Critically evaluate the extent to which Frederick W Taylor's notion of Essay

Critically evaluate the extent to which Frederick W Taylor's notion of Scientific Management has had a lasting impact on management thinking and practice with - Essay Example Taylorism is an amusing and handy way to describe a sort of ruthless and quasi-Victorian efficiency that melds man with machine, often to mans disadvantage. However, Taylor did not intend it to be this way. He developed scientific management with good intentions to lighten the load of manual workers. Taylor also wishes to minimize waste in time, energy and abilities of worker as well as assuage poverty. But if his rigid methods fall into the hands of a brutal employer the results are often not to be desired and are contradictory to what his real intentions are. Thus the word Taylorism was born (Scientific Management 2008). In Taylor (2004, pp.3-4) own words â€Å"The art of management has been defined ‘as knowing exactly what you want men to do and then seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way’; also, ‘the principal object of management should be to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer coupled with the maximum prosperity for each employee’. He adds that ‘scientific management has for its very foundation the firm conviction that the true interests of the two are one of the same; that prosperity for the employer cannot exist through a long term of years unless it is accompanied by prosperity for the employee, and vice versa; and that it is possible to give the worker what he most wants – high wages – and the employer what he wants – a low labor cost – for his manufactures†. Taking this definition the original objective of Taylor with scientific management is to benefit not only the employer but the employee as well. From his book it is clear that he view both the employee and employer as two entities that need to work hand in hand to be able to achieve the main goal of profiting from the business. Not only that but also need each other to accomplish their individual goals of high wages and low cost of production. Whether his principles were used properly or erroneously his impact in management were long-lasting. Since ideals

Critique epidemiologic research articles Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Critique epidemiologic articles - Research Paper Example The control group included people selected randomly in the Boston area who filled the questionnaires with their dietary intake for 2 weeks. The group is appropriate because they have different lifestyle from the health professionals and their knowledge of the healthy diets and cancer differs from that of health professionals, in short they are complete opposites. B. Was the method of classification or of measurement consistent for all the subjects relevant to the objectives of the investigation? Are there possible biases in measurement? If so, what provisions were made to deal with them? The methods of measurement were different for the study group as well as the control group. The researchers administered the diet questionnaires to the control group which were strict n the amount of calories on each specific diet record on a weekly basis for the 2 weeks but none of that was done to the control group. This was made through carrying out a follow-up to the study group after every two years. The observations of the study group are reproducible as the research team carried out a follow-up of its study group for 6 years and hence in the end they achieved their conclusive results. They can also be said to be valid as they were carried out in a scientific manner. On whether they are reliable or not, the subject is up for discussion because of the lack of a control group to compare results with for the 6 years. Yes the data requires statistical analysis because they involve quantity in numbers of fat and energy. The analysis used is multivariate which is appropriate considering there are several sets of data being analyzed. The analysis and interpretation even though longer is correct. The conclusion justified is that which supports the hypothesis. The conclusion about red meat absorption and the acid content has not been analyzed in the data and hence is not appropriate to be made without research. The first

Continuum of Care Options Matrix Essay Example for Free

Continuum of Care Options Matrix Essay Example: This is a facility that allows clients to live in a residential setting while having personal care services and assistance, usually at all hours. Clients will generally need assistance with such functions as eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, ambulation, or help with medications. Clients living here are unable to function without this assistance. This is a facility that is equipped to care for persons unable to take of themselves, due to age or chronically illness A nursing home will have trained staff on site that will be able to assist the residents with date to date living skills. A Nursing home can be either privately owned or stated owned. Supportive housing programs are design to â€Å"develop housing services that will allow homeless person to live as independently as possible† (2013) Supportive housing programs main goal is to assist the homeless in achieving permanent residency, and increase one income. The programs is required to monitor the progress of the client and theses reports are repost to the department of housing yearly. Home care is a service which allows the elderly or disable person to remain in one home; while receiving little assistance for a medical staff. The home care worker would run errands for the clients or assistance with light housekeeping. The home care worker might even assistance with bath and dressing certain parts of the clients. Assistance living allow a resident to live a nursing home like setting that offers assistance with care and meals. Assistance living also assists the client with bathing and dressing. Assistance living facilities is for elderly and disables people that needs little to no assistance. Continuing retirement communities is a service that allows the elderly to live amongst peers of the same age group without a nursing home / assistance living setting. CRS allow the elderly to live independently in their own rental unit while offer services one can obtain in nursing home or an assistance living facility. Level of Long-Term Care Service (include differences) Example: Assisted living facilities are in the housing level of service. This level of service is more independent than many others, though clients need some type of assistance. A nursing home can be either long or short term depending on the reason one is there. The difference between supportive housing program and long term care services are; supportive housing assistance those that are able to care for oneself where long term care is for those that needs assistance with daily adl’s. Home care is more independent than a long term services, because one is still able to be in the home with little assistance from an outside source. Assistance living is more independent than a long term facility. One is no longer able to live at home. Mostly likely one require a little more assistance that can offer through home care but not enough where to one needs to be placed in a nursing home. CRS is more independent that a long term cares facility because one is still able to live on their own with no assistance.

