need to diversify, and by 2005 Amazon. com offered a vast array of products, including consumer electronics, apparel, and hardware. And with the Jeff Bezos vision to make every book ever in print in any language available to the consumer in 60 seconds, Amazon launched the handheld device called Kindle in 2007. Bezos is the quintessential dot-com icon. He proved to the business world that the Internet was about more than knowledge. He proved that it is possible to overcome fears about purchasing online, to drive down transaction costs, and to build an international e-commerce business over the Internet. He had the courage to attempt something that people doubted could be done. . At the age of 35, Jeff Bezos was picked as the 1999 Time person of the year. Describing why it chose Bezos, Time magazine said, â€Å"Bezos’  vision  of the online retailing universe was so complete, his Amazon. om site so elegant and appealing that it became from Day One the point of reference for anyone who had anything to sell online. † Innovation in the Business Model: Amazon survived the dot-com bust because it had a viable and innovative  business model  built around a market-changing customer value proposition and a radical profit formula and over it has been able to sustain its position as the leader in e-commerce by bringing about continuous innovations in its business model. Let us look at some of the different dimensions wherein Amazon. om has been able to bring about business innovation. a) Offerings: By offering a handheld device dedicated to reading, Kindle, Amazon. com revolutionized the books industry. By creating a product like Kindle, the created a perfect, integrated and streamlined customer experience. b) Platform: With Amazon Web Services, Fulfillment By Amazon, and Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon is creating powerful self-service platforms that allow thousands of people to boldly experiment and accomplish things that would otherwise be impossible or impractical. ) Customers: In 2002 Amazon launched a web services platform and identified a new area of potential growth by finding another new customer—the IT community. Serving this new customer’s needs required different processes, different resources, and a different profit formulaâ€⠀in short, another  new business model. d) Customer Experience: 1-Click combined with Gift-Click and Wish List made Amazon. com the most convenient, easiest-to-use shopping destination the holiday season. Wish List allows customers to post the gifts they’d most like to receive from family and friends, while Gift-Click allows customers to send gifts easily by entering just the e-mail addresses of their recipients. e) Value Capture: By opening up its storefront to other retailers that were essentially competitors, Amazon transformed its business from direct sales to a sales-and-service model, aggregating many sellers under one virtual roof and receiving commissions from the other companies’ sales. ) Supply Chain: Fulfillment by Amazon service (FBA) by Amazon is a classic example of innovating business model through supply chain. FBA allows third party sellers to use Amazon’s large warehouse and distribution network and in the last quarter of 2011, shipped tens of millions of items on behalf of sellers. When sellers use FBA, their items become eligible for Amazon Prime, for Super Saver Shipping, and for Amazon returns processing and customer service. From the above discussion of Amazon’s business strategy, value chain analysis and the success factors we can conclude that Amazon has a robust Business model. Amazon’s business model fends off all the four threats. It has the costly-to-imitate financial and technological resources, it has developed protection against holdup by seamlessly vertically integrating its both the customers i. e. the sellers and the consumers. Reduced slack by locking-in the customers and the sellers and fights substitution through innovation in business model.

