Coca Cola vs Pepsi: Background

Research Proposal |Student Number: | PROVISIONAL TITLE |Coca Cola Vs Pepsi: how a competitive brand proliferation has determined their dominance in the global soft drink industry? | BACKGROUND | | |It is not a foreign notion that both Coca Cola and Pepsi have been competing with one another in the global soft drinks industry for many years.From the | |early stages, of both the drink brands development from 1910, when Pepsi took on Coca Cola in the American carbonated drinks market franchising 24 | |states[1]. Too the current day in which Coca Cola this year celebrated, 84 years of being the official sponsors of the Olympic Games. As well as Pepsi | |wining the bid for sponsorship of the Superbowl halftime show once more; with last year’s show being viewed by an estimated 114 million globally. 2] | | | |Their soda war has been raging for over a century. When Caleb Bradham created Pepsi in 1898, Coca Cola had already been incorporated for 6 years by Asa | |Candler who purchas ed John S Pembertons Coke recipe, and was selling a million gallons a year. By the time Pepsi had franchised 24 states; Coca Cola had | |established bottling plants in Cuba, Canada and Panama and understood the power of advertising. Ploughing large amounts of profits into marketing with | |D’Archy Advertising Company.Over the next 20 years Pepsi suffers two bankruptcies the first in 1923, the start of World War I (WWI). When government | |policies on sugar rationing left the company with no other viable option and Pepsi Cola was sold to Craven Holdings Corp. After two years the trademark | |went bust once again in 1931. Here though good fortune comes in the form of Loft Inc a candy store chain, with its intuitive president Charles G Guth; | |they initiate the first competitive pricing strategy between the two firms. Pepsi Cola introduced the 12 ounce bottle for 5 nickel in 1933.With profits | |rising Pepsi produces their first advertising campaign for radio and jukebox: †˜Pepsi Cola Hits The Spot, Twelve Full Ounces That’s A Lot, Twice As Much For| |A Nickel, Too, Pepsi Cola Is The Drink For You’. During this time Coca Cola has established bottling operations in Bordeaux, Paris, Philippines’ | |establishing a global distribution network of resources. Resulting in a huge group investment of $25 million persuaded by Ernest Woodruff who would become| |President of Coke in 1923. The investment spurs Coke to spread to Australia Norway and South Africa. | | |By 1959 Coke is now a registered trademark under the name of The Coca Cola Company, their first ever television commercial has been advertised and the | |company’s distribution network crosses 100 countries and 1700 plants. From the 1940’s onwards Pepsi have learnt from previous events and at the beginning | |of World War II (WWII) purchase a sugar plantation in Cuba to avoid disruption to business. They have also developed their products container to a can, a | |m ore progressive and modern aversion from the traditional heavy glass bottle.By 1959 Pepsi was now available in a 120 countries; differentiating their | |target market the youth nicknamed the ‘sociables’. At this point, for the first time both Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola are equals. In the sense they have | |established equally strong global distribution networks and have similar levels of assets. | | | |Albeit in 1960 Coca Cola was not complacent with sharing the lime light with Pepsi Cola, and initiates a merger acquiring Minute Maid Corporation in | |response.This causes a domino effect over the next few years with Coca Cola introducing Sprite and Diet Coke. Pepsi Cola merges with Mountain Dew adding | |to their trademark and then merging into the snacks industry with Frito Lay Inc creating PepsiCo Inc, as well as introducing Diet Pepsi. Both brands have | |continued to develop and expand. To this day The Coca Cola Company is consists of over 400 brands[3] and Pepsi con sisting of 22 food and beverage | |brands[4]. | | |Although Coca Cola and PepsiCo are prestige brands, they both remain global market powers in a vigorously competitive soft drinks industry, valued at total| |value US$30. 3bn by 2008[5]. Their success is down too their strategic behaviour in response to changes in the market structure, changes in market demand | |and product development over the last 84 years. Both brands have practiced archetypal methods such as pricing strategies, mergers, product | |differentiation, in order to compete with one another for market dominance.To such an extent the market has developed into an oligopoly, in which they | |hold a large market share stifling other competition. This type of competition is discussed in great detail in the Journal of Economics and Management | |Strategy, where company strategic behavioural responses are explained by using various oligopoly competition theories such as Cournot, Bertrand competition| |and Pure strategy Nash equilibrium games. Some of the articles within the Journal are specific to Coca Cola and Pepsi, proving that my topic is both | |contemporary and relevant. 6] The journal also embarks on the effectiveness of constant research and development to maintain product differentiation in the| |market. [7] The journal contains articles relevant to the soft drinks industry[8] and articles that can explain certain company actions like recipe | |patents[9]. | | | |Coca Cola and Pepsi’s century long soda war can be analysed stage by stage, each brands reaction to the other is a carefully thought out plan in which the | |sole purpose is ultimately to overcome the rival brand last move in a continuingly competitive game. RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIVES |The main objective of this piece of research is to examine the strategically competitive decisions made by both Coca Cola and Pepsi over the last 84 years;| |that have developed both brands into establishing themselves as significant pow ers in the global soft drinks industry. | | | |My aim is to go through both brands commercial history identifying key events and competitive moves, such as the first pricing strategy instigated by Pepsi| |in 1933, and Coca Cola’s merger of Minute Maid in 1960.Using officially endorsed company literature to establish a thorough history since 1986 to the | |present day. Such texts as ‘For God, Country and Coca Cola: The Definitive History of the World’s Most Popular Soft Drink’[10] and ‘Pepsi 100 Years’[11] | |and each corporations global web sites (www. pepsico. com/www. coca-cola. company. com) will be essential to collating a empirical investigation. | | |Once I have compiled a detailed history for both companies, it will be clear that there are certain strategies that have been used to increase either | |brands market power. I will use microeconomic theory with the aid of scholarly papers, journals and market records (some of which I have referenced in my | |background) to explain the reasoning behind instigating the strategies and why they were a success to either Coca Cola or Pepsi brand proliferation.I have| |already outlined briefly a few key implemented strategies in my background; the innovation of the Pepsi can, Nickel for a Nickel decade, Minute Maid | |Corporation merger, but there are other notable tactics. | | | |Each chapter will be based on an individual event or commercial decision which I will have identified after further investigation, with the chapters in a | |chronological order. In each chapter I will analyse the motive for the action, the economic strategy implemented and its direct effectiveness on the soft | |drinks industry.When concluding my research, I hope to have a synopsis of how; when the right strategy is applied in the right climate it can have a | |profound effect on a company’s demand and supply leading to increase in profits and market share too brand proliferation[12]. Alth ough my research is | |focused on coca cola corporation and PepsiCo it may be prudent to research another leading corporation within the global soft drinks industry i. e. Nestle | |Sa or Suntory Holdings Ltd. An investigation may reveal a ype of industrial organisational strategy which has not been used in Coca Cola and Pepsis | |relationship. I could provide this strategy as a suggested forthcoming policy to deal with Coca Cola and Pepsis modern day feud such as the Olympic | |sponsorship dispute[13] | REFERENCES |1. |Mark Pendegrast (2000). For God, Country and Coca Cola: The Definitive History of the World’s Most Popular Soft | | |Drink. 2nd ed. US: TEXERE (Thomson Corporation). ix-621. | |2. |Stoddard (1997). Pepsi: 100 Years.US: General Publishing Group U. S. 1-208. | |3. |Dhar, Tirtha 1 ; Chavas, Jean-Paul 2 ; Cotterill, Ronald W 3 ; Gould, Brian W 4 . (2005). An econometric analysis of | | |brand-level strategic pricing between Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo. An econometric analysis of brand-level strategic | | |pricing between Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo. 14 (4), 905-932. | |4. |J. C. Louis and Harvey Z. Yazijian. (1980). The Cola Wars: The Story of the Global Corporate Battle Between the | | |Coca-Cola Company and Pepsico, Inc. Business History Review. 5 (04), 386-590. | |5. |Dube, Jean-Pierre. (2005). Product differentiation and mergers in the carbonated soft drink industry. Product | | |differentiation and mergers in the carbonated soft drink industry. Journal of economics and management strategy 14 | | |(4), 879-904. | ———————– [1] Kim Bhasin. (02/11/2011). COKE VS. PEPSI: The Amazing Story Behind The Infamous Cola Wars. Available: http://www. businessinsider. com/soda-wars-coca-cola-pepsi-history-infographic-2011-11? op=1. Last accessed 04/11/2012. [2] Sports Illustrated. (2012). Pepsi