Strategic Analysis of SingTel Telecom

Strategic Analysis of SingTel Telecom Introduction Singapore Telecom (Singapore Telecommunications Limited, referred to as SingTel, AFP) was established in 1879, is a wholly-owned by Singapore government-owned company, it is Singapores largest telecommunications companies. Singapore Telecom to increase strongly in markets outside of Singapore, and a partial stake in the operator, including the Australian carriers Optuss 100% stake in 2000, the British Cable and Wireless Optus, and other shareholders of the shares. Singapore Telecom a majority stake is controlled by Temasek Holdings, the Chairman is Lee Hsien Yang (the second son of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, his younger brother). Products and Services SingTel is Asias leading telecommunications company, with across wireless and Internet platforms for voice, data services, service-oriented business, as well as home two areas. Singapore Telecom has long been committed to providing customers with the Asia-Pacific regions most high-quality service. Now the focus is on the Internet service providers, mobile phones and fixed telephone communications services above. Company History Over the past decade, Singapore Telecom has successfully completed their high efficiency to the worlds leading operator changes. The company offers a wide range, the price is quite competitive telecommunications services, and global 5000 companies from different countries to provide telecommunications services. Singapore Telecom has already built a large scale in Singapores domestic telecommunications network, and the annual investment of 1 billion new coins update the network. In order to enhance competitiveness at home and abroad, the company offers intelligent fixed telecommunications services. At present, the company has been in the world, 15 countries, 23 cities and regions set up operational organs, including China, the United States, Britain, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Hong Kong and Taiwan. It has a glorious history of 120 years. SingTel aims to be a new era of pan-Pacific region bears the brunt of the true sense of the telecom operators. To this end, Singa pore Telecom will continue to expand with other Asian countries in telecom peers, and the scope of cooperation. SingTels Group CEO is Chua Sock Koong and CEO is Allen Lew. Business strategy Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. owns 7800 million as the users SingTel is Asia Pacific region, excluding China, the largest mobile Internet operators. 1992 companies from the former government monopoly privatized, SingTel in 2003, when the postal service from its opening, the focus is now on the Internet service providers, mobile phones and fixed telephone communications services above. Hopes through a comprehensive and sophisticated international leading-edge technology, and gradually get rid of the public color, sharply turned into a full private sector. Goal is to build a world-class institutions, not only to win the international community for its recognition of science and technology and technical expertise, and quality service and products provided by domestic users have also been positive. Logo New corporate logo by a simple, symbolic of the ellipse, with the two squares. Designed to highlight the companys innovative technology, international affairs and services-oriented. Elliptical lines out of Singapore Telecoms global vision, the two squares on behalf of the emerging digital technologies, while the red and black of a stable and reliable dissemination of messages. The new visual corporate identity and enhance Singapores telecommunications as a global industry leaders pivotal position. From the above mentioned, we understand that SingTel Group is a leading company in the telecommunication industry in the region, due to successful business strategies. Thus, it is important that all organizations understand their strengths and weaknesses before implementing strategies. They should first analyze their goals and operations to see if the current practices are working towards the mission and vision. A companys vision and mission is crucial to an organization, as it paves the way for where the company is headed and what it assumes to provide for its stakeholders. At the beginning of strategic management process, the organization needs to develop its vision statement and mission statement. A vision statement is what the organization wants to become and describe how the future will look if the organization achieves its mission. A mission statement explains what the organization does, for whom and what the benefit is. The vision, mission statements and core values of SingTel are shown in table 1 as follow: Prior to the development of strategy and marketing plans, they should evaluate both the external and internal factors. Hence, the corporate world usually utilizes various strategic tools like the SWOT Analysis that may influence the implementation of plans. Below is the SWOT Analysis of SingTel: SingTel SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is the overall evaluation of a companys Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The external analysis looks at opportunities and threats created by the environment while the internal analysis looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the company. In strategic planning, the company matches its capabilities with available opportunities and takes action to minimize threats. (Kotler, Bowen and Makens, 2006) SingTel Group is the leading integrated communications service providers in the Asia Pacific region and their core business operations are located in Singapore and Australia. The company has business in a number of sectors of the telecommunications market in the Asia Pacific region (http://home.singtel.com/investor_relations/default.asp , 2009). Internal Environmental Analysis (Strengths Weakness) Strengths are resources and capabilities that allow the firm to complete important tasks. Resources can be the tangible and intangible assets held by the firm, and capabilities result when the firm integrates several different resources to complete a task or a series of related tasks. (Hoskisson/ Hitt/ Ireland, 2009) Weaknesses are those actions a company is not doing well or resources a company are lacking. Most importantly each business needs to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses periodically. Strengths and Weaknesses of SingTel are as follow: Strong cash flow Singapores Top Ten Brands 2009 ranked number 6 Exclusive contract with Apple 2008 Right to broadcast the next three seasons of the English Premier League (EPL) Lack of feasibility of a universal set-top box Lack of contents for local pay TV market Strengths Most of SingTels strategic, operational and financial dynamics are currently improving. This is an indication that the companys current business strategies are proving to be successful. SingTel has a diverse spread of geographical operations. The companys main business activities are focused in Singapore and Australia and partners located in India, Belgium, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia. The spread of geographical operations will benefit the company, as it will become less depend on the local market to generate revenues. Most of their businesses are experiencing double-digit revenue growth over the past year (http://home.singtel.com/investor_relations/default.asp , 2009). SingTel captured the exclusive contract with Apple last year, and has since brought in more than 100,000 iPhones, thus increasing the companys revenue, the average spending per customer for mobile data (http://home.singtel.com/investor_relations/default.asp , 2009). Taking sixth position for the Superbrands Survey, which identified over 500 of Singapores consumers favorite brands across 93 categories of consumer products and services demonstrated the consumers choice and trust in SingTels products and services (www.marketing-interactive.com/news/11875). SingTel outbid StarHub to score the coveted rights to broadcast the next three seasons of the English Premier League (EPL) from 2010 to 2012. With the rights to broadcast the EPL, there will be a great potential that sports incline customers from StarHub will switch to SingTel (The Straits Time dated 11 November 2009). Weaknesses As a leading telecommunication company in Asia, the customer service in SingTel has rooms for improvement. Under the current extreme competitive environment, all the companies not only need to provide unique products but also good customer service. Thus, employee training program could be provided in order to handle customers problems effectively. With acquire of the Pay TV license