Love in the Time of the Victorian Era Essay -- Literary Analysis, Jane

True love is not found within the goals of economic survival or societal gains, rather it is found when two individuals unite in marriage because they have a genuine affection for each other. In her novel, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen depicts what love in a traditional Victorian era would be defined as. Austen displays love as the center of attention for all of society, along with the influences society has on it. Through various characters, such as Mr. Collins and Mrs. Bennet, Austen demonstrates how money and status can largely shape love and the idea of who to love. Yet, with the characters of Jane and Bingley, Austen conveys, in the end, that true love results not from economic necessity or societal gains, but from a sincere affection. Society, as Austen describes it, is similar to the survival of the fittest. In order to get to the top, one must do everything he or she can to get there, including manipulating marriage. In the novel’s society â€Å"family and marriage occupied a far more public and central position in the social government and economic arrangements† (Brown 302). The members of the society in Austen’s novel, specifically Mrs. Bennet, will do anything, including marrying their daughters off to wealthy men, in order to gain a respectable status amongst there peers. Marriage, therefore, becomes a way of getting to the top of the social ladder. This focus on the importance of the social order significantly influences the idea of love and whom to love because it changes the people into thinking that marriage is not about love, but about status. It shapes the individuals into thinking that societal gains are what truly matter in a relationship. In Vyas 2 this situation, Austen illustrates how the society i... ...not money or status. By satirizing love, Austen displays real love in all its purity. Jane and Bingley have a pure, honest love, and this is the kind of love Austen presents in her novel, which is what should be established in a real relationship. Money and society mold love, and place certain implications on it that do not hold true. These implications shape the idea of love and who to love. Within Pride and Prejudice, love is defined as materialistic, yet true love can defy all, and does when Jane and Bingley wed in the end. Through money and status, Austen constructs a premise of flawed love, which she uses to mock society. Nevertheless, this satire is exactly what communicates the true meaning of love proposed by the novel. Affection shapes love, not wealth or status. Love is not about what one has or gains; love is about whom one spends it with.

Personal Narrative - The Day the Police Came for Me :: Personal Narrative

The Day the Police Came for Me The door opened and in walked the hated vice-principal of my high school, who walked straight up to my 3rd hour English teacher and whispered something into his ear. They both turned and looked in my direction. I stared back blankly, wondering why they were looking at me. Through an undoubtedly bad experience in high school, I learned a very valuable lesson about life, people, and events. Mr. Burton, also the "dean of discipline", asked me to take my things and come with him. I obeyed as my mind scanned itself over and over to think of what I had done. I had always been a good kid in school, had always received at least honor roll or principal’s list every quarter since elementary school, and never got in trouble. Yet, here I was riding with the vice-principal in his golf cart through the rows of cars in the student parking lot, until he stopped behind mine. We got out and then he asked me to open my trunk, and then asked a very confusing and ridiculous question at the time, "Do you have a gun or any other weapon in your vehicle?" I almost laughed at him, and then stopped, realizing I did have a pellet gun I accidentally left in my car. How he knew or why he cared I didn’t know, so I said "Yeah I have a b.b. gun under the front passenger seat," as I reached under and grabbed it for him. We then proceeded to his office, where a police officer was waiting for me. They then informed me then of what the incident was about. The day before, like I always do, I usually take home about three or four friends in my car. That day, there happened to be about five or six people who wanted a ride. However, me being a nice guy and kind of gullible, and them being my friends, I couldn’t say no. So we crammed about three or four people in the backseat, one in the passenger seat, and one in the trunk. It was not a very wise decision to let my crazy friend Chris ride in the trunk with it open. I had left my b.b. gun in there by accident one day when I was bringing it to a friend’s house. Chris found it as we were driving down the road, so he opened the trunk up and pointed the gun at cars driving behind us.

