Cover Note Essay Example for Free

Cover Note Essay The Relation of Science and Religion is a transcript of a talk given by Dr. Feynman at the Caltech YMCA Lunch Forum on May 2, 1956. In this age of specialization men who thoroughly know one field are often incompetent to discuss another. The great problems of the relations between one and another aspect of human activity have for this reason been discussed less and less in public. When we look at the past great debates on these subjects we feel jealous of those times, for we should have liked the excitement of such argument. The old problems, such as the relation of science and religion, are still with us, and I believe present as difficult dilemmas as ever, but they are not often publicly discussed because of the limitations of specialization. But I have been interested in this problem for a long time and would like to discuss it. In view of my very evident lack of knowledge and understanding of religion (a lack which will grow more apparent as we proceed), I will organize the discussion in this way: I will suppose that not one man but a group of men are discussing the problem, that the group consists of specialists in many fields – the various sciences, the various religions and so on – and that we are going to discuss the problem from various sides, like a panel. Each is to give his point of view, which may be molded and modified by the later discussion. Further, I imagine that someone has been chosen by lot to be the first to present his views, and I am he so chosen. I would start by presenting the panel with a problem: A young man, brought up in a religious family, studies a science, and as a result he comes to doubt – and perhaps later to disbelieve in – his fathers God. Now, this is not an isolated example; it happens time and time again. Although I have no statistics on this, I believe that many scientists – in fact, I actually believe that more than half of the scientists – really disbelieve in their fathers God; that is, they dont believe in a God in a conventional sense. Now, since the belief in a God is a central feature of religion, this problem that I have selected points up most strongly the problem of the relation of science and religion. Why does this young man come to disbelieve? The first answer we might hear is very simple: You see, he is taught by scientists, and (as I have just pointed out) they are all atheists at heart, so the evil is spread from one to another. But if you can entertain this view, I think you know less of science than I know of religion. Another answer may be that a little knowledge is dangerous; this young man has learned a little bit and thinks he knows it all, but soon he will grow out of this sophomoric sophistication and come to realize that the world is more complicated, and he will begin again to understand that there must be a God. I dont think it is necessary that he come out of it. There are many scientists – men who hope to call themselves mature – who still dont believe in God. In fact, as I would like to explain later, the answer is not that the young man thinks he knows it all – it is the exact opposite. A third answer you might get is that this young man really doesnt understand science correctly. I do not believe that science can disprove the existence of God; I think that is impossible. And if it is impossible, is not a belief in science and in a God – an ordinary God of religion — a consistent possibility? Yes, it is consistent. Despite the fact that I said that more than half of the scientists dont believe in God, many scientists do believe in both science and God, in a perfectly consistent way. But this consistency, although possible, is not easy to attain, and I would like to try to discuss two things: Why it is not easy to attain, and whether it is worth attempting to attain it. When I say believe in God, of course, it is always a puzzle – what is God? What I mean is the kind of personal God, characteristic of the western religions, to whom you pray and who has something to do with creating the universe and guiding you in morals. For the student, when he learns about science, there are two sources of difficulty in trying to weld science and religion together. The first source of difficulty is this – that it is imperative in science to doubt; it is absolutely necessary, for progress in science, to have uncertainty as a fundamental part of your inner nature. To make progress in understanding we must remain modest and allow that we do not know. Nothing is certain or proved beyond all doubt. You investigate for curiosity, because it is unknown, not because you know the answer. And as you develop more information in the sciences, it is not that you are finding out the truth, but that you are finding out that this or that is more or less likely. That is, if we investigate further, we find that the statements of science are not of what is true and what is not true, but statements of what is known to different degrees of certainty: It is very much more likely that so and so is true than that it is not true; or such and such is almost certain but there is still a little bit of doubt; or – at the other extreme – well, we really dont know. Every one of the concepts of science is on a scale graduated somewhere between, but at neither end of, absolute falsity or absolute truth. It is necessary, I believe, to accept this idea, not only for science, but also for other things; it is of great value to acknowledge ignorance. It is a fact that when we make decisions in our life we dont necessarily know that we are making them correctly; we only think that we are doing the best we can – and that is what we should do. Attitude of uncertainty I think that when we know that we actually do live in uncertainty, then we ought to admit it; it is of great value to realize that we do not know the answers to different questions. This attitude of mind – this attitude of uncertainty – is vital to the scientist, and it is this attitude of mind which the student must first acquire. It becomes a habit of thought. Once acquired, one cannot retreat from it any more. What happens, then, is that the young man begins to doubt everything because he cannot have it as absolute truth. So the question changes a little bit from Is there a God? to How sure is it that there is a God? This very subtle change is a great stroke and represents a parting of the ways between science and religion. I do not believe a real scientist can ever believe in the same way again. Although there are scientists who believe in God, I do not believe that they think of God in the same way as religious people do. If they are consistent with their science, I think that they say something like this to themselves: I am almost certain there is a God. The doubt is very small. That is quite different from saying, I know that there is a God. I do not believe that a scientist can ever obtain that view – that really religious understanding, that real knowledge that there is a God – that absolute certainty which religious people have. Of course this process of