in the domestic market in Singapore, Singapore needs to look at the feasibility of a universal set-top box that will best benefits consumers and align with the government strategic direction. SingTels cable television subscribers complaining about the hassle of having two set-top boxes may be a challenge that SingTel need to overcome (The Business Times dated 4 November 2009). External Environmental Analysis (Opportunities Threats) Opportunities are conditions in the firms external environment that may help the firm reach its vision (Hoskisson and Hitt, 2009). A marketing opportunity is an area of need in which a company can perform profitably. Opportunities can be listed and classified according to their attractiveness and the success profitability. (Kotler, Bowen and Makens, 2006) Threats are conditions in the firms external environment that may prevent the firm from reaching its vision (Hoskisson and Hitt, 2009). An environmental threat is a challenge posed by unfavourable trend or developments that would lead, in the absence of defensive marketing action, to sales or profit deterioration. Threats can be classified according to their seriousness and probability of occurrence. (Kotler, Bowen and Makens, 2006) Opportunities and Treats of SingTel are as follow: Global opportunities in mobile communication Rights to broadcast the World Cup 2010 Potential merger of StarHub and MobileOne (M1) Australian market strong competition Opportunities Africa and Vietnam are markets in the emerging mobile space, which is definitely worth our interest, and SingTel is actively taking the lead to explore the untapped emerging telecom market. (Harry Suhartono, Nov 11,2009) Singapore and Australia accounted for 54 percent of the groups EBITDA , earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and more opportunities for further growth. With SingTel outbid StarHub to score the coveted rights to broadcast the next three seasons of the English Premier League (EPL), there will be great opportunities to expand the customer-base for PayTV customers (http://home.singtel.com/investor_relations/default.asp , 2009). Moreover, with the exclusive right to broadcast the next three seasons of EPL, F1, the next opportunity for SingTel is Word Cup 2010. With clinch of the World Cup 2010, SingTel will dominate the Sports channels in the region. Treats With StarHub and MobileOne obtain licenses to sell Apples popular iPhone and their launched on 9 December 2009, SingTel lost the 15th months monopoly. Thus, will likely to face tougher competition in the local market. Potential merger of StarHub and MobileOne will be a big treats to SingTels Number One position in Singapore for mobile market in Singapore. SingTels subsidiary Optus is facing strong competition with their competitors in the Australia and maybe affects their leading position and revenges. With the competitive market, SingTel will have to fight against StarHub and MobileOne through price, promotions, and advertising since all three companies main business are in the provision of mobile plans and the sale of mobile phones. Perhaps, SingTel may need to improve the customer service further to create a superior customer service that tag to their brand With the winning of the broadcast rights for the English Premier League, it is expected that loyal football fans will switch from StarHub over to SingTel, especially with the low rate offered by SingTel. Hence, competition is intense and SingTel would need to take on actions to further enhance its Strength whilst working on its Weaknesses. After evaluating the external and internal factors, SingTel started to develop strategies such as launching of Mio TV, which is able to capture more market share and ultimately enhancing SingTels market position. Mio TV is a new technological product in the current market, thus, it is necessary for the company to assess the product life cycle (PLC). Product Life Cycle According to Kotler, every product has its life. The product life cycle concept allows marketer to plan their marketing strategies to manage their product or service through various phases of their product life cycle. The purpose of this concept to establish which phase of its life cycle is and select the best fitting marketing strategies for the product in that phase. Base on Kotler (2000) the product life cycle can be divided into four distinct phases those are introduction, growth, maturity and decline phases. Furthermore, Kotler also provided the following marketing characteristic, marketing objective and marketing strategies within its of the product life cycle phases. Characteristic: according to Kotler, there are existing different characteristic sales, cost, profit, competitors and customer for its stages in the product life cycle. Those can be described as follow Sale characteristics: sales are low in the introduction stages, rapidly increase in the growth stages, peaking in the maturity stages and decreasing in the decline stages. Cost characteristics: the cost per customer will be high in the introductory stage, average cost per customer in the growth stage, and low cost per customer in the maturity and decline stage. Profit characteristic: profits can be none or negative in the introductory stage, increase in the growth stage, and high in the maturity stage and reducing in the decline phase. Competitors characteristic: there is existing only few competitors in the introductory stage, increasing in the growth stage, stable in the maturity and decreasing in the decline stage. Customer characteristic: in the introductory stage has only few customers who call innovators are testing the product, early adopter trying the growth stage, a middle majority testing product in the maturity and the laggard trying the product in the decline stage. Marketing objectives: Kotler also provides differences kinds of companys marketing objectives which linked to four stages of product as below Introductory stage: to make awareness and trial by using an intensive advertising and promotion campaign. Growth stage: to maximize the market share Maturity stage: maintaining market share while profits can be still maximize Decline stage: reducing marketing expenditure of the product during this stage while the aim will be to milk the product. Marketing strategies: the alternative marketing strategies was given by Kotler are related to various stage of the product life cycle as below: Product strategy: a basic product will be offered in the introductory stage, product extensions and warranties will be offered during growth stage, brand and individual product item will be diversified in the maturity stage and the weak model will be phased out during decline stage. Price strategy: the cost plus price will be changed during introductory phase, price will be set to penetrate the market during the growth phase, the price will be set to meet competitive price during the maturity phase while price will be cut during the decline phase. Distribution strategy: distribution will be built selectively during introductory phase, it will be intensive during growth phase, distribution will be further developed during the maturity phase and it will be more selective during decline phase. Advertising strategy: building awareness of product among early adopter and dealers in the introductory phase, building awareness and interest in the mass market during the growth phase, stressing brand differences and benefits during the maturity phase and reduce the advertising level needed to retain hard core-loyal customers in the decline phase. Sale promotion strategy: using heavy promotion to entice trial during the introductory phase, reduced promotion to take advantage of heavy customers demand during the growth phase, increase promotion to encourage brand switching in the maturity phase and reducing promotion to minimum in the decline phase. Limitations of the Product Life Cycle Concept The term life cycle implies a well-defined life cycle as observed in living organisms, but products do not have such a predictable life and the specific life cycle curves followed by different products vary substantially. Consequently, the life cycle concept is not well-suited for the forecasting of product sales. Furthermore, critics have argued that the product life cycle may become self-fulfilling. For example, if sales peak and then decline, managers may conclude that the product is in the decline phase and therefore cut the advertising budget, thus precipitating a further decline. Each customer is more or less free to adopt products for their own needs; this is sometimes called the shopping caddy approach to product adoption. However, in order to attract customer, not only should SingTel understand the PLC, it