The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle Chapter Four

â€Å"But he's got to have a doctor. He looks like he's dying!† said Bonnie. â€Å"He can't. I can't explain right now. Let's just get him home, all right? He's wet and freezing out here. Then we can discuss it.† The job of getting Stefan through the woods was enough to occupy everyone's mind for a while. He remained unconscious, and when they finally laid him out in the back seat of Matt's car they were all bruised and exhausted, in addition to being wet from the contact with his soaking clothes. Elena held his head in her lap as they drove to the boarding house. Meredith and Bonnie followed. Elena gently eased Stefan's head down and slipped out of the car, and saw one of the windows in the house brighten as a curtain was pushed aside. Then she saw a head and shoulders appear at the window, looking down. â€Å"Mrs. Flowers!† she called, waving. â€Å"It's Elena Gilbert, Mrs. Flowers. We've found Stefan, and we need to get in!† The figure at the window did not move or otherwise acknowledge her words. Yet from its posture, Elena could tell it was still looking down on them. â€Å"Mrs. Flowers, we have Stefan,† she called again, gesturing to the lighted interior of the car. â€Å"Please!† â€Å"Elena! It's unlocked already!† Bonnie's voice floated to her from the front porch, distracting Elena from the figure at the window. When she looked back up, she saw the curtains falling into place, and then the light in that upstairs room snapped off. It was strange, but she had no time to puzzle over it. She and Meredith helped Matt lift Stefan and carry him up the front steps. Inside, the house was dark and still. Elena directed the others up the staircase that stood opposite the door, and onto the second-floor landing. From there they went into a bedroom, and Elena had Bonnie open the door of what looked like a closet. It revealed another stairway, very dim and narrow. â€Å"Who would leave their – front door unlocked – after all that's happened recently?† Matt grunted as they hauled their lifeless burden. â€Å"She must be crazy.† â€Å"Sheis crazy,† Bonnie said from above, pushing the door at the top of the staircase open. â€Å"Last time we were here she talked about the weirdest – † Her voice broke off in a gasp. â€Å"What is it?† said Elena. But as they reached the threshold of Stefan's room, she saw for herself. She'd forgotten the condition the room had been in the last time she'd seen it. Trunks filled with clothing were upended or lying on their sides, as if they'd been thrown by some giant hand from wall to wall. Their contents were strewn about the floor, along with articles from the dresser and tables. Furniture was overturned, and a window was broken, allowing a cold wind to blow in. There was only one lamp on, in a corner, and grotesque shadows loomed against the ceiling. â€Å"What happened?† said Matt. Elena didn't answer until they had stretched Stefan out on the bed. â€Å"I don't know for certain,† she said, and this was true, if just barely. â€Å"But it was already this way last night. Matt, will you help me? He needs to get dry.† â€Å"I'll find another lamp,† said Meredith, but Elena spoke quickly. â€Å"No, we can see all right. Why don't you try to get a fire going?† Spilling from one of the gaping trunks was a terry cloth robe of some dark color. Elena took it, and she and Matt began to strip off Stefan's wet and clinging clothes. She worked on getting his sweater off, but â€Å"Matt, could you – could you hand me that towel?† As soon as he turned, she tugged the sweater over Stefan's head and quickly wrapped the robe around him. When Matt turned back and handed her the towel, she wound it around Stefan's throat like a scarf. Her pulse was racing, her mind working furiously. No wonder he was so weak, so lifeless. Oh, God. She had to examine him, to see how bad it was. But how could she, with Matt and the others here? â€Å"I'm going to get a doctor,† Matt said in a tight voice, his eyes on Stefan's face. â€Å"He needs help, Elena.† Elena panicked. â€Å"Matt, no†¦ please. He – he's afraid of doctors. I don't know what would happen if you brought one here.† Again, it was the truth, if not the whole truth. She had an idea of what might help Stefan, but she couldn't do it with the others there. She bent over Stefan, rubbing his hands between her own, trying to think. What could she do? Protect Stefan's secret at the cost of his life? Or betray him in order to save him? Would it save him to tell Matt and Bonnie and Meredith? She looked at her friends, trying to picture their response if they were to learn the truth about Stefan Salvatore. It was no good. She couldn't risk it. The shock and horror of the discovery had nearly sent Elena herself reeling into madness. If she, who loved Stefan, had been ready to run from him screaming, what would these three do? And then there was Mr. Tanner's murder. If they knew what Stefan was, would they ever be able to believe him innocent? Or, in their heart of hearts, would they always suspect him? Elena shut her eyes. It was just too dangerous. Meredith and Bonnie and Matt were her friends, but this was one thing she couldn't share with them. In all the world, there was no one she could trust with this secret. She would have to keep it alone. She straightened up and looked at Matt. â€Å"He's afraid of doctors, but a nurse might be all right.† She turned to where Bonnie and Meredith were kneeling before the fireplace. â€Å"Bonnie, what about your sister?† â€Å"Mary?† Bonnie glanced at her watch. â€Å"She has the late shift at the clinic this week, but she's probably home by now. Only – â€Å" â€Å"Then that's it. Matt, you go with Bonnie and ask Mary to come here and look at Stefan. If she thinks he needs a doctor, I won't argue any more.† Matt hesitated, then exhaled sharply. â€Å"All right. I still think you're wrong, but – let's go, Bonnie. We're going to break some traffic laws.† As they went to the door, Meredith remained standing by the fireplace, watching Elena with steady dark eyes. Elena made herself meet them. â€Å"Meredith†¦ I think you should all go.† â€Å"Do you?† Those dark eyes remained on hers unwaveringly, as if trying to pierce through and read her mind. But Meredith did not ask any other questions. After a moment she nodded, and followed Matt and When Elena heard the door at the bottom of the staircase close, she hastily righted a lamp that lay overturned by the bedside and plugged it in. Now, at last, she could take stock of Stefan's injuries. His color seemed worse than before; he was literally almost as white as the sheets below him. His lips were white, too, and Elena suddenly thought of Thomas Fell, the founder of Fell's Church. Or, rather, of Thomas Fell's statue, lying beside his wife's on the stone lid of their tomb. Stefan was the color of that marble. The cuts and gashes on his hands showed livid purple, but they were no longer bleeding. She gently turned his head to look at his neck. And there it was. She touched the side of her own neck automatically, as if to verify the resemblance. But Stefan's marks were not small punctures. They were deep, savage tears in the flesh. He looked as if he had been mauled by some animal that had tried to rip out his throat. White-hot anger blazed through Elena again. And with it, hatred. She realized that despite her disgust and fury, she had not really hated Damon before. Not really. But now†¦ now, shehated. She loathed him with an intensity of emotion that she had never felt for anyone else in her life. She wanted to hurt him, to make him pay. If she'd had a wooden stake at that moment, she would have hammered it through Damon's heart without regret. But just now she had to think of Stefan. He was so terrifyingly still. That was the hardest thing to bear, the lack of purpose or resistance in his body, the emptiness. That was it. It was as if he had vacated this form and left her with an empty vessel. â€Å"Stefan!† Shaking him did nothing. With one hand on the center of his cold chest, she tried to detect a heartbeat. If there was one, it was too faint to feel. Keep calm, Elena, she told herself, pushing back the part of her mind that wanted to panic. The part that was saying, â€Å"What if he's dead? What if he's really dead, and nothing you can do will save him?† Glancing about the room, she saw the broken window. Shards of glass lay on the floor beneath it. She went over and picked one up, noting how it sparkled in the firelight. A pretty thing, with an edge like a razor, she thought. Then, deliberately, setting her teeth, she cut her finger with it. The pain made her gasp. After an instant, blood began welling out of the cut, dripping down her finger like wax down a candlestick. Quickly, she knelt by Stefan and put her finger to his lips. With her other hand, she clasped his unresponsive one, feeling the hardness of the silver ring he wore. Motionless as a statue herself, she knelt there and waited. She almost missed the first tiny flicker of response. Her eyes were fixed on his face, and she caught the minute lifting of his chest only in her peripheral vision. But then the lips beneath her finger quivered and parted slightly, and he swallowed reflexively. â€Å"That's it,† Elena whispered. â€Å"Come on, Stefan.† His eyelashes fluttered, and with dawning joy she felt his fingers return the pressure of hers. He swallowed again. Those green eyes were dazed and heavy, but as stubborn as she had ever seen them. â€Å"No,† Stefan said, his voice a cracked whisper. â€Å"You have to, Stefan. The others are coming back and bringing a nurse with them. I had to agree to that. And if you're not well enough to convince her you don't need a hospital†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She left the sentence unfinished. She herself didn't know what a doctor or lab technician would find examining Stefan. But she knew he knew, and that it made him afraid. But Stefan only looked more obstinate, turning his face away from her. â€Å"Can't,† he whispered. â€Å"It's too dangerous. Already took†¦ too much†¦ last night.† Could it have been only last night? It seemed a year ago. â€Å"Will it kill me?† she asked. â€Å"Stefan, answer me! Will it kill me?† â€Å"No†¦Ã¢â‚¬  His voice was sullen. â€Å"But – â€Å" â€Å"Then we have to do it. Don't argue with me!† Bending over him, holding his hand in hers, Elena could feel his overpowering need. She was amazed that he was even trying to resist. It was like a starving man standing before a banquet, unable to take his eyes from the steaming dishes, but refusing to eat. â€Å"No,† Stefan said again, and Elena felt frustration surge through her. He was the only person she'd ever met who was as stubborn as she was. â€Å"Yes. And if you won't cooperate I'll cut something else, like my wrist.† She had been pressing her finger into the sheet to staunch the blood; now she held it up to him. His pupils dilated, his lips parted. â€Å"Too much†¦ already,† he murmured, but his gaze remained on her finger, on the bright drop of blood at the tip. â€Å"And I can't†¦ control†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"It's all right,† she whispered. She drew the finger across his lips again, feeling them open to take it in; then, she leaned over him and shut her eyes. His mouth was cool and dry as it touched her throat. His hand cupped the back of her neck as his lips sought the two little punctures already there. Elena willed herself not to recoil at the brief sting of pain. Then she smiled. Before, she had felt his agonizing need, his driving hunger. Now, through the bond they shared, she felt only fierce joy and satisfaction. Deep satisfaction as the hunger was gradually assuaged. Her own pleasure came from giving, from knowing that she was sustaining Stefan with her own life. She could sense the strength flowing into him. In time, she felt the intensity of the need lessen. Still, it was by no means gone, and she could not understand when Stefan tried to push her away. â€Å"That's enough,† he grated, forcing her shoulders up. Elena opened her eyes, her dreamy pleasure broken. His own eyes were green as mandrake leaves, and in his face she saw the fierce hunger of the â€Å"It isn't enough. You're still weak – â€Å" â€Å"It's enough foryou. † He pushed at her again, and she saw something like desperation spark in those green eyes. â€Å"Elena, if I take much more, you will begin to change. And if you don't move away, if you don't move away from meright now †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena withdrew to the foot of the bed. She watched him sit up and adjust the dark robe. In the lamplight, she saw that his skin had regained some color, a slight flush glazing its pallor. His hair was drying into a tumbled sea of dark waves. â€Å"I missed you,† she said softly. Relief throbbed within her suddenly, an ache that was almost as bad as the fear and tension had been. Stefan was alive; he was talking to her. Everything was going to be all right after all. â€Å"Elena†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Their eyes met and she was held by green fire. Unconsciously, she moved toward him, and then stopped as he laughed aloud. â€Å"I've never seen you look like this before,† he said, and she looked down at herself. Her shoes and jeans were caked with red mud, which was also liberally smeared over the rest of her. Her jacket was torn and leaking its down stuffing. She had no doubt that her face was smudged and dirty, and sheknew her hair was tangled and straggly. Elena Gilbert, immaculate fashion plate of Robert E. Lee, was a mess. â€Å"I like it,† Stefan said, and this time she laughed with him. They were still laughing as the door opened. Elena stiffened alertly, twitching at her turtleneck, glancing around the room for evidence that might betray them. Stefan sat up straighter and licked his lips. â€Å"He's better!† Bonnie caroled out as she stepped into the room and saw Stefan. Matt and Meredith were right behind her, and their faces lit with surprise and pleasure. The fourth person who came in was only a little older than Bonnie, but she had an air of brisk authority that belied her youth. Mary McCullough went straight over to her patient and reached for his pulse. â€Å"So you're the one afraid of doctors,† she said. Stefan looked disconcerted for a moment; then, he recovered. â€Å"It's sort of a childhood phobia,† he said, sounding embarrassed. He glanced sideways at Elena, who smiled nervously and gave a tiny nod. â€Å"Anyway, I don't need one now, as you can see.† â€Å"Why don't you let me be the judge of that? Your pulse is all right. In fact, it's surprisingly slow, even for an athlete. I don't think you're hypothermic, but you're still chilled. Let's get a temperature.† â€Å"No, I really don't think that's necessary.† Stefan's voice was low, calming. Elena had heard him use that voice before, and she knew what he was trying to do. But Mary took not the slightest notice. â€Å"Open up, please.† â€Å"Here, I'll do it,† said Elena quickly, reaching to take the thermometer from Mary. Somehow, as she did so, the little glass tube slipped out of her hand. It fell to the hardwood floor and smashed into several pieces. Uh, I'm sorry! you're not dangerously ill. I can'tmake you go to the clinic. But I'd strongly suggest you get a checkup tomorrow.† â€Å"Thank you,† said Stefan, which, Elena noticed, was not the same as agreeing. â€Å"Elena,you look as if you could use a doctor,† said Bonnie. â€Å"You're white as a ghost.† â€Å"I'm just tired,† Elena said. â€Å"It's been a long day.† â€Å"My advice is to go home and go to bed – and stay there,† Mary said. â€Å"You're not anemic, are you?† Elena resisted the impulse to put a hand to her cheek. Was she so pale? â€Å"No, I'm just tired,† she repeated. â€Å"We can go home now, if Stefan's all right.† He nodded reassuringly, the message in his eyes for her alone. â€Å"Give us a minute, will you?† he said to Mary and the others, and they stepped back to the staircase. â€Å"Good-bye. Take care of yourself,† Elena said aloud as she hugged him. She whispered, â€Å"Why didn't you use your Powers on Mary?† â€Å"I did,† he said grimly in her ear. â€Å"Or at least I tried. I must still be weak. Don't worry; it'll pass. â€Å"Of course, it will,† said Elena, but her stomach lurched. â€Å"Are you sure you should be alone, though? What if – â€Å" â€Å"I'll be fine. You're the one who shouldn't be alone.† Stefan's voice was soft but urgent. â€Å"Elena, I didn't get a chance to warn you. You were right about Damon being in Fell's Church.† â€Å"I know. He did this to you, didn't he?† Elena didn't mention that she'd gone searching for him. â€Å"I – don't remember. But he's dangerous. Keep Bonnie and Meredith with you tonight, Elena. I don't want you alone. And make sure no one invites a stranger into your house.† â€Å"We're going straight to bed,† Elena promised, smiling at him. â€Å"We won't be inviting anybody in.† â€Å"Make sure of it.† There was no flippancy in his tone at all, and she nodded slowly. â€Å"I understand, Stefan. We'll be careful.† â€Å"Good.† They kissed, a mere brushing of lips, but their joined hands separated only reluctantly. â€Å"Tell the and Meredith could go back with Elena. Mary was still clearly suspicious about the night's goings-on, and Elena couldn't blame her. She also couldn't think. She was too tired. â€Å"He said to say ‘thanks' to all of you,† she remembered after Matt had left. â€Å"He's†¦ welcome,† Bonnie said, splitting the words with an enormous yawn as Meredith opened the car door for her. Meredith said nothing. She had been very quiet since leaving Elena alone with Stefan. Bonnie laughed suddenly. â€Å"One thing we all forgot about,† she said. â€Å"The prophecy.† â€Å"What prophecy?† said Elena. â€Å"About the bridge. The one you say I said. Well, you went to the bridge and Death wasn't waiting there after all. Maybe you misunderstood the words.† â€Å"No,† said Meredith. â€Å"We heard the words correctly all right.† â€Å"Well, then, maybe it's another bridge. Or†¦ mmm†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bonnie snuggled down in her coat, shutting her eyes, and didn't bother to finish. But Elena's mind completed the sentence for her.Or another time. An owl hooted outside as Meredith started the car.

