Essay --

Many may say that the Antebellum Temperance Movement was primarily motivated by religious moralism. I tend to take that stance as well. The Antebellum Temperance Movement of the 18th century was focused around the idea that people, mostly men, should abstain from alcohol if they could not drink the spirits in moderation. In this era, many women had suffered greatly because their loved ones would imbibe excessively leaving them short on money, food, and even shelter which left many impoverished and unable to care for their families. Additionally, the excessive consumption of alcohol led to health care issues, crime and in the end, destitution. The first author, W.J. Rorabaugh, is a proponent on the side of how Christian ministers, â€Å"portrayed liquor as the tool of the devil and develop temperance societies as socialization institutions to ease social tensions and anxieties that contributed to alcohol consumption,† (Madaras, L.; SoRelle, J. Pg. 256) Appositionally, John J. Rumbarger opposes by stating that, â€Å"the nineteenth–century temperance reform was the product of the pro-capitalist market economy whose entrepreneurial elite led the way toward abstinence and prohibitionist campaigns. In order to guarantee the availability for a more productive workforce,† (Madaras, L.; SoRelle, J. Pg. 256). I agree with W.J. Rorabaugh that during the Antebellum Temperance Movement, the church’s played an enormous role in prohibiting alcohol consumption because it was the â€Å"tool of the devil†. In taking sides, it is evident that W.J. Rorabaugh was on the right track when he points out that many evangelic religious leaders formed groups to reiterate to the people that liquor was the tool of the devil and that basically, society would continue to... ...d represent a mechanism of social control and did instigate the connection between religion and the need for social reform. In Taking Sides, although Rumbarger and Rorabaugh both had strong, compelling points on the Antebellum Temperance Movement, I believe that W.J. Rorabaugh provided enough evidence that convinced me that the Church’s definitely furthered the movement of Antebellum Temperance Reform. Since drinking was labeled as the â€Å"devil’s tool†, many of the temperance movements and the participation thereof consisted of women and pastors. I believe that the two combined were a powerful entity and really wanted to believe that ultimately, people could make better choices for their lives. Therefore, it was easier to convince society that by living a life with a moral code, free of alcohol and all the turmoil it brought, further helped reshape the society.

Entering the soft drinks industry in india Essay

India is an enormous and diverse country with a population of over 1 billion people, making it difficult to make any generalisations about what Indians like and want from a soft drink (Background to Business in India, 2011). The soft drink industry in India has been growing rapidly since 2006 and in 2010 generated a profit of $3. 8 billion and although the market is set to decelerate, by 2015 he market value will be $5. 9 billion (Soft Drinks Industry Profile: India, 2011). From this, India is an attractive marketplace with many opportunities for a soft drinks manufacturer to want to expand in to. Porter’s National Diamond: Factor Conditions India has a very young population with over half being under the age of 25 (BSCAA , 2009) This is an advantage to the MNC wanting to expand their business in to India as research by Euromonitor (2011) suggests that young people aged 16-25 are more likely to purchase bottled soft drinks. Conversely, the diversity of the population in India must be stressed as it is such a large country, with a huge divide between rich and poor. Also with regards to human resources, the MNC could benefit from the profusion of low-cost labour in India (Maan, M et al, 2011), meaning the MNC could move its manufacturing to India to reduce its operating costs whilst targeting the young population with their soft drink product. When assessing the physical resources in India, the MNC needs to consider the poor infrastructure in the country and how rural some of the areas are. It would not be advised to enter the market in east/northeast India unless selling cheap bottled water because the area is very rural and poor and there is only really a market for selling healthy, clean and sanitised water (Soft Drinks in India, 2011). However, south India would be a much more promising area to invest in to and the MNC would have better business opportunities here. Southern India benefits from a much more affluent population of young, employed people, who in recent years have become much more health-conscious, which has led to an increase of 24% in market sales (Soft Drinks in India, 2011). If the MNC were to invest in India, concentrating on one area to ensure they reach the correct target audience, Southern India would be ideal to bring out a range of waters and juices to attract the young, health-conscious population there. Carbonated drinks should not be considered at research by Euromonitor (2011) stress the saturation of the market by megabrands such as Coca Cola and the need for â€Å"healthier† bottled, soft drinks. These also relate to the social and environmental sectors of the PESTLE model. Porter’s National Diamond: Demand Conditions In India, there is an increasing demand for healthy and hygienic soft drinks but sports drinks will remain to be the most rapidly growing sector due to the popularity of sports with young Indians (Soft Drinks in India, 2011). The research