Apple’s Innovation Strategy Essay

Innovation strategies are important for businesses to remain viable in this competitive market. Innovation also allows businesses to set the pace for the future. Apple continues to be the known as one of the leading electronic manufacturers in the world. Their innovation continues to impress consumer and remain a threat to its competitors. Apple is known for its Mac line of products. This paper will describe and evaluate Apple’s Innovative Strategy, provide information from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, and introduce the Mac Mini from Apple. Description of Innovation Strategy In today’s society, consumers want the latest technology in their homes and businesses. Apple continues to provide new products and meet the needs of the consumers. Apple has been successful because of their effective marketing and research strategies. Apple’s innovation has allowed them to produce desktops, iPads, iPods, notebooks, and wireless devices just to list some of their products (Apple Inc., 2015).. Apple continues to provide high quality, moderately priced products to consumers. The organization uses consumer surveys to get feedback on how well the products are doing in the market. The survey also provides other features consumers would like within a product. In 2014, Apple introduced the Mac Mini after the discontinuation of the server model. The Mac Mini was the first consumer desktop to be sold without display, keyboard, or mouse after Apple’s success release of the iMac (Apple Inc, 2015). The target consumers of this product are consumers changing from the traditional Windows PC. The purpose is compatibility. The Mac Mini added feature is the HDMI port which allows consumers to connect to televisions or other display as an alternative to Apple TV.

Jesters Pies

The report examines an in depth analysis of the Jesters Pies and its brand equity in the market. The report also looks at the brand associations of the product through which it is being recalled by the consumer. Interviews will be taken by consumers of Jesters Pies in order to get an understanding of the brand association. This will show what consumers feel, think and do with the brand. The report will also look at the elements that make the brand up and make it was it is which includes the logo, URL , name and slogan. This is an important part of a company because if these elements aren’t used in a correct way then there is a higher chance the brand won’t be as successful. Having an effective name, logo and slogan can have a huge effect, just look at Nike and their ‘tick’ symbol. The third part of the report will focus on the Jesters marketing programme. This includes an analysis on the product, pricing, communication and distribution of the brand. This is more about how the company operates in actual business rather than what the consumers think about the brand of the company. Finally to wrap the Jesters report up recommendations will be made to the CEO of the company. These will be based on the consumer knowledge and marketing evaluation. These recommendations will be made so the company can use them in the future to help improve their business and overall brand. Company Profile Jesters are a franchising company in New Zealand who are specialist in making and selling pies. Their menu ranges from the traditional Beef Pie to the not so traditional Spud Delux. Their company motto sums them up pretty well; â€Å"serious about pies†. Jesters are New Zealand wholly owned and managed Pie Company. However the first original concept of it was started in Perth in 1997 when the idea of making the finest, healthiest pies in the market, was first created. Jesters pride their Jaffle Pie range to be of good quality, fresh, taste and health. Jesters are located in four cities nation wide which includes Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Dunedin. With the first being opened in 2002 at Lynn Mall shopping centre. The business is spreading fast with 34 stores being opened in Western Australia and many more planned. The reason for success Jesters feel is because of the niche $1 billion fast food industry, which they feel, is growing fast. Also because of the uniqueness of the brand and products for sale are new and interesting for the consumer. With over 15 varieties of pies Jesters feels there is something for everyone. The company also caters for your family or a party along with the sit in restaurant layout. The company promises to the customer†¦Ã¢â‚¬ you’ll never stop at one!† (Jesters, about Jesters, 2007) Analysis of Marketing Mix Product Jesters Pies is a unique company in the New Zealand market. Even though the product they are selling is just a pie, which can be brought from any bakery, it is the first to sell them in a fast food style restaurant. Jesters Pies offers 15 varieties of pies which appeal to a wide variety of customers. This is important because you want to cater to as many people as possible so you get more customers. Jesters also diverse their product from other pies by confidently saying that theirs are the healthiest and finest in the market. Another attribute of the pies is that the filling is low fat, lean meats and fresh vegetables, which you probably couldn’t say about your local bakery pie. The final attribute of the product is no artificial colourings, preservatives and MSG are used. This is a good look for the product as it has become so important for consumers in recent times to eat healthy, fresh food (Jesters Pies, 2007). Price Pricing is very important for a brand as it can create associations in the mind of the consumer. It can also be used to build brand equity. So a company needs to price its products correctly in order to get the most out of the consumer. Jesters’ pies are ranged from $3.50 to $4.10. With the $3.50 pies being the classic beef, mince and bacon and egg and the more expensive pies are the fancier ones with more ingredients such as the Popeye which contains spinach mushroom and feta. The pricing strategy they have I feel is good