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and the Politics at Play Essay

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and the Politics at Play - Essay Example The Associated Press recently published an article on the same, in which they indicated an estimated rate of flow of oil from these Taylor wells at 20 times higher than what previous estimates indicated. In an attempt to estimate the impact of this oil spill, Rice observes that there is a significant decrease in the number of sperm whales seen in this area, which implies that there is no food within this area for the whales to feed on, hence their disappearance. The truth is that this phenomenon points to the fact that the ecosystem within this area is slowly disappearing, and the few whales often seen are just on a hunting spree.The core of this issue is that while the government seems to be passive about tackling this issue, a great chunk of marine life is under threat in the Gulf of Mexico. My concern, as an environmentalist, is not only directed to the ocean life, but to the health of the people whose lives depend on fishing from the water around this place. The economic effects of this pollution are immense. While cleaning this mess would have been cheaper and easier say 10 years ago, the water expanse covered by this spilled oil this far is big, and the value of oil lost to date is also much.Additionally, the studies and results available so far on the effects of this oil spillage is still a fragment of the actual impact. Complete details about the level of environmental degradation may never get to the public very soon, and the long-term effects on the health of the Gulf are still a mystery.

ISMG Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

ISMG - Essay Example On the other hand, type 3 involves the management of strategies and resources. Notably, the consultant's report rated Davies as a type 1 manager who is facing challenges to advance to type 2 of IT leadership (Austin et al 81). However, the report had faith in Davies to transit to the next level and thus chose to retain him with a view that it would take be challenging to find an effective replacement within a short time. However, Barton would transit to the next level with speed and hence his hiring. The consultants asserted that Davies earned respect from his IT staff but he equally had poor interrelationships in his job as a CIO where he always relied on IT to solve any problem (Austin et al 82). Again, the consultants recommended that sufficient training and counseling would solve this problem. As such, the report tells us that IT investments generate great value for the company and such investment resides in the IT experts that the company hires (Austin et al 81). However, the re port favors the significance of the ability to manage portfolio projects, play senior team leadership roles, and manage infrastructure. Indeed, it disregards individualism and advocates for teamwork in management, which leads to Davies' firing and Barton's hiring (Austin et al 81-82). ... More so, the benefits claimed from the success of a proposed project are the same benefits that IT would claim and hence assigning quantitative value to the return on an IT investment would amount to double claims of value (Austin et al 72). At the same time, where a business unit proposes an IT-enabled change, it would be difficult to allocate some or all the resultant benefits between the business units and IT (Austin et al 72). Response 3- Examples to Refute the "It Doesn't Matter" Contention Assuredly, IT plays a very significant part in any company. In fact, the adoption and success of IT in an organization derives a great competitive advantage. For example, Apple's invests in IT to produce classy, cool, entertaining, and multipurpose gadgets like iPods and iPad, which gives it a competitive edge over its main competitors. More so, Nestle collaborated with Google to reinforce its digital technology and online presence, which enable Nestle to take its products to a wider market a nd satisfy the customers’ preferences. As such, it is clear that IT investments can enable an organization derive capabilities that are not available to relevant competitors. Response 4-Where My firm Fall on the "Strategic Grid" Presented on pp. 77-78 The McFarlan’s Strategic Grid has the vertical and the horizontal axis. The vertical axis depicts the operational dependence of the organization on IT while the horizontal axis represents the competitive differentiation that a company derives from IT (Austin et al 77-78). My reference company is Accenture, which is a management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Ideally, Accenture is in the

Molecular basis of circadian rhythms Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Molecular basis of circadian rhythms - Article Example In a fast growing world where travelling is essential to many individuals, jet lag is a common denominator among those individuals. Scientifically speaking, this was mainly because of the disruption of the circadian clock. According to the study of Glossop, Lyons & Hardin, the circadian clock worked in an interlocked feedback loops that is further divided into two: a per-tim loop which is activated by dCLK-CYC and repressed by PER-TIM and a dClk loop which is repressed by dCLK-CYC and depressed by PER-TIM (766). Through these loops, it has been identified that there are five genes necessary for effective circadian rhythm, among of which include the period (per), timeless (tim), Drosophilia Clock (dClk), Cycle (Cyc), and double-time (dbt) (Glossop, Lyons & Hardin, 766). However, nothing can be observed without going through the gene level and oscillating the anatomical structures for sleep and wakefulness. Clock-controlled genes consist of input pathways, oscillator or pacemaker, and output pathways (Cermakian & Corsi, 59). As stated earlier, initiating circadian rhythm requires oscillation and this can be done only through a pacemaker or oscillator. Oscillation occurs automatically as this is a temporal program. A well-oscillated circadian clock has self-sustained rhythm during its long period, compensated with respect to the abrupt changes in the environment, predominantly exposed to cycles of light, temperature, food availability and predator, and has various difference in the assembly of cellular clocks (Merrow, Spoelstra & Till, 931). Without this pathways and oscillation, the rhythm of the circadian clock will definitely be disrupted. The study of circadian clock will not only help humans in adaptation but the agriculture and animal industry as well. Experts would be able to condition the organism to environmental changes. Farmers can manipulate the pthosynthetic activity of the plants to match the appropriate

Reformation A Vital Catalyst for Modernity Term Paper

Reformation A Vital Catalyst for Modernity - Term Paper Example As a consequence Calvin, Erasmus, More, Luther (Brinton 205; 234) and other prominent theologians to question the validity of parts of the New Testament as well as other areas of existing religious thought and practice. The reformation, which eventually resulted from this criticism, can therefore to some extent be seen as a distillation of all the important intellectual movements of the age. The papacy meanwhile continued controlling religious activity throughout the European continent and chose to ignore the tide of revolution that swept across its territory, continuing its money-based piety that worked with mechanical precision regardless of human circumstances. According to the historian Crane Brinton (234 pp), there was not one single area of religious observance in the 16th century that was not in one way or other tied to money. The crisis came when Martin Luther put forward his accusations of misconduct of the church – in the vernacular of the people – and the pap acy answered ‘in Latin’. Oblivious to the changes that had taken place, the papacy attempted to combat Luther with the same worn ‘heresy’ charge of centuries ago, except by then the people had found their champions, of which Luther was only one. The grievances these ‘heroes’ made public were those of nearly every ordinary Christian and for the first time, the people were able to understand what was said. There were many complaints, ninety-seven of them, but the most important ones were, that the Church offered ‘salvation’ in exchange for money, that priests were rich and not subject to the law, and that ordinary people had no access to the bible. Thus the impending reformation was not simply an intellectual exercise but it offered... This paper talks about the Reformation - one of the most influential processes throughout European history. from the 13th century onwards, life changed in leaps and bounds in different areas of human society. These ‘stirrings’ could be felt in many parts of the world, but it was in Europe in particular where a concentration of great thinkers provided the fertile ground from which modernity eventually sprang. There were many milestones along the way, in the form of explorations, discoveries, developing insights and wars. But it was foremost the growing disillusionment with the spiritual guidance of the Catholic Church that was of great importance because it affected all people. This ‘spiritual’ uprising swept across Europe and eventually culminated in the ‘Reformation, which questioned and broke papal authority. It opened up opportunities for new ways of thinking and worshipping, made possible the nation state and shaped the modern world through its int ellectual offsprings. The reformation must therefore be seen as the single most important catalyst for modernity. The paper concludes that, at the time the Reformation took place, the groundswell that brought about liberal revolution was strong already but without curtailing of the power of the Catholic Church, progressive thinkers of the 16th and 17th centuries may well have become the victims of heresy trials – as they had in centuries before the reformation. As it was, the ideals of the reformation were allowed to flourish.

