The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire

The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire Free Online Research Papers The Roman Empire was known for many things. Its government, its leaders, and even certain achievements in history. People read about the Rise of the Roman Empirebut what about the fall? Many things in Roman History ultimately led to the fall of the Roman Empire. The population was decreasing. Plagues swept through the Roman citizens and birth rates were at all time lows. They welcomed barbarians who fed them food polluted with lead. Roman wealth in the West was deteriorating and the barbarians who kept camp outside the empire were often just as wealthy as the empire as a whole. Rome was being populated more and more by the barbarians than Roman citizens. This led to the military practically being led and populated by barbarians. The Roman legion was losing dominance because of the military advances of the cavalry. The Romans were also losing the value of their money. Coins worth one dollar were being spent as if they were worth 2 or three. Roman coins consisted mostly of four type of precious metal. Aureus were made from gold, Denarius were made from silver, sestertius and dupondius were made from bronze, and as was made from copper. As time went by the Roman coinage was losing value. They were still being accepted as a form of payment until the middle of the third century B.C to third century A.D. The coins kept being replaced and denominated until they were basically worth nothing. The Aerarium, or the state treasury, was overlooked by the Quaestors, then the Praetors, and then the Prefects. Eventually the Emperor took over and made his own treasury. It was known as the Fiscus. The Aerarium was still around but was used for tribute. Other Imperial territories put their money in the fiscus. The Roman trade is what was driving the economy. The Romans knew of two type of business man. The negotiators, part bankers because they lent on interest, and the Mercatoers, usually pleblians or freedmen. The negotiators bought and/or sold things in bulk and/or did whole sale quantities of goods. The Argetarii were considered to be a subset of the negotiators. They acted as agents in public or private auctions, kept deposits of money for individuals, cashed cheques, and served as many changers. They kept strict books or tabulae which were considered legal proof in courts. The Mensarii were public bankers anointed by the state. The Romans did not only trade with each other but also with India and China. The Roman social class was divided in to several classes based on ancestry and property. The broadest division was by ancestry. The Patricians, persons who could trace their ancestry to the First Roman senate established by Romulus, and the pleblians, the other citizens. At first only Patricians were allowed to hold public offices and the classes couldn’t intermarry. This changed when the pleblians had a sort of workers strike. The with held their labor and pulled enough power to change things.After this the status on the patrician and pleblians became less and less important. There were also non-citizens. This group consisted of slaves, freedmen, foreigners, and women. The freedmen, women, and foreigners had different legal rights from those of citizen status but slaves had no rights what so ever(shocking). The free born women belonged to the social class of their father until they were married. After that they take the status of their husbands. Women who were freed could mar ry but had restrictions. They couldn’t marry knights or Senators and they didn’t take their husbands rank. Foreigners had the Latin Right. A form of Roman citizenship but people under the Latin Right couldn’t vote and they had fewer rights under the Roman Law. The slaves were not allowed to marry. The Roman Empire seems(when you read it) as if it was doing fine. The economy was okay, social classes set in order, and the leaders were in the driver’s seat†¦most of the time. The Roman Empire was said to have fallen on September 4, 476 A.D. He over took Romulus Augustulus and seized control of Italy. He didn’t take the title as emperor and ended 500 years of Roman rule. Research Papers on The Rise and Fall of the Roman EmpireQuebec and CanadaThe Effects of Illegal Immigration19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraPETSTEL analysis of IndiaBringing Democracy to AfricaAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeTwilight of the UAWDefinition of Export QuotasWhere Wild and West MeetGenetic Engineering

Amazon.Com Case Studies

Kannan Submission Date: 07. March. 2009 [pic] TABLE OF CONTENTS ChapterTitlePage 1. 0Executive Summary 2. 0Problem Statement1 3. 0Analysis of Causes 3. 1 Amazon’s Debt 2-3 3. 2 Competition3-4 3. 3 Expansion4-6 4. 0Decision Criteria and Alternative Solutions 4. 1 Reduce expenditure in inventories and better management7 in supply chain 4. Presenting a competitive edge to competitors7 4. 3 Expansionto Asia8 5. Recommended Solutions 5. 1 Technology Integration and RD9 5. 2 Strategic Cost Analysis9 5. 3 Differentiation9 5. 4 Inventory10 5. 5 Visionary Informative10-11 5. 6 Keep customers in the loop on everything11 5. 7 Shipping Delivery11 5. 8 Expansion to Asia Region11-12 5. 9 Word-of mouth advertisement12 6. 0 Expand the product lines13 6. 0Appendices14-16 7. 0References17 Executive Summary The study comprises of Amazon. om which started its history by selling books and now one of the online market leaders globally not only for books but products from various categories. Compa ny started with a mission to be Earth’s most customer centric company. In order to become the largest and convenience online store for all, there are major problems or threat being faced by Amazon. com in succeeding its mission. The major problems are Amazon facing high amount of debt, it’s less initiative in not expanding to other developed countries, and also competition from other online retailers and one tough opponent is Barnes Nobles. Many plans of actions can be taken and some of it is; Amazon. com should decrease long–term debt by increasing expenditure on research and development, increasing word-to-mouth advertisement and good customer service. Amazon. com should also expand the five most common languages in Asian region. Focus marketing strategies on customer feedback to find out what Asian customers tend to buy and willing to spend on. Strategize new plan on improving sites to be informative and attractive as much as possible so Amazon. com should also adapt to the best technology where it can sustain as a strong innovator in ever increasing retailer market. Amazon. com also must strive to give customers the best service in shipping and delivery as it’s an important aspect in online business to out beat its entire competitors on this online industry. Problem Statement The main problem faced by Amazon. com now being an online retailer can be divided to three in overall. Amazon. com is in confronting huge debt behind their successful screen. Amazon. com is lack of expansion to other regions or Asia which be said as another big market for a huge online bookseller as Amazon. com. Another problem is the competition being faced by them with one of the tough opponent as BarnesNobles. Analysis of the Problem Amazon. com’s in Debt 3. 1 Amazon’s Debt One of major causes of Amazon’s huge debt is its large expenditure. In order to keep its advantageous position, Amazon has no choice but to continue to spend astronomical amounts of money on sales marketing, research development and general administrative costs. (Table 1 Table 2) â€Å"One misstep, and its love affair withy investors and sources of capital could be over. (Kimberly Weisul, 1999) †¢ Competitors Although Amazon won the battle soon after entering the online cd and music market, there are some competitions in other product lines that may be too immensely strong to beat. For example, in March of 1999, Amazon introduced an auction service. After a few months effort, its auction business performed slightly, indicating how difficult it is to challenge the giant’s eBay and Y ahoo! Auctions. |Auction Sites |27-Sep-99 |Multiplier needed to equal eBay listings | |Amazon Auctions |4. 0% |15. 3 | |eBay |73. 60% |   | |Yahoo! Auctions |21. 60% |3. 4 | Source: Auction Web sites and C. E Unterberg Towbin †¢ Consumer Behavior Amazon. com is widely regarded as having one of the best management team of any internet company. However, there are some outside forces that are not easy to manipulate. Security; as the number of Internet crimes increases, customers are becoming aware of the possible danger involved in the process of on-line shopping. This security problem may not be difficult to improve since security technology is innovated quickly, but to convince customer of this is not as easy ? Etailers vs. retailers Another factor is hard to manage customer purchasing habits. Most consumers still prefer the capability of seeing a product before buying it. Additionally, the number of people buying personal computers and that of the Internet population will dir ectly affect Amazon’s sale. . 