Interesting characters Essay

Miller also uses many dramatic devices to attain emotional intensity at the beginning of Act Two. The use of short sentences and many pauses allow the audience to speculate about the state of John and Elizabeth’s relationship and wonder why it has turned out this way. Two examples of short lines are ‘I am’ and ‘aye’ an example of the pauses is ‘he eats, she watches’. The pauses and short lines allow the lines to have time to sink in therefore potentially creating more emotion, but also making us sad at their separation. The use of Elizabeth and John having an argument creates tension and the way Elizabeth ‘hurt and very coldly’ says ‘good then let you think on it’ before ‘she stands and starts to walk out of the room’. It is clear from the beginning of the scene these characters are withholding information about the nature of their separation, this causes the audience to come to some upsetting and hasty conclusions. Miller’s use of dramatic devices in Act Two helps the play achieve its emotional intensity. The play has a few themes throughout which repeat themselves. Firstly power is a large theme of the play constantly being bought up. In fact the one thing all the characters have in common is there lust for power, Reverend Parris uses the witch trials to gain power and respect. Abigail and her allies work for the court in order to get power, this is shown when Elizabeth says ‘she raises up her chin like the daughter of a prince and says to me I must go to Salem Goody Proctor; I am an official of the court! ‘ This shows she is working for the court in order to gain power. Elizabeth would like to have power over Proctor. Power is often exploited in the western world, The Crucible shows that people made this same mistake in Salem. Power is an extremely sensitive theme able to evoke deep emotions. The second theme is hysteria, the girls are completely hysterical at the end of Act one this is linked to power as some think that the use of hysteria can help gain power. The hysteria moves the audience and keeps them deeply involved in the play. The final theme is dignity, which has been lost throughout the play up until the last part of the play where proctor gains a great deal of respect, and dignity. In Act one Tituba has her dignity stolen, from her as does Abigail and the other girls. In Act Two John loses his dignity when he refuses to tell the court about Abigail. Themes play a major part in maintaining emotional intensity at the end of Act One and the beginning of Act Two. It is clear that The Crucible is emotionally intense at the end of Act One and beginning of Act Two. Miller creates this intensity by employing dramatic techniques and drawing upon contextual significance to present two intense, but contrasting scenes. Even though the original audience would have found it emotional on different scales, it is obvious that all audiences would find it emotionally intense to some extent. Miller achieved emotional intensity by his use of dramatic techniques, interesting characters, allegorical significance and emotive themes.

What’s on Human Mind?

[pic] [pic] Joni Mitchell Submitted to: Dr. Remedios Biavati Submitted by: Jacqueline T. Sangalang 2P4 LIT101A Joni Mitchell Born Roberta Joan Anderson; November 7, 1943 is a Canadian musician, songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Western Canada and then busking on the streets of Toronto. In the mid-1960s she left for New York City and its rich folk music scene, recording her debut album in 1968 and achieving fame first as a songwriter (â€Å"Urge for Going†, â€Å"Chelsea Morning†, â€Å"Both Sides Now†, â€Å"Woodstock†) and then as a singer in her own right. Finally settling in Southern California, Mitchell played a key part in the folk rock movement then sweeping the musical landscape. Blue, her starkly personal 1971 album, is regarded as one of the strongest and most influential records of the time. Mitchell also had pop hits such as â€Å"Big Yellow Taxi†, â€Å"Free Man in Paris†, and â€Å"Help Me†, the last two from 1974's best-selling Court and Spark. Mitchell's soprano vocals, distinctive harmonic guitar style, and piano arrangements all grew more complex through the 1970s as she was deeply influenced by jazz, melding it with pop, folk and rock on experimental albums like 1976's Hejira. She worked closely with jazz greats including Pat Metheny, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, and on a 1979 record released after his death, Charles Mingus. From the 1980s on, Mitchell reduced her recording and touring schedule but turned again toward pop, making greater use of synthesizers and direct political protest in her lyrics, which often tackled social and environmental themes alongside romantic and emotional ones. Mitchell's work is highly respected both by critics and fellow musicians. Rolling Stone magazine called her â€Å"one of the greatest songwriters ever,† while All music said, â€Å"When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century. By the end of the century, Mitchell had a profound influence on artists in genres ranging from R&B to alternative rock to jazz. Mitchell is also a visual artist. She made the artwork for each of her albums, and in 2000 described herself as a â€Å"painter derailed by circumstance. † A blunt critic of the music industry, Mitchell had stopped recording over the last several years, focusing more a ttention on painting, but in 2007 she released Shine, her first album of new songs in nine years. Cultural Background Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada generally including all parts of Canada west of the province of Ontario. The West is considered by many to be a cultural region with an identity separate from that of the rest of Canada. The special cultural, political and economic characteristics of â€Å"the West† are, however, not universally agreed upon, nor are its eographical limits and stereotypes of the West mask the cultural, physical and historical differences within this vast and varied region. In Canadian politics, the term â€Å"the West† is used misleadingly in Canadian media style guides as shorthand for the Conservative leanings of Western Canadians, as contrasted with the greater likelihood for candidates from either the Liberal Party of Canada or the New Democratic Party (NDP) to be elected in Central Canada (although the NDP's roots are in Saskatchewan and Britis h Columbia). Exceptions exist, particularly in British Columbia, as well as in the prairie cities of Winnipeg and Regina, where the Liberal Party currently hold seats, as well as in other major urban centers such as Edmonton where Liberal and NDP candidates have been elected in recent history. The social democratic NDP had its origins on the Canadian Prairies and in the mining and pulp mill towns and railway camps of British Columbia, and has a history of support in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia. Both Sides Now Composed and Performed by Joni Mitchell Rows and flows of angel hair, And ice cream castles in the air, And feathered canyons everywhere, I've looked at clouds that way, But now they only block the sun. They rain and snow on everyone. So many things I would have done, But clouds got in my way. I've looked at clouds from both sides now, From up and down, and still somehow, Its clouds illusions I recall. I really don't know clouds at all. Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels, the dizzy dancing way you feel As every fairy tale comes real; I've looked at love that way. But now it's just another show. You leave 'em laughing when you go And if you care, don't let them know, don't give yourself away. I've looked at love from both sides now, From give and take, and still somehow It’s love's illusions I recall. I really don't know love at all. Tears and fears and feeling proud, to say â€Å"I love you† right out loud, Dreams and schemes and circus crowds, I've looked at life that way. But now old friends are acting strange, they shake their heads, They say I've changed. Something's lost but something's gained in living every day. I've looked at life from both sides now, From win and lose, and still somehow It’s life's illusions I recall. I really don't know life at all. Both Sides Now is a concept album by Joni Mitchell released in 2000. It traces the progress of the modern relationship through Mitchell's orchestral renditions of classic jazz songs. Two of Mitchell's own songs are also included, â€Å"A Case of You† (1971) and â€Å"Both Sides, Now† (1969). The orchestra was arranged and conducted by Vince Mendoza. In the liner notes, co-producer Larry Klein describes the album as â€Å"a programmatic suite documenting a relationship from initial flirtation through optimistic consummation, metamorphosing into disillusionment, ironic despair, and finally resolving in the philosophical overview of acceptance and the probability of the cycle repeating itself†. A limited run of copies were released on February 8, 2000, in special chocolate-box packaging for Valentine's Day, including several lithographs of original Mitchell paintings. Many of these were returned to stores as the CD holder in the box would not reliably hold the disc and copies often arrived scratched. A regular jewel-case edition was released on March 20, 2000. Both Sides Now is also available on DVD-Audio. As of December 2007, the album has sold 323,000 copies in the United States. On the concert tour tie-in to this album, Mitchell performed the songs in the same sequence, but opened with an overture, â€Å"Nuages† — the first movement from Nocturnes, an orchestral suite composed by French composer Claude Debussy. â€Å"Nuages† means â€Å"clouds† in English. While the music certainly sets a romantic mood, the usage of this piece can be seen as a clever pun, since Clouds is also the name of the album on which the song â€Å"Both Sides, Now† made its original appearance. Both the album and the title song are featured in the film Love Actually (2003). *The picture on the upper left was the cover of Joni’s album, â€Å"CLOUD. REACTION I think this song means that people have different perceptions of what love and life are all about when they're children as opposed to when they're adults. When we were children, we saw love as a fairytale, hence the line: â€Å"Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels, the dizzy dancing way you f eel, as every fairytale comes real; I've looked at love that way. † But when we became adults, we realized that love is NOT a fairytale, thus the line: â€Å"But now it's just another show. You leave 'em laughing when you go, and if you care, don't let them know, don't give yourself away. Love and life can be painful, and children don't see that. They see love and life as a fairytale. It possibly means also that, there is no correct answer when it comes to fragile things like love and life. They are too big and meaningful to be summed up by anything. There are certain things in life you can never learn about from a book or from other people, like this song suggests life and love; you have to experience them, because they are different for every person. We'll never understand everything. You can be an idealist, or you can be a cynic, but you're silly if you think you understand it all.