Research -week 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Research -week 6 - Essay Example The research study that I participated in online is central to addressing the question ‘how personality and emotions are related to the way people deal with situations of everyday life?’ Keeping that in mind the study examines, through the use of a series of online questionnaires, the personality, emotional disposition and individual choices. The questionnaire used a rating scale that was provided to get an indication of how accurately the participant though each statement described him. There were five possible responses to each statement from ‘very inaccurate’ (number1) to ‘very accurate’ (number 5). Example of some of the research questions was: ‘I feel comfortable around people’, ‘I have a vivid imagination’, ‘I get upset easily’ etc. The online survey highlights the fact that by participating in the research complete anonymity as the questions asked do not require identifying information. Also entering the survey will be equal to giving consent so that the information provided can be used by the researcher in his study. These two measures effectively eliminate the chances of any ethical implications compromising the validity of the research. There are many advantages of conducting the research survey online. Some of these are the ability of the researcher to obtain a large and diverse sample which increases statistical power. Also it prevents data entry errors as data is automatically coded. Lastly it reduces the cost of conducting the research. Some disadvantages are some subjects might rush through the study, it might be difficult to recruit subjects online and lastly there is also a high chance that most participants might drop out from the study or exit the survey before completing it. (Psychwiki) I do not believe an online survey is the way to gather information on my research topic of juvenile delinquency mostly because it requires the participants to be of a specific type whereas online surveys are mostly effective for a randomized diverse large sample. References: Elizabeth Austin (20110. Personality, emotions, and making choices. University of Edinburgh. Survey link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=0lO5XPOkxGqPx68WUvVRIg%3d%3d Psychwiki. Internet research. Retrieved from: http://www.psychwiki.com/wiki/What_are_the_advantages/disadvantages_of_doing_internet_research%3F Research Design week 6 Assignment 2 The survey aiming to analyze the meaning of sex in a relationship by asking several intimate questions would make confidentiality of critical importance for a participant. This would be a key ethical issue for the researchers, the sole importance of which can simply be realized when you look at the discomfort and unwillingness to share the answers with a third party (the professor) here for instance. By mixing the asked questions with random one’s might be an adoption to divert the participant’s attention for a while or perhaps s imply to make sure that one does not simply fill away at answers at random. This being one of the cons of conducting an online study that can be countered by simply asking questions that are linked to each other or are repeated to check the level of attention paid by the participant. The pros of an online survey might be relevant in gaining information on parents feedback in regard to their child’s ADHD. However to gain a further advantage interviews might be a lot more helpful to gouge the body language and responses by

New product development is the key to 'Apple's marketing success Coursework

New product development is the key to 'Apple's marketing success. DISCUSS - Coursework Example ounced the launch of iBooks 2 for iPad which would feature iBooks textbooks, iTunes U application for iPhone, iPad and for iPod touch (Apple Inc-a, 2012). Apple aims to bring the best experience for its customers through its product and services. The business strategy of Apple is to leverage the unique abilities of designing and developing the company’s own operating system, software and hardware in order to provide its customers with superior products and innovative designs. The company believes in innovation which is the key strategy for the success of the company; as a result, Apple invests in its research and development in order to introduce new and innovative products. Apart from its R&D, the company also invests in its marketing and advertisement as a part of Apple strategy to stay ahead of its competitors. Apple strategy also includes expansion of its distribution network to reach more clients and provide the potential customers with high quality of sales and post purc hase experience (Apple Inc, 2011, p.1). Any changes made to a product are termed as new product development. New products can be defined as products which are new to the concerned company but it’s not new in the market; there are products which are completely different from the existing product and form a good replacement; finally, products which are new, innovative and unique (Chaturvedi, et.al, 2009, p.1). Apple is known for its pioneer work strategy being one of the most innovative companies. New product development is one of the key strategies of Apple; it is through new product that the company has been able to taste success being one of the leading companies globally. Apple launches new product in the markets to stay ahead of its competitors, to continue the product life cycle, to give the customers what they need, and to enhance the strategy. According to Steve Jobs, new product lines tend to give people the products which are needed by the consumers. The company expresses its