as the consumer gets what they are paying for. The pies are more expensive than the bakery, but are of much better quality and better ingredients are used. Distribution Channel Distribution can have a huge effect on the equity and success of a brand. Distribution is so important because it is the process of getting the product to the consumer. Jesters use a direct channel method to distribution where they sell their product straight to the consumer through their stores. This is probably the most effective way for a brand like Jesters .Jesters Pies stores can be found around New Zealand and in some parts of Australia. They are located in four cities in New Zealand. However all the stores in the Auckland area are found a long way out from central Auckland, with only one store being located in the CBD. However they do have stores located throughout the country so their distribution is pretty good. Promotion/Marketing Communication Promotion and marketing is very important for almost every brand in any industry. Without it you would not be able to get your product into the market and gain awareness from your potential consumers. Jesters have not done a huge amount of advertising that we could recall or find. From what we did find was mostly advertising for magazine and billboards. This could be one reason for the fact that their brand awareness amongst consumers is not very strong. Television is the strongest form of media and is the best for developing a brand image and creating awareness. However even without this the brand seems to be getting more popular which could be put down to things such as word of mouth. With a bit more promotion and marketing the brand could become very popular as it is a unique fast food outlet. Brand equity for Jester Pies Brand equity is an intangible asset that depends on associations made by the consumer. There are various perspectives from which to view brand equity. Brand equity just does not include the value of the brand, but it also includes the value of proprietary technologies, patents, trademarks and other intangibles like manufacturing know how (article 1). So in case of jesters pies, jesters jaffle pies are not oven baked like traditional pie, but they are cooked in a unique jaffle pie makers using ultra-thin light puff pastry and finest quality natural ingredients. Therefore the the difference in technical know how adds to the brand equity of the product. (article2.) Another way to measure the brand equity is the financial aspect of the brand. In this case one way to measure brand equity is to determine the price premium that the brand commands over a generic product. In case of jester’s pies, the pies are priced at $ 3.40 which is normally higher than most of the pies in the market place. As jesters pies have positioned itself as a quality product and people are also willing to pay more for a quality product, it commands high brand equity. Brand equity also represents the added value endowed to a particular product or a service as result of past investments in the marketing of the brand. (Article 1). In case of jesters pies it commands very good brand equity due to its advertising and promotion. Jesters pies has used three mediums of advertising that is print radio and TV. Brand equity also helps the brand to grow globally.( article 1) As jesters pies is a successful brand in Australia, it can use its good brand equity to expand further in new Zealand and other countries as well. Brand Associations These are the things that consumer relates or associate when they think about the brand. It can be how the brand makes them feel, what they think of the brand, what comes to their mind when they think of the brand or even what they do with the brand. The interviews were limited as we only interviewed four people, however the information we got back was good as all consumers had pretty similar answers. This shows that the consumers are all getting similar associations with the Jesters Pies brand. From the answers to the interviews we came up with the following brand associations. †¢ People are aware of the jesters pies because of its logo and the colours used in it. †¢ Most of the people when asked about jesters pies, they have a positive response like, ‘good quality for the price’. So they provide incredible value for money by giving fresh, quality natural ingredients. They also provide fresh vegetables, lean meats and guarantee every pie meets health standards. †¢ People are also attracted towards jesters pies are because of the variety of the pies and value meals the company provides. †¢ People associate jester’s pie as specialised pie outlet. †¢ Most people think jesters as a healthy meal which is free of artificial flavourings, colourings and MSG. †¢ People don’t associate jester’s pie with its other products like sausage rolls, wedges, or coffee. But they feel that some changes can be made by introducing chips to the menu. Recommendations This report has analysed the Jesters Company. It has looked not only the marketing programme side but also the side of the consumer. From what we have found from looking at these components the following recommendations can be made- †¢ Firstly from what was gathered in the interviews not a lot of the consumers had seen much Jesters advertising and if they had it wasn’t very effective. Jesters should start advertising through the most effective medium, TV, this will increase brand awareness. †¢ Another recommendation follows on from the previous one. Jesters need to develop more awareness amongst its target customers. From people we have spoken to a lot of them were unaware of Jesters pies and the brand itself. In order to be successful brand awareness needs to be built up amongst the potential customers. †¢ Another issue gathered from the interviews was that the people who consumed Jesters said they were limited because of the lack of restaurants in handy locations. Perhaps to get more out there in the market they could locate some stores in key areas like around universities and more locations in the CBD

