The First Modern Political Philosophers - 1839 Words

Thomas Hobbes and John Locke are viewed as the first modern political philosophers. Both philosophers used their personal views as a means to develop their theories of human nature, the origin of the state, the nature of government, and the right of revolution. The two philosophers contributed to many fields: politics, governance, and the lives of individuals. Due to their different approaches to the same points, they differed on the views of human nature, the right of revolution, and the nature of governments. Their views on human nature influenced their philosophies on the theory of government. Owning to their different outlooks, Hobbes and Locke looked at the theory of nature differently. Thomas Hobbes believed that people of the state†¦show more content†¦In addition, the threat of punishment will help reinforce obedience to the laws. Therefore, Hobbes believed that without common power, people would always be at war with one another. Unlike Hobbes, Locke had a differen t approach concerning the state of nature. According to Locke, the law of nature forbids people from doing harm to others. This law protects the life, health and liberty of other people. He defines the law of nature as one that governs the state of nature. In addition, Locke introduces a supreme being concerning laws of nature and rights of nature. Locke writes, â€Å"Nothing was made by God for man to spoil or destroy† (Locke, 35). Therefore, humans have no right to deny anther persons chance to live; it is solely up to God because it was through God’s orders that people were sent to the world. Also, God gave everyone a conscious that will help him or her deem moral truths, and the conscious will help people not harm others. In addition, the natural rights entitle an individual the right to one’s own property and body (Locke, 47). Being that, a government is therefore needed to enforce the natural rights, which both Locke and Hobbes agree upon. Furthermore, Loc ke thought that most of the time men are capable of keeping their promises and honoring their obligations. He believed this view because their state of nature is good and peaceful. Also, those with a dangerous human nature will suffer the imposition ofShow MoreRelatedThe Reformation And Its Impact On The Early Modern Period1622 Words   |  7 Pagesevent in the early modern period that launched Europe into a massive conflict of widespread violence, through both political and religious factors. The political scene had remained very much the same before the beginning of the reformation in 1517, with many philosophers sharing similar ideas on how to handle the issues of sovereignty and private property. Religion was a long debated factor before the reformation however was brought inadvertently to the forefront of most political works in the earlyRead MoreJohn Locke And John Stuart Mill s On Liberty Essay1748 Words   |  7 PagesPolitical philosophers over time have developed their o wn conceptions of liberty and the relationship of individuals to not only society, but also the state. Political philosophers such as, Aristotle and Plato have more of an ancient conception of liberty and the role the individual plays in society and to the state. Whereas, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and John Stuart Mill have developed a more modernized conception of liberty and the role of the individual to the state and society. Plato’s workRead MoreNiccolo Machiavelli s The Prince, A Secularist And Realist View Of Politics1260 Words   |  6 PagesModern political theory is defined as an integrated set of attitudes and beliefs that characterize the thought processes of a group or nation in the present day. 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The plan to gather knowledge for thisRead MoreJohn Locke And John Stuart Mill s On Liberty Essay1200 Words   |  5 PagesPolitical Philosophers over time have developed their own conceptions of liberty and the relationship of individuals to not only society, but also the state. Political Philosophers such as, Aristotle and Plato have more of an ancient conception of liberty and the role the individual plays in society and to the state. Whereas, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and John Stuart Mill have developed a more modernized conception of liberty and the role of the individual to the state and society. Plato’s workRead MoreComparing Twentieth Century Political Thought Leo Strauss And Richard Rorty1421 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction When it comes to an analysis of twentieth century political thought Leo Strauss and Richard Rorty are two indispensable figures. 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Aristotle and Plato had differentRead MoreAge Of Reason And The Scientific Revolution1089 Words   |  5 Pageslate 1700s. This can be categorized into two different time periods. First, was the Scientific Revolution when many scholars created new ways of thinking about the natural world. The Scientific Revolution ended around the late 1600s. Although this time period was over, common ideas spread to the next period. The second time period in the Age of Reason was the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was when scholars and philosophers started to reevaluate old aspects of society and ho w it functions. Read MoreEssay on Explaining Political Philosophy744 Words   |  3 PagesExplaining Political Philosophy Political philosophy, or political theory, as it is also known, is about human condition, or, what humans are like. There are roughly four main kinds of political philosophy around today-Libertarianism, Socialism, Liberalism and Communitarianism. 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Symbolism, Imagery, and Theme Compared Through the Stories...

Symbolism, Imagery, and Theme Compared Through the Stories â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† and â€Å"The Scarlet Ibis† In â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† and â€Å"The Scarlet Ibis† dark symbols and tones shape the plot, which allows man’s inhumanity to man, as a theme, to be expected. Both authors use imagery to allow readers to paint a picture of each setting in their mind. Also, each author adds in many symbols to make a concrete object into an abstract idea. In â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† written by Edgar Allan Poe and â€Å"The Scarlet Ibis† written by James Hurst symbols, imagery, and the theme of man’s inhumanity to man are used to uniquely explain each story line. As the plot of â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† and â€Å"The Scarlet Ibis† unravel, both authors†¦show more content†¦When Doodle becomes weak one afternoon during a thunderstorm, Brother being selfish decides to run as fast and as far as he could away from him. â€Å"The knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to naught was bitter, and that strength of cruelty within me awakened.† (Hurst 563) In this part of the short story, the reader can tell that Brother had taken on a cruel personality, which he would later learn to regret. â€Å"One day I took [Doodle] up to the barn loft and showed him his casket, telling him how we believed he would die.† (Hurst 557). Brother admits he was cruel to Doodle and now proves it when he forces Doodle to touch his own casket, threatening to leave him in the loft if he did not. Though Brother was cruel to Doodle, nothing he did could compare to the brutality Montresor inflicted on Fortunato. The anger and jealousy Montresor shared with Fortunato causes him to act in such a way unacceptable by the general public. â€Å"A moment more and I had fettered him to the granite.† (Poe 9). This scene shows how unaware Fortunato was and how Montresor took advantage of his drunken state. As the night grows on, Montresor starts to taunt him. â€Å"’Pass your hand,’ I said, ‘over the wall; you cannot help feeling the niter,’† (Poe 9) Fortunato has still not caught on to Montresor’s plan, and that Montresor is hinting at it. The niter pulls at Fortunato’s lungs causing him to wheeze and gag. The vindictiveness Montresor shares with Fortunato does not compare to

Social Exclusion and Disability Free Essays

The convention to give right to disable ppl should be supported with capacity building on different levels in the government as well as the private sector. it is estimated that a large number of women in Pakistan are having various forms of disability. â€Å"In our society women are already considered weak and disability adds to their woes,women having disability in our country is considered as â€Å"double disability†. We will write a custom essay sample on Social Exclusion and Disability or any similar topic only for you Order Now steps il be taken for anti discrimination of disabled ppl.. n swat A large group of disabled persons staged a protest in Mingora on Thursday over government’s alleged indifference towards ensuring their rights. govt promised to give faculties like job opportunity to disability card holder issued by the National Database and Registration Authority. However 2 years have passed but nothing was done. these disable ppl wanted to stand on thr own feet and earn there living but they werent provided wid job opportunites or equal right to receive education. ocational centres were demanded where they can learn some practical skills. they said that there are not being but askng govt of pakistan to strt a realistic programme,which enables us to learn,work and earn. Some people from the government agree that government is not successful in providing the disable people with their rights. They agree that people have equal right as they are also part of the society,they agree that disable pe ople are not considered prefect for the society ,if given chance they will prove capable to be fit in society. Special Persons Development Association president Mr Daudzai said his organisation would continue fighting for the rights of the disabled persons. He said physically challenged persons were contributing their due share to national development and progress by serving in many private and public sector institutions. also stated that, disable are not given facilities as given by other countries. UN adopted â€Å"Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006† to make legal framework for providing PWDs equal opportunities in every sphere of life. Pakistan being signatory to this convention had taken a number of steps to facilitate such persons. â€Å"Disabled Persons’ (Employment and Rehabilitation) Ordinance fixed the responsibility of the State toward the prevention of disabilities; protection of of persons with disabilities; and provision of medical care, education, training, employment, and rehabilitation to the persons with disabilities. rights How to cite Social Exclusion and Disability, Essay examples