The marketing mix Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The marketing mix - Assignment Example Even when marketing a product that has high demand, it is advisable for marketers to observe what competitors are doing because competitors always seek to increase their market share. In addition, it is vital to focus on the immense amount of data surrounding the product so as to formulate well-informed marketing strategies and to plan for the future effectively. Today’s consumers have good market knowledge, and hence marketers cannot meet customer satisfaction unless they identify the actual needs of consumers. Finally, production managers must deliver superior quality products as consumers have wide range of choice today. Major principles of product include core product, product lifecycle, and branding. Under the core product principle, a uniform core product is designed that is capable of integrating a number of standard attachments, parts, or components. The integration of these attachments to the core product benefits companies to meet the preferences of local consumers in country. It is relevant to note that the value of the core product is higher when compared to the total value of the finished product. Hence, it is clear that the core product constitutes a notable proportion of the total value of the finished product. In addition, this product approach may assist firms to take advantages of economies of scale and thereby cut down production costs. The product lifecycle principle posits that there are four major steps in the development of a product, including introduction, growth, maturity, and decline (Zimmerman & Blythe, 2013, p.173). The introduction stage is characterised with start-up sales growth, and generally firms spend more on production and marketing than what they receive in sales revenues. Sales significantly increase in the growth stage and firms begin to enjoy a positive return on their investment. In the maturity stage, the longest period of the product

Implementation Apple Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Implementation Apple Organization - Essay Example Target market sales - Various measurements of sales including revenue generated, units sold, or profit can be used in determining sales. This measurement compares the actual sales of iPhone in the Asia Pacific regions with the projections in the marketing plan to determine consistencies and needs for change (Mackay & Wilmshurst, 2011). To finalize the lease contract and locations of 90 stores in the first quarter of financial year 2015, there will be need to renegotiate the plans, to recruit additional staff, to review the general plan, and to submit a report of the plan required plan of action that would facilitate operationalizing of the stores in the first month of the second quarter. Failure of finalizing the team and their responsibilities by the end of the second quarter of 2015 financial year. Review the team building plan and allow the Director of R&D and the HR Director to review the issue and provide a final team based on priority. Given the new product development facility is not operational by the end of the fourth quarter of 2015 financial year, review the unmet requirements, review the project plan, and appoint a different project manager if required. Apple has established a collaborative organizational structure that allows the different divisions to come together in view of making important decisions within the organization, thus increasing the performance of the organization (Horrigan, 2012). Establishment of a team aimed at facilitating the development of the new product, procuring new machinery and instruments, and establishment of a new development facility in the view of promoting product development. Innovation – innovation allows for the development of a connection with the consumers and thus managing different problems and risks related to threats for substitution and new entries (Franke, Keinz, & Steger,

GM Food Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

GM Food - Essay Example estimates that over 700 million people from 79 middle and low income countries suffer from food insecurity, with the poorest countries suffering the most. Globally, about an eighth of the population suffers from chronic hunger and do not regularly get enough food to actively engage in life’s activities. Countries that have improved their food security measures have leveraged on modern technology to achieve their objectives. One such technology that has been used to improve food production is referred to as genetic modification. As defined by Freedman, genetic modification involves the scientific alteration of characteristics of organisms, encompassing both animals and plants, through removal or addition of genes (85). In crops, Shaw observes that biochemical changes would be induced through inserting or expressing alien cells leading to the difference in metabolites observed in genetically modified, GM foods and their non-GM counterparts (278). This usually aims at developing new traits considered as desirable in these organisms, including higher yield, herbicide resistance, improved nutritional qualities and pest protection among others. With the criticisms against GM foods proven to be mere fears, GM foods should be adopted globally as an effective strategy to enhance food security. Of prime importance to the world is the fact that GM foods increase food supply. Genetic modification leads to development of seeds that produce high yields. Freedman gives evidence to this noting that through genetic modification, humans have been able to increase the yield of cotton, soy and corn by a range of between 20% and 30% (86). Furthermore, a majority of GM crops are able to withstand the current harsh climatic conditions attributed to global warming. These crops have the ability to withstand salty land, dryness, diseases, insects and a wide range of herbicides. They are also able to withstand extreme temperatures (Shaw 256). Therefore, adoption of GM foods into our food

Jacques Louis Davids and Edouard Manets paintings Essay

Jacques Louis Davids and Edouard Manets paintings - Essay Example The essay "Jacques Louis David’s and Edouard Manet’s paintings" gives a review of Edouard Manet’s "The Dead Christ with Angels" and Jacques Louis David’s "The Death of Socrates". The publisher and printmaker John Boydell wrote Sir Joshua Reynolds about the painting; "the greatest effort of art since the Sistine Chapel and the stanze of Raphael. This work would have done honor to Athens at the time of Pericles." The subject of the painting loosely bases on Plato’s Phaedo. In painting it though, David consulted various sources. These include the 1758 monograph by Diderot on dramatic poetry and the poetry works of Andre Chenier. A pose by a figure at the bed’s foot on the painting is believed to have been inspired by passages in a book by English writer Richardson. The painting is well composed with various forms contributing to the unity therein. A visual foundation is provided by the dominating darkness, giving contrast to lighter figures. The few rich and light colors spread out with ease against the dark. A shallow stage provides the background, with activity being confined in a narrow space that is contained and unified by the wall at the back creating severely bounding space. The chromatic color used is predominantly warm, with cool colors being subdued, appearing almost grey. A horizontal rectangle bounds all the action, with figures fitting within the contained space. Continuities and lighting along the figure to the left up to Socrates’ arm create a flat, wide pyramid that presents a unified mass.

Cellular Tower Proliferation In The United States Essay Example for Free

Cellular Tower Proliferation In The United States Essay The â€Å"Cellular tower proliferation in the United States† article talks about the growth and development of cellular communication over the years. The article looks at how the current form of this communication came to be with a review of the stages the process has undergone. The article reviews the results of the demand for wireless communication where there has been an increase in infrastructure to facilitate the same. Though erected with the right intention in mind, the article reviews how the same has not gone well as expected (Wilke, 45-62). The rise of many structures to support the cellular communication has led to a dramatic change in the landscape all over America. This has in return generated reactions from various groups. Objections are one of the reactions. The same are from members of the community, various interest groups and regulatory boards. The reasons for objections vary from those who complain about the visual impacts of the erected infrastructure to the perceived risks associated from the same structures being within human residential areas. The proximity of such infrastructure is perceived to have negative health effects. The article finishes by reviewing the steps taken to mitigate the negative effects emanating from cellular communication with examples such as infrastructure modification to fit with the environment to maintain the visual appeal (Wilke, 45-62). Analysing the article, one appreciates that is a great eye opener to the effect of technology in the society. As an individual, one is able to appreciate how far humanity has come in terms of development. For this case, the rise and improvement in communication networks has benefited the society. The historical analysis of how communication networks have come to be gives one the opportunity to associate with this technology and appreciate the work put into it. By doing this, a clear image is painted to the author where the article acts as a source of information in this case on cellular technology. As one covers the different issues in the article, one is able to appreciate that though the society demands the existence of some amenities such as communication structures as identified, the existence of the same and impact cannot be ignored. The society may invent such amenities for the day to day use but are not willing to live with the consequences, especially the negative ones. The h ighlight of the presence of communication towers and subsequent change of the landscape serves as an appropriate example. It shows the never ending conflict between humanity and his inventions. However, one feels that more examples would have been fit to shed more light on the impact of the technologies with the development in cellular communication acting as the illustration of what is happening to the society. In showing the various mitigating strategies used in combating the negative effects of the cellular communication infrastructure, one is able to realize the need for a thorough understanding and deep analysis of any form of invention before introducing it to the society. A personal take is that experiments and studies should be done in such a way that in case problems arise with the inventions, quick steps are taken to combat the same. The article provokes one to question the presence of other inventions whose impact has been profound apart from the example given such as the cellular infrastructure. The article also makes one question the impact of the same form of technological advancement in this case the cellular infrastructures in other parts of the world apart from America. One cannot help but think of the impact of the same on a global scale and what is in for mankind if development in the same area continues with the same trend. References Wilke, Thomas A. CELLULAR TOWER PROLIFERATIONIN THE UNITED STATES.The Geographical Review  92.1 (2002): 45-62. Print. Source document