Economics question and answer Essay

Economics: question and answer Introduction Question 1            War unrest in Middle East has negatively impacted on the price and quantity of oil in the market. The expectation of war from Syria and Iraq to spread to Middle East countries cause fear of possible shortages of supply as people may possibly do without oil. As a result people will buy more to store in preparation for future shortages. As the demand increases, price of oil goes up as people anticipate war unrest in the near future. When eventually the war sets in oil production is disrupted but people do not demand more since they had enough to cushion the scarcity (Kemp, 2013). In the graph illustration below, assuming the market was initially at the equilibrium. Since scarcity is expected in future people will by more (high demand) to spare for future. As the demand increase from 150 units to 350 units, the price also increases accordingly from $0.25 to $ 0.35. Graphical illustration 3411220146431000 Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 1: when people expect civil unrest the demand is high but and the prices go up. Question 2            Car and petro are complimentary good that are consumed together. Taxation on one of the complimentary products greatly influences the price of the other good. The increase in price of one good causes a corresponding decrease in the price of the other good and vice versa. For instance, taxing petrol increase its price, leading to high demand for high fuel efficient cars. Increase in demand for high fuel efficient cars results to increased price and vice versa. On the other hand increase in price for petrol leads to decrease in demand for low fuel efficient cars thus leading to their low price (Dwivedi, 2012). Many thus will buy high fuel efficient cars Graphical illustration Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 2: price of petrol increases when tax is imposed Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 3 this graph shows increase in demand and price for high fuel efficient when the price for petrol increases due to taxation Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 4: the graph show decrease in demand for high fuel efficient cars when the price of petrol goes up Question 3            The fact that suppliers cannot sell live chicken directly to consumers coupled with the fear of mass death due to anticipated chicken flu results to high supply in the market. When supply increases beyond demand the price falls down. In addition since the health official are the only buyers a monopolistic competition comes into play since the price for chicken is not control by the market forces of demand and supply (Taylor, & Weerapana, 2012). The equilibrium the will shift to the right. Graphical illustration lefttop Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 5 : Excess supplies of chicken in the market results to low demand and eventually falls in price. The farmer expects future unfavorable condition due to outbreak of chicken flue. Question 4 Price elasticity of demand is the measure of responsive of the quantity demanded of a product to price change with other factors held ( Dwivedi, 2012). Price Elasticity of Demand (PEoD) = percentage change in quantity demanded (%ΔQ) à · percentage change in price (%ΔP) %ΔQ = 35 -50 / 50 Ãâ€"100 = -30% %ΔP = 8 -6 / 6 Ãâ€"100 = 33.33% Therefore, PEoD = -30 %/ 33.33% = -0.900            As economists we are not interested with the negative sign of our price elasticity of demand and therefore we take the absolute value. Therefore, the price elasticity of demand when price increases from $6 to $ 8 is 0.9. Interpretation.            For the above case the demand for the good is price inelastic. This means that the demand for the product does not respond highly ton price changes. As evident in the computation, an increase of price by 33.3 % of the price results to a corresponding decrease of quantity demanded by 30%. The demand thus is not very sensitive to price changes. Question 5(a)            Externality is an effect or a cost of the consumer behavior that may not be borne by the consumer but by the society. This mean s that the effects are caused by the consumer but the society bears the consequences. Tobacco smoking is among the activities that cause externalities. For instance narcotic in tobacco is believed to cause lung cancer to smokers. However the external cost of providing medical care to smokers is borne by non-smokers, by smokers and the government. Additionally environmental pollution due to smoking is borne by the family members of the smoker’s friends and even non-smokers strangers. Moreover, smoking has environmental externalities that involve deforestation to create room for tobacco growing. Agrochemical used in tobacco production also adds to environmental pollution and degradation. Cigarette wastes are common in all cities, sidewalks and around homes. Although majority of these wastes are biodegradable, the filter and plastic wr appers and remain in the environment for long and the consequences of such pollution are felt by the larger society. 5(b)            The Australian government in its attempt to control and minimize the external costs resulting from tobacco imposes high tax on tobacco. High taxation on tobacco increases the cost and as a result the demand for tobacco decreases. The tax imposed is transferred by producers to the consumers (smokers). When this happens, the demand curve will shift from right to left as indicated in the graph. Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 6: (Tax increase the price for tobacco leading to low demand and eventually low consumption) Question 6            When entry barriers are eliminated in the market huge number of firms enters the industry resulting to excessive supply of commodities. In a market where entry barriers are limited the price of commodities is determined by the market forces since no firm has control over the market. Excessive supply that is created results to low prices of goods and services offered. In response the price the price goes down due to competition from other firm. As a result, the profit that firms were making initially decreases due. Graphical illustration 1627833top00 Question 7            Oligopolistic market structures is a type of market where by small number of larger firms control the market jointly. The firms trade in almost similar goods. Oligopolistic firms do not engage in price competetion (Vives, 2001).Basing our argument on the game theory; where the actions one firm depend on those of other firms, it is evident that when for instance one firm lowers its price compared to other firms, customers will be attracted by the lower prices resulting to other firms making economical loss in their operation. In response to this the other will lower their price slighted below the initial firm eventually attracting the customers. The other firms in the market will make loss and eventually respond by making their prices much lower compared to other firms. This process continues until the firms sell at economically a low price that is illustrated by kinked curves (Vives, 2001).There to remain competitive and make profit do not engage in price competiti on. Alternatives to price completion            Oligopolistic firms compete by using alternative modes such as advertisement, product differentiation and barrier to entry in the market. Oligopolistic firms undertake a vigorous advertisement of their products both in national and international levels. Advertisement is made to make potential customers aware of the existence of the product in the market and the good qualities associated with such good and services (Taylor & Weerapana, 2012). Advertisement is carried out through mass media and product promotion. In addition oligopolistic firms constantly differentiate their products in terms of quality and always struggle to come up with new products design that outshine those of competitors. In the recent era product differentiation has been enhanced by ever growing technology and innovation. Since oligopolistic firms compete in almost similar goods and services coming up with new products with good qualities gives a firm advantage over its market rivals. For insta nce phones manufacturing firms have constantly developed phone with new applications to remain competitive.            Furthermore, the firms create market entry barriers to new firms, a strategy that ensures that the existing share of market. The common market barriers include the patent rights, important government franchises and the existing economies of scale. These barriers ensure that the market is not flooded by many firms that in the long run may reduce the existing firms’ share of the market control. References Dwivedi, D. N. (2012). Microeconomics. New Delhi, India: Pearson Education/Dorling Kindersley. Kemp, G. (2013). War with Iran: Political, military, and economic consequences. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Taylor, J. B., & Weerapana, A. (2012). Principles of microeconomics. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning Vives, X. (2001). Oligopoly pricing: Old ideas and new tools. Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.: MIT Press Source document

