The Esthetic Theory and A Portrait of the Artist as a...

The Esthetic Theory and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen Dedalus defines beauty and the artists comprehension of his/her own art. Stephen uses his esthetic theory with theories borrowed from St. Thomas Aquinas and Plato. The discourse can be broken down into three main sections: 1) A definitions of beauty and art. 2) The apprehension and qualifications of beauty. 3) The artists view of his/her own work. I will explain how the first two sections of his esthetic theory relate to Stephen. Furthermore, I will argue that in the last section, Joyce is speaking of Stephen Dedalus and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man as his art. First, Stephen states the theory that†¦show more content†¦In that point of Stephens life, he realized that his desires, and anyones desires, are only animal reflexes: We are all animals. I also am an animal. (Pg. 149). Given that beauty is only intelligible and not physical, It [beauty] awakens, or ought to awaken, or induces, or ought to induce, an esthetic stasis, an ideal pity or an ideal terror, a stasis called forth. (Pg. 150). Stephen then gives a definition of art, Art - is the human disposition of sensible or intelligible matter for an esthetic end. (Pg. 150). That art is formed from the Gross Earth, meaning the artists experiences. Art does not start as something beautiful, but from experiences that are rough and raw. What transforms these experiences into art is how one can recreate the esthetic emotions felt by the artist. An example of this is when Stephen sees the Bird Girl when wandering on the shore of the Irish Sea. He experiences such enlightenment of only the soul and mind: Her eyes had called him and his soul had leaped at the call. To live, to err, to fall, to triumph, to recreate life out of life. A wild angel had appeared to him, the angel of mortal youth and beauty, an envoy from the fair courts of life, to throw open before him in an instant of ecstasy the gates of all the ways of error and glory. (Pg. 123). This epiphany, according to the esthetic theory, would be considered pure art because Stephen experienced it esthetically. The next stage of this discourse,Show MoreRelated Essay on Art in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man1577 Words   |  7 PagesArt in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stephen Dedalus philosophy of art, expressed in his discussion with Lynch in Chapter Five, seems essentially romantic, yet the novel is written in a very realistic mode typical of the twentieth century. This apparent inconsistency may direct us to one way of interpreting this novel. Dedalus idea of art may be Romantic, but because his world is no longer the world of the Romantics he has to see art more as a fundamental validationRead MoreEssay on James Joyces A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man2569 Words   |  11 PagesJames Joyces A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce, exemplifies the model of art it proposes as it also offers the reader on how to read that very art. Following the main character, Stephen Dedalus, through life, Joyce uses Stephen’s immediate perception to convey how an artist views the world. The reader witnesses Stephen encountering everyday aspects of life as art—the words of a language lesson as poetry or the colors of a rose asRead More The Nature of Thought in Joyce Essay2205 Words   |  9 Pagesobscure trains of thought and remembrance constantly challenge the reader to keep up. I will argue that the depths of this obscurity are not, in fact, murky; they are a response to his introspection about the nature of thought, and reflect a coherent theory. Joyce often repeats phrases, and he makes such repetitions noticeable in order to direct the reader to the questions: What is thought? And what are the unconscious processes of the mind? His characters are unpr edictable, experiencing truly surprisingRead MoreSmugging in the Square: Homosexuality as a Literary Device in James Joyces A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man.3689 Words   |  15 PagesWhat can be said of the menacing literary masterpiece that is A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is that the gender issues Joyce so surreptitiously weaves into Stephan Dedalus’s character create sizable obstacles for the reader to overcome. Joyce expertly composes a feminine backdrop in which he can mold Stephan to inexplicably become innately homosexual. As Laurie Teal points out â€Å"†¦ Joyce plays with gender inversion as a uniquely powerful tool of characterization.†(63) Stephan’s constant conflictRead MoreNew Tendencies Emerged : Paul Cezanne Essay2377 Words   |  10 Pages In 1874, an exhibition by members of the Private Company of Artists that consisted of Claude Monet (1840 -1926), Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Bert he Morisot (1841-1895), Edgar Degas (1834 -1917), and Alfred Sisley (1839 -1899) perplexed society with the dematerialization of reality in their paintings and signaled the birth of Impressionism as a new movement. However, a decade later, the concept of capturing the immediate illusion had exhausted itself. The

Vw Strategy India Free Essays

Marketing Solutions Volkswagen India Case Study Innovative campaign inspires 2,700 car recommendations in 4 weeks Volkswagen (VW) is one of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe. As Volkswagen pursues its goal of becoming the number one automaker in the world by 2018, India has become a key component of its strategy. India is currently the world’s second fastest growing car market, with shipments expected to more than double by 2018. We will write a custom essay sample on Vw Strategy India or any similar topic only for you Order Now As a relatively recent entry into the Indian automotive market, VW needed to raise brand awareness. To address this challenge, Volkswagen’s marketing team focused one of its key brand pillars, innovation, to make a strong impact throughout the roll-out in India. Innovation was showcased not only in Volkswagen’s product introductions, but also in its communications and advertising. Challenge †¢ Create brand awareness among working professionals †¢ Build loyalty and aspiration †¢ In uence decision-making Solution †¢ Establish †¢ Enable VW-branded Company Page on LinkedIn LinkedIn members to recommend their favorite VW models †¢ Use LinkedIn Recommendation Ads to extend reach Innovative marketing strategies raise awareness VW India created groundbreaking campaigns such as the world’s rst ‘talking newspaper’, which used light-sensitive chips to speak to readers about Volkswagen as they turned the pages of their morning newspaper. The talking newspaper ad created a sensation in India, and garnered worldwide attention for taking print advertising to a new level. In one year, brand awareness ore than quadrupled, increasing from 8 percent to a high of 37 percent. Volkswagen next turned to digital media to extend its success and create new opportunities for customers to connect with the brand. Lutz Kothe, Head of Marketing for VW India, says, â€Å"At Volkswagen, innovation is woven into everything we do. In formulating our digital strategy, we looked beyond the obvious for innovative ways to eng age our audience. We knew that for many people, their car affects their professional life and their professional identity affects their car choices. This made LinkedIn a natural choice to connect with current and potential car buyers among the growing Indian professional population. † 1 Why LinkedIn? †¢ #1 resource for career-minded professionals †¢ Precise targeting by seniority and geography ensures match with affordability criteria, dealership locations Results †¢ 2,700 †¢ 2,300 product recommendations in 30 days new followers on VW India Company Page †¢ 960,000 viral updates about VW car models †Indian car market growth second fastest globally,† The Times of India, Jan 12, 2011; IHS Global Insight Automotive Industry Analysis, (data status: 07/02/11), rounded. Recommendation Ads get people talking Next, Volkswagen launched a series of Recommendation Ads encouraging more customers to join the conversation. Each ad showcased endorsements of actual LinkedIn members, and invited the community to recommend their favorite Volkswagen model. Volkswagen used LinkedIn’s broad reach (100 million members worldwide, 9 million in India) and precise targeting capabilities to connect with professionals who matched the buyer pro les for their different models. Lutz Kothe said, â€Å"Volkswagen was the rst company in India to use LinkedIn Recommendation Ads, and the campaign was a success. We went in with a goal of inspiring 500 recommendations among current and prospective car buyers. In less than 30 days, over 2,700 Volkswagen fans had stepped forward to recommend their favorite cars and share these recommendations with their professional networks. In the same time period, we gained over 2,300 followers who asked to stay abreast of the latest news and developments from Volkswagen. Kothe concludes, â€Å"In a world where people spend an increasing amount of time at work, thinking about work, and interacting with their work colleagues, we believe it’s important to foster discussion about Volkswagen products in a professional context. Our innovative partnership with LinkedIn lets our customers learn about Volkswagen products and provides insights†. LinkedIn Recommendations are ‘Network Aware,’ allowing members to see who in their professional network has recommended VW products Engaging working professionals on LinkedIn LinkedIn approached Volkswagen India with an opportunity to be the rst auto major to establish a presence on LinkedIn Company Pages. ‘Company Pages’ provide a branded home base within the LinkedIn community where businesses can showcase their company, products, and services in a trusted, professional environment. Volkswagen India participated in the worldwide launch of Company Pages in November 2010, and soon thereafter opened up their pages to allow LinkedIn members to post reviews and recommendations of their car line in India including the New Beetle, Vento, and Polo. Mr. Lutz Kothe, Head of Marketing PR, Volkswagen Passenger Cars says â€Å"We were pleasantly surprised to see how easy it was to create our Company Page on LinkedIn and start engaging with customers among the LinkedIn community. Furthermore, the quality of interaction was very high. Recommendation Ads accelerate results 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Week 0 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Launch of Recommendation Ads LinkedIn member-generated recommendations of VW car models increased dramatically with the launch the recommendation ad campaign. Over 2,700 Volkswagen fans recommended their favorite car models to their professional network in just four weeks. Sample Volkswagen recommendation ad featuring the new Beetle Reach the world’s largest audience of business professionals with LinkedIn. LinkedIn Marketing Solutions http://marketing. linkedin. com/contact Copyright  © 2011 LinkedIn Corporation. LinkedIn, the LinkedIn logo, and InMail are registered trademarks of LinkedIn Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other brands and names are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved. 10-LCS-032-G 0511 How to cite Vw Strategy India, Papers