Genetically Modified Food and Monsanto Essay

Monsanto is a multinational world leader in the production of the herbicide glyphosate and in the manipulation of genetically modified (GM) seeds. They were a chemical company, which shifted into the new life science area developing numerous patents related to genetic techniques and GM seeds variety. The company entered in the agrobiochemical industry, which is in its growth life cycle based on continuous product improvements and replacement by superior traits. The industry is focused on chemical products used in agriculture and genetically modified crops. There are rivals in the agrobiochemical industry and during the early 2000s; government regulation, public and medical concern about the safety of genetically modified (GM) foods affected its sales and profits. Analysis of the external environment: Economic segment The lack of food experienced by countries and the consequent increase of their costs given the opportunity to private and public companies to invest in appropriate researches in biotechnology to mitigate food security problems and improve food quality. Mergers and acquisitions among agrobiochemical multinationals have been developed in order to improve technologies and promote researches. Global segment The globalization of market provided opportunities for private industry to expand their sales in other countries. The major market for agrobiochemical products is USA and Europe. Developing countries such as Brazil, and India have started to increase their production acreage and to invest in biotechnological products. Political/legal segment Intellectual properties and patents laws are important issues in the agrobiochemical industry; they consent to control all products and process. Many of the agrochemical products and genetically modified foods are influenced by policy environment and government regulations, as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Union (EU). These limitations could provide a market opportunity for more advanced or higher value replacement products. Socio-cultural segment Strong negative perception of consumer about safety of GM foods threatens the new technologies applied in agrochemical industries especially in Europe and USA. However there is a lack of appropriate research and tests on it. Demographic segment High technically specialized farmers and farming communities producing cotton, soybean and canola. Technological segment Private companies more than public companies developed new complex technologies in the area of genetic. These affected highly the traditional methods of farmers work. For firms with good innovation capabilities this represents an opportunity to target different niche market. Conclusion New developing countries such as Brazil and India offer big opportunity for the industry. The research and development of new biotechnologies applied to the agriculture created many new lucrative possibilities to enterprises however, a negative consumer perception on GM foods, started to threat the industry profits. Analysis of Industry Environment In the agrobiochemical industry, research and development are the main capabilities that produce a competitive advantage. This advantage is difficult to understand and to imitate. Patent laws and intellectual property enable also firms to maintain and extend their leadership. Barriers to entry for new competitors New entrants that want to compete on the fertilizers and GM crops market must have strong financial resources to invest in order to face companies such as Monsanto. New competitors require intellectual property right and patent licenses to market their product. They can choose to obtain them through leader companies, although these are very selective and often base their decisions on economies of scale. Biotechnological products also need governmental approval to enter the market. Generally in the agrobiochemical industry there are low switching costs among products however leaders such as Monsanto tent to â€Å"lock in† their customers with licensing fees and agreements. There are high entry barriers and this constitutes a low threat for the existing companies in the industry Bargaining power of suppliers In the industry the supplier’s goods are critical to buyer marketplace success. There are few major suppliers. Some of them, including Monsanto, have vertically integrated companies for the production of seed and for supply raw materials. It increased their power market. The fact that there are few major suppliers permits them to have a high bargaining power. It constitute a high threat Bargaining power of buyers Highly specialized farmers are the predominant buyers in this industry. They have a greater amount of information about the manufacturer’s products and costs through the Internet. They have a high bargaining power especially in the pesticide sector where switching costs are low. They constitute a high threat. One-reason farmers decrease their power, though, is often the agreements signed with the companies that supplies their products. Threat of substitute products Due the high costs of technology, patents and government regulations there are no competitive substitute in the market. The only substitutes are the traditional pesticides and crops, which are still on the market with a percentage of 53%. They could constitute a high threat if patent and intellectual properties are banned. Rivalry