2 Competition †¢ Michael Porter’s Model ? Supplier ; Amazon started to build its own distribution centers in different locations and moving the products directly form the factory rather than from other distributors such that Amazon can lower its marginal costs. (Chao Janice C. Rice, Brandi S. Dec 8, 1999) ? Consumers ; Amazon. com continues to spend a lot of money in advertisement to reach customers as well as to increase customer awareness of eCommerce in general and brand name in particular. (Chao Janice C. Rice, Brandi S. Dec 8, 1999) ? Substitutes; The Substitute of eCommerce, the traditional retailers, is still more attractive than the Etailers. For example, we as consumers more than likely would rather go to the bookstore and browse through a book before we buy it. (Chao Janice C. Rice, Brandi S. Dec 8, 1999 ) 3. 3 Expansion †¢ Lack of Spanish website version (Latino and Hispanic Americans are the fastest-growing online ethnic group) †¢ Amazon. com is very less popular or it can said there are people without knowing the existence of Amazon. om †¢ Website is not more expanded with more languages options where currently there are options only for Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France and China (www. amazon. com) Competition with Barnes Nobles Amazon. com Weakness ? Difficulties of handling large number of customers ? Limited operating history ? Security awareness ? Low margins in the sector ? Risk of introduction of wrong new categories which could damage company’s bran d ? Company’s offered free shipping might affect future financial outcome ? Certain products (high volume/weight) have high shipping costs which could confront with local offline retailers Threats ? eBay, Barnes Nobles, and Wal-Mart ? Population segment not targeted to on-line sales due to their lack of internet access ? Weak economic performance of Germany and France in the last year ? Competition will increase due to the low barriers to entry in the market: offline companies are coming online ? Heavy investments in Partnerships (Dustin Nadeau Donatas Sumyla. April 2006) Barnes and Nobles and Amazon. com are competing, but both stores and other online stores recognize what works and are studying one another – often duplicating one another’s business strategies. This has resulted in them having more similarities than differences and it helps the consumers find similarities across the Web such as; †¢ When a description of an item is given, Amazon and Barnes and Nobles both place the shopping cart option prominently displayed to the upper, right portion of the screen. This makes it very efficient and useable for the viewer and they do not have to search around the page for this button. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) †¢ In pricing, both Amazon. com and Barnesandnobles. com display the average price or their items above their own discounted rates so that the users feel as though they are saving money. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) †¢ Both sites are â€Å"Flexible†, there is an option of buying things at a later date and placing them in the shopping cart temporarily. This option is called the wish list and it is displayed just beneath the â€Å"Add to Cart† button. Users can access this saved information and acce ss it on their next visit. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) †¢ Both sites offer â€Å"Security† that provides safe shopping, privacy and efficiency by requiring customers to join as members at a certain point during a transaction. Membership is free and requires an email address, full name, home address and phone number. It allowing customers to maintain an order status and helps provide a history of what they bought. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) †¢   Both sites are very â€Å"Scalable†, allowing for a huge selection of items to be added to the product catalog or taken away. A Field size is accommodated in the database. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) 4. 0 Alternative Solutions 4. 1 Reduce expenditure in inventories and better management in supply chain ? Use increased income to pay down long-term debt ? Keep operating costs low (efficiencies of scales) ? Increase expenditure on Research Development arena ? Strategic cost analysis ( WOU , MIS notes) ? Determining Differentiation ( WOU , MIS notes) 4. 2 Presenting a competitive edge to competitors †¢ Create more expertise in marketing and more product launches compared to competitors; †¢ Do a more through research on the customers needs and come up with something new that has its own brand and establishes as only Amazon. om could have the product. (Sujan Sarkar. April 23, 2007) †¢ A new Strategy on only books should be brought up in order to outcome one tough opponent as Barnes Nobles. For example, Amazon. com’s booth’s can be set up in country sides where there is no access for Internet and give knowledge to country people that there also business through online. This is because; giving more exposure and awareness to people might be a business opportunit y as well. †¢ Product review information; Customers would have n a clear description, synopsis and other customer’s review on the book as it gives a clear rating of the book and there won’t be any sort of disappointments for them after purchase. 4. 3 Expansion to Asia †¢ Create different website versions based on the five most common language in Asian region †¢ Focus marketing strategies on customer feedback to find out what Asian customers tend to buy. †¢ Word of mouth advertisement (Onder Savas Devrim Dirik. January 9, 2003) †¢ Continue expanding its product lines 5. 0 Recommended Solution Implementation 5. Technology Integration and RD Amazon. com should increase expenditure in the research and development arena. We believe that Amazon should prepare itself for additional telecommunications implementations such as high speed internet and network security. These types of implementation, though representative of considerable RD costs, are pro bably most significant factors that etailers must prepare for near future. As users, connections increase in speed, any delays on the part of the etailer they are connecting to will become obvious and less tolerable. Amazon can stay ahead of the pack by preparing a unique and comfortable interface for the users. 5. 2 Strategic Cost Analysis Amazon. com should also use Strategic cost analysis process where identify the firm’s value chain, diagnose the key elements that drive the costs of each value activity, identify competitors value chains, develop a strategy to lower relative costs by controlling cost drivers, ensure that any cost reduction does not erode differentiation in service and test the cost reductions if its sustainable in the end of the analysis. . 3 Differentiation They should also consider by costs by determining Differentiation where the process goes as determine who the real buyer is, identify buyer’s value chain and put in rank order the buyer’s reason to purchase, asses the current potential sources of diffentiation, identify the cost of these resources, design a value chain to maximize value relative costs, test for sustainiablity and reduce costs in activi ties that do not affect the chosen forms of differentiation. 5. Inventory; There are programs built to be extremely user-friendly, and most offer great support along the way of usage for online businesses to maintain the book database. Amazon should invest in software to best highlight and maintain the data on the site and importantly back up systems. Keep inventory accurate and up to date; This is also an important aspect that Amazon can out beat its competitors with as this is first step towards building a long-term relationship with that customer. Inventory of the books stock-out and sold out will be kept up to date on the site. 5. 5 Visionary Informative A picture is worth a thousand words; Uploading pictures by decreasing explanations or descriptions could attract customer’s attraction and curiosity in exploring the book. Somehow it boosts up sales compared to other online booksellers who give attention in words. Product Review Information; In case of books, editorial reviews are provided by the company and it applies for all books. Customers can also rate each other’s review. A rating is placed against each review so that customers can decide whether to read or not based on that. Most online booksellers do not include this but they display the customer’s satisfaction on the delivery service provided by them which is less important to boost up sales. People out there want to pay you for your books; Amazon should use own merchant service account or a service offered by a listing site, make sure that customers can buy books quickly and painlessly with a credit card while you have them on the brink of finalizing said purchase. Don’t judge a book by its cover; First impressions are lasting impressions. When a customer receives the book they’ve ordered, make sure the first thing they see is a product and package that you are proud to have supplied by using use clean, new boxes without writing (or envelopes for low-cost paperbacks) for shipments. Customers will be expecting an excellent service but if its vice versa then they are chances for them to switch to other online retailers. 