Critique a Research Article Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Critique a Article - Research Paper Example The author further puts forward questions for research regarding the symptoms that are associated with acute kidney injury. The author is trying to put forward that the nurses should know about acute kidney failure and the causes of it. The early signs should be detected by the nurses and they should intervene at the right moment to help it not progress towards end stage renal disease. The author gives the necessary signs and symptoms leading to it along with the steps that a nurse should take when intervening. Hypothesis The author proposes that acute kidney failure can be prevented by experienced nurses who have the necessary knowledge in intervening during the course of the injury. The author put forward a real case of a patient who developed acute kidney injury but she did not progress to chronic renal failure because the nurses intervened at the right time. Evaluation Author provides a literature review by highlighting the main points of acute kidney injury and the mechanisms in volved. She further uses research to strengthen her hypothesis. The author has used recent literature review to prove her hypothesis and she has complemented the research with a real life example of a patient suffering from Acute Kidney Failure. I believe that the article in all ways is relevant to the current health issues and problems faced by nurses in handling such cases. The mortality rate of the patients with acute kidney injury have increased in the recent past and such an intervention as laid down by the author can certainly decrease the risk and help in decreasing the mortality rate as well. Â   The author has utilized a case study as she already has selected a patient and the nurses have intervened at the right time to avoid the serious consequence of chronic renal injury. The sample selected for this article was only one and it was in co-relation with the topic as the author selected an individual with the injury only. The sample was hence appropriate for the research ar ticle. This work has been crafted by the author by selecting an individual who seemed to be suffering from the disease that the article is referring to. The author has made this research more practical by laying down the nursing intervention techniques. I believe that is practical and applicable in the real world because the nurses can play a great role in intervening of the progress of acute kidney injury to chronic and avoid mortality. The author has emphasized on the role of nurses to understand the risk factors and diagnostic criteria for acute kidney injury. The relevant nursing assessment that is required to be done on the patients has been emphasized by the author. These factors would help nurses to identify the patients who are at risk of developing acute kidney failure. I believe, the application of this research in the real life is possible only if nurses are trained to handle such cases. However, in this research only one such case was analyzed by the author and hence it cannot be concluded with certainty that it would be applicable to all cases in different situations. Moreover the author does not include training programs for the nurses to carry out the relevant intervention with the patients who are suffering from the disease. I believe that the nurses should be trained properly along with the knowledge of the intervening techniques when it comes to the patients of acute kidney

The Critical Reading Response 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Critical Reading Response 2 - Essay Example In other words, global warming today is largely due to mans activities in which harmful gases were emitted into the atmosphere at unprecedented volumes, which trap the suns heat instead of reflecting it back to the outer reaches of space. Stronger typhoons, intense droughts and severe floodings in previously dry areas are clear manifestations of this altered weather pattern. Water supplies are drying up in some wet areas while existing water resources have become unusable due to pollution. In many low-lying areas, the rise in the earths surface temperatures have melted the ice caps and a serious consequence is that these low areas are now being inundated with seawater due to a rise in sea levels. Environmental experts are sounding an alarm about these changes and the culprit is Big Business which exploit and harm the environment with their activities. A rise in human populations also contributed to this degradation of the environment as people scramble to find new sources for food an d raw materials to be used in production. This paper re-examines the debate on what responsibilities should Big Business have today. The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is relatively new, because it was only in the last few years that it has gained prominence in business thought. Previously, most people think of CSR or giving back to the community as an added expense or an unnecessary cost that reduces profits and affects adversely the bottom line. Shareholders years ago did not give much thought to how their business activities affected the environment. Their only concern was how to maximize profits in pursuit of capitalist goals as an offshoot of the Industrial Revolution. The attitude before was to exploit the natural resources available to the maximum but today, a new reality has set in. People now realize that resources are finite; many kinds of resources are non-renewable and other resources are nearing

SABMIller Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

SABMIller - Case Study Example It has got into tie-ups with local producers to leverage their skills and also got into joint ventures with some of them as in case of India, Angola and Zambia. It has got into distribution alliances with entities in Vietnam. It has also followed organic growth, but after evaluation it is evident that SABMiller has relied significantly on inorganic strategies in its path of development. The company's current strategic position of expansion and spreading of risks would augur well for the company, specially in the prevailing environment of economic slowdown in the western economies. The Asian economies are relatively in a better shape and this provides better growth opportunities for the brand. Strength: SABMiller global presence, which is spread across different regions of the world, is a major strength. From economically developed markets like US or UK, or economically attractive markets like the rapidly developing nations like China or India, SABMiller has a presence everywhere. Being a South African origin company it is very strong in various African countries also. One of its prime strengths has been to grow and function amidst unfavourable conditions. ... Strength: SABMiller global presence, which is spread across different regions of the world, is a major strength. From economically developed markets like US or UK, or economically attractive markets like the rapidly developing nations like China or India, SABMiller has a presence everywhere. Being a South African origin company it is very strong in various African countries also. One of its prime strengths has been to grow and function amidst unfavourable conditions. During the apartheid era in South Africa, the company did not give up in face of hostile trade sanctions by the international community; instead it focussed on growing its business in South Africa itself for the forty years following the 1950s. The training and practice the company management received during this long period stayed with them and has been a major plus point in their portfolio, whenever they have expanded their operations later on in different parts of the world, to manage unhelpful situations and realitie s. Weakness: SABMiller till recently was a successful brand which had its base in Africa or to be specific in South Africa. This fact was not considered to be a positive by the business analysts, specially those form the established powers of the western part of the world namely, UK, USA. It was always pointed out that for the brand to be well accepted even in the West it had o acquire an established brand in that part of the world. In other words it was made clear that just basing upon its competence and products the South African breweries won't taste much success in the western market, instead it had to market itself hard in that region in order to gain respect and command. As a result of this in 2003 the company had to acquire US based Miller and rebranded itself as SABMiller,

Strategic management of global company Research Paper

Strategic management of global company - Research Paper Example 22). The success of the company in both the Japanese as well as international market is the result of its aspiration to manufacture high quality products. Toyota enhanced its operations considerably in quality to go well with the domestic environment, and as a result has made a triumphal turnaround within US market. In addition, the increase in oil price surprisingly improved the demand for Toyota’s vehicles due to their light and fuel-efficient features. Form that time, global exporting business of Toyota had seen a stable development. With the intention of avoiding import challenges, for instance, directives and import allowances, Toyota launched a 50/50 joint venture with General Motor during 1983 in US, and a completely owned production units in UK during 1989 and another in France during 1997, and a â€Å"50/50 joint venture with French automaker Peugeot in Czech Republic in 2002† (Christensen, 2013, p. 52). Aggressive steps have as well been taken in China, now th e world’s rapidly developing car market. Toyota started its operations during the year 1954, with its head office situated in Tokyo, Japan. It was the hub of designing activities, scheduling, manufacturing of prototypes and assessment of automobiles. It was in charge for each and every function, together with development, designing and assessing cars. Besides, the center is as well responsible of safety technologies, energy management and environmental fortification. During the year 1973, Toyota started the design center at Newport Beach, California. The businesses formed the European center for design to have improved knowledge of local pressures and inclinations of existing and prospective customers. At this point, the group has made successful models such as â€Å"Yaris, Corolla, Corolla Verso, Avensis and Land Cruiser† (Rivenburgh, 2013, p. 92). Global Strategy of Toyota Any business that tryst to enter the foreign market primarily plans to get advantages of Ã¢â‚¬Ë œeconomies of scale’ as well as location and knowledge-gaining result which could be realized by and increase product and service consistency. On the other hand, at this point challenges of localization arise inevitably because of demand for response by the company to local setting such as taste and inclination of buyer, local government policies and cultural features. In the global business strategy matrix, â€Å"along two aspects of stress for cost cutback and stress for local reaction, transnational strategy has the maximum level along both dimensions† (Rivenburgh, 2013, p. 113). Among the four classic global business strategies, Toyota selects transnational Strategy. The best way to execute a transnational strategy is among the most difficult issues that big organizations are coping with these days. The necessity to compete with global rivals such as General Motors and Ford compelled Toyota to try to find better cost economies. Nonetheless, deviations in customers taste preference and government directives across countries indicate that Toyota as well has to be receptive to local demands. As a result, Toyota deals with considerable stress for cost decline as well as for local awareness. To decrease cost by standardizing, Toyota has been speeding up the process of going toward smaller number of automobile platforms, with objective of developing a broad range of models on a restricted range of platforms that have

Systems Analysis, Design and Development (Object Oriented using UML) Term Paper

Systems Analysis, Design and Development (Object Oriented using UML) - Term Paper Example Resources The resources that need to be made available to the analyst are a separate secluded environment with an up-to-date computing system that is connected to the rest of the computing devices of the organization. The computing system needs to be equipped with the latest and most comprehensive analytical software that would enable the provision of precise and timely analytical assessment as and when required. The time given to the analyst for conducting his assessment should be ample so that the process gets done in its due time thus guaranteeing its error freeness. 1 SUMMARY The current report is intended to be a feasibility report for the development of the online auction system for vehicle selling and purchase. The vehicles purchase/selling system will work on the basis of online auctions. Bidders of the vehicles will gradually increase the bid cost for a specific time period. The system will monitor the auction end time. At the end of auction period highest bidder will be the winner of the bid. Subsequent notifications to the respective seller and highest bidder will be generated by the system automatically. Since it would be online and less cumbersome than a real world vehicle auction scenario, the online auction management system will attract both purchasers and sellers to use it. The system would, in turn, get benefited from both the participants. The proposed system will not only provide an operational platform for such convenient buying, but would also maintain the bidder and seller profiles in order to produce future follow ups. The system will comprise of the following core modules a brief summary of which is provided as follows: Customer (Seller/Bidder) Profiling: This module maintains and manages the details of each purchaser (bidder) and... The paper tells that an online auction mechanism is intended which attracts sellers and buyers of vehicles. The system will be a reliable e-commerce system and will provide opportunity for online sales through auctions. Both the seller and the buyers will be the customers of the system. The system will maintain the personal information of both participants. After registering a vehicle by a seller the bidder will be able to bid on it until the bidding time expires. All bidders will have equal opportunity to increase the bid with equal rate, that is, 100 $ for car and 50 $ for motorcycle. After ending the bidding process, the bids will be evaluated and decision will be made accordingly. The bidder with highest bid among all the other bidders will win the vehicle auction; however, the biding price must be greater than the base price as provided by the seller. The successful bidder will be notified by the system automatically then he has to perform personal visit to the vehicle and payme nt will be made. In case of the failure of the auction i.e. the highest bid could not cross the minimum price of the vehicle or in case of no bid, the system will automatically notify the seller about the situation and the vehicle information will be removed in both cases. Such system will allow purchasers to have a fair market survey and will provide ample vehicle selection opportunities. Due to the effectiveness of system both the purchaser and seller would not be able to acquire undue benefits in any case. With the optimized vehicle price (as desired by the seller) the bidder will not have to pay exorbitantly.