among existing competitors Government regulation and patents laws have a major role in this market. The high cost involved with research and development increased the rivalry among competitors for market share. High exit barriers also increase rivalry. An exiting barrier experienced by the firms is the high fixed cost of technology agreements. The degree of vertical integration in which the firm is involved consists a barrier as well. Conclusion: In the agrobiochemical industry buyers and suppliers have high bargaining power and there are no good products substitutes. The industry is unattractive particularly because patents laws and government requirements increased the monopolies of few companies and the rivalry for market share. The industry also requires high financial resources. Competitor analysis The main competitors in the industry are Monsanto, DuPont, Novartis and American Home Products. Monsanto is the leader in biotechnology on the marketplace. Due their intellectual properties and R&D capabilities Monsanto had the opportunity to gain market share and power. The benefit of being a first mover permitted them to gain the loyalty of the customer. Monsanto’s strategic action often undertaken to maintain competitive advantage is decrease costs of the products due their high margin profits. DuPont is a large company that produces a Monsanto’s product imitation. They however depends on Monsanto’s licenses to access traits. Novartis is pointed out as one of the potential rival of Monsanto and DuPont. It is a company with but has the highest capital-spending budget for research in biotechnology. Due their financial resources Novartis are more likely to launch competitive action when Monsanto’s license will expire. AHP introduced an alternative to Monsanto main product. Strongly focused on market research they posed a significant threat to Monsanto. They invested in marketing survey and developed a quality product that better satisfy the needs of the consumers. Conclusion: In the agrochemical industry the competitive rivalry among the firms is strong due the high cost involved in R&D and the slow growth of the market caused by licenses and intellectual properties. Monsanto supports its first mover position in the marked licensing patents to others firms. However companies such as AHP started to threaten them through competitive actions. Internal analysis of Monsanto Resources: Tangible Intangible Financial resources: Monsanto has the ability to generate internal funds:  ·They generate high profits especially from Roundup’s sales and GM crops.  ·Investment and acquisitions  ·Compliance activities Human Resources:  ·Managerial capacity especially in developing consolidation strategies ·Long term vision ·Communication skill across all level of the organisation in order to retain talent and maximize human synergies. Physical resources:  ·Monsanto create extensive backward integration to access easily to raw materials  ·Plant and equipments for bioengineering researchesInnovation Resources: ·High scientific capabilities  ·Ability to innovate Technological resources:  ·They signed license patent agreements with competitors and customers.  ·Patents and trademarks ·Training system Reputational Resources: ·Good national and international reputation with customers ·Brand name linked to R&D ·Marketing  ·Long-term relation with suppliers.  ·Good relation with governmental entities such as FDA ·Goodwill Organisational resources: ·Distribution channels To create a sustainable competitive advantage Monsanto must focus on their capability and explore those which are rare, valuable, costly to imitate and non substitutable. Valuable capabilities ·Capability to strengthen long-term relation with suppliers and customers ·Capability to develop new technologies in bio-engineering and plant genetic  ·Ability to protect their intellectual property ·Distribution channel and service activities Rare to imitate ·Capacity to create human synergies especially after acquisition and merger strategies ·Capability to develop new technologies ·Ability to protect their intellectual property Costly to imitate  ·Capability to strengthen long-term relation with suppliers and customers ·Capability to develop new technologies ·Ability to protect their intellectual property ·Distribution channel and service activities No substitutable ·Capability to strengthen long-term relation with suppliers and customers ·Capability to develop new technologies ·Ability to protect their intellectual property ·Distribution channel and service activities Conclusion: The ability of Monsanto to innovate due their st rong research and development program and the ability to protect their intellectual property gave them a competitive advantage on the market. Research and Development (R&D) and intellectual properties are core competencies that are impossible to imitate in short and medium term. They are rare, because Monsanto possess them, and valuable. Based on an analysis of the value chain however it is possible to underline that Monsanto has effective marketing and service activities, which permit to maintain a strong connection with the customers. These capabilities, if better explored could become a core competence in the future. SWOT Analysis StrengthWeakness  ·Capability to produce high competitive products ·Strong Research and Development base and quality Human Resources ·Good customer services ·Agreements  ·Economies of scale due to acquisitions  ·Intellectual Proprieties ·Patents ·Strong presence in international market and recognition as market leader ·Good network with universities and laboratories ·Alliance and join ventures ·Missing links between communication and research  ·Lack of market research ·Lack of flexibility due at vertical integration  ·Dependence on government regulation and patents laws Opportunity Threat  ·Expanding to new geographic areas such as India and Brazil ·Vertical integrations ·Merge or Acquisition of rivals ·Opening to explore new technologies due on their well developed R&D  ·Patents expiration ·New products on the markets  ·Adverse public opinion on GM foods ·Shifts in buyer needs for products  ·Costly new governmental regulations ·Difficulty in achieving synergies Strategies Business Level strategy: present and future In order to gain competitive advantage and above average return Monsanto focused on differentiation strategy targeting a group of highly skilled and technologically well-developed farmers. Monsanto offers to their customers, quality, training and a trusted system of distribution. This strong marketing ability, the service and the high quality of the product are the key for differentiation. However, Monsanto’s focus on R&D caused them to miss out on market research narrowing the customer perception of product’s value. It created an opportunity for competitors. They should reorganize their firm infrastructure activities and create value developing an information system to better understand customer’s purchasing preferences. They could outsource agencies to implement marketing surveys and focus more closely on customer’s needs. In the future Monsanto could apply their research to breed animals and explore new industry segments. Corporate level strategy: present and future In order to gain market power and develop economies of scope, Monsanto, used a related constrained diversification strategy. They create value and synergies through operational relatedness, sharing both primary and support activities of the value chain. It is underlined by backwards and forwards vertical integration that they use. Due patent expiration, vertical integration, however in the future, can constitute a threat because decrease their flexibility especially in reducing prices. In the future in order to support the expensive costs of R&D and explore new industry segments, Monsanto could merge with Novartis. They could create value through corporate relatedness using a related linked diversification strategy. It can produce private synergies by sharing resources and capabilities. Based on high financial resources of Novartis and Monsanto R&D they could bring improved products to market faster. New researches on GM food could be developed also to improve the negative perception of the customers. International strategy and Cooperative strategy: present and future Based on their strong basis in biotechnologies Monsanto strengthen relations with governments of new developing countries such as Brazil and India, where there are basic resources but lack biotechnological research. Monsanto’s scope is to extent their leadership and the product life cycle in order to recoup heavy investments in R&D. Monsanto also to consolidate costs and rationalize industry capacity engaged in mergers and acquisition with other companies such as Cargill Seeds Business, which reduced their costs and their time to entry in international market. Based on the slow cycle of the market, due the high costs involved, Monsanto could engage in strategic alliance or franchises in new developing countries markets in order to hold down labor costs and compete more effectively in the global market. It permit them to share costs, resources, and risk and overcome problem of integration. Conclusion The biotechnological products developed by Monsanto have future until they can produce an above-average return and gain economies of scale. Based on their ability to innovate Monsanto have the capacity to explore new markets and new geographical areas however, high R&D costs, negative consumer perception and patents expiration are stated to threaten their leadership position on the market. To recover investments, they should focus more on consumer products demand and engage in strategic alliance that permits to increase the product life cycle and absorb the high costs of R&D. References Hanson D. , Dowling P. J. , Hitt M. A. , Ireland R. D and Hoskisson R. E (2008). Strategic Management. Competitiveness & Globalization. South-Western College

Postmodern Frame Essay †Text in Art Essay