Organizational Behaviour for Relying on Stereotypes- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theOrganizational Behaviour for Relying on Stereotypes. Answer: Benefits of relying on stereotypes An oversimplified image or a set of characteristics in which a relative number of people have faith in. it can also be referred as a widely accepted thought about a particular type of behaviour of an individual. The personal characteristics of an individual are not involved rather it assumes the random facts about a person due to his/her presence in certain group. There exists two stereotypes one is positive and the other one is negative, both can play adverse effect in persons life. The range of impact is related to the reliance of an individual. If talking about an organisation stereotyping helps the manager in treating all the employees in a specific way (Cresswell and Sheikh, 2013). There are certain diversity factors that play an important role in stereotyping like the culture, ethnicity, age, gender and religion. Stereotyping is useful in an organisation as there are various employees from different culture so to ensure that no mistake is done by negatively hurting some relatio n. The strong reliance on stereotyping negatively affects the culture of the company which can future causes clashes between the employees. This essay basically emphases on the impact in the corporation due to stereotyping (Lamont, Swift and Abrams, 2015). In todays era, every organisation requires expertise employees so they hire employees who are talented. In order to hire brilliant employees organisation hire from all over the world. The human resources department focuses on hiring the employees who are more talented. The human resource team focuses on creating positive working environment in the organisation than removes the inequalities from the workplace (Lottrup, Grahn and Stigsdotter, 2013). This emphasis on building various theories that will help the employees to work together by ignoring the discrimination on the basis of culture, religion and gender. Organisation behaviour reflects the way in which an individual communicate with each other. They work according to the human resource policies designed for the organisation. In case of multinational companies they are dealing with people from different culture this is possible only because the managers are following the approach of stereotyping. Thus it is very important to take diversity management into the consideration as the employees are from different background. Stereotyping is beneficial but it has negative impact as well (Hyde, Harris and Boaden, 2013). Certain limitations of stereotyping may result in making customers dissatisfied or sad by their work. This reflects the growth of the company in negative manner as it affects the productivity. If there is no proper diverse management in the firm it can lead to disputes between employees. Disputes directly affects the productivity of an origination thus to maintain the performance of the company a proper plan should be designed. It is not always good to interact with employees of same culture but if one needs to expand the productivity they should area the stereotypes and should interact with employees of all culture. This will be beneficial for an individual as well as organisation (Lyons and Kuron, 2014). For any modern corporation effective diversity plan need to be developed, so that competitive advantages could be used. For example, in any multinational company they promote its policies among all employees and the human resources department make sure that these policies are follo wed and equality is maintained (Von Hippel, Sekaquaptewa and McFarlane, 2015) . Sometimes it is difficult to keep employees of totally different culture as they create controversies in an organisation. This can be resolved by building strong diversity policies and treat all the employees from different culture equally. There are numerous advantages of using stereotype culture in an organisation as it helps the manger to create positive environment in the company as well as among employees. They take several steps, first by promising them not to make any remarks that would hurt their culture or emotions. Secondly knowing about each employees background will help manager to have a freely conversation with the employees after understanding their customs. Also, by dealing with the employees from different country serotyping is beneficial as it helps in understanding their point of view. People from different cultures follow different rules and regulations (Lachman, 2015). Like any employee from China as its priority of being on time. They focus on punctuality as the main component as being late in their company is treated as cancelation of the deal. Similarly, different countries have different rules hence stereotyping can resolve this issue as they understand the bio diversities in culture. They also help the manager in finding all the missing data regarding the person. Additionally it helps in organising to arrange all the information in a pre-defined sequence. It was observed that all the stereotypes are based on the fact that they have certain errors that lead to misbehaviour in an organisation. Various stereotypes categories are defined by an organisation but it is difficult to assure that an employee would fit in a predefined category because every person has different personality and behaviour (Duguid and Thomas-Hunt, 2015). Thus if a manager is completely relying on the categories defined then he/ she might interpret wrong information about the employee. Thus stereotyping somewhere makes the situation more diplomatic as it is difficult for a manger to change the belief about an employee. If a manger uses all types of stereotyping at the workplace it will create conflicts in the environment. Manger need to take proper actions against the negative stereotyping otherwise it will reflect harmful impact on the employees. If there is negativity in the environment it will somewhere affect the working capacity of the employees. Thus a proper team work is required in an organisation to avoid negativity. Considering a case in an organisation where gender inequality exists, male employees do not ask women to solver certain issue as he thinks she is incapable or peruse less knowledge (Dolan, 2014). This would affect the performance of womens by decreasing the confidence. Other issue with stereotyping is that it demotivates the individual by lowering the morale that makes the working environment toxic. If a person works with low morale the productivity of an organisation decreases and it is very difficult for a manager to motivate them to get the desired output (Wood, et. al, 2012). There are various theories in an organisation discussing about the theory of equality to that motivates a person to perform good and achieve productive output. According to the stereotypes the department head can differentiate two employees according to their behaviours and provide opportunities related to them. On the other hand, discriminating an employee from other create a negative environment at the workplace (Andersson, Jackson and Russell, 2013). Another policy that is employee to employee policy provides basic amenities to every employee. This includes all the safety measures as well as social needs of an employee by focusing on steps to enhance the self-esteem of an individual. Using stereotype technique creates difficulty for the manager in fulfilling the relatedness needed by an employee. Constantly differentiating employees on the basis of stereotypes have adverse effect on employees which in turn degrades the performance of staffs. Thus to avoid this misconception following steps need to be undertaken at the workplace that would help employees to work in a positive environment by overlooking the issues of diversity. This could be done by building policies that do not support stereotype environment or treating employees unequally. Apart from the organisational policies, the government of each country has designed various laws regarding inequality or discrimination on the basis of age, sex or disability in an employee. Organisations should make sure that these policies are followed to avoid the diverse culture at the work place (Alter, et. al, 2010). On the other hand training sessions should be organised by expertise from mangers as well as employees to provide them knowledge about the all religions and meeting should be conducting between people of different culture so that they get to know each other and avoid stereotyping. Strict feedback should be taken to ensure that everyone respect each other at the workp lace by removing the differences caused due to adverse culture. It can be concluded that serotyping has both advantages and disadvantages in an organisation as it promotes to avoid the diverse culture at the workplace. They assure to create a positive environment and removing the gap between employees caused due to different culture. It is beneficial as it helps in organising the information of employees in a defined manner. There are many restrictions of stereotyping in an organisation that may result in creating a deadly environment at the workplace. It endorses discrimination in the workplace which degrades the performance of an employee. Stereotyping act as barrier for mangers as it becomes difficult for them to motivate the employees and increase their productivity. In this report various ways are discussed to remove stereotyping by creating policies and rules. These policies assist supervisors to avoid stereotyping by creating a positive working environment, which in turn promotes and supports diversity among employees. References Alter, A.L., Aronson, J., Darley, J.M., Rodriguez, C. and Ruble, D.N. (2010) Rising to the threat: Reducing stereotype threat by reframing the threat as a challenge.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology,46(1), pp.166-171. Andersson, L., Jackson, S.E. and Russell, S.V. (2013) Greening organizational behaviour: An introduction to the special issue.Journal of Organizational Behavior,34(2), pp.151-155. Cresswell, K. and Sheikh, A. (2013) Organizational issues in the implementation and adoption of health information technology innovations: an interpretative review.International journal of medical informatics,82(5), pp.e73-e86. Dolan, K. (2014) Gender stereotypes, candidate evaluations, and voting for women candidates: what really matters?Political Research Quarterly,67(1), pp.96-107. Duguid, M.M. and Thomas-Hunt, M.C. (2015) Condoning stereotyping? How awareness of stereotyping prevalence impacts expression of stereotypes.Journal of Applied Psychology,100(2), p.343. Hyde, P., Harris, C. and Boaden, R. (2013) Pro-social organisational behaviour of healthcare workers. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(16), pp. 3115-3130. Lachman, V.D. (2015) Ethical issues in the disruptive behaviours of incivility, bullying, and horizontal/lateral violence.Urologic nursing,35(1), p.39. Lamont, R.A., Swift, H.J. and Abrams, D. (2015) A review and meta-analysis of age-based stereotype threat: Negative stereotypes, not facts, do the damage.Psychology and aging,30(1), p.180. Lottrup, L., Grahn, P. and Stigsdotter, U.K. (2013) Workplace greenery and perceived level of stress: Benefits of access to a green outdoor environment at the workplace.Landscape and Urban Planning,110, pp.5-11. Lyons, S. and Kuron, L. (2014) Generational differences in the workplace: A review of the evidence and directions for future research.Journal of Organizational Behavior,35(S1). Von Hippel, C., Sekaquaptewa, D. and McFarlane, M. (2015) Stereotype threat among women in finance: Negative effects on identity, workplace well-being, and recruiting.Psychology of Women Quarterly,39(3), pp.405-414. Wood, J., Zeffane, R., Fromholtz, M., Wiesner, R., Morrison, R. and Seet, P.S. (2012)Organisational behaviour: Core concepts and applications. Milton QLD: John Wiley Sons Australia, Ltd..

Little Miss Sunshine Essay Essay Example

Little Miss Sunshine Essay Essay Outline Little Miss Sunshine Symbolic Interaction Theory Title: Family Experience in Little Miss Sunshine We will write a custom essay sample on Little Miss Sunshine Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Little Miss Sunshine Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Little Miss Sunshine Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Introduction The Hoovers I. The family structure II. The characteristics of the family members III. Reality of the challenges experienced in the Hoover Family The symbolic Interaction Theory I. Description of the theory II. Relating the theory to family interactions III. Relating the movie to the theory Influence of the Movie I. How the movie influences people’s thoughts and ideas about marriage II. Is the family in the movie an ideal family? Name: Lecturer: Course: Date: Family Experience in Little Miss Sunshine Movies are quite helpful in understanding sociology. This is because, films are often a reflection of the society and they observe the societal and family trends at a particular time. For instance, family movies made in the fifties and sixties are different from those made today. By analyzing such movies, one is able to tell how the family structures were at the given time. Many early movies depicted families normally as comprising of a mother, father and their children, with all the members of the family having their roles clearly defined. The theme of single parent families was not common. Although conflict was common, it did not often lead to violence (Reynolds and Kinney 518). Presently, movies address all types of families including households with same-sex parents. Additionally, most movies and television programs evidence conflict and violence. Television programs and movies are a way of gauging societal trends and observing changes and experiences in the family. The movie Little Miss Sunshine presents the story of a seemingly dysfunctional American family bent on fulfilling their daughter’s dream of participating in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty contest for young girls. The family uses a Volkswagen Van for a road trip to save on expenses. The family is an extended one, comprising of the girl’s parents, brother, uncle and grandfather. The uncle is a homosexual who has just rejoined the family after trying to commit suicide. The grandfather gets along with his granddaughter and he even helps her prepare for the contest. He is old and he ends up dying as they are travelling to the contest due to a drug overdose. The brother is an introvert and remains sad most of the time in the journey. The father is a motivational speaker, although his career has experienced various downfalls. Apart from the grandfather, the men in the family are reserved about the road trip. They are hesitant about going to the contest but they eventually off er their support for Olive, the young contestant. The mother seems to be the strong one in the family and the ones who holds it together. She is willing to make her daughter’s dream materialize despite the mounting challenges. The family encounters various challenges during the trip such as dealing with a broken down van. Many families experience most of these challenges. They are faced with financial constraints and they have to sacrifice luxuries and comfort just like in the movie. Due to varying needs and preferences, conflicts and emotional instabilities are quite common. Families also experience tragedies necessitating effectual handling practices as noted in the film. Support within family members may mean executing extreme measures in a bid to fulfill the dreams of loved ones. Substance abuse is another issue that families, especially those with young members have to handle (Aldiabat and Navenec 1063). Movies often depict happy-endings where the protagonist becomes the hero. Little Miss Sunshine is different as it shows that a person can win through failure. The Hoover family learnt the importance of each member in terms of synergy depicted in the scene where they join Olive on stage. The rest of th e family members knew that Olive would not win and they were probably humiliating themselves, but they found happiness through the challenges they had overcome as well as being supportive to each other. Therefore, families face challenges as those depicted in the film by the Hoover family in the movie and collective support and decision-making act as helpful factors. Rogers describes the symbolic interaction theory as â€Å"ways through which people and systems interact and communicate with one another as well as the essence and characteristics of that interaction and communication† (93). In other words, people interpret relayed information received in terms of culture and experience. Individuals perceive the world based on the meanings they attach to their experiences that are acquired through social associations. The theory posits that people interact through symbols and knowing the symbols used will lead to a higher understanding between the involved parties. The theory recognizes that in a family, all members have different personalities. Additionally, given time, families change and grow. Due to this, families are important since they influence and develop a child’s perspective towards culture, beliefs and values. They determine the manner in which a child develops his or her interactions (Reynolds and Kinney 522). The theory r ecognizes the roles that people play. Through the process of interacting, people create and improve their roles. The symbolic interaction theory recognizes that individuals are active members of the society and that they actively shape their experiences. However, these actions are not usually translated as experiences but they are a way for people to experience and exercise freedom. A person will be influenced by other people to adopt a certain attitude or behave in a particular manner (Aldiabat and Navenec 1070). The dramaturgical approach asserts that people create settings with rules and rituals, through which they ensure that their interactions have meaning and importance to them. These practices help to classify the required environments and maintain social order. The looking glass approach in symbolic interaction holds that people can identify their self-identity through their interactions with others (Rogers 95). In the movie, various elements of symbolic interactions are evidenced. All members of the Hoover family have different personalities as well as perceptions about the world. Olive and her brother are different in many ways. Olive has a happy, outgoing and cheery attitude towards life even when things do not seem to go her way. On the other hand, her brother seems to hate everybody and is always indifferent towards the rest of the members. The theory recognizes the change and growth in families. This is evident in the movie, with almost every member outgrowing a given form of behavior. Richard, Olive’s father, is first presented as a man propelled by his need to succeed as a motivational speaker and thereby according priority to this over his family. In fact, Richard has developed a self-help program and the first step to the program is that people should avoid being losers. As the trip ends and he spends more time with his family, Richard changes his perspective and develops a new attitude towards the priorities. Olive’s brother, who had vowed not to speak, has some visible changes as well. This occurs after he learns that he cannot attain his dream of being a pilot since he is colorblind. Olive’s uncle changes from a man who was once suicidal and becomes a responsible man. More so, he is able to overcome his depression and even discusses the problem to the initiator. Influence is an evident aspect in family relations (Rogers 98). The men initially have reservations about going to the contest but through the trip associations, they end up joining Olivia on stage. The adults in the movie realize that Olive does not have the talents that the other girls offer by noting her limitations after observing the preparation process. Unlike the other girls, Olive is plump and plain. She arrives at the contest late and therefore has to skip the necessary preparation processes; the rest of the competitors have applied make-up creating high competition in the pageant. They had obviously spent a lot of time and money for the given function. The adults are intimidated by these occurrences and let the perceptions of others determine their attitude. The themes of marriage and family are prevalent in the film and thereby influence people in different ways. The prevailing idea is that families are not perfect and regardless of what one does, he or she cannot entirely control what other members prefer. The Hoover family faces many diverse challenges, and in a way, some of their roles seem to be reversed. For instance, most individuals do not expect the elderly (grandfather) to abuse drugs (heroin) or use offensive words but teenagers fit the profile perfectly. The film encourages acceptance between the members. Although the family knows that Olive has no chance of winning the contest, they offer their support to the end. The family members do not discourage Olive in any way thus boosting her self-esteem to face the crowd and perform her dance at the contest. The movie is a clear illustration that marriages do not have to be perfect. Spouses should support each other and be there for each other despite the circumstances. Oliveâ€⠄¢s mother does not share her husband’s idea of being a motivational speaker. However, she does not discourage him from the aspiration. On the contrary, she supports him, as a wife should. There is no ideal family in terms of family members and experiences since each unit faces different challenges. Families have different ways of handling and managing their problems. For some, like the Hoover family, the main challenge is created by lack of monetary assets, while for others it may mean dealing with diverse issues and challenges such as rebellious children and unfaithful spouses. There is no distinct way of handling such problems; a given family may choose to ignore problems and put on a happy face for publicity purposes (Rogers 98). This does not solve the problem and it only accentuates it. For the Hoover family, the road trip was important since it enabled them to face their problems and offer collective resolutions towards the same. While other families may not take road trips, they can adopt other practical approaches, as deemed desirable. Little Miss Sunshine provides a chance to learn about symbolic interactions. The family interacted with each other along the w ay, perhaps more than they did when they were at home. They were able to work out the challenges they were facing as a family. These challenges were important for their growth and development as individuals and as family members. Works Cited: Aldiabat, Khaldoum, and Navenec Carole. â€Å"Philosophical Roots of Classical Grounded Theory: Its Foundations in Symbolic Interactionism.† The Qualitative Report July 2011: 1063-1081. Print. Reynolds, Larry, and Kinney Nancy. Handbook of Symbolic Interactionism. Walnut Creek: Rowman Altamira, 2003. Print. Rogers, Anissa. Human Behavior in the Social Environment. New York: Taylor Francis, 2010. Print.

