Wild Strawberries

Diverse people/cultures constitute this world and such diversity is reflected via the cinematic experience. Film emanates the entire infrastructure of a people’s culture (gender, age, creed, race, personal impressions, ideas, emotions, prejudices and religious/political/ economic/educational institutions, etc.).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Wild Strawberries specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More At the height of the 20th century, many countries witnessed a rise in cinematic prominence and Sweden was no exception. Gustaf Molander, Alf Sjà ¶berg, Victor Sjà ¶strà ¶m, Mauritz Stiller and most recently Lasse Hallstrà ¶m  as well as Lukas Moodysson brought prominence and popularity to Swedish film. Among this distinguished cadre of Swedish filmmakers is the accomplished and prolific Ingmar Bergman. A repertoire comprised of over sixty documentaries and films (television and cinema) as well as one hundred an d seventy theatrical plays, Bergman’s work featured a typical element of Swedish film – slow pacing and austere landscapes. His distinctive style/attribute and contribution, however, was exploration of human emotions and its vast landscape with death, illness, betrayal, and insanity as the focus. Bergman’s 1957 film, Wild Strawberries, is superbly characteristic his style. Wild Strawberries was written and directed by Bergman and has an acclaimed cast of Swedish actors, among them Max von Sydow. Deemed a classic and one of Bergman’s best films, thought-provoking themes such self acceptance and discovery as well as human existence constitute the thematic core of the film. Bergman wrote the screenplay while hospitalized and such experience served as an impetus. Wild Strawberries is character and plot driven in that the two intertwined bring the fundamental themes to the surface and explain them. The film chronicles the emotional voyage of an elderly physici an named Eberhard Isak Borg (Victor Sjà ¶strà ¶m). This emotional journey filled with self introspection/re-evaluation is introduced at the onset of the film with Borg’s opening statement – â€Å"In our relations with other people, we mainly discuss and evaluate their character and behaviour. That is why I have withdrawn from nearly all so-called relations (Wild Strawberries). At seventy years old, Borg appears to have come to a point in which evaluation of his behaviour and character is of primary concern rather than others. The journey unfolds as he travels to receive an honorary degree/award at Lund University. Such accolade, however, has no value and does not bring him happiness for he comments prior to his trip â€Å"Honorary Doctor! They might as well appoint me Honorary Idiot (Wild Strawberries).†Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More During the 400 mile sojourn from Stockholm to Lund, in which he is accompanied by his daughter-in law – Mariaane (Ingrid Thulin), Borg seventy eight years old, undergoes a life assessment or revaluation process. The various people he meets along the way force him to confront various personas about himself (aloofness, loneliness, etc.), his past and relationships (mother, son, etc.) that contributed to his behaviour. Self examination also comes in the form of nightmares and daydreams throughout the film. At the conclusion, Borg comes to terms with himself (past, present, self acceptance) and immanent death which in the beginning he greatly feared. Smultronstà ¤llet is the original Swedish title for the film and translated literally means wild strawberry patch. Idiomatically the title refers to something underrated or devalued yet possesses sentimental or personal value. Self awareness, value, acceptance, and even love appear to be the sentimental and personal emotions at the core of Bergman†™s focus/message and for this reason Ingmar Bergman Wild Strawberries’ impact will remain indelible. Work Cited Wild Strawberries (1957). Web. This essay on Wild Strawberries was written and submitted by user Jacey Jensen to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Business Performance Measures

Business Performance Measures Introduction The world has become very competitive in almost all aspects of human life that has necessitated the need to boost performance in order for businesses to continue with their daily operations. Governments, non governmental organizations and individual firms have had to devise cost effective ways of ensuring their business operations are viable despite the high rate of inflation that seems to run out of control.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Business Performance Measures specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is common knowledge that modernization has brought stiff competition in the quality and quantity of goods and services produced and those firms that meet the required production standards remain in operations. While some companies have taken to monopolization others have merged under different banners in order to increase efficiency in their delivery of services. Regardless of the approach taken by a co mpany to boost its performance there are various measures it must put in place in order to assess its performance. This essay outlines some of the performance measures a company may adopt, benefits such measures bring to the company and the actions it can take with regard to the outcomes of these measures. Performance is a common term used in business to refer to the value of business out put that is used to assess the viability of any business venture in terms of profits or losses. It is measured in two ways in terms of the volume of goods and services produced and profits or losses generated from the sales made. A measure is any approach taken towards realization of any goal by a business (Cokins 2009). Therefore, performance measures are steps taken by a business organization in the attempt of seeking to identify its position as far as business operations are concerned. This discussion covers the human resource and product and service measures as essential tools of evaluating the performance of any business. Human resource plays a very important role in the daily running of business operations in all organizations. Therefore, it forms an important aspect that can not be isolated from performance.