Contract Laws Essay Example for Free

Contract Laws Essay When it comes the laws of business there are a broad range of categories and topics. A topic that we would find when studying business law is contracts. â€Å"A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more people.† (Rogers, 2012) In the world we live in learning about contract laws is very vital when entering into one. We must be aware that there is more than just on type of contract and there are several steps that both parties must follow before any contract can be legal. There are several types of contracts that individuals can enter. These types are expressed, implied, bilateral, unilateral, simple, formal and quasi contracts. An express contract are â€Å"formed by the express language of the parties—the actual words they use in their agreement—and can be either written or oral.† (Rogers, 2012) This type of contract does not have to be in writing. An expressed contract contains the offer, acceptance and consideration elements of a contract. Express contracts are usually compared to implied contracts. Implied contacts are â€Å"formed not by the express words of the parties, but rather by their actions.† (Rogers, 2012) With this type of contract the agreement is implied by actions. There are no expressed words within an implied contract. It can be either implied in fact or in law. If a contract will result in inequity or harm it will not be implied. If there is any doubt or discrepancy exists, then the court might not con clude a contractual relationship. If an implication arises that they have jointly assented to a new contract that contains the same requirements as the old agreement. Another type of contract is a bilateral contract. A bilateral contract is a† reciprocal arrangement between two parties under which both parties promise to perform an act in exchange for  the other partys act† (BusinessDictionary.com). When entering into a bilateral contract there is a joint agreement among the two parties that entails the performance of an act. The promise made by one party constitutes sufficient consideration for the promise made by the other party. It is a common contract because we enter into a bilateral contract everything we make a purchase, order or receive any kind of treatment. Bilateral contracts are compared to unilateral contract. Unilateral contract are agreements that deal with a promise that is made by only one person involved in the contract. This agreement is when there is an exchange for the performance or non-performance of an act by the other party. Only one of the contracting parties can be enforced to comply with contract. This type of contract is one-sided because only the offeror is legally bound in complying with the terms of the contract. The offeree can comply or refrain from performing the act, but he or she cannot be sued if they do not comply. If you accept an offer from a unilateral contract it cannot be achieved by making another agreement only by performance or non-performance of some particular act. An offer can be revoked until the act has been performed or there was no act completed and the date has passed. The following contract is called a simple contract. It is in no way a lawfully recorded or legitimately sealed contract, but breeches are still frequently ruled on by a judge. It â€Å"is any oral or written contract that is not required to follow a specific form, or be signed, witnessed, or sealed.† (Rogers, 2012). They are not necessarily formalized contracts and do not entail court proceedings in order to make them binding. They are simply an agreement that is among the parties involved. They are usually compared to formal contracts. Formal contract are â€Å"a written agreement between two parties that are considered to be legally binding and enforced my law† (Laws.com). They must be in writing, signed and seal by all parties entering into the contract. In order for a formal contract to be valid it must contain three elements, which are the offer, the acceptance and a payment for the services provided or goods delivered. This type of contract eliminates any uncertainty regarding its terms and conditions. It contains a preface section which is utilized to clearly define the essentials terms that are utilized within the contract. This helps in eliminating redundancy in the use of common language. It also insures substantive terms of the contract  that are described and referenced in t he contract. Quasi contracts are the last type of contract discussed in the text. Quasi contracts are not a realistic contract. â€Å"They are a remedy that a court may offer to make things fair.† (Rogers, 2012). This type of contract is implied by law. Courts will imply a fictional contract to require one party to return benefits to the other party where unjust enrichment has occurred. Unjust enrichment doctrine deals with the equality of a quasi contract. It states that no party should profit at the expense of the other without making restitution of a reasonable value. When there is no oral or written agreement, courts depend on this doctrine to provide a legal remedy for a quasi contract. A Quasi contract can be compared to an implied contract. There are two types of implied contracts. These types are Implied-in-fact and Implied-by-law. A quasi contract is considered to be an Implied-by-law. It is different from an implied-in-fact because the courts treat the former as an express written contract because of the actions and words that both parties have expressed. Even though neither party has verbally expressed the acceptance of the contract their actions might be viewed differently. A contracted can be valid and enforceable, but can also be found to be unenforceable and can be voided. In order for a contract to be valid and enforceable it must contain the five elements of a contract to be legally binding. These elements are offer, acceptance, consideration, legality and capacity. The first element of a valid contract is the offer. An offer â€Å"is an invitation for another to enter into a contract† (Rogers, 2012). Offers can be verbal or written, but must at all times be clear terms. They can be bilateral or unilateral terms. They are not legally binding. Offers can be voided is any of the individuals involved cannot or do not comply with their promise. Offers can also be voided, repealed or annulled after parties have accepted the offer, unless there is a clause where it states that revocations are not allowed. The following element is acceptance. An acceptance â€Å"is an acquiescence to enter into a contract under the terms of the offer† (Rogers, 2012). Once an offer is made the parties must agree on the terms. All parties must be willing to enter into the agreement. Acceptances can be implied or  expressed. They can be directed to all parties involved or just one person. There are times when the individual making the offer will invite the person accepting the offer by actually performing the acts that the offeror is bargaining for. This occurs when special tribulations of notification, revoking and confidence in the form of limited performance can occur. Consideration is the next element of a valid contract. A consideration is â€Å"anything of legal value that is asked for and received as the price for entering into a contract† (Rogers, 2012). For a contract to be considered to be legally binding it must be supported by a valuable consideration. For instance, a party is required to do something in exchange for the promise that was made in a benefit of value. It is what each individual in the contact provides to the other as the established value for the other’s promise. For the most part, considerations are usually a payment of money, but are not always. At times they can be a promise to do something such as a type of work in return for something. The fourth element is legality. This is â€Å"an agreement may be considered illegal if it would violate a statute; result in commission of a tort; or violate public policy.