Mothers Day Quotes From Daughters

Mothers Day Quotes From Daughters They may not know it, but young daughters often emulate their mothers. Deep in her heart, every girl is like her mother. A mother understands this well. So she tries to protect her daughter from the setbacks that she faced in her youth. Some mothers are known to be very tough on their daughters. I have seen this myself. When I asked a few moms, why they tighten the reins for daughters, the common reply is, I have to prepare her for the world to face the hard knocks of life. I have often wondered if this approach is correct. But I cannot deny that beneath the strict facade, there is a mother who loves her daughter. This is why a mother is a daughters best friend. Here are Mothers Day quotes from daughters who have achieved great success. Kate Beckinsale My daughter comes with me everywhere. I don’t leave her behind. But it is hard. I mean, I think any working mother will tell you that what kind of falls by the wayside, you know, are the hours of sleep that you wish you had, and all that. I feel incredibly lucky and blessed, but I do sometimes feel like that exorcist lady! Ann Taylor Who ran to help me when I fell, / Or kissed the place to make it well? My mother. Sarah Josepha Hale No influence is so powerful as that of the mother. Katherine Butler Hathaway Mother is the one we count on for the things that matter most of all. Lisa Alther Any mother could perform the jobs of several air-traffic controllers with ease. Beverly Jones Now, as always, the most automated appliance in a household is the mother. Carrie Latet My mom is literally a part of me. You cant say that about many people except relatives, and organ donors. Dorothy Canfield A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary. Helen Rowland It takes a woman twenty years to make a man of her son, and another woman twenty minutes to make a fool of him. Maya Angelou To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Barbara Kingsolver The strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.

UC budget crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

UC budget crisis - Essay Example This essay will discuss the ways in which the media, and in turn the general public, have reacted to this higher education budget crisis and how it will effect the nations social structure as a whole. These media outlets will reveal just how detrimental the budget crisis is to the future of our democratic society and how it is effecting the overall free will and intelligence of those wishing to make a better life for themselves. As Edward Said describes, " Higher education may be one of the few institutions left that still fosters critical inquiry, public freedom, and common deliberation, simultaneously keeping alive the promise of democratic ethos and politics" (Giroux 670). This growing fear seems to be shared by citizens throughout California as the budget crisis continues to take away more of the programs, teachers, and financial aid that universities rely on to educate their students. In his article, "Saving Public High Ed," written for the Inside Higher Ed website Joseph Aoun writes, "Our nations system of public higher education is in crisis. Unprecedented funding cuts are affecting about 70 percent of American college students and their ability to attend public colleges and universities." With this radical amount of college students being affected, more and more are left with no other choice than to drop out, or postpone their education. Aoun goes on to say how the UC system is different from colleg es in the rest of the world, describing the American system as decentralized. He says that it allows for a diversity of approaches and a significant amount of innovation making it bountiful in educational richness not found anywhere else. The article goes on to stress that with budget cuts comes the loss of these differences that set our schools apart from the rest of the world and eventually what sets us apart as an overall country. One of the worst and most substantial of the UC budget cuts is the IOUs that were issued to the California students who rely on the funding they receive from the Cal Grant. The views expressed in Aoun' s article can also be seen in another Inside Higher Ed piece written in July 2009 at the height of the IOU fiasco. "IOU Student Aid" laments on the trials and unfair disadvantage this budget cut places on California students. The article states, "California's controller estimates that $159 million in Cal Grant payments normally made in July will be made with warrants instead." These warrants put both students and universities in an awkward position of limbo. Many first time college students come from families who are already nervous about being able to pay for college and knowing that they will not have the money upfront may be enough to deter many from attending college. The universities themselves, who are already trying to work with a tight cash flow, fear that a delay in receiving funds could be extremely difficult to handle. These articles are two of many that the Inside Higher Education website has produced. These pieces are written with an underlying panic and fear for the future and what these budget cuts could do to our government, economy and society. They are written hoping to inform the nation of the dangers of the UC budget cuts in the hope that awareness can help restore the UC system to what it once was. Unlike Inside Higher Education the internet blog archive UTO the Rescue houses links to dozens of internet blogs in the hopes of

ISO Standards and Excellence - reflection ( CLO 3 ) Essay

ISO Standards and Excellence - reflection ( CLO 3 ) - Essay Example This certification is so objective (making it more credible and reliable) that ISO itself does not do the certification but a third party certification body that cannot be certified by ISO. This removes conflict of interest and undue influence. This certification process involves an audit in evaluating the company’s standards vis-Ã  -vis audit criterial established. This is a continuous process to ensure that quality and improvement is maintained. The benefits of having ISO certified are many. Having quality as a standard obviously meets if not exceed customer’s requirements and this means increased customer satisfaction leading to more business and more profit for the company and able to articulate its processes. Getting an ISO certification is not easy when I did a review on the audit process. But considering the benefits of the certification to the company and its long-term viability as a business organization, ISO is no longer just a quality certificate that a company may opt but an imperative in today’s very competitive environment because it wears the badge of credibility and

Improve nursing leadership project Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Improve nursing leadership project - Article Example The work that they do will have to benefit the user and from that, they will gain respect. To achieve this vision, a sole responsibility of leadership that follows policies, philosophy, priorities, and power relationship of the health centers has to be practiced effectively. All leadership at the varying levels will be utilized in the process. Being a leader in the nursing field means your primary drive is the process of change to your staff. The nurses will experience new changes, and the changes need to be absorbed by the skilled staff as they are implemented within a time frame of 5 weeks. From this move, a challenge will arise because some members are not programmed to change and will take place 2 hours daily and three days of the working week. Because of this rigidness, the new employees will have a mentality that the skills got from school will be directed to the workplace, and their performance will reduce. Those who begin and adopt the change will be rewarded to encourage the