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This is due to the fact that human beings constitute a grater percentage of sources of labor in all operations and in areas where machines are used human beings are in charge of controlling them. Performance measures in terms of human resource has various dimensions that include, performance evaluations, productivity reports, turnover, absenteeism and employee satisfaction surveys. Performance evaluations are important measures that businesses undertake in order to assess the levels of production of its workers. Performance is evaluated on the basis of worker’s academic qualifications, experience, interests a nd skills that are essential in ensuring workers deliver quality work (Luecke 2006). Any worker who does not have the required skills is more likely to deliver poor quality work while an experienced person stands high chances of better performance. This is an essential tool of evaluation as it enables the management to identify the worker’s potentials and this helps them in allocation of duties and responsibilities according to the worker’s abilities to perform. A business may decide to train its employees further in order to increase their skills and knowledge by sponsoring their part time education programs and giving them more off duty allowances in order to attend their classes. Timely and accurate information regarding employee’s performance will help the management identify its weak performance areas and plan on how to develop them in order to ensure all workers do their best. Worker’s productivity reports may be prepared by the management as measur es towards assessing business performance. It should be noted that every employee plays an important role in determining the productivity of a business regardless of the person’s position in a company. All positions in a business are created with a view of boosting performance and there is no department or position that should be treated as inferior to others. The business is like a body while workers are like the organs that make the body to function properly and be healthy. Worker’s productivity reports help management identify the specific abilities of every worker and avoid generalization of workers performance (Cokins 2009). Employees who consistently perform below the company’s expectations should be given essential advice and warned in advance but if they seem not to improve they should be laid off and other people with prospects of better performance hired. This measure helps management plan on future expansions of the company in terms of its work force and production.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Business Performance Measures specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More All workers are supposed to spend quality time at their work place in order to boost production and efficiency. It should be noted that time is a very important factor in the process of production and should be spent wisely (Luecke 2006).Therefore, employees should ensure they do constructive activities when at work. Work attendance records will help the management assess their employees in terms of the number of hours they dedicate to work. Those frequently absent from duty should be sacked immediately as this shows laxity and lack of interest and personal initiatives by employees. This measure helps to identify the amount of work an individual is capable of doing in a given time. More time spent at work means more service or goods will be produced and vise versa. The company is able to plan a head with re gard to production of its services or goods. A company may also conduct turnover surveys to identify its ability to produce goods and services within a given time frame. This survey helps the company to identify its potentials and assess whether it is performing according to its expectations. This measure will help the company identify areas that are productive and those that are dormant. It gives management an insight into future planning in terms of budgetary allocation to various departments to boost their efficiency in production. The second approach of measuring performance is through the use of product and service measures. The first step in this approach is conducting surveys on the levels of customer satisfaction with regard to the quality and quantity of goods and services offered by a company (Cokins 2009). This may be done through questionnaires or through conducting interviews that aim to establish the levels of satisfaction their clients attain with regard to the compan y’s services. This measure helps the company to identify weaknesses of a product or service and correct them as soon as possible. It helps a company in planning on how to avoid the occurrence of such errors in future. It enables the business to know the tastes preferred by clients. Rates of returns help businesses asses their performance as it offers an insight to the level the product or service has penetrated the market. Through conducting this survey the management will identify the various marketing strategies that will enable it deliver its services to almost all regions accessible by it. Timely awareness of the problems arising from this survey will help a business change its marketing strategies or use different strategies to market their products.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More A company may choose to asses its performance through surveying the product rates of failure that will enable it identify the effectiveness of its services. This will enable the company to know the reasons why the products are failing and analyze whether it is as a result of poor quality or lack of information on the use of the product and thus address the issues as soon as possible (Cokins 2009). Products’ rates of failure helps to eliminate future assumptions by correcting the client’s current perceptions regarding the quality of services offered. The number of clients served within a particular period of time is an essential step in measuring the performance of any business. This measure offers relevant information regarding the volume of sales made in a given time. This survey measure will enable a company to assess whether the price of goods, timing of their sales, efficiency of employers or the volume of goods produced determine the number of clients served (Luec ke 2006). Timely and accurate information obtained through this survey will help the management plan ahead and decide whether to increase the number of workers to eliminate long queues of clients waiting to be served or extend the time of operations in order to serve many clients within the shortest time possible. Conclusion All business investments are founded on the basis of utilizing all opportunities to make profits and at the same time offer quality goods and services to their clients. If essential steps are not taken early to monitor the performance of a business huge losses may be incurred leading to termination of its operations. Therefore, it is important that businesses conduct performance surveys to determine their viability. References Cokins, G. (2009). Performance Management: Integrating Strategy Execution, Methodologies, Risk and Analytics (Wiley and SAS Business Series). New York: Wiley Publishers. Luecke, R. (2006). Harvard Business Essentials: Performance Managemen t: Measure and Improve the Effectiveness of your Employees. Boston: Harvard Business Review.