† (Rogers, 2012). In contract law, legality of purpose is required of every enforceable contract. Agreement of a social nature are presumed not to be legally binding, but with evidence can be rebutted in court. Also, any domestic agreements such as agreements created by a parent and a child are generally unenforceable on the basis of the system of law. The last element is capacity. Capacity is â€Å"the mental competency of an individual and also with special rules for people who are under legal age† (Rogers, 2012). In other words, it deals with the competence of all parties. In order for an individual to enter into a contract they must be capable to do so. All parties entering the contract have to be over the legal age, mentally capable and cannot be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. If a contract is made with an individual that is under the age of 18 or 21, depending on the jurisdiction, the contract is voidable, but is legal and enforceable until or unless the individual revokes it. In the  eyes of the law, individuals under the age of 18 or 21 are deemed to be immature and naà ¯ve to enter into a contract. The individual may avoid the legal duty to perform the terms of the agreement without being liable of breach of contract. All parties must also be mentally capable of entering into a contract. If a party does not understand the nature and/or consequences of the contract when it is formed the contract can be voided. An individual that lacks the legal capacity can be declared incompetent in a court and can be appointed a legal guardian. If someone is to enter into a contract with someone who is not mentally capable the contract will be voided and there will not be any legal effects because neither party may be legally compelled to comply with the terms. Lastly, no one entering in to a contract can be intoxicated. All parties must be sober at the time of entering a contract in order for the contract to be deemed enforceable. When someone is under the influence they are not capable of knowing what they are doing and why. They might also not comprehend the terms of the contract which makes it unenforceable. A contact can appear to be legally binding because it may contain all the elements of a contract, but there are defenses to a contract that can also make a contract unenforceable and voidable. There are two types of defense to a contract, which are lack of genuine assent and lack of proper form. Genuine assent or â€Å"meeting on the minds† is a criteria utilized to determine validity of acceptance of an offer for a contract. This occurs when the acceptance of a contract is secured through improper or illegal means such as fraud, mistake, duress and undue influence. The first type of genuine assent that will be discussed is fraud. Fraud is the premeditated falsification of an essential matter of the contract. When there is an existence of fraud in a contractual proceeding it makes the contract unenforceable and can be voided by the party upon whom the deception was perpetrated. According to our text, there are two types of fraud, which are fraud in the execution and fraud in the inducement. Fraud in the execution merely occurs when one of the individuals who entered in to the contract isn’t aware that they are entering in to one. The second fraud is when both parties are aware they are entering into the contract, but one of the  parties is deceived when entering into it. The following type that can make a contract unenforceable and invalid is a mistake. A mistake is also known as a mutual mistake. When there is a mistake this means that both parties made a mistake to something that is vital to the contract. Just because one party can make a mistake doesn’t necessarily mean that the contract is voidable. In order for it to be considered as unenforceable it must have a significant effect on the exchange or bargaining development. The following factor is duress. Duress is when one party forces the other party to sign a contract. The force can be either physical or emotional pressure. When there is use of duress the contract is voidable by the party that was under duress during signing. Duress can be defined by three categories, which are actual or threatened violence to an individual, threats to an individual’s property and/or economic duress. Economic duress is the more difficult to prove because you have to establish the boundaries of acceptance behavior of this kind of pressure. Duress is sometimes compared to undue influence, but there are different. As mentioned above, duress deals with someone being pressured into signing the contract, whereas undue influence is when a party is manipulated in to signing the contract. If one party has put inequitable and inappropriate pressure on the other in the discussions leading to the signing of the contract, common law will allow duress and undue influence to allow for the terms of the contract to be set aside. Common laws are laws â€Å"made by the decisions of judges in individual cases. â€Å" (Rogers, 2012). Undue influence is easy to recognize because it can involve the parties having a fiduciary relationship or one of the members involved depends on another due to their age, illness, infirmity, etc. A fiduciary relationship is a relationship where one individual has a responsibility to act for the others benefit. When undue influence occurs the individual who is suppose to be helping the other person out is taking advantage of that person. Lastly, the second type of defense to a contract as listed above is lacks proper form. This is generally when it lacks writing. There are certain types of contracts that are required to be in writing, but at times we aren’t aware. If these types of contracts are not in writing then they  cannot be enforced. It is important to learn about contract laws. They are the foundation of our society. Since we enter into contracts on a daily bases we should be aware of these laws. Contracts can be complicated and having knowledge of the different types and what makes them enforceable or voided can really be helpful. If there were no laws on contract then the agreements we make could become impractical and unworkable. References Lewinsohn, J. L. (1914). Contract Distinguished From Quasi Contract. California Law Review, 2(3), 171. Rogers, S. (2012). Essentials of Business Law. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Smith, C. A. (2012). Contracts. http://www.west.net/~smith/contracts.htm Information regarding elements of a contract and remedies for breach. Undefined. (n.d.). Bilateral Contract. In BusinessDictionary.com. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/bilateral-contract.html. Undefined. (n.d.). Know the types of Formal Contract. In Laws.com. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://contract-law.laws.com/types-of-contracts/types-of-formal-contract.