Case Study On Project for Financial and Strategic Analysis

Question: Discuss about the case study Business Analysis Project for Financial and Strategic Analysis. Answer: Introduction The following Business Analysis Project report represents the financial and strategic analysis through the selected company Activision Blizzard vs. Electronic Arts and Ubisoft as competitors. The report focuses on key financial and performance ratios while the business strategy has been analyzed through Porters five forces and PESTEL analysis (Khan, Alam and Alam 2015). Purpose: The purpose of the report is to analyze and evaluate the performance of the company and its competitors through various key performance indicators. The analysis is conducted to examine the financial data to estimate the future risk and potential of the organization to achieve their objectives. Company Background: Activision Blizzard is a largest communal gaming and amusement organization across the world (Activisionblizzard.com. 2016). While the competitor organization Electronic Arts is a gaming company involves in developing, publishing, marketing and distribution of video games. Ubisoft, another competitor is a developer and publisher of video games having its headquarters based in France. Key issues: The financial and strategic analysis has been conduct to evaluate the key issues of chosen company, Activision Blizzard. The significant issues are decline in the sale of a unit product, Call of Duty, decline in the number of subscribers and average reviews on the unit game product World of Warcraft and Destiny respectively (Activisionblizzard.com. 2016). Rationale of the selected companies: Activision Blizzard is a largest gaming company and facing critical issues that could hamper its cash flows. Other two competitive companies Electronic Arts and Ubisoft are equally popular for the product video games. Hence, analysis and evaluation of financial information and business strategy would be transparent and fair with respect to gaming industry. Financial Analysis Financial Analysis is a process of evaluating the feasibility, profitability and stability of the of the business performance. The analysis is performed through financial statements of the organization related to the accounting year (Carter et al. 2015). Revenue analysis and forecast Analysis of sales revenue is conducted to take decisions on business strategies and its performance for the related period. Revenue of Activision Blizzard shows increasing and decreasing trend since the financial year 2011 to 2015. The net revenue in the year 2011 stood at $4,755 while it increased in the year 2012 amounting to $4,856. However, the net sales declined in the year 2013 and 2014 while the company managed to increase the revenue in 2015 amounted to $4,664 (Activisionblizzard.com. 2016). Moreover, the net revenue of the competitor companies Electronic Arts stood at $4,515 in the year 2015 and $3,575 in the year 2014 (Electronic Arts Home Page. 2016) while that of Ubisoft $142,536 in the year 2015 which was negative in the year 2014 (Ubisoft.com. 2016). Activision Blizzard $ Electronic Arts $ Ubisoft $ Profitability Net Margin= Net Profit/ Revenue 892/4664*100 948/4515*100 142536/1219150*100 Net Margin % 19.13 21.00 11.69 Return on Assets= Net Income/ Total Assets 892/15251*100 948/6147*100 142536/1941630*100 Return on Assets % 5.85 15.42 7.34 Figure 1: Graph showing net margin (Source: Created by author) On considering the revenue data of all the three companies, it can be observed that the performance of Activision Blizzard was better as compared to that of its two competitors. Although, the revenue of Electronic Arts increased in the year 2015 but the same was declined in the year 2014. Market share growth Market share is a percentage of total sales of market industry and the total sales of a particular company over the financial period. Market share growth identifies the companys share in the economic industry with respect to the profitability and growth (Dewachter et al. 2015). The approximate total sales of gaming industry in the year 2015 are $91.5 billion whereas the net sales of the company Activision Blizzard were $4,664 and Electronic Arts was $4,515. Hence, the companies procure a decent share in the gaming industry as well as have increased sales turnover in recent years. Profit margins Profit margin or return on sales is a profitability ratio that is used to measure the value of net income earned by the organization against its total sales. This ratio determines the percentage of revenue comprises the net income of the company. Additionally, it measures the ability to the companys expenses to generate business income (Noori et al. 2016). Activision Blizzard $ Electronic Arts $ Ubisoft $ Net Income 892.00 948.00 142,536.00 Net Sales 4,664.00 4,515.00 1,219,150.00 Profit Margin Ratio 0.19 0.21 0.12 Table 1: Profit Margin Ratio (Source: Created by Author) As the profit margin of the company, Activision Blizzard is 0.19, which is lower than that of Electronic Arts that is 0.21 in the year 2015. However, profit margin ratio of another competitor Ubisoft is low at 0.12 than that of Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts. Price earnings ratios Price earnings ratio is a ratio that is used to measure the companys current price of shares and securities with respect to its earnings on each share (Jindal et al. 2016). Activision Blizzard Electronic Arts Ubisoft Price 38.71 68.72 40.54 EPS (basic) 1.21 2.81 0.89 P/E ratio 31.99 24.46 45.17 Table 2: Analysis of P/E Ratio (Source: Created by Author) The price-earnings ratio analysis for the company Activision Blizzard and its competitors shows that it is higher in case of Ubisoft while that of Electronic Arts is lowest. It measures that the investors of the organizations expects to invest to earn from the company as proportion to their shareholding (Feinberg and Park 2015). Debt level (gearing ratio) Debt ratio comprises of short-term and long- term debts that are borrowed by the companies to finance their assets. Additionally, gearing ratio is examined to measure the organizations debts to the equity. It indicates the risk of finance that the companies might face because high gearing ratio (Camarero, Carrion i Silvestre and Tamarit 2015). Activision Blizzard$ Electronic Arts$ Ubisoft $ Debt 4,079 966 788,314 Equity 8,068 3,036 682,054 Gearing ratio 0.51 0.32 1.16 Table 3: Gearing Ratio Analysis (Source: Created by Author) The analysis of debt equity gearing ratio shows that Ubisoft has the highest gearing ratio in the financial year 2015 while Electronic Arts has the lowest. In case of high gearing ratio, there is high proportion of debts and equity that indicates high financial leverage of the company. In the present situation, Activision Blizzard has the moderate proportion of debt and equity mix among the competitive organizations. Cash and other ratio Cash ratio is examined to measure the companys ability to disburse off its current liabilities. High cash ratio indicates that the company is more liquid and has the ability to pay its debt from the liquid cash funds (Kriz, Wang and Issarachaiyos 2015). Activision Blizzard $ Electronic Arts$ Ubisoft $ Cash and Cash Equivalent 1,823 2068 284,009 Total Current Liabilities 2,611 633 482,403 Cash Ratio 0.70 3.27 0.59 Table 4: Cash Ratio Analysis (Source: Created by Author) The analysis of cash ratio reflects the position of companies in paying off their debts with cash and cash equivalent. Cash ratio of Activision Blizzard and Ubisoft is less than one; therefore the companies need to use other current assets to pay off current liabilities. On the other hand, cash ratio of the competitor company Electronic Arts is greater than one hence; it has sufficient cash balance to pay off their debts (Ogiela 2015). Current ratio is used to examine the efficiency of companies to pay off the current liabilities with current assets. Activision Blizzard $ Electronic Arts$ Ubisoft $ Current Assets 3,387 3,720 919,799.60 Current Liabilities 2,611 633 482,403.00 Current Ratio 1.30 5.88 1.91 Table 5: Current Ratio Analysis (Source: Created by Author) Since all the companies current ratio is greater than one, their liquidity position to pay off the debts is good and favorable. However, the current ratio of Electronic Arts is highest therefore the company has more resources to pay its debts (Feiz et al. 2015). Key Performance Indicator KPI Activision Blizzard $ Electronic Arts$ Ubisoft $ Growth Revenue growth, YoY % 5.80% 26.29% 31.72% Profitability Return on Invested Capital % 5.94 23.69 9.69 Efficiency Operating Margin % 25.56 21.00 125.93 Solvency Operating Cash Flow/ Debt- Equity Ratio 2,357.70 2,979.43 1,198,861.67 Innovation RD expenses in % of sales - - 52.76 Table 6: Analysis of Key performance Indicator (Source: Created by Author) Growth percentage have been evaluated by considering sales of the year 2015 and 2014 which shows the increase in generation of revenue of all the companies (Podgrski 2015). Profitability percentage is highest in Electronic Arts while efficiency and solvency is moderate. This shows that all the three organizations are competitive and reflects the efficient performance in the year 2015 in all respects. Moreover, there is no research and development cost in Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts whereas, Ubisoft had incurred in RD expenses at 52.76% of sales. Strategic Analysis Strategic Analysis is a use of several tools to present the strategies of business by assessing the opportunities and threats of the organizations. Additionally, it involves a review of organizational strengths and weakness as well as environmental factors that influence the performance of the business (Amaldoss, Desai and Shin 2015). Market and competitors analysis: It is the assessment of industry and organizational market considering the competitor organizations in the similar industry (Zhao et al. 2016). In order to evaluate the market and competitors analysis, Michael Porters five forces model and PESTEL tools have been considered. Porters five forces is model that is used to examine the level of competition within the market industry and development of business strategy. Figure 2: Porters five forces analysis (Source: created by author) Bargaining power of buyers exist when there are more number of substitutes available in the market (Chuchrova, Vilamova and Kozel 2016). In case of electronic games, the concerned company has competitors like Electronic Arts and Ubisoft, which are quite large distributors in the industry (Mathooko and Ogutu 2015). Therefore, the buyers bargaining power in the gaming sector is high. On the other hand, suppliers bargaining power is also high because there are limited number of substitutes are available in the market. Besides, threat of new entrants in the gaming industry are low because currently there are large companies exist in the market (Fitzpatrick, Nguyen and Cayan 2015). However, it creates substitution effect and industry rivalry high because of the strong competitive organizations (Strumickas and Valanciene 2015). As the gaming industry requires to be updated with respect to digitalization and innovation it is important to have upgraded software for the game products for their mobility. In the competitive world, companies have high mobility with updated software and innovative gaming programs. PESTLE analysis is a comprehensive tool that examines the external factors to the organizations and its competitors in the gaming industry. Political (P) Intervention of government in case of all the gaming companies has favorable impact. The companies are required to clear all the duties and taxes on income with necessary provisions according to Generally Accepted Accounting principles. Hence, the political factors for the gaming