from Euromonitor (2011) states that Indians have moved away from carbonated drinks due to the rising health awareness, and have started to purchase more water and fruit and vegetable juices. For the MNC to compete against the increasing international competition, they would need to think â€Å"glocally†. Glocalisation entails local and global activities acting simultaneously, where they would â€Å"think globally and act locally† (Glocalisation, no date). By adapting to the local environment, the MNC could gain a competitive advantage as an international brand as they would appear to take in to account the local surroundings of their brand and they are more likely to be successful as they would be selling a product that the local Indians would want. The MNC should internationalise to respond to the megatrend of competitors, which is a deterministic force, and then compete through adaptation of their product to suit the local surroundings in India. The strategy the MNC should consider after analysing the demand conditions is to consider both price and value together. They should differentiate themselves from other soft drink suppliers by offering a strong brand that young Indians are conscious of (Soft Drinks in India, 2011) but also an acceptable price. Although there is a huge poor population in India, if the MNC were to target Southern India as suggested after looking at the factor conditions, research by the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (2011) depict a large and growing middle-class population of India that have a disposable income of between $4,166-$20,833 per year; this suggests that they could price their product in correspondence with the other brands as there is a growing population of richer Indians. Also by offering benefits of a brand and a health-conscious drink that is in high demand at the moment, they can concentrate on focussing on that one area of India where they could possibly dominate the market in a smaller area. Porter’s National Diamond: Firm Strategy, Structure and Rivalry With regards to structure of firms, the MNC will have to consider how different India is in terms of how they do business compared to Europe. In India, the majority of organisations have a strong hierarchical structure, with one authoritarian leader at the top (World Business Culture, 2011). When investing in to the Indian market it is recommended to approach business in the same hierarchical structure that India have as it is indisputably acknowledged. If they were to enter the market dealing with business in a more democratic, flat manner, how Europe would normally deal with business, they are unlikely to thrive. In terms of rivalry, there appears to be a lot of competition from other brands of soft drinks. Bisleri holds the largest amount of market share with 23. 6% in 2010; however this is the main seller of clean, hygienic water in India (Soft Drinks in India, 2011). After this, Coca Cola and Pepsi with all their sub-brands hold high shares in the market in India. If the MNC were to invest in to the Indian market, the strategy they would have to take would be to introduce a new soft drink that promotes sustainable benefits of being a healthy, branded, bottled soft drink that is different from the standard carbonates that the international, well-known brands offer. By differentiating their product and adapting it to the local environment in India, the MNC will gain competitive advantage. Porter’s National Diamond: Related and Supporting Industries Soft drinks are sweetened with sugar (Beverage Health, 2010) and India is the second largest producer of this commodity in the world (Sugar: Supply and Demand, 2010). This would be a benefit to the MNC as a main ingredient to soft drinks is readily available and will be cheaper rather than importing it from other countries. Plastic is also heavily involved when packaging soft drinks, through a third party factory. Luckily for the MNC, India has had a high development of their machinery which can create high-quality plastic products, including bottles (Indian Plastic Portal: 2009). By having plastic bottlers locally available, the MNC will have an advantage on being able to easily be supplied the service; however the price at which they purchase the plastic bottles for their soft drink product could be expensive due to the competition of other, more established brands such as Coca Cola. Porter’s National Diamond: Role of Chance The role of chance could invalidate the advantages of investing in the market in India at any time. Chance events that could affect the MNC introducing a new soft drink in India could include: well-established brands like Coca Cola or Pepsi creating a new product which young Indian’s are more likely to be swayed towards due to brand loyalty; another chance event could be new health awareness campaigns that may affect a young individual’s view on bottled soft drinks. There are constantly rising issues concerning health and the amount of sugar young people consume which could seriously harm the reputation and also the sales that the MNC could potentially make when entering the Indian Market. Also factors such as soaring prices in sugar or limited water supply could dramatically affect the manufacture and production of soft drinks. Porter’s National Diamond: Role of Government Currently, India is considered at a low-cost option for organisations to invest in to with its strong domestic market, high savings rates and positive demographic trend (World Business Culture: 2011), however, this could quickly change as India’s government could, at any time, implement