International Organizations Essay -- Foreign Relations

According to Pease (2012), an international organization are conceived as formal institutions whose members are states and these are divided into two sub-groups called intergovernmental organizations (IGO) and non-governmental organizations (NGO). An IGO consists of states that voluntarily join, contribute financially, and assist in the decision making process. All of their members’ resolves, structures, and administrative protocols are clearly outlined in the treaty or charter. An example of an IGO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). First, all IGOs comes from an established government which can be further categorized by rules of membership which qualifies NATO because it is an alliance of about 30 members from North America and Europe. Secondly, IGOs can have limited participation in membership or restricted membership which qualifies NATO because this is a security agreement and it limits its involvement by confining it to an amalgamation of specific gove rnmental, geographical, and martial considerations. Thirdly, IGOs are categorized by their purpose meaning the member can be multi or general purpose organization and they can take on any global issue (Pease, 2012). This qualifies NATO because over the years the organization has participated in several international war related issues such as the Korean War and the Cold War. Most recently, NATO, for the first time in history had to engage Article 5 of the treaty after the 9/11 attacks in New York City and the no-fly zone in the country of Libya. The other kind of International Organization (IO) is the NGO which are primarily non-profit private organizations that engage in a variety of international activities (Pease, 2012 p. 4). They are able to particip... ...n order for the regime itself to be modified or separate altogether, the philosophies and standards that are the common bond between stakeholders will be modified. There are three main arguments concerning the discussion over the amount of power regimes have in the international system. The neo-realist argument is the first one where regimes are not merely considered as inadequate, but sometimes deceptive. This perspective is regarded as conventional structural. Keohane and Stein support the second argument, which states that regimes have certain worth, but only under particular conditions. Finally, the Grotian argument perceives regimes as an essential, secondary phenomenon feature of human nature. The connection of international and domestic stakeholders, through benefits, influence, standards, societies, and knowledge lead to the likely development of regimes.