The use of text within to the visual arts can be traced back as far as the inscribed carvings found on cave walls created by the Indigenous population of Australia approximately 46000 years ago. However, over the past few years, the use of text in art, also known as the art of typography, has become a frequent means of communication for artists in the creation of their works. Text within art can be projected, scrawled, painted, computerised and carved to the point that a work may be created of nothing but language. The art of typography is the technique of arranging type in such a way that makes language visible. It treats fonts as individual entities to be enjoyed by the audience. Some artists deal with language as a character on its own as opposed to a surface to draw upon. These artists place texts in ways that are intended to stimulate the way an audience perceives a work, to evoke emotion or to create a statement. However, others, particularly graphic designers, tend to focus on the decorative powers of text. Regardless of the artist’s intentions, the appearance of text within art can shift our appreciation of their sound and meaning. Artists that explore text in art include: Barbara Kruger, Yukinori Yanagi, Katarzyna Kozyra, Jenny Holzer, Wenda Gu, Shirin Neshat, Miriam Stannage, Colin McCahon and Jenny Watson. Artists such as Jenny Holzer, Wenda Gu and Shirin Neshat explore the cultural implications of language in art and the importance of language to identity through the inclusion of text that reflect a postmodern concern with the way we receive information in our contemporary society. Jenny Holzer is an American conceptual artist who belongs to the feminist branch of artists that emerged during the 1980’s. Originally an abstract painter and printmaker, Holzer became heavily interested in conceptual art and began creating works using text. The introduction of text within Holzer’s work occurred gradually however, over time, they have entirely replaced images. These works are usually displayed in widely viewed, public areas. Holzer’s works typically deal with the idea of communication. She is highly aware of the power of words and the power of the media and therefore has a focus on the ability of language to distort or manipulate truths. â€Å"I was drawn to writing because it was possible to be very explicit about things. If you have crucial issues, burning issues, it’s good to say exactly what’s right and wrong about them, and then perhaps to show a way that things could be helped. So, it seemed to make sense to write because then you could just say it†¦ no painting seemed perfect. In particular, I didn’t want to be a narrative painter, which maybe would have been one solution for someone wanting to be explicit.† – Jenny Holzer. Through the use of text in art, Holzer is able to transmit powerful environmental, social and political messages that reveal beliefs and myths and show biases and inconsistencies that highlight her social and personal concerns of today’s contemporary society. Holzer’s works are confronting and provocative and inspire us to make changes. They make us remember that language is not always a factual statement; it can be true or false depending on the context. Holzer forces us to analyse our own behaviour and consider how we have been influenced and manipulated. Her works are designed to make us stop and think about how we are maturing socially. Holzer’s truisms â€Å"MONEY CREATES TASTE – 1982† and â€Å"PROTECT ME FROM WHAT I WANT – 1985† are part of her 1983-85 series – â€Å"Survival†. These are LED installation pieces consisting of large scale text that were projected onto a billboard in Times Square, New York. The inscriptions were bright, clear and menacing and connected themselves to the everyday glow of the city. The phrases were flicked over the busy intersection for two to three seconds creating an element of surprise and capturing the audience’s attention. The main focus of these works was to make a profound statement about the world of advertising and consumer society today. Holzer’s aim was to persuade the audience to pause and reflect on their lives. Her work emphasises the notion that within our society, we are driven by the world of media, thereby producing a mass materialistic, consumerist culture. â€Å"MONEY CREATES TASTE† is almost a plea from Holzer to stand back and assess our needs as a culture rather than what we are fed to believe we want by the media. The use of this concise statement â€Å"PROTECT ME FROM WHAT I WANT† has shown us that we are in the process of losing our identity and sense of culture and can be manipulated by the underlying motives of the media. Shirin Neshat is an Iranian born artist who, upon turning seventeen, moved to California to study art. In 1990 when Neshat flew back to Iran to visit her family, she was confronted by the changes in culture and the narrow restraints of everyday life in the Islamic Republic. She was faced by a very strict, pure form of Islam introduced by the Iranian government in order to erase Persian history. Since having lived in the two cultural contexts of Iraq and the USA, Neshat is able to examine the cultural concerns of individual beings in a metaphorical and poetic way. She attempts to address problems of identity, race and gender in a shocking manner and intends to undermine social stereotypes and assumptions. Her works explore the differences between Islam and the West, males and females, limitations in life and freedom, old and new and the public and the private domains. Neshat aimed to provoke questions amongst her audience as she explored Islam through her art making and comments on issues related to feminism and multiculturalism. However, her works were not only confrontational and symbolic; Neshat also paid particular attention to aesthetics. In her 1994 print and ink, â€Å"Rebellious Silence†, Neshat depicts an Islamic, Muslim woman, covered in a veil holding a gun. Her calm face is divided by the starkness of the cold, steel weapon and is laced with Islamic calligraphy symbolic of the Niqab, a more extreme veil that an Islamic woman must wear as it signifies her obedience to the male supremacy in Islamic culture. Her clothing and