doubt does not always start by attacking the question of the existence of God. Usually special tenets, such as the question of an afterlife, or details of the religious doctrine, such as details of Christs life, come under scrutiny first. It is more interesting, however, to go right into the central problem in a frank way, and to discuss the more extreme view which doubts the existence of God. Once the question has been removed from the absolute, and gets to sliding on the scale of uncertainty, it may end up in very different positions. In many cases it comes out very close to being certain. But on the other hand, for some, the net result of close scrutiny of the theory his father held of God may be the claim that it is almost certainly wrong. Belief in God – and the facts of science That brings us to the second difficulty our student has in trying to weld science and religion: Why does it often end up that the belief in God – at least, the God of the religious type – is considered to be very unreasonable, very unlikely? I think that the answer has to do with the scientific things – the facts or partial facts – that the man learns. For instance, the size of the universe is very impressive, with us on a tiny particle whirling around the sun, among a hundred thousand million suns in this galaxy, itself among a billion galaxies. Again, there is the close relation of biological man to the animals, and of one form of life to another. Man is a latecomer in a vast evolving drama; can the rest be but a scaffolding for his creation? Yet again, there are the atoms of which all appears to be constructed, following immutable laws. Nothing can escape it; the stars are made of the same stuff, and the animals are made of the same stuff, but in such complexity as to mysteriously appear alive – like man himself. It is a great adventure to contemplate the universe beyond man, to think of what it means without man – as it was for the great part of its long history, and as it is in the great majority of places. When this objective view is finally attained, and the mystery and majesty of matter are appreciated, to then turn the objective eye back on man viewed as matter, to see life as part of the universal mystery of greatest depth, is to sense an experience which is rarely described. It usually ends in laughter, delight in the futility of trying to understand. These scientific views end in awe and mystery, lost at the edge in uncertainty, but they appear to be so deep and so impressive that the theory that it is all arranged simply as a stage for God to watch mans struggle for good and evil seems to be inadequate. So let us suppose that this is the case of our particular student, and the conviction grows so that he believes that individual prayer, for example, is not heard. (I am not trying to disprove the reality of God; I am trying to give you some idea of – some sympathy for – the reasons why many come to think that prayer is meaningless. ) Of course, as a result of this doubt, the pattern of doubting is turned next to ethical problems, because, in the religion which he learned, moral problems were connected with the word of God, and if the God doesnt exist, what is his word? But rather surprisingly, I think, the moral problems ultimately come out relatively unscathed; at first perhaps the student may decide that a few little things were wrong, but he often reverses his opinion later, and ends with no fundamentally different moral view. There seems to be a kind of independence in these ideas. In the end, it is possible to doubt the divinity of Christ, and yet to believe firmly that it is a good thing to do unto your neighbor as you would have him do unto you. It is possible to have both these views at the same time; and I would say that I hope you will find that my atheistic scientific colleagues often carry themselves well in society. Communism and the scientific viewpoint I would like to remark, in passing, since the word atheism is so closely connected with communism, that the communist views are the antithesis of the scientific, in the sense that in communism the answers are given to all the questions – political questions as well as moral ones – without discussion and without doubt. The scientific viewpoint is the exact opposite of this; that is, all questions must be doubted and discussed; we must argue everything out – observe things, check them, and so change them. The democratic government is much closer to this idea, because there is discussion and a chance of modification. One doesnt launch the ship in a definite direction. It is true that if you have a tyranny of ideas, so that you know exactly what has to be true, you act very decisively, and it looks good – for a while. But soon the ship is heading in the wrong direction, and no one can modify the direction any more. So the uncertainties of life in a democracy are, I think, much more consistent with science. Although science makes some impact on many religious ideas, it does not affect the moral content. Religion has many aspects; it answers all kinds of questions. First, for example, it answers questions about what things are, where they come from, what man is, what God is – the properties of God, and so on. Let me call this the metaphysical aspect of religion. It also tells us another thing – how to behave. Leave out of this the idea of how to behave in certain ceremonies, and what rites to perform; I mean it tells us how to behave in life in general, in a moral way. It gives answers to moral questions; it gives a moral and ethical code. Let me call this the ethical aspect of religion. Now, we know that, even with moral values granted, human beings are very weak; they must be reminded of the moral values in order that they may be able to follow their consciences. It is not simply a matter of having a right conscience; it is also a question of maintaining strength to do what you know is right. And it is necessary that religion give strength and comfort and the inspiration to follow these moral views. This is the inspirational aspect of religion. It gives inspiration not only for moral conduct – it gives inspiration for the arts and for all kinds of great thoughts and actions as well. Interconnections These three aspects of religion are interconnected, and it is generally felt, in view of this close integration of ideas, that to attack one feature of the system is to attack the whole structure. The three aspects are connected more or less as follows: The moral aspect, the moral code, is the word of God – which involves us in a metaphysical question. Then the inspiration comes because one is working the will of God; one is for God; partly one feels that one is with God. And this is a great inspiration because it brings ones actions in contact with the universe at large. So these three things are very well interconnected. The difficulty is this: that science occasionally conflicts with the first of the three categories – the metaphysical aspect of religion. For instance, in the past there was an argument about whether the earth was the center of