Howl’s Moving Castle in Terms of the Journey

Howl’s Moving Castle is a film by Hayao Miyazaki, and it follows the life of a young girl who is a hat-maker to many learning experiences, emotional involvements, and physical (laborious) journeys. She starts off as a simple hat maker before trouble befalls her and meets a witch who makes her into an old woman. She runs off to try and reverse the spell, meeting a man and his friends, from inside a moving castle, who journeys together, overcoming all obstacles, and finding her true self again.This movie is mainly focusing on the physical journey, but at the same time, the characters experience not only physical journeys, but also emotional and inner journeys of learning, and developing many feelings toward other people. In the main character’s perspective, the setting shows what a journey of a life she has had so far, and up to what stage of life she is in – ‘time’ being the key word in this journey, since she very soon meets a woman during a windy, s tormy, dark-lighting, night, who curses her into being an old woman, with no time passing for her.And so, in this fashion, she re-meets Howl, the person who once saved her from some ‘blob men’ who were chasing her. Upon meeting him, her path on her journey changes once again – from something of no hope (grayscale), to something that gave her hope, and will eventually restore her (colourful). On the moving castle, she meets many friends. Not only that, but she also finds knobs that transport her to different places once she exits the door, but she is prohibited from going to the one black knob.Her journey does not come across that one knob until near the ending, where, once she turns to that knob and exits, she is not only transferred through space, but also time, and into someone else’s life: Howl’s past. The non-diegetic music also helps lead into the journey, and also helps to create a change of setting. By learning of his journey about how he tra nsformed from that kid, to that present self, she finds out to save him, save his friends, herself, and most importantly also her enemies.This movie is extremely helpful towards the concept of journey as all the characters in it have shown a glimpse (sometimes more) of their journey to the viewer, and allows the audience to empathise with the characters. Taking a step back though, you can really see how their past, present and future journeys are all integrated with each other, influencing and intertwining each other character’s journeys too, like an unbreakable web of chains.Howl’s Moving Castle is similar to The Shawshank Redemption, as it is a film, but not only is it because of it being this text type, but also further represents how journeys are linked together. For Howl’s Moving Castle, things are rehashed from the past, inside the ‘present’ of this movie, but for Shawshank, Andy never had connections with the other convicts, nor did they befo re the crime was committed and they were sent there. The differences range from: one being a fairy-tale world, the other being like a nightmare; and to, most importantly, the environment.The atmosphere and tone influence the emotions of the characters involved as well as the way their journeys turned out, and through which road: in Howl’s Moving Castle, the girl had to save the others, who then in turn, saved her; in Shawshank however, Andy saved himself, and before he’d escaped, he’d influenced others to be safe and hope – although both the endings were implied to be joyous. Also, whilst in Howl’s Moving Castle, there is a lot of physical journey in terms of travelling, in Shawshank, everyone remains inside the prison, unable (or sometimes unwilling) to go out.In both films, the themes of hope and determination are prominent to the journey, although the different personas act and react in different ways. This reinforces the concept that no personà ¢â‚¬â„¢s journey is identical, although it can be similar. Both films are important to the journey, as it emphasises that no matter in which situation, you can still strive for an ultimate good result, and sometimes it is possible to achieve it.