industries are not distinctive (Kolios, Read and Ioannou 2016). Economic (E) From the analysis of data, it can be said that Activision Blizzard and its competitors shown increase in turnover and operating income with respect to economic growth, rates of interest and inflation factors. Hence, the competition between the companies in the gaming industry is a neck-to-neck match (Babatunde and Adebisi 2012). Social (S) All the companies deal into electronic gaming products, which considers young and teenage generation because they are more interested in playing such indoor games (Kolios, Read and Ioannou 2016). Technological (T) Electronic games are meant to be upgraded from time to time. Hence, the companies in the gaming industry must have updated, digitized and well programmed software (Babatunde and Adebisi 2012). With this view, Activision Blizzard expanded its business by starting up new range of electronic games in recent years over its two competitors. Legal (L) In order to promote and marketing the new products, companies undertake the compliance of advertising standards, consumer rights, safety of products and specific legal matters related to operation of business (Kolios, Read and Ioannou 2016). Environmental (E) Environmental factor is one of the significant factors in the PESTLE analysis with respect to the safety of environment and society (Kolios, Read and Ioannou 2016). Since, the companies are engaged into the business of electronic gaming, the management has considered all the safety measures of environment. Table 7: PESTLE Analysis (Source: Babatunde and Adebisi 2012) Limitations of Financial models and conventional analysis Limitation of financial models in analyzing performance Financial models have certain disadvantages to analyze the organizations performance for the accounting year. One of the major limitations of the model is time- consuming. It requires ample of time to prepare each of the segments and variables of the model. Another essential limitation is accuracy because the model is presented by using various critical financial and accounting variables. Hence, there are chances to miss out some factors or make an error while presenting the data (Khan, Alam and Alam 2015). The company faces some of the limitations in the gaming sector that are lack of class multiplicity. Even though the company launched new range of games, yet it did not match with the expectation of consumers. Another limitation of the company is technological advancement that is major factor of less revenue generation in the sale from the new game. Limitations of Conventional Analysis Along with the limitation in financial model, conventional analysis also has certain disadvantages. Since the analysis is conducted by Porters five forces and PESTLE it is difficult to examine each of the external factor to make the comparison with the internal factors. This may take place due to lack of availability of proper data, lack of preparation time as well as high cost of preparing the model (Strumickas and Valanciene 2015). The companys major disadvantage is lack of using updated and advanced technology that affects the digitization of the games in terms of screen display, speed and software support. Conclusion The report has been presented by incorporating different variables of financial information and business strategies relating to the external and internal elements of the organization. The financial analysis reflects the growth in sales and profit generation for Activision Blizzard along with its competitors. Apart from that, companys key performance indicators are also positive therefore, it has a scope to enhance its business and maximize the profitability in gaming industry. The company is required to focus on the programs and software for the products with respect to latest technologies so that it can overcome the substitution threats. If the company does not release new technologies, it might face the huge competition from rivals and loose sales revenue. Moreover, increase in sales revenue in the year 2015, company reflects future sustainable growth. Recommendations As per the data provided in the excel sheet for best case and worst-case scenario, current ratio and return on invested capital of Activision are lower. But, the same falls under 5%+ Trend in best case scenario. However in case of Electronic Arts, the return on capital and current ratio falls under present years best case. Hence, the company Activision Blizzard is advised to maintain its performance by increasing the current ratio and sales ratio. Attaining this step, the company will be able to maximize its profits and strengthen customer relationship. At present in case the company does not take step to improve its current and sales ratios, it will be difficult to survive in the gaming industry because of high market competition. SAFe Model Principles Recommendation Economic view In the current economic scenario, advancement of technology has become a priority. Many countries are taking steps to improve the technological system to increase the GDP per capita $12,476 by the year 2020. Therefore, the government is strengthening bond to emerge hi- tech operation system. Best 5% Over Past Trend Moderate Maintain Trend Worst 5% Below Trend Application of system thinking Activision Blizzard requires new software data, cross- sector partnerships to implement in gaming products. The company needs to implement software data and federal policy to improve the quality of products. The company can only implement the cross- sector partnership and changes in federal policy to develop the sales of products. Learning cycles The company requires conducting training sessions to provide knowledge on the use of latest gaming software and technologies. The company can hire personnel having hi- tech expertise for the implementation in gaming products. The company can outsource the technological and software implications for a particular range of gaming products. Unlock the essential motivation of expert workers It is important for the management of the company to provide motivational factors to the workers like payment of incentives, bonus or any other reward. The company may take steps to hire the expertise on permanent basis based on their knowledge to develop its overall operation system. The company would not take steps to reward the workers as the company takes outsourcing activity, which may improve the sales but would not improve the operation system. Decision - making Activision Blizzard is recommended to apply this strategy, as it would improve the sales revenue by around as well as the 10.05% in the next financial year and operation system. If the company applies this strategy, it will help to increase the sales revenue by 7.66% but at the same time, it will increase the cost structure, which results in lowering the profit percentage by 3.08%. This business strategy is not recommended as the outsourcing will lead to increase the cost of operation by around 11.14% as well as the company will not be able to improve its working technology experts for the benefit of the company in future years. Recommendations using Modeling Data Modeling data and forecast graphic shows the level of net margin percentage as well as return on assets considering best, moderate and worst case scenario for the years 2009 to 2016. On the basis of financial analysis net margin percentage and return on assets is the best in case of Electronic Arts as it has the highest percentage in comparison to other two organizations. Additionally, the net margin percentage and return on assets of Activision Blizzard are in increasing phase but at lower rates. As a result, the company has to face the rival company, Electronic Arts because profit margin, income ratio, gearing ratio and return on assets of Ubisoft are lower compared to other companies. Therefore, Activision Blizzard has to incorporate its assets and increase the sales of products to capture the market with a better profit margin. Activision Blizzard $ Electronic Arts $ Ubisoft $ Profitability Net Margin= Net Profit/ Revenue 892/4664*100 948/4515*100 142536/1219150*100 Net Margin % 19.13 21.00 11.69 Return on Assets= Net Income/ Total Assets 892/15251*100 948/6147*100 142536/1941630*100 Return on Assets % 5.85 15.42 7.34 Reference List: Activisionblizzard.com. 2016. Activision | Blizzard. [online] Available at: https://www.activisionblizzard.com/ [Accessed 1 Aug. 2016]. Amaldoss, W., Desai, P.S. and Shin, W., 2015. Keyword search advertising and first-page bid estimates: A strategic analysis.Management Science,61(3), pp.507-519. Babatunde, B.O. and Adebisi, A.O., 2012. Strategic environmental scanning and organization performance in a competitive business environment.Economic Insights-Trends Challenges,64(1), pp.24-34. Camarero, M., Carrion i Silvestre, J.L. and Tamarit, C., 2015. The relationship between debt level and fiscal sustainability in organization for economic cooperation and development countries.Economic Inquiry,53(1), pp.129-149. Carter, R.B., Strader, T.J., Rozycki, J.J. and Root, T.H., 2015. Cost Structures of Information Technology Products and Digital Products and Services Firms: Implications for Financial Analysis.Journal of the Midwest Association for Information Systems (JMWAIS),1(1), p.2. Chuchrova, K., Vilamova, S. and Kozel, R., 2016. STRATEGIC ANALYSIS AS A TOOL FOR STRATEGIC DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES AT INDUSTRIAL COMPANIES.Aktual'ni Problemy Ekonomiky= Actual Problems in Economics, (176), p.180. Dewachter, H., Iania, L., Lyrio, M. and de Sola Perea, M., 2015. A macro-financial analysis of the euro area sovereign bond market.Journal of Banking Finance,50, pp.308-325. Electronic Arts Home Page. 2016. Electronic Arts Home Page. [online] Available at: https://www.ea.com/ [Accessed 1 Aug. 2016]. Feinberg, R.M. and Park, M., 2015. Deterrence effects of Korean antitrust enforcement on producer prices and profit margins.Journal of Competition Law and Economics, p.nhv028. Feiz, R., Ammenberg, J., Baas, L., Eklund, M., Helgstrand, A. and Marshall, R., 2015. Improving the CO 2 performance of cement, part I: utilizing life-cycle assessment and key performance indicators to assess development within the cement industry.Journal of Cleaner Production,98, pp.272-281. Fitzpatrick, B.D., Nguyen, Q.Q.A. and Cayan, Z., 2015. An Upgrade To Competitive Corporate Analysis: Creation Of A" Personal Finance Platform" To Strengthen Porter's Five Competitive Forces Model In Utilizing.Journal of Business Economics Research (Online),13(1), p.54. Jindal, R.P., Sarangee, K.R., Echambadi, R. and Lee, S., 2016. Designed to Succeed: Dimensions of Product Design and Their Impact on Market Share.Journal of Marketing, pp.jm-15. Khan, U.A., Alam, M.N. and Alam, S., 2015. 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Light-duty electric vehicles to improve the integrity of the electricity grid through Vehicle-to-Grid technology: Analysis of regional net revenue and emissions savings.Applied Energy,168, pp.146-158. Ogiela, L., 2015. Intelligent techniques for secure financial management in cloud computing.Electronic Commerce Research and Applications,14(6), pp.456-464. Podgrski, D., 2015. Measuring operational performance of OSH management systemA demonstration of AHP-based selection of leading key performance indicators.Safety science,73, pp.146-166. Strumickas, M. and Valanciene, L., 2015. Research of management accounting changes in Lithuanian business organizations.Engineering Economics,63(4). Ubisoft.com. 2016. Ubisoft. [online] Available at: https://www.ubisoft.com [Accessed 1 Aug. 2016]. Zhao, Z.Y., Zuo, J., Wu, P.H., Yan, H. and Zillante, G., 2016. Competitiveness assessment of the biomass power generation industry in China: A five forces model study.Renewable Energy,89, pp.144-153.