Literature Review Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Literature Review - Assignment Example Clinical symptoms of CHF include: breathing problems, fatigue, exercise intolerance and peripheral oedema, and frequent thirst. According to Donner et al. (2012, p. 442), some of the causes of heart failures include high sodium consumption, consumption of foods that are poor in vitamins, mineral and fiber, high intake of saturated fat, cholesterol, and simple carbohydrate. Among adults with over 65 years, CHF is the leading cause of hospitalization. Doris et al. (2007) argue that effective management of heart failure requires pharmacological management combined with non-pharmacological interventions. This position is significant in this literature review because of the need to evaluate the best option between pharmacological and non pharmacological management interventions. It will be vital to evaluate which option will provide the best management that will ensure no reoccurrence of hear failure in elderly patients. In this literature review, three themes stand out in the management of congestive heart failure namely; pharmacological treatment therapies, non pharmacological treatment therapies, and a combination of the two management therapies. PHARMACOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT THERAPIES Pharmacological management therapies involve administration of a drug to alleviate the symptoms of CHF. Diuretics such as furosemide, torsemide, bumetanide and thiazide are important drugs in the management of CHF. Administration of these drugs can either be through intravenous bolus every 12 hours or by continuous intravenous infusion. Debates still exist on the most effective way of administrating these drugs. Similarity Some studies have shown that administration by continuous intravenous infusion is more effective in the management of CHF. Differences However, these studies have received a fair share of criticism. Similarly it is not clear as to whether administration of high dose of diuretics is more effective in management of CHF than administration of low doses of diuretics. Th is means that current guidelines on administration of diuretics are based on expert opinion. This has resulted in variation in the mode of administration and the dosing. The integration/synthesis of the evidence There is still some controversy on the administration of pharmacological management therapies. This may have some negative impact on the treatment of CHF among elderly patients. For example, in a study done by Felker et al. (2011), it was observed that among patients with acute decompensated heart failure (HF), there no significant differences in â€Å"patients’ global assessment of symptoms† or in the change in renal function on administering diuretic therapy by bolus when compared with continuous infusion or at a high dose as compared with a low dose (p.797). These findings do not agree with findings of previous study, which recommended that continuous intravenous infusion is more effective than intravenous bolus. Critique of the evidence This leaves the medi cal doctor at a dilemma and thereby, no agreement on the best way to administer pharmacological treatment to patients. Unless this is done, varying expert opinion will still be used in the administration of diuretics by clinicians, and this poses a danger to the patients because such treatment will be based on try and error. NON PHARMACOLOGICAL CHF MANAGEMENT THERAPIES Non pharmacological CHF management therapies involve the use of non drug approaches to alleviate the symptoms (Kostis, et al., 1994).