Youth Gangs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Youth Gangs - Essay Example Thrasher (1927), says in the â€Å"Gang† that, â€Å"they may have emerged spontaneously from adolescent play groups as a collective response to urban condition in this country† While others, suggests that gangs emerged after the Mexican revolution in 1813†. As to why and how they were manifested, ‘gangs may have frown out of difficulties Mexican youth encountered with social and cultural adjustment to the American way of life under extremely poor conditions in the southwest†. Gangs appeared to have spread to New England in the early 1800’s as the industrial revolution gained momentum in the first large cities in the United States: New York, Boston and Philadelphia. Miller observed, the United States has seen four distinct periods of gang growth and peak activity; the late 1800’s, the 1920’s, the 1960’s and the 1990’s†. According to Klien, â€Å"In the modern era, there are a number of trends that have contribu ted to the influence of gang activity, during the 1970’s and 1980’s given heightened mobility, and unfettered access to more lethal weapons, many gangs become more dangerous† According to Miller, â€Å"Gang fights oreviously involved fist fights or brass knuckles, but now they increasing involve guns. The growing availability of automobiles, coupled with the use of more lethal weapons, fueled the growth of drive-by shootings, a tactic which formerly took the form of on foot hit and run forays†.... older members than before"(Miller, 1992 Spergel,1995) According to Sanchez-Jankowski 1991; Skolnick et al, 1988; Taylor 1989, "some youth gangs appear to have been transformed into entrepreneurial organizations by the crack cocaine epidemic that began in the mid-1980's. However, Howell and Decker in press) contend that, "the extent to which they have become drug trafficking organizations is unclear" According to Curry and Decker 1998, "The average age of youth gang members is about 17 to 18 years", but tends to be older in cities where gangs have been in existence longer, like Chicago and Los Angeles" The typical age range is 12 to 24. Although more younger members are becoming more prevalent, it is the older membership that has increased the most"(Hagerdorn, 1988; Moore,1990, Spergel, 1995) "Male gang members outnumber females by a wide margin, and this span is greater in late adolescence than in early adolescence"(Miller, 1992; Moore, 1978). "Gangs vary in size by type of gang. Traditional (large, enduring, territorial) gangs average about 180 members"(Klien and Maxson 1996). As per Block and Block, 1993, and Spergel, 1995, "In large cities gangs number in the thousands" In the 19th century, youth gangs in the United States were primarily Irish, Jewish and Italian"(Haskins, 1974; Sante,1991) According to a recent national law enforcement survey, the ethnicity of gang members is 48 per cent African-American, 43 per cent3 Hispanic, 5 per cent white, and 4 per cent Asian"(Curry 1996) Bursik and Grasmick (1993) points out that, "despite the

Multicultural Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Multicultural Education - Essay Example The question is not whether or not the educational system will offer a multicultural education; the question is how will the multicultural program be constructed. While culture in a classroom can be a daunting subject that is tempered by legalities, prejudice, and cultural sensitivities it can also be an opportunity for educators to expand the purpose of education. Multicultural education can be implemented in any classroom that cares to reach out and give consideration to the diversity of the student population. Technology can help educators reach across cultural lines and involve all the students in the exploration of the global community. The Internet in the classroom gives the students an opportunity to meet and explore different cultures around the world. In a diverse classroom, students can meet and begin to understand the cultural identity and heritage of the student sitting next to them. Schwartz, Lin, and Holmes state that technology "allows people to meet new cultures in bite-sized pieces that target specific opportunities for reflection" (295). Understanding another culture reduces ethnocentric fear and begins to focus on similarities, rather than differences. Technology is the central hub that educators can use to prompt the discussion of culture in the classroom. While technology can be used to bring culture into the classroom, culture can be used to explore subjects as diverse as science and ec

Comparison between Hinduism and Buddhism Assignment

Comparison between Hinduism and Buddhism - Assignment Example The religion is believed to be timeless, as the old people found it in practice. Hindus believe in one Supreme Being according to their traditions is both immanent and transcendent. According to the Hindu religious beliefs, the Supreme Being is both their creator and is of Unmanifest reality who deserves their respect (Rinehart, 2004). The Hindus believe in the divinity of the four Vedas, which are the oldest and most ancient elements of scripture in the world. Further, they venerate the Agamas as revealed in an equal measure. They treat these as primordial hymns of God which forms the bedrock of Santana Dharma, a form of an eternal religion. According to the Hindu beliefs, the soul reincarnates, evolving through many beliefs. However, the reincarnation trend stops after the resolution of all karmas. They also believe in moksha, which is the liberation from the rebirth cycle that takes place after the end of the reincarnation process. Since the process is continuous and evolutionary in every soul, not a single soul can be denied of its destiny (Fisher, 2014). In Hindu, an individual’s personal spiritual practice is referred to as sadhana which is used to refer to the means of accomplishing individual goals. It recognizes adhikara, which means that every person holds a unique position in life that is different from that of other people. Therefore, God exists in different forms, which gives people the freedom to feel attracted to one God and leave the rest. Similarly, there are different forms of yoga, just like there are different forms of God, which are not similar to one another. Therefore, the Hindu spiritual practice varies from one person to another.

Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Change - Essay Example In business, resistance is the obstacle to surmount or conquer, especially when it comes to introducing new ideas, policies, protocols and products. This paper seeks to highlight resistance as a natural condition, and its application in successful product change in business with special emphasis on sales personnel. A business’ sole purpose is to make a profit at the end of the day’s activities, and when market conditions change, it requires businesses to formulate new ways of conducting business. Most businesses have a sales perspective that involves designated individuals who carry out the task of marketing and actualizing product(s) sale. According to Jaramillo et al, sales persons are more predisposed to resist change if they think it will increase their workload. For a business entity to achieve a successful product change, especially where its sales team is concerned, it needs to ensure that the team maintains its self-efficacy and autonomy (Jaramillo et al. 549). This would ensure that these individuals continue to maintain a harmonious and beneficial relationship with their customers. According to research conducted by Jaramillo et al, resistance to change exerts a negative influence on a salesperson’s performance and customer responsiveness. Managers in all business levels can help reduce resistance by explaining how proposed changes positively affect their workload. Businesses can also provide greater job autonomy to sales persons, which give them the opportunity to implement these changes according to the nature and situation of their respective fields of service. Positive reception of change by a sales team in a business translates to effective and efficient achievement of goals that prompt the need for a change. Jaramillo, F., Mulki, J. P., Onyemah, V. & Pesquera, M. R. Salesperson Resistance to change: An Empirical Investigation of Antecedents and Outcomes. London: International Journal of