You Wont Believe What The Most Popular College Extracurriculars Are

Extracurriculars are usually what students look forward to most in high school. Whether its a varsity sports team or a theater club, students go because theyre passionate about it. College takes extracurriculars to a whole new level. Student involvement is much higher, since most of the groups are student-run with very limited faculty supervision. Thats why extracurriculars can be a deciding factor when applying to college. Here are some of the most popular extracurriculars on campus at Miami OH, Stanford, Williams, UCSC and Princeton:Greek Life10152847319757653FB(Miami OH ‘15) Greek life is pervasive at Miami. Whether or not you have any interest in joining the Greek community, you will undoubtedly interact with it very regularly on campus. Some of the Greek organizations are good but most lack a clear mission. They preach one thing but do another (at least thats my experience - I tried it, starting pledging and stayed for a month before I decided it wasnt for me). The next mo st popular student organizations are the coed academic fraternities which are great for honors students and people hoping to network in their field or study or in the future profession. After that, the next most popular student organizations are things like Campus Crusaders and College Republicans (gives you an idea of the student body).A Capellaastein(Stanford ‘19): Stanford has an almost overwhelming number of extracurriculars to join. Some are common to a lot of colleges: SWE (Society of Women Engineers), Mock Trial, Debate, Club Sports, A Capella groups, and so on. But there is probably a club for any activity you want to do, and some youve never heard of! Everyone at Stanford has heard our incredible Taiko drummers play, and during orientation we saw the fabulously talented Stanford Jump Rope group. I am part of the Stanford Shakespeare company and hope to be active in the many other student-run theatre groups on campus. A Capella is HUGE. You do not want to miss their sh ows. You will see members of the Stanford Axe Committee firing T-shirts into the audience at football games. Just the other week the Happiness Club left nice notes and candies on all of the bike seats around my dorm. Whatever it is that you love to do you can find it here. And if by some chance you dont, you can start your own club!Outdoor Activities 869749923096609FB (Williams ‘19): Its vital to consider the type of college setting youd like as you decide which colleges to apply to. Williams is set in a bucolic atmosphere, nestled in the Berkshire mountains. Thus, the most popular activities are outdoor-related, like hiking, sports, and recreation. If you are a sporty person who admires nature/ are inspired by it as a potential artist/writer/athlete, you may want to ascertain that the majority of schools you apply to can support that. Natural setting is one of the few things you wont have to pay for in college, and it can offer a lot of free activities, whereas a school in a city will convey a lot of hidden charges over time. SportsAlinette(UCSC ‘19): At UC Santa Cruz, many students take full advantage of the beautiful environment that surrounds them on campus. Popular activities students take part in include exploring the vast Redwoods forest through various hiking trails and backpacking expenditures, participating in several levels of sports through the OPERS physical programs including softball, swimming, rock-climbing, soccer, and others, taking an active role in student government activities throughout the several different Colleges (your chosen residential affiliation) around campus, such as the Student Union Assembly, the Student Government, and the colleges several Student Senates. The club aspect at UCSC is extremely active, and most students are a part of different organizations and communities.Dance Groupsannajustine19 (Princeton ‘18): Many people seem to be in sports teams of all different kinds - womens club soccer seems to be big, as does football. Ive been surprised by the numbe r of dance groups on campus; they always seem to be advertising a new show! Acappella is huge, as is the number of performing arts groups on campus: improv theatre, musical theatre, etc etc. I know of at least 8 finance and economics clubs on campus that many people join, including AdThis, which is an advertising club. There are social justice groups and volunteer groups and environmental groups - really everything you could imagine! Im sure if I sat down and tried to make a list, I would only cover a fraction of the student clubs and activities at Princeton.Whether you’re just starting your search or you’re looking for help applying, it’s never too early to make the college application process easier.Searchto find students like you orcontact a mentorfor help with the admissions process so you can narrow down your choices and get a head start.

The Distance Between Two Leagues

The Distance Between Two Leagues The Distance Between Two Leagues The Distance Between Two Leagues By Mark Nichol What does league, meaning â€Å"alliance,† have to do with league, meaning â€Å"a few miles†? An attempt to find kinship between these words by positing the notion of linking several similar entities or units is futile: The identical formation of the words is coincidental. The first sense of league stems from the Latin verb ligare, meaning â€Å"bind† and the basis of ligament, meaning â€Å"band† or â€Å"bond,† and ligature, which means, among other things, â€Å"something that binds or connects.† League originally referred to a confederacy of geopolitical units (such as the Achaean League of classical Greece and the Hanseatic League, an economic alliance established in the early Middle Ages, as well as the League of Nations of the early twentieth century) but later came to apply as well to political associations and athletic organizations. People or organizations that conspire are said to be in league with each other, and when someone outclasses someone else in terms of some characteristic, the first person is said to be out of the other person’s league, while â€Å"in a league of (one’s) own† means â€Å"superior skill or status.† By contrast, â€Å"in the same league† means â€Å"of comparative skill or status.† On a related note, the expression â€Å"Ivy League,† from the name of the collegiate athletic league populated by eight of the nation’s most prestigious universities, by extension denotes the schools themselves as well as high social and cultural status and elitism. (The reference to ivy pertains to the walls of venerable school buildings being covered in ivy over the years.) League is also a verb meaning â€Å"unite,† but the verb beleaguer, meaning â€Å"besiege,† is unrelated. Idioms pertaining to the â€Å"confederation† sense of league include â€Å"major league,† originating in the term for the highest level of professional baseball but by extension alluding to significant actors or entities in a realm of human endeavor (â€Å"in the big leagues† has the same sense); â€Å"minor league,† denoting something of inferior status (from the lower caliber of play in baseball’s minor leagues); and â€Å"bush league,† which, based on the slang term for semiprofessional baseball (from the expression â€Å"the bush,† referring to a rural area) suggests petty, unprofessional behavior. (The last term was not always pejorative, however.) The sense of league of a measure of distance derives from the Latin noun leuga and is primarily understood to refer to a distance of three miles, though it has applied to measures ranging from about two and a half to approximately four and a half miles. (It can also apply to a square measuring about three miles on a side.) A league, thought to originate as the distance traveled on foot in one hour, it is no longer an official distance. The French term banlieue, meaning â€Å"suburb† but increasingly connoting low-income housing projects (though banlieues diverge widely in economic status), is a geopolitical term, but it is distantly related to the latter sense of league: It is a compound ultimately derived from the Germanic terms ban, meaning â€Å"proclamation,† and leuca, meaning â€Å"league,† with the connotation of â€Å"area outside the city but within its legal jurisdiction.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:35 Synonyms for â€Å"Look†What to Do When Words Appear Twice in a Row50 Synonyms for "Song"