English - Huckleberry Finn Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

English - Huckleberry Finn - Research Paper Example Huck outcome of his adventures is he finally owns a lot of money which he puts in the bank for safety purposes. Huck used to live with a widow called Miss Watson who was a kind but oppressive woman. They were staying together with Miss Watson sister after he was adoption (Twain 109). The start of the book depicts Huck sadness with the new life after his adoption. The level of cleanliness, mannerisms, attendance of both school and the church, does not thrill him. However, he perseveres after his friend challenges him to stay respectable if he wants to join Tom new gang. Huck lives a comfortable life until the reemergence of his drunken father who surfaces in town and claims a share of Huck money. The neighboring judge ,but a new judge who comes to their town believes in Hucks biological fathers’ right and goes to an extent of accommodating him in his home with a view of reforming him. He does all these so as to give custodial rights to Huck father; the judge fails as Pap, Hucks father revert to his past unethical behavior. He stays in town for some months distressing his son as he has already learned reading and tolerance of the widow habit to transform him into a better person. Outraged by Pap’s behavior, the widow orders him to keep away from her residence. This results in Pap kidnapping Huck and puts him across the riverbanks in a small cabin. The father locks Huck in the cabin and goes to drink and thereafter beats him mercilessly when he comes back home drunk. Huck escapes after the confinement and aggressive daily beatings. He accomplishes to escape to freedom after slaughtering a pig and spreading blood in the cabin in the pretext of his death. He hid on a highland found at the heart of Mississippi river as he watches people from the town search for his corpse. He meets Jim, who is a slave of Miss Watson, a few days later on the island. He has chosen to escape listening to the widow conversation on her intention to sell her to another planta tion near the river. He is afraid of inhumane treatment in the other plantation and separation from his family. They join forces despite Huck conviction on the moral obligation of offering his help to a fugitive slave (Twain 145). During one of their camping expedition in the island, they come across a dead man with bullet shots. They find him inside a house on a raft as they try capturing it with an aim of looting the house. Jim prohibits Huck from having a glimpse of the face of the dead man. They are forced to move out of the island after Hucks gets information that another man suspects that Jim stays in the highland. The man justifies his statement by stressing the smoke that emanates from the island. They proceed to the states that condone slavery up the river. On their way to St. Loise, they come into contact with robbers on a ruined steamboat. They finally escape with the thieves’ loot. One night, both Huck and Jim, meet a group of young men in search of fugitive slave s. Huck lie to the group by informing them that his father is suffering in the raft infected with small pox. The men offer Huck money and disappear as they are afraid of the infectious disease. Their raft is hit by a steam boat, and the two of them are alienated. He finds himself in Grangerford’s family. The elopement of a Grangerford daughter elopes with Shepherdson son resulting to a gun cross fire that leads to the murder of numerous

Strategic Management of ExxonMobil

Strategic Management of ExxonMobil Strategic Management Abstract Proper business modelling requires in depth analysis of the business conditions that affect the performance of the business enterprise. This analysis must be objective and very informing in terms of highlighting the prospects of business growth and forecasting the position of the business by using the current growth opportunities and strengths too. A growth oriented business franchise must take into account the four facets involved in the SWOT criteria, critically analyse them and establish a framework for propagating growth through the inferences of SWOT criterion. ExxonMobil, being a multinational oil company with immense business interests has plenty of business variables that directly stand on its way to greater growth. Conversely, the business has humongous opportunities and cardinal pillars on which it stands to inspire its growth in the industry. This report is tasked with the examination of these key factors and opportunities of growth and offer the recommendations to capitalize on these factors in order of importance. In contrast, the report shall examine the threats and weaknesses of these variables with a view of turning them into opportunities for the business. Introduction The growth of a Company depends on its successfule formulation and implemtation of strategy. Formulation of strategy cmusttake heed of the envinromental forces impacting on he organisation. This paper analyses ExxonMobil Oil Company position in its operatig markets and through a careful analysis of Strenght, Weaknesses pportunities and threats. The comapnuy operates in the oil sector and as such the company’s strategy has a long term focus, heavy fixed costs, low margins and huge economies of scale. The company has experienced consistent grwth in sales and profitability. The present strategy is based on cutting edge research and development to develop upstream units coupled with an efficient system of distribution structured to reduce costs. The companyalso emphasises on superior