new tax laws, quality standard laws or changes in antitrust laws which could alter the ease of entering in to the Indian marketplace for soft drinks. The MNC must take in to account and assess all the different policies and laws for foreign markets to invest to ensure they can operate their business properly. Issues that may arise in this determinant will also occur in the PESTLE model if the MNC were to undertake this from of country analysis. Porter’s Five Forces Buyer Power: Research by Datamonitor (2010) suggests that buyer power is temperate within the current soft drink suppliers in India as they sell not only to independent retailers but they sell their concentrates to bottling companies. However, the buyer power for a new brand of soft drink in India could affect the MNC profusely; this is due to the fact that the consumers will already have brand loyalty to the well-known and well established soft drink brands in India. The buyers would have to have an incentive to purchase the new product over something they are already used to and like; therefore having a relatively strong power over the new entrant. Supplier Power: Due to the fact that most ingredients of soft drink products are commodities means that supplier power is reasonably low and these commodities are readily available, for example: sugar (Datamonitor: 2010). Water, which is also a main component needed for the manufacture of a soft drink product, could be a problem in India as the sanitation of the water can be a problem and the supply is not always constant (India: Development Policy Review, 2007). Finally, supplier power from plastic packaging companies is growing due to the rise in awareness of environmentally friendly packaging (Datamonitor, 2010). New Entrants: If the MNC were to invest in to India, to ensure they were successful, they will need to ensure that they concentrate on differentiating and adapting their product to the area and from other brands (Datamonitor, 2010). Research by Euromonitor (2011) also suggest that by having a strong brand name and by using national figures to advertise the brand, a new entrant to the soft drinks market in India will thrive. From this, it suggests that there is a market for new entrants as long as the product is differentiated and well distinguished from the other products that already exist. Datamonitor also recommend that a new entrant should stress the health benefits of their product to attract more consumers. Substitutes: There is a reasonable threat from substitute products in the soft drink market in India. Research by Datamonitor (2010) depicts the larger brands like Parle Bisleri to be a higher threat as they offer other kinds of confectionary products as well as a wide range of soft drinks and the substitutes are able to stored differently (on shelves at room temperature). Datamonitor recommends that leading brands, as they have a diverse range of products, can reduce the risk of the substitutes on their performance. Rivalry: Research by Datamonitor (2010) gives evidence that the marketplace for soft drinks in India is concentrated with the top three players (Parle Bisleri, Coca Cola and Pepsi) holding 74. 1% of the market volume. These brands not only offer standard carbonated soft drinks and bottled water but speciality bottled teas and coffees. Therefore, if the MNC were to enter in to the Indian soft drink market, to remain a competitive brand, they would need to offer an adapted product to attract new consumers and draw them away from the well-established brands they know well. The Diffusion Curve. (Pearce, 2011) India as a whole would be placed in sector â€Å"late majority† due to the whole population of India being respectively poor with a GDP of only $1190 (World Business Culture, 2010). This means that they would purchase the product but maybe not straight away, when it is released, they will start to consume when the soft drink has become much cheaper. However, in a much more affluent area like South India where there is a population of young professionals with brand consciousness (Euromonitor, 2011) the population would be within the â€Å"early majority† sector. This is due to the fact that younger, wealthier people are more likely to want to try out new products when they see others consuming them and also feel the need to try out new products if the benefits and brands are well advertised to them (Euromonitor, 2011). Recommendations After assessing the market for soft drinks in India, it would be recommended for the MNC to invest in to this attractive marketplace. It is important for the MNC to internationalise its operations to diversify themselves, to respond to foreign competition and to take advantage from lower costs and increased technological expertise. However, there are many factors to consider when entering the market in India: firstly, the MNC must take in to account how diverse the nation is. As mentioned before, the population is huge and it would be ignorant to make any generalisations; therefore it would be a sensible idea for the MNC to only enter the market in one area of the country, for example southern India. It has been discussed that southern India is a much more affluent area of India, in which are many young, employed Indians who should be the target audience for the MNC as they are accessible and sustainable. Secondly, the competitors in this area must be considered. In order to be successful in investing in to India, it would be sensible for the MNC to create a product that is not standardised but adapted to the needs and likes of the population in this area. The