A Dirty Job Chapter 10

– Dag Hammarskjà ¶ld 10 DEATH TAKES A WALK Mornings, Charlie walked. At six, after an early breakfast, he would turn the care of Sophie over to Mrs. Korjev or Mrs. Ling (whoever’s turn it was) for the workday and walk – stroll really, pacing out the city with the sword-cane, which had become part of his daily regalia, wearing soft, black-leather walking shoes and an expensive, secondhand suit that had been retailored at his cleaner’s in Chinatown. Although he pretended to have a purpose, Charlie walked to give himself time to think, to try on the size of being Death, and to look at all the people out and about in the morning. He wondered if the girl at the flower stand, from whom he often bought a carnation for his lapel, had a soul, or would give hers up while he watched her die. He watched the guy in North Beach make cappuccinos with faces and fern leaves drawn in the foam, and wondered if a guy like that could actually function without a soul, or was his soul collecting dust in Charlie’s back ro om? There were a lot of people to see, and a lot of thinking to be done. Being out among the people of the city, when they were just starting to move, greeting the day, making ready, he started to feel not just the responsibility of his new role, but the power, and finally, the specialness. It didn’t matter that he had no idea what he was doing, or that he might have lost the love of his life for it to happen; he had been chosen. And realizing that, one day as he walked down California Street, down Nob Hill into the financial district, where he’d always felt inferior and out of touch with the world, as the brokers and bankers quickstepped around him, barking into their cell phones to Hong Kong or London or New York and never making eye contact, he started to not so much stroll, as strut. That day Charlie Asher climbed onto the California Street cable car for the first time since he was a kid, and hung off the bar, out over the street, holding out the sword-cane as if charging, with Hondas and Mercedes zooming along the street beside him, pas sing under his armpit just inches away. He got off at the end of the line, bought a Wall Street Journal from a machine, then walked to the nearest storm drain, spread out the Journal to protect his trousers against oil stains, then got down on his hands and knees and screamed into the drain grate, â€Å"I have been chosen, so don’t fuck with me!† When he stood up again, a dozen people were standing there, waiting for the light to change. Looking at him. â€Å"Had to be done,† Charlie said, not apologizing, just explaining. The bankers and the brokers, the executive assistants and the human-resource people and the woman on her way to serve up clam chowder in a sourdough bowl at the Boudin Bakery, all nodded, not sure exactly why, except that they worked in the financial district, and they all understood being fucked with, and in their souls if not in their minds, they knew that Charlie had been yelling in the right direction. He folded his paper, tucked it under his arm, then turned and crossed the street with them when the light changed. Sometimes Charlie walked whole blocks when he thought only of Rachel, and would become so engrossed in the memory of her eyes, her smile, her touch, that he ran straight into people. Other times people would bump into him, and not even lift his wallet or say â€Å"excuse me,† which might be a matter of course in New York, but in San Francisco meant that he was close to a soul vessel that needed to be retrieved. He found one, a bronze fireplace poker, set out by the curb with the trash on Russian Hill. Another time, he spotted a glowing vase displayed in the bay window of a Victorian in North Beach. He screwed up his courage and knocked on the door, and when a young woman answered, and came out on the porch to look for her visitor, and was bewildered because she didn’t see anyone there, Charlie slipped past her, grabbed the vase, and was out the side door before she came back in, his heart pounding like a war drum, adrenaline sizzling through his veins like a hormonal ti lt-a-whirl. As he headed back to the shop that particular morning, he realized, with no little sense of irony, that until he became Death, he’d never felt so alive. Every morning, Charlie tried to walk in a different direction. On Mondays he liked to go up into Chinatown just after dawn, when all the deliveries were being made – crates of produce, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, melons, and a dozen varieties of cabbage, tended by Latinos in the Central Valley and consumed by Chinese in Chinatown, having passed through Anglo hands just long enough to extract the nourishing money. On Mondays the fishing companies delivered their fresh catches – usually strong Italian men whose families had been in the business for five generations, handing off their catch to inscrutable Chinese merchants whose ancestors had bought fish from the Italians off horse-drawn wagons a hundred years before. All sorts of live and recently live fish were moved across the sidewalk: snapper and halibut and mackerel, sea bass and ling cod and yellowtail, clawless Pacific lobster, Dungeness crab, ghastly monkfish, with their long saberlike teeth and a sin gle spine that jutted from their head, bracing a luminous lure they used to draw in prey, so deep in the ocean that the sun never shone. Charlie was fascinated by the creatures from the very deep sea, the big-eyed squid, cuttlefish, the blind sharks that located prey with electromagnetic impulses – creatures who never saw light. They made him think of what might be facing him from the Underworld, because even as he fell into a rhythm of finding names at his bedside, and soul vessels in all manner of places, and the appearance of the ravens and the shades subsided, he could feel them under the street whenever he passed a storm sewer. Sometimes he could hear them whispering to one another, hushing quickly in the rare moments when the street went quiet. To walk through Chinatown at dawn was to become part of a dangerous dance, because there were no back doors or alleys for loading, and all the wares went across the sidewalk, and although Charlie had enjoyed neither danger nor dancing up till now, he enjoyed playing dance partner to the thousand tiny Chinese grandmothers in black slippers or jelly-colored plastic shoes who scampered from merchant to merchant, squeezing and smelling and thumping, looking for the freshest and the best for their families, twanging orders and questions to the merchants in Mandarin, all the while just a second or a slip away from being run over by sides of beef, great racks of fresh duck, or hand trucks stacked high with crates of live turtles. Charlie was yet to retrieve a soul vessel on one of his Chinatown walks, but he stayed ready, because the swirl of time and motion forecast that one foggy morning someone’s granny was going to get knocked out of her moo shoes. One Monday, just for sport, Charlie grabbed an eggplant that a spectacularly wizened granny was going for, but instead of twisting it out of his hand with some mystic kung fu move as he expected, she looked him in the eye and shook her head – just a jog, barely perceptible really – it might have been a tic, but it was the most eloquent of gestures. Charlie read it as saying: O White Devil, you do not want to purloin that purple fruit, for I have four thousand years of ancestors and civilization on you; my grandparents built the railroads and dug the silver mines, and my parents survived the earthquake, the fire, and a society that outlawed even being Chinese; I am mother to a dozen, grandmother to a hundred, and great-grandmother to a legion; I have birthed babies and washed the dead; I am history and suffering and wisdom; I am a Buddha and a dragon; so get your fucking hand off my eggplant before you lose it. And Charlie let go. And she grinned, just a little. Three teeth. And he wondered if it ever did fall to him to retrieve the soul vessel of one of these crones of Chronos, if he’d even be able to lift it. And he grinned back. And asked for her phone number, which he gave to Ray. â€Å"She seemed nice,† Charlie told him. â€Å"Mature.† Sometimes Charlie’s walks took him through Japantown, where he passed the most enigmatic shop in the city, Invisible Shoe Repair. He really intended to stop in one day, but he was still coming to terms with giant ravens, adversaries from the Underworld, and being a Merchant of Death, and he wasn’t sure he was ready for invisible shoes, let alone invisible shoes that needed repair! He often tried to look past the Japanese characters into the shop window as he passed, but saw nothing, which, of course, didn’t mean a thing. He just wasn’t ready. But there was a pet shop in Japantown (House of Pleasant Fish and Gerbil), where he had originally gone to buy Sophie’s fish, and where he returned to replace the TV attorneys with six TV detectives, who also simultaneously took the big Ambien a week later. Charlie had been distraught to find his baby daughter drooling away in front of a bowl floating more dead detectives than a film noir festival, and after fl ushing all six at once and having to use the plunger to dislodge Magnum and Mannix, he vowed that next time he would find more resilient pals for his little girl. He was coming out of House of PFG one afternoon, with a Habitrail pod containing a pair of sturdy hamsters, when he ran into Lily, who was making her way to a coffeehouse up on Van Ness, where she was planning to meet her friend Abby for some latte-fueled speed brooding. â€Å"Hey, Lily, how are you doing?† Charlie was trying to appear matter-of-fact, but he found that the awkwardness between him and Lily over the last few months was not mitigated by her seeing him on the street carrying a plastic box full of rodents. â€Å"Nice gerbils,† Lily said. She wore a Catholic schoolgirl’s plaid skirt over black tights and Doc Martens, with a tight black PVC bustier that was squishing pale Lily-bits out the top, like a can of biscuit dough that’s been smacked on the edge of the counter. The hair color du jour was fuchsia, over violet eye shadow, which matched her violet, elbow-length lace gloves. She looked up and down the street and, when she didn’t see anyone she knew, fell into step next to Charlie. â€Å"They’re not gerbils, they’re hamsters,† Charlie said. â€Å"Asher, do you have something you’ve been keeping from me?† She tilted her head a little, but didn’t look at him when she asked, just kept her eyes forward, scanning the street for someone who might recognize her walking next to Charlie, thus forcing her to commit seppuku. â€Å"Jeez, Lily, these are for Sophie!† Charlie said. â€Å"Her fish died, so I’m bringing her some new pets. Besides, that whole gerbil thing is an urban myth – â€Å" â€Å"I meant that you’re Death,† Lily said. Charlie nearly dropped his hamsters. â€Å"Huh?† â€Å"It’s so wrong – † Lily continued, walking on after Charlie had stopped in his tracks, so now he had to scurry to catch up to her. â€Å"Just so wrong, that you would be chosen. Of all of life’s many disappointments, I’d have to say that this is the crowning disappointment.† â€Å"You’re sixteen,† Charlie said, still stumbling a little at the matter-of-fact way she was discussing this. â€Å"Oh, throw that in my face, Asher. I’m only sixteen for two more months, then what? In the blink of an eye my beauty becomes but a feast for worms, and I, a forgotten sigh in a sea of nothingness.† â€Å"Your birthday is in two months? Well, we’ll have to get you a nice cake,† Charlie said. â€Å"Don’t change the subject, Asher. I know all about you, and your Death persona.† Charlie stopped again and turned to look at her. This time, she stopped as well. â€Å"Lily, I know I’ve been acting a little strangely since Rachel died, and I’m sorry you got in trouble at school because of me, but it’s just been trying to deal with it all, with the baby, with the business. The stress of it all has – â€Å" â€Å"I have The Great Big Book of Death,† Lily said. She steadied Charlie’s hamsters when he lost his grip. â€Å"I know about the soul vessels, about the dark forces rising if you fuck up, all that stuff – all of it. I’ve known longer than you have, I think.† Charlie didn’t know what to say. He was feeling panic and relief at the same time – panic because Lily knew, but relief because at least someone knew, and believed it, and had actually seen the book. The book! â€Å"Lily, do you still have the book?† â€Å"It’s in the store. I hid it in the back of the glass cabinet where you keep the valuable stuff that no one will ever buy.† â€Å"No one ever looks in that cabinet.† â€Å"No kidding? I thought if you ever found it, I’d say it had always been there.† â€Å"I have to go.† He turned and started walking the other direction, but then realized that they had already been heading toward his neighborhood and turned around again. â€Å"Where are you going?† â€Å"To get some coffee.† â€Å"I’ll walk with you.† â€Å"You will not.† Lily looked around again, wary that someone might see them. â€Å"But, Lily, I’m Death. That should at least have given me some level of cool.† â€Å"Yeah, you’d think, but it turns out that you have managed to suck the cool out of being Death.† â€Å"Wow, that’s harsh.† â€Å"Welcome to my world, Asher.† â€Å"You can’t tell anyone about this, you know that?† â€Å"Like anyone cares what you do with your gerbils.† â€Å"Hamsters! That’s not – â€Å" â€Å"Chill, Asher.† Lily giggled. â€Å"I know what you mean. I’m not going to tell anyone – except Abby knows – but she doesn’t care. She says she’s met some guy who’s her dark lord. She’s in that stage where she thinks a dick is some kind of mystical magic wand.† Charlie adjusted his hamster box uncomfortably. â€Å"Girls go through a stage like that?† Why was he just hearing about this now? Even the hamsters looked uncomfortable. Lily turned on a heel and started up the street. â€Å"I’m not having this conversation with you.† Charlie stood there, watching her go, balancing the hamsters and his completely useless sword-cane while trying to dig his cell phone out of his jacket pocket. He needed to see that book, and he needed to see it sooner than the hour it would take him to get home. â€Å"Lily, wait!† he called. â€Å"I’m calling a cab, I’ll give you a ride.† She waved him off without looking and kept walking. As he was waiting for the cab company to answer, he heard it, the voice, and he realized that he was standing right over a storm drain. It had been over a month since he’d heard them, and he thought maybe they’d gone. â€Å"We’ll have her, too, Meat. She’s ours now.† He felt the fear rise in his throat like bile. He snapped the phone shut and ran after Lily, cane rattling and hamsters bouncing as he went. â€Å"Lily, wait! Wait!† She spun around quickly and her fuchsia wig only did the quarter turn instead of the half, so her face was covered with hair when she said, â€Å"One of those ice-cream cakes from Thirty-one Flavors, okay? After that, despair and nothingness.