customer service to maintain customer loyalty. Competition in the oil sector is ntense and as such firms rely on customer loyaty to bind customers to their products. Griven that the company operates in an iduusry where several players sell perfectly substitutable products, each of the players invests in quality and customer service to driv profitability (Andersen 2009). The industry is characterised by huge fixed costs and thin operating margins. Thus, firms have to sel excessive quantities of poduce to break even. Profitabiliy therefore relies on economies of scale. Besides, environmental concersn have a huge impact on the firm’s profitability. Mistakes in production can result in huge oil spills and resultant fins bythe authorities. Extreme violations of the operationsl codes can result in denial of operating licence. ExxonMobil Company operational analysis ExxonMobil has two main operating segments namely upstream and downstream. Upstream operation include all activities involved in exploration, driigng and pumpting fossil fuels from beneath to the surface for onward processing. Downsteam operatios involve the processing distribution and marketing of hydrcarbons. The company was formed in 1999 and hasrealised consistent growth in sales and profitability to become on e of the largest producers in the word. The compsny now handleds 3% of global energy output. The company is aslo the second largest (by market capitalisation) listed firm in in the US (Vassilou,2009). The company has capacity to produce 6.5 million barrels of crude daily, a relativey huge amount relative to the other players in the industry. The ccompany has operations in more than 100 countries under its various brands and has 37 refineries (Exxon, 2007). The firm’s annual growth in capacity stands at 17% and has enough resources to invest in efficient production (E xxon, 2009). Organization structure of the company ExxonMobil has a strict staffing policy throughout its operational divisions. The firm has a favoured brand name that allows it to attract talented employees. This offers the comaony an edge against the competition (Exxon Company 2007). The firm’s is to hire highly motivated and skilledstaff to drive its strategy (Exxon Company 2009). Berberoglu (2008) explains that ExxonMobil has an organisation structure s that is fashioned along the concept of autonomous gobal operaitons. The company has eleven (11) separate divisions each operating globally. These divisions are organied in a manner that they offer the much needed synergy in the business. The global merger of the former 2 energy giants Exxon and Mobil offers the company expanded reach in markets, global playing field in terms of resources and a harmonised pool of human resources with differtnt abilities and orientation to drive the mered entity’s strategy. Following the merger, the firms combined upstream companies were moved to Houston where a significant amount of the company’s upstream businesses are located. These includes functions such as esearch and development, exploration drilling and production. Downstream operations weremoved to Virginia including such functions as marketing, engineering research, production of lubricants etc (McLeish 2008). Methodology This paper builds a case of trategic orientation of the company based on the findings of the SWOT matrix. The paper utilises interpretative analysis to determine the firm’s competitive strengths and weaknesses as well as its weakmesses and strengths. The following is the firm’s Swot matrix. SWOT Analysis Strengths Private ownership Being a private company, ExxonMobil the government has minimal governeent control. It is therefore driven by the key aims of profits as opposed to state’s social interests. It therefore suffers form minimal state interference experienced by the National Oil Companies. NOCs suffer from extreme redtape and subversion of profitable causes in the interests of state (Omeje 2008). Leadership in environmental conservation The company has minimal violations of environemental code of condust as laid down by the varous environmental agencies in its various operating markets. However, concerns over global warming have resulted in the increased scrutiny of its producton oerations especially deep sea drilling and emissions. This presents the company with no immediate operatonal problems. Strong research and development team The company has a strong asset base. This is crcuail in the industry owing to the high fixed operational costs experienced in the sector. The company reinvest an average of 16% of its revenue in its opreations to boost capacity its capacity for research and development and output. Thefirm has the capacity to acquire promising business operational units to grow its business. Competitive labor force Human resource offers firms the most potent form of competitive advantage. The company attracts huge talent of labour force due to its sting brand and reputation as a good employer. This offers the company ability to execute its strategy. Weaknesses Litigation The company’s 1989 Alaska oil spill and its sponsorship of research pubications hurt the firm’s image and resulted in numerous law suits and other contingent liabilities that could cost the firm billions in claims. The company’s sales experienced a dip following concerns of irresponsibility. The oil spill also pushed the firms operational costsup by 11%. This led to the company’s adoption of new, more expensive technologies to gaud against such violations (Porter 2008). These measures continue to ngatively impact the firms profitability. Rising production costs Following the