weapon make us question whether this woman has rejected her submissive female role to embrace violence. She is looking directly at the camera and looks determined to fight. Questions of motives arise amongst the audience. Neshat’s 1996 work â€Å"Speechless† is a black and white photograph in which Neshat has chosen to make herself the subject. This image is a close up of Neshat’s face. She looks determined and powerful however, like her creation â€Å"Rebellious Silence† – her face is covered with an overlay of Islamic text. The Arabic inscriptions that create the veil act as a barrier. It symbolises the support of the Islamic revolution. The visual struggle between Neshat and the veil is representational of the fight for freedom and the support of religion. By putting the text on her face, the body part where people can identify emotions the most, it serves as a reminder of the power that religion has over women and the oppression it has towards free expression. The gun in the picture is another juxtaposition. The woman seems to be embracing the gun as a part of her, giving off a threatening feeling, but at the same time, it does not feel dangerous because of her conflicted emotions: freedom versus oppression. The inscriptions tell of a man who died in the Iran/Iraq conflict of the 1980’s. This is also insulting to the women who also experienced this conflict. Her art does not disapprove nor approve of Islam, but instead encourages the audience to reflect upon their own ideas, assumptions and expectations. He works carry both personal and emotional connotations. Wenda Gu was born in China and studied traditional, classical landscape painting. He was employed to teach ink painting and although he no longer practices in China, text remains central to his work. This initial technical training has provided the incentive for his most confronting pieces in which the powerful use of language challenges social and political traditions. â€Å"These are questioning and symbolic works that violate the orthodox doctrine of artistic value. They represent a direct threat to authority.† Michael Sullivan. Gu ambitiously attempts to address, in artic terms, the issue of globalism that dominates discussions of contemporary economics, society and culture. He aims to appeal not only to the present population, but also to future generations in his quest to extend the boundaries of human perception, feeling and thought and express humanity’s deepest wishes and powerful dreams. Gu strives to unify mankind and create a utopian feel within his works. Gu worked to simplify the Chinese language and to encourage people to embrace new attitudes towards their old language. He combines a long standing fascination with classical Chinese calligraphy with a contemporary take on universal concerns that cross cultural and ethnic boundaries. Gu’s work today focusses extensively on ideas of culture and his identity and has developed an interest in bodily materials and understanding humanity across ethnic and national boundaries. Gu’s 1994-96 work â€Å"Pseudo Characters Contemplation of the world† is a series of ink paintings in which he uses traditional calligraphic styles and techniques but subverts them with reversed, upside down or incorrect letters. The pseudo character series consists of three ink on paper scrolls in which he has combined calligraphy and landscape, disrupting the conventions of both, powerfully distorting artistic tradition of China. Gu has attacked the written word by glorifying the spirit of the absurd. Gu’s most significant artworks have been a series entitled â€Å"United Nations Project†. This is a series of 15 works that were conceptually planned to relate to the locations social, political, historical and cultural situation. This series confronts two taboos. That of language and the human body. The main material for these installations are human hair collected from hairdressers from all over the world and the hair itself serves as a connection to all people. They typically consisted of screens tied together with twine, forming a canopy of internationally collected hair that was fashioned into nonsensical scripts combining the Chinese alphabet and others. His works are distinguished by the two themes which intersect. The first relates to language and the way in which cultural conventions are signified ad the second, is the use of human hair which is a symbol for significant human endeavours. The human hair is a blueprint containing DNA information, which is common to all humans yet seen fundamentally as individual. Jenny Holzer, Shirin Neshat and Wenda Gu all explore the cultural implications of language within art. They share a prime focus on the links between culture and identity. They have used language and text to convey their powerful messages and have drawn upon their own personal experiences. Concerned with the human condition, both they and their artworks have had a significant impact on society and the way in which we interpret information. Madison ******** Year 12 Visual Arts Art History and Art Criticism. Essay on Text The inclusion of text in artworks reflects a post-modern concern with the way we receive information in our contemporary society and the importance of language to identity. Explore the cultural implications of language in the work of Jenny Holzer, Wenda Gu and one other contemporary artist. Analyse specific artworks to support your argument.