Changes in UK Labour Productivity: Analysis

Changes in UK Labour Productivity: Analysis Introduction The Agents’ scores for capacity constraints: The series of scores inside the Agents’ Summary of Business Conditions, which is generated by 12 regional officies (Agencies), is a tool for Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to track the underlying trend in economic factors. The Agents in each region gather the information on economic conditions from their contacts, then judge what value to score subjectively. The scores are the simple way that Agents alter the intelligence they gathered before into a quantitative assessment of the economy over time (Colin Ellis, Tim Pike, 2005). Figure 1: Capacity Constraints Scores in Agents Summary of Business Conditions from Jan, 1998 to Sept, 2014 (Source: Bank of England) Most of the scores are based on a comparison of recent months with the same period a year earlier, however, there are some exceptions like employment intentions or capacity constraints, which are looking forward. The scores range from -5 to +5 with -5 is denoted that rapidly decreasing level and +5 is rapidly growth. In this case, a positive score in Capacity Constraints means that companies face with a little or no pressure on capacity demand and vice versa. In the chart above, it can be seen that there are two downward sloping periods between 2009 and 2013 when were the double-dip recession occurred in the UK. The trend also illustrates an improving progress within a year recently, with a rise of 0.6 points on both sectors. The UK productivity puzzle Productivity experience in cross-country and historical views: The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2007-2008 has caused a significant damage to the economy of most developed countries in the world, including the UK. The decline in output has led to a considerable decline in labor productivity in the UK. Labor productivity has been improving from 2013, but it still be less than its pre-crisis level of around 16% (see Figure 2 below). This shortfall can be referred as the â€Å"UK productivity puzzle and it has took a great effort from economists in order to explain the situations, however, it has yet to be answered completely so far. Figure 2: The UK Labour Productivity (1998-2013). Sources: Moneymovesmarket.com It can be seen from figure 3 that a weaker performance in labour productivity during the latest recession than all previous post-war recessions. In all recessions before, the first fall in productivity was usually short-lived and the productivity began to increase and regained its peak level after just only almost a year and a half. Figure 3: Productivity per person after UK recessions (Source: Office for National Statistics) However, this latest episode did not see the same stories as its two previous. Between early 2009 and mid-2010, the productivity made a rise of of approximately one percent and continually levelled off and it did not rise further over the next year as both output and employment saw really slow recoveries.At the time of Q3/2011, the employment was rising sharply while the growth of GDP has shrinked (see Appendix), therefore creating a renew decrease in labour productivity. As a result, the UK productivity still be underneath its pre-recession peak around 4 percent. One remarkable point is that the increasing employment and the weak labour productivity seem to be an odd thing to see among the GFC. If the business is expected to stay weak typical companies will shed labour to boost productivity up. The productivity weakness of the UK is also unusual when comparing with some international stories for recent years. Despite their increasing growth before the GFC, it has been significantly weaker than some high-income countries’ economy. Looking at figure 4, it is easily seen that the UK productivity performance was consistent with that of other countries suggests that some common factors might be involved.Nevertheless, as mentioned above, there has been a downward slope in UK productivity in mid-2011 which was not encountered to the same level elsewhere.The weak productivity of Germany is due to the unusual strong employment referred to the past. One additional point is that only Italy has the similar trend with the UK, showing the impact of GFC on their labour productivity. There are some reasons why these comparison might exaggerate the productivity puzzle’s size. Measurement inaccuracy could take account for a very small piece of productivity weakness. Moreover, expenditure on research and development (RD) is considered as a part of GDP, therefore GDP can be lifted by around 1.5% points. Another reason here is that the decrease in North Sea oil and gas output (see Appendix) slowed trend growth in labour productivity in this sector. In total, although the measurement issues can explain up to 4% point of the shortfall in productivity there are lots of things to research the remaining. Figure 4: Labour productivity per person across countries between 1999 and 2013 Source: Thomson Reuters Datastream, Eurostat and ONS Cyclical explanations on productivity shortfall Lower factor utilisation as a result of weak demand conditions The first hypothesis suggests that weakness in productivity is cyclical in nature, driven by weak demand conditions. Firms are unable or unwilling to shed labour or dispose of capital but sometimes, they are not as productive as they might have been. The difference between the lower utilisation level and more normal levels of capacity utilisation is called â€Å"spare capacity within firms†. The first reason for this hypothesis is that they need to keep business going by holding a minimum level of staffs, so-called ‘overhead labour’. Therefore, some firms might not have been able to cut employment below the minimum base, like the guards for the construction until it is sold, for example. Anothing reason should be remarked here is that companies believe the weak demand is temporary. In past experiences, companies made decisions to having fired workers in the early stages of the recession. Conversely, they found it hard to find workers with the appropriate, firm-specific skills. Thus, they missed the opportunities to make a breakthrough on the market. Recently, companies might desire to ‘hoard’ underutilised workers to avoid those lessons from the past. From 2007 to 2012, the proportion of reduced output companies but holding employment rose from about 20 percent than the pre-crisis period (see figure 5). It also suggests that these holding action of firms contributed to the decrease in productivity measured, shown by the diamonds in the chart. Figure 5: Proportion of reduced output firms but holding labour (from 2005-2012). Source: ONS and Bank calculations Spare capacity is measured in the business survey that provide a significant degree of idle capacity within companies in the initial stages of the crisis. However, this business survey just uses the qualitative methods, thus it did not capture the amount of spare capacity in each firm. One additional thing is all answers are subjective so it can be changed over time. It might take no effect on the size of the UK productivity puzzle. Other cyclical factors Some sectors had diverted the resources toward activities which is not immediately counted as output. Consequently, it cannot tribute to the total productivity. In contrast, there are some point which indicated that the cyclical hypothesis alone cannot fully explain the productivity puzzle. Effect of persistent factors on productivity puzzle Tangible and intangible capital investment effects on the shortfall The consequences of the GFC made the firms’ desire in investment in physical capital more difficult because the tighter credit conditions may lead to a higher cost to obtain finance. The stagnated situation in this period also made investments become less efficient, causing directly the material deterioration in the capital stock of worker. Moreover, a considerable fall in real wages during the crisis (see Appendix) while the cost of capital went up have led the relative cost of labour to capital to be decreasing. Hence, it have provided a motivation to switch to use labor-intensive business and companies decided to increase the labour working hours. However, the production output did not go up due to the low demand conditions, therefore the productivity has been decreased. Firms also invest in ‘intangible capital’ which include some types like intellectual property rights or brand names, etc. One main point here is the strong relationship between two types of capital investment mentioned above. For example, the innovated implementation can be processed alongside the introduction of plants and machinery. However, RD expense is considered as the innovation input; that means even though firms have invest a huge amount of money but without new valuable output, which are some types of product or process innovation, there will be an inverse impact on the productivity. According to the data of the UK Innovation Survey, there has been a fall of about 30% in both product and process innovation among the crisis despite an increasing trend in spending budget on RD (see figure †¦). These capital channels have explained a considerable proportion, about 3 to 4 percentage points, of the shortfall in the UK. Impaired resource allocation and the higher firm survival Figure 6: Decomposition of the UK Labour Productivity (2004-2012). Source: ONS and Bank calculations. Looking at the graph above, it is seen that there is a downward sloping trend in the contribution from reallocation, as a result of higher insolvencies or firing behavior (Riley et al, 2014), and its contribution decreased even further, becoming minor between 2010 and 2012. As mentioned above, uncertainty have made firms more wary when investing and labour reallocation. Moreover, the financial system have played a role to have impaired the movement of resources through two channels: impaired capital allocation and higher firm survival. Broadbent (2012, 2013) declares that considerable changes in rates of return on capital across sectors might not be associated with the following movements of capital stocks. In addition, Barnett et al (2014b) highlight an economic model with multiple firms and sectors to analyse that a high price dispersion might be used to explain the productivity loss with around 3 to 4 percentage point. According to Arrowsmith et al (2013), there has been a bank forbearance which provide the measures of support to firms struggling to meet its debt obligations. Although the direct impact have been a little at around one percentage point, the overall impact might have been greater because the widespread effect of the forbearance in the whole sector. Moreover, Arrowsmith et al (2013) indicated that the low level of Bank rate has supported to retain the borrowing costs for firms fairly low. The unusually low rate of firm collapse is to have lowered labour productivity by up to 5 percentage points. Relationship between the labour productivity and monetary policy decision The outlook for inflation in the medium-term depends on the balance of demand and supply in the economy. In theory, if supply is greater than the goods and services that people demand, prices will tend to fall and vice versa. Hence, the MPC should make an assessment about up-to-date indicators and prediction in supply, as well as demand. In recessions, demand typically falls by more than supply. An output gap opens up – the economy can supply more than is currently demanded. And unless that gap is closed, it will push down on costs and prices. But assessing the size of the output gap is very difficult, for exactly the reasons we have been discussing today. Early estimates of economic activity can be revised substantially, so it is hard to know just how weak demand and output really are. And it is equally difficult to know the extent to which the supply potential of the economy has been affected by the recession. 1 | Page