Deaf President Now Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Deaf President Now - Essay Example The protest started on march 6 1988 up to march 13 1988 and was led by Greg Hlibok, Tim Rarus, Bridgetta Bourne and Jerry Covel who were students in the institution involved in leadership positions. When the deaf people set their goals, they are very determined and do their best to achieve them. The Gallaudet University protest was very significant since it symbolized that the deaf people and other physically challenged persons could manage themselves. The capabilities of deaf people are often treated with uncertainty. Additionally, it is clear that the deaf education in United States has been neglected for long preventing the deaf persons to compete for equal opportunities with other members of the society.Teacher David is a revolutionary person, which makes me think he could have been a student at the Gallaudet University during the time of the protest. Additionally, he believes that the deaf are capable of being successful like other groups of people.Gallaudet University has had t hree deaf presidents. Dr. Jordan was the first deaf president who was appointed after the 1988 protest. He was president for 20 years and stepped down in 2006. Robert Davila, who reigned as president for the next three years, succeeded Dr. Jordan. After Davila, Alan Hurwitz was appointed in 2010 and remains the president of Gallaudet University up to date.Conclusively, the Gallaudet University protest helped in removing the barriers that had disconnected the deaf from the rest of the community.

MGMT U5DB Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

MGMT U5DB - Research Paper Example Change leader is not only responsible for the financial success of the project but is also concerned with the allocation, management and integration of the human resources. Hence, change manager plays a role of, or shows certain traits of, a HR manager. In the capacity of a HR manager, the change process is handled in terms of appropriate human skills being gathered, training being provided properly to accommodate the change process, new systems, technologies and processes being appropriately incorporated in the business culture and employees being ready to adopt and accept the change project. For the purpose, the change leader or HR manager provides training courses, proper guidance on the viability of the project, explanation on the importance and benefits of the change to the employees and organization and a rationale to motivate employees on adapting to the change process. The assessment of the impact of a change project remains one of the most important responsibilities of a change leader. He is liable to account for any discrepancies that existed during the change process. He tracks and amends the change strategy to avoid negative or unexpected outcomes by the end of the change

Managing Director on WTO Impact and Helping Enter New Markets Dissertation

Managing Director on WTO Impact and Helping Enter New Markets - Dissertation Example Also, the access to previously untapped markets has greatly helped the global economy as well as the different efforts of various countries and their governments to fight off poverty. Indeed, the economic activity that has been fuelled by trade liberalisation has contributed positively to the overall struggle to help ease poverty albeit there remain some countries as well as sectors that have yet to benefit fully from free trade (Mortishead 2006). Still, it cannot be denied that overall; free trade has provided immense opportunities that companies can take advantage of. Thus, for companies that are targeting to go global, it is important to factor in to their strategies the innate benefits of free trade that consumers have come to expect as well as the prospect of having more competitors and intricate transactions in the complex global marketplace (Wyld and Thomas 2011). Background, Aims and Objectives The liberalisation of trade has enabled globalization to gain much traction by all owing access to companies to previously untapped markets as well to take advantage of the different competitive advantages of various countries that can help them mitigate their costs and thereby increase their respective bottomlines. From its early years, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to its current WTO form, the organisation has pushed for greater trade liberalisation in order to maximize the potential of various nations as well as to hear out the pressing concerns that are being voiced out by member countries. Encouragingly, the recent Uruguay round has ushered in new, better and more binding agreements since there are more trade issues that have been sealed by more member nations compared to previous WTO rounds (A Round to End All Rounds, 2011). The increase in the trade agreements as well as the more numerous number of members that have joined together for the Uruguay round has greatly boosted the scope of trade liberalisation. Also, the membership of the pr eviously reclusive China has vastly increased the size of the global market since this country has the largest population all over the world. Consequently, there have been important policy adjustments that have been promulgated by the Chinese to support their membership to the global marketplace. Hence, there have been adjustments in their economic policies as well as their social and legal systems in order for them to qualify for WTO membership. Probably the most important of this was the lowering of their tariffs which have previously barred foreign competitors from entering their economy (Chow 2001). Another important contribution by trade liberalisation was the rise of the private sector which has immensely contributed to the growth of their respective economies and aggregately to the global economy as a whole (Wharton University Articles 2006). The free flow of products and services has also been accompanies by the flow of capital from the richer countries to the developing cou ntries. All these have been made possible when borders and barriers have been significantly brought down by free trade (Wacziarg and Spolaore 2004). Hence, there has been a strong improvement of the global economy as a whole with these important reforms that has been the fruit of having a strengthened free trade and the demolition or easing of protectionist policies between nations. Thus, companies are able to move freely across the borders of different nations gaining important new markets for their products as well as possible cheaper labour that are