MNC should conduct some research in to what kinds of flavours and tastes that are preferred in order to create a product that would thrive in Southern India. It is also very important for the MNC to create a product in which the health benefits are a main factor of their soft drink. Throughout the research in this feasibility study, it has been stressed that there is a need from consumers for a soft drink where the health benefits are highlighted as although the carbonated soft drink market is booming (Euromonitor, 2011) it is saturated with other competitors; therefore, the MNC should compete through differentiation and offering benefits of their â€Å"healthier† soft drink product. Overall, the MNC has the chance of being successful when investing in to Indian soft drink market. They need to be careful when dealing with business with them, ensuring they have conducted enough research in to how they do business as it is very different to Europe, as said before, they deal with business in a hierarchical and authoritarian way. However the foreign environment is uncontrollable and the MNC has no control over the macro environment, so they must ensure to fully understand the marketplace and how India operates with foreign investors. Critical Evaluation of Porter’s National Diamond Porter’s National Diamond is described as a â€Å"methodological approach to analyse the most current industry occurrences and competitive status, and to identify emerging issues and opportunities for successful market development† (Batra, M et al, 2009). The diamond is used to investigate an organisation’s ability to compete in international markets by looking at four different components: factor conditions, demand conditions, related and supporting industries and strategy, structure and rivalry. Secondary to these four determinants, porter stresses the need for considering the role of chance and the role of the government in order to have a sound analysis of the competitive advantage of nations. Porter’s national competitive advantage theory suggests that a country’s competiveness within a certain industry will depend on the whether or not the industry has the room to innovate and advance (Wild, 2011, p177). Porter’s diamond is mainly concerned with how and why certain countries are more competitive in different industries. His theory amalgamates the two different denominations of international trade theory from country based theories such as mercantilism and comparative advantage, and also firm based theories such as product life cycle and national competitive advantage (Griffin, 2007, p164) There are many advantages of using Porter’s National Diamond: it allows an organisation to asses and analyse a country, covering all necessary areas to think about, ensuring that it would be a successful country to invest in to. It ensures that the organisation takes in to account everything they need to when considering investing in another country. Although it is only a forecast, if the organisations thinks about all possible occurrences and fully assesses all the components, it should give them an extensive knowledge and assertion that they are making a prosperous investment. Another advantage is that it is academically renowned and used by many organisations and governments across the world. However, Porter’s National Diamond has been criticised for many reasons: firstly it suggests that any role of government is negative, where it could be positive and encourage foreign investments and make domestic industries less competitive (Hadjidakis, 2007, p88). The role of chance is also too difficult to predict as any environment can change very rapidly and unexpectedly. According to Dickens (2007, p187) the diamond compresses too much complex and intricate information in to a â€Å"four-pointed diamond model† and this is not enough to be able to measure the national competitiveness of a country adequately. It has also been argued that porter’s model lacks any distinct definition of the four determinants which in turn, will reduce the predictive power and accuracy of the diamond model (Grant, 1991). Within international business management, when applying Porter’s national diamond, it should be ensured to consider every single aspect that Porter recommends in to major detail to ensure a forecast for investment is as accurate as possible. The different aspects of the diamond should be developed as much as possible so that international competitiveness is driven to thrive and succeed. Reference List Background to Business in India (2011) Available at: http://www. worldbusinessculture. com/Indian-Business-Style. html (Accessed: 10 January 2012). Batra, M. , Niehm, L. (2009), â€Å"An opportunity analysis framework for apparel retailing in India: economic, social, and cultural considerations for international retail firms†, Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 287-300 Beverage Health (2010) Available at: http://www. beveragehealth. org. au/scripts/cgiip. exe/WService=ASP0017/ccms. r? PageId=10053 (Accessed: 12 January 2012) BSCAA (2009), â€Å"Background note: India†, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Available at: www. state. gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3454. htm (Accessed: 10 January 2012) Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (2011) Background Note: India. Available at: http://www. state. gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3454. htm#econ (Accessed: 10 January 2012) Dickens, P. (2007) Global Shift: Mapping the challenging contours of the world economy. 