Bacterial transformation and gene expression Lab Report

Bacterial transformation and gene expression - Lab Report Example This study looks into DNA as the blueprint of our life. Life without these molecules is not possible. DNA are transcribed into RNA and translated into proteins. These proteins are important for the biochemical functions of the cell. In bacteria, apart from DNA, there is extrachromosomal DNA called as plasmids. They are double stranded DNA which forms circles with size ranging from 1 kb to 200kb (kilobase). Plasmids are very advantageous for the genetic engineering. Plasmids code for many antibiotic regions and they have the ability to accept the gene of interest. The transformation of our gene of interest into the plasmid is called recombination and the bacteria are called recombinant bacteria. Thus plasmids can be used as cloning vehicles or vectors. These plasmids are not essential for the survival of bacteria, but in some instances, for survival in the different environments, they can provide some extra advantage. The best example is the survival of the bacterial cell in the prese nce of an antibiotic drug. Antibiotic resistant bacteria like Escherichia coli are used for the transformation of the gene of interest into the host cell. Transformation and cloning are the two important genetic engineering tools used for the expression of the foreign gene of interest in the given bacterial cell. Three conditions required for the transformation are: 1) the host into which the foreign DNA is inserted, 2) a method for the insertion of the DNA into the host cell, and 3) methods to identify the transformed cells and select them.

Disscision questions american history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Disscision questions american history - Essay Example A separate village, ten miles away, was established due to the large inflow of inhabitants in the town. The villagers were unhappy with the governance of the town and demanded independence from the town. The town authority, however, did not want to lose the fertile taxable province and resented their demand. There was revolt against the ministers appointed by the town from 1672-1688. During this time, three ministers presided over the affairs of the village. During the reign of the fourth minister, there was widespread revolt against the town’s involvement in the affairs of the village. The priests of various New England colonies began to accuse Salem of revolting against the will of God. In 1692, the first traits of witchcraft appeared against these socioeconomic uneasiness, affecting the children. The family of the minister was the first to be deceased. The difference between the town and village and their urge to gain independence were the prime factors in the spread of wit chcraft in the region. (Trask) The US economy would have crumbled if not for the efforts of visionaries like Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. Hamilton arrived in the scene of American politics in its nascent stage in 1787. The previous Article was put up for discussion in 1787 by the thirteen states. Hamilton, representing New York, proposed the election of Governors and senators, which were opposed by the other members. A separate constitution was proposed with the powers being vested on executive, judicial and legal branches. Most of the states did not sign on it. At this juncture, Hamilton with James Madison and John Jay wrote 85 essays known as â€Å"The Federalist†. The essays underlined the importance of the constitution and they played an important part in achieving the support from the states. Hamilton met again in the next convention and persuaded other states to sign on

Comparing the ideas of Plato and Aristotle Essay

Comparing the ideas of Plato and Aristotle - Essay Example His ideas of politics and the government considered a city as a natural community that gave more importance to the family. He covered politics as an organism other than a machine, as well as, a collection of parts, which can exist without others. The political philosophy of both Plato and Aristotle were relevant and of reasonable concern because a person’s character, vices, virtues and desires, and most importantly education help in making a correct or relevant government. The two philosophers also agreed that governments and politics were vital to the characteristics of mankind. However, although the two philosophers agreed on some issues about government and politics, those opinions differed in one way or another. First, Plato was mostly concerned with the question of justice where he asked question of what a just state was, as well as, an individual. He states, â€Å"As concerning Justice what is it?† The question of what a just society is according to Plato is wide in the sense that it looks at the idea state where it is looked at a broader perspective (Plato, 47). Where a just society should have leaders who govern the society and who provide laws that should be followed by the society and individuals. Additionally, a just society is a society where each person performs their function without infringing in the rights of the others. Plato was having an argument an argument with Socrates and Polemarchus where they concluded, â€Å"Justice can be acknowledged not to be for the interest of the stronger, when the rulers unintentionally command things to be done, which are to their own injury (Plato, 56).† Therefore, justice is the obedience because the subjects render their comman ds. Aristotle, on the other hand, looks at political leadership where he views politicians as lawmakers who frame the appropriate constitution for the state to ensure that there is justice in the society (Aristotle, 188). Aristotle looks at justice in a government perceptive

Was in my final year at high-school Essay Example for Free

Was in my final year at high-school Essay I was in my final year at high-school. I was only seventeen and the pressure of knowing that the outcome of school results would determine my whole life ahead finally got to me. I snapped. One day, in the absence of my parents, I ran away from home, hoping never to return. This was the turning point in my life. With an incomplete education on one hand, I was a lost soul, unaware of what to do or where to go. I ran into a group of people who claimed they could assist me out of this dark web I was now tangled in. They introduced me to drugs. Dosed with pills of heroin and cocaine, my life was tumbling downhill like a snowball, only gathering wrong as it rolled. It was those times where I was not even aware of what I was doing until I slept and then craved for more of the vile drugs I had already once ingested. I was a rogue who lived by my wits in a corrupt society. I had no contact with my real family and over time, these people became my new family. They led me to commit a chain of robberies, homicidal attacks a chain of crimes. Day by day, I became a wanted criminal. No conscience made me look back; I was not overshadowed by my guilt. It was only a matter of time before I was caught and sentenced to nineteen years of imprisonment. The words of Gregory David Roberts described my situation as I felt it- I was a revolutionary who lost his ideals in heroin, a philosopher who lost his integrity in crime and a poet who lost his soul in a maximum-security prison. Two years in jail and I escaped in broad daylight and took asylum in the jhopadis of Dharavi in Mumbai. I got involved in the mafia and started a business of smuggling guns and ammunition and counterfeiting money. The money I earned was enough to pay off any heart fancying a call to the police. I was a notoriously known figure now, and probably the most wanted person in the whole of the country. Everyday I met new people interested in my business. One day to my surprise a female entrepreneur came to my office. She was gorgeous and from the moment I set my eyes on her I fell in love with her. She helped my business for six months and became a close part of my life until finally she betrayed me to the police. It seemed she was involved with them and did this for a sum of money. I was imprisoned again. It was here that I was chained beaten, stabbed and starved. I was at constant war with myself. Should I have done what I did? But it did not matter now. My companions lost sanity while I kept my nerve. I buried them and their lives into my own as it was only with their help that I was still alive. I realized through the pain and sufferings within, that even in my brutal, gory helplessness, I was still free- to hate those who were torturing me, or to forgive them. It may not have been everything but in times like those, it was all I but and it seemed like a whirlpool of possibilities. This hardest choice I thought, could determine where I may end up next and I chose to forgive. Time flew by and the nineteen years of torture soon ended. I thought and reflected upon my half-life as it began back in high-school. I thought of what I could have been- a better human being. Pondering over the thought that a life wasted is not worth living, I realized that it was time to turn over a new leaf. I penned my experiences and memories in an autobiography to ensure that young adults would make the right choices in life and would not fall in the same trap as I did. My book- Realization- as it is titled is a guide for youngsters today and has earned me fame. My life has changed ever since. Life now seems beautiful. I regret having ruined a long part of, what could have been, a fabulous journey throughout. It was an expensive realization