firm has aging oil wells and its new oil finds are deeper and moer expensive to drill (ExxonMobil, 2009). This means that the per unit production costcontinues to rise over even as other costs such asmarketing and distribution rise (Vassiliou 2009). While rising nergy prices have largely compensated for the rising production costs,increased regulatory costs and taxes have offset such gains. High fixed costs The iniial cost of production is very high. Exploration, drilling and maintenance of oil wells makes firm’s incur excessive costs. The company has to recoup the high costs by operating in large scale. The firm cannot sell at high prices due to competition and thherfore it has to rely on economies of scale to driv its profitability. High fixed costs mean that the company experincesa disproportionate fall in profits if sales decline (Porter 2011). Limited human resource pool Despite the firm’s prefeed position as an employer, there is a shortage ofquaified talent in selected areas that are critical to firm’s productivity. Most of the firm’s new hires require excessive training to orient the to the training environement (Mondy, Noe Gowan 2005). Opportunities Tax breaks Energy companies earn tax breaks from the government. Being a private listed company, ExxonMobil qualifies for annual tax breaks and subsideies by the federal government (Pennell et al. 2008). Strategic organizational growth through mergers and acquisition The company has a comprehensive strategy of buying promising business ventures. These venetures not only have the potential to add value but also enable it capture key markets and customer groups. The company has a high capital base and other resources that enable can enable it undertake mergers and acquisitions without having to extert unnecessary pressure on existing business. Improvements in drilling technology to lower costs and conserve environment The company has the capability to ensure environmental safety through safer, more technologically advanced operations. The company has necessary technology to find oil in previously impossible conditions and bring it to the surface at significantly lower cost. Newer innovations like shale gas drilling Shale Gas drilling (called fracking) promises to transform the fortunes of the company. Shaleis cheaper and easier to explore than conventional fossil fuels. Access to talent pool The company enjoys goodwill among proffessionals due to its preferred emplotyer status. Besides, the company has operations spanning various markets makimg the company access variously talented and diverse talent groups. Threats Difficult regulatory frameworks The firm’s main operating units face different and challenging legal, political and regulatory frameworks in their various operating units. Changes in business regualtions can severely disrupt the form’s output. Concerns of global warming Global concerns of a warming planet put the continued reliance on fossil fuels in doubt in the long term. The company’s investment in other renewable energy sources that pose no threat to the envieoentmen are yet to bear fruits. Restrictive labour laws in key markets and assertive labour unions Labor laws in is key perating markets are extremely restrictive. Besides, employees have protective labor unions that make it hard to implement policies. Ucertain political climate Changes in political leadership can have maret impact on the firm’s operations. For instance, a change of fgovernement in the US can result in denial of licences to drill in offshore areas where the company pderives significant oil deposits. (Reinecke Strobenreuther 2008; Mondi Gowan, 2005; Powel, 2013). Increased costs of Global warming The firm’s costs of operation are likely to rise as the effect of global warming take their toll. This will be more pronounced especially in the low-lying areas where the firms drilling operations are more exposed to extreme weather (Environment, 2012; Coll 2012; Vernon, 2012; Prahalad Hamel 2010; Smith 2012). Technological know how The energy industry depends heavily on technological advancements to drive production and efficiency (Powel, 2013). There is a real possibility that competing firms can strike low cost deposits and sell at a lower price effectively driving the firm from its market leadership position. See the statistical comparison below (Detsche Bank and Wood Mackenzie) Justification for SWOT analysis SWOT analysis helps indicate the firm’s state of operation. Once a firm identifies tee variables under SWOT, the next step is to take advantage of its strengths to overcome its weaknesses and to take advantage of opportunities. This positions the firm at a point of competitive advantage. Shortfalls of the SWOT analysis SWOT analysis does not prioritize the competing opportunities making it hard to pick the most appropriate (Ringland, 2014). This makes it ineffective for analysis. In addition to lack of prioritization, SWOT does not offer solutions or alternatives to the firm’s weaknesses and threats. The general rule of thumb is to use the company’s strength to counter threats and exploit opportunities. However, without prioritization, it is difficult to know the threats to tackle or opportunities to exploit first. Recommendations Establish operations in emerging markets to drive growth and profitability as well as spreading risks (McDonald Meldrum 2013). Invest in green energy to guard against losses from environmental (Vernon, 2012).disasters (Madrigal, 2011). Invest in staff training to boost performance Invest in research and development to drive down operation costs and raise efficiency Conclusion