Effect of Technology and Social Media on Conflict

Effect of Technology and Social Media on Conflict Jasmeen Lorna Laurence Sarvapriya Rajamanickam Tan Khang Le Wong Paik Yen Chow Jen Ni Joshua Low Wai Peng INTRODUCTION Interpersonal conflict occurs when an expressed struggle between two or more individuals who perceive incompatible goals, scare resources, and interference from others in achieving their goals. Interpersonal conflict may take place on love relationships, family relationships and friend relationships, also, in the workplace. Nowadays, social network will be one of the reasons that conflict arise especially Facebook. When talking about Facebook, almost everyone around you would know what it is and they do have an account of it. There is no doubt that Facebook have such a convenience function of access to each other easily. People use Facebook to keep up their relationships with friends and others who study, work and live around them. Also, it is to share stories with the people in your life with what you really want them to know. Besides that, people like to post some stuff and always accompanying with the mind that how many likes and comments they would gain on the post in the end. This action represents the satisfaction of agreement that they want to own from others. Through this ‘connect and share function’, there have the misuse of it too. People who misuse Facebook may turn the relationships into crisis between one and others. There is no doubt when the disagreement or dissatisfaction from others on what you have posted on Facebook will lead you to a psychological development; you will feel depressed, angry or frustrated. In order to reduce conflict with others, it depends on how you deal with it associated with what type of conflict style you are in. We have interviewed three people to discuss about the conflict that they have been experienced on Facebook and how they dealt with it. CONTENT Topical Themes A topical theme is the pattern of conflicts that analyses the common topics each interviewee has. The first interviewee, Jarvis had a friendship conflict with one of his classmates. Jarvis uses his victim’s Facebook account for his own jokes; writing a status that is very hurtful about the other person when they forgot to log out. Examples are ‘I am so fat’, ‘OMG my face is so ugly’ and etc. This messages or statuses can be seen by all the victim’s friends and families. It might even lead to punishment or suspension by the victim’s parents if they thought their son or daughter said that. His friends were constantly commenting and teasing him. This bad behaviour leads the other party very angry and unhappy. This attitude involves being self-centred, not caring how others might feel. In his revenge, the victim did the same to Jarvis’s Facebook account writing mean stuff about Jarvis. Both parties fought about the conflict which lead s to a bigger argument. However in the end, the conflict was sorted out by revealing the person who writes those statues in order to avoid any misunderstandings. Both parties understood how it feels to be embarrassed and never to repeat this behaviour again. The second interviewee is a middle aged man named John. John experienced a conflict between his romantic partners. Almost every relationships struggle to overcome trust issues. For married couples, Facebook has become a barrier overcoming trust issues. When some husbands refuse to reveal their account password, their wife would suspect his husband doing unfaithful things behind her back. Those include cheating, dating and ‘romantic conversations’ with other women. This overthinking behaviour will lead to misunderstandings between husbands and wives, in conclusion having a bad impact on their relationships. However for some people, privacy is very important in maintaining relationships. Personal privacy strengthens both parties, results in a more happy and satisfied relationships. For John, it was only a misunderstanding between him and his wife, everything was sorted out and they lived happily. The conflict that the third interviewee faced is similar to the first interviewee. Veronica was also embarrassed by a friend that posted a status using her account. Family members and friends believed the content of her status but it wasn’t true about her. After that, she sent her a private message asking her friend to delete it immediately. But her friends already saw everything, and that did not get her way. Before that her emotions were affected by how people tease and laughed at her, but after that she ignores all the comments and responses. Her friend was also very sorry on what she did; Veronica forgave her act and wish it would not happen again. Escalation of conflict Escalation of conflict is how a conflict develops, from small arguments that lead to bigger arguments. The escalation of conflict for interviewee one is moderate escalation, which move from small fights to slightly bigger arguments. This can be seen where both parties did the same thing to hurt each other. They end up fighting and it became an argument where friends and families are able to see on their Facebook walls. Mean words such as stupid, idiot causes anger and hatred between parties, results in a lengthy argument. From a tiny mistake, to a playful thought then to a huge problem; so before using something that does not belong to ourselves, we have to think of the possible consequences. The escalation of conflict for interviewee two and three is very neutral. There was neither argument nor fights, problems were solved. Emotional responses Facebook is a worldwide known social networking site that has numerous advantages and disadvantages. Through Facebook, one can face both good and bad conflict. By being exposed to conflicts via this medium, a person can gain knowledge on the new types of conflict faced and the ways to manage it wisely without hurting both parties. Emotions are encountered when a person’s feelings and senses are provoked by even the slightest act. When it becomes too personal, we respond differently as our mind and thought changes without us realizing it. This is when we have to learn to control our emotions when we are facing conflicts as the reaction we respond is vital in determining whether the conflict will escalate or dispute. According to all our interviewees, they faced similar types of issues in Facebook where the other parties posted fake status or even commented negatively to them who were the victims. This results in various emotions running through the victims’ mind and they were mad at the moment of the incident as all their friends started to be judgmental towards them without knowing the true stories behind it. All they did was remaining calm and not acting out immediately without thinking twice. The first interviewee managed his conflict by investigating the culprit in the first place. The second interviewee ignored the negative comment that was sent by his friend whereas; the third interviewee confronted the person through sending messages in Facebook to the offender. Our interviewees handled their emotions well during conflict because they realized they were not doing any mistakes and they were in the right track. They were not carried away by behaving hastily where it could escalate th e conflict even worse. Hence, we should learn working with our own emotions by understanding them and practice expressing ourselves in a more accurate mode as it leads to a better conflict resolution and conflict is one major issue that has no end to it where is a lifelong process for us to develop our mental state. Conclusion To sum up, the topical theme of the interviewees that we have been interviewed is mainly about teasing by friends or gets some negative/judgmental comments on Facebook. Sometimes conflict created unconsciously when someone unintentionally making a joke on somebody or commenting on somebody status. This is the main reason of conflict arises. How we going to solve a conflict when conflict occurs? It depends on what conflict systems you are in, for example, avoidant system, collaborative system, and aggressive system. According to all of the interviewees, they have the similarity of escalation of conflict which has neutral escalation of conflict. They just act calm and ignored the negative comments or reveal their true feeling calmly to their friends in private. They are more into avoidant system or collaborative system. Additionally, conflict may also affect our emotion feeling when it’s happen. Refer to what our interviewees said, they will feel crazy at first when someone attack them, then, they will keep calm and think wisely to solve the conflict. Lastly, the consequences will escalate or de-escalate which follow by how they solve it. DISCUSSION Public Nature Facebook is one of the listed companies across the global and it is actually a social network where you use to communicate with each other and to make new friends. But, due to its status as a social networking site, it is wide open and nothing is really private when it comes to social networking because it does not included the privacy that we need. It will somehow affect the relationship between humans when doing something bad such as posting status about people or jealousy towards someone who commented on the person you are close too and so on. From the first interviewee that we have interviewed, the conflict that he encounters is that he wrote status which is sometimes funny or dirty and not to forget using someone’s Facebook account to post unwanted things when they forget to log out. He added that this is a bad behaviour as people may think that the person actually posted a status or things that are related to them that is untrue and will certainly judge them. Eventually, the other person would also start posting status about the other guy who posted those unwanted stuff at his Facebook page and there is where both of them fight and it lead to an argument which can be visible on their Facebook walls. This may affect the friendship between the both parties and possibility of ruining the friendship is high. By resolving the conflict that is going on, he reveals the person who wrote the status using the other person’s Facebook. The 2nd interviewee had seen bad conflicts on Facebook. He mentioned that people like to do negative comment on something they are supporting it and tend to be very harsh and very rude in words when they do not agree on something. For instance, people post a status toward the person they don’t like just to make them feel down. But instead of that, they should meet up and solve in properly. And some of the people at Facebook may flame the person who is already led down in the status which leads to make use of other person status to critic others. Another conflict that involves the husband and wife is the trust issue that is create through Facebook. If husband refused to hand out his password to the wife, the wife will have thought that the husband maybe hiding something from her and it will lead to misunderstanding even though there is nothing wrong, and sometimes when it comes to the worse, it may lead to divorce cases which destroy the marriage relationship because of such small matter. The second interviewee also added saying that somehow, there is people that can strengthen their relationship but as for some of the people who do not know how to manage this kind of conflict; it will lead to a bad ending in the relationship. The 3rd interviewee also encounter conflict where it is something similar with the first interviewee where her friend posted a status about her which is untrue and it was embarrassing for her as everyone who saw it including her family believed in the status. It did impa ct her emotionally but she and friend sat down and talk about it and the friend feel sorry for doing so. Power Play The definition of power which is also applied to all from the physical to the psychics is where â€Å"the ability to create change against the opposition. There are two types of power play which is active or passive. The active power play takes place when we usually get what we want when we presume resistance from another party. Meanwhile on passive power play are the connections we use when we resist the wish of other people. There is two powers that plays in these exchange which is the high power and the low power, high power is mostly the dominant of the conversation in here which have the power to convince people, the force that pushes his or her speech. They can do much more comparing to the low power people as the low power people do not really have the force and authority to fight back which they are lack of self-esteem. So with this, those with high power are likely to conquer and take over. For the dominant side of the conversation, they are holding up with their relational power of communication skills. As mention previously about the three interviewees both have either encounter or seen before conversion in the Facebook was taken over by the high power people as they have the conversational skills, their persuasive ability to persuade others about the untrue stuff mention towards the other person. CONCLUSION For those people who are trying to manage their conflict on Facebook, it is advisable to meet the other party face to face. If they can’t do so, it is important to talk things out in private. By posting your arguments or dissatisfaction about a matter in public will only create more problems. Kindly explain to them what bothers you. Make sure you figure out the main problem or objective. Communication is crucial in solving a conflict. They should talk to the other person about the problem maturely instead of bashing each other on Facebook. They shouldn’t get carried away with momentary misunderstanding. We cannot run away from conflicts on Facebook but we could actually prevent from getting involved in it such as not adding or confirming any unknown friends request and do not upload obscene photos of yours because some people might use it to manipulate you or use it for unrighteous reasons. Since everyone can see whatever you posted on Facebook, you should not post harsh words or anything that will humiliate someone. You may not realise that such status or comment may have great impact to the other party. If you have posted something hurtful, be brave enough to apologize and never repeat it. In business it is common when people try to pull you down, negative comments can hurt us but it is important to ignore those words because it will only demotivate you. Also, when managing conflict, rather than being angry, you should keep calm and analyse the matter wisely before taking any actions. Listen to what the other party have to say and always learn to forgive. Sometimes you may have misunderstood about a matter which isn’t about you at all because we humans are so paranoid about everything. Believe it or not the â€Å"I† statements can actually help to solve conflict better because the other party will see your side of the story without feeling accused or victimized. Put yourself in their place so that you could understand their feelings and point of views. Don’t ruin a friendship or relationship for an unreasonable misunderstanding.

William Shakespeare :: essays research papers

William Shakespeare 1564 to 1616 Family and Education -born in Stratford-on-Avon -his father was a prominant citizen or "gentleman" -Shakespeare read everything available in print -he read the classics, French and Italian plays, legends, folk plays, mythology, historical chronicles, and the Bible -Gutenberg printing press had been invented 100 years earlier -married Ann Hathaway and had three children - Susanna, and the twins Hamnet and Judith -Shakespeare died in 1616 of Brights' disease -in Shakespeare's will he left his house and lands to his eldest daughter, his wife his "second-best bed", his youngest daughter a silver bowl, and enough money for each of his fellow actors to buy a ring to wear in his memory -Shakespeare's grave reads Good friend, for Jesus sake forbear To dig the dust enclosed here Blessed be the man that spares these stones And cursed be he that moves my bones. -seven years after his death his friends John Hemings and Henry Condell published a book containing 36 plays, which was called the "First Folio" -"He was not of an age, but for all time." Ben Johnson His Life in the Theatre -considered to be the greatest dramatist in the world -only the Bible is read more than Shakespeare's plays -from 1593 - 1613 he wrote 37 plays, acted, helped manage an acting troup and was part owner of the "Old Globe Theatre" -1593-1594 the theatres were closed because of the plague and Shakespeare wrote his narrative poetry -little is known about Shakespeare because he did not write about himself, nor did he publish his own plays, he made his money by writing plays that were performed for an audience -his first play was The

The Pardoners Tale Essay -- English Literature Essays

The Pardoner's Tale The world is full of hypocrites and in the story â€Å"The Pardoner’s Tale†, Chaucer writes about a man who is living a life of sin. The Pardoner’s tale is an epologia of a pardoner who has the power from the church to forgive others for their sins but makes a living out of lying and tricking his audience. Throughout the Pardoner’s Tale he preaches about greed, drinking, blasphemy, and gambling but in the Pardoner’s Prologue he admits to committing these sins himself. The pardoner is really just a 14th century con artist who makes a living by his own hypocrisy. In the Pardoner’s Tale the pardoner condemns people who drink and says, â€Å"Witness the Bible, which is most express/That lust is bred of wine and drunkenness† (263). He denounces drinkers and the evils they create, but in his prologue he states, â€Å"No, let me drink the liquor of the grape†¦Now as I’ve drunk a draught of corn-ripe ale† (262). The pardoner admits to drinking but later preaches against it, his hypocrisy knows no bounds as he makes others feel guilty for something that he himself does, after all, isn’t he telling the story while inside a bar. As a church appointed pardoner he is responsible to set a certain example for those who look to him for guidance but still he lives his greed controlled life. The pardoner teaches about gluttony and greed, and the evils that befall it, but in his prologue he contradicts his teachings many times. In his story he tells about three men who go searc...

The Count Of Monte Cristo Essay -- essays research papers

The Count of Monte Cristo By: Alexandre Dumas Type of Literary Work: Historical Novel This book is an example of a historical Novel. It is historically accurate, and consists of characters that could have existed in the nineteenth century. Theme:Judgment Day comes to us all inevitably. We all pay for all evil and injustices of our life, yet sometimes there will be someone so viciously wronged, that he will return like a wrath of nature, with and unquenchable thirst for vengeance. Such a vendetta is the building block for the theme of this novel. The Count of Monte Cristo is that wrath of vengeance that crushes those who plotted his demise. Fernand Mondego and Danglars both wronged Dantes, and both were motivated by envy. Both men were filled with jealousy and never thought of the consequences of their actions. Villefort disposes of Dantes because of ambition. He would stop at nothing to climb the aristocratic ladder. Finally, Caderousse, a man that is simply ill natured, helped in the destruction of Dantes> None of these men could fathom how costly the price of these injustices would be. The actions and painful consequences exemplify the novel’s theme. Injustice toward the innocent for ignoble motives such as envy and jealousy will eventually be avenged severely. Live a life of virtue, not of vice, sot that one will not prosper in vain as did the villains of this novel. Setting:France in the nineteenth century is a nation teeming with turmoil. Those loyal to Napoleon feud with those loyal to the French monarchy and Kink Louis. We are moved across this nation in this novel, and begin in a small port city in southern France, Marseilles. Marseilles is where the characters are introduced, and where the conflict first. We quickly proceed to an island that harbors a prison infamous for nearly impossible escape, and sheer brutality, the Chateau d’If . The novel places the characters in the dungeon, giving a sense of hopeless despair, yet from there we move on. After a short stay in Rome at the time of the Carnival, we are settled in Paris. Here most of the plot is developed. The novel finally concludes in the Isle of Monte Cristo. Basic Plot:The Pharon, a three masted ship is docked by a young, skillful, promising young sailor by the name of Edmond Dantes. When the ships owner, Monsieur Morrel, learns that the ship’s admired captain passed away, ... ...fortune rewards his good will. Character most liked: In the novel, I grew especially fond of Monsieur Morrel. His heart was free from hate of thirst for vengeance. He was honest and thrived by helping others. He and his son were the only truly good-hearted men in the novel. He ran a firm with honest practices and persistently helped Dantes. When the Count repaid him for his kindness, the reward was truly deserved. Personal Evaluation: After reading this book, I can see why it has such and enduring popularity. The plot is exciting, and absorbs the reader into a romantic adventure. The characters are clearly described, and are put into situations causing the reader to grow emotions toward the characters. I would certainly recommend this novel for the sheer fact of how involved you become in the novel. I kept wanting to continue reading to see what twist would come up next. If I could change one thing in the novel, it would be the Count of Monte Cristo in one respect. He claimed to be God’s angle of vengeance, implying his actions were God’s will. I believe God is merciful, and punishment come about as consequence of our own sinful deeds, and not because God wishes to punish us.