5th edn. Sage Publications: London. Grant, R. M. (1991), â€Å"Porter’s ‘competitive advantage of nations’: an assessment†, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 12 No. 7, pp. 535-48. Griffin, R. (2007) International Business: A Managerial Perspective. 5th edn. Pearson: Upper Saddle River. Glocalisation (no date) Available at: http://rija-rasoava. weebly. com/glocalisation. html (Accessed: 10 January 2012) Hadjidakis, S. Katsioloudes, M. (2007) International Business: A Global Perspective. Elsevier. India: Development Policy Review (2007) Available at: http://web. worldbank. org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0,,contentMDK:20980493~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:223547,00. html (Accessed: 12 January 2012) Indian Plastic Portal (2009) Available at: http://www. indianplasticportal.com/plastic-industry-overview/ (Accessed: 12 January 2012) Mann, M. Byun, S. (2011). Accessing opportunities in apparel retail sectors in India: Porter’s diamond approach. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 15, 2. Available at: http://www. emeraldinsight. com/journals. htm? articleid=1926550&show=html#b7 (Accessed: 10 January 2012) Pearce, A. (2011) ‘Week 9: Production Strategy and International Value Chain’. The diffusion curve [Online]. Available at: https://elp. northumbria. ac. uk/webapps/portal/frameset. jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_223681_1%26url%3d (Accessed: 14 January 2012) Soft Drinks Industry Profile: India (2011) Available at: http://web. ebscohost. com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? vid=5&hid=24&sid=89a8abec-1124-46fa-8180-57eef84e8a7d%40sessionmgr4 (Accessed: 10 January 2012). Soft Drinks in India (2011) Available at: http://www. portal. euromonitor. com/Portal/Pages/Search/SearchResultsList. aspx (Accessed 10 January 2012) Sugar: Supply and Demand (2010) Available at: http://www. spectrumcommodities. com/education/commodity/statistics/sugar. html.

Tragic Flaw

and The Flaw By Phanit Asavanamaung 10B Stories are told in many styles, through different medias; all which are to entertain or educate its audience. Christopher Booker, the author of the book ‘The Seven Basic Plots', introduces the idea of the seven basics categories of any story told. The seven basic archetypes are Over Coming the Monster, Rags to Riches, The Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Rebirth and Tragedy. Tragedy as one of the seven archetypes, are found in any type of stories; from the most recent published novel to the almost forgotten ancient myths of the earth.Tragedy is mostly used to describe when there is a death in the story, but which the term ‘tragedy’ can also be used to describe when the character has fallen into a lower state. It is better defined when there is a downfall of the main character in the story. In all the stories which are categorized under tragedy, has one thing in common. It is that those characters have a tragic flaw; that in fluences the character to their downfall. The tragic flaw for each character is different. It is influenced by many factors, such as family and the environment they are exposed to.These influences lead to the death of the eternal love of Romeo and Juliet, or even the life of a school girl, Alaska; in Looking for Alaska. The tragic flaw of a character is influenced by many factors, leading to the character’s downfall. The tragic flaw could be observed when there is a decision to be made, and the wrong choice is taken. The decision took, is influenced by the characters experience and also the condition that they are in. The experience of the character is from their past, about their families and their environment. This could result a tragic flaw to the character by making a scar to the character mentally.If the character was poorly treated in their childhood, or have experienced a traumatic event; this could cause a flaw in the character. At times, when the condition of the cha racter is at its worst, the tragic flaw will influence the character’s decision, and which will eventually lead to the downfall of themselves. There are many type of tragic flaws and which a character may develop more than one flaw. By having more flaws, the character will be likely to be influenced by more events, which will make the character to become more vulnerable, in the tragic state.These flaws could be found since the early myth of Jason, on a quest to find the Golden Fleece, which it also ended up in tragedy. The flaws that are most common are from being treated badly as a child or from being blinded with love. Romeo and Juliet, the famous story of the two ‘star crossed lovers’ of the rivalry between the two families, ending up in tragedy. The reason behind the downfall of the couple is not from the conflict between their families, but it is actually their flaw. According to Chrisxbales papers, it describes the relationship of the two as, ‘are not in love, but in lust’.There are many flaws between the two characters, combination of immaturity and stubbornness. It could be observed that the two characters rushes into things, such as the first encounter of the two. Romeo says,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"If I profane with my unworthiest hand / This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: / My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand / To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss. † (1. 5. 