E-Business Versus Traditional Retailing

E-Business Versus Traditional Retailing Abstract As the Internet access becomes widespread, both businesses and consumers worldwide used web as a main tool for marketing and shopping. As a result, the impact on retailers and consumers are relatively significant with the rise of the E-business. This project looks into the advantages and disadvantages of E-business and traditional retail stores, and then by comparing the two different business modes concludes an integrated business, which is more adapted by public. Further, an analysis of Amazon.com and Wal-Mart also support the notion that multi-channel retail seems to be more satisfy the need and want of retailer and consumers. Introduction The origin of e-business was 20 years ago. In the 1990s, the definition of e-business was used by one of the first supplier, IBM, in its advertising campaign. It was defined as the transformation of key business processes through the use of Internet technologies. (Li ,2007:9) Today, the meaning of e-business is much broader. According to Cunningham (2002) E-business refers to the transactions, processes, and systems that support the act of doing business through electronic networks. Businesses in industries such as banks, automobiles, travel, and many others are undergoing a significant transformation. In the past, traditional retail stores were constrained by geography, location, and size; on the other hands, in the age of information, these are not important anymore. Although the Internet has a great influence on the growth of E-retail, there is one thing of concern, it also presents with threat and opportunity. The aim of this project is to compare and contrast E-Business and traditional business in retailing across a variety of criteria from customers and retailers perspectives, and then to analyze the two biggest retailers in the world in terms of E-retailer and physical retailer and then conclude which business is better adapted to e-commerce. Firstly, the project will consider advantages and disadvantages of E-business from retailers and consumers view, then analyses Amazon.com and Wal-Mart by the means of SWOT analysis (which can be defined as Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats) and finally will forecast future retail developments. E-Business Versus Traditional Retailing There are numerous opportunities for businesses to reach new markets on the Internet across nations, lower costs, and relationship-build with customers. For most businesses, opening a virtual retail seems like to be filled with opportunities as well as challenges. The rest of this project will address these opportunities and challenges. The opportunities in E-Business Market There are a number of advantages for e-business. First, with regard to the location, it is clear that online business have the opportunity to access farther than physical stores. According to Dennis and Harris (2002), the three most important elements in retail are location, location and location. Without constraint on geography, the Internet has provided the e-retailer with a store in every home all over the world. Almost every product and service on the Internet has an opening to be sold globally. In other words, e-business sells equally well to anywhere in the country and even overseas, compared to traditional stores. Since building a business online does not need to lease a building on a specific place, which saves a great deal of money on rent. Compared to the existing stores, running a business need to situate on one street, town and country, which is the most expensive part due to paying high-priced rent monthly as well as tax. In addition to location, another factor needs to concern is size. In the past, size of stores was principal when competing with other stores. A large store has the capacity to stock as many products as it can; however, there is a limitation of quantity for those small stores. Thanks to the invention of the Internet, even a small e-business has the chance to vie with large traditional stores. Secondly, as far as the number of consumers and opening time are concerned, online business can reach a larger number of consumers than the traditional stores. Without boundary on the Internet, everyone in the world have equal chances purchasing online. Especially for overseas shoppers, could easily reach web sites in which they are interested. Additionally, with fewer barriers in both time and limitation of consumers, online businesses have a better opportunity to market their product on the Internet. In other words, the problems of time difference between nations and nations have been solved. In contrary, it is difficult for traditional stores to sell further, when considering the limitation of time and geography. In the past few existing stores are opened 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. However, since online business is on the web all the time, consumers with different shopping habits do not have to worry about the opening and closing hours of physical stores. There are many other advantages regarding to online business. Usually, building a traditional store need to concern the expenditure of ongoing costs, including renting, tax, electricity. In addition, for those traditional stores reaching consumers either face to face or by telephone, have to pay for a significant additional cost. On the other hand, for those businesses that open e-shops could save a great deal of money on the wages costs of face-to-face salespeople and the costs of premises. Furthermore, a virtual store may save budget on all the other needless expenses, such as additional training requirements. Many studies have shown that many online stores in the existing marketing making a big profit on account of reduced costs and increased sales. Furthermore, The Challenges in E-Business Market Generally speaking, although there are many advantages for e-business, considering about disadvantages is also needed. First of all, online business is less powerful than face-to-face selling in many ways. In the traditional stores, salesperson with high skill of convincing shopping can be a part of reasons influencing consumers to shop. For example, when going shopping we are always easy to be persuaded by people around us who support for purchasing. On the other hands, due to fewer impulse of salesperson online, it is easier to say no to a computer. Consumers are totally decide buy or not to buy. Moreover, e-Selling is also less powerful than face-to -face selling. For example, for certain products, it is difficulties with products not sold by touch, feel, and smell. E-businesses are lack of theses advantageous positions. A further disadvantage is that consumers have a perception of lower prices online. They expect online prices to be lower than prices in traditional stores. This puts pressure on margins for online business, and can lead to shoppers expecting consistent how prices in store. Looking for low prices online is one of major factors affecting consumers to shop on the Internet. However, such a perception across all product categories may be unwarranted. Only in some areas such as airline tickets and books can find much lower prices on the Internet. Also, there is a limitation for selling products online. Not everything could be selling on the Internet, such as daily products and fragile items, which limit consumers product selection. In addition, cost in Internet customer contact and maintaining technology could be expensive. Although a beneficial thing for e-business is save the costs of wages of salesperson and rent, the system requires regular maintenance to ensure customer satisfaction. Compared with traditional stores, they do not have to pay the extra maintenance fee on system due to most of they are lack a sophisticated computer system. Finally, after-care can be difficult, especially if the shopper is overseas. It is always not easy to collect those unwanted products which have been return by online shoppers. When ever any of products have technique problems, it is a trouble to return it back to e-shop, especially for those overseas customers.Because not only consumers require to pay the delivery fee but also the online shop, which is a burden for both consumers and e-retailer. Drivers of Consumers Adoption There are considerable potential benefits for consumers to shop online. The main reason for consumers to buy online is to save money. In some given products categories, online prices are significantly cheaper than existing stores. On the Internet, shoppers could always get good value of bargains. Furthermore, consumers could also save the cost of traveling to the existing stores, the cost of finding a parking space, parking, walking through the mall to the stores, finding the item in the store, waiting in line at the checkout, Internet shopping provides in-home access 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which enhances convenience by minimizing many of these costs. The other advantage for online shopping is the convenience of shopping at any time of day. On the Internet, the stores are opened 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Consumers could never worry about missing the open hours of the exiting stores. The other good thing about e-shopping is that the webs offer older consumers, those with disabilities, and those live in remote areas to access to information and services. The other motivation for people to accept shopping online is that consumers could make a purchase at home instead of leaving from house. In addition to convenience, consumers could not only save more time on the travel time, but also save the time on walking through all the stores to find what they want, especially when at the height of the holiday. Whether on booking a ticket for an event, purchasing a book, or registering and paying for a fee, the Internet saves time. With regard to breadth and depth of products, consumers could find a great variety of products on the Internet than in any one single store or mall. Rare items can be purchase easily by simply click a mouse; the web sites can take shoppers from one online store to another. The benefit of online shopping is even greater when purchasing foreign-made products. Many traditional businesses will shift a significant part of their operations and selling to the Internet. Growth in the consumer segment is likely to be slower. Security concerns regarding online transactions and the difficulty of modifying consumer behavior can explain the slower pace of growth in the business-to-consumer marketplace. Barriers to Consumers Adoption Although shopping online can by easy, there are a variety of reasons related to security deters online shoppers from making a purchase. Dennis indicated that Security fears as the number one barrier to more consumers shopping online (Dennis et al. 2002). Safety of credit card and other private information are key issues that discourage many consumers e-shopping. A study sponsored by the Better business Bureaus Online found that over 80 percent of users had some concern about security online. (Better Business bureaus, 2005) Most web sites today require users to create personal accounts and provide a lot of personal information. Some consumers are afraid that personal information may be broken in by website hackers or be access by unauthorized organization; moreover, personal accounts provided to online vendors may have a risk to be rejected due to service attacks and human error. Therefore, security of credit card information is quite negative for online consumer. The inability to talk to a live salesperson is another concern for consumers. Even though the Internet brings the world into our homes, customer may still wish to speak to someone to seek advice on the product when shopping online. Also, for older consumers, and those who are relatively new to Internet shopping, exceptionally need a live salesperson to get information they are interested in. However, many of online business have not provided customer service for online shoppers reached by phone, live chat. A report by Data Monitor (www.datamonitor.com) found that only 8 percent of the over 60000 call centers in the US were Web-enabled, and only 1 percent of Web sites currently offer live customer assistance (Venkat, 2001:307). Additionally, the difficulty in returning products is major reason for a large number of consumers not shopping online. BizRate.com, a company that measures post-purchase satisfaction found that in a survey of 9800 consumers, 89 percent said that return policies influence their decision to purchase online. (ibid: 2001:304) Above all, the reason why returns sometimes are difficult may say is because of the lack of face to face negotiations. In addition to returning, the cost of shipping is another concern for consumers. A survey by Greenfield Online revealed that 32percent of consumers surveyed mentioned high shipping costs at the reason for not shopping online (Greenfield, 2002) Most consumers perceive online prices to be lower than prices in conventional stores. It is true; however, sometimes shipping costs can negate other price advantages. Although various products sell at a discount online, when adding into the shipping rate, the consumer may end up paying more than traditional store. Many consumers are still uneasy with online shopping because they prefer to see and touch the goods. Plus, some products are difficult to buy on the Internet. Take clothing for example, it is impossible for online shoppers to feel the fabric. When buying clothes, most people still like to try them on. Online shopping provides a lower sensory stimulation (through smell, touch, music, in-store decorations, etc.) than does offline shopping. (Fernie, J. 2005:106). People incline to use five senses in developing beliefs and bias towards various products. However, on the Internet, only three of these senses can be used. Case Study of Amazon.com and Wal-Mart There are a range of criteria of SWOT Analysis about Amazon.com and Wal-Mart, and this paper will only focus on the areas related to the above sections based on current developments and future developments in how e-retail and traditional retail adapt to e-commerce. SWOT Analysis of Amazon.com With regards to strengths, according to Harris and Dennis (2002:258), Amazon as a US-based multinational e-business company, is the biggest online retailer all over the world. Over the years since it opened its online bookstore in 1995, has established a customer around 30 million people. Besides books, now has launched various products including electronics, computer software, toys, video games and home improvements, apparel, furniture, and food. In addition, Amazon has created different website pages in the USA, the UK, Europe and Far East. It also provides international shipping to certain countries for some of its products. The major weakness for the company is that it heavily depends on external delivery companies, which may tackle a major problem. Due to the rising fuel and vehicle taxation, a potential increase costs should be concerned. As a consequence, the increasing shipping fee may lead consumers rather to visit a local retailer than purchasing online. It is realistic that the rise of Amazon.com has had a profound influence on virtually every sector of business in the world. There are many opportunities for Amazon.com to expand further. One of the priorities is to open exiting stores to solve the disadvantages of E-business. As far as threats are concerned, it is easy to attract competition on the Internet. Since Amazon.com markets similar products as physical retail, it pose a negative impact on Amazon.com within the price competition between e-business and traditional stores. SWOT Analysis of Wal-Mart Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world. It is famous for its convenience and a wide range of products all in one store. The retailing giant has annual revenues of over $ 100 billion. According to Grant (2002) the Fortune 500 ranking list, published in 2002, showed that Wal-Mart was the worlds largest public corporation by revenue. These years, Wal-mart has experienced global expansion to 3,600 stores and more than 750,000employees worldwide. Although Wal-Mart stores, Inc. has expanded to the global market, they have a presence in a relatively small number of countries Worldwide. They only focus on the market in the UK, but their competitors are grown in the other countries. Besides, Wal-Mart has a risk in the location of their stores. Since Wal-Mart is the leading physical retailer in the USA, it has a magnificent opportunity to become the largest retailer in the world. Therefore, international expansion will be a huge opportunity for Wal-Mart. Although the stores are currently only trade in relatively few overseas there are many opportunities for future business in expanding consumer markets online. A major threat to Wal-Mart is the intense price competition with online business. Being a leading retailer also represents being the target of competition locally and globally. How to compete with e-retail in the international market will be a major question for Wal-Mart. Evaluation From the SWOT Analysis, it is clear that both mazon.com and Wal-mart have its specific strengths and weaknesses. This evaluation concluded that, based on the criteria mentioned above, the e-retail has competitive advantages over e-retail stores while physical retail stores have advantages over e-retail. With regard to disadvantages, online retail faces many difficulties compared to existing stores. For online retailers, the major challenges are face-to-face interaction and immediate delivery, and this is an area where traditional stores have an advantage. On the other hand, online retail also affects opportunities of traditional retail to certain extents. Take location and opening hour, for example, E-retail outweighs traditional retail stores. Many consumers are willing to select products on the Internet, but would not want to wait for delivery. Due to the need of consumers, it stimulated the boom of multi-channel retail (physical stores plus e-retail) becoming dominant, which has both e-retail and physical retail stores components, provides consumers with a higher degree of satisfaction. Thus, more and more e-shoppers find online shopping and in-store pickup more attractive than pure E-railing and traditional retail stores. According to Harris and Dennis (2002:258), the proportion of e-shoppers preferring to shop from e-sites run by physical retail stores rather than Internet-only is soaring 9 up from 22 percent in October 2000 to 33 percent in April 2001. As a result, many E- businesses are attempted to establish physical stores, and just as traditional stores are also creating online business. That competition is not about E-business versus traditional business. Gandy (2000:122) claim Its about integrating both-pulling together the best of what is available through the physical distribution with the best of the Web world. As traditional companies begin to provide multi-channel services to combine online business and it would make sense for pure online businesses to offer services of physical stores. The example of Amazon.com and Wal-mart also support it. According to The Sunday Times, Amazon.com had planed to open existing stores to support its growing website. (Mashable, 2009) Similarly, Wal-Mart stores Inc. has continually increased the integration of its physical stores with its Internet business, in order to respond with the growing web-based stores. (Reuven, 2000) Conclusion Both e-business and traditional stores has its advantages and disadvantages in many criteria. Physical stores has the edge on criteria such as after-sell service and face-to-face selling, while e-business is beneficial on the wide-range of products, time saving and convenience. The project presented a comparative business channel to evaluate the two types of retails and concluded that whether e-retail or traditional retail stores is not in perfection, multi-channel retail stores which combine the best of e-retail and traditional retail may be more adaptable to the business environment in the future. The analysis of Amazon.com and Wal-Mart has also been highlighted, particularly with regard to integrating e-retail with existing physical stores. These can be summarized as multi-channel retail is becoming a dominant. In 1999, Andy Grove, Chairman and CEO of Intel, once have noted that all companies will be Internet companies or they will be dead. (Venkat, 2001) However, even though e-business is able to provide consumer greater service and choice in a variety of the product, the consumers adoption toward the Internet need to be concerned. It should be noted that a detailed examination of multi-channel retail lies outside the areas of this project and further work could be done in this area, which would be of particular interest to those business involved in this area.