the universe – whether the earth moved around the sun or stayed still. The result of all this was a terrible strife and difficulty, but it was finally resolved – with religion retreating in this particular case. More recently there was a conflict over the question of whether man has animal ancestry. The result in many of these situations is a retreat of the religious metaphysical view, but nevertheless, there is no collapse of the religion. And further, there seems to be no appreciable or fundamental change in the moral view. After all, the earth moves around the sun – isnt it best to torn the other cheek? Does it make any difference whether the earth is standing still or moving around the son? We can expect conflict again. Science is developing and new things will be found out which will he in disagreement with the presentday metaphysical theory of certain religions. In fact, even with all the past retreats of religion, there is still real conflict for particular individuals when they learn about the science and they have heard about the religion. The thing has not been integrated very well; there are real conflicts here – and yet morals are not affected. As a matter of fact, the conflict is doubly difficult in this metaphysical region. Firstly, the facts may be in conflict, but even if the facts were not in conflict, the attitude is different. The spirit of uncertainty in science is an attitude toward the metaphysical questions that is quite different from the certainty and faith that is demanded in religion. There is definitely a conflict, I believe – both in fact and in spirit – over the metaphysical aspects of religion. In my opinion, it is not possible for religion to find a set of metaphysical ideas which will be guaranteed not to get into conflicts with an everadvancing and alwayschanging science which is going into an unknown. We dont know how to answer the questions; it is impossible to find an answer which someday will not be found to be wrong. The difficulty arises because science and religion are both trying to answer questions in the same realm here. Science and moral questions On the other hand, I dont believe that a real conflict with science will arise in the ethical aspect, because I believe that moral questions are outside of the scientific realm. Let me give three or four arguments to show why I believe this. In the first place, there have been conflicts in the past between the scientific and the religious view about the metaphysical aspect and, nevertheless, the older moral views did not collapse, did not change. Second, there are good men who practice Christian ethics and who do not believe in the divinity of Christ. They find themselves in no inconsistency here. Thirdly, although I believe that from time to time scientific evidence is found which may be partially interpreted as giving some evidence of some particular aspect of the life of Christ, for example, or of other religious metaphysical ideas, it seems to me that there is no scientific evidence bearing on the golden rule. It seems to me that that is somehow different. Now, lets see if I can make a little philosophical explanation as to why it is different – how science cannot affect the fundamental basis of morals. The typical human problem, and one whose answer religion aims to supply, is always of the following form: Should I do this? Should we do this? Should the government do this? To answer this question we can resolve it into two parts: First — If I do this, what will happen? – and second – Do I want that to happen? What would come of it of value – of good? Now a question of the form: If I do this, what will happen?is strictly scientific. As a matter of fact, science can be defined as a method for, and a body of information obtained by, trying to answer only questions which can be put into the form: If I do this, what will happen? The technique of it, fundamentally, is: Try it and see. Then you put together a large amount of information from such experiences. All scientists will agree that a question – any question, philosophical or other – which cannot be put into the form that can be tested by experiment (or, in simple terms, that cannot be put into the form: If I do this, what will happen?) is not a scientific question; it is outside the realm of science. I claim that whether you want something to happen or not – what value there is in the result, and how you judge the value of the result (which is the other end of the question: Should I do this? ) – must lie outside of science because it is not a question that you can answer only by knowing what happens; you still have to judge what happens – in a moral way. So, for this theoretical reason I think that there is a complete consistency between the moral view – or the ethical aspect of religion – and scientific information. Turning to the third aspect of religion – the inspirational aspect – brings me to the central question that I would like to present to this imaginary panel. The source of inspiration today – for strength and for comfort – in any religion is very closely knit with the metaphysical aspect; that is, the inspiration comes from working for God, for obeying his will, feeling one with God. Emotional ties to the moral code – based in this manner – begin to be severely weakened when doubt, even a small amount of doubt, is expressed as to the existence of God; so when the belief in God becomes uncertain, this particular method of obtaining inspiration fails. I dont know the answer to this central problem – the problem of maintaining the real value of religion, as a source of strength and of courage to most men, while, at the same time, not requiring an absolute faith in the metaphysical aspects. The heritages of Western civilization Western civilization, it seems to me, stands by two great heritages. One is the scientific spirit of adventure – the adventure into the unknown, an unknown which must be recognized as being unknown in order to be explored; the demand that the unanswerable mysteries of the universe remain unanswered; the attitude that all is uncertain; to summarize it – the humility of the intellect. The other great heritage is Christian ethics – the basis of action on love, the brotherhood of all men, the value of the individual – the humility of the spirit. These two heritages are logically, thoroughly consistent. But logic is not all; one needs ones heart to follow an idea. If people are going back to religion, what are they going back to? Is the modern church a place to give comfort to a man who doubts Godmore, one who disbelieves in God? Is the modern church a place to give comfort and encouragement to the value of such doubts? So far, have we not drawn strength and comfort to maintain the one or the other of these consistent heritages in a way which attacks the values of the other? Is this unavoidable? How can we draw inspiration to support these two pillars of western civilization so that they may stand together in full vigor, mutually unafraid? Is this not the central problem of our time? I put it up to the panel for discussion.