5. 6 Keep customers in the loop on everything; Amazon should update the status of order to customers on the order made and also keep them in loop by e-mail the listing service directly with questions about their orders and keep updating the latest events and new stocks of books through emails. 5. 7 Shipping Delivery Follow-up; After shipping out an item to the customer, Amazon should send them an e-mail a day or two after expecting that they’ll receive their package, asking them if they’ve received it and are satisfied, and reminding them that there customer rep are there to help should they have any questions about their order. This is also a great time to remind them that you have similar items in stock or to offer them a coupon towards future purchases. 5. 8 Expansion to Asia Region Amazon should strive to expand its expertise to Asia region as well as high potentials are there which huge population. Education is becoming one important aspect in Asia and lack of important reference books are always a problem in many parts of Asia. It should diversify its marketing capability in Asia too to capture the market. Amazon is very less popular in Asia regions. Amazon. om should take Asia to consider for its business expansion. Amazon could also diversify its marketing and research ability to expand mostly to the developed countries of other territory. In order to grow big and always sustain in the market and competition, Amazon should takes this sort of steps to expand. International Sites; Amazon. com has got an added advantage of international sites on Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France and China. All about what the customers have to do to browse the site with their language is by clicking to their national site. For example, if you clink Japan, immediately the whole website will change its descriptions and instructions into Japanese language. This is not at all applicable for a customer in Malaysia or any other regions of Asia. It should expand and add more languages options in its site to accumulate its customers. Giving customers what they want is also one strategy not all online business can do but if this can be proven in Amazon’s case then it have all the potential to be the one. 5. 9 Word-of mouth advertisement Amazon also should increase its word-of mouth advertisement. This might seem odd for an industry leader to rely upon such a quaint tactics as this, but we truly believe that in the world of Internet this is a powerful tool. We are quick to visit sites that our friends identify as being fabulous, and Amazon might capitalize on this by rewarding its customers who can reel in a new prospects. 6. 0 Expand the product lines Amazon should expand its product lines. Given’s Amazon’s vision and its unique position in the etailer industry, the cost associated with entering new markets is significantly lower than that of its competitors. There is no reasons to let this advantage slip away unused. Conclusion In order to stay focus on business Amazon. com has various ways and strategies that can be implemented with proper organizations communication networks. Financial reports should be reviewed annually and quarterly if necessary to come up with decisions whether to boost up sales or to maintain on a certain criteria for the wellness of business. Amazon. com also should have a frequent customer feedback program where they could exchange view on the services and products most desired to be acquired online by customers. Top level management meetings should be initiated to assure goals are achieved. A proper corrective action should be determined after the first year if annual objectives weren’t accomplished. However there are difficulties and competitions to overcome, and how companies attack these difficulties will separate the winners form the losers. Appendix |AMAZON. COM, INC. HISTORICAL INCOME STATEMENTS | |(in millions, except per share data)(quarterly information unaudited) | |Amazon. com Investor Relations | | | | | | | |Calendar Years Ended – December 31, | | |2008 |2007 |2006 |2005 |2004 |2003 |2002 | |Media |   | $ 5,350 | $ 4,630 | $ 3,582 | $ 3,046 | $ 2,589 | $ | | | | | | | | |2,270 | |Other |   | 448 | 326 | 263 | 222 | 130 | | | | | | | | | |110 | |International |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | |Media |   | 5,734 | 4,612 | 3,485 | 2,885 | 2,513 | | | | | | | | | |1,780 | |Other |   | 94| 57| 20| | | | | | | | | |8 |2 |- | |Consolidated |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | |Media |   | 11,084 | 9,242 | 7,067 | 5,931 | 5,102 | | | | | | | | | |4,050 | |Other |   | 542 | 383 | 283 | 230 | 132 | | | | | | | | | |110 | Table 2- Source; www. amazon. com (Investors Relations) |Total U. S. Home, Work and University Locations, Unique Visitors (000) | |Source: comScore Media Metrix | |Rank |Property |Unique Visitors |Rank |Property |Unique Visitors | | | |(000) | | |  (000) | |   |Total Internet : Total Audience |191,863 |   |   |   | |1 |Google Sites |151,010 |26 |Target Corporation |28,628 | |2 |Yahoo! Sites |146,131 |27 |Time Warner – Excluding AOL |27,209 | |3 |Microsoft Sites |125,568 |28 |Weatherbug Property |26,944 | |4 |AOL LLC |108,441 |29 |Bank of America |26,322 | |5 |Fox Interactive Media |90,510 |30 |United Online, Inc |26,048 | |6 |Ask Network |74,742 |31 |Gorilla Nation |25,585 | |7 |eBay |72,160 |32 |ATT, Inc. 25,574 | |8 |Amazon Sites |64,768 |33 |Answers. com Sites |25,563 | |9 |Wikipedia Foundation Sites |62,737 |34 |Demand Media |25,447 | |10 |FACEBOOK. COM |57,232 |35 |CareerBuilder LLC |24,750 | |11 |Glam Media |55,293 |36 |Everyday Health |24,717 | |12 |Turner Network |54,877 |37 |Shopzilla. com Sites |24,097 | |13 |Apple Inc. 54,194 |38 |Photobucket. com LLC |23,928 | |14 |CBS Corporation |53,539 |39 |WordPress |23,730 | |15 |New York Times Digital |49,110 |40 |Real. com Network |23,359 | |16 |Viacom Digital |46,510 |41 |Expedia Inc |22,703 | |17 |Weather Channel, The |40,056 |42 |JPMorgan Chase Property |22,399 | |18 |craigslist, inc. 39,437 |43 |Monst er Worldwide |22,244 | |19 |ATT Interactive Network |38,184 |44 |Gannett Sites |21,829 | |20 |Adobe Sites |35,315 |45 |WorldNow – ABC Owned Sites |21,586 | |21 |Comcast Corporation |33,940 |46 |WebMD Health |21,185 | |22 |Wal-Mart |33,513 |47 |iVillage. com: The Womens Network |21,002 | |23 |Superpages. com Network |32,558 |48 |NBC Universal |20,974 | |24 |Verizon Communications Corporation |32,412 |49 |WhitePages |19,351 | |25 |Disney Online |30,345 |50 |ESPN |19,266 | Table 3; Media Matrix; http://www. comscore. com References 1] Chao Janice C. Rice, Brandi S. Dec 8, 1999 http://www. rhsmith. umd. du/faculty/jbailey/ents630/amazon. pdf 2] Dustin Nadeau Donatas Sumyla. April 2006- Amazon. Com Inc 2004. (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 3] Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001 – E-Transaction: Shopping Carts Comparison (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 4] Paul Larson. February 14, Amazon. com – Motley Fool Research, Stock Report http://www. fool. com/search/index. aspx? go=1site=USMFq=am azon. com (Accessed Feb 16, 2009) 5] Onder Savas Devrim Dirik. January 9, 2003 – Informat? on Management (Accessed Feb 16, 2009) 6] Strategic Analysis of Amazon. com (Accessed Feb 19, 2009) 7] www. wikinvest. com/wiki/E-Commerce, (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 8] www. ikinvest. com/stock/Amazon. com_(AMZN), (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 9] www. wikinvest. com/stock/Barnes_%26_Noble_(BKS), (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 10] Sujan Sarkar. April 23, 2007 – Amazon vs. Barnes Noble: www. santarosa. edu/~ssarkar/cs66sp07/fprj/abn. htm (Accessed Feb 16, 2009) 11] Table 1- Source; www. amazon. com (Investors Relations) (Accessed Feb 17, 2009) 12] Table 2- Source; www. amazon. com (Investors Relations) (Accessed Feb 17, 2009) 13] Table 3; Media Matrix; http://www. comscore. com (Accessed Feb 17, 2009) ———————– AMAZON Supplier New Entrance Substitute Consumers Amazon.Com Case Studies Kannan Submission Date: 07. March. 2009 [pic] TABLE OF CONTENTS ChapterTitlePage 1. 0Executive Summary 2. 0Problem Statement1 3. 0Analysis of Causes 3. 