The Scarrlet Letter :: essays research papers

The Scarrlet Letter As citizens of the United States and members of the most open society in the world it is difficult for us to picture a world where the phrases woman's rights, equal opportunity, and religious freedom have little meaning. When the surface of American history is scratched, not necessarily deeply a past of limited rights for women is soon revealed. The challenge to any author comes in painting a picture of this colonial past to both current readers and readers to come. Nathaniel Hawthorne In his book ' The Scarlet Letter'; successfully meets this task through the character of Hester Prynn. Hawthorne describes a woman with independence ahead of her time and a social order unprepared to accept her.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hester's independence was promptly demonstrated at the novel's beginning. The court has ruled as punishment for her adultery she must wear an 'A'; upon her chest, that to the colonist served as a reminder of the punishment they would suffer if their sins were to be discovered, and to Hester a reminder of sin. Hester stands alone outside the court house as the close minded colonial eyes stare at her and the baby in her arms. Many women during this era of American history would look for a way to run. Hester shows little sign of uneasiness, with exception to her firm hold on the infant. At the conclusion of this scene the reader knows that this is a strong woman trying to maintain dignity in a land were a woman's independence ranked right above blasphemy on the hierarchy of values.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the novel Hester demonstrates her independence of living. Her husband never comes forward, and her lover does the same. With everyone denying relations Hester is forced to live alone. She raises the child by herself and is successful in her enterprise of sewing and hemming. Hawthorne informs us that this lifestyle of isolationism is unique to her, and convinces us that an average colonial woman could not survive under these conditions. At this point in the book Hester has shown her independence in dealing with life's crisis, and in her style of living.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The best way to understand a parents personality is to examine how they raise their children. This idea holds true when one examines closely the techniques Hester uses to raise Pearl. In this era of religious totality, independence of thought, and the teachings of those ideals commanded little

Vitamin K

Vitamin & Mineral Project Sundria Carroll February 22nd, 2011 Diet 1310 650 Brenda Speight, Instructor Vitamin K Vitamins are a group of organic substances essential in small quantities to normal metabolism, found in minute amounts in natural foods or sometimes produced synthetically. Vitamins help our bodies metabolize nutrients and grow cells. They come in two forms: those tat dissolve in water (vitamins B & C) and those that are absorbed and stored in fat (vitamins A, D, E, and K). Vitamin K named for the German word for clotting â€Å"koagulation† is responsible for enabling your blood to clot, ensuring you don't bleed out from a paper cut or small scratch. Vitamin K also teams up with calcium to strengthen your bones. Because vitamin K is fat soluble, be sure to consume this nutrient at the same time as a (healthy) fat because it will aid with its absorption. Some studies indicate that it helps in maintaining strong bones in the elderly. Vitamin K participates in the synthesis of bone proteins. Without vitamin K the bones produce an abnormal protein that cannot bind to the minerals that normally form bones. This results in bone density. Researchers continue to discover proteins needing vitamin K’s assistance. Vitamin K deficiency bleeding is a rare disease that occurs in approximately 1 in 10,000 newborns. The disease can cause significant damage to the brain of the newborn, and in some cases can also lead to death. It has been said that there is some good news about vitamin K deficiency bleeding is completely preventable. You can safeguard your baby from vitamin K deficiency bleeding by giving extra vitamin K to your child after birth. Newborns present a unique case of vitamin K nutrition because they are born with a sterile intestinal tract, and the vitamin K producing bacteria take weeks to establish themselves. To prevent any hemorrhagic disease in newborns usually a single dose of vitamin k is given. If for any reason the mother took medication for blood clotting, tuberculosis, or epilepsy during pregnancy, it is recommended that the baby be given Vitamin K through injection. The reason is that such babies may not be able to properly absorb Vitamin K orally. Vitamin is not toxic when consumed orally, even in large amounts. However, menadione (a synthetic, water-soluble vitamin K precursor) can cause toxicity and should not be used to treat vitamin K deficiency. People taking this drug should eat vitamin K enriched foods to keep their intakes consistent from day to day. Significant food sources: Bacterial synthesis in the digestive tract, liver, leafy green vegetables, cabbage, and milk. Specific recommendations depend on age, gender, and other factors (such as pregnancy). The best way to get the daily requirement of essential vitamins is to eat a balanced diet that contains a variety of foods from the food guide pyramid. The Food and Nutrition Board at the Institute of Medicine recommends the following dietary intake for vitamin K: Infants * 0 – 6 months: 2. 0 micrograms per day (mcg/day) * 7 – 12 months: 2. 5 mcg/day Children * 1 – 3 years: 30 mcg/day * 4 – 8 years: 55 mcg/day * 9 – 13 years: 60 mcg/day Adolescents and Adults * Males and females age 14 – 18: 75 mcg/day * Males and females age 19 and older: 90 mcg/day If you take Warfarin (a blood thinner), one should know that vitamin K or foods containing vitamin K can affect how the drug works. To get more information one should ask their health care provider how much vitamin K or vitamin K-containing foods they should consume. Bibliography Hamrick I, Counts SH. Vitamin and mineral supplements. Wellness and Prevention. December 2008; 729-747. Rolfes, Sharon and Ellie Whitney Understanding Nutrition 11th Ed Belmont CA 2008 http://www. kosmix. com/topic/vitamin_k/overview/adam20#ixzz1KfWhlT00 http://www. osteoporosis-vitamins. com/vitamin-K-toxicity. html

Lake qaraoun essays

Lake qaraoun essays Garbage threat to Lake Qaraoun and Litani Dumping garbage in Lake Qaraoun in the Bekaa is an environmental threat which should be remedied before it turns into a disaster, said Nasser Nasrallah, head of the Litani River After touring the lakes banks, where the garbage is being dumped, Nasrallah appealed to officials to combat such illegal waste disposal. We have a serious environmental problem, Nasrallah said. If the situation doesnt change, we risk losing the water coming from one of our main sources, the Litani River. He urged officials at the Health and Environment Ministries and at the Council for Development and Reconstruction to address the environmental troubles of the Bekaa. Efforts should be made to implement a grand strategic plan in the Bekaa to get rid of the sewage and trash produced by factories and gas stations, he said. Starting in October, Nasrallah announced, his department will implement in collaboration with the Environment Ministry a plan which will stop environmental violations at the lake. We cannot tell people now to stop throwing their trash in the lake, he said. We have to secure other dumps before taking such measures. ...

How Bias Influences Critical Thinking Essay Example

How Bias Influences Critical Thinking Essay Example How Bias Influences Critical Thinking Essay How Bias Influences Critical Thinking Essay Essay Topic: Critical Thinking As our American society continues to evolve into a society with a better understanding and acceptance of its peoples differences, however, there are some ideologies and rules put into place that I feel there is no reason to change. For example, I feel that women should not serve on the front lines of combat and continue to operate within the combat supportive roles. As a female Army Veteran of both Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq, allowing women to have their Military Occupation Specialty be apart of the Infantry, Special Forces, Ranger, and Navy Seals, would cause not only a disruption in our relationship with our foreign allies, but also have a negative impact on unit cohesion among our multiple military services. Even though I feel women are able to do the same Job as their male counterparts, however, I have yet to see them do the best above all of them. All military branches have different standards for females and males for valid reasons which include the anatomical makeup of each gender is vastly different. Our military fighting forces would not be equipped to handle the uniqueness of eliminating those guidelines and have everyone on an even playing field. I still remain hopeful that this would not be an issue in the future, but for now, America Just is not ready. Among the many cognitive biases out there that can influence our critical thinking, there are three I identify with and admit played a significant role in my argument regarding this sensitive topic: belief bias, status quo bias, and naive realism. In referring to Chapter 1 of Critical Thinking from our course reading materials this first week, belief bias is defined as the tendency to evaluate seasoning by how believable its conclusion seems and can affect us consciously or unconsciously. Next, is the status quo bias which is defined as the tendency to like things to stay relatively the same (Baron 2000) and is also known as a comfort zone bias. Last, is naive realism and is categorized under to the group known as attribution biases. It is defined as the belief that we see reality as it really is objectively and without bias; that the facts are plain for all to see; that rational people will agree with us; and that those who dont are either uninformed, lazy, irrational, or biased (Wisped 2014). Unconsciously, I allow my own morals, opinions and beliefs in this case, influence my argument on why women should not serve on the front lines. References Baron, J. (2000).