Phaedrus by Plato Essay Example for Free

Phaedrus by Plato Essay Of all the dialogues of Plato, this has got to be one of the most impressive of all. A display of conversations that did not rely on just mediocre questioning and explanation about a single topic. Walking around the country and providing conversations on just about whatever happens to them, the Phaedrus and Socrates walking conversation displays relevant matters and enlightening words. Tackling the topic of love was the initial subject that the two had taken into consideration. Talking about philosophies of love and their own takes on how love is, Socrates and Phaedrus showcase their sides by explaining what love is to them. Thus, this conversation about love ruled most of their walk. Along the way they tackled more enlightening matters The dialogues last part tackles about writing books and its capabilities to impart goodness on a person. They explain their considerable thoughts on books. In part 229c-230 b, Socrates reflects an affirmative belief on stories of myths such as the story of Bores and Orithyia. Socrates showcases his reasoning that he doesnt have enough time as well for himself to give explanation about such occurrence that happened in the place where the story was foretold thus he results to might as well be believing in it. He believes that skeptics dont have the luxury of time challenging and explaining the truth about other creatures, monsters and occurrences as well. Thus Socrates concludes that seeking out for truth with regards to said stories is ridiculous. He believes that even those people of science that tends to explain everything will also have such a difficult time on proving such claims and that there are more important matters other than challenging these stories. The conversational walk that Socrates and Phaedrus had in the dialogue displays amenable reasoning and provides ample knowledge upon readers.

Business and Marketing Analysis Techniques

Business and Marketing Analysis Techniques Business strategy involves seeking a position within an environment or industry that generates a sustainable competitive advantage (implying that a diversified company should have as many business strategies as it has businesses) Analysing Macro Environmental Factors: There are many factors that will effect the strategies and decisions of managers of any organisation. Tax changes, new laws, trade barriers, demographic change, etc are some of the examples. To help analyse these factors, we can categorise these micro environmental factors using PESTEL model. PESTEL abbreviates Political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal factors. Political Factors: These refer to government policy such as the degree of intervention in the economy. What goods and services does a government want to provide? To what extent does it believe in subsidising firms? What are its priorities in terms of business support? Etc Economical Factors: These include interest rates, taxation changes, economic growth, inflation and exchange rates etc. Social Factors: Changes in social trends can impact on the demand for a firms products and the availability and willingness of individuals to work. For example, in UK, the population has been ageing. This has increased the costs for firms who are committed to pension payments for their employees because their staff are living longer. Technological factors: Technology is growing very fast nowadays. New and fast machineries are introduced every now and then. New technologies create new products and new processes. Technology can reduce costs, improve quality and lead to innovation. These developments can benefit consumers as well as the organisations providing the products. Environmental factors:Â  Environmental factors include weather and climate change in macro factors. Change in climate, temperature can impact on many industries. These can benefit one industry and can make other industry down at the same time. For example in hot sunny days, people love to go out and visit beaches instead of going to restaurants and places like them. With major climate changes occurring due to global warming and with greater environmental awareness this external factor is becoming a significant issue for firms to consider. Legal Factors: These are related to the legal environment in which firms operate. The introduction of age discrimination and disability discrimination legislation, an increase in the minimum wage and greater requirements for firms to recycle are examples of relatively recent laws that affect an organisations actions. LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS: Generally, the model assumes that industry growth follows an S shaped curve. The flat introductory phase reflects the problems of establishing the new product. Once proven, growth becomes explosive until market saturation is reached. Sales now are limited by the rate of replacement sales and the rate of growth of the population in the market. Eventually the industry will come under pressure from newer technologies and substitute products with superior price performance. There are four stages in this model. i.e. introduction stage, growth stage, maturity stage and decline stage. In introduction stage, Pioneering firms often after considerable investment and repeated failures, introduce products based on a new technology. Costs tend to be high, and quality tends to be low because of lack of economies of scale or manufacturing experience and the product itself will be very basic. In growth stage, a dominant technology begins to emerge, and competitors standardise around it. There is likelihood of capacity shortages although costs and prices fall as standardisation and the adoption of large scale manufacturing makes possible economies of scale. At maturity stage, Overcapacity begins to emerge in the industry, products differentiation declines as technological know-how becomes widely shared, and price competition intensifies. Consolidation occurs within the industry as weaker firms are acquired by stronger ones. Sales to less developed markets, and the t ransfer of production to lower labour cost economies accelerates. In decline stage, The industry comes under pressure from new technologies offering superior performance, although this may be reduced by factors such as high price and switching costs associated with the new technology. Price wars erupt as the surviving firms fight for market share in a declining market, and exits from the industry, as well as consolidation within the industry, becomes more likely. Analysing Micro Environmental Factors: The micro environment consists of stakeholders who are directly or indirectly linked with any business. For example customers, consumers, suppliers, shareholders etc. Suppliers: Suppliers are major pillars or any business as they provide all the materials essential for any business. Big deal with suppliers is that can they provide high quality products at low price. Can they do this reliably? Have they got the flexibility to respond to a firms demands? What is the bargaining power of these suppliers? How dependent is the firm on them? Does their approach to their staff and resources fit with your ethics? Firms must decide on issues such as who to use to supply them, on the responsibility it takes for these suppliers and on the terms and conditions it adopts. Some firms take quite an aggressive attitude towards their suppliers by trying to push down the prices and delay payments. Others view the relationship more as a partnership in which they are working together with suppliers and that by helping each other both can benefit. The importance of suppliers can be seen if things go wrong. Distributors: Distributors job is to deliver your product to market place where it can be sell easily. Imagine you sell shampoo what you need to sell this is to get it on the shelves in the leading chemists and supermarkets but this means moving someone elses products off the shelves! So the challenge is to get stores to stock your products; this may be achieved by good negotiating skills and offering appropriate incentives. The distributors used will determine the final price of the product and how it is presented to the end