Week 8 dq Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Week 8 dq - Essay Example Honestly making my decision on elective abortion, I would argue that the fetus has life just like other people. Some of the personal principles that makes my professional life successful include; self-motivation, humility, loyalty, confidence and professionalism. In this regard, professionalism as my value is based on the basis that it is significant to value professional behavior all the time at work place. This kind of behavior incorporate things like speaking and dressing to maintain my image since I take pride in my behavior and appearance. Having professional behavior helps complete high quality projects and act as role model to others. Humility is another value that I have embraced and encouraged at work place and has assisted me in the objective of crating trustful, cohesive and amalgamated work force where each one of us have had the humility of accepting and learning from our failures and attaining empowerment that is needed in exploring the next opportunity. The other value is self-confidence in that I cannot be afraid to ask questions on areas that need more knowledge and the desire I have to inspire others. Lastly, there is self-motivation in that I require little or no supervision and direction to get back to my work. For instance, at work place, I encouraged employee’s feedback and provided them with an opportunity to be in charge in their areas of speculation. There is this moral issue regarding right to life. For example, in popular culture, the "fact" that people have rights is assumed as a given. Arguing from subjective perspective, this is up for grabs. The existence of a human right must be described and justified with concrete evidence. Historically, our idea of "human rights" developed from the idea that humans are composite substances, made up of a body and soul (mind) union. This theory that human nature is made of two substances is one application of

Sonnet anlysis 116 Essay Example for Free

Sonnet anlysis 116 Essay Sonnet 116 is clearly one of the many poems that take part of Shakespeares Quarto1. From the name, we can therefore not deduce any important informations that could be useful in analyzing it, as it was simply given a number as a title. Yet through first impressions we can immediately notice that all rhyming and iambic pentameter specifications; quatrains, couplets and syllables, are followed and respected to perfection and simplicity. Reading through the beautiful lines of this poem, one immediately notices the ease of the words chosen to express the thoughts of the speaker. What the speaker is saying are his thoughts about love. What love is and what love is not. Reading and rereading, I have to be sincere and say that I agree with what Shakespeare wrote 500 years ago. He divides his thoughts within the quatrains and couplets of his sonnet. In the first quatrain he talks about what love is not; in the second, what love is; and in the third, he talks again about what love is not. The opening line of the first quatrain includes, Let me not to the marriage of true minds / admit impediments. here he introduces the fact that he believes that true love is perfect and unchangeable no matter the situation encountered. With the use of an enjambment, there being no form of pause between lines, the poet is capable of grabbing peoples attention and making them immediately aware of what the recurring theme actually is; love being solid despite everything. Another poetic technique used in this first quatrain is alliteration; being when there is a repetition of consonants in words near each other. This can be found in line 1 and 3, with the repetition of Ts. This could then be further developed and said to be a consonance if looking at the first and second quatrains because of the various repetitions of Ts at the end of several words. In love is not love we have the presence of euphony where we hear the repetition of the vowels o creating a phonetic technique. In the second quatrain, we then encounter a fairly easy metaphor to notice which compares the sea, to life. an ever-fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken A person goes through life, just like a ship does through sea. With tempests the speaker refers to obstacles encountered on the way, but as bad weather comes and gos, so do difficulties. As in ever-fixed mark we have to do with a light house, which is fixed and remains in place; just like love. As light houses guide ships through the sea, love guides people through life; the speaker in fact proposes to find your way to navigate through the stars and you will encounter your will, It is the star to every wandering bark. In line 7 we can also find assonance, the repetition of a vowel; in this case the repetition of As which grab peoples attention. Imagery is also very frequent in this poem, worths unknown, although this height be taken. Like stars, love is something we can touch and feel; but the fact that one can use it does not mean that you can quantify it. The true value of love is unknown and cannot be calculated the same way height could be. We simply have to live it day by day and be ready to live new experiences. Love really does take an important role in peoples lives, and really does help them to navigate through the different stages of growth and development. What Shakespeare is trying to explain is that no matter what, we should always feel to have affection, and we should learn to overcome any difficulties as a tempest, always goes away sooner or later. In the third quatrain we go through a series of images and personifications that allow us to reflect much upon what is said to us. Loves not Times fool love is not compassionate about time, and even though beauty changes; love is not fooled and does not change. though rosy lips and cheeks, time is personified into a face and we get the impression that it can be trapped and conquered, as can be a beautiful face with rosy lips. bending sickles compass with a sickle being a menacing harvesting tool, we can deduce once again that physical beauty can vanish. Giving the imagery of a menacing tool like a sickle, we get a very close connection towards death. Love cannot absolutely be measured in brief hours and weeks, it is eternal. Going on, bears it out even to the edge of doom. To doom it refers to dooms day in which the world will end. The speaker declared that love will last until then end, no matter what. In the final couplet, the speaker gives us the idea of truth in his words. He says that if his statements are proved wrong, he would pronounce to not have written a word. He does also know that, it is impossible to have never loved, so this ensures you that what Shakespeare claims to be his view of love, is actually entirely true.