92-95) The statement shows proof of how at first encounter, Romeo decides to ask Juliet for a kiss, even without knowing each other. This is an evidence of immaturity.Also the two, decides to ignore the advice given from Friar Lawrence, and which they have ended up paying the ultimate price. They also ignore the most obvious of which their relationship is not going to be well, with their family conflict. The main flaw of the Romeo and Juliet is that they are both blinded with love, making them stubborn and immature. The series of events were influen ced by the flaw of the two characters, making them ending up in tragedy. Not only could that tragic flaw be observed in classic stories, but also in modern literature.An example of modern literature would be, Looking for Alaska by John Green. The story is about the life of Miles Halter after he moved to the Culver Creek School. He then narrates of the experience of being with his friends, telling the tragic ending of Alaska Young. Alaska Young was no ordinary school girl, she is the girl who pulls out pranks on everyone and which does all the bad things she is able to do. Once while the group of friends were off smoking, Alaska has stated that,† You guys smoke because it’s fun, but I smoke to die. † This introduces the first flaw of the character.She does not love or care about herself, therefore she will make choices which are bad for herself. Later on, it was then told that Alaska Young has a sad past. In her childhood, she has experienced the death of her mothe r, and which she was blamed by her father of killing her mother. That has created a scar in Alaska, and which she kept on blaming herself on everything that went wrong and that she was failing everyone. She was then found, dead in a car crash attempting to suicide; blaming herself on forgetting her mother’s anniversary.These were the tragic flaw of the character and which it all started by being mistreated in her childhood. The flaw has taken over the character and influenced her daily act. By not being conscious about what is the best choice for the people around and themselves, they would end up with a problem. By not solving the problem properly, other problem will appear. This will continue, until it has reached its worst such as death or the right decision is made. In conclusion, tragedy always ends up with the downfall of the character, which is caused by their tragic flaw.It could be seen through the examples of Romeo and Juliet, and the downfall of Alaska, in Looking for Alaska, that it all started from people around them. Families and friends are most influential on what they will grow up to be like. It is where their future and their fate are decided. By being mistreated or taught to behave badly towards others, it can cause a flaw. The flaw will be hidden in the person, until the time when the person is at a traumatic or panicking state.Each person has a different flaw, and which they may result on developing more than one flaw. As explained, these flaws will influence each person to make a wrong choice. As once stated by Mahatma Ghandi, â€Å"Nobody can hurt me without my permission. † Referring that no one can hurt you, unless you hurt yourself. The quote supports the flaw of the character that it is their own fault that lead to their downfall. In order to reduce the risks of the impact of the flaw of each person, it is important that they are conscious about the decision they are making.This could make the person to be able to think and choose the better choice for themselves and the people around them. Works Cited Green, John. Looking for Alaska: A Novel. New York: Dutton Children's, 2005. Print. â€Å"Quotes About Hurt. † (337 Quotes). N. p. , n. d. Web. 02 Mar. 2013. ;http://www. goodreads. com/quotes/tag/hurt;. â€Å"Romeo and Juliet's Tragic Flaws. † Romeo and Juliet S Tragic Flaws. N. p. , n. d. Web. 02 Mar. 2013. ;

Disruptive technology Essay

The first innovation that was mentioned in this case was that of an Incremental Innovation. An incremental innovation is a series of small improvements to an existing product or product line that usually helps maintain or improve its competitive position over time. Incremental innovation is regularly used within the high technology business by companies that need to continue to improve their products to include new features increasingly desired by consumers. The case describes that the old way of selling â€Å"hard copy† music, movies, and games could shift to providing new ‘e-tailing’ channels through which you can obtain the latest CD of your preference – for example, from Amazon.com or CD-Now or 100 other websites. These innovations increase the choice and tailoring of the music purchasing service and demonstrate some of the ‘richness/reach’ economic shifts of the new Internet game. This is not a drastic change in marketing to sell hard copies of these products; it is simply a shift from the brick and mortar to an online option. It does not shift the way these products are produced, but is however an incremental change in the way it is distributed. The second innovation which was described was a Discontinuous innovation. Discontinuous innovations cause a paradigm shift in science or technology and/or the market structure of an industry. As they are entirely new-to-the world products, made to perform a function for which no product has previously existed, discontinuous innovation requires a good deal of learning for the incumbent organization and its value network, including the user. This Discontinuous innovation is described in the ways in which music is created and distributed, and in the business model on which the whole music industry is currently predicated. Discontinuous innovations also disrupt established routine and may even require a very different set