customer. When selling via retailers, for example, the retailer has control over where the products are displayed, how they are priced and how much they are promoted in-store. Customers: Customers are key to sales. Managers must keep the needs of customers in their mind and try to anticipate how these will develop so that they can meet these requirements effectively now and in the future. To help understand their customers firms are increasingly trying to gather information on them through mechanisms such as loyalty cards. By gathering data on shopping patterns and matching this to data on the individual shoppers firms can build up detailed pictures of their buyers and then offer them appropriate deals. Competition: The success and behaviour of any business will depend on the degree of competition in its market. In some markets one firm is dominant. This is called a monopoly. If you are in a monopoly position this may allow you to exploit the consumer with relatively high prices (assuming your position is protected in some way) and you may be able to offer an inferior service if customers have no other choices. In other markets a few firms dominate; this type of market structure is called an oligopoly. In oligopolistic markets there is a high degree of interdependence and so firms will think carefully how their rivals might react to any actions they take. Key Stakeholders, Their Needs Expectations: Key stakeholders of a business are: Employees Customers, suppliers and contractors Shareholders Investors Communities Government Employees: are the major stakeholders of a business as they are strongly linked with the business. They want to work in a place where they can meet their personal needs and wants. Leaders who create job assignments, work environments, and visions help employees be both competent and committed to their work. Customers: want leaders to build compelling products and services so that they can trust and when they do, customers will give share of wallet. Customers are key to sales. Especially in fast food industries like Burger King, we ( employees ) have been instructed to focus on quality service and food. Customers should be satisfied at any cost because without them, business is nothing. Suppliers and contractors want their loyal concern with payment of goods and profit respectively. Shareholders and Investors: are those who bought companys share and are part of ownership in the company. They are concern with maximum outcome in terms of cash from profit. Investors are those who invest their money into the business as capital to earn their share from the profit. Investors want leaders to keep their promises, develop a compelling growth strategy, align core competencies to the strategy and then to ensure that people are committed to delivering on these premises. Communities and Government: Communities want leaders to build organizations that are socially responsible, through how they treat the environment and how they serve the larger community. Government are linked with business as to start a business, licence is required and government issue licence. And from the profit gained by a company, a percentage of profit goes to government in terms of tax which is used to build infrastructures etc. C) SUMMARY: The Burger King Corporation (BKC) was founded in 1954 in Miami by James Mc Lamore and David Edgerton. Following this, the famous Whopper sandwich was introduced in 1957 and it quickly became one of the best-known sandwiches in the world. Today, with the corporations brand promise: Have it your way, there are 221,184 possible ways to order a Whopper sandwich around the world. Burger King now operates more than 11,300 restaurants in approximately 70 countries. Food is necessary for humans to survive, but the wastes, chemical by-products, and inefficiencies in its production can have an immense impact on the environment. People demand perfect inexpensive year round food, which increases the use of pesticides, herbicides, and preservatives depleting the precious ozone, contributing to global warming, and polluting our lakes and streams. To help protecting all the dangerous fumes and chemicals, Burger King is doing its best. To help prevent contamination and other dangerous things, there are separate containers for different things. Strategy is affected by major changes taking place in the environment and for those changes, strategy has to be change accordingly in order to stay in business stream. Some change in micro environmental factors will affect strategy in different ways. If business is losing customers then many strategies can be applied depending on the level of business loss. Prices of product can be decreased, or distribution of vouchers etc. One of Burger Kings most important tasks is to ensure that the business is continually meeting its customers needs. In order to achieve this, the organisation has a research and development team dedicated to product improvement. Its mono is HAVE IT YOUR WAY. It means that customers can have their food the way they want, with or without, more or less of anything in their food. THREE TOOLS TO ANALYSE, SUMMARISE AND EVALUATE EFFECTS OF CURRENT BUSINESS PLAN POSITION OF THE ORGANISATION IN CURRENT MARKET COMPETITIVE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF ORGANISATION PORTERS FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS The competitive structure of a company can be analysed by Porters five forces analysis. It analyse the attractiveness of a company within the market. Porters five forces model is: Likelihood of new entry: it means that the extents to which barriers to entry exist. The likelihood of entering a market would be lower if: The entry cost are high There are major advantages for those firms which are already operating in market because of experience Government policies prevent entry or makes it more difficult Existing brands have high level of loyalty Power of buyers: The stronger the power of buyers in an industry the more likely it is that they will be able to force down prices and reduce the profits of firms that provide the product. Buyer power will be higher if There are few or many buyer of the product The buyers can easily switch to other products provided high quality in low price Power of suppliers: The stronger the power of suppliers in an industry the more difficult it is for firms within that sector to make a profit because suppliers can determine the terms and conditions on which business is conducted. Suppliers will be more powerful if they are less in number and the supplier can threaten to buy the firm so it is a stronger negotiation position. Degree of rivalry: This measures the degree of competition between existing firms. The higher the degree of rivalry the more difficult it is for existing firms to generate high profits. Rivalry will be higher if there are large numbers of similar sized firm, the costs of leaving the industry are high, and there is little brand loyalty so customer are likely to switch easily between products. Substitute threat: This measures the ease with which buyers can switch to another product that does the same thing e.g. aluminium cans rather than glass or plastic bottles. The ease of switching depends on what costs would be involved. Using Porters model, firms can generate high profit if the industry is: Difficult to enter There is limited rivalry Buyers are relatively weak Suppliers are relatively weak There are few substitutes BOSTON MATRIX: The Boston Matrix model is a tool for assessing existing and development products in terms of their market potential, and thereby implying strategic action for products and services in each category. Cash Cow: The rather crude metaphor is based on the idea of milking the returns from previous investments which established good distribution and market share for the product. Products in this quadrant need maintenance and protection activity, together with good cost management, not growth effort, because there is little or no additional growth available. Dog: this is that product or service of a company which has low presence in market. There is no point of developing goods and services in this quadrant. Most of the companies discontinue their product which