† â€Å"We’ll put that on the cake,† Charlie said. A Dirty Job Chapter 10 – Dag Hammarskjà ¶ld 10 DEATH TAKES A WALK Mornings, Charlie walked. At six, after an early breakfast, he would turn the care of Sophie over to Mrs. Korjev or Mrs. Ling (whoever’s turn it was) for the workday and walk – stroll really, pacing out the city with the sword-cane, which had become part of his daily regalia, wearing soft, black-leather walking shoes and an expensive, secondhand suit that had been retailored at his cleaner’s in Chinatown. Although he pretended to have a purpose, Charlie walked to give himself time to think, to try on the size of being Death, and to look at all the people out and about in the morning. He wondered if the girl at the flower stand, from whom he often bought a carnation for his lapel, had a soul, or would give hers up while he watched her die. He watched the guy in North Beach make cappuccinos with faces and fern leaves drawn in the foam, and wondered if a guy like that could actually function without a soul, or was his soul collecting dust in Charlie’s back ro om? There were a lot of people to see, and a lot of thinking to be done. Being out among the people of the city, when they were just starting to move, greeting the day, making ready, he started to feel not just the responsibility of his new role, but the power, and finally, the specialness. It didn’t matter that he had no idea what he was doing, or that he might have lost the love of his life for it to happen; he had been chosen. And realizing that, one day as he walked down California Street, down Nob Hill into the financial district, where he’d always felt inferior and out of touch with the world, as the brokers and bankers quickstepped around him, barking into their cell phones to Hong Kong or London or New York and never making eye contact, he started to not so much stroll, as strut. That day Charlie Asher climbed onto the California Street cable car for the first time since he was a kid, and hung off the bar, out over the street, holding out the sword-cane as if charging, with Hondas and Mercedes zooming along the street beside him, pas sing under his armpit just inches away. He got off at the end of the line, bought a Wall Street Journal from a machine, then walked to the nearest storm drain, spread out the Journal to protect his trousers against oil stains, then got down on his hands and knees and screamed into the drain grate, â€Å"I have been chosen, so don’t fuck with me!† When he stood up again, a dozen people were standing there, waiting for the light to change. Looking at him. â€Å"Had to be done,† Charlie said, not apologizing, just explaining. The bankers and the brokers, the executive assistants and the human-resource people and the woman on her way to serve up clam chowder in a sourdough bowl at the Boudin Bakery, all nodded, not sure exactly why, except that they worked in the financial district, and they all understood being fucked with, and in their souls if not in their minds, they knew that Charlie had been yelling in the right direction. He folded his paper, tucked it under his arm, then turned and crossed the street with them when the light changed. Sometimes Charlie walked whole blocks when he thought only of Rachel, and would become so engrossed in the memory of her eyes, her smile, her touch, that he ran straight into people. Other times people would bump into him, and not even lift his wallet or say â€Å"excuse me,† which might be a matter of course in New York, but in San Francisco meant that he was close to a soul vessel that needed to be retrieved. He found one, a bronze fireplace poker, set out by the curb with the trash on Russian Hill. Another time, he spotted a glowing vase displayed in the bay window of a Victorian in North Beach. He screwed up his courage and knocked on the door, and when a young woman answered, and came out on the porch to look for her visitor, and was bewildered because she didn’t see anyone there, Charlie slipped past her, grabbed the vase, and was out the side door before she came back in, his heart pounding like a war drum, adrenaline sizzling through his veins like a hormonal ti lt-a-whirl. As he headed back to the shop that particular morning, he realized, with no little sense of irony, that until he became Death, he’d never felt so alive. Every morning, Charlie tried to walk in a different direction. On Mondays he liked to go up into Chinatown just after dawn, when all the deliveries were being made – crates of produce, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, melons, and a dozen varieties of cabbage, tended by Latinos in the Central Valley and consumed by Chinese in Chinatown, having passed through Anglo hands just long enough to extract the nourishing money. On Mondays the fishing companies delivered their fresh catches – usually strong Italian men whose families had been in the business for five generations, handing off their catch to inscrutable Chinese merchants whose ancestors had bought fish from the Italians off horse-drawn wagons a hundred years before. All sorts of live and recently live fish were moved across the sidewalk: snapper and halibut and mackerel, sea bass and ling cod and yellowtail, clawless Pacific lobster, Dungeness crab, ghastly monkfish, with their long saberlike teeth and a sin gle spine that jutted from their head, bracing a luminous lure they used to draw in prey, so deep in the ocean that the sun never shone. Charlie was fascinated by the creatures from the very deep sea, the big-eyed squid, cuttlefish, the blind sharks that located prey with electromagnetic impulses – creatures who never saw light. They made him think of what might be facing him from the Underworld, because even as he fell into a rhythm of finding names at his bedside, and soul vessels in all manner of places, and the appearance of the ravens and the shades subsided, he could feel them under the street whenever he passed a storm sewer. Sometimes he could hear them whispering to one another, hushing quickly in the rare moments when the street went quiet. To walk through Chinatown at dawn was to become part of a dangerous dance, because there were no back doors or alleys for loading, and all the wares went across the sidewalk, and although Charlie had enjoyed neither danger nor dancing up till now, he enjoyed playing dance partner to the thousand tiny Chinese grandmothers in black slippers or jelly-colored plastic shoes who scampered from merchant to merchant, squeezing and smelling and thumping, looking for the freshest and the best for their families, twanging orders and questions to the merchants in Mandarin, all the while just a second or a slip away from being run over by sides of beef, great racks of fresh duck, or hand trucks stacked high with crates of live turtles. Charlie was yet to retrieve a soul vessel on one of his Chinatown walks, but he stayed ready, because the swirl of time and motion forecast that one foggy morning someone’s granny was going to get knocked out of her moo shoes. One Monday, just for sport, Charlie grabbed an eggplant that a spectacularly wizened granny was going for, but instead of twisting it out of his hand with some mystic kung fu move as he expected, she looked him in the eye and shook her head – just a jog, barely perceptible really – it might have been a tic, but it was the most eloquent of gestures. Charlie read it as saying: O White Devil, you do not want to purloin that purple fruit, for I have four thousand years of ancestors and civilization on you; my grandparents built the railroads and dug the silver mines, and my parents survived the earthquake, the fire, and a society that outlawed even being Chinese; I am mother to a dozen, grandmother to a hundred, and great-grandmother to a legion; I have birthed babies and washed the dead; I am history and suffering and wisdom; I am a Buddha and a dragon; so get your fucking hand off my eggplant before you lose it. And Charlie let go. And she grinned, just a little. Three teeth. And he wondered if it ever did fall to him to retrieve the soul vessel of one of these crones of Chronos, if he’d even be able to lift it. And he grinned back. And asked for her phone number, which he gave to Ray. â€Å"She seemed nice,† Charlie told him. â€Å"Mature.† Sometimes Charlie’s walks took him through Japantown, where he passed the most enigmatic shop in the city, Invisible Shoe Repair. He really intended to stop in one day, but he was still coming to terms with giant ravens, adversaries from the Underworld, and being a Merchant of Death, and he wasn’t sure he was ready for invisible shoes, let alone invisible shoes that needed repair! He often tried to look past the Japanese characters into the shop window as he passed, but saw nothing, which, of course, didn’t mean a thing. He just wasn’t ready. But there was a pet shop in Japantown (House of Pleasant Fish and Gerbil), where he had originally gone to buy Sophie’s fish, and where he returned to replace the TV attorneys with six TV detectives, who also simultaneously took the big Ambien a week later. Charlie had been distraught to find his baby daughter drooling away in front of a bowl floating more dead detectives than a film noir festival, and after fl ushing all six at once and having to use the plunger to dislodge Magnum and Mannix, he vowed that next time he would find more resilient pals for his little girl. He was coming out of House of PFG one afternoon, with a Habitrail pod containing a pair of sturdy hamsters, when he ran into Lily, who was making her way to a coffeehouse up on Van Ness, where she was planning to meet her friend Abby for some latte-fueled speed brooding. â€Å"Hey, Lily, how are you doing?† Charlie was trying to appear matter-of-fact, but he found that the awkwardness between him and Lily over the last few months was not mitigated by her seeing him on the street carrying a plastic box full of rodents. â€Å"Nice gerbils,† Lily said. She wore a Catholic schoolgirl’s plaid skirt over black tights and Doc Martens, with a tight black PVC bustier that was squishing pale Lily-bits out the top, like a can of biscuit dough that’s been smacked on the edge of the counter. The hair color du jour was fuchsia, over violet eye shadow, which matched her violet, elbow-length lace gloves. She looked up and down the street and, when she didn’t see anyone she knew, fell into step next to Charlie. â€Å"They’re not gerbils, they’re hamsters,† Charlie said. â€Å"Asher, do you have something you’ve been keeping from me?† She tilted her head a little, but didn’t look at him when she asked, just kept her eyes forward, scanning the street for someone who might recognize her walking next to Charlie, thus forcing her to commit seppuku. â€Å"Jeez, Lily, these are for Sophie!† Charlie said. â€Å"Her fish died, so I’m bringing her some new pets. Besides, that whole gerbil thing is an urban myth – â€Å" â€Å"I meant that you’re Death,† Lily said. Charlie nearly dropped his hamsters. â€Å"Huh?† â€Å"It’s so wrong – † Lily continued, walking on after Charlie had stopped in his tracks, so now he had to scurry to catch up to her. â€Å"Just so wrong, that you would be chosen. Of all of life’s many disappointments, I’d have to say that this is the crowning disappointment.† â€Å"You’re sixteen,† Charlie said, still stumbling a little at the matter-of-fact way she was discussing this. â€Å"Oh, throw that in my face, Asher. I’m only sixteen for two more months, then what? In the blink of an eye my beauty becomes but a feast for worms, and I, a forgotten sigh in a sea of nothingness.† â€Å"Your birthday is in two months? Well, we’ll have to get you a nice cake,† Charlie said. â€Å"Don’t change the subject, Asher. I know all about you, and your Death persona.† Charlie stopped again and turned to look at her. This time, she stopped as well. â€Å"Lily, I know I’ve been acting a little strangely since Rachel died, and I’m sorry you got in trouble at school because of me, but it’s just been trying to deal with it all, with the baby, with the business. The stress of it all has – â€Å" â€Å"I have The Great Big Book of Death,† Lily said. She steadied Charlie’s hamsters when he lost his grip. â€Å"I know about the soul vessels, about the dark forces rising if you fuck up, all that stuff – all of it. I’ve known longer than you have, I think.† Charlie didn’t know what to say. He was feeling panic and relief at the same time – panic because Lily knew, but relief because at least someone knew, and believed it, and had actually seen the book. The book! â€Å"Lily, do you still have the book?† â€Å"It’s in the store. I hid it in the back of the glass cabinet where you keep the valuable stuff that no one will ever buy.† â€Å"No one ever looks in that cabinet.† â€Å"No kidding? I thought if you ever found it, I’d say it had always been there.† â€Å"I have to go.† He turned and started walking the other direction, but then realized that they had already been heading toward his neighborhood and turned around again. â€Å"Where are you going?† â€Å"To get some coffee.† â€Å"I’ll walk with you.† â€Å"You will not.† Lily looked around again, wary that someone might see them. â€Å"But, Lily, I’m Death. That should at least have given me some level of cool.† â€Å"Yeah, you’d think, but it turns out that you have managed to suck the cool out of being Death.† â€Å"Wow, that’s harsh.† â€Å"Welcome to my world, Asher.† â€Å"You can’t tell anyone about this, you know that?† â€Å"Like anyone cares what you do with your gerbils.† â€Å"Hamsters! That’s not – â€Å" â€Å"Chill, Asher.† Lily giggled. â€Å"I know what you mean. I’m not going to tell anyone – except Abby knows – but she doesn’t care. She says she’s met some guy who’s her dark lord. She’s in that stage where she thinks a dick is some kind of mystical magic wand.† Charlie adjusted his hamster box uncomfortably. â€Å"Girls go through a stage like that?† Why was he just hearing about this now? Even the hamsters looked uncomfortable. Lily turned on a heel and started up the street. â€Å"I’m not having this conversation with you.† Charlie stood there, watching her go, balancing the hamsters and his completely useless sword-cane while trying to dig his cell phone out of his jacket pocket. He needed to see that book, and he needed to see it sooner than the hour it would take him to get home. â€Å"Lily, wait!† he called. â€Å"I’m calling a cab, I’ll give you a ride.† She waved him off without looking and kept walking. As he was waiting for the cab company to answer, he heard it, the voice, and he realized that he was standing right over a storm drain. It had been over a month since he’d heard them, and he thought maybe they’d gone. â€Å"We’ll have her, too, Meat. She’s ours now.† He felt the fear rise in his throat like bile. He snapped the phone shut and ran after Lily, cane rattling and hamsters bouncing as he went. â€Å"Lily, wait! Wait!† She spun around quickly and her fuchsia wig only did the quarter turn instead of the half, so her face was covered with hair when she said, â€Å"One of those ice-cream cakes from Thirty-one Flavors, okay? After that, despair and nothingness.† â€Å"We’ll put that on the cake,† Charlie said.