Can Alternative Energy Replace Fossil Fuels An Environmental Sciences Essay

Can Alternative Energy Replace Fossil Fuels An Environmental Sciences Essay At the beginning of the 21st century people started to realize that fossil fuels are not renewable and they are consumed too quickly so people believe that there will not be a source for future generations. Activists try to tell people about the consequences of lack of energy in terms of economy or environment, so consciousness of the situation increases each day with the help of activists. However, the public and also the government do not do anything to amend this situation. Professor Emeritus of History, Geography, and American Studies at the University of Texas, Alfred W. Crosby asserts that Alternative sources of energy can become a satisfactory substitute for fossil fuels such as coal, oil, petroleum and diesel if we put as much effort and genius in the effort as we did in producing the first atomic bomb(alternativeenergy.procon.org , para 3). However some others believe that alternative energy cannot meet our need sufficiently. Also its hard to find a suitable place and the hi gh technology to build this kind of structure. There are both pros and cons about using alternative energy which makes it difficult to find the most reliable way, however considering all these various approaches, we can conclude that fossil fuels are more harmful. There are many type of carbon based source which contain huge amount of energy such as coal, oil, natural gas. They are most common source to create energy. Especially in Turkey almost all energy comes from fossil fuels (%99.6). There are some specific places to produce such as Zonguldak for coal or Batman for oil. Underground coal mining sector very taught because working condition is disaster but, people have to work this job because of unemployment. However coal mining have enormous dangerous for health because it cause lung disease. Also cause deaths due to underground coal-mining accidents have been recorded officially since 1941, and a total of 3094 deaths were reported between 1941 and 2003(Kucuker,1). Although this kind of evidence, both government and companies not take any precaution about disasters. Almost the same situation happens in Batman which has most of oil source in Turkey. Some worker suffer from similar problem like health and condition, because they do not know their right in terms of both health and safety even if they are aware of their right companies employ worker on daily-bases so they can not seek their right consequently companies exploit worker easily. In the beginning of industrial age, countries used fossil fuels for their own development without thought about its effect on people and the environment. They also ignored pollution and damage to the environment but this careless behaviour has caused irreversible consequences such as greenhouse effect of burning fossil fuels traps the concentration of carbon dioxide so this also increase heat as a result global warming occur. Therefore people should work together to establish non-governmental organizations to prevent violation and unnecessary usage, because the world supply will not be enough for the next generation. Professor of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, M. S. Dresselhaus also emphasised that fossil fuels currently supply most of the worlds energy needs, world reserves of oil are about 1.61014   (11012  barrels). World consumption is about 1.21010  a day. World reserves of natural gas are about 1.41014  m3; gross production of gas is about 2.41012  m3  per y ear. World coal reserves are about 9.11011  tonnes; annual consumption is about 4.5109  tonnes per year. However unacceptable their long-term consequence, he assert that the supplies are likely to remain adequate for the next few generations. Scientists and policy makers must make use of this period of grace to assess alternative sources of energy and determine what is scientifically possible, environmentally acceptable and technologically promising. Briefly fossil fuels such as coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear power supply most of the worlds energy needs in today world but they are not adequate for future generation without alternative energy. The world has many alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, and bio fuels are possible energy type which can replace fossil fuels. Like fossil fuels these energy types have several advantages and disadvantages. Wind and solar power cause no pollution and are renewable and also wind and solar power are free. The only cost of solar and wind power is the installation and construction of the structure. Nevertheless, both wind and solar energy is inconsistent. It means wind intensity or sunny weather can change. Moreover geothermal energy built upon steam power so they drill holes in the steamy area and steam caused shoot up and drive turbines. Geothermal central should build correctly otherwise harmful gases and mineral can be released. Furthermore, hydroelectric central work with the help of accumulation of water so energy production is constant. However construction of dam is very expensive and sometimes especially in Turkey dam can damage historical p lace like Hasankeyf in the east of Turkey. Lastly like wind and solar power bio fuels is renewable. Ethanol is the main element of creating energy which is made from corn. It decreases the usage of gas but cost of conversion very expensive. In addition, Some countries realize the variety of alternative energy and pay attention to these. Spain and Germany are very serious about creating alternative energy. They use many kind of alternative energy but lost of countries just use hydroelectrical energy in the name of alternative energy. However they do not realize that for example solar energy more powerful than hydroelectrical energy. Dieter Eissel assert that the sun radiates 174 peta-watts (PW). Of this, about 30 percent is re ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ected back to space, while the rest is absorbed by atmosphere, clouds, oceans and land masses. The total volume of radiation absorbed by oceans and lands reaches up to 89 PW. Therefore, solar energy can provide 2,850 times more energy than current world demand. In comparison, the multiple for hydro power is 3, 5 for geothermal, 20 for biomass, and 200 for wind energy (Fischedick, 2000). This means that all nations need the solar radiation of just one day to meet their energy demands for a whole year. However, settle that kind of energy source is very expensive and little utopian. Nevertheless still reducing fossil fuels help prevent the pollution. According to one of the most comprehensive plans for future sustainable energy provision launched in June 2010 by Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC), a sustainable World Energy Outlook provides a detailed practical blueprint for cutting carbon emissions while achieving economic growth by replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy and energy efficiency (Eissel, 4). Also, there are some kinds of energy types which are related to fossil fuels but not that much harm such as natural gas and nuclear power. Natural gas release methane gas instead of carbon dioxide and methane gas does not cause greenhouse effect it increases the amount of natural gas reserves a little bit higher than fossil fuels. Nuclear power creates a huge amount of energy however risk also very high because if plants accidentally release something its damage may be catasrophic. In the end although fossil fuels have the possibility of least harm to the environment is still a risk. Therefore alternative energy must be encouraged by government and the public. Otherwise countries will start to fight each other because of lack of resource of fossil fuel in fact they already start to fight as resource become limited and countries may occupy an oil-rich country under the name of peace or some unethical reason to take control of oil-reserves. On the other hand, some people claim that the world has enough fossil fuel supplies for at least 2-3 decades. They think that this issue not of great urgency. At the same time they believe alternative energy is not sufficient and enough to meet peoples needs. To exemplify, gas is much more efficient than electrical energy and also filling the cars petrol tank quicker than charging an electrical car. Critics also state that wind power or solar power is not easy to construct everywhere. They can only be built in a suitable place to be efficient. For instance wind turbines  must be built in a windy area to create energy, this means where wind turbines can be constructed is a little restricted. Likewise solar energy is useful in countries which have many hours of direct sunlight. In this situations, as the cost of construction increase also the efficiency decrease. Taking all these points into consideration, we can arrive at the conclusion that alternative energy should be a convenient energy source for future generation, because there is no other option for future generation nobody can claim that fossil fuels will last forever, this generation should regulate the usage alternative energy and also pay attention to the environment. Otherwise fossil fuel become most valuable things in the world and lots of people not allow or afford to benefit from it. Work Cited http://alternativeenergy.procon.org Dresselhaus, M.S., and I.L. Thomas. Alternative energy technologies.  Nature  414.6861 (2001): 332.Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 23 Dec. 2010. Kucuker, Hudaverdi. Occupational fatalities among coal mine workers in Zonguldak, Turkey, 1994-2003.  Occupational Medicine  56.2 (2006): 144-146.  Environment Complete. EBSCO. Web. 23 Dec. 2010. Park, Sang-Chul, and Dieter Eissel. Alternative Energy Policies in Germany with particular Reference to Solar Energy.  Journal of Contemporary European Studies  18.3 (2010): 323-339.  Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 23 Dec. 2010. Fischedick, M. ,  Langniss, O. and  Nitsch, J. (2000)  Nach dem Ausstieg-Zukunftskurs Erneuerbare Energie  Hirzel-Verlag , Stuttgart