1 Amazon’s Debt 2-3 3. 2 Competition3-4 3. 3 Expansion4-6 4. 0Decision Criteria and Alternative Solutions 4. 1 Reduce expenditure in inventories and better management7 in supply chain 4. Presenting a competitive edge to competitors7 4. 3 Expansionto Asia8 5. Recommended Solutions 5. 1 Technology Integration and RD9 5. 2 Strategic Cost Analysis9 5. 3 Differentiation9 5. 4 Inventory10 5. 5 Visionary Informative10-11 5. 6 Keep customers in the loop on everything11 5. 7 Shipping Delivery11 5. 8 Expansion to Asia Region11-12 5. 9 Word-of mouth advertisement12 6. 0 Expand the product lines13 6. 0Appendices14-16 7. 0References17 Executive Summary The study comprises of Amazon. om which started its history by selling books and now one of the online market leaders globally not only for books but products from various categories. Compa ny started with a mission to be Earth’s most customer centric company. In order to become the largest and convenience online store for all, there are major problems or threat being faced by Amazon. com in succeeding its mission. The major problems are Amazon facing high amount of debt, it’s less initiative in not expanding to other developed countries, and also competition from other online retailers and one tough opponent is Barnes Nobles. Many plans of actions can be taken and some of it is; Amazon. com should decrease long–term debt by increasing expenditure on research and development, increasing word-to-mouth advertisement and good customer service. Amazon. com should also expand the five most common languages in Asian region. Focus marketing strategies on customer feedback to find out what Asian customers tend to buy and willing to spend on. Strategize new plan on improving sites to be informative and attractive as much as possible so Amazon. com should also adapt to the best technology where it can sustain as a strong innovator in ever increasing retailer market. Amazon. com also must strive to give customers the best service in shipping and delivery as it’s an important aspect in online business to out beat its entire competitors on this online industry. Problem Statement The main problem faced by Amazon. com now being an online retailer can be divided to three in overall. Amazon. com is in confronting huge debt behind their successful screen. Amazon. com is lack of expansion to other regions or Asia which be said as another big market for a huge online bookseller as Amazon. com. Another problem is the competition being faced by them with one of the tough opponent as BarnesNobles. Analysis of the Problem Amazon. com’s in Debt 3. 1 Amazon’s Debt One of major causes of Amazon’s huge debt is its large expenditure. In order to keep its advantageous position, Amazon has no choice but to continue to spend astronomical amounts of money on sales marketing, research development and general administrative costs. (Table 1 Table 2) â€Å"One misstep, and its love affair withy investors and sources of capital could be over. (Kimberly Weisul, 1999) †¢ Competitors Although Amazon won the battle soon after entering the online cd and music market, there are some competitions in other product lines that may be too immensely strong to beat. For example, in March of 1999, Amazon introduced an auction service. After a few months effort, its auction business performed slightly, indicating how difficult it is to challenge the giant’s eBay and Y ahoo! Auctions. |Auction Sites |27-Sep-99 |Multiplier needed to equal eBay listings | |Amazon Auctions |4. 0% |15. 3 | |eBay |73. 60% |   | |Yahoo! Auctions |21. 60% |3. 4 | Source: Auction Web sites and C. E Unterberg Towbin †¢ Consumer Behavior Amazon. com is widely regarded as having one of the best management team of any internet company. However, there are some outside forces that are not easy to manipulate. Security; as the number of Internet crimes increases, customers are becoming aware of the possible danger involved in the process of on-line shopping. This security problem may not be difficult to improve since security technology is innovated quickly, but to convince customer of this is not as easy ? Etailers vs. retailers Another factor is hard to manage customer purchasing habits. Most consumers still prefer the capability of seeing a product before buying it. Additionally, the number of people buying personal computers and that of the Internet population will dir ectly affect Amazon’s sale. . 2 Competition †¢ Michael Porter’s Model ? Supplier ; Amazon started to build its own distribution centers in different locations and moving the products directly form the factory rather than from other distributors such that Amazon can lower its marginal costs. (Chao Janice C. Rice, Brandi S. Dec 8, 1999) ? Consumers ; Amazon. com continues to spend a lot of money in advertisement to reach customers as well as to increase customer awareness of eCommerce in general and brand name in particular. (Chao Janice C. Rice, Brandi S. Dec 8, 1999) ? Substitutes; The Substitute of eCommerce, the traditional retailers, is still more attractive than the Etailers. For example, we as consumers more than likely would rather go to the bookstore and browse through a book before we buy it. (Chao Janice C. Rice, Brandi S. Dec 8, 1999 ) 3. 3 Expansion †¢ Lack of Spanish website version (Latino and Hispanic Americans are the fastest-growing online ethnic group) †¢ Amazon. com is very less popular or it can said there are people without knowing the existence of Amazon. om †¢ Website is not more expanded with more languages options where currently there are options only for Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France and China (www. amazon. com) Competition with Barnes Nobles Amazon. com Weakness ? Difficulties of handling large number of customers ? Limited operating history ? Security awareness ? Low margins in the sector ? Risk of introduction of wrong new categories which could damage company’s bran d ? Company’s offered free shipping might affect future financial outcome ? Certain products (high volume/weight) have high shipping costs which could confront with local offline retailers Threats ? eBay, Barnes Nobles, and Wal-Mart ? Population segment not targeted to on-line sales due to their lack of internet access ? Weak economic performance of Germany and France in the last year ? Competition will increase due to the low barriers to entry in the market: offline companies are coming online ? Heavy investments in Partnerships (Dustin Nadeau Donatas Sumyla. April 2006) Barnes and Nobles and Amazon. com are competing, but both stores and other online stores recognize what works and are studying one another – often duplicating one another’s business strategies. This has resulted in them having more similarities than differences and it helps the consumers find similarities across the Web such as; †¢ When a description of an item is given, Amazon and Barnes and Nobles both place the shopping cart option prominently displayed to the upper, right portion of the screen. This makes it very efficient and useable for the viewer and they do not have to search around the page for this button. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) †¢ In pricing, both Amazon. com and Barnesandnobles. com display the average price or their items above their own discounted rates so that the users feel as though they are saving money. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) †¢ Both sites are â€Å"Flexible†, there is an option of buying things at a later date and placing them in the shopping cart temporarily. This option is called the wish list and it is displayed just beneath the â€Å"Add to Cart† button. Users can access this saved information and acce ss it on their next visit. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) †¢ Both sites offer â€Å"Security† that provides safe shopping, privacy and efficiency by requiring customers to join as members at a certain point during a transaction. Membership is free and requires an email address, full name, home address and phone number. It allowing customers to maintain an order status and helps provide a history of what they bought. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) †¢   Both sites are very â€Å"Scalable†, allowing for a huge selection of items to be added to the product catalog or taken away. A Field size is accommodated in the database. (Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001) 4. 0 Alternative Solutions 4. 1 Reduce expenditure in inventories and better management in supply chain ? Use increased income to pay down long-term debt ? Keep operating costs low (efficiencies of scales) ? Increase expenditure on Research Development arena ? Strategic cost analysis ( WOU , MIS notes) ? Determining Differentiation ( WOU , MIS notes) 4. 