Competitive Forces And Value Chain Models Information Technology Essay

Competitive Forces And Value Chain Models Information Technology Essay In order for a company to survive in its area of business it must be superior compared to its competitors and therefore strive for competitive advantage. According to Bocij et al (2006 pg 57) competitive advantage is when a organisation or business strives to be the market leader in the area they offer their business or service. Competitive advantage can be achieved by a organisation in a variety of ways such as implementing some of the following techniques; restructuring the business, processes to reduce overheads, offer extra services to existing customers as well as looking for new customers and always looking at the changes in the internal and external environment and respond to changes that may affect the businesses profitability. By implementing some of these techniques this will allow the organisation to increase its profitability and increase its market share. For a company to be achieving competitive advantage the organisation can be analysed in two ways. These two ways are Porters Five Forces and The Value Chain Model. Both of these analysis techniques look at different aspects of the business. In this case Panasonic will be analysed using both of these techniques. According to Laudon and Laudon (2005 pg 102) Michael Porter developed the five forces in 1979. Michael Porter says there are five forces that influence the competitive advantage of a firm. The five forces that that Michael Porter has come up with looks at what influence the external environment (macro environment) has a affect on the internal environment (micro environment). These are the five forces that Michael Porter came up with: Traditional competitors every business has a share in the market they specialise in. with this share of the market the organisation develops their brand and identity and devise new ways of offering extra services that other businesses in their market do not offer. This will attract new customers so and the extra cost of this will be past on to existing customers. New market entrants this is when a organisation or a individual person is able to set up and offer a service or product that will have a large customer base that is able generate profitability for offering a service or product. Substitute products these are alternative products that are available on the market that people may be inclined to use as these products are cheaper compared to others. Customers a organisations profitability is determined how it keeps hold of existing customers and how it attracts new customers. The customer holds the key power of determining how successful a organisation is as customers can easily switch to another brand if the current organisation does not match or beat the price of the product or service they are receiving. Suppliers the supplier has a big impact on how the end product is marketed as the organisation is able to offer its product to the end customer at a competitive price compared to its rivals. So if a organisation has more than one supplier the organisation can have more control over the pricing of the product, replenishment and availability. Above: shows Porters Five forces that affect the stability of a organisation and what are responsible for any actions that may be taken to keep the organisation at a competitive advantage and keep it in profitability. The five forces are Traditional rivals , Customers , Suppliers , New market entrants and Substitute products. (Essentials of Management Information Systems Managing The Digital Firm, Laudon and Laudon 2005 pg 103) Value Chain Model Laudon and Laudon (1995 pg 53) the Value Chain Model was developed by Michael Porter in 1985. The Value Chain Model highlights specific activities within the business where competitive strategies can be applied and where information systems are likely to have a strategic impact. The Value Chain Model identifies precise, critical leverage points where a organisation can use information technology most effectively to increase its competitive advantage within its market share. The increase in the market share will allow the organisation to become more profitable, reduce operating costs and improve communication within the organisation internally and externally. The Value Chain Models looks at a organisation as basic set of chain activities that add a margin of value to a firms products or services. These activities are categorised in to two activities. These activities are known as Primary and support activities. Primary activities Laudon and Laudon (1995 pg 54) says the primary activities of a organisation are related to the production and distribution of the final product or service that a organisation provides. Primary activities include inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales and service. Inbound logistics includes the receiving and storing of materials ready to distribute to the appropriate department for the end product to be mage. Operations create to the materials in to the final product. Once the product has been created outbound logistics distributes the made products to the correct sorting point. Once the product has been sorted and stored sales and marketing promote the organisations products and sell them when they receive orders for them. The service activity makes sure that the organisations products are repaired (when needed) and are maintained to make sure any future problems (if any) cause the minimal amount of disruption. Support activities Laudon and Laudon (1995 pg 54) to make sure that the Primary actives are delivered to the highest standard support activities are in place to make sure the infrastructure is functioning. Support activities include administration and management, human resources, technology and procurement. Administration and management is in charge of how the organisation functions on a day to day basis and is in charge of how the organisation is structured. Human resources take care of the welfare and benefits of the employees within the organisation in terms hiring, training and retaining its employees. Technology allows the organisation to improve the production of goods and procurement supports by purchasing inputs. Above: shows Porters Value Chain showing the primary and secondary activities of a organisation and which department adds value to the organisation.(Essentials of Management Information Systems Managing The Digital Firm, Laudon and Laudon 2005 pg 96) Porters Five forces: Panasonic analysis Traditional competitors Since Panasonic was founded in 1918 it has steadily become the largest Japanese electronics maker. Panasonic owner Konosuke Matsushita first started the company selling lamps for bicycles and then diverse to sell other electronic products. Later in 1961 after being rebranded under different names the Panasonic brand was formed in 1961 when it started the produce televisions (TVs ) for the American market. From than it has become one of the most competitive and leading companies for research and development in the electronic sector. As the competiveness in the electronic sector is so reliant on technology it is important for a organizations to innovate new ideas in to products. Panasonic is based in North America, Asia and Europe. As mentioned before Panasonic has found success on the TV industry. The global sales figures for Plasma TV s show that Panasonic ( 40.7%) is the leading supplier in terms of shipping volume around the world closely followed by Samsun g on (33.7%), LG on (23.3 %) and other brands accommodated for the (2%). (HDV TEST ,2011) New market entrants There is no threat of any other brand entering the market and become dominant. This is due to the barrier entry system of some one entering the market with a product or service. These two barriers are known as high barrier and low barrier entry products / services. High barrier service / products is for high end products or services for example if somebody wanted to open a new bank the interested party will have to go through tough regulation and be approved and regulated by a outside firm for example FSA to make sure they are operating within the guidelines set by the government. The other barrier is known as low entry barrier markets. This entry barrier is for a low entry product or service. A example of this is if somebody wanted to open a corner shop little government regulation is needed and there is little set up costs. Along with the barrier entry system the new entrant must have the technology know how that will allow them to develop their products furthe r. Substitute products The threat from substitute products is fairly low as people are more inclined to use brands that they are familiar with so if they wanted to switch brands for a alternative cheap brand the costs are low but they can be high if they wanted to switch to a much alternative brand such as Sony which is generally seen more expensive. Technology can also be a factor for example now people can watch TV on mobile phones and laptops. Another example is when Sony In 2005 Panasonic has reacted well to change and development in technology this was seen when Sony, Panasonic and Philips launched Bluray technology against the HD DVDs that were launched by Toshiba, Microsoft and Hitachi. Much of the success of the format was dependent on which retailers favoured and marketed products their products. Customers Panasonic is a international brand and is recognisable all over the world. It has posted respectable results. In 2010 Panasonic posted the following sales Japan 54% Asia 23% , North America 12 % and Europe 11% .