Qantas strategies Analysis Essay

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The report has discussesd and appliesd theoretical concepts and principles of strategic management into analyzing the environment context where to Qantas Airways Limited operates. It shows that, Qantas has a long history and sustainable development but needs to evolve in the global world. ization context, the company has to continue to participate in international activities to grab development opportunities. Besides that, the increasing competitive also challenges the corporation. In order to be successful and take competitive advantages, strategy is the key element for every enterprise including Qantas. By researching and applying strategy analysis theoretical into Qantas case study, its current strategies are outlined and reviewed and some others are suggested. It approves the roles of strategies in create competitive advantages through cost leadership, differentiation  and focusing. 1.0. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background In the globalized and integrated world economy, enterprises have spread their operations into other countries and become multinational corporations. Qantas Airways Limited is the Australia’s oldest and largest airline also takes part in international activities very early since 1935. The international operations create for the group a great opportunity to expand and grow but also challenge Qantas Airways with inherent risks and competitions in international market. In order to sustainably develop and remain the largest airways not only in Australia but also in the world, the Group should implement strategies to create comparative advantaged. 1.2 Aims – To analyse the company’s information; – To analyse the internal and external context where the corporation operating; – To analyse the resources and capacities of Qantas Airways Limited; – To analyse and discuss strategies the corporation using and recommendation to improve them. Scope Data and information are mainly collected from CQU online module, databases, academic articles, the corporation’s website and textbooks. The report is based on the operations of Qantas Airways in five recently years and focus on two recent years. 2.0. INTERNAL ANALYSIS 2.1. Qantas Airways Limited Qantas is Australia’s largest airline and the second oldest airline in the world carrying billions passengers in more than 20 countries such as Australia, Asia, North and South America, New Zealand, Africa and Europe. Qantas Group is one of the strongest brands in Australia. The Group’s main operation is the transportation of customers in two complementary airline brands – Qantas and Jetstar (low cost carrier). The Group’s broad portfolio of subsidiary businesses ranges from Qantas Freight Enterprises to Qantas Frequent Flyer. Qantas has strong network all over the world. Founding member of oneworld alliance, until now Qantas has 27 bilateral partners extending the network and offer passengers a global network. ïÆ' ¼ In 2012, Qantas carries a 44.6% shares of the Australian domestic market and 18% of all passengers travelling in and out of Australia while the respective market segments for Jetstar are 20,7% and 8%. The chart below compares the top 10 inter national airlines. Figure 1: Top 10 international airlines in Australia (Source: ANNA- Airlines Network News and Analysis, 2010)   2.2. Resources and capabilities – Tangible resources: Establisheding in 1920, Qantas Group has grown gradually and remain one of the largest and strongest in Australian airways industry. During the last 5 recently years, Qantas has steadily expanded its operations by increasing number of aircrafts, passengers, employees and destinations all over the world. Its development can be demonstrated as data below: Figure 2: Qantas’s resources from 2008-2012 (Adopted from Qantas data book 2012, see Appendix) Qantas’s total asset increased from $19.7 billion in 2008 to $21.1 billion in 2012. More than half of its assets are from property, plant and equipment which book value at $14.13m at the end of FY2012. Intangible assets values at $610,000. ïÆ' ¼ At the end of FY2012, the corporation had a cash balance of $3.4 billion, and 308 aircrafts from three main suppliers Airbus, Boeing and Bombardiers. The Group has 12 Airbus A380, 30 Airbus A330, 60 Boeing B737, 36 Boeing B747 and 46 Bombardiers.   Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Intangible resources: Qantas has a strong reputation for long history with a huge number of customers, larger segment in the Australian market. Qantas is the world’s second oldest airline and since its inception, Qantas has remained one of the largest and strongest brands in Australia. Qantas Frequent Flyer has grown steadily growth, more than 750,000 new members joining the frequent program during 2012. And increase the total member to 8.6 million. (Qantas data book 2012). Many Australians regard Qantas Airways Limited as a national icon and pride of Australia. ïÆ' ¼ Another intangible resource of Qantas is its networks with large corporations. Qantas started the Oneworld Alliance with American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines and Cathay Pacific in 1998, and with Finnair and Iberia one year later. Oneworld is an arrangement among airlines to share departure lounges, frequent flyer points and joint booking of flights for travellers to go wherever they want. (Dallas, H 2010). Qantas fre quent Flyer has partnerships with many large corporations in and outside Australia, such as Optus, Woolworths, Caltex, Safaris, etc.   2.3. Performance analysis According to Mail Business Staff 2012, Qantas Airways reported $204 million annual loss in FY2012, the first loss since 17 year period. It was impacted  from the increasing fuel prices, intense competition, industrial disputes and its struggling international division and a series of strikes that temporarily grounded its fleet. By analyzing data from the corporation’s annual report, profitability index can be calculated as shown bellowed: Figure 3: Qantas Airways ratio analysis (Adopted from Qantas data book 2012) As can be seen, the Qantas performs ineffectively in recently. Its turnover, profit and ROA, ROE have reduced considerably particularly a loss of $244 million in 2012. ïÆ' ¼ However, the group still has strong financial capability. Its debt/equity ratio slightly increased but can be acceptable and its create leverage to encourage managers improve the corporation’s performance. Qantas has quick ratio around 0.5, that help Group has ability to pay current debt. Besides that, the current ratios were less than 1 and continuously decreased. It faces the Group to risk of liquidity that means Qantas may not have enough resources to pay its debts over the next 12 months in case of liquidity. ïÆ' ¼ According to Grant, 2013 the goal of a firm is value maximization that means maximizing the shareholders’ wealth. It was measures via the share’s price and profitability. The corporation recorded an decline in share’s price and market capitalization from 2009 to 2012 a fter a bounce in 2008 to reach the highest price of $6.0 per share. The earnings per share dropped significantly and in 2012 and the shareholders received no dividend due to the loss of $244m.   The changing in Qantas’s share price is illustrated as below: Figure 4: Qantas Share price from 2008-2012 (Source: Qantas data book 2012, p.33) Researches show that, loss is result of high fuel price and changing in foreign currency exchanges as well as competition with other low cost airlines in international activities (O’Sullivan, M 2012). The researchers require Qantas implement strategies to hedge fuel cost and manage foreign exchange risks to increase its competitive advantages.   2.3. Genertic strategy and connection to the internal value chain Qantas Airways aim at maintaining its position as the leading Australian domestic carrier and one of the world’s premier sustainable long-haul airlines through two dual  airline brands, Qantas and Jetstar that endeavour at two different strategies. While Jetstar focus on low cost Airline, Qantas aims to provide safety, highest quality services and more â€Å"Ausiee† airline. It seek to deliver sustainable, long term returns to the shareholders. The Qantas Group strategic priorities are illustrated below. Figure 5: Qantas strategic priorities (Source: Qantas data book 2012, p.5) Qantas’s strategies have connection to the firm’s internal value chain. According to Grant 2013, a value chain analysis describes a sequential chain of the main activities that the firm undertakes. Michael Porter’s Value Chain has been used as a tool to analyse competitive advantages. It is divided to two parts, primary activities and support activities. First of all, primary activities include five main activities which are Inbound logistics, Operations, Outbound logistics, Marketing and sales and Customer service (Grant, 2013). Inbound logistics is a part of the ‘supply chain’ and involve distribution. Inbound logistics’ activities describe the receiving and storing of materials (Porter, 1985). Qantas has three major jet suppliers which are Airbus, Boeing and Bombardier. Each supplier has different competitive advantage with others. For example, Airbus has A380 that is larger, longer and can deliver more passengers than others while Boeing h as B787 that is lighter, smaller and faster than others. In addition, Qantas also has others suppliers who provide products related to oil, gas and food. Operations are activities to transfer inputs into the final product (Porter, 1985). The operation of Qantas group includes airports, catering, engineering, flight operations, operations planning, control and aviation services (Qantas Factfile, 2010). For example, Qantas aviation services are applied through several processes such as customers can book ticket through travel agent or booking online, check-in online, and baggage claim. Outbound logistics is the process related to collect, store and distribute the final products to customers (Porter, 1985). The general activity of airline industry is transportation goods and services from one area to others all over the world. Therefore, most of airlines implement their transactions though travel agent and online and Qantas is not an exception. By using these ways, Qantas achieves the most cost effective,  while satisfying customers. Marketing and sales are activities to provide the places which customers can buy the products (Porter, 1985). In order to advertise product, Qantas has created many media advertisements on television, radio, newspapers, posters in travel agents and billboards. Qantas announced $44 million for advertising campaign with Tourism Australia in 2010 (Qantas, annual report 2010). For example, Qantas used Boeing 747 aircraft to paint the words ‘Come play’ in Frequently Flyer program and Sponsorship Football Federation Australia (World football insider, 2010). However, Qantas is trying to use more direct marketing than blanket advertising because blanket advertising is more expensive and less targeted especially to corporations than direct marketing. Moreover, Qantas also uses global marketing strategies which are standardization, customization and global branding. Through these marketing, Qantas has implemented successful strategies to ensure its reputation for high quality good s and services. In addition, Qantas also has sales promotions in particularly periods. An example of this is Qantas launched a two – for one ticket sale, it means that a second passenger is allowed to fly for the cost of taxes and charges. Another is that Qantas first launched to issue 100,000 tickets at $49. ïÆ' ¼ Secondly, Support activities consist of Firm infrastructure, Human resources (HR) management, Technology and Procurement (Grant, 2013). Support activities can help primary activities to work more effectively. Firm infrastructure relates to structure of the industry. Qantas’s infrastructure includes functional departments such as accounting department, financial department, marketing department, customer service department or engineering department. Qantas’s HR strategy focuses to ensure a flexible, adaptable and safer workforce, improve labour unit costs and productivity, develop management and leadership capabilities as one of the largest employers in Australia, approximately 37,000 people (Qantas, 2012). Qantas’s HR concentrates on four areas: corporate, business segments, shared services, and learning and development. Each area has own responsibilities to help deliver the human resource strategy. Besides that, Qantas group is also known as the Australia’s largest aviation trainer. There are many training courses to help the Qantas employees to improve their knowledge and skills. For example, in 2011/2012, Qantas invested $65 million in training approximately 2,300 pilots (Qantas, annual report 2012). Furthermore, in the  past four years, 122 young people graduated through the Qantas program. Their training enables them to experience with various aspects of airline management and they may provide the next generation of aviation executives. ïÆ' ¼ Regarding technology development, technology has an important role in supporting Qantas business to deliver enhanced value. Technology development of Qantas focuses on main five areas which are project and program management, business system analysis, testing and quality assurance, services and relationship management, and architecture (Qantas, 2012). Qantas is also investing in new technology for customers; Qantas is the fir st airline to offer iPads as an option entertainment for passengers to access to the latest entertainment. These activities can support for main purposes to enhance the quality and create reputation for Qantas group. ïÆ' ¼ The purpose of Qantas’s procurement is maximizing the shareholders’ value from all supplier relationships (Qantas, annual report 2012). This is implemented through a chain process such as disciplined, systematic and ongoing process. All procurement activities are ensured through Qantas’ procurement policy. One of the important procurement activities is that goods and services meet specification and are transferred on time at competitive prices from stable suppliers. Others procurement activities are also applied such as financial risk, total cost basic must be reduced and supplier relationship management is focused on win-win outcome.   