The company should use its strengths identified in the SWOT analysis to overcome its weaknesses and take advantage of its opportunities. It should spread its risks by establishing more operations in emerging markets. Besides, the company should invest in green energy to guard against losses from environmental disasters. Lastly, the company should invest in staff training to boost performance as well as in research and development to drive down operation costs and raise efficiency (Everard Burrow, 2010). References Andersen, B 2009, Business process improvement toolbox, ASQ Quality Press, Milwaukee. Berberoglu, B 2008, Turmoil in the Middle East imperialism, war, and political instability, State University of New York Press, Albany, NY. Coll, S 2012, Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power, Penguin group US, New York. Environment 2011, United Nations, New York. Everard, K Burrow, J 2010, Business principles management, South-Western Pub, Cincinnati. Exxon Company 2007, U.S.A.s Energy outlook, 1977-1990, Exxon Corp, Houston. Exxon Company 2009, U.S.A.s energy outlook, 1980-2000, Exxon Corp, Houston. Madrigal, A 2011, Powering the dream: the history and promise of green technology, DA Capo Press, Cambridge, MA. McDonald, M Meldrum, M 2013, The complete marketer 60 essential concepts for marketing excellence, Kogan Page, London. McLeish, E 2008, Energy crisis, Stargazer Books, Mankato, Minn. Mondy, R, Noe, M Gowan, M 2005, Human resource management, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Omeje, K 2008, High Stakes and Stakeholders: Oil Conflict and security in the World, Ashgate Publishing, Burlington. Pennell, N, Lavery, G Fowler, R 2010, The Low-Carbon World Is Already Here Five Imperatives for Succeeding in an Era of Carbon Constraints. Booz and Company, New York. Porter, M 2011, ‘From competitive advantage to corporate strategy’ Harvard Business Review, vol. 65, no. 3, pp. 43–59. Porter, M 2008,‘The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy’,Harvard business Review, Vol.5, no.2, pp. 23- 37. Powell, T 2013, ‘How much does industry matter?An alternative empirical test’, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 323–334. Prahalad, C Hamel, G 2010, ‘The core competence of the corporation’, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 68, no. 3, pp. 79–91. Reinecke, N, Sohn, M Strobenreuther, H 2008, Sustainability: The carbon imperative, Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, New York. Ringland, G 2014, Scenario Planning: Managing for the Future. John Wiley Sons, Hoboken, NJ. Sampson, A 2009, The seven sisters: the great oil companies and the world they shaped, Viking Press, New York. Smith, T 2012, Renewable energy resources, Weigl Publishers, Mankato, MN. Vassiliou, M 2009, Historical Dictionary of the Petroleum Industry, Scarecrow Press, Lanham, MD. Vernon, R 2012, The Oil crisis, Norton, New York.

Opposing Gender Views in Emerson’s Give All to Love and Browning’s Sonn

Opposing Gender Views in Emerson’s Give All to Love and Browning’s Sonnet 43  Ã‚        Ã‚   The concept of love has long been the preferred topic of conversation among prominent male poets. Towards the closing of the sixteenth century, however, the emerging of the female poet took place. With the introduction of Queen Elizabeth, an initial path was now cleared for future women poets to share their views on the acclaimed topic of love. Due to this clashing of ideas, the conflicting views of two exceedingly different sexes could manifest itself. Who better to discuss the topic of love then Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who expresses her ideas with intelligence comparable to the best male poets, and Emerson, world renowned for his poignant opinions? In accordance with the long history of conflict between males and females, both Emerson’s "Give All to Love" and Browning’s "Sonnet 43" convey the pleasure love brings, but while Emerson’s poem urges the retention of individualism in a relationship, Browning pleads for a complete surrender to love. Ralph Waldo Emerson has a strong history of aggressive, "masculine" behavior. "We hear his grand, assuring words, feel his powerful charm†¦he is impenetrable" (Whicher 39). Emerson felt that it was necessary to retain his self-dependence at all times, never swaying from his personal choices. "He taught self-reliance and felt self distrust, worshipped reality and knew illusion, proclaimed freedom and submitted to fate" (Whicher 40). Although Emerson’s confidence in his self may have reflected some sort of macho-ism or frigidness, this attitude is simply Emerson demonstrating his cool and relaxed charma: "Emerson is teaching his tested secret of insulation from calamity: ‘Live in the soul’" (Whic... ...iscarded on a whim. Rather, it is something that will accompany you far beyond your years on this earth and through all of time. It is truly a gift and should not be treated in any other regards.    Works Cited Magill, Frank. "Biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning." Critical Survey of Poetry 1 (1992): 394-396. Mermin, Dorthy. "Sonnets from the Portuguese." World Literature Criticism 1 (1992): 360-365. Patmore, Coventry. "Mrs. Browning’s Poems." North British Review 26 (1857): 446-447. Perry, Bliss. "Emerson Today." Princeton University Press (1931): 84-86. Radley, Virginia. "Elizabeth Barrett Browning." Exploring Poetry-Gale Research (1972): pg. #5. Whicher, Stephan E. "Emerson’s Tragic Sense." Emerson, a Collection of Critical Essays (1962): 39-45. Yannella, David. "Artful Thunder." Poetry Criticisms 18 (1982): 69-96.      