Imagery of Disgust Vulnerability and Separation

Imagery of Disgust, Vulnerability, and Separation Frederick Douglass once said, â€Å"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. † If there was any one person who experienced this first-hand, it would be Frederick Douglass. In his narrative, Douglass writes of many struggles faced by slaves during their confinement to slavery and the progress that came from them. When writing of these struggles, Douglass uses many rhetorical strategies in order to persuade the reader into thinking a particular way about slavery. A particular strategy which Douglass uses is imagery.Imagery, the use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas, is frequently used in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass uses imagery order to persuade the reader to stop slavery. Frederick Douglass uses imagery in his narrative in order to cause the reader to develop disgust for actions taken upon slaves by the ir masters. Slaves were terribly treated by their slave masters during slavery. Many times, Slaves were whipped and punished for no reason.Slave whipping could have been done merely out of displeasure to the master or for taking too much food during the evening meal. In order to portray this message, Douglass uses imagery when writing about the beatings and whippings of his aunt. Mr. Plummer, the overseer of Captain Anthony’s plantation, is said to have taken great pleasure in whipping a slave. Frederick Douglass writes, in the beginning of the narrative, that he awoke many times by the â€Å"heart-rending shrieks† of his own aunt who Mr. Plummer would â€Å"tie up a joist, and whip upon [Frederick’s aunt’s] naked back till she was literally covered with blood. Douglass 3)† The reader is captured by the gruesome imagery which Douglass illustrates in portraying the scenes of a slave-whipping. Writing of these events paints a clearer picture in which the reader is able to learn the true and uncensored events which took place during slavery. This particular picture painted by Frederick Douglass creates a heart-wrenching scene that the reader is able to picture within the mind. This imagery allows the reader to picture the abhorring treatment which slave masters inflicted upon slaves.This causes the reader to think down upon slavery when this type of imagery is brought to the mind. The reader is then more likely to want to put a stop to such an image. Frederick Douglass uses imagery once again in order to depict the vulnerability faced by slaves during slavery. Vulnerability is the act of being susceptible or unprotected to physical or emotional injury. Vulnerability was one of the biggest difficulties faced by slaves during slavery. Frederick Douglass uses imagery in his narrative to depict vulnerability when writing of Master Andrew’s constant whipping of slaves.Douglass writes that Master Douglass â€Å"took [Frederick ’s] little brother by the throat, threw him on the ground, and with the heel of his boot stamped upon his head until the blood gushed from his nose and ears. (Douglass 28)† When describing this scene, Douglass causes the reader to paint an especially gory picture with the mind. This is a very bold picture in which the reader is able to form from the description given by Douglass. When the reader imagines a small boy, beaten and frail, with blood gushing from inside the body to the outside, it causes them to want to help the young boy and save him from his vulnerability to the slave master.Frederick Douglass also would have wanted to help his brother. However, Frederick Douglass watched as his vulnerable little brother was whipped and Frederick was able to do nothing about it. Vulnerability is able to be depicted from both the standpoint of Douglass and his little brother because both were confined by helplessness. This inclines the reader to help this situation of vulne rability and put an end to it. Imagery also is used by Douglass to depict the separation among slave family members. Slaves were bought out by masters during slavery.However, they were not often bought in ‘family packages’. This means that many marriages and siblings could be easily separated. Frederick Douglass uses imagery when writing his mother, Harriet Bailey. In the beginning of the narrative, Douglass writes that he and his mother were separated when he was an infant and scarcely saw her four or five times in the entirety of his life (Douglass 2). Douglass goes on to explain that when he heard of his mother’s death, it was if he had just heard that a stranger passed. He was calloused towards the hearing of her death.This imagery of separation between Frederick as a young child and his mother paints a dismal picture for the reader. When writing that he was separated from his mother as a infant, Frederick Douglass gives the reader a picture of a baby being t aken from its mother without consultation. Mothers are often seen as those who possess the skills and needs necessary to care for a young child. When stripped of these needs, the child suffers. Douglass uses this imagery in order to capture the reader’s sympathy for separation of the mother and child in hope to incline them to put a stop to it and slavery.Imagery was a key which Frederick Douglass used in order to persuade his readers to think down upon slavery. It is important for readers to picture these scenes so that they will know the true events which took place during slavery. The harsh actions of slave maters, the vulnerability of slaves, and the separation of slaves are only a few horrible events which happened during slavery. Certain events grip the mind and hearts of readers to capture what they believe is to be wrong. Frederick Douglass believed slavery to be wrong. Imagery helped Douglass to portray this message in a way that could help the readers relate to the story.

Inherit the Wind Essay

Inherit the Wind Essay Inherit the Wind Essay Movie Summary on the Movie Inherit the Wind Movies and films in general have been used to relay different kinds of information to different audiences in an attempt to ensure that people are able to get a certain message within which the producers and the makers of the film generally have in mind. It is a way of entertaining while at the same time, relay different kinds of information to the different people who might be in need of the same. It is not in line to indicate or assume the fact that a movie or film could be used for entertainment purposes only. The film inherit the wind was a piece of rather ingenious creation of Stanley Krame who was the overall director of the film. He sought to look into the misfortune of a science teacher (Bert Cates) who was charged and subsequently convicted of teaching the theory of evolution as according to Charles Darwin in Hillsboro located in Tennessee. This film covers more than the entertainment part of which most of the films are to cover and provides for a scenario whereby there are differences that exist whereby the freedom to inquire is generally challenged with the dogmatic thoughts which were present at that time. It goes on to accurately depict what used to happen during the early ages and time and subsequently look into the issues which dealt with the right to information and the subjects within which people were to teach and relay as information. In the film, the teacher is arrested while teaching in class and is subsequently convicted of the crime as the teaching on Darwin’s theory of evolution was not allowed. One of the major themes noticed in the plot of the movie is the right to information. There is clear depiction that the information within which people were supposed to have was limited as people were only able to have part of the information which was seen to be appropriate. The teacher was not allowed to relay this information as it was seen to be inappropriate for the audience which comprised of students in a class of history. The church, seen as the epicenter of the community was clearly unshaken when it came to the issue of which it considered the whole theory of evolution to be ungodly. The state on the other hand did not consider it to be so and thus the reason as to why there was a tussle between the two with a presidential candidate and a founder of ACLU. This therefore raises another important question which dealt with morality and the law. The church considered it to be immoral while the state was of a contrary opinion. Therefore while looking into the issue one would be forced to ask themselves whether what is morally accepted should just be the law or there should be some form of scrutiny done to establish what could amount to the law. The very nature of the fact that the church considered teaching of the theory to be immoral and did not want the children to be exposed to the same did not mean that the law necessarily advocated for the same. This was an issue which was considered to be quite weighty as different philosophers had different views on what constitutes law and whether what is generally accepted could be said to constitute law. Such were Aristotle who was a naturalist, Plato and others. The movie thus seeks to put into perspective the differing views which were present. writing company can provide you with a high-quality custom essay paper on any movie you need. Order custom essays written by professional writers.