Highlighting mitchells and butlers strategic

Highlighting mitchells and butlers strategic Executive Summary This report is aimed at highlighting Mitchells and Butlers strategic choices through the analysis of its internal and external environment. A number of measurement tools were used in order to express this. The report firstly looks into the external environment in which the organisation is involved with. The external analysis was split into two different sections: The macro environment and the microenvironment. A PESTLE analysis was used for the macro environment as this captures all the factors that affect Mitchells and Butlers, of which none of them they can control. To analyse the microenvironment Porters five forces model was used as this highlights all the factors that can have a direct effect on an organisation. Following the Internal Analysis the report then looks at the internal logistics of the business. Looking internally into Mitchells and Butler identified many aspects of the business such as its resources and capabilities, competitive advantage, core competencies and the stage the company is at with regards to the life cycle. All these differing aspects will then help to identify the strategic choices available to Mitchells and Butler. The report then looks at the financial side of the organisation using three financial statements: Cash Flow, Balance Sheet and 5 year income statement. These are analysed to review sales trends and profit trends. A SWOT Analysis has been drawn out which helped in the completion of the TOWS matrix. The TOWS matrix combined with the SFA model identify areas where Mitchells and Butler can grow. To conclude the report, all the data was collected and analysed to suggest short, medium and long term plans for Mitchells and Butler. Introduction. This report is the second part of a two part report which will analyse both the internal and external factors that influence the Mitchells and Butlers organisation. A strategic analysis of the company has already been carried, which can be seen in Appendix 1. It involved carrying out analysis on the vision, mission, values and objectives of M+B. This report will focus on the strategies that Mitchells and Butler implement in order to grow. The report will firstly look at the Micro and Macro external environment using tools such as PESTLE, SWOT, Porters five forces model and competitor gap analysis which will combine to give a competitor analysis. Once the external analysis is complete the report will then focus its attention on the internal analysis. This will involve analysing Mitchells and Butlers core competencies by conducting a portfolio analysis. Based upon these analysis the report will then finish with recommendations of the future strategic choice and direction of the company followed by a short, medium and long term plan for Mitchells and Butlers. The business report will use David F (1988) comprehensive strategic management model as a guideline in order to cover all aspects of the strategic report. As mentioned above Vision and mission statements have already been analysed, th erefore this report will start on performing both internal and external audits. 1. External Analysis â€Å"A companys marketing environment consists of the actors and forces outside marketing that affect marketing managements ability to develop and maintain successful relationships with its target customers. Successful companies know the vital importance of constantly watching and adapting to the companies environment†. (Kotler, P et al. 2008) 1.1 Macro Environment Carrying out external analysis allows firms to adapt quickly to the changing environment. The macro environment is the â€Å"complete social context in which the organisation resides†. Carrol, A + Buchholtz, A (2008) Kotler, P et al. (2008) also includes that it is the larger societal forces that affect the whole microenvironment. He states that there are six major forces in a companys macro environment: Political Economic Social Technological Legal Environmental 1.2 PESTLE Analysis PESTEL analysis categorises the factors that effect an organisation externally. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2005) note that many of these factors are linked. When one factor changes it can have a knock on effect on other factors. As these factors change they affect the competitive environment in which the organisation operates in, as a result it is crucial that organisations are aware of the changes in the external environment. Political Licensing Laws- Mitchells and Butlers have a minimum requirement to follow all licensing laws lay down by the government. If at any time they come in breach of these licenses they place themselves in serious jeopardy with the federal agencies. Smoking Ban- The smoking ban, introduced in July 2007, had a serious effect on all of Mitchells and Butlers managed pubs and restaurants. The ban meant that no establishment was to allow smoking in any of its premises. Economic Unemployment- With the UK, along with the rest of the world, going further and further into a recession, companies look to try and cut costs by lowering the number of staff, therefore unemployment rises. A report written in the TimesOnline website by Grà ¡inne Gilmore in February 2009 highlights some facts and figures which can affect consumers disposable income. In it he states that unemployment rose close to two million and predictions have been made that the figure could rise to three million by next year, the highest level since 1986. Tax Increase- With taxes expected to rise in January 2010, consumer spending will slow down. Inflation The rise of inflation makes it harder for people to borrow as the banks Social Social Responsibility As the leading operator of managed pubs and pub restaurants in the UK, Mitchells and Butlers has a commitment to give the responsible retailing of alcohol. Mitchells and Butlers established a policy for retailing alcohol in a responsible manner. This ensures that all of their licensed premises are operated responsibly. Under age Drinking Mitchells and Butlers launched the â€Å"Challenge 21† campaign, which was aimed at stopping/ reducing the number of under aged drinkers in their managed premises a. Healthy Eating Due to the increased awareness of healthy eating through government ad campaigns, celebrity chefs etc Mitchells and Butlers has to be aware of the varying attitudes towards healthy eating. As a result they offer a wide variety of dishes on there menus across all their differing brands. They look to offer a good choice of healthy options at the same time as offering more indulgent dishes. Mitchells and Butlers are continually creating fresh dishes with an emphasis on nutritional value. Legal Minimum Wage The National Minimum wage was introduced 10 years ago and has increased 5.5% year. Mitchells and Butler must comply with the minimum pay levels for each age group to comply with the law. Health and Safety at Work act 1974 The Act is the primary piece of legislation covering occupational health and safety in the United Kingdom. (hse.gov.uk, 2009) Mitchells and Butlers must ensure that they enforce the health and safety of both there workforce and their customers. Environmental Weather Due to the varying weather conditions throughout the whole year, Mitchells and Butlers should be constantly aware of the effects good and bad weather can have on there outlets. Recycling Due to raised awareness of pollution in the environment and the effects of waste Mitchells and Butlers have to show there commitment in creating as little waste as possible, and where possible recycle as much of their waste as possible. They also have a commitment to reducing there carbon footprint which can be done by the recycling of used cooking oil which is then converted into bio-diesel. 1.3 Microenvironment â€Å"The microenvironment consists of the actors close to the company that affect its ability to serve its customers: the company, suppliers, marketing intermediaries,rs and publics†. Kotler, P et al. (2008) It is the environment with components that have specific and immediate implications for managing the organisation. Decisions made involving the microenvironment have a direct effect on the organisation. It can be controlled by the company and analysis at this level is firm specific. Xu, J.(2005) There are many models that can help firms to measure the position they are in within their environment. 1.4 Porters Five Forces The Objective of performing industry analysis is to develop an organisations competitive advantage in order to be more successful than its competitors. The way in which this can be done is by using Porters Five Forces Model. ( Lynch, 2003) In it he identifies the five basic forces that can have an effect on an organisation. Bargaining power Threat of Of suppliers new entrants The report will now go into further detail of each threat, identifying the different aspects of each factor and the affect they could have on Mitchells and Butler. Threat of Entry With Mitchells and Butlers being the leading operator of managed pubs and pub restaurants, they must be aware of any potential threats that may arise from new entries in the market. The industry in which Mitchells and Butlers operates is one where barriers to entry are very low and therefore easy for new organisations to enter the market. However due to the sheer size of the organisation they have an automatic advantage over any new entries. Economies of Scale Mitchells and Butlers are in the position to gain economies of scale due to the number of managed outlets they have. With around 2,000 businesses they have the ability to lower the costs of products because of the amount they will be ordering at one time. Experience Mitchells and Butlers has been operating as an independent division since 2003 but it history dates back to 1898. This unparalleled experience of the pub industry accounts for invaluable knowledge and experience which can help in the development and growth of the organisation. Customer Loyalty With over 2000 outlets built mainly in residential areas Mitchells and Butlers will have built up a high level of customer loyalty. This makes it increasingly difficult for new competitors to establish a loyal customer base for themselves. It is evident however that not everyone is within close proximity to a Mitchells and Butlers unit and therefore consumers will be loyal to a different business. Product Differentiation Mitchells and Butlers understand the importance of product differentiation and aim to deliver products of the highest quality at the lowest possible prices. It also prides itself on customer service, displaying just how important they feel it is. Mitchells and Butlers also drive to promote its own brands in order to create product differentiation. Bargaining Power of Buyers Concentration of buyers With Mitchells and Butlers being in a market with a huge amount of potential buyers then it is in complete power with what price to set. If the buyers are not happy with the price then they simply have to go elsewhere as the market is big enough to attract more customers. However Mitchells and Butlers can not set the price at whatever they choose as the fierce competition in the market drives prices down and they have to compete with there rivals for customers. Product Differentiation With so many other options available for the buyer Mitchells and Butlers has to be able to differentiate itself from the rest of the market. They do this buy offering the highest quality at the lowest possible prices. It also prides itself on customer service, displaying just how important they feel it is. Mitchells and Butlers also drive to promote its own brands in order to create product differentiation. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Mitchells and Butlers is in a very strong position when it comes to its bargaining power with its suppliers. They are the leading operator in managed pubs and pubs restaurants with the largest market share. Suppliers will have to listen to what they are demanding or else they face loosing a huge amount of revenue. Threat of Substitutes Products or services There is a large threat of substitutes that are available from supermarkets. The off trade market that is now available to potential consumers is a huge threat to Mitchells and Butlers. With the constant promotion of alcoholic beverages from the large supermarket chains such as Tescos, Sainsburys and Morrisons means that Mitchells and Butlers have to differentiate themselves from this market and establish themselves as offering an experience and a service rather than just solely a product. The supermarkets also advertise deals such as â€Å" TWO CAN DINE IN FOR  £10†. This such advertisement was ran by MS. Being a differentiated product will entice potential consumers towards it. Threat of Rivalry In a market where growth is slow and competition very high, Mitchells and Butlers have created rivalry by becoming the leading operator in its markets and taking a lot of customers from its competitors. However it does not face rivalry from small independent outlets as they focus their attention away from the big rivals. The way in which Mitchells and Butlers create rivalry is by the pricing policy on drinks. Being the leading operator in managed pubs means that they are able to buy in bulk reducing the costs of products. With relation to food Mitchells and Butlers has a variety of brands that are in varying markets that can capture different customers with the varying levels of quality and price. For example the harvester brand is aimed at the lower end of the market, whereas the Browns brand is at the other end of the spectrum, catering for the higher end customers. 2.0 Internal Analysis The process of performing an internal analysis is similar to that of an external analysis. Representative managers and employees from throughout the firm need to be involved in determining a firms strengths and weaknesses. The internal analysis involves collecting information about the firms management, marketing, finance and operations. The gathering of this information is a great benefit to managers and employees as they get to know how their work affects other areas and activities of the organisation. Performing an internal analysis is an excellent way of improving the process of communication within an organisation. (David, 1999) 2.1Portfolio Analysis Campbell et al (2002 p. 107) defines a portfolio analysis as an â€Å"Underpinning concept that is a need for a business to spread its opportunity and risk. A broad portfolio signifies that a business has a presence in a wide range of product and market sectors. Conversely, a narrow portfolio implies that the organisation operates in only a few or even in one product or market sector. A broad portfolio offers the advantage of robustness in that a downturn in one market will not threaten the whole company† It is essential that Mitchells and Butlers carry out a portfolio analysis as they operate in many different markets resulting in a number of different cashflows from there brands. 