Atlantic Computer: a Bundle of Pricing Options

[Case Write-Up #5, 2011-11-14] Case 6. Atlantic Computer Group 11 2010123281 Lim, Min A 2010123380 Lee, Yoon Ji 2010101026 Na, Hyeon Jung 2010123031 Park, Jae Eon ?. Executive Summary At the present, with the growth of the Internet, the basic server market is growing rapidly and the Atlantic computer, which is aimed at producing the high performance server, is ready to sell the basic server. It launches the Tronn loaded with PESA. PESA, the software increases the speed of file sharing and web servers, two of the most used application for the consumers, so it should be sold with the Tronn, the hardware.At first year, if we assume that the firm will be able to sell all of the Tronn servers it can produce, Atlantic’s resulting share of the basic server segment will be 4%. We suggest that possibility as our goal to pursue. But the basic market is already full with the competitor, Ontario with the Zink and the company has a tendency to stick to the traditional marketing approach. T o overcome these impediments, we suggest to set the price based on the calculation of cost-based pricing and to abandon the original direct marketing methods and accept the indirect ways like online-marketing and the advertisement through diverse media. . Problem Analysis (Goal & Impediments) Goal As new-comer of the basic server market, Atlantic’s computer begins from the scratch. If Atlantic’s computer can sell all of its product, the Tronn, it can occupy 4% in basic server market. But the thing is, it is a ground stone to enlarge the market share in the long run, so it would better not to harm the revenue to reach that figure. The targeted consumers is people who have demand for basic server, especially who are interested in one application, especially either of file sharing and web servers, and who seeks the way to inimize the initial purchase costs and subsequent possession costs. Impediments We have two main impediments for our goal, strong competitor and Atlanti c computer’s traditional marketing strategy. Our strong competitor, Ontario, has already half of the market share in basic server segment. Also their product Zink has similar spec with Tronn. So we have to compete with Zink in price or innovative supply chain strategy. It is hard to appeal to consumers that we have not technological superiority but fall behind Zink in market share very much. Another main impediment is Atlantic Computer’s existing traditional marketing strategy.Atlantic Computer already won success in high performance segment, so many people in the company tend to think that it’s just right to apply existing marketing strategy to basic segment. Atlantic’s computer is interested in making intimate relationship with customers and maintaining its post-sales assistance service level in high performance segment. But situation in basic segment and high performance segment is different, we have to apply different marketing strategy each other. As mentioned above, there is specific situation where Zink and Tronn is very similar in technological aspect.Therefore, there should be some unique marketing strategy in basic segment. ?. Solution Analysis Solution To boost market share in basic segment, Atlantic Company should develop proper the pricing strategy. The company should consider four strategies: status-quo pricing, competition-based pricing, cost-based pricing and value-based pricing. ? Status-quo pricing cost of Server only and PESA for free Price of one Tronn Server = $2000 2 Tronn Servers + PESA software free = 2*2000 = $4000 Total Price of 2 Atlantic Bundles to Daytradejournal. com = $4000 Price of 1 Atlantic Bundle = $2000 ? Competition-based pricingPricing the Tronn servers based on price of competitor server (Zink by Ontario) and PESA for free. Since 2 Tronn Server with PESA software is equivalent to 4 Zink servers Price of one Zink Server = $1700 / 2 Tronn Servers + PESA software free=4*1700= $6800 Total Price of 2 Atlantic Bundles = $6800 Price of 1 Atlantic Bundle = $3400 ? Cost-based pricing (figure1, figure2) Cost incurred in PESA software development = $2000000 / Cost of Tronn Server = $1538 Price of 1 Atlantic Bundle = $ 2245 ?Value-based Pricing (figure3) Considering 4 Zink server is equivalent to 2 Tronn server and 2 PESA software. Price of 1 Atlantic Bundle = $ 4200Above diagram, we can know that fourth pricing strategy get high profit, but price is also high. If price is too high, customers are reluctant to buy Atlantic Bundle, and this harms the market share. So, the company should avoid to select Value-based pricing and Competition-based pricing. Status-quo pricing could be an effective way for increasing market share because of its cheap price, but it will not give benefit in the long-run. Cost-based pricing is the best choice for Atlantic Company, because its moderate price makes company get high market share in the beginning and moderate profit for first year.There could be an argument that status-quo pricing is more appropriate way to reach our goal of reaching the 4% of the market share in basic server field. But as mentioned above our goal is a ground stone to grow in the long run, it is better to choose the price making more profit with similar figure market share basis. Moreover to boost market share in basic segment the company should use indirect mass marketing. In high performance server market, it was efficient to use expensive direct marketing to the giant and few consumers. But it is non-matching to basic segment where the company should put its great effort to lower the price.So the company should use the indirect and comparatively cheaper way to connect with the smaller and much consumers of the basic server market. The Atlantic’s computer can use online-marketing like its competitor, Ontario, or it can use mass market advertising through mass media. It could affect to more consumers easily. Although this method the product could affe ct each consumer less, the total quantity of influence on the targeted consumers should increase assuming the number of the customers in this market, figure 1 figure 2 figure 3