2 Presenting a competitive edge to competitors †¢ Create more expertise in marketing and more product launches compared to competitors; †¢ Do a more through research on the customers needs and come up with something new that has its own brand and establishes as only Amazon. om could have the product. (Sujan Sarkar. April 23, 2007) †¢ A new Strategy on only books should be brought up in order to outcome one tough opponent as Barnes Nobles. For example, Amazon. com’s booth’s can be set up in country sides where there is no access for Internet and give knowledge to country people that there also business through online. This is because; giving more exposure and awareness to people might be a business opportunit y as well. †¢ Product review information; Customers would have n a clear description, synopsis and other customer’s review on the book as it gives a clear rating of the book and there won’t be any sort of disappointments for them after purchase. 4. 3 Expansion to Asia †¢ Create different website versions based on the five most common language in Asian region †¢ Focus marketing strategies on customer feedback to find out what Asian customers tend to buy. †¢ Word of mouth advertisement (Onder Savas Devrim Dirik. January 9, 2003) †¢ Continue expanding its product lines 5. 0 Recommended Solution Implementation 5. Technology Integration and RD Amazon. com should increase expenditure in the research and development arena. We believe that Amazon should prepare itself for additional telecommunications implementations such as high speed internet and network security. These types of implementation, though representative of considerable RD costs, are pro bably most significant factors that etailers must prepare for near future. As users, connections increase in speed, any delays on the part of the etailer they are connecting to will become obvious and less tolerable. Amazon can stay ahead of the pack by preparing a unique and comfortable interface for the users. 5. 2 Strategic Cost Analysis Amazon. com should also use Strategic cost analysis process where identify the firm’s value chain, diagnose the key elements that drive the costs of each value activity, identify competitors value chains, develop a strategy to lower relative costs by controlling cost drivers, ensure that any cost reduction does not erode differentiation in service and test the cost reductions if its sustainable in the end of the analysis. . 3 Differentiation They should also consider by costs by determining Differentiation where the process goes as determine who the real buyer is, identify buyer’s value chain and put in rank order the buyer’s reason to purchase, asses the current potential sources of diffentiation, identify the cost of these resources, design a value chain to maximize value relative costs, test for sustainiablity and reduce costs in activi ties that do not affect the chosen forms of differentiation. 5. Inventory; There are programs built to be extremely user-friendly, and most offer great support along the way of usage for online businesses to maintain the book database. Amazon should invest in software to best highlight and maintain the data on the site and importantly back up systems. Keep inventory accurate and up to date; This is also an important aspect that Amazon can out beat its competitors with as this is first step towards building a long-term relationship with that customer. Inventory of the books stock-out and sold out will be kept up to date on the site. 5. 5 Visionary Informative A picture is worth a thousand words; Uploading pictures by decreasing explanations or descriptions could attract customer’s attraction and curiosity in exploring the book. Somehow it boosts up sales compared to other online booksellers who give attention in words. Product Review Information; In case of books, editorial reviews are provided by the company and it applies for all books. Customers can also rate each other’s review. A rating is placed against each review so that customers can decide whether to read or not based on that. Most online booksellers do not include this but they display the customer’s satisfaction on the delivery service provided by them which is less important to boost up sales. People out there want to pay you for your books; Amazon should use own merchant service account or a service offered by a listing site, make sure that customers can buy books quickly and painlessly with a credit card while you have them on the brink of finalizing said purchase. Don’t judge a book by its cover; First impressions are lasting impressions. When a customer receives the book they’ve ordered, make sure the first thing they see is a product and package that you are proud to have supplied by using use clean, new boxes without writing (or envelopes for low-cost paperbacks) for shipments. Customers will be expecting an excellent service but if its vice versa then they are chances for them to switch to other online retailers. 5. 6 Keep customers in the loop on everything; Amazon should update the status of order to customers on the order made and also keep them in loop by e-mail the listing service directly with questions about their orders and keep updating the latest events and new stocks of books through emails. 5. 7 Shipping Delivery Follow-up; After shipping out an item to the customer, Amazon should send them an e-mail a day or two after expecting that they’ll receive their package, asking them if they’ve received it and are satisfied, and reminding them that there customer rep are there to help should they have any questions about their order. This is also a great time to remind them that you have similar items in stock or to offer them a coupon towards future purchases. 5. 8 Expansion to Asia Region Amazon should strive to expand its expertise to Asia region as well as high potentials are there which huge population. Education is becoming one important aspect in Asia and lack of important reference books are always a problem in many parts of Asia. It should diversify its marketing capability in Asia too to capture the market. Amazon is very less popular in Asia regions. Amazon. om should take Asia to consider for its business expansion. Amazon could also diversify its marketing and research ability to expand mostly to the developed countries of other territory. In order to grow big and always sustain in the market and competition, Amazon should takes this sort of steps to expand. International Sites; Amazon. com has got an added advantage of international sites on Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France and China. All about what the customers have to do to browse the site with their language is by clicking to their national site. For example, if you clink Japan, immediately the whole website will change its descriptions and instructions into Japanese language. This is not at all applicable for a customer in Malaysia or any other regions of Asia. It should expand and add more languages options in its site to accumulate its customers. Giving customers what they want is also one strategy not all online business can do but if this can be proven in Amazon’s case then it have all the potential to be the one. 5. 9 Word-of mouth advertisement Amazon also should increase its word-of mouth advertisement. This might seem odd for an industry leader to rely upon such a quaint tactics as this, but we truly believe that in the world of Internet this is a powerful tool. We are quick to visit sites that our friends identify as being fabulous, and Amazon might capitalize on this by rewarding its customers who can reel in a new prospects. 6. 0 Expand the product lines Amazon should expand its product lines. Given’s Amazon’s vision and its unique position in the etailer industry, the cost associated with entering new markets is significantly lower than that of its competitors. There is no reasons to let this advantage slip away unused. Conclusion In order to stay focus on business Amazon. com has various ways and strategies that can be implemented with proper organizations communication networks. Financial reports should be reviewed annually and quarterly if necessary to come up with decisions whether to boost up sales or to maintain on a certain criteria for the wellness of business. Amazon. com also should have a frequent customer feedback program where they could exchange view on the services and products most desired to be acquired online by customers. Top level management meetings should be initiated to assure goals are achieved. A proper corrective action should be determined after the first year if annual objectives weren’t accomplished. However there are difficulties and competitions to overcome, and how companies attack these difficulties will separate the winners form the losers. Appendix |AMAZON. COM, INC. HISTORICAL INCOME STATEMENTS | |(in millions, except per share data)(quarterly information unaudited) | |Amazon. com Investor Relations | | | | | | | |Calendar Years Ended – December 31, | | |2008 |2007 |2006 |2005 |2004 |2003 |2002 | |Media |   | $ 5,350 | $ 4,630 | $ 3,582 | $ 3,046 | $ 2,589 | $ | | | | | | | | |2,270 | |Other |   | 448 | 326 | 263 | 222 | 130 | | | | | | | | | |110 | |International |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | |Media |   | 5,734 | 4,612 | 3,485 | 2,885 | 2,513 | | | | | | | | | |1,780 | |Other |   | 94| 57| 20| | | | | | | | | |8 |2 |- | |Consolidated |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | |Media |   | 11,084 | 9,242 | 7,067 | 5,931 | 5,102 | | | | | | | | | |4,050 | |Other |   | 542 | 383 | 283 | 230 | 132 | | | | | | | | | |110 | Table 2- Source; www. amazon. com (Investors Relations) |Total U. S. Home, Work and University Locations, Unique Visitors (000) | |Source: comScore Media Metrix | |Rank |Property |Unique Visitors |Rank |Property |Unique Visitors | | | |(000) | | |  (000) | |   |Total Internet : Total Audience |191,863 |   |   |   | |1 |Google Sites |151,010 |26 |Target Corporation |28,628 | |2 |Yahoo! Sites |146,131 |27 |Time Warner – Excluding AOL |27,209 | |3 |Microsoft Sites |125,568 |28 |Weatherbug Property |26,944 | |4 |AOL LLC |108,441 |29 |Bank of America |26,322 | |5 |Fox Interactive Media |90,510 |30 |United Online, Inc |26,048 | |6 |Ask Network |74,742 |31 |Gorilla Nation |25,585 | |7 |eBay |72,160 |32 |ATT, Inc. 25,574 | |8 |Amazon Sites |64,768 |33 |Answers. com Sites |25,563 | |9 |Wikipedia Foundation Sites |62,737 |34 |Demand Media |25,447 | |10 |FACEBOOK. COM |57,232 |35 |CareerBuilder LLC |24,750 | |11 |Glam Media |55,293 |36 |Everyday Health |24,717 | |12 |Turner Network |54,877 |37 |Shopzilla. com Sites |24,097 | |13 |Apple Inc. 54,194 |38 |Photobucket. com LLC |23,928 | |14 |CBS Corporation |53,539 |39 |WordPress |23,730 | |15 |New York Times Digital |49,110 |40 |Real. com Network |23,359 | |16 |Viacom Digital |46,510 |41 |Expedia Inc |22,703 | |17 |Weather Channel, The |40,056 |42 |JPMorgan Chase Property |22,399 | |18 |craigslist, inc. 39,437 |43 |Monst er Worldwide |22,244 | |19 |ATT Interactive Network |38,184 |44 |Gannett Sites |21,829 | |20 |Adobe Sites |35,315 |45 |WorldNow – ABC Owned Sites |21,586 | |21 |Comcast Corporation |33,940 |46 |WebMD Health |21,185 | |22 |Wal-Mart |33,513 |47 |iVillage. com: The Womens Network |21,002 | |23 |Superpages. com Network |32,558 |48 |NBC Universal |20,974 | |24 |Verizon Communications Corporation |32,412 |49 |WhitePages |19,351 | |25 |Disney Online |30,345 |50 |ESPN |19,266 | Table 3; Media Matrix; http://www. comscore. com References 1] Chao Janice C. Rice, Brandi S. Dec 8, 1999 http://www. rhsmith. umd. du/faculty/jbailey/ents630/amazon. pdf 2] Dustin Nadeau Donatas Sumyla. April 2006- Amazon. Com Inc 2004. (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 3] Clementina Imobhio May 5, 2001 – E-Transaction: Shopping Carts Comparison (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 4] Paul Larson. February 14, Amazon. com – Motley Fool Research, Stock Report http://www. fool. com/search/index. aspx? go=1site=USMFq=am azon. com (Accessed Feb 16, 2009) 5] Onder Savas Devrim Dirik. January 9, 2003 – Informat? on Management (Accessed Feb 16, 2009) 6] Strategic Analysis of Amazon. com (Accessed Feb 19, 2009) 7] www. wikinvest. com/wiki/E-Commerce, (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 8] www. ikinvest. com/stock/Amazon. com_(AMZN), (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 9] www. wikinvest. com/stock/Barnes_%26_Noble_(BKS), (Accessed Feb 20, 2009) 10] Sujan Sarkar. April 23, 2007 – Amazon vs. Barnes Noble: www. santarosa. edu/~ssarkar/cs66sp07/fprj/abn. htm (Accessed Feb 16, 2009) 11] Table 1- Source; www. amazon. com (Investors Relations) (Accessed Feb 17, 2009) 12] Table 2- Source; www. amazon. com (Investors Relations) (Accessed Feb 17, 2009) 13] Table 3; Media Matrix; http://www. comscore. com (Accessed Feb 17, 2009) ———————– AMAZON Supplier New Entrance Substitute Consumers

Research project - what are the effects of multiple losses on children Essay

Research project - what are the effects of multiple losses on children with special reference to Looked After Children - Essay Example nge of background situations such as abuse, domestic violence, marital breakdown, imprisonment of a parent, poverty and mental illness of a parent and death of one or both parents, that can lead to a child becoming looked after (Richardson and Joughin, 2000, pp.3-4). When these factors are combined, multiple losses occur (Goldman, 2001, pp.28). These multiple losses include, loss of parental care, economic security, and emotional security (Goldman, 2001, pp.28-39). The literature has been found to show many omissions regarding how to tackle the issues of children suffering from multiple losses. These include, strategies that could be used to respond to the needs of LAC experiencing multiple losses in order to minimise its impact on them. The real impact of multiple losses has also been underexplored. To fill the lacunae left by the reviewed literature, a hypothetical research proposal to carry out a primary research ‘exploring the factors that contribute to multiple losses in looked after children and identify the strategies to help these children cope with these losses is put forth in the fourth chapter. This study envisages to apply a qualitative approach enabled by a semi-structured approach to data collection. The sampling method will be purposive and 25 looked after children living in different types of care institutions, who have suffered multiple losses will be interviewed. This project will be an attempt to look into the topic of multiple losses and the effects that these have upon children – paying special attention to the issue of ‘Looked After Children’. One definition of loss is that â€Å"a loss event is anything that causes†¦.harm, excessive risk, inadequate quality and excessive costs† (Latino, pp.45). Hooyman and Kramer stated that, â€Å"losses†¦. always result in deprivation of some kind; in essence, we no longer have someone or something that we used to have† (2006, pp.2). Additionally, the reason why loss matters so much is that

Labor & Management Relations Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Labor & Management Relations - Research Paper Example As for employees, the job market in the United States has been turned upside down in the last couple of years, as a major result of the economic turmoil facing the country (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2011), the average unemployment rate across the United States remained steady for February and March 2011 at an estimated 8.8%. Thus, while working for a company like Wal-Mart may not be ideal, it may be one of the few forms of employment that many Americans are able to secure under the current economic circumstances facing the country today (Glasmeier, 2006). Unfortunately, the retailer is taking obvious advantage of the desperation of customers and employees. In remaining a major force in the retail industry, gaining power through the economic crisis on multiple levels, the actual costs behind its low prices are definitely not a part of the organization’s publicized marketing strategy (MSNBC, 2005). ... These customers do not need to be made to feel badly about their shopping experience, Wal-Mart has an opportunity that they are failing to realize. At this point, they have a massive market share, which will most likely return to what it was prior to the 2008 economic collapse, in the next couple of years when the economy bounces back from its brief devastation; based on historical data (Microsoft, 2011). However, without implementing a training program that drives customer loyalty through employee satisfaction, Wal-Mart has the potential to lose their significant gain, to competitors like Target, when unemployment rates are down and the economy is booming once again (Microsoft, 2011). Thus, this paper will examine the many reports of federal law violations and unacceptable human rights standards to which the big-box retailer has become accustomed in its time of economic prosper and impermanent power. According to Cram (2005), â€Å"In 2002, 43 distinct charges were filed against Wa l-Mart for violations of the National Labor Relations Act and since 1995, 60 complaints have been filed against Wal-Mart with the National Labor Relations Board.† In response to these charges, this paper will also recommend implementation of a training project that will ultimately help to improve the image of Wal-Mart in the eyes of its most important assets, its human resources. Assessment The number of employee complaints and lawsuits against Wal-Mart for its poor, and in some cases illegal, employment and employee relations practices that have been steadily rising throughout the past decade, makes this problem worthy of addressing; particularly at the local level where managers have

Outline Of Consciousness :: essays research papers