they think fall under this quadrant. Businesses that have been starved or denied development find themselves with a high or entire proportion of their products or services in this quadrant, which is obviously not very funny at all, except to the competitors. Problem Child: These are products which have a big and growing market potential, but existing low market share, normally because they are new products, or the application has not been spotted and acted upon yet. New business development and project management principle are required here to ensure that these products potential can be realised and disasters avoided. This is likely to be an area of business that is quite competitive, where the pioneers take the risks in the hope of securing good early distribution arrangements, image, reputation and market share. Rising Star: star products, are those which have good market share in a strong and growing market. As a product moves into this category it is commonly known as a rising star. When a market is strong and still growing, competition is not yet fully established. Demand is strong; saturation or over-supply do not exists, and so pricing is relatively unhindered. SWOT ANALYSIS: To determine what a companys strategy should be, the managers must consider the internal strength and weaknesses of their company and compare them with external opportunities and threat. This process is known as SWOT analysis. Strengths: are internal factors which a firm may build on to develop a strategy. They may include: Marketing strengths Financial strengths Operation strengths HRM strengths Weaknesses: are internal factors which a firm may need to protect itself such as: Marketing weaknesses such as limited distribution Financial weaknesses such as high levels of borrowing and low rates of return Operational weaknesses such as old or poor quality equipments HRM weaknesses such as high rate of labour turn over and industrial disputes TASK 2 STRATEGY EVALUATION To achieve an objective, managers must develop a suitable strategy. A strategy is a long term plan setting out how an objective will be reached. For example, if the objective is to reduce costs, the strategy could involve relocating or reducing the labour force. If the objective is to boost revenue, the strategy may be to launch new products or to invest in a big promotional campaign. A strategy may be developed by using a firms strengths to exploit the opportunities that exist. For example, a strong brand name may be used to extend a firms products into new markets. It may also use these strengths to protect itself against threats; for example, a retailer may use its finance to acquire key locations to prevent a competitor buying them. Strategies can be evaluated by many ways. One of the way is by using Porters Five Forces model. In this model there are five different sources which are strongly connected with the business and they must be kept in mind while making strategies. While making strategy for a business includes keeping those things in mind which will ruin the business. For example in case of a retail business, if a new retail business entered in, then strategy in this will be change accordingly in this case. Secondly if buyers power is strong in retail business, then it could be a negative or a positive impact on business. If they are strong then they can force down the prices of the product which will lower the profit, so in this case strategy will be evaluated very carefully as every step can change the course of business. Suppliers are the major part of any business so keeping them in mind is a necessary part in strategy evaluation. A firm may also want to protect itself against its weaknesses. For example, it may try to find alternative suppliers to reduce an over-reliance on a particular one; it may invest in a rebranding exercise to reposition itself. Fourth part is degree of rivalry. This measures the degree of competition between existing fir ms. The higher the degree of rivalry the more difficult it is for existing firms to generate high profits. Fifth and last part is threat of substitute. This measures the ease with which buyers can switch to another product that does the same thing. Keeping following things in mind will help effecting business in loss. If the second industry is easy to enter in market, if there is a high degree of rivalry between firms within industry, buyers are strong, suppliers are strong etc. The implication of Porters analysis for managers is that they should examine these five factors before choosing an industry to move into. They should also consider ways of changing the five factors to make them more favourable. TASK 3 IMPLEMENTATION Evaluating strategies is a difficult task but implementing them in a regular and smooth manner is more complicated. The importance of strategy should not be underestimated. Changing the price of an item, changing the distribution strategy and investing in new equipment are all important decisions but if you are fighting in the wrong market with the wrong products then the details are almost irrelevant. The strategy sets out where and how the battles will be fought and a good strategy is essential to business success. This involves an understanding not only of what happens within the firm but also the ability to forecast changes in the external environment and their significance successfully. This implementation is in fact a landmark where various organizations tend to falter. The extensive research and resources used up for the drafting of strategic plans often make organizations believe that whatever they have understood and devised is the optimum and therefore requires no second thoughts. However, what has been ignored is the fact that plans can be tested only if they meet actual usage. Only planning or theoretical application cannot be guarantee complete success. Actual implementation yields the true picture. A business plan is the textual version of a strategy, as it includes pertinent information regarding the company, including: vision and mission statements, measurable objectives supporting the vision, actionable tactics meeting the objective, resources, milestones and timeframes, accountability and role designations, as well as internal and external risks. The business strategy is not evergreen and should be evaluated routinely to ensure the company still has the competitive edge. A business plan includes the primary and secondary objectives of your organization, an analysis of current policies and procedures, and the development of new policies or procedures to correct weaknesses within the organization. Strategy is firstly introduced to lower managers and supervisors so they can act on it and tell to lower staff in order to work on it. If launching a new product or reducing the price of another product because of substitute available in market, all the staff must be aware of that, after that the new promotion or product or discounted product will be advertise in an attractive way in Television, radio and by distributing leaflets to let people aware of it. Focussing on excellent customer service will definitely help improve the business because the service given to customer will bring him back again. Quality assurance of the product will increase the demand of product and will increase revenue. Introducing new and latest technology in the company will save a lot of time and give result much faster and effective. Giving training to all new and old staff about new technology, new products, and everything related to business and plan will help staff delivering a better quality service required. For implementation of plan, money is the major and important resource required. So in order to get money there are many ways, selling shares of the company, retained profit, profit in terms of capital can be reinvested and by taking loans from banks etc. After implementing the plan, wait for the result and do surveys. Drop or put small questionnaire that will help letting you know how good is the strategy going. Taking customers feedback and evaluate the strategy. If it is going the way we wanted, then there is no need to change and if its not, then re evaluate and check where there is a mistake and sort it out.