(These figures accommodate for Panasonic products only). As technology evolves Panasonic has kept up with the pace for example 3D films produced by Hollywood such as Avatar has enabled Panasonic to develop their 3D LCD TV that enabled them to obtain (50.5%) of the market share from 230,000 units sold all around the world. Samsung came second with a 3D market share of 41.7%, followed by LG with less than 10% at the end of 2010.(HDV TEST ,2011)Panasonic has ensured that the end customer is able to understand the end product having a strong relationship with its retailing outlets that sell its products. This is very important because loyal customers that use and buy the Panasonic brand and do not switch to a alternative brand. Consumer demand for electric products is b roken in to two segments. People who will have a more disposable income will go for products with good quality such as high definition and wide screen plasma technology and people who do not have a less disposable tend to stick with less expensive products that are easier to use. Suppliers Panasonic has a intimate relationship with its suppliers. This is due to how the business structure is set up and operates. The Panasonic brand is under the brand of the parent company called Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd under this band there are another 15 subsidiary companies for example SANYO and Technics that specialise in their own department. With each company specialising in their own department Panasonic understands what they can offer to the new product that is being developed. Value Chain model: Panasonic analysis Primary activities / support activities As the Panasonic brand comes under the parent company of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd, when it became a global company it had a decentralized strategy as none of the offices outside of Japan had a centralized database that they could retrieve information from. Altogether Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd had set up 13 major labs in foreign countries -in the US, three in Asia and three in Europe. Many of these labs were established to modify and customize products for the local markets. They also took advantage of locally available technological information and skilled personnel so only catered for the country they operated in instead as a company as a whole. Components that were to be manufactured and used in Panasonic products are internally outsourced to the other brands it owns so the relationship between all of its suppliers is strong. This relationship is also important as Panasonic as a company can relay on that the components needed to make its products are of t he highest standard and there are minimal chance of defects within its products and it a defect occurs they can locate the problem quickly and solve the problem causing minimal negativity about the products. The distributors who sell Panasonic are well educated and informed by Panasonic to make sure that their product stands out when the end customer is purchasing the end product. Provide a critical analysis of how Panasonics information management problems affect its business performance and ability to execute its strategy. Panasonics information problems affected its business performance and ability to execute its strategy. Panasonic was enjoying the number of successes factors however this success did not take in to the account on what Panasonic was spending on its administration costs. A information system would have allowed Panasonic to access and centralize its information so it could be easily retrieved when needed. A information System (IS) is defined by Avison and Fitzgerald (2003 pg 20)is when a organisation collects and stores key business processes on a single database and saved on a computer network and information can be accessed and data can be manipulated to create a series of reports and queries. This usually helps a organisation when it spreads its business dealings around the globe and therefore trades on a international platform which allows the organisation to expand in new markets which in turn will increase the profitability of the company. This is known by the term of Globalisation. (Avison and Fitzgerald 2003 pg 8). This is seen when Panasonic expanded its operations throughout Europe, Asia and North America. This included 15 subsidiaries, 14 manufacturing facilities, and five research and development centres, and seven administrative offices. A Management Information System (MIS) was also needed as this would have combined different sectors of the business and will help it to make different decisions at different levels. A typical system has four processes that work on three levels and have certain characteristics an is used by the appropriate level of management. They only see the data that may affect their area of the organisation they are looking at. A Executive Support Systems (ESS) produces reports and responses to queries a Decision Support Systems (DSS) helps the organisation to make decisions on important decisions that the organisation may face these two systems are used by senior management, a Management Information Systems (MIS) allows the organisation to access past records and view current performance of the organisation this will allow the organisation to find any trends or patterns to make any decisions these decisions are made by middle management and a Transaction Processing Systems (TPS) records transac tions and events these records are seen by operational management. ( Laudon and Laudon 2004 , pg 53) As Panasonic was also experiencing problems managing its data efficiently as product and customer data was inconsistent, duplicate, or incomplete. Different segments of Panasonic used their own data management operations that were isolated or different from other locations within the company. Panasonic also had problems when it launched a new product as each product included photos, product specifications and descriptions, manuals, pricing data and point of sale marketing information. When this information was sent out to the various locations each location adapted this information for the region and country they resided in. this resulted in problems when Panasonic launched a product globally as information about the product had to be condensed to a common set of data for launching the product globally. This problem delayed the launch of new products so competitors seized upon this opportunity to seize infiltrate in to markets did not reach in its first phase of the launch. Analyse the management, organisation, and technology factors that were responsible for the problems identified in the previous question. A IS system is just more than inputting and outputting business processes to consolidate information together. From a business point of view a IS system also looks at other environmental factors within the organisation. From a business perspective a IS system is a organisational and management solution based on information technology to a challenge based on the environment it is in. to understand how a organisation operates and what obstacles it may face a manager must understand the environment it is in a organisation is much more than computers it also has to understand the broader organisation, management and information technology. Above: a diagram showing that information systems are more than just computers. Using Information Systems effectively requires