THE RETAIL GROCERY MARKET Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

THE RETAIL GROCERY MARKET - Essay Example dominate the UK grocery market, accounting for around three quarters of total sales, which IGD values at  £88.2billion  in 2005.   However, this share of total grocery has fallen slightly in recent years as other sectors have grown more quickly. The Convenience sector continues to be a strong driving force behind the overall growth within the UK grocery market.  Ã‚   For every pound spent on food and grocery, consumers now spend 20p in convenience stores and IGD currently values the sector at  £23.9billion, up 4.9% on 2004, which now accounts for a 19.9% share of total grocery. So let’s try to identify the mission objectives and responsibilities of an organisation within its environment. To make our ideas more clear we’ll take a certain retailer, using for instance Tesco Company. Everybody can agree that the main aim of any business is profit earning. Even the relevant definition of â€Å"business† approves that any enterprise or company is created to earn money. Of course, shareholders of any business are its owners and want to get maximum profits. If a company stops producing profits it can be adjudicated a bankrupt. Everybody knows that retail is one of the most competitive economics sector. Shops, marketplaces, boutiques, super- and hypermarkets offer us great choice of different goods and foodstuffs. That’s why if any company has been taking the top positions for almost 10 years, - it is considered as a great success. Britain hypermarket net Tesco is one of such leaders. This company sails one third of all foodstuffs in the country. Tesco can firmly be named as a â€Å"national shop†. Rich, average and poor customers can find the foodstuffs according their wishes and financial abilities. Comfortable location, competitive prices, polite staff, great variety of goods and products, mainly, circumspect development strategy helped Tesco to become a really national shop. Let’s analyze the most important responsibilities, among which the main is

Legalization of marijuana Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Legalization of marijuana - Essay Example In the United Kingdom, there is a push to have marijuana as Class B drug, legalised. Conversely, there are others such as Steve Rolles who are arguing that Marijuana can be legalised without experiencing the drawbacks that would accompany that move, if the UK marijuana market is regulated with an aid of strict and feasible framework. Steve Rolles is the Transformation Drug Policy Foundation’s Senior Policy Analyst. However, presently, the UK law stands as an impediment to Rolles’ postulation, given that the law criminalises recreational use and possession of marijuana. It is for this reason that many cafes selling marijuana are open, run clandestinely and immediately closed. Indications that the United Kingdom, particularly Britain may review its legal stand on marijuana is underscored by the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg stating in February that the UK would explore viable alternatives to the wholesale proscription of drugs and that Britain was going to be the cen tre of the debate. There is a myriad of reasons being bandied as the reason for the legalisation of marijuana. First of all, there are those who argue that the legalisation of marijuana would help Britain save billions and this would therefore an economic value to the United Kingdom. Behind this argument is the rationale that decriminalising cannabis sativa will open up many marijuana-related businesses. These businesses would make profits which in turn would be taxable by the federal government. The rationale of this argument is upheld by the fact that the state of Colorado announced in March that it had collected more than one million pounds in taxes. This tax revenue was obtained by taxing marijuana businesses that were newly legalised and sold the drug for recreational purposes. According to Danovitch, political expedience also informs the push for the legislation of cannabis sativa. Legalisation of bhang has become a strong issue in Western Australia’s Senate

Finance and Banking Essay Example for Free

Finance and Banking Essay â€Å"Identify an experience in which you failed to communicate a message.† As mentioned in the communication process, communication has only succeeded when the information given by the sender has been received and understood by the recipient. If the recipient has not understood the information, then this may not necessarily be the recipients fault. Typically, ineffective communications can be attributed to one of three things: 1. A poor message;  * The message was too short; * The message was too long; * The message was ambiguous 2. Poor transmission; * That the message is being delivered in a wrong format that the recipient both does not expect and understands; * That the message is being delivered when the recipient does not need it, and where the recipient will not expect to find it. 3. Poor reception;  * A lack of awareness; * Obstructionism; * A lack of understanding; A striking example where I failed to communicate a message was my first day as an ‘A’-Level biology teacher at a certain private college. I was lost and found myself tutoring a form 4 class instead of a form 6 class. Some of the teaching staff read, â€Å"Human monocytes were cultured for 24 h in serum-free AIM-V medium, followed by 24-h maturation by polyriboinosinic polyribocytidylic acid (polyI:C). Short term cultured, polyI:C-maturated DC, far more than immature DC, showed typical mature DC markers and high allogeneic stimulatory capacity and had high autologous stimulatory capacity in an influenza model system using peptide-pulsed DC. Electroporation of mRNA as an Ag-loading strategy in these cells was optimized using mRNA encoding the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). Monocytes electroporated with EGFP mRNA, followed by short term, serum-free differentiation to mature DC, had a phenotype of DC, and all showed positive EGFP fluorescence. Influenza matrix protein mRNA-electroporated monocytes cultured serum-free and maturated with polyI:C showed high stimulatory capacity in autologous T cell activation experiments†. The text content was technically correct, but it was presented to the wrong audience, there was every chance that the students would not understand it. Such an example is a clear cut illustration of failure to communicate a message. â€Å"Investigate and discuss the possible forms of noise that can interfere with the communication process†. Communication noise refers to obstructions on effective communication that influence the interpretation of conveyed messages. While often looked over, communication noise can have a profound impact both on our perception of interactions with others and our analysis of our own communication proficiency. Forms of communication noise include psychological noise, physical noise, physiological and semantic noise. As postulated by (F. Teague, 2010), Nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood hence all these forms of noise subtly, yet greatly influence our communication with others and are vitally important to anyone’s skills as a competent communicator. Psychological noise Psychological noise refers to qualities in us that affect how we communicate and interpret others. For instance, if you are preoccupied with a problem, you may be inattentive at a team meeting. Likewise, prejudice and defensive feelings can interfere with communication. Psychological noise results from preconceived notions we bring to conversations, such as racial stereotypes, reputations, biases, and assumptions. When we come into a conversation with ideas about what the other person is going to say and why, we can easily become blinded to their original message. Most of the time psychological noise is impossible to free ourselves from, and we must simply strive to recognize that it exists and take those distractions into account when we converse with others. Physical noise Physical noise is any external or environmental stimulus that distracts us from receiving the intended message sent by a communicator (Rothwell, 2011). Examples of physical noise include: others talking in the background, background music, overly dim or bright lights, spam and pop-up adverts, extreme temperatures, crowded conditions, a startling noise and acknowledging someone outside of the conversation. Semantic noise This is noise caused by the sender, that is, the encoder. This type of noise occurs when grammar or technical language is used that the receiver (the decoder) cannot understand, or cannot understand clearly. Semantic noise exists when words themselves are not mutually understood. Authors sometimes create semantic noise by using jargon or unnecessarily technical language. Physiological noise Physiological noise is distraction caused by hunger, fatigue, headaches, medication, and other factors that affect how we feel and think.