Doubt Of Shakespeares Authorship Of His Plays Essay -- essays research

Doubt of Shakespeare's Authorship of His Plays Over the years, various persons have expressed doubt as to the authorship of William Shakespeare. These doubts are as old as his plays. American author, Henry James once said, "I am haunted by the conviction that the divine William is the biggest and the most successful fraud ever practiced on a patient world. (Hoffman 27) On the other hand, author Calvin Hoffman was convinced that Shakespeare was "the author of the most magnificent English dramatic prose and poetry ever written. (Hoffman 27) But, he reiterated this belief nineteen years later, stating, "They are magnificent! Only, William Shakespeare of Stratford-on- Avon never wrote the plays and poems." (Hoffman 27) Crime, guilt, fraud, exile, hate, deceit, and murder are all woven into this shroud of authorship that hides the identity of the world's most renowned writer. Cranks have proposed over fifty candidates for authorship, from Queen Elizabeth to the Jesiuts. Although many doubt that William Shakespeare ever wrote the works attributed to him, some still resort to pro-Shakespearean arguments. John Drinkwater, author and believer, felt that the flowers, banks, brooks, pastures, and woodlands of Shakespeare's boyhood home, Stratford, were all transfigured in his plays by his wonderful verse, but yet they still remained the scenes to which he was bred. Drinkwater believed too, that not only in Shakespeare's humble folk, shepherds, gardeners, and serving men, but also in his princes and kings, he reflected the humanity with which he was familiar in Stratford. The knowledge and wisdom he acquired directly from his own enviroment was quite true to life. Drinkwater also said that mere book- knowledge in Shakespeare's works was usually incorrect because he used knowledge outside the range of his own experiences, with a "grand audacity." It is true that William Shakespeare attended grammar school in Stratford, and tha he acquired some competence in Latin and gained a limited knowledge of English history. There was a period of time in his life referred to as his "dark years," and this period of time may have been subjected to influences making for high culture. Records say too, that Shakespeare left Stratford in 1585 and went on the stage in 1590. During this time he could have attended Cambridge or worked in a lawyer's ... ...Shakespeare's did. Bacon and Shakespeare viewed the world differently. Finally, some disbelievers support another candidate, William Stanley, the 6th Earl of Derby, who was interested in drama, and became a patron of a company of actors. Several poems showed signs of early and immature Shakespeare, but he was a boy at that time. One was signed in Derby's handwriting, and three signed "William Shakespeare." His motive- like de Vere'swould have been to avoid association of his family name with the lower social order of the stage. Was Shakespeare hinting at his name through word play? His verses, such as "... every word doth almost tell my name..." seem to be an attempt to reveal his name. Another line says, "Whats in a name?" Sonnet III says, "Hence comes it that my name receives a brand," and " my name be buried where my body is...." In conclusion, curiosity has indeed been aroused for many , many years. Hundreds of theories and shreds of proof have been gathered, but the world will always wonder and waver between doubt and belief in William Shakespeare. So, the question still remains, "Was Shakespeare really Shakespeare?"