Section 4: Consciousness Pages 114-117 I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Defining Consciousness a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Consciousness is commonly defined as being aware of the immediate environment. i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For example, knowing when to go to class or work. b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Consciousness also deals with awareness of your thoughts, feelings, and memories. i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Examples 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Making plans for dates. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Getting annoyed at your performance in school. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thinking back about good times with your friends. c.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Early psychologists and their studies i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When early psychologists studied the mind, they studied consciousness. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  William Wundt (late 1880’s) had subjects report contents of consciousness while working, falling asleep, and sitting still. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sigmund Freud (1900’s) wrote that needs, desires, and influences are part of the conscious and people have different levels of consciousness. d.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dualism i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Started by French philosopher Rene Descartes stated that mind and body are separate, but interacting. ii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dualism says that one thing cannot exist without it’s opposite. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Light cannot exist without darkness. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Good cannot exist without the presence of evil. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The body cannot function without the mind, and so forth. e.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Materialism i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Psychologists say that our mental activity is rooted in the brain. ii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dominant perspective with modern psychologists. iii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tends to take a less black and white view of â€Å"consciousness† versus â€Å"unconsciousness.† iv.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Psychologists say that you are more aware of certain mental processes over others. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For example, doing the same routine at work and time seems to go by faster. v.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cognitive psychologists ignore the unconscious. They call it the deliberate versus the automatic. f.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Different levels of Consciousness i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Freud and other cognitive psychologists came up with this theory. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Consciousness is a continuum. a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alert attention b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dreaming c.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hypnosis d.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Drug-induced states 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Someone who isn’t paying attention is still conscious, just not â€Å"as conscious† as someone that is alert. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Believes that drinking will bring you into a lower level of consciousness. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If you are in a state of consciousness that is different from what you normally are, you are in an altered state of consciousness. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When you are asleep, however, you are in a state of â€Å"turned off† consciousness. (Hobson, 1994) ii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Metacognition 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Being able to think about their own thinking. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  May allow them to access levels of consciousness that are not available to other people. a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For example, people’s natural sleep timers. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Researched by asking people to track their consciousness, alertness, and moods over a length of time. a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Found out that there is a natural rhythm to consciousness. iii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Functions of Consciousness 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Allows us to monitor our mental and physical states. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Allows us to control our mental and physical states, to an extant. iv.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is consciousness? 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  General state of being aware of and responsive to events in the environment, as well as one’s own mental processes. II.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Theories of Consciousness a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Several researchers suggested biological theories of consciousness. i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Used evolution of the brain as the key to consciousness. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jaynes (1976) believed that consciousness came from the different functions of the hemispheres of the brain. Outline Of Consciousness :: essays research papers Section 4: Consciousness Pages 114-117 I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Defining Consciousness a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Consciousness is commonly defined as being aware of the immediate environment. i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For example, knowing when to go to class or work. b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Consciousness also deals with awareness of your thoughts, feelings, and memories. i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Examples 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Making plans for dates. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Getting annoyed at your performance in school. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thinking back about good times with your friends. c.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Early psychologists and their studies i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When early psychologists studied the mind, they studied consciousness. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  William Wundt (late 1880’s) had subjects report contents of consciousness while working, falling asleep, and sitting still. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sigmund Freud (1900’s) wrote that needs, desires, and influences are part of the conscious and people have different levels of consciousness. d.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dualism i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Started by French philosopher Rene Descartes stated that mind and body are separate, but interacting. ii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dualism says that one thing cannot exist without it’s opposite. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Light cannot exist without darkness. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Good cannot exist without the presence of evil. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The body cannot function without the mind, and so forth. e.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Materialism i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Psychologists say that our mental activity is rooted in the brain. ii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dominant perspective with modern psychologists. iii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tends to take a less black and white view of â€Å"consciousness† versus â€Å"unconsciousness.† iv.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Psychologists say that you are more aware of certain mental processes over others. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For example, doing the same routine at work and time seems to go by faster. v.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cognitive psychologists ignore the unconscious. They call it the deliberate versus the automatic. f.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Different levels of Consciousness i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Freud and other cognitive psychologists came up with this theory. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Consciousness is a continuum. a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alert attention b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dreaming c.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hypnosis d.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Drug-induced states 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Someone who isn’t paying attention is still conscious, just not â€Å"as conscious† as someone that is alert. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Believes that drinking will bring you into a lower level of consciousness. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If you are in a state of consciousness that is different from what you normally are, you are in an altered state of consciousness. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When you are asleep, however, you are in a state of â€Å"turned off† consciousness. (Hobson, 1994) ii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Metacognition 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Being able to think about their own thinking. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  May allow them to access levels of consciousness that are not available to other people. a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For example, people’s natural sleep timers. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Researched by asking people to track their consciousness, alertness, and moods over a length of time. a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Found out that there is a natural rhythm to consciousness. iii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Functions of Consciousness 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Allows us to monitor our mental and physical states. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Allows us to control our mental and physical states, to an extant. iv.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is consciousness? 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  General state of being aware of and responsive to events in the environment, as well as one’s own mental processes. II.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Theories of Consciousness a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Several researchers suggested biological theories of consciousness. i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Used evolution of the brain as the key to consciousness. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jaynes (1976) believed that consciousness came from the different functions of the hemispheres of the brain.

North and South

At the onset of the American Civil War, following the secession of the South from the Union to create the Confederate States of America, the North and South were two completely different worlds in terms of their way of life. Simply put, each region had a different goal for itself, had moved in a very different direction over the past 100 years since the end of the Revolutionary period. When the Civil War began in 1861 the two armies that would meet in battle after battle throughout the turbulent, bloody years of the Civil War were as different as any two groups could be, despite the fact that they were from the same country, in terms of their geography, their politics, and their military, all of which were contributing factors in the ultimate outcome of the war itself. The geography of the two regions of the United States can be linked to perhaps the major difference in terms of the two sides. In the North, where climates were colder, summer’s were shorter, and the productivity of small farming was low, industrialization became a major part of their way of life. People in the north mostly lived in towns or cities, and their livelihoods depended on going to work everyday at a factory or within some industry. They were used to taking orders and fulfilling them on a deadline. In the South, with their warm climate and long growing seasons, farming became a way of life. They lived an agrarian lifestyle, and therefore became more independent in terms of their views and thoughts. They had never had to answer to someone telling them what to do in the way that factory workers in the North did, which led to free-thinking and a sense of strong-willed independence. Their geography affected the way they thought and felt about themselves, and this would be an extremely important factor in the Civil War. The political climates of each region were affected by the types of mind sets that each group developed because of their ways of life. In the North, the prevailing idea was to create a strong and centralized federal government that would supercede any of the politics of the individual states. The view was that the federal government would have to be stronger than the states so that the country could create a higher power, so to speak, in government that would establish rules, regulations, and laws that all states had to abide by. Basically, the North wanted the government to be a mini-version of working for a business in the North–people not questioning the decisions of the federal government, and instead simply obeying. This idea went against everything the agrarian, independent South stood for. Besides the institution of slavery, the issues went much deeper as southerners felt that only a local, state government could really know the issues and problems for their individual states, and only a state government was best to deal with it. The secession from the Union to create the Confederate States of America just prior to the Civil War is a perfect example of how serious the South was about this. Militarily, the North and the South were very different as well. The North had three-times the population of the South, which meant many more soldiers to help the Union cause if the war was long and drawn out. In the North people were used to taking orders and blindly following them; in the South, people were much more independent-minded. The North also had one major advantage, the fact that they were industrialized and could quickly open and run factories to supply the army with any necessities, including arms and ammunition. This created a major divide in the two armies, that would end in a Union victory. The North and South were two completely different places, despite the fact they resided in the same borders. Their differences were too large to overcome without a war, and the Civil War was the cumulation of the politic and social bickering that had been happening for years. It is hard to imagine the South winning in light of so much stacked against them, and the North was simply better prepared due to their way of life and their industry to fight a long-standing war. Works Cited Nelson, Rebecca, ed. The Handy History Answer Book. Detroit: Invisible Ink, 1999. 105-110.

The Organizational Structure Mission, Vision And Values

Introduction (The Organizational Structure – Mission, Vision and Values) Every long term vision strategy is most likely centered on building an ethical organization. It is critical for an organization to have core set of values and principles to establish its identity. Identity is a key component of helping others to understand what it is that the employees are trying to accomplish. Developing a mission, vision and values statement is the foundation to a company’s identity and structure. These three charters help to keep the ideals of the organization in mind during all stages of development and growth. A mission statement explains the organization’s reason for existence. It describes the purpose, what is to be done and the overall intention. The mission statement supports the vision and communicates the direction to all affiliates, associates, employees and stakeholders. As the organization evolves, the mission statement can change to reflect developing priorities and methods to accomplish its vision. The mission statement should be based on the core competencies of the company. It is ideal to base this on competitively superior internal strengths where the individuals, within the organization, perform well in comparison to the competition. The mission statement should be structured to motivate and inspire participation and commitment. It needs to be realistic, clear, and avoid being too narrow or too broad. The mission statement needs to be a preciseShow MoreRelatedOrganization And Unit Mission, Vision, And Values. According1720 Words   |  7 PagesOrganization and Unit Mission, Vision, and Values According to Huber (2014), in order to accomplish a common goal, an organization needs to have a teamwork. The organizational social structure of health care system has a crucial role in forming an environment that is focused on patient care (Huber, 2014). 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