is also necessary for SingTel to analyze the competition and to be proactive to beat competitors in the current highly competitive market. Porters five forces is a framework for the industry analysis and business strategy development developed by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School in 1979. It uses concepts developing Industrial Organization (IO) economics to derive five forces that determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter_five_forces_analysis) SingTels Competitive Rivalry Singapore Telecommunications Limited is considered as the biggest telecommunication company in Singapore. Singtels services provide for customers with ISP (SingNet), IPTV (Mio TV), fixed line telephony and mobile phone. The second largest in mobile operator and cable television is StarHub, its also the biggest competitor of SingTel in Singapore. The recently moves of these two companies in cable television services have made the impacts on them. This also pointed out the effective strategy that SingTel approached over its competitors StarHub. StarHub used to be right holder of English Premium League, Champion League and it had to pay around US $150 million for the current 2007 to 2009. StarHub has provided attractive packages of television cable that includes so many sport and entertainment channels. Its really an advantage competitive of StarHub to increase its market shares over SingTel. StarHub actually has surpassed SingTel in this area and been really a big challenge of SingTel. However, a fantastic move of strategy from SingTel recently has changed things differently. StarHub has been beaten on bid and SingTel has won the right to be the holder of English Premium League and Champion League for its Mio TV. The ESPN Star Sports channel of StarHub cable networks will belong to SingTel in the middle of 2010 as well. The rights of ESPN Star Sport include English FA Cup, Formula One motor racing, Wimbledon tennis, US Open, Australian Open and US Open golf. These channels are going to Singtel, and this factor will definitely make increasing number of Singtels subscribers. The failure of StarHub in bidding racing is not the end of its Television cable services. StarHubs platform still can present the English football with delayed telecasts matches on Goal TV 1 and Goal TV2 channels for its subscribers at present and future seasons. For Singtel, with the advantages in being the new holder of those channels, Singtel will have a contract of three years period. The contract will start in August 2010 and include mobile and internet rights as well as Television cable services. One thing is considered as promotion of Singtel, it will guarantee to keep the current payment of StarHubs subscribers and will not change anything. It will be Singtel, the company will deliver the English Barclay Premium League matches to Singapore. The ways of viewing live football matches on Television, on mobile phones and internet will be improved by Singtel. It will bring the best services to its football fans. On the other hand, SingTels competitor, StarHub still tries to maintain the best quality sport content to its customer. It now focuses more on shareholders expectations in terms of profits. StarHubs bid for Barclay Premium League was really aggressive. So now they look forward to the time when they can get back to right of being the holder. And StarHub is always a big challenge of SingTel. It could approach the opportunities anytime and get over SingTel in the future. Implication Analysis Impacts on viewers Most of viewers from StarHub will not be happy when they have to change to SingTels Mio TV service for sports channels. The situation will be worst for the customers, who have signed the contract of two years with StarHub for sport package. The English Premium League and other sports content will now not be able to be viewed by them. The subscribers of StarHub need to sign up with SingTel as an addition if they would like to view sports content. When the viewers sign up for Mio TV service of SingTel, they also need to install a SingTel fixed line in advance. SingTel has promised with the consumers to keep the pricing of sport content as the current StarHub rates and will not increase anything. It can be seen that, SingTel is giving a special promotion with special package for sports fans. The customers could subscribe to English Premium League and sports packages only of SingTel if they would like. Impact on Singapores Pay TV landscape SingTel has taken a new step in TV cable service. Now its holding the right of English Premium League and other sports channels, and this will be a very important factor in competing more strongly with other TV providers, especially StarHub. Its really dominance of StarHub when it owns 85 % of market share of Singapore. However, SingTel now will be the only one that brings English Premium League and other sports content to Singapores football fans. Therefore, SingTel is expected to be the number one in providing TV cable services in the future. Impact on Starhub Since the IPTV of SingTel appeared in 2007, it has been a big challenge of StarHub. The development of SingTels IPTV has made StarHubs growth rate decrease to 4% year on year. StarHub had 530 thousand TV subscribers in the first half of 2009 and 250 thousand of them belong to the sports package. So being the winner of the right holder of English Premium League, SingTel will affect StarHubs subscribers so much. Specially, SingTel will attract the attention of football fans directly. However, it is not complete ending for the StarHubs TV cable. StarHub still has other premium content like: Star World, HBO, AXN and so on. The customers also need to sign up with StarHub if they wish to view this content. Among 250 thousand of sports package, 36% of them are expected to switch from StarHub to SingTels service. The rest subscribers are expected to sign up for SingTels sports package and still keep their StarHub service for premium content. Impact on SingTel Twenty three months since 2007, SingTels Mio TV service had grown so quickly, 100 thousand subscribers is the number of SingTel has reached in June 2009. SingTel has captured over 15% Singapore TV cable market. From April 2008 to March 2009, it has expanded its subscribers over its rival StarHub by 79%. Together with the competitive advantage of being the winner of English Premium League and other sports channels, a number of 348 thousand new subscribers will be set for SingTel as an objective to achieve at the end of 2010. This objective will help SingTel to increase up to 42% share of Singapore Pay TV market. However, with the expensive bid like that, its also a long-term plan for SingTel to make IPTV business profitable. SingTel now is holding English football sports and US content pack, but its still not complete. SingTel need to keep its speed of growth and try to take over the premium content of StarHub. It could be the core factor, which can build the SingTels Mio TV cable ser vices perfectly. In the competitive market place, having a competitive advantage means that the firm is using its resources, capabilities, and core competencies in ways that create more value for customers compared to the value competitors products create for those customers. (Hoskisson/ Hitt/ Ireland, 2007) By launching the Mio TV, SingTel is able to gain a competitive edge, the reasons are as follow: Competitive Advantages One of telecommunication suppler SingTel provides national fixed-line services, mobile services, broadband, IP and internet access, and international telephone services more than 20 countries. SingTel still continue invest in strategic regional markets, including India, Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand and Bangladesh for long term growth. According to the Singapore Telecommunications Report that pay-TV subscriber base around 45,000 mioTV customers in June 2008. Over the quarter, there were some 2,000 net additions. The operator has continually expanded its range, they had further agreements with three Hollywood studios includes Disney-ABC International Television, News Corp units Twentieth Century Fox and Time Warners Warner Bros International Television to raise mioTV channel offering from 20 to 50. It is important for a company to develop their own distinctive competitive advantages. It must be unique, hard to imitate by competitors in the same industry and its create value to customers and benefit to the company. The Singapore-base telecommunication company Singtel has introduced pay-TV services called MIO TV. It has 33-channel mio TV and customers can select and pay what channel they want to watch. Features like the TV program list channel guide let viewers glance program