Whirlpool Essay -- GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Whirlpool The world is experiencing a third wave in the economy and many changes are taking place. One of these changes is the growing corporation that decides to go global. Most U.S. companies, both large and small, are rapidly acknowledging the necessity of global marketing. The demand for foreign products in the fast-growing economies of Europe, South America, Asia, and Pacific Rim nations offer one example of the benefits of global thinking. One company that has adapted to this new economy by globalizing has been Whirlpool. In 1989, Whirlpool Corporation embarked on an ambitious global expansion with the objective of becoming the world market leader in home appliances. However, by the mid-1990s, serious problems had emerged in the company’s international operations. Whirlpool’s European profit fell by 50%, lost $70 million in Asia, appliance sales in Brazil plummeted by 25% although the company invested hundreds of millions of dollars to modernize operations. In response to these problems, Whirlpool began to question the problems and called for the global restructuring effort (Johansson, 2000). What went wrong with Whirlpool’s global strategy? Did Whirlpool have enough understanding of how to create a global strategy? Was the appliance industry more suited for regional than global? What are some key success factors in appliance industry that Whirlpool did not have? Was it possible for Whirlpool to identify the problems and reacted earlier? In this case study, I intend to answer all of these questions that are mentioned above regarding to the appliance industry and Whirlpool Global strategies. There are four separate sections in this paper- the first two questions are related to the appliance industry i... ... now reaches markets in more than 140 countries, leading the markets in both North America and Latin America. Whirlpool is now number three in Europe and the largest Western Appliance Company in Asia. References Babyak, Richard J, â€Å"Strategic Imperative,† Appliance Manufacturer, Feb. 1995. C. Quintanilla and J. Carlton, â€Å"Whirlpool Announces Global Restructuring Effort,† Wall Street Journal, 19, Sept. 1997:A3, A6 Janesurak, Joe, â€Å"South American Sales Co.: Linking the Americas, Europe,† Appliance Manufacturer, Feb. 1995 Johansson, Johny, â€Å"Globalization Headaches at Whirlpool† Global Marketing, 2000, p85 Vlasic, Bill and Zachary Schiller. â€Å"Did Whirlpool gone Too Far Too Fast?† Business Week, 24 June 1996. Weiss, David D. and C. Gross, â€Å"Industry Corner: Major Household Appliances in Western Europe,† Business Economics, Vol. 30, Issue 3, July 1995: 67.

Elie Wiesel’s Night Essay -- Elie Wiesel

There exist only two types of people in a time of war and crisis, those who survive and those who die. Elie Wiesel’s novel, Night shows how Elie, himself, faces difficult problems and struggles to survive World War II. Wilfred Owen’s poem, â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est†, tells a story about a young soldier thinking of himself before others during World War I. The poem â€Å"Mary Hamilton† shows how a mother killed her child so she would not get into trouble. Sir John Harrington writes about a sad truth in the poem â€Å"On Treason†; the poem reflects humanity’s selfish tendencies during tough times. When people face difficult times they often care about only one person, themselves; the need to survive clouds people’s moral and judgment. Elie Wiesel writes about the times when he notices himself being selfish, instead of caring for others. When the Nazis forced the prisoners to run, Elie faces many difficult challenges. Any prisoner who stopped running would be shot, or trampled by other prisoners. The young boy, named Zalman, running next to Elie cannot continue to run. Zalman, â€Å"trampled under the feet of thousands of men† (Wiesel 86) becomes forgotten shortly after he dies. Elie admits, â€Å"I soon forgot him. I began to think of myself again† (86). The war has made Elie realize he can only afford to think of himself or else he will die. â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† shows how one soldiers need to survive indirectly causes another soldiers death. From the very beginning of the poem the reader sees how the war affects the soldiers. Fighting in the war has aged the soldiers, the once young men now â€Å"bent double, like old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed, coughing like hags† trudge through the warzone (Owen 1-2). The men, completely drained f... ...d war show how easily the morals of people can be twisted. When faced with challenging, demanding times people will often choose what benefits them best. The poems and the novel, Night, show how cruel and selfish humans can be when they feel their survival threatened. People will turn against one another in order to live another day or deny help to a fallen soldier. The harsh truths of humanity leak out in times of war and crisis. At the end of the day, every man has to fight for himself in order to survive. Works Cited â€Å"Mary Hamilton.† Honors Poetry Unit Class Handout. Sir John Harrington. "Treason." Honors Poetry Unit Class Handout. Wiesel, Elie, and Marion Wiesel. Night. New York, NY: Hill and Wang, a Division of Farrar, . Straus and Giroux, 2006. Print. Wilfred Owen. â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est.† Honors Poetry Unit Class Handout.

Freas and Geeks Media techniques Essay

How Media Techniques Create Stereotypes in Freaks and Geeks Take a look again at high school stereotypes through the short lived television series from the late 90’s, Freaks and Geeks. Based on the pilot episode of Freaks and Geeks, media techniques are used effectively to depict the different stereotypes in high school. The camera shots & movements are used adequately to show the power of the bullies and the weakness of the victims. For example, when Sam Weir is approached by Alan (the bully), at lunch, the camera is pointed upwards towards Alan’s face to make him seem bigger and scarier while the camera would be pointed down on Sam’s face making him seem smaller and inferior to Alan (Kasdan 1999). This example shows effective use of media techniques by using camera shots because the audience can easily depict the two different stereotypes, the bully and the geek. Another way that media techniques are used effectively is through the use of setting. For instance, the â€Å"freaks† of the show are shown hanging arou nd the patio which is a dirty and worn down area separated from the field and other students (Kasdan 1999). This is a clear way for the audience to see the difference from the regular students and the â€Å"freaks† therefore making this media technique effective. These two techniques show how Freaks and Geeks uses media techniques effectively to illustrate the stereotypes one might see in high school. Using media techniques such as camera shots and setting effectively is a task that Freaks and Geeks has accomplished to portray different high school stereotypes. Works Cited â€Å"Pilot.† Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series. Writ. Paul Feig. Dir. Jake Kasdan. DreamWorks, 1999. DVD.