Strategic Marketing Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Strategic Marketing Management - Essay Example .............................................................. 2.3 Market analysis........................................................................................... 2.4 Competitor analysis.................................................................................... 2.5 Consumer analysis....................................................................................... 2.6 Internal analysis........................................................................................... 2.7 Additional research considerations contributing to analysis................... 3.0 Objectives and strategy............................................................................................ 3.1 Marketing strategy....................................................................................... 3.2 Evaluation of target segments...................................................................... 4.0 Tactics.................................................................. ....................................................... 5.0 Implementation and control...................................................................................... References Appendices Strategic marketing plan: Walt Disney Parks and Resorts "There is no reason to believe that those now at the top will stay there except as they keep abreast in the race of innovation and competition." (Kaplan 1954, p.142). 1.0 Background Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is seeking new opportunities for revenue growth within the amusement park industry that is currently in the maturity stage in Europe and the United States. Companies that operate in very saturated, competitive markets must identify new innovation opportunities to extend the product and service life cycle and avoid consumer market stagnation by not diversifying the products and services offered in the business model. This report identifies a strategic marketing plan for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts encompassing 2014-2016 in orde r to enhance revenue production and build a more powerful competitive brand. In order to achieve this growth, the company should be focusing primarily on the North American market, the market with the most opportunity for long-term growth. 2.0 Situation analysis This section provides a macro and micro-level analysis of the market, review of the amusement park industry, consumer and competitor analyses, and a brief internal analysis of the competencies currently sustained by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts’ organisational model. 2.1 PESTEL analysis The political environment, both domestically and internationally, are relatively favourable for support of amusement park businesses. The United States is a free market economy, one in which there is minimal government regulation of business behaviour which allows firms to develop their own financial strategies and diversification practices to insulate the business from risk. It is a stable, democratic government system with virtually no risk for political upheaval or non-government militant activity. Hence, the United States provides support for business growth and unregulated access to key consumer markets and market information (Appleby 2010). The United States also maintains a very strong economy which is currently in a significant recovery stage stemming from the 2008-2010 global recession. In 2013, the U.S. sustained a gross domestic product of $16.6 trillion, making it the largest single economy in the world (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 2013). The United Stat

Using Control Systems Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Using Control Systems - Case Study Example The idea of balanced scorecard was developed by Kaplan and Norton. The balanced scorecard is a performance management tool backed up by design methods and automation tools, which is helpful for managers to monitor the efficiency of their followers’ activities and analyze the short/long term consequences of these actions. According to a survey of management tools conducted by Bain & Company (n.d.), balanced scorecard was the most widely used management tool in 2010. Design of a balanced scorecard facilitates the identification of a set of financial and non-financial measures and linking of targets to them. This design is helpful for managers to assess whether the firm’s current performance meets its expectations. As stated in OPM.gov (n.d.), under the balanced scorecard system, business managers gather and review information from four different perspectives such as the customer’s perspective, the internal business perspective, the innovation and learning perspecti ve, and the financial perspective. In