in advance for 30 days. The mio TVs picture-in-Picture feature that viewer wont miss out other channel showing and remain current channel as well. The viewer can preview any video before watching from library of HD movies and video and make pause, rewind and fast-forward all depend on customers. The viewer can enjoy high HD quality playback and control your favorite shows to watch and record just click of a button, you can record your favorite shows even when you away with Remote Digital Video Recording. The viewer can easy to search the favorite program by input keyword through remote control or via the virtual keyboard on the Television, the intuitive search engine offer intelligent results. The viewers can watch Channel NewsAsia, Mom-on-Demand and KBS world and some other available channels on the new mobile service, including the ads on Mio TV, as well as on mobile phone that SingTel selected Nokia phones to offer this service. The competitive advantage should be benefit to company increase shares of market and revenue returns and create value to shareholders, owners and customers. However, the competitive advantage may be imitate by competitors or create different advantages to more value to customers. One of the competitors of Singapore-base telecommunication company Starhub, they provide cable TV as well. But the exclusively offer by SingTel had been rewarded to broadcast UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League from 2009 to 2012. Subscribers can watch live matches broadcasting in Dual Sound both in English and Mandarin. Furthermore, SingTel had picked up a right to broadcast Barclays English Premier League matches and ESPN STAR Sports on Mio TV. According to director of Mio TV Low Ka Hoe said Sport content is an important part of our offering, and this move signifies our ongoing efforts to expand and improve our selection of quality content for our viewers, The world wide service of SingTel is a opportunity for the firm continually invest and expansion in core overseas market of Indonesia, India and new market such as Vietnam and Pakistan and beyond Asia Pacific. Overseas investments are an essential part of SingTel strategy especially in saturated domestic market of Singapore. According to Singapore Telecommunications Report SingTel in June 2008 and its foreign associates shared a total of 197.714 mn, representing an increase of 45% over the year and 8.2% during the quarter. Evaluate strategy base on competitive advantage The firm should create non-replace and valuable competitive advantage through create strong core competencies. Base on competitive advantage, Cliff Bowman and Richard DAveni use Strategy Clock to further explain Michael Porter s generic strategy. The strategy clock represents different positions in a market where customers have different requirements in terms of value for money. The organization may have unique resources that others cannot imitate or obtain, for example, long-term established brand; be a cost leadership by apply price-based strategy or lower-priced strategy. However, in small domestic saturated market like Singapore, managers may take Differentiation strategy or hybrid strategy that provides unique or slightly different products and services from others to customer by pricing slightly higher. The strong and well-established competitive advantages can strength companys capability and strategy decision making. Therefore, Conclusion In account of analyzing the strategy of Singtel, it surly gave the reason that why the Singapore Telecom is Singapores largest telecommunications company. This company has nearly 130 years of operating experience in the successful completion of this period to the worlds leading high- performance carrier changes. In business, SingTel seek a breakthrough innovation, development of local public sentiment for the internationalization of the business to treat the inability to adapt. Of course, these innovations are also based on SingTels own existing resources, it is an international network. More than that, Singtel not only in China for the global 5300 companies in different countries offer a wide price quite competitive telecommunications services, but also SingTel has built its domestic large-scale telecommunications networks, and the annual investment of 1 billion new coins to be updated in order to enhance domestic and international competitiveness. SingTels overseas investment is a long-term strategy. Currently, SingTel has expanded to 20 countries and regions, their overseas operations include not only the traditional fixed, mobile phone networks and the Internet, voice data, but also related to satellite communications, submarine cable systems. In the past 10 years, strong adaptability and technical advantages SingTels international strategy is to promote time and time again to be successful. Opportunities always favor those who prepared. SingTels long-term development plan formulated by it can, and be good at the right time, choosing the right investments. The use of a merger or investment to enter unfamili

The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan Essay -- Business Niss

The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan In 1999, the Nissan was suffering under a decade of decline and unprofitability, in fact the company was on the verge of bankruptcy, with continuous loses for the past eight years resulting in debts of approx. $22 billion. Elements impacting Nissan’s performance prior to the global alliance with Renault Internal factors: Emphasis on short-term market share growth instead of a long term success strategy; Advanced engineering and technology, plant productivity, quality management. However, less attention was given to design and innovation, on the assumption that consumers were looking for quality and safety. This implies a lack of knowledge of the market, consumer’s changing tastes, and showed that Nissan management did not pay too much attention to what competition was doing. External factors: The devaluation of yen from 100 to 90 yen for a US dollar; Moody’s and Standard & Poors’s rating agencies announced in 1999 that Nissan would be lowered from investment grade to junk unless it could not get any financial support. Both formal and informal internal procedural Nissan norms, as well as Japanese cultural norms were holding the company back. Through keiretsu investments Nissan management believed would foster loyalty and cooperation between members of the value chain, hence they invested in real estate and suppliers’ companies. 4 billion US dollars were invested in stock shares of other companies as part of keiretsu philosophy. Nissan Company strategic alliance with French auto car manufacturer Renault was mutually beneficial for both companies, each of them expanding portfolio and becoming more competitive in the context of globalized mature automobile market. With Renault assuming a stake of 36.8% at Nissan, the latter would retain its investment grade status. The alliance enabled Renault to penetrate and expand in international markets that it was looking for - Asia and North America. In turn, Nissan would gain market share in South America. The Japanese car manufacturer agreed to the Global Alliance Agreement in March 1991, provided it would keep the company’s name, the Nissan Board of Directors would select the CEO, and it would also be responsible for implementing the company’s revival plan. The Renault alliance with Nissan injected the needed cash and revolutionized the stagnated ... ...tomakers with an 11.1% operating profit margin and more than 21% ROIC . A future customer-focused plan, Quality 3-3-3 is to be implemented as of 2005, with emphasis on three categories of quality: product attractiveness, product initial quality and reliability, and sales & service quality. The key success factors of the Nissan turnaround were: 1. Vision. The meaningful progress achieved was due to the vision that Ghosn successfully shared at all levels of the company that was clear and adopted. 2. Strategy. Management’s responsibility was to define the business strategy, and make sure it is deployed at every level of the company; everybody knew what was the contribution that was expected from him or from her for the company. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The people committed to the turnaround from the top: personal commitment, team commitment coming from the top down. For sure the changes were not easy to implement, but the clear vision brought that people were motivated to bring to life, and the results that showed off rapidly, gave Ghosn credibility, making people feel safe about the company. The vision, strategy, commitment and results guaranteed the success of Nissan’s turnaround.