3.0. EXTERNAL AND INDUSTRYIAL ANALYSIS 3.1. Macro economy Qantas as a part in the global airline industry has continued to benefit from globalization where growth trade and tourism increase demands for travelling. According to the World Tourism Organization, throughout 2011, international tourist arrivals went up by 4.4% to 980 million, from 939m in 2010. The context also creates corporative opportunities for Qantas. For example, in early 2011, Qantas acquired Network Aviation, a West Australian charter airline that contributed around $19 million in revenue and other income (Marketline 2012). However, globalizations with the participation of many airline industries also threat Qantas in provide good service at reasonable price. Besides that, the increasing and unpredicted fuel price and foreign currency exposure also challenges the Group when participate in  international operation. 3.2. Five forces analysis Porter’s Five Forces is a most widely used framework in practice to determine intensity of competition and the level of profitability for companies (Grant 2013). Porter (2008) stated that five forces shape the structure of industries and launch the basement for competition and profitability within industry. These include threats of new entrants and substitutes, bargaining power of substitutes and buyers, and rivalry among existing competitors. According to Dobbs (2012), five forces assessments of threats and opportunities are powerful responses of managers to challenging environment where they must to compete with rivals and increase profits. The first important element is threat of substitutes. Substitute products/services perform a similar function as an industry product by a different means and at times at a cheaper price. This makes the competitions become more violent for all. It corresponds to industry profitability suffers. Therefore, companies have to reinvest themselv es such as their services, product and event low price and restructure their organizations in order to survive in challenging environment. They have estimated what threats coming from substitutes whose product are similar to that of a company/brand that is established within the industry and give some strategies for themselves. The aviation business now tries to boost up diverse options and promotions trip with low price to persuade the customers. Under pressure of substitutes like Virgin, Delta, Tiger Airlines, especially coaches or trains, Qantas have to plan some strategies not only in Airline industry but Transportation industry The second of five forces is threats of new entrants. When new entrants have launched in an industry, the proportion of industrial profits has changed. They bring new capacity and desire to share a market with the others, and simultaneously put pressures on old rivals about prices, qualities of services and goods, cost and rate of necessary investment. When threats are high, managers must implement a number of methods into the marketing mix in order to deter new entrants. According to Grant (2013), there are some principal sources of barriers to entry: Capital requirements, economies of scale, absolute cost advantages, and product differentiations, access to channels of distribution, governmental and legal barriers, and retaliation. The effectiveness of barriers to entry depends on the resources  and capabilities that potential entrants possess. The new entrants, Virgin Airlines or Tiger Airline, become competitors to Qantas with new full service airline and cheap tickets. In order to compete, Qantas is focused on business market which does not have a strong market competitor. The group also try to control the budget airlines through introducing of Jet Star (Reference for business, 2006). In addition, although Emirates airline is a international competitor, Qantas has corporation with Emirates to enhancing their shared network across the Tasman. This hit the competition in Australia and New Zealand (Cornwell 2013). The third is rivalry among existing competitors. According to Grant (2013), in some industries companies compete aggressively, sometimes the prices are under the value of output and leading definitely loss incurred. In the others, they focus on the innovation, advertising and non price dimensions. The intensity of competition of companies base on some factors: concentration, diversity of competitors, product differentiation, excess capacity and exit barriers, cost condition. Simultaneously Qantas operates Jetstart to compete the other companies by cheap tickets, Qantas also cooperate with Woolworths in Frequent Flyer program to maintain loyal customer (Qantas FactFiles, 2010) . The next is bargaining power of suppliers: suppliers are also described as the market of inputs: ability of suppliers to put the buyers under pressure. There are two factor effected on aviation industry including aircraft manufactures and fuel supplier. According to Qantas annual report, 2009, Suppliers of Qan tas are Boeing, Airbus, and Bombardier. They have strong power to deal with Qantas because they determine cost and delivery times and can be potential to turn into competitors. Lastly, bargaining power of buyers: Customers are described as the market of outputs and put the firm under pressure of low prices and quality of services. Therefore, Qantas have to cooperate with the other airline such as Emirates, Vietnam airline to rival the others. Qantas also has to impulse its sale with quality product and cheap price in several channels such as travel agency and website to deal with others. What is your conclusion from the 5 Forces Analysis? 4.0. STRATEGY TO CREATE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE In the competitive environment, enterprises have to create competitive advantages or they will be died. Grant (2013) says that a firm can achieve a higher rate of profit over a rival in two ways: supplying an identical product or service at a lower cost, or providing a unique product or service that is differentiated with others in order to persuade customer pay a price premium that exceeds the additional cost of the differentiation. 4.1. Cost leadership In order to take advantages in cost, the corporation has to structure and effectively exploit resources, apply some drivers of cost advantages such as economics of scale, product design, technology and inputs cost (Grant 2013). Figure 6: Qantas’s expenditure in 2011-2012 ïÆ' ¼ (Source: Qantas data book 2012, p.18) As can be seen, there are three main parts from Qantas’s expenditure in both 2011 and 2012. They are fuel cost, labour cost and aircraft operating aviation. Figure 7: Fuel cost of Qantas ïÆ' ¼ (Source: Qantas Data Book 2012, p.19) Fuel cost is the highest expense of Qantas, accounting for more than 25% of total expenses. In 2012, the fuel makes a new record at 27% of total costs at $4.22 billion in compare with $593million in 2011. ïÆ' ¼ The Group uses several strategies to reduce the influence of fuel prices. They are hedging; passing fuel surcharges to tickets; shortening the jet fuel supply chain fuel conservation; investment in new fuel-economic aircraft; improvement managing air traffic and enhanced technology in flying techniques and navigation approach. (Qantas data book 2012). Aircraft operating variable spent $3 billion in costs in FY2012. It includes route navigation charges, landing fees are charged by the relevant airport company or authority, maintenance cost and passenger expenses (in-flight consumables and amenities, entertainment). Therefore†¦.? Moving to cost leadership strategy can be applied by Jetstar that focus on low cost airline to gain market share in difference target customer th an with the main brand. Due to nowadays, there are many low cost airways emerge worldwide. Thus, the firms that can offer the cheaper price will be gain the customers. Jetstar want to  reach the lower price than others fare airlines so the company designs to adapt another strategy such as partnership strategy to deal with the main competitors. In current years, almost aviations industries have considered about how to the firms getting the customer faster than competitors. Also, Jetstar recognizes about low price with fast sale so the firm tries to create new promotion to attract and gain the customers quickly than another firm. The firm can take advantages in cost by increasing passenger load factor (promotion), reduce fuel cost, in-flight consumption and entertainment of customers. 4.2. Differentiation According to Grant (2013), differentiation is not just about the product, it embraces the whole relationship between the supplier and customer. Differentiation can be categorised into two types as tangible differentiation and intangible differentiation. 4.2.1. Tangible differentiation: Complementary service: According to Qantas FactFiles (2010), Qantas has provided In-flight entertainment with full-option in all Qantas international flights such as A380, B747 and A330 aircrafts. Simultaneously, Qantas Club lounges with full of necessary facilities are provided to the Qantas’s members at more than 130 lounges worldwide. As Group route network, the Qantas Group have operated numerous flights to cover 173 destinations in 42 countries together with partner airways. According to Qantas annual report (2009), Qantas provides premier price with full service option to serve the customers. For example, Qantas creates unique experiences to Qantas’ members like bringing Chef Heston Blumenthal to meet food and wine (QANTAS 2012). As the result, customers can feel superior when perceive the product or service. This strategy offers unique can enhance value of the product to the customers. The other point is that Qantas designs multi-brand model such as Qantas, Frequ ent flyers, and Jetstar which give customers the experience they desire. Specifically, Qantas provides the clear choice for business and premium leisure travellers. Frequent flyer builds the world’s best loyalty business while Jetstar brings the clear choice for price sensitive travellers (QANTAS 2011). Grant (2013) states a low-price; no-frills offering is associated with a unique brand image. Hub airports:  Qantas has developed Airport terminal consolidation project. This reduces in minimum connection times, underpins Sydney as Qantas’ main hub, and supports the international network alliance strategy, long term price and infrastructure surety. This strategy also increases product differentiation and seamless end-to-end customer experience (QANTAS 2011). 4.2.2. Intangible differentiation: Safety is always the first priority of Qantas aviation firm. Qantas is the leader of safety aviation industry (QANTAS 2008). Qantas is rigorously subjected to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) and Operational Safety Audit Certification, which is an internationally recognised safety audit program, once every two years. Moreover, Qantas is regularly scrutinised additional external audits by around 75 external organisations. This capability combined with constant prudence and proactive prevention is fundamental to Qantas maintaining its leading safety record and reputation. 5.0. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION In conclusion, â€Å"strategy is win† (Grant 2013). Enterprises with efficiency strategies and successful implementation will generate advantages in the competitive environment. By applying several strategic analysis methods in analysing the internal and external context of Qantas Airlines Limited, the report has indentified the group’s strategies. Base on the analysis, some strategies has been recommended for the corporation to create competitive advantages by two strategies, cost leadership and differentiation: Expeditionary Marketing: Travel agent can be an important channel to distribute the product and service. Therefore, the Qantas should conduct a plan to consolidate its business activities with the travel agents and sometime the firm has to create a monopoly with those travel agents to decrease competitors. The corporation should also offer promotion to reduce free seat in flight. Unique Service Style: The price of ticket that should included the price of baggag e may set up little bit expensive than others low cost airlines without luggage price. It can be attract the customers; especially, women. Due to almost women need space for their clothes and cosmetic that is often liquid may be banned to carry in a passenger area. Fuel hedging: Qantas should continue research for new technology and invest  in low-fuel consume aircrafts. Charging fuel surcharges to passengers is better than fuel hedging. Foreign exchange risk hedging: Continue hedging foreign currency to reduce risk by using other derivative financial instruments such as option or forward contracts. Labour cost: Qantas can expand to other countries where labour willing to work for lower payment than in Australia, meanwhile reduces intermediates or agencies, directly or online sell tickets to customers. 6.0. 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