For or against the concept of fate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

For or against the concept of fate - Essay Example Fate is considered to be an event or a course of events which are bound to happen no matter what choice of action an individual makes (Strandberg). For example if a person is born in a poor family, it is his/her fate. There was absolutely no control of man over this event. On the other hand there is choice, which means that events that take place due to an individual’s choice of actions. There are several schools of thought which explain the influence of choice and fate in one’s life. The first school of thought suggests that there is no such thing as fate which has an influence of human life. All events that take place in one’s life and in the universe are governed by the actions of individuals themselves. If an individual takes correct decisions, he/she will have complete control over the results. If bad decisions are made, one cannot blame fate or coincidence for his/her failures. Psychologists have identified that people always tend to escape from their failures believing that they had no control over the events in their lives. Fate is seen as a physiological defense system which enables man to neutralize the pain of failure. (Is there something called destiny?) The second school of thought explains that not all the events in life are in control of human beings. There are various such instances where the situation might not be in the hands of an individual. The logic behind this theory is that as soon as an individual has taken a decision, he/she becomes bound to the laws of the nature (Is there something called destiny?). For example, if a couple wants to have a family or not, it is their choice, but if they do, then the baby will be a boy or a girl will be determined by the nature rather than the couple itself. Therefore, there are several alternate decisions that individuals might have, but once they have taken the decision, their

The Case for the United Nations in the Twenty-first Century Essay - 1

The Case for the United Nations in the Twenty-first Century - Essay Example By the culmination of 2010, there existed some 340,000 people of interest to UNHCR within Southern Africa, together with roughly 146,000 immigrants, 193,000 refuge-seekers as well as 700 returnees. Varied migratory movements in Southern Africa (SA) from the Horn of Africa, as well as the Great Lakes Expanse, continue to present a substantial challenge. Awareness of economic prospect attracts asylum-seekers, refugees and immigrants alike, making them susceptible to exploitation. However, the UNHCR is working with appropriate investors to devise protection-sensitive national and regional sanctuary and immigration policies and systems. The purpose is to tackle the growing occurrence of varied migratory flows to Southern Africa from other camps in Malawi and Mozambique. Economic constraints encountered by governments within the region restrict the extent of resources obtainable for migrant protection (Salmon 2010).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Conclusively, preserving global world harmony is a fundamental resolution of the UN.   Under the Commission, Member Countries agree to resolve disputes via peaceful methods and cease from terrorizing and employing violence against other countries. Throughout the years, the United Nations has performed a major function in aiding defuse global emergencies and in settling protracted clashes. It has embarked on complex missions involving peacekeeping, peace-making and humanitarian aid. It has functioned to avert conflicts from erupting.   Moreover, after warfare, it has progressively taken on action to tackle the root grounds of warfare and place the basis for long-lasting peace. However, things do not turn out as they are planned and just like any organization, UN too has in one way or another encountered difficulty in trying to accomplish its goals. Some of its efforts have been unsuccessful in most parts, for instance, its laxity in backing the African Union in peace enforcement m issions, whereas others have borne fruits.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     The 21st century has been a challenge to the UN since some of its member states have been questioning its importance and especially within the African states. UN and the international community laxity in affording assistance to affected states when conflicts arise may have aided this. United Nations must trace back its steps, establish, and strengthen its relationship and undertakings within the Africa continent. If not, its role may seem insignificant and especially in the 21st century nations, which are well informed and they are aware of, and have a   better understanding of the world politics(Powell 2006). United Nations needs to device operational policies that will see it through in attainment of its vision, mission, and objectives and reinstate back its role as the world’s peace enforcement entity.