contrast to conventional frameworks where employee performance plans pay attention only to behaviors, actions, or processes, the balanced scorecard approach particularly emphasizes individual employee performance so as to align employee performance plans with organizational goals. Management professionals opine that the balanced scorecard approach to employee performance is extremely effective to obtain an extensive view of an employee’s work performance. The major objective of the balanced scorecard is to develop an improved system that can measure the overall performance of an organization and identify the key areas of improvement (tutorialspoint). Another key objective of this management framework is to assess the efficiency of an organization’s workforce by simply focusing on their individual performance and the extent to which they meet expectations. An effective

The Korean War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Korean War - Essay Example That policy was reiterated in 1945 at the Yalta Summit. It was further agreed that until Korea became independent, it would be under the joint trusteeship of the United States, China, and the Soviet Union. 1 The world's first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan on 6 August 1945; Russia entered the war on 8 August; and the Japanese surrendered on 14 August. With the sudden and unexpected Japanese surrender, there was great haste to cobble together plans to accept the surrender of Japanese field forces and to disarm them. The opportunistic Soviet declaration of war on Japan, coming two days after the first atomic bomb was dropped, made it necessary to agree on a line of demarcation between the zones within which the United States and the Soviets would accept the Japanese surrender. The U.S. State Department wanted the American zone to be as far north on the mainland of China as possible, including key points in Manchuria. The Army did not want to go into an area where few other forces were close at hand. In the planning for the surrender, two young American colonels, Dean Rusk and Charles Bonesteel, from the War Department's Operations and Plans Division (OPD), were assigned the task of findi ng a line. Neither was particularly knowledgeable about Korea or the Far East, although Rusk had served briefly with Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell in China during the war. They retired to an office and pondered over a National Geographic map. The Army wanted to have two ports, Inchon in the north and Pusan in the south. North of Inchon, there did not seem to be any natural geographic division. They settled on the thirty-eighth parallel. The Soviets agreed. Later Rusk learned that in the early 1900s, the Russians and japanese had, initially, proposed the thirty-eighth parallel as the dividing line between their respective spheres of influence. There has since been suspicion that the Soviets took agreement on the thirty-eighth parallel to be an acknowledgment of their historic sphere of influence.2 The U.S. XXIV Corps came ashore at Inchon to carry out the U.S. occupation mission. The Soviet Army moved down from the north, closed on the thirty-eighth parallel, and sealed the border. All subsequent attempts to proceed with a coordinated policy toward Korea failed. The occupation was not a happy task. Lieutenant General John R. Hodges, the XXIV Corps commander, called it the worst job he ever had. The troops disliked it intensely. In Japan, one commander addressed his incoming troops, warning them to behave and saying that they had only three things to fear -- diarrhea, gonorrhea, and Korea. In the south, the Koreans were not willing to wait for "due course" to achieve freedom and independence. They wanted it right away. And there were competing groups of all political stripes ready to take on the job. 3 The wisdom of maintaining American troops in Korea was questioned almost from the very start. To the Joint Chiefs, the troops were needed elsewhere. In the years that followed, with the Cold War becoming more frosty, force levels dropping, and other needs increasing, the question became more urgent. It was not a decision easily made. An ongoing discussion of the subject continued from 1947 to 1949. It revolved around the strategic value of Korea, its political importance, and its importance in contributing to U.S. prestige. In April 1947, the joint Strategic Survey Committee noted, "This is one country within which we alone have for almost two years carried on ideological warfare in direct contact with our ideological opponents so that to lose this battle would be gravely detrimental to the United States prestige and therefore security." 4The State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee (prior to the formation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) concluded: ". . . the U.S. cannot