The Iliad of Homer :: essays research papers

The Iliad Outline &explain the qualities of a â€Å"Homeric Hero†. Who best fits the bill? Why?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Homeric hero strives to be the best among his peers. His goal is to achieve the greatest glory in order to earn the highest honor from his peers, his commander, and finally from his warrior society. He strives for excellence in particular areas of human behavior, such behaviors are strength, skill, and determination. These are necessary on the both the athletic and battlefields, it is known as the idea of arete.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Homeric hero judges his own arete by what his warrior society thinks of him. How well the Homeric hero will be remembered and honored is determined upon how well he fights, how his heroic adversity is, and how well he faces death. He feels that society’s attitude towards him is more important than is own attitude. He chooses to act in a way that will make him acquire public approval that he needs in order to have self- esteem.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The greatest insult to a Homeric hero is to with hold the honor that he has earned. He is completely shattered when honor is denied him. The honor that he would not have received would be from a battle, not receiving an appropriate impressive prize, or being judged a loser in a competition he should have won. The highest and most honored prize is called the prize of honor. In the Iliad this prize is the most attractive, intelligent, and skilled female captive. The most absolute honor is everlasting fame. It is the only for of immortality that a mortal can acquire. This places the Homeric hero lower than the gods, but higher than the ordinary man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Achilles, Hector, Agamemnon, and Patroclus are considered Homeric heroes. Achilles acted childish when he did not receive the appropriate prize. He said, â€Å"you threaten to take away my prize of honor, which I earned and which the Greeks gave to me. Whenever I sack a town, my prize is never as great as yours, even though I am the greatest Greek fighter. Even so, my small prize is my own. So now I will return to my homeland. I refuse to stay here, dishonored, in order to win greater wealth for you!† He is upset that he did not receive a great prize as Agamemnon did. Achilles had worked so hard to earn a prize and Agamemnon had taken the credit for it and gotten the better

Comparing Two Charity Advertisements Essay

In this essay I will be comparing the advertising leaflet for Christian Aid with the leaflet produced by The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). This essay will be analysing how the different charities try to persuade us, the audience to change our views, make the people want to do something to help them and the difficulties these charities face. I will be examining and commenting on the effectiveness of these adverts. The RSPCA are a charity organization set up to help animals in Britain and Christian Aid helps out people and children Worldwide. We need these charities because they help people in need and they also support communities. We need charities to help people who cannot support themselves because everyone deserves to have a life of their own which they can enjoy. We give to charities for many reasons, but the main reason we give to charities is because we feel guilty. We feel guilty because we are so well off and we take our houses, Television and having food and water for granted. However, people in third world countries can not even afford to have a roof above their head and in some extreme cases of poverty they can not afford food and clean water. Some people give for compassion. This is when they sympathise with these people and animals and they feel sorry for them so they give money because they want to help them. However, some people give because of their religious belief. Muslims give to charities because of Zakat, one of the pillars of Islam. It reminds Muslims of the fact that whatever wealth they may possess is due to the blessings of Allah and it should be spent according to the His commands. Some people give to charity because they believe it is their moral duty to give to charity. In addition some people give to charities because they want people to think they are generous and they want to be recognized as that and get praise for it. There are hundreds of different charities which help out in different ways. These different charities include charities that support animal rights, environmental agencies and pressure groups, humanitarian charities, medical charities and child protection. The spectrum of human emotion can be manipulated visually and imaginatively. Pictures can be formed mentally from descriptive words or even statistics. Charities use this to their advantage, this works extremely well. It is their greatest technique for persuasion. Charities constantly need to advertise due to competition. There are hundreds of charities which help different causes and this is why there are so many different charities to give to which shows there is so much competition. On top of this there is the National Lottery. Since the national lottery there has been a decrease in the number of people giving to charity. The National Lottery is a huge profit making organisation and out of this they profit they do give to charity. However they only give a small proportion of their money to charity and recently there has been some controversy on which charities they give to. Most charities also do not get government funding which means they rely on the public to donate money to keep their charity running. Charities advertise in various ways. These include the broadcast media which could be television or Radio, Print Media which consists of billboards, posters, newspaper (tabloids and broadsheets) and magazines; we can also include advertising on the internet. Advertising is very important in our culture and is always around us. Everything is advertised varying from houses to the clothes we wear and films we watch. Advertisements are a way to persuade people to do what you want them to do, whether it is to donate to tour charity or to buy your product. Advertisements have been around for centuries, one of the first advertisements was in a newspaper in 1704. This shows how long they have been around and how long people have had to learn how to manipulate them to their advantage. Charities mainly use the print media option because it cheaper than television and radio advertisement. Also print media is more easily accessible to everybody unlike radio and television. This may also be advantageous because instead of having to write out a cheque the print media will probably have a tear off slip which can be more convenient to send off. This has been used in the RSPCA leaflet. Charities target people who are financially stable and socially and globally aware of the problems people face in the world. This is because these sorts of people are more likely to give because they are likely to feel guiltier than others and if they know about global issues then are also likely to empathise with these people. Charities can target their audience by advertising in certain newspapers such as broadsheets for example ‘The Guardian’ or’ The Telegraph.’ The type of people who read these sort of papers are more likely to give than people who read ‘The Sun’ or ‘The Daily Sport’ because they are probably more likely to be globally aware and they are probably better educated, so they have better jobs and would therefore would have a more disposable income to give to charities. The main purpose of the RSPCA is to prevent cruelty to animals. We know this because it says ‘The aims of the RSPCA are to prevent cruelty and promote kindness to animals.’ The main purpose of Christian Aid is to help people, regardless of their race or religion, to tackle the causes of poverty and injustice. We know because the information inside the leaflet shows us that they are trying to help people like ‘Valliamma and Shashore have a life before Death.’ From the name ‘Christian’ Aid people tend to believe that this charity only helps people who are Christian but this is not true, this name was made centuries back when this was not a multi-cultural society, as it is today, but it had to the name because they were to well known to change it. The Christian Aid leaflet uses an image of a canned drink on the front cover. This is a red colour, with the title ‘Fresh Air’. The words ‘Fresh air’ are very strong as their slogan and also very emotive, as it makes us think of those people in undeveloped countries, who do not have anything but air. This image of a can is very effective because it reminds people of ‘Coca Cola’ and western culture and capitalism. It shows how our culture has dominated the world, and how unfortunate some people are. The colour red is very effective because it has negative connotations of blood and death which reminds us of what is happening out in the world and makes us want to donate money. On the back of the can there is a box titled ‘Nutritional Information’ which is written in a large font to show that is the title, then the writing inside is a smaller font size. When we first open the poster our eyes are immediately led to the picture on the lef t. This is because we read from left to right so the left hand side is the primary optical area for us. The writing above the picture is in bold and in red. This is more eye-catching and we are more likely to read this before we read any of the other text because the bright red and the dominance in the size of text will probably strike our attention before the other text would. There is a caption below the picture which is in a smaller font than the one which is used for the rest of the writing. This has been deliberately made small because this information is not as important as the other text. On the right hand side, there is another photo and below it there is a caption and in an even smaller font than this there are the Christian Aid contact details. This has been put at the bottom of the page because it is the last thing that has been out on the page so it memorable. The biggest writing on this page is at the top of the page on the right. This is used to make sure that everyone reads this, even if they do not read the other text because this is the most important text. It also is the centre page of the three flaps, so it is also been put there as a big centre point. The right hand flap can then be pulled open to show more writing in the middle and on the right there are two small pictures surrounded by writing. The writing is broken into paragraphs so it seems easier to digest instead having big chunks of text which some people may find off putting. The text is split in the middle with alternating bold red text then normal text. On the right hand side each paragraph starts off in bold with the words ‘Just à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½24’ or ‘à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½36’. This is used to emphasise the amount of money, which for us is not a lot but for people in Africa is enough to build a life on. At the bottom again we have big, red, bold text, to stand out against the rest of the text as it is asking us to give us money and the CA do not want us to miss this. At the bottom we have the Christian Aid logo and below the slogan ‘We Believe in Life before Death’. This has been put here because this is the terminal optical area as it is the last thing we read on the right-hand side when we read from left to right so we will remember this. The RSPCA leaflet shows a cat on the cover, sitting on a doorstep and staring at us. This scene seems absolutely normal. The heading is in a bold white font which gives positive connotations as it makes us think of peace. At the bottom of the page on the right, we have the RSPCA logo in the terminal optical area which is effective because it makes it more identifiable and memorable. Then if we lift out the flap underneath, we see an image of what seems to be a normal house. There is a cat sitting on top of the sofa. The title on the top is written in a big black bold colour. This black colour gives negative connotations compared to the white heading on the first image because it is shows darkness. Below there is white writing which is smaller but is still in bold. It is now that we see the next picture which instantly gives very negative connotations from just looking at it. There are faeces on the floor, it looks like a very neglected area and there are tins of cat food as well. Using black and white to contrast between negative and positive features is a very clever way to easily give the effect you want. The RSPCA advert has very little text compared to the CA advert and big pictures. They have also printed their advert in black and white whereas on the other hand the CA advert has been printed in colour. This was probably printed in black and white because it is cheaper so more leaflets can be printed within their budget, informing more people of their charity. Nowadays, charities are using more and more shocking images in their adverts in order to make the audience empathise and feel sorry for these people. For example, a recent Barnardos advert showed a baby with a cockroach and a syringe in its mouth and this was banned because it was thought to be too shocking for the British public. This however is very effective, and if people were to believe that this kind of thing was happening then they would be more likely to give. However, this could have been made very shocking purposefully, to grab attention and to get publicity. When we first see the RSPCA advert we are confronted by a rhetorical question asking us whether this cat is happily watching the world go by. This makes us start to think whether something is going on and leads us to read on to see if there is anything going on. Then, when we open up the leaflet this question is answered, but in the form of another rhetorical question and in the background there is an image of a room. Then below this tile is writing. This writing is telling us what actually happened in this room. It talks about the cat ‘Boots’ being ‘soiled with faeces’. They have used the name ‘Boots’ to make it seem more personal to us. The ‘faeces’ could have been replaced with ‘excretion’ or ‘pooh’ but ‘faeces’ is used to make it sound more technical and scientific. This helps to make it more shocking and give the text more of an impact. Short sentence structure is used to make the reader remember, short sentences are also more effective than long sentences, which helps the reader remember what is said. Then on the back we have a zoom in on what has happened. It has information of an advice line and national cruelty helpline places next to a phone. At the end the text ‘This was just one’ is placed in the terminal optical area which makes the sentence stay in the persons mind. Moving back to the middle section there is a photograph of three kittens staring at us. It seems as if they are asking for help when they look at us. This is called the ‘look to camera’ technique. The title uses an opinion which is made to look like a fact when it is not necessarily true that ‘Boots ahs found a loving new family’. Below the picture there is a black box which is used to draw our attention. The writing inside this box uses triadic structure and repetition of ‘à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½3 a month’ in bold then what this can do to help being listed three times. At the end it says ‘Please help.’ This is a polite request. This is used because it is harder to decline a polite request than it is a normal request. Again in the last section we have the cat using the look to camera technique which seems as if the cat is asking us ‘Please be my friend?’ The title uses emotional blackmail when it says â€Å"I’ll be a friend for life to defenceless animals suffering from cruelty.† This is effective because it makes us want to be their friend, and protect them from cruelty. This advert uses many examples of rhetorical questions, because they are thought evoking and make us want to read on, until we reach the end, where we meet the sponsor form. ‘Dying for a drink? Imagine if this was all you had to drink today.’ This opening question is a rhetorical question and has alliteration. It persuades you to imagine, a natural reaction is to do so. It gives a vibrant picture and feeling, making you sympathize with these people. There is a lot of detail given in the first sentence, which is a very good way to draw in the reader to move forth into the leaflet. On the back of the can there is a box titled ‘Nutritional Information’. Inside this box are facts. These facts are shocking but interesting and lead us to read on inside the leaflet. This is the purpose of the front cover of the Christian aid’s leaflet. As we open the leaflet at the top we are given the title ‘How one well helped save a community from extinction’. The word extinction seems very powerful and this title amazes us to know that ‘just’ one well could make such a difference. Below the picture we see more facts about how they helped so many other people in Mali by building ‘500 concrete wells’. The first paragraph tells us what is happening in Mali and the problems. In the second paragraph we are told about what they did about it. The chief of tonsogou, Abdoulaye Togo, is described as ‘dynamic’ and ‘determined’. This is used to make people think that he is a good person and that we should send money to help him. Also, using the persons name makes it seem more personal. The third paragraph tells us the effects of them helping this village. The word ‘flourished’ is used because it gives off very positive connotations. There is a quote from one of the villagers saying that now they have more time to spin cotton. This is also very positive because it shows now that they have clean water and they can work, and sell their products so they will get more money. The next flap uses a quote right at the beginning. This quote is very emotive and moving, and makes us think again, of the image we thought of from the first rhetorical question. This gets us thinking again and we empathize with these people. This next paragraph uses the word ‘Imagine’ at the beginning of each sentence. This is used to involve us and to again make us empathize with these people. It uses statistics such as ‘1.1 billion people’ and ‘one- sixth of the worlds population’ to shock us. The flap is then opened up and we see the centre page which is carried on talking about people like Yalaya and how they have helped the village become more ‘self-sufficient’. This makes us realize that by us helping them, we are helping them help themselves. The next part talks about how after building the well ‘the people of tinsogou got together with 14 other villages and between them built their own health centre’. This is very impressive to us and it makes us think that it is worth helping these people because they can help other people by making a health centre. It also says that they have made a school. This is good because then the future generations can be educated and may not have to struggle in life as that village once did. The next paragraph consists of the quote ‘†When we realized what we could achieve we didn’t want to stop at the well. We wanted to go on and make other things happen for the village.†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ This quote shows that CA is a charity that is very determined to help people out in every way they can. The rest of the flap says that so much was achieved by just one gift of water, and that today we can be part of these achievements by donating. This makes us want to be part of these achievements and helping other people out. It says ‘the battle against poverty’. This is a very powerful, effective sentence, full of strong words such as ‘battle’, and ‘poverty’ to persuade us to give money, so that we do win the ‘battle against poverty’. It also talks about this being a difference we can make and it says please do. This is a polite request because it asks us nicely but in a way it is also telling us to do it. The last flap informs us that ‘Just à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½24’ buys eight bags of cement, to help a ‘community like Valiamma’s in Sri Lanka’. It makes it very personal now when it almost introduces her by saying she has seven children and that she ‘only’ earns twenty pence a day selling rice flour. It is very emotive because she uses twenty pence to feed seven children and herself and we spend twenty pounds going out to a restaurant, eating what we want. The use of the word just is also very effective because for in a commercialized, developed country like ours twenty four pounds is not a lot of money. The same thing is repeated in the next paragraph but this time it is thirty six pounds for Shashore in Ethiopia to give money so that she can grow her own trees, because the food that she grows only lasts for five months. This also makes us think how lucky we are that we can have as much food as we like, and more whenever like as we are constantly surrounded by shops and restaurants. The last paragraph asks us to help ‘Valliamma and Sahashore have a life before death.’ This is a clever way to use their slogan ‘A life before death’. This slogan is very effective because religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, believe in re-incarnation and even Christianity believes in heaven and hell which is life after death, but CA wants people to have a life before they die. Both adverts are very effective. However, I believe that the RSPCA leaflet is more effective because they have used more persuasive devices and emotive language where as the Christian Aid leaflet mainly states facts and when it uses persuasive devices it is very blatant so it is not as effective. An example of this from Christian Aid is ‘Please give whatever you can today and help more people like Valliamma and Shashore have a life before death.’ The images used in the RSPCA advert is very emotive when it has the animal looking at you, especially in the last image, because it seems as if the cat is asking for help. I believe that the RSPCA would get more support from the public because of the fact that Britain is well known for caring about animals. For example we only have a National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children but we have a Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Therefore I believe that more people would give to the RSPCA than to Christian Aid.