2.2 BCG Matrix The Boston consultancy matrix identifies the relationship between market share and growth of a business. It offers a way of examining a companys portfolio of product and market interests. (Campbell et al 2002) Market Share Stars Question Marks Cash Cows Dogs Mitchells and Butler would be classed as a cash cow. Being the leading operator in managed pubs they have the largest share of the market. However the market in which they are positioned is one that is maturing. Growth for Mitchells and Butlers is slow and the condition of the market is stable. Below is a diagram which converts the BCG matrix into the product life cycle. Internet Accessed via: There are many brands associated with Mitchells and Butler which are in varying stages of their life cycle. The next stage of the report is to show an example of brands in there different stages of the life cycle. The use of this is that it allows Mitchells and Butlers to identify which of their brands are in the decline stage and come up with either new strategies/ products in order for it to grow again. 2.3 The Life Cycle Model 2.4GE-McKinsey Matrix An alternative way in which to evaluate the portfolio of an organisation is by a directional policy matrix/ GE-McKinsey matrix. This matrix categorises an organisations business units into those with good prospects and those with less good prospects. The matrix positions units according to how attractive the market is in which they operate and secondly through the competitive strength of the SBU in that market. (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, R. 2009) 2.5 Resource Based view of Mitchells and Butler The resource based view of a firm is a model of an organisations performance that focuses solely on the resources and capabilities controlled by a firm as sources of competitive advantage. (Wernerfelt, B. 1984, cited in Barney, J Hesterley, W. 2006) Resources are defined as the tangible and intangible assets that an organisation controls whereas capabilities are a â€Å"subset of a firms resources and are defined as tangible and intangible assets that enable a firm to take full advantage of other resources it controls†.( Barney, J Hesterley, W. 2006. p.76) Barney Hesterley (2006) also state that there are four main categories in which resources and capabilities can be classified into four main sub categories: Financial resources, Physical resources, Human resources and organisational resources. M B Financial resources and Capabilities Two loans: One of  £2.3 billion which is secured against the assets and cash flow of he business. The second is an unsecured loan of  £550 million from a number of major banks. Cash generated through sales of products and services. M B Physical resources and Capabilities Property, plant and equipment. Computer Software. Leases: Both operating leases and financial leases. Reputation M B Human resources and Capabilities Operated by an experienced senior management team. Committed to training and investing in their employees to enable them to develop their skills and experience. M B Organisational resources and Capabilities Relationships between the different levels of management. Clear communication Importance of team building in each business unit. Experience of senior management. Training programmes at operational level. Mitchells and Butler use their capabilities to turn their resources into products or services. For instance it uses its reputation to increase its financial resources. 2.6 Core Competencies â€Å"Core competencies are the skills and abilities by which resources are deployed through an organisations activities and processes such as to achieve competitive advantage in ways that others cannot imitate or obtain†. (Johnson, Scholes, and Whittington, 2008. p. 97) This is no more important than in a recession, Mitchells and Butlers needs to focus on its core competencies in order to cerate competitor advantage and steal, what is, a diminishing number of, customers. 2.7 The VRIO Framework VRIO is an acronym for 4 questions that can be used in order to assess the competitive advantage that can be gained from resources and capabilities. The VRIO framework allows an organisation to assess its resources and capabilities potential to create a competitive advantage. †( Barney, J Hesterley, W. 2006. p.76) The Question of Value Mitchells and Butlers uses its resources and capabilities in order to create competitive advantage and stay the leading operator in managed pubs and restaurants. Its organisational resources and capabilities has equated to the acquiring of 239 pub restaurants from Whitbread plc in 2006. The financial capabilities plus experience of management team means that they can cope in a period of financial downturn. The Question of Rarity With Mitchells and Butler being in such a saturated market where growth is very slow and product differentiation hard to achieve then its physical resources and capabilities create very little competitive advantage. It is its organisational, human and financial resources that create it. The size, experience, knowledge, training, quality, price create competitive advantage over a long period of time. The Question of Inimitability This question aims at identifying an organisations strength against any competitors trying to imitate their products or services. For Mitchells and Butler although it may be easy to copy its tangible resources, it is certainly not easy to imitate their intangible capabilities. With over 100 years of experience in the pub trade gives them invaluable experience and knowledge of the industry. The senior management team has over 15 years of experience and the board of executive directors have worked on the strategy and development of Mitchells Butlers since 1995. (mbplc.com â€Å"our management†) [Cited 14/12/2009] The Question of Organisation Although Mitchells and Butler may have competitive advantage with its resources and capabilities, in the above three questions, it can not continually create a competitive advantage unless they are an organised company. The senior management team must work together in order to create systems, policies and procedures in which each individual unit runs at its optimum level. This is done by vertical communication between the varying different levels of operation. 2.8Value-Chain Analysis A Value chain â€Å"is the set of business activities in which a firm engages in to develop, produce, and market its product or services†. † (Barney, J Hesterley, W. 2006. p.83) 3.0 Financial Information 3.1 Cash Flow Statement The cash flow statement can be seen in appendix 3. 3.2 Balance Sheet The balance sheet is available in appendix 4. 3.3 5 year Income Statement Available in Appendix 5. From analysing the above financial information, one can draw the major trends from the financial year 2008. Sales Trend Analysing the 5 year review one can see a major difference in the sales trend. Turnover has increased to  £1,908 million over the year which is a 0.7% increase over the financial year. However Profit Trend Although there was an increase in revenue there was a significant decrease in operating profit. From the previous year there is a huge drop from  £309 million to  £131 million a gap of  £178 million. A reason for this could be due to the amount of money they had to repay on a loan they took out to cover the costs of an abandoned joint venture. Mitchells and Butler decided to reduce its level of â€Å"unsecured medium term debt†. (mbplc.com. 2009) Looking at the 5 year report one can see that the dividend pay out was  £18 million, compared to the previous 4 years ,it is on average around  £33 million less. To do this they paid an interim dividend of 4.55p per share which is represented on the income statement. This was paid on the 27th June 2009. The short-term loan of  £550m has to be paid down to  £400m by the end of 2009 and then down to  £300m by the end of 2010. Mitchells and Butler have managed to get the loan amount down to  £475 million. The organisation is aiming to bring capital expenditure down to  £120 million whilst selling some of its pubs along the way. This is a way in which they will pay back the  £550 million loan, however it will have a huge effect on the size of the business and its net profit in the next financial year. (Hall, 2009) Below is a list of further trends that were available from the corporate profile September 2009. Major Trends 2008 Turnover-  £1,908m up 0.7% EBITDA-  £477m up 1.1% Operating profit-  £343m Profit before tax-  £179m down 13.5% Earnings per share- 31.5p down 11.3% Before exceptional terms and IAS 39 movements. Source mbplc.com- corporate profile September 2009 (Appendix 6) 3.4 Balanced Scorecard Financial L4L growth turnover and profit, ROI on investment and acquisition, total capital expended, rent/lease review uplifts, assignment premiums Internal Business Processes Mitchells and Butler have both long and short hold leases. IT systems Mitchells Butlers is reliant on its IT systems to trade efficiently and to ensure that appropriate controls are in place Learning and Growth Graduate Programs are in place for two different areas: The Corporate Graduate Scheme and the Retail Graduate Scheme Training given at all operational levels. Employees must be able to work to the standards set by the Mitchells and Butler legacy. Customer Service Standards Service standards have a huge impact on Mitchells and Butlers success. Service standards are a key element in the choice of consumers pub. Employee satisfaction survey, retailer satisfaction survey, Now to Wow, mystery customer, retailer complaint levels, customer complaint levels Strengths Financial ability Market share Management Team Knowledge and Experience within the industry. Diversity of customers through differentiated markets. Training schemes. Brand name Good understanding of customers needs Weaknesses Massive amounts of cost implications. Hard to differentiate products and services. High level of debt Dire trade outlook Opportunities Smoking ban Increase in the eating out market. Cheap pubs available for acquisition. Increase customer base by going â€Å"green†. Comply with all environmental issues. Threats Smoking ban Regulations Staying in is the new going out Recession Decrease in leisure pound Increase in the off trade market New Legislations Bad press from binge drinking Competition Low barriers of entry. Current disagreements between board members. 3.5SWOT Analysis 4.0 Strategic Choice In order for MB to develop further, they must look at the different strategic options. They need to ask themselves 5 questions: What do we want in life? On WHAT basis are we to compete? WHEN do we implement these? WHICH direction? HOW? Patton, F(2009) 4.1 Porters Generic Strategies Porters two parameters: â€Å"a company can seek to compete† and the market in which a company seeks to compete can be broad or narrow, led him to construct the three generic strategies seen below. (Thomson, 2001) Patton, F (2009) Porters model of generic strategies. Adapted from Porter, M(1985) Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. Mitchells and Butlers uses the Differentiation strategy. It offers a range of differentiated products across a number of markets. The different brands in the organisation ensure that they appeal to the whole market. A way of expressing how MB use the differentiated strategy is to look at the different brands and the markets they operate in. Cost/ Price Focus: Crown Carveries- â€Å"Top quality carvery meals at great prices†¦..† Differentiation Focus Harvester â€Å"Family-friendly restaurants serving freshly-prepared grills, spit-roasts and fish dishes and the famous salad cart, included with every meal†. Cost Leadership Ember Inns â€Å"Quality local pubs providing customers with a relaxed home from home and a great range of cask ales, wines and tempting, traditional pub food favourites with a modern twist†. (Internet accessed via [Cited 14/12/2009] 4.2 Strategy Clock The strategy clock was developed by Cliff Bowman. The clock is based around price and the perceived value the customer will gain from the product or service. Mitchells and Butlers can use the strategic clock to choose where they wish to position a brand or business unit. It represents different positions in a market where potential customers have different requirements in terms of value for money. (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 2008. p224) Mitchells and Butler are positioned between the hybrid and differentiation stage. They aim to provide products and services that are different to that of their competitors in a range of different markets however in certain brands e.g. harvester their strategy is to offer lower cost meals. For a more in depth explanation of Bowmans strategy clock please see Appendix 6. 4.3 The Ansoff matrix Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, R (2009) state that the Ansoff matrix provides a simple way of showing the four different directions of strategic development. They state that an organisation starts in the top left hand box. It then has a choice between penetrating further within its existing sphere, move to the right and develop new products for its existing markets; moving downwards bringing its existing products into new markets: or move diagonally down, which involves full diversification where the organisation enters new markets with new products. Adapted from Ansoff, H (1988) The diagram above was taken from an internet site: http://strategyiseverywhere. However the model is exactly the same across all literature. Mitchells and Butlers strategic development direction is one which uses market penetration, market development and Product Development. Market Penetration Market penetration involves the organisation taking an increased share of its existing markets with the same product range. It does not involve an organisation having to venture into unfamiliar territory. The advantage of market penetration is that it increases power over both suppliers and buyers. (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, R 2009) Mitchells and Butlers used market penetration as a growth strategy by building, buying and acquiring more and more pubs. It is now the leader in managed pubs and pub restaurants within the industry with around 2,000 businesses. Market Development Market development involves an organisation offering existing products to new m