XBox versus Playstation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

XBox versus Playstation - Essay Example The availability of these games in the market have provided people with the opportunity to make a choice between the two depending on an individual’s tastes and preferences. Naturally, people shall have different opinions as to which one of the two is better that the other and why (Plunkett, 2009). This paper shall compare XBox and Playstation and attempt to make out which of the two is preferable. Determining which one of the two is better than the other is a rather difficult or an impossible task. This is because it all depends on the individual using it the console since each game console provides a broad range of varied features. Some people will love one console, while others could hate it. Generally, it has been agreed that the Play station and the Xbox are roughly comparable (Cheat, 2011). However, people will always hold different opinions as far as this matter is concerned. The Xbox was set to the market in North America on 15th November 2001. It offered a stiff compe tition with Sony’s PlayStation. During the early years of its development, the marketing department in Microsoft argued against the name Xbox with the argument that it would be very unpopular in the market. This, therefore, called for alternative names being suggested. However, testing from consumers revealed that the name was more preferable than all the other suggested names (Plunkett, 2009). This led to Xbox becoming the official name for the game. Xbox has been documented as the first video game console built using a hard disk drive, which was primarily used to store games. This development did away with the need to have separate memory cards that had been in the market for long. Over the years, these two games have developed to superiority, while at the same time maintaining significant differences among themselves than ever before. Each of the industries Sony and Microsoft is keen to avoid lagging behind the other. As soon as Sony began enjoying the success of the PlayS tation 3 slim, Microsoft came in with the thinned edition of Xbox 360. Sources from industries have claimed that both Sony and Microsoft are intending to extend the consoles generation with the aim of maximizing their investment (Navarro, 2009). Currently, both games have competitive prices and provide very related functions. These progresses are making it more complicated to make a decision on which of the two is better. The comparison between Microsoft Xbox 360 S and Sony PlayStation 3 slim is one mission that has left many people exhausted. Even the game fans have had difficulties telling which of the two is better. PlayStation 3 slim is an overhauled version of the seventh generation form Sony’s video game console launched in 2009. This PlayStation has developments such as a new sleek design, a potent mix of old and new features such as online gaming, Blu-ray Disc technology, high optical disc format, and a removable hard drive (Beyazitoglu, 2010). All these developments have made gaming more interesting and easier. In addition to this, the PlayStation Move facilitating motion games has made it more popular. A year after the introduction of PlayStation 3 slim by Sony, Microsoft introduced its seventh generation the Xbox 360 S. this was 17 percent slimmer than the previous version. Some of the most common games with Xbox 360 S currently include Gears of War, Fable, Call of Duty, and Halo among others. Additionally, Xbox 360 S is easily well-matched to the motion gaming system introduced by Microsoft (Navarro, 2009). In determining which of the two games is better, there is a need to take into consideration a variety of features such as price, size, weight, and speed among

Anatomy and Physiology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Anatomy and Physiology - Essay Example The sense of touch helps us detect pain and provides a reflex withdrawal that is naturally and unconsciously prepared before conscious awareness of pain is passed on to the brain (Kippers 2-3). Further, the sense of touch allows us to learn about our surroundings by touching and feeling everything around us (Kippers 2-3). The second function of the nervous system is coordination. Coordination is the body’s ability to receive a number of stimuli through the various senses, which are appropriately coordinated and processed thereby allowing us to give a proper reaction to any given circumstances. The feedback or response given by an individual may vary and depend on character, experience, culture, etc. (Kippers 2-3). Last but not the least function of the nervous system is the ability of a person to have conceptual though or intelligence. Every individual is capable of calculation, imagination, abstract reasoning and creativity that make him or her superior than any other mammal (Kippers 2-3). The peripheral nervous system (PNS is made up of all the other parts of the nervous system excluding the brain and the spinal cord which are parts and segments of the central nervous system (CNS) (Noveguide.com 1-3). The peripheral nervous system (PNS) is divided into two main categories which are: 1) the sensory somatic nervous system and 2) the autonomic nervous system (Novelguide.com 1-3). The sensory somatic nervous system serves as the sensory entrance between the environment or surroundings outside the human body and the CNS. The responses made by the body in this part of the PNS are inclined to be conscious (Noveguide.com 1-3). The sensory somatic nervous system is composed of 31 pairs of spinal nerves and 12 pairs of cranial nerves. Other pairs are only for sensory neurons which are mainly engaged in the senses for smell,

Bergquists four cultures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bergquists four cultures - Essay Example Delaune and Ladner (2006) in their book on Fundamentals of Nursing defined culture as â€Å"knowledge, beliefs, behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, habits, customs, languages, symbols, rituals, ceremonies, and practices that are unique to a particular group of people† (p. 388). Simple folks ordinarily know culture as a way of life. Aretz (2007), in his article Managing Change in Health Professions Education -Experiences from the Trenches explored two definitions of culture as: â€Å"â€Å"the deeply embedded patterns of organizational behavior and the shared values, assumptions, beliefs, or ideologies that members have about their organizations or its work† (Petersen and Spencer) and culture is â€Å"Obedience to the Unenforceable†; â€Å"It is a realm in which not law, not caprice, but virtues such as duty, fairness, judgment, †¦ hold sway. In a word, it †¦ covers all cases of right doing where there is no one to make you do it but yourself.† (John Fletcher Moulton) (p. 22). In an academic research written by William H. Bergquist, an international consultant and professor in the fields of organizational psychology and management, he identified four cultures in higher education which are interrelated and have profound effects to an organization, to wit: collegial, managerial, developmental and negotiating. Walter (2007) distinguished between collegial and developmental as: â€Å"the collegial culture is one in which individuals find meaning primarily through their discplines and through the original research that helps to further knowledge in that discipline. The developmental culture, by contrast, is one in which individuals find meaning primarily through their participation in teaching, learning, and professional development activities† (pp. 11-12) Collegial culture emphasize the value of scholarship, governance, rationality and decision making as opposed to personal and professional growth as the focus of developmental

Best Practices for Human Services Delivery Essay Example for Free

Best Practices for Human Services Delivery Essay The delivery of human services is one venture that organizations can not embark on blindly. It requires key competencies especially on the part of the staff charged with the responsibility of delivering these essential services. It is a task that also requires active participation of key stakeholders, which are basically the population and the agency. When delivering the services, the agencies concerned need to put in to consideration the views of the population. In fact, the population should be involved in the entire process of service delivery, from conception of the idea to implementation. By involving the population, it shows that the agency appreciates their contribution and value of population participatory in the process of service delivery. As a consequence, the population becomes trustworthy partners proud to be identified and associated with the agency and its services. It should be appreciated that the success of the agency in this service delivery solely depends on the response of the population. Indeed, the role of the population can not be overstated. Before the organization embarks on any service delivery, Katherine and Ellen (2009) argue that knowledge about the background of the population is vital. In the modern society, most populations are diverse. It is important that any agency understands all aspect of the population to avoid making mistakes unknowingly. One very important aspect is the competence of the agency. The staff of the agency needs to have basic skills that are vital in service delivery. Lack of skills puts the quality of the agency’s performance at stake. This is then reflected in the results of the delivery. Poor results not only have a negative impact on the image of the agency, but also threaten the future of the organization. It is unlikely that an organization whose performance is poor would get any future reference or even contracts. Besides, the agency delivering such services needs to be well endowed with adequate resources. These include money, time and knowhow (Katherine Ellen, 2009). These resources are mandatory for any success to be accomplished. They enable the agencies to finish their tasks in timely manner. In addition, they also affect the quality of service delivery. Quality and timely service delivery boosts the confidence of the population in the performance of the agency. This then ensures future growth and population confidence with the agency as contracts can be renewed and secured. Katherine and Ellen (2009) affirm that for any service delivery to be successful, trust is of essence. This should be mutual. They also argue that building trust of a diverse population can be a tricky affair. They suggest that agencies should draw part of their staff from the population. They argue that the agency may not be aware of part of the cultural expectations of the population. Besides, they may not understand the local language, a tool that is very basic in as far as communication is concerned. Poor communication system impacts directly on service delivery as misunderstandings are bound to occur. The agency should also respect the culture of the population in order to successfully deliver its services. Cultures tend to vary considerably and it is important that the agency understands every bit of the population’s culture. For instance, some populations prescribe different dress code for different persons. Although this may not be an issue in an urban population, it is highly significant in a rural setting. Contravening such may negatively impact on service delivery. In extreme cases, the service delivery may even be halted Conclusion The delivery of human services can be a very sensitive process. Utmost care need to be taken to ensure that the population approves of the agency’s performance. This will enable the agency to carry out its activities with ease, all for the benefit of the population. Above all, the agency should market its brand to the population to gain aspect of positive association.