of capabilities and new behavior patterns. The notion of novelty is relative so a discontinuous innovation for one organization might be an incremental one for another. As the case describes, aspiring musicians no longer need to depend on being picked up by A&R staff from major companies who can bear the costs of recording and production of a physical CD. Instead they can use home recording software and either produce a CD themselves or else go straight to MP3 – and then distribute the product globally via newsgroups, chat rooms, etc. In the process they effectively create a parallel and much more direct music industry which leaves existing players and artists on the sidelines. Napster posed a huge threat to the established music business since it involved no payment of royalties. There are now many other sites emulating and extending what Napster started – sites such as Gnutella, Kazaa, Limewire took the P2P idea further and enabled exchange of many different file formats – text, video, etc. In Napster’s own case the phenomenally successful site concluded a deal with entertainment giant Bertelsman which paved the way for subscription-based services which provide some revenue stream to deal with the royalty issue. Apple was another company who saw the need for change, and successfully implemented discontinu ous innovation to shake up the music industry. With the launch of their successful iPod personal MP3 player they opened a site called iTunes which offered users a choice of thousands of tracks for download at 99c each. In its first weeks of operation it recorded 1 million hits and in February 2006. Over 1 billion songs have now been legally purchased and downloaded around the globe, representing a major force against music piracy and the future of music distribution as we move from CDs to the Internet. Works Cited discontinuous innovation. (2013, September 7). Retrieved from Lexicon: http://lexicon.ft.com/term?term=discontinuous-innovation Incremental innovation. (2013, September 7). Retrieved from Business Dictionary: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/incremental-innovation.html#ixzz2eE7EGEmb

Albert Einstein's Philadelphia Experiment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Albert Einstein's Philadelphia Experiment - Essay Example The Philadelphia experiment was done on a Navy destroyer escort, the USS Eldridge, which was fitted with required equipment and generators, began in the summers of 1943 and was initially a success to a limited degree. First, the experiment was conducted using domestic Animals on a ship; the animals were placed in metal cages on the USS Eldridge, the ship became invisible but when it materialized many of the animals were missing and some had radiation and burn marks on them, for the first time humans were not be tested. Yet the next time the Experiment was performed with a full crew aboard reportedly underwent the Philadelphia Experiment. The men on board did not know what was happening; they were only told that they were going to be made invisible with the ship. For the second time Eldridge being rendered almost completely invisible, with some eyewitnesses reporting a greenish fog; however, crew members complained of serious nausea afterward. At that time the experiment was altered b y the Navy, with the new goal being invisible to radar only. Equipments used were not recalibrated, and the Experiment was performed again with a new crew member and few scientists. This time, Eldridge not only actually became almost entirely invisible to the naked eye but actually vanished from the area entirely. Concurrent with the phenomenon, the U.S Naval base at Norfolk, Virginia, just over 375 miles away, reported sighting the Eldridge vanished again and reappeared in the Philadelphia, not only it was vanished and moved miles away but it was also years away. The effect of this experiment on the crew members was profound and almost all of the crew members were violently ill. Some suffered from mental illness because of the experience; behavior conforming to schizophrenia is described in some accounts. Some of the members were missing supposedly vanished and some were actually fused to the mental bulkhead. Some of the Survivors of the experiment said that they were horrified by the experiment and tried to jump out of the ship and went through a time travel, they were in the year 1983 and they met the scientist who was with them on the ship, they were very much scared and were asked to shut down the Machine on the ship and when they returned to the ship they switched off the machine, but it was too late. Some of the other sailor also went through time travel, they found themselves in a

Company Sustainability CritiquBMO Financial Group Essay

Company Sustainability CritiquBMO Financial Group - Essay Example The third generation corporate social responsibility enveloped everything and every activity an organization is involved in or can be involved. This included the credibility of the processes and practices, reporting and measuring, integration of various disciplines, sustainable financial development, developing sustainable values and systems, strategies and visions of the organization and its overall structure. It included stakeholders and sustainability of environment and business. This critique is primarily based on the â€Å"2010 Corporate Responsibility Report and Public Accountability Statement†. The organization has been keeping track of each and every aspect of business that can directly or indirectly affect the community, environment and stakeholders. This has been identified as