Product Placement Essay -- essays research papers

Introduction Product placement can be considered a new marketing tool when associated within motion pictures and television. It can result in a more positive brand attitude when the product is associated with a character or group of characters that are preserved to be positive in the eyes of their audience. It is the intention of this study to look at the effects of product placement and it’s use in combination with advertising and their effects on the target audience. This literature review is an attempt to view both sides of the controversial issue. Problem Statement The problem of this study is the effect of product placement, used as a marketing tool, in motion pictures, television, literature, Internet, and in games, and the effect that it has on particular product consumers. Summary of Articles Shinan Govani is a Toronto-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in George magazine. She was summarized in saying that products don't tarnish a movie; sometimes they enhance it. She justifies this by saying â€Å"†¦these products give movies an indelible imprint of realism. In real life, we eat, drink, wear, and drive brand name products. It’s part of our typography.† (Govani, 1999) She went on to comment, â€Å"Some may disparage this product treasure-hunt mentality, but it's something nearly all of us respond to. Even during the Clinton-Lewinsky saga - the year's most popular movie, according to Neal Gabler, author of "Life: The Movie" - we chuckled at mention of Monica's blue Gap dress or at Clinton taking a swig from a Diet Coke can during his grand jury testimony.† (Govani, 1999) Was this planned, was this product placement†¦ no it’s real life. David Bauder reported on the controversy and was quoted in saying, â€Å"The new technology isn't likely to replace regular commercials†, he also reported that when it comes to television, â€Å"it's starting to get harder to tell when the ads end and the show begins†. (Bauder, 1999) Bauder interviewed several experts and officials in the industry such as Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, who said, "There is certainly a sense that the bleeding of the commercials into the programs is getting more extreme than it ever has been†. For many years, networks took pains to avoid product placement. The results often looked awkward: Actors would drink from a... ...p://www.businessweek.com/datedtoc /1998/ 980622.htm. Buss, Dale (1998, June 22). You Ought to be in Pictures. Business Week: On-line. Retrieved on October 8, 2001, from http://www.businessweek.com/datedtoc /1998/ 980622.htm. Hellen, Nicholas and Nuki, Paul(1999, April 25). Product Placement and politics of advertising. Retrieved from http://www.bilderberg.org/product.htm Rothenberg, Randall (2001). Marketing’s ‘borders’ blurred by product placement revival. Advertising Age, 72, 24. Sellers, Dennis (1999, November 4). Faous People: GQ, Stanley Mouse, and product placement. MacCentral On-line. Retrieved from http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/9911/04.famous.shtml Weaver, D.T., & Oliver, M.B. (2000, June). Television programs and advertising: Measuring the effects of product placement within Seinfeld. Paper presented to the Mass Communications Division at the 50th annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), Acapulco, Mexico. Weinberg, Larry. Product Placement. Retrieved from http://www.geocities.com/weinbergreport/brandinglarry.htm Wells, Melanie (2001, October 29). Who Really Needs Madison Avenue? Forbes 131.

Periodic Table Trends Essay

When you think of a periodic table, you think of elements like oxygen, neon, lead, and iron. You may even think of numbers, rows, and columns. You may not think about trends that are happening throughout a periodic table. There are many different trends that go on in a periodic table. The trends that I am going to be describing throughout this paper are atomic mass, atomic radius, first ionization energy, and electronegativity. When you study a normal/ordinary periodic table, the atomic mass will usually get bigger when going left to right and it will also get bigger when you go top to bottom. The atomic mass gets bigger left to right and top to bottom because the protons, electrons, and neutrons are increasing making the mass get bigger as you movie along the periodic table. When you look at the trends of the atomic radius, you will notice as you go left to right, the radius gets smaller and when you go top to bottom the radius gets bigger. The radius gets bigger going top to bottom because more energy levels are becoming occupied by electrons. The radius gets smaller going left to right because you are adding more protons which pulls the electrons and it makes it become unbalanced. If you look at the trends of the first ionization energy trends on a periodic table, you will notice that as you go left to right it gets bigger, and as you go top to bottom it gets smaller. This happens because as you go to the right, you gain more protons increasing the magnetic pull making it harder to lose electrons. As you go top to bottom it gets smaller because as you go down, the electrons are farther away from the nucleus, which requires less energy than an element that has electrons closer to the nucleus. For example, Li is smaller than Cs. So if you try to take an electron from Li it will require more energy because this atom is smaller and the electrons are closer to the nucleus. When you look at a periodic table you will notice the trends of electronegativity. As you go you left to right, the electronegativity gets bigger, but when you go top to bottom it gets smaller. This trend happens because as you move right the atoms have a tendency to gain electrons in order to become more stable. It gets smaller going top to bottom because you lose energy levels putting the protons out on the outer edge and making it easier to gain electrons. Personally, I think that the periodic table that we use daily is easier to use because it makes sense, and it is organized in a neat manner. It also makes sense to me when I look at it. But, when I look at the alternative periodic table, it seems to have a few things that I like, but the way that it is organized does not really make sense to me. One way that the alternative periodic table is superior to the normal periodic table that we use daily is that it has all the sublevels in an order that is easier to understand and it also shows the way that the elements bond in each different sublevel. It also has the period number which makes it easier to read and find each sublevel and period. Two ways that the alternative periodic table is worse than the normal periodic table is that the numbers aren’t in corresponding order, they are just scattered all over the place and it is harder to see the trends because the organization is not proper compared to the organization of the normal periodic table. Also, the alternative one does not show the atomic mass for each element.

Evolution of Business Presentation Essay

The Industrial Revolution Business has gone through several different stages of evolution from feudalism to the industrial revolution. In the following, each stage of business evolution will be examined and explained in detail. FeudalismThe business or economic system in which one class of people, aristocrats, control the property rights to all valuable resources, including people. The Hierarchy of English Aristocrats is indicated to the right of the description of Feudalism. The position in which an individual held was determined by the income they generated. The more income you made, the higher position you held in the hierarchy. The kings and Queens were the highest in rank who controlled everyone and everything that happens in their land. Hierarchy of authorityDating back in the Stone Age, the beginnings of Feudalism were starting to take place. Business has always been the stepping stone to a grand life, rather it be a great nation or corporation. During the time of the stone age, there was a chief who had authority over everyone. There were hunters who hunted wild animals for food to distribute to the tribe or clan. The food gatherers would gather and clean all the food the hunters would bring in. Craftspeople would make clothes and weapons out of the hides and bones of the animals hunted. The priests, shamans, and sages were responsible for providing â€Å"protection† and religious hope. MERCANTILISM Business or economic system in which merchants and bankers organize the trade of products across markets and countries until they are put to their most valued use. Mercantilism existed back in Egyptian times also. It was a huge part of Egypt and it’s economic existence. There was some papyrus records found that described boundless quantities of grain and olive oil being stored in warehouses that extended over several fields in Alexandria, Egypt. These  warehouses were meant for sale abroad. In the time of the Ptolemy dynasty, mercantilism was a godsend. This king of Egypt owed Alexander the Great an abundant amount of money for Egypt being a free country. Along with gold, King Ptolemy would send fields of grain as payment for their freedom. The price of TeaMerchants then and now still make huge amounts of profit by taking advantage of differences in the prices of products in different markets. In the 1600s, tea that was imported from India to Britain cost about $100 a pound in today’s money. It was so expensive that it had to be locked up and taken out with care. Because tea was so expensive, some British communities fought back by dressing up as Native Americans and forcing the tea that was being imported into the ocean. This was called the Boston Tea Party and it helped bring about eh American Revolution. CAPITALISM The economic, business, and political system that allows people to own resources and use them to engage in production, trade, and distribution of goods and services. Capital was and still is a huge part of business. If you didn’t have what you needed, trading and bartering was the way to get it. For example, $100 was your starting capital and you needed to buy ten sacks of corn to create your product. Once you create your product and sold it, you produced more capital to turn around and buy more product. If the business was good then you could have created profit as well. Capital is not just money, it could be anything that creates profit. A piece of land perhaps with the ability to grow corn, raise cattle, etc. When a person grows corn and raises livestock, they could sell it and make an abundance of profit. COMMERCE Commerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. Commerce comprises the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money between two or more entities. It functions as the central mechanism which drives capitalism and certain other economic systems. Commerce can be traced to the very start of communication in prehistoric times. Trading became a principal of prehistoric people who bartered what they had for goods and services from each other. PROPERTY RIGHTS Property rights are the claims by people to own, use, and sell the rights to valuable resources. Unlike now, there were no laws to protect and provide people with a legitimate claim to own and use property. The claim for property rights were a matter of using harsh force to get obtain it. Once you claimed land, you owned everything on it. The diagram shows what property rights and resources are,Land: ownership of the rights to land and the buildings and structures upon it. Capital: Ownership of the rights to financial assets such as stock, bonds, and money. Enterprise: Ownership of the rights to the products of enterprise such as patents and copyrights to products. Labor: Ownership of the rights to ones own labor and the right to work freely. THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION The Industrial Revolution was an era in the 1700 and 1800’s that marked improved production and trade brought about by advances in technology. The Industrial Revolution was a period in which fundamental changes occurred in agriculture, textile and metal manufacture, transportation, economic policies and the social structure in England. It spread through Europe and  the United States. This period is appropriately labeled â€Å"revolution† for its thoroughly destroyed the old manner of doing things. Advances in agricultural techniques and practices resulted in an increased supply of food and raw materials, changes in industrial organization and new technology which cased an increase in production, efficiency and profits, and the increase of commerce, foreign and domestic, were all conditions which promoted the advent of the Industrial Revolution. REFERENCES The McGraw-Hill Companies. (2007). The Evolution of Business. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from The McGraw-Hill Companies, Week Two, BUS210- Foundations of Business Web site. Halsall Paul, (1996). Internet Medieval Sourcebook. . Retrieved August 22, 2008, from http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1i.html#FeudalismWikipedia. (). Feudalism, Mercantilism, Capitalism, Commerce, Property rights, The Industrial Revolution. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_PageGoogle.com. (2008). Feudalism, Mercantilism, Capitalism, Commerce, Property rights, The Industrial Revolution. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from www.google.comAbout.com. (2008). Feudalism, Mercantilism, Capitalism, Commerce, Property rights, The Industrial Revolution.. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from www.about.comAsk. (2008). Feudalism, Mercantilism, Capitalism, Commerce, Property rights, The Industrial Revolution. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from www.ask.com