Netflix Business Model Analysis and SWOT

Netflix Business Model Analysis and SWOT 1 Introduction Netflix is the worlds largest online movie rental service with over 6.3 million members and a collection of more than 75,000 titles. They are known for both their excellent customer service and their convenient and user-friendly interface on their award-winning website. Though Netflix has received many criticisms, it has continually grown and thrived in the movie rental market. New technology has enabled Netflix to provide high quality streaming videos directly to their subscribers PCs. This service is being rolled out over the first six months of 2007, free of charge, to Netflixs current subscribers. In order to maintain its superior position in the in home filmed-entertainment, Netflix must enter the Video On Demand (VOD) market immediately. By entering the VOD market through offering streaming videos, Netflix will be able to differentiate itself from its competitors, and reduce the likelihood of price competition. Offering a movie streaming service as opposed to a movie downloading service will further aid it in differentiating itself. For the short run, Netflix needs to incorporate the service of streaming movies to complement its DVD rental service. In the long run, after the popularity of streaming movies has grown and the technicalities of this service are fixed, Netflix can separate the DVD rental and streaming movies services, offering two different sets of plans. Pursuing this strategy is vital to Netflixs future, because as new innovations in technology become popular, the DVD-rental subset of the home movie market will shrink, while the downloading and streaming of movies will eventually come to dominate the majority of this market. Therefore, the correct implementation of Netflixs entry into the VOD market, wi ll serve as a bridge strategy, aiding Netflix in its evolution from a DVD rental service to a distributor of digital entertainment. 2 A Closer Look at Netflixs History Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph founded Netflix in 1997. DVDs were a relatively new technology, with less than a thousand titles available at the time, but Hastings and Randolph believed it had potential to replace the VHS format. The company began operating in April 1998, offering 7-day rentals for about $6. Netflix, along with Magic Disc, DVD Express, and Reel.com, were the first few companies to rent DVDs by mail. Netflix differentiated itself by spending heavily in promotions. It created partnerships with companies selling the most vital complementary good, a DVD player. It offered free rentals with the purchase of DVD players from Toshiba and Pioneer and computers with DVD drives from HP and Apple. However, Netflix was in direct competition with Amazon.com in selling DVDs so they came to a compromise in December 1998: Netflix would stop selling DVDs in exchange for being heavily promoted on Amazons website[2]. Netflix began to partner with online movie information providers and promoted more features on its website to attract more customers. In September 1999, it began the Marquee Program, offering 4 DVDs rentals per month with no late fees or due dates for a monthly subscription fee[2]. In February 2000, it introduced CineMatch, a program that evaluates the rental patterns of customers, identifying which movies customers of similar tastes would enjoy[3]. Both programs were highly popular and soon Netflix did not rent out individual DVDs, relying fully on the Marquee Program. Continuing its aggressive marketing and networking campaign, Netflix signed a deal with major DVD produc- ers, such as Warner Home Video and Columbia Tri-Star. In exchange for cheaper prices on large quantities of DVDs, the movie studios received a portion of the rental receipts[2]. As the success of Netflix grabbed the attention of the media, competitors began to respond. In the summer of 2002, Blockbuster started its own unlimited rentals and no late fee subscription plan and bought out an online DVD rental company. Wal-Mart and Columbia House also tried to amass large volumes of DVD titles to compete with Netflix. However, Netflix already had a solid foothold in the market, fending off these major competitors. In re- sponse, it announced the opening of more distribution facilities. Five years after its debut, Netflix finally began to produce profits[2]. On January 16, 2007 Netflix issued a press release regarding a New Feature Will Be Included in Subscribers Monthly Membership at no Extra Charge. For every dollar a user pays for their subscription, they will be able to view one hour of streaming video from a selection of about 1,000 movies and TV series on their PCs. Netflix also announced that they plan to expand the technology to reach every Internet-connected screen, from cell phones to PCs to plasma screens[10]. 3 SWOT Analysis 3.1 Strengths Entry timing Netflix entered the market for DVD rentals at a time when there were few other competitors in the market, allowing them to establish their brand name and image for providing a unique service. They were the first to offer DVD rental by mail and this allowed them to offer a greater variety of DVDs to consumers as compared to their competitors at the time, as DVDs were relatively new to the market. Combined with its successful business model, Netflixs early entry has allowed it to maintain a high relative market share in the online DVD rental industry. Understands weaknesses of competitors: Customer Satisfaction From the start, Netflix understood what irritated many video rental store customers: late fees. Usually after renting and watching a movie from a store such as Blockbuster, the customer has to rush to return the movie on the subsequent day (before midnight) or pay a late fee comparable to the price of the rental. Although Blockbuster does get an estimated 18% of its total revenue from late fees, it leaves the customer annoyed, frustrated, and unsatisfied. On the other hand, Netflix lets the customer keep the DVD until the customer wants to see the next one in their queue, allowing the fredom to return the movie at ones convenience[1]. Networked connections with many partners and even potential competitors From the very beginning of its entry into the market, Netflix understood the importance of making partner- ships with the movie industry, the electronics industry, and retailers[1]. Netflixs name was spread widely through promotions with complementary products, such as DVD players and movie websites. When it saw Amazon.com as a competitor, it stopped selling DVDs to cease all tensions in exchange for being promoted on their website. Additionally, quality leadership has enabled Netflix to stay afloat despite the advent of powerful competitors like Wal-Mart. Not only was Reed Hastings able to fend off Wal-Marts attempt to bankrupt Netflix, he was able to convince Wal-Mart to encourage customers to switch to Netflix after the Wal-Mart service fell through[3]. By staying strong but cooperative, Netflix ended up profiting from many threats. Award-winning website Netflixs website boasts many features. Netflixs CineMatch implements an award-winning algorithm that can predict with surprisingly consistent accuracy what movies someone would prefer given their previous rental history, planned future rentals, and ratings of movies theyve seen in the past[4]. Furthermore, theyre constantly trying to improve the CineMatch program: Netflix is offering a prize of $1 million for a better algorithm[18]. Netflixs large subscription base has allowed a small type of network externality to take shape. More Netflix subscribers means more people rate movies, write reviews for movies, and recommend movies to one another. This also helps fine-tune the accuracy of the CineMatch program. Unique and very large selection of DVDs Netflix has the largest and most diverse collection of DVDs out of any competitor. They have more than 75,000 titles, including foreign films and independent films that are usually not carried by other distributors such as Blockbuster Video and Wal-Mart[7]. Foreign films such as those from Indias Bollywood are particularly successful at attracting customer attention[2]. This selection of movies taps into the underserved population of consumers who are solely with Netflix because the unique titles Netflix has to offer cannot be found for rent elsewhere in the United States. 3.2 Weaknesses Like most brick-and-mortar rental businesses, Netflix often has trouble providing enough copies of new, popular movies. As a result, a main cause of customer dissatisfaction is Netflixs inability to completely satisfy the initial rush for a new movie. However, the company knows it would be unprofitable in the long run to buy more copies just to serve the rush when a movie first becomes available, because the copies will not be rented with nearly as much frequency soon after the rush. Customers have caught on to the fact that Netflix only purchases a limited quantity of new releases right away, opting to wait a few weeks to buy the bulk of its supply at lower costs. While this might save Netflix money, it also has the tendency to drive away current and potential customers. Finally, Netflix does not have a direct connection to any movie studios so it must purchase its entire media through the consumer market[5]. One disadvantage of Netflixs rent-by-mail business model is that customers have to wait (often for several days) for the next movie on their queue to arrive in their mailbox. In many cases, by the time the subscriber receives the DVD, he or she may no longer be in the mood to see that particular movie. Likewise, a Netflix subscriber may feel like watching a movie on a night where all of the DVDs that are part of their plan are currently on route to or from a Netflix distribution center. In such a case, the customer will likely leave the home and rent a movie from a brick-and-mortar retailer, or perhaps order a movie from a service such as Pay-Per-View or iN DEMAND. 3.3 Opportunities Netflix is in a position to expand right now. Previously, sending movies to customers through the mail was a novelty in the rental industry. Now, delivering movies straight to computers of customers is likely to be the next revolution in how consumers view movies in their homes[6]. Luckily for Netflix, this service is only available as a per-viewing basis. Netflix can seize this opportunity if it is successful in efficiently providing streaming content to a customer on a time usage basis rather than a per-viewing basis. In addition, active management could possibly enable Netflix to absorb current providers of this service, such as Movielink, in a way similar to how it absorbed Wal-Marts DVD division. 3.4 Threats The clearest threat to Netflix is Blockbuster and other established rental businesses. Beyond this, customer satisfaction is the only aspect of this business that can make or break a company. If Netflix were to lose its wholesome, reliable image, it might not be able to retain enough of the market to survive. Also, companies like Apple can potentially harm Netflix if they are able to provide services through ones computer that can be easily ported to ones TV[6]. Netflix is less suited to compete with hardware innovations such as Apple TV because it has little to no experience in this area, though such innovations may eventually be complementary rather than competitive. Moreover, there is always the threat of entry by another firm, especially into the VOD industry, a closely related industry, which Netflix is about to enter. 4 Six Forces Analysis of the Video on Demand Industry By offering streaming movies through its website, Netflix is entering the Video on Demand (VOD) industry. This industry, along with DVD rentals (both from online providers such as Netflix, and cable services such as On Demand and Pay-Per-View), is part of the larger industry of watching movies in the home. However, since Netflix is already positioned in this market, with its online DVD rentals, we will examine the smaller portion of the market that is streaming online movies. This business is too closely related to the movie downloading service to be considered as a separate market. 4.1 Entry The Video on Demand industry requires a significant level of capital, so potential entrants face the large sunk costs of acquiring licenses to the movies they want to provide. Moreover, it is too expensive for a firm considering this market to merely test the waters. An established video rental retailer already has experience in marketing movies to people, giving them an experience advantage over potential entrants. Netflix, for example, invested over $40 million to launch its Watch Now streaming video service, shocking many shareholders[6]. These shareholders reactions only highlight the risk involved with such sunk costs. Netflixs Watch Now feature will be fully integrated with its normal online DVD rental website. A firm without the technological advantage of a website with movie-recommendation algorithms like Netflixs CineMatch program is at a significant disadvantage. Moreover, Netflixs website alreay has reams of user reviews and input, that a new firm would be unable to match for years. The technology to offer high-quality downloads is also a barrier to entry, but this barrier is small because such technology is available for licensing from third parties. In this market, product differentiation takes the form of varying quality in the downloaded movies, yet it should be noted that all firms will at least have to offer quality that is very close to DVD quality in order to ensure that discerning customers continue to use their service. Besides quality, differentiation exists in the type of service offered by a company: streaming movies, permanent downloads, or limited time downloads. In sum, this is an industry where entry is difficult for all but the most experienced firms with already established online movie rental/sale experience. These firms are more likely to thrive in this market due to their experience, reputation, and recognizable brand names. 4.2 Rivalry The movie download industry, like the online DVD industry, is not very concentrated[20], and so the few market leaders that share the market may engage in rivalrous price competition. A key example of this is Netflixs and Blockbusters recent price war[8], which lasted until both resolved to settle on a higher price through tacit collusion. A variety of services are being offered in the online movie industry. Amazon Unbox sells movies that one can download and keep on ones harddrive for one to two days[9]. Netflixs Watch Now feature ties in its streaming movie service with its online DVD rental service. Current Netflix customers will get this service for free, which will cost significantly less than Amazon Unbox. Because the product is not easy to differentiate, the competition focuses more on the services provided with the product than the price. An existing variety of movies is essential in this market because consumers will frown upon not finding a movie they want to see. The entry barriers mentioned in the previous section will prevent small and undifferentiated firms from entering the market, practically ensuring that the prices will not be competitive. With a low concentration of firms and emerging differentiation, this industry will not likely be especially rivalrous. 