a major strategic vision for the sustainability of the business. The organization claims to evaluate each and every aspect of the business decision and the probable impact on the communities an d the major stakeholder of the same. The company is involved in integrating ESG (environmental, social and governance) factors in all its activities from financial to corporate citizenship3. In this direction, the organization has started publishing detailed corporate responsibility report. It provides information on each decision taken by the company and the probable impact on the environment to its major stakeholders4. Company Sustainability BMO is recognized for the corporate responsibility. There are various indexes and reports of various organizations that have supported the credibility and position of the company on various corporate governance and ethical issues. The company has been recognized for its corporate social responsibility by the esteemed performance indexes like Dow Jones sustainability North America Index, Jantzi Social Index, FTSE4Good Series Index, Jantzi Maclean’s and Corporate Knights’ Magazine (2003-2007) fifty most responsible corporation in C anada. The company has committed to its corporate responsibility and sustainability objectives. The company has identified various areas with sustainability challenges and collaboration where bank can intervene and work towards maintaining sustainability. Company has incorporated the sustainability objectives to its core values, governance structures and code of the conduct. The business policies are developed and implemented within the sphere of the corporate responsibility and sustainability objectives. Company has been consistently involved in the projects and activities that can add value to the sustainability objectives. Governance and Ethics The organization has evolved FirstPrinciples for all the employees that provides them an opportunity or authorizes them to report any incident or aspect that can be against the code of conduct of the business. There are various employees issues like conflict of interests, mishandling of staff by their seniors and other petty issues. Howeve r there has been handful of incidents reported. There can not be any question on the validity of these rights as company has ensured the confidentiality and anonymity to all the employees reporting any issue. Company is committed for the consistent monitoring of regulatory changes and best practices of corporate governance. The timely audit and the feedbacks allow them evaluating the governance practices along with the best practices of

Change Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Change Management - Research Paper Example It has its extensive presence in every domain of the society. In the context of modern day business scenario, change is an important part of operational process of the companies irrespective of the industry that they are operating in. In the healthcare sector, with the increased level of business market competition and altering nature of customer demands, change has become quite crucial by a certain degree. However, it cannot be ignored that there exist a proper process of change management, which helps in building a systematic framework and enabling proper implementation of the change proposed (Reiss, 2012). Contextually, this paper will work towards initiating change in a particular healthcare organization, which will comprise analyzing the need for change and the strategies for making that change successful. Identification of Change and Why Identifying the change, which is to be undertaken, is quite vital with regard to build a systematic process for the same. It can be stated tha t the change will be suggested with analyzing the clinical environment of a particular healthcare unit. ... ealthcare unit is observed to be below standards in conducting their certain operational activities in accordance with the norms along with the standards set for the overall industry. Observably, the healthcare unit is seen to be lacking in the practice of hand hygiene. According to the report of CHICA (2013), there are millions of people who often get infected from nosocomial infection due to having deficiency in this particular practice. Hand hygiene, in the healthcare sector provides certain guidelines to both healthcare patients and the professionals in the workplace, so that they mitigate with the rising problems arising from non-adherence to the same (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.). In this regard, change such as implementation of Infection Prevention and Control Guidelines will be initiated in the healthcare unit. It provides certain strict guidelines with regard to maintain hand hygiene in the unit to ensure enhancement in the performance of the organizatio n (CHICA, 2013). The healthcare unit is also seen to be lacking in providing quality services to the patients. It has been apparently observed that the healthcare organization possesses the responsibility to serve people with utmost integrity and responsibility. However, in analyzing the particular healthcare unit, it has been noted that the satisfaction level of the customers acquiring services from this unit is quite low, which further is a serious threat for the well being of the patients and the performance of the unit altogether. Hence, in this regard, proper implementation of NAHQ based Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice will be initiated as a change in the operation of the healthcare unit, further making sure that the healthcare unit work totally in compliance with the