The History of Mexican-Americans Explored Through Film Essay -- Mexico

The History of Mexican-Americans Explored Through Film The hardships that Mexican-Americans have faced started well before Reies Lopez Tijierina and Corky Gonzalaz led the Chicano movement in the sixties, and well before the Coronado Bridge was built in San Diego. It started with the Treaty of Guadeloupe Hilago. The treaty signed in 1848 by the United States and Mexico established new boarders between the two countries. This treaty forever changed the lives of Mexicans then and still today. When the United States gained control of the land in the Southwest all the Mexicans that had been living there became citizens of the U.S. The land that had once been theirs, the land that they had grown up on the their great grandparents had grown up on was now being taken by the U.S. government. Felix Gutierrez, a fourth generation Californian, sums up the feelings of Mexican-Americans best when he said, "My great grandfather didn’t cross the boarder, the boarder crossed him." (interview with Jorge Quiroga) Around the time that the Cold War started to heat up Reies Lopez Tijerina started to fight back for the land of Tierra Amarilla. It was once land that had once belonged to Amarlla, and had sold for 200 dollars and some horses, and Tijierina said it was time to take it back. The film Chicano! shows that with this one defining act Tijerina spearheaded the Chicano movement. The word Chicano which means "poorest of the poor" spread like wild fire throughout the Mexican-American community in the Southwest. Chicanos saw what Dr. Martin Luther King was doing for the African Americans and they realized that they were also victims of labor, education and even military discrimination. Tijierina’s argument and desire for change had been ba... ... Chicano! takes an in depth and vivid look at the Chicano movement led by Tijerina and Corky and how the two of those men have instilled an everlasting fight for equal rights in the Mexican-American community. The web sight Chicano Park tells the history of the Coronado Bridge and exhibits the murals in the park. These murals are the testimony for the Mexican-American’s struggle for equal rights in the United States. In reading Zack’s paper, he makes a good point that in the school systems students never really learn about this part of our history. I agree and also think that if students had learned this, the Chicano movement would benefit. Parker also makes a good point that projects like Chicano Park are very good for the Mexican communities. I feel that public places that represents a people’s history and struggle, help brings that community together and stronger.

Constitutional Democracy Essay -- essays research papers

Constitutional Democracy The basic premise of a constitutional democracy is that government has rules and all of the people have voices. Through free and fair elections we elect candidates to represent us. The Constitution of the United States guarantees us the right to do this, and to live democratically. The framers attacked tyrannical government and advanced the following ideas: that government comes from below, not from above, and that it derives its powers from the consent of the governed; that men have certain natural, inalienable rights; that it is wise and feasible to distribute and balance powers within government, giving local powers to local governments, and general powers to the national government; that men are born equal and should be treated as equal before the law. The framers of the U. S. Constitution sought to make these ideas the governing principles of a nation. Constitutional democracy has three basic elements. Those being interacting values, interrelated political processes and interdependent political structures. The first idea of interacting values is popular consent. Popular consent means that government must obtain consent for its actions from the people it governs. It is similar to majority rule, a political process, in that the most popular acts or ideas of the people will be adopted by our government. There must be an allowance or willingness on behalf of the unpopular group to lose. Popular consent may provide a means for judging parental consent laws for minors seeking abortion. Since minors are not legally allowed to be competent to engage in sex, to enter into contracts, or to form sufficient "informed consent" to agree to their own medical treatment, it is incredible that they would be regarded as competent to make a life and death decision about something that later in life they might themselves regard as a real person, with individual rights Drawing on several major contributions of the enlightenment, including the political theory of John Locke and the economic ideas of Adam Smith, individualism posts the individual human being as the basic unit out of which all larger social groups are constructed and grants priority to his or her rights and interests over those of the state or social group... ...ve powers of the president likewise were proscribed in a number of places by designated responsibilities. The judicial power was to be wielded by judges. Explicit jurisdiction of the courts was subject to congressional definition. Checks and balances are the constitutional controls whereby separate branches of government have limiting powers over each other so that no branch will become supreme. Perhaps the best known system of checks and balances operates in the U.S. government under provisions of the federal constitution. The operation of checks and balances in the federal government is spelled out in the Constitution. The Constitution of the United States has afforded us many rights. At times, those rights are in contention. At others, we would be in anarchy without them. Constitutional democracy is a beautiful thing. Although we may not all have the same amount of wealth, we have the liberty to. We have the right to be heard. And how is this right anymore exemplified than voting? Our representatives will do what we want, and if they don't give us a couple of years and we'll find someone else who will promise to. AMEN.

Essay --

Sangbum Park POLI 120A Prof. Victor Magagna Feb, 14, 2014 Causes of changing demand in Europe There are many causes of changing demand in Europe focusing on the incremental change demanded and how rulers responded. The early modern Western Europe has been developed by institutional variations in state. Basically in the book â€Å"Birth of the Leviathan† by Thomas Ertman, he does not believe on the traditional view of the state. He views states in two dimensions which are the regime types and the state apparatus. The two political regimes are the absolute monarchy and the constitutional monarchy. The two state apparatus was either patrimonial or bureaucratic. Briefly before the absolutism was established and built, the feudalism was the political system in the Europe. It was basically the few rulers ruled everything and only those few rulers had power to control anything. The feudal system started to decline when the power of the monarchs in France started to rise. Also the people from burgess class, which was the majority of the people in the feudalism, emerged along the rise of towns. One other reason was the increase of communication between the burgess classes. The decline and destroy of feudalism led the patrimonial absolutism to rise in the Europe during the early middle ages in Europe. During the early middle ages in Latin Europe, the centralized states of those countries were declining. This declination of the centralized states brought the new dynamism to the economies and the religions especially the Church which led the growing of economy. The absolute monarchy started to rise back in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In Western and Eastern Europe, many monarchs such as kings or emperors tried to increase their ... ...ich basically combined England, Scotland, and Ireland into the Great Britain. The glorious revolution was the final incident which stopped the struggles and conflicts of power between the monarchs and the parliament. William and Mary agreed to sign the Bill of Rights offered by the parliament. This Bill of Rights was basically the monarchs, William and Mary will not be able to make their own decision without the permission of the parliament. This is basically how the absolutism is changed to a constitutionalism in England after this incident. The Glorious Revolution brought the power balance between the monarchs and the parliament favors more to parliament as time passed. As the parliament had more powers later, the government became more like democracy because it was the elected people who were making the decisions not the one ruler who were deciding everything.