4.3 Supplier Power Netflix and its competitors buy their movies from the movie studios that create the films. The major studios have marginal supplier power in the online movie download market because they are the exclusive source of big name movies that customers desire. These highly popular movies have practically no substitutes in the rental market. However, buyer concentration in this new market is relatively high[20], so suppliers tend to want to sell their product to all of the companies in the market to maximize their revenue. This reduces competition for supply and therefore prevents supplier power from being very high. In this particular market, studios may be concerned with cannibalizing their own product[6]. By making inexpensive movie downloading available to customers, they may lose sales on the more profitable hard case DVD sales. Therefore, large studios may be more willing to withhold licensing agreements to movie download providers such as Netflix, thus strengthening their own supplier power. Overall, the suppliers to this market have only enough power to slightly control prices, but not enough power to influence the evolution of the market as a whole because they must sell their product to survive. 4.4 Substitutes The main substitutes to streaming movies are brick-and-mortar rental stores, online rentals, pay per view TV and theatres. Brick-and-mortar rental stores provide the same service with possibly a better selection of movies as compared to movies available for download by Netflix, but they do not provide the instant gratification of downloading or streaming them whenever a customer desires[3]. Furthermore, the streaming movies service provided by Netflix is more cost effective than these other substitutes because Netflix plans to allot its users a total amount of stream time. For instance, if a customer decides after 20 minutes of watching a movie that he does not want to watch it anymore, switching to another movie incurs no extra cost. Substitutes such as buying per download or traditional renting do not offer this convenience. For this reason, these are weak substitutes to streaming videos. 4.5 Buyer Power Buyer power is very low in this market because one customers decision to buy the service or not will not affect the overall market at all. Similarly, one customers dissatisfaction will not influence a significant amount of other customers. The source of dissatisfaction would have to be concerning an inferior product or service to incite such a widespread response. Clearly, this is not something an independent customer can control. There are substitutes for movie rentals, but these are weak substitutes. Buyers can rent movies from local brick-and-mortar businesses, but this is not nearly as convenient as the instant-gratification downloading of movies. In a broader aspect, a customer always has the option to not spend their free time watching movies, no matter what the source, so the price of rental services cannot climb much higher than they currently are. Overall, individual customers do not hold bargaining power over the price of products in this market; however, the prices themsel ves are regulated by the substitutes and preferences of customers as a whole. 4.6 Complements Technology is the main complement to streaming videos offered by Netflix. The basic complement required is high bandwidth. According to Netflix, a consistent bandwidth of 3 megabits per second is required[10] to watch streaming videos online at DVD quality. This bandwidth is already present in over 47% of US households, which means over 50 million households have broadband service available[14]. Because the required infrastructure is already well developed, Netflix has access to a large customer base. This figure is projected to grow to 55% by the end of 2007, making it a dependable complement. Apart from bandwidth, another possible complement is a product similar to AppleTV that allows users to watch streaming videos directly on their big-screen televisions[15]. Currently, users with S-Video capability can connect their desktops to their televisions but this does not provide the simple and elegant solution the average Netflix customer is looking for. With easy methods to view stream ing videos on the television, physical media (CDs, DVDs, etc.) would be much less functional in the movie rental industry. 5 Netflixs Entry into the VOD Industry via Streaming Movies In our analysis below we will examine Netflixs current business model to find that their business can suc- cessfully incorporate such VOD offering. Netflixs choice of providing streaming content as opposed to downloadable movies allows it to differentiate its service from others in the market, thus aiding Netflix in its strategic positioning. There are both advantages and disadvantages in tying in this new service with Netflixs current subscription plans as opposed to offering the services separately, but the two can complement one another at this early stage in Netflixs entry. These proposed strategies will place Netflix in a strong position in the newly developing market of VOD, and can act as a bridge to allow Netflix to leave the DVD rental industry as physical media becomes obsolete. 5.1 Business Definition The question arises, however, as to how streaming videos and DVD rentals can both fit within Netflixs business definition. There exist scale economies associated with the offering or bundling both of the services, as Netflixs good relations with the movie studios will help enable it to negotiate better prices for its streaming movies. Much of Netflixs existing infrastructure, including its award-winning website cited to be one of Netflixs keys to success, will also apply to streaming movies. The same page that allows one to add a movie to their queue will have a Watch Now button allowing the user to begin streaming the movie immediately. Moreover, a substantial proportion of customers who rent movies online will be open to watching streaming movies, as both are ways of watching movies at home. Streaming videos may be used as a way to sift through movies they are considering to watch on DVD. Since these two somewhat different services have a similar consumer base and share benefits in cost structure, they can both be successfully integrated into the same business model. On the downside, however, it should be noted that many of the elements that allowed Netflix to succeed in renting out DVDs via mail, will not carry over to the digital distribution market. For example, superior logistics in mailing out DVDs and processing receieved DVDs will not aid Netflix in addressing bandwidth problems. The business model will have to undergo some changes if Netflix decides to offer a stand-alone streaming plan in the future (see Tying-in DVD Rentals and Streaming Movies below). 5.2 Netflixs Choice of Streaming Video over Movie Downloads The Online Video on Demand industry has consisted of services such as Amazon Unbox and Movielink which allow users to download a movie for a fixed cost of about $3 and have 24 to 48 hours to view it. Recently, Starz launched Vongo, which allows users to download and watch movies for an unlimited amount per month, but are only allowed to choose from a catalog that is mostly representative of movies currently airing on one or more of Starzs cable television channels[11]. Therefore, Netflixs immediate entry into the VOD market will mark the arrival of one of the first monthly payment-based content providers that will allow viewers to watch their movies via streaming video files, similar to the format that has been popularized on websites such as YouTube and Google Video with higher quality. Perhaps the greatest advantage to streaming video is that it offers an even greater instant gratification incentive than downloadable VOD movies, as one can get the former up and running within a couple minutes with a modest connection speed, whereas a full movie download will often take about a half hour or more. A disadvantage of Netflixs business model has been the waiting times associated with the turn-around between DVDs. Netflixs competitors have been quick to make use of their infrastructure to exploit this disadvantage. Blockbuster frequently gives monthly in-store movie rental benefits to its online subscribers such as a speedier gratification bonus, where the customer can drive to the store and rent a DVD for free to watch for the night while the DVDs previously requested online are still in transit[12]. Now, Netflix can take the lead again in offering the fastest way to watch a movie in ones home. 5.3 One Subscription: Tying-in DVD Rentals and Streaming Movies Netflixs Watch Now will be available at no additional cost to all subscribes within the first half of 2007; there is no plan offering only the streaming download service without DVD rentals. The bundling of these two services is a necessary component of Netflixs strategy. By doing so, Netflix will differentiate its service from the services offered by its competitors and use these complementary goods to reinforce one another (as mentioned above in Business Definition). Netflix simply needs to consider this new bundled feature as just another method of delivering their product. Movie studios who supply films to Netflix are afraid that this Watch Now feature will contribute to cannibalization of their own DVD sales market. They are also concerned with the potential piracy of streaming and downloaded videos[6]. Due to the studios unusual supplier power in this particular matter, the catalog of movies that can be streamed with Netflix is much smaller than the size of their total DVD catalog. If Netflix offered a separate streaming plan, it would have a library of only about 1,000 films and television series to offer to its subscribers, making it difficult to satisfy a wide range of consumers. Variety of selection has always been one of Netflixs keys to success, so spinning off a half-hearted stand alone service could potentially harm its brand name. Tying the two services together allows consumers to see that Netflix is expanding its features since it offers it at no increase in price. It is providing existing subscribers a greater value and giving potential subscribers more incentive to try Netflixs services. By offering the new product as a tie-in, consumers are presented with a unique service that they can only get from Netflix. Consumers are given the opportunity to see a movie precisely when they want to, but can still order a DVD they feel like watching later. This gives consumers the opportunity to see more movies for a relatively lower cost than using only rental services or only temporary download services. The threat of price competition is reduced because the bundle of services makes Netflix appear to be less of a direct threat to download-only VOD services. The only firms able to replicate Netflixs bundling structure are those with an established DVD rental infrastructure. However, Blockbuster is such a firm capable of imitating Netflixs bundling model, especially as it has recently entered negotiations to acquire Movielink, a movie downloading service that offers both downloadable purchases and temporary downloads[13][20]. Blockbusters interest in Movielink suggests that it will more specifically attempt to integrate movie download rentals and sales into its online subscription plans[13], as opposed to streaming content. Should Blockbuster acquire Movielink, it will be able to offer a similar subscription plan to that being offered by Netflix. This apparently small difference reduces the threat of price competition because it will present consumers with a dilemma of preference, rather than an obvious choice of choosing the cheaper of two seemingly identical services. At this early stage in Netflixs attempts in the VOD industry, it is important that Netflix ties in its VOD offerings with its existing, time-tested DVD rental service. This ensures Netflix offers a unique and differen- tiated good, while not risking Netflixs brand name due to the lack of selection in the movies being offered, potential problems that may arise due to Netflixs lack of experience in the industry, and the relatively new and untested technologies being put to use to offer these services. 5.4 Positioning for the Future Over time, Netflixs bundling of DVD rentals with streaming movies will enable them to work out any kinks they have with their ability to distribute movies digitally, while continuing to build a large customer base of subscribers. Traditionally, Netflix has relied on a combination of word-of-mouth suggestions from their existing subscribers and an aggressive marketing campaign[1]. Should they continue to market their services effectively, their subscriber base will grow steadily, and Netflix will be able to collect more personalized user data and become even more proficient at being able to personalize [their] library to each subscriber by leveraging [their] database of user preferences[17]. Netflixs compilation of this data and their subsequent understanding of their customer base will serve a vital part in aiding their positioning in the coming future. However, the future of the DVD rental industry is very unclear as newer forms of media are developed. There are several factors that could hurt the industry that Netflix and other DVD rental outlets have been paying attention to. It is predicted that DVD and its successor formats (Blu-Ray and HD-DVD) will be more prevalent than digitally distributed movies in the short term[6][19]. Yet as complementary technologies grow that will allow for streaming of high definition movies directly to HDTV, VOD will continue to gain popularity and will eventually unseat DVD and other physical forms of media as the dominant format for watching rented movies at home[17]. Technology, however, is not the only barrier to the inevitable prevalence of VOD. As previously mentioned, the studios are wary of allowing the legal digital distribution of films to take place on a major scale, as they rely on DVD sales for a large portion of their revenues. Moreover, if the studios start reducing the window of time in which a movie is exclusively available on DVD after its major theatrical run or allow movies to be distributed in the home in other formats before they can be distributed on DVD, Netflix and other DVD rental firms will be adversely affected[17]. They will no longer have a significant advantage in allowing consumers to view new releases first through their services and more substitutes emerge for viewing those new releases (Pay-Per View, iN DEMAND, etc.). The fate of the DVD rental industry largely depends on factors outside of the hands of Netflix and its competitors. In order to prepare for the demise of the DVD industry, Netflix must make its streaming services available under a separate subscription plan of its own. This point will likely come at a time when the penetration of technology allowing for viewing streaming content on high-end TVs is substantially high. The technology already exists in some ways; the Apple TV is used to wirelessly connect to ones computer and retrieve movies downloaded from the iTunes store onto the computer, then play those movies on ones television[16]. However, it will be some time before this expensive technology is adopted by the mainstream population to such an extent that the digital distribution of movies onto those TVs will return large profits. It is also at this time that Netflixs experience with streaming under the previous tie-in structure will aid it in completely changing its business model toward eventually becoming a digital distributor of filmed entertainment as opposed to a DVD rental outlet. The o ne important factor it will maintain from its rent-DVDs-by-mail days will be the aforementioned personalized library available to its subscriber. Netflix will continue to benefit from the advantages associated with its superior understanding of its customer base through their databases, which they have acquired over the years and will continue to develop. Clearly, Netflixs competitors will be trying to do the same. As mentioned before, Blockbusters acquisition of Movielink only serves to signal that it is also pursuing a similar strategy in trying to survive beyond the death of physical media[20]. Yet, Netflix has historically been more adept at understanding its consumers and delivering easier to use cont