Sample Statement of Purpose

I introduce myself as a student of the undergraduate program in Computer Science and Engineering at CVR College of Engineering affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (Hyderabad). I use this opportunity to elucidate my career objectives and give in quintessence of my educational background. My Educational Background and academic achievements: Since my school days, I have been interested in Mathematics and physical sciences. My scholastic record has been meritorious right through school and higher secondary education. With my propensity towards Mathematics and physics, I chose Mathematics-Physics-Chemistry as my group for post-secondary education. I was placed in the top 3% of nearly 200,000 enthusiastic students in the entrance examination for Engineering. This performance helped me in getting admission in to CVR College of Engineering, one of the top institutions for engineering in Andhra Pradesh, India. My fascination for engineering was from an early stage though not a conscious one. There have been doers because there have been dreamers, in our dreams we see not what is, but what can be. It is with such dreams and visions that today we stand at the milestone of success. The sweeping changes in the Technological world and Computers have made the role of computer science engineer a really indispensable one. It has been my deepest desire to be a part of this rapidly burgeoning community. My strong penchant towards programming languages like C which was taught in our high school and also the versatility of the Computers and my basic interest in the field of programming motivated me to take Computer Science and Engineering as my major in undergraduate program. My years as an undergraduate student have influenced me the most. Academically I have matured a lot during this period. It was here that I understood the need to put theory into practice and most importantly to innovate in face of immense hurdles. During the course of study, my encounters with Software engineering, Software testing methodologies and Software Project Management have been extremely enlightening. The joy of learning these subjects under excellent professors is unsurpassable. My inclination towards graduate studies gained foot during my second year of under graduation, during which many of the people told me about the opportunities we have by doing masters and the research programs offered by the universities. Why to Pursue M. S.? Excellence in any sphere of life can be achieved through determination, hard work, perseverance and dedication. Yet, lack of in-depth knowledge of the subject leaves the conceptual skills incomplete. The nature of undergraduate courses does not offer scope for individual expression and rapidly advancing technology necessitates mastery of particular area. It is in this contest I would like to pursue a course that not only supplements the knowledge that I possess but also provides a strong foundation to my research oriented study. In my graduate program my goal is to expand my mental horizons, detailed understanding of latest tools and technologies adopted by engineering, with the time. I also want to learn technical, managerial as well as behavioral aspects of the field to work in higher positions. I strongly feel that master’s program will inculcate a strong quality assurance and testing component in my knowledge, so as to raise the level of excellence in my work. I came to know that an academic experience is must-to-have component for growth in global field of software engineering, as well as to make a mark in professional career. From use of sophisticated tools to advanced theories, MS teaches me all that I need to know to enhance my academic experience and qualification. Why Software Engineering? In my undergraduate studies, I have benefited from the breadth of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University’s syllabi content that has given me a comprehensive exposure to the core areas of Computer Science and a strong conceptual understanding of the same. In these three and half years of study, I have strived to maintain an approach of expending independent effort in all my endeavors. Learning by myself and sharing my knowledge with others has been most worthwhile, when comprehending a concept. My interest in Software Engineering arouse when I was in my second year of under graduation. I believe that Software Engineering is the application of disciplined, systematic approach to the operation, development and maintenance of software. The discipline of software engineering that increased my interest towards this field is it covers tools, knowledge and methods to define software requirements and to perform computer programming, software design, user interface design, software maintenance tasks and software testing . As Software engineering encompasses the knowledge from different fields like computer engineering, computer science, mathematics, testing methodologies, quality management, project management etc I came to a conclusion that career in software engineering can be very rewarding as there is demand for software engineers across the industries. Why your University? The selection of the right university by the candidate is as important as the selection of the right candidate by the university. Having to choose a university that is suitable to my ambition is a major decision, one which can’t be taken in haste. To achieve my objectives, I feel that the choice of University is of critical importance. Information from faculty here at the college, my seniors and perusal of the University web-site, I have inferred that your University provides excellent research activities and balanced academic program which is conducive to my study. I feel that I can realize my aspirations that I have nurtured along. As a part of your family of students, I have to imbibe the best of what you offer, extend the breadth of knowledge. In conclusion, I hope that I will be given chance to realize my objectives by granting admission in your esteemed and distinguished University. I am confident that with my academic standards and strong motivation, zeal, positive attitude and with the aid of your graduate program, I will be able to make a significant contribution to the research endeavors at the University. I take this opportunity to request for suitable financial assistance from the department and college.

Honesty: Lie and Friendship Relationship

In a friendship relationship honesty is the most important trait one should have. Although many traits such as respectfulness, trustworthiness and caring are also important to have one believes that honesty is the number one trait. Honesty means telling the truth, having good intentions and being sincere. To establish a friendship relationship one should be able to believe in each other. An example of this is believing in each other is when a friend borrows money and they say they will return it the next day. They are giving their word. If they just keep the money and never return it to back then they are considered to be a dishonest person and the friendship can fall apart. Instead they should be honest and tell the truth of why they couldn’t return the money and maybe the friendship could be restored. Having good intentions speaks about having good character. When one has good intentions then one can be believed in. For instance if a friend tells another friend that a particular person has a crush on them, this action may cause resentfulness because they may have a crush on another person. Even though the intentions were good intentions the actions could become disastrous because the relationship will be broken. Another form of honesty is if one goes into class and a cell phone is left behind on a chair; what would one do: A: keep it or B: tell the teacher? On one occasion this was, while entering the classroom one found a cell phone and one gave it to the teacher. By making the right choice one’s peers were able to identify one’s honesty. Setting a good example is the best thing to do. Not everyone is as honest, on one occasion one’s phone was stolen from one’s backpack, one was very unhappy. Due to not having enough money to purchase another cell phone one has had to adjust to life without a cell phone. There are many dishonest people everywhere. One’s belief is that if the item doesn’t belong to one then one must return the item. Being sincere with each other is building a positive relationship. No matter how difficult it is to tell the truth one is better off being sincere than to lie about it. The friendship may be hindered if the truth is not said as it occurs and the friendship may be lost. When one lies about things then one continues to lie very easily to others in fact one can actually think that one is telling the truth. One guesses one can become a compulsive liar. By always practicing telling the truth one will not have those types of problems. In conclusion, the reader may not agree to above essay, yet one believes that honesty is what keeps a friendship relationship in good standards. Being sincere is to tell each other the truth no matter how difficult it may be. By being careful with one’s intentions can prevent hindering the friendship by ensuring one’s actions are the right ones.

Barangay Assenbly Minutes Essay

I. MINUTES OF THE BARANGAY ASSEMBLY Opening prayer was led by Purok President Charito Sombito. Thus, singing of Pambansang Awit was preceded. Punong Barangay Emelda J. Banguanga acknowledged the presence of P/Inps. Robert Dejucos of PS2, Lina Magbanua and party represented the City Mayor’s Office, Barangay 2m Scholars, ALS Learners, Purok Officials of 5 Puroks, concern citizens and Honorable Mona Dia Jardin. First presenter was Kagawad Noe M. Romero Sr., Chairman Committee on Peace and Order; he reported that from May to October 2012 the number of cases filed in the Barangay is 37 included the VAW-C cases. In drug related cases, about 15 persons apprehended from April to October 2012 based on the drug inventory receipt of property seized issued by the PDEA Operatives and CAIDSOTG. Barangay Kagawad Ramon E. Jamelo, Chairman Committee on Education and Infrastructure, reported that the Barangay has already had 27 Barangay Scholars enrolled at Bacolod City College which is a continuous program of the Barangay. 55 Preschoolers enrolled at the Barangay Day Care Center, about 50 out-of-school youth catered by the ALS program of the Barangay, and 10 scholars facilitated by the Barangay through the TESDA skill training program. He said that this program was designed to counter and eliminate one of the problems of the Barangay which is drugs. On the other hand, on the infrastructure and developmental projects, he enumerated some of the projects implemented such as the construction of footwalk at Purok Balinday and Purok Lampirong, declogging of drainage system at Purok Sigay, construction of artesian well at Purok Tahong, distribution of jetmatic pump (replacement) at 5 Puroks, and procurement of various electrical supplies distributed to 5 Puroks. Barangay Kagawad Ben Jake C. Barilla, Chairman Committee on Finance and Livelihood program reported the financial status of the Barangay from May to October 2012. See attached document for the financial report. And as for the livelihood program, he informed that about 35 indigent benefited the trisikad rent-to-own program of the Barangay. SK Chairman Lovely May O. Rile, Chairman Committee on Youth and Sports Development, reported the various activities implemented by the SK Council from April to October 2012. Some of them are the SK Socio-Cultural Presentation â€Å"Search for Miss SK 2012† which held last March 2012, SK Summer League 2012 last May 2012, Supported the Barangay Scholars for the payment of their tuition fees and ALS Program of the Barangay. SK Council also sponsors the procurement of t-shirt for the Senior Citizens of the Barangay during the celebration of the Barangay Day last March 2012. She also added that for the December activity, the SK Council planned to have an Inter-Purok Belen Making Contest and a Socio-Cultural Presentation â€Å"Search for Mr. SK 2012. Barangay Kagawad Victor D. Aliguin, Chairman Committee on Health, Sanitation and Social Services, reported his accomplishment report such as the conduct of bloodletting activity, nutrition month celebration, anti-rabies vaccination, procurement of medicines intended for indigent families, balik-MMR (9 mos. – 8 yrs.) (6 yrs – 14 yrs), garantisadong pambata (GP- 6 to 11 mos.) Vit.A (12 to 59 mos), distribution of micro-nutrients powder, weekly feeding program, brigada eskwela together with the Police Station 2 Personnel, anti-dengue campaign, pabasa sa nutrisyon program and attendance to various training seminars. Lastly Punong Barangay Emelda J. Banguanga reported some of the programs, projects and activities that had been delivered by the Barangay such as the effective implementation of Barangay Budget for 2012 which already reported by Kgd. Barilla, passage of Barangay Resolution approving the Annual Investment Plan of Barangay 2 for the year 2013, full support extended to the education program, livelihood program, health and social services program, infrastructure program and diversion program through socio-cultural activities, facilitated the 125 additional household targeted beneficiaries, procurement of various supplies and materials for Barangay.

International Environment Essay

Entrepreneurial activities and innovation has drastically changed the international competitiveness of Brazilian companies which has taken the country’s economy beyond its agricultural sector. Technology has drastically changed in Brazil because of which many foreign firms have started investing in the country. A research conducted by the Research Institute on Applied Economics (IPEA) studied 1200 industrial firms in Brazil and compared them to similar firms in Mexico and Argentina, results showed Brazilian firms to be very competitive in medium and high technology products in the international export market (Wright 2007). The report by Wright (2007) also states that Brazil has limited product development activities due to its weak capital market structure however it has a very strong research base on the supply-side which helps them in producing innovative goods. In computer markets Brazil is fifth largest in the world; it is also investing domestically in emerging technologies hence posing great opportunities for global investment (Fried, 2008). Technology Environment in Singapore The technological environment of Singapore has advanced exponentially in the past few years; e-commerce transactions have greatly increased in areas such as internet trading and internet banking (The Economist 2007). The government in its Information and Communication Technology 21 (ICT21) master plan of 2000 planned on positioning Singapore as a global capital of communication and information technology by 2010 (The Economist). This clearly shows the level of research and development activity in the country and the impact it will have, and has had, in the transfer of technology with respect to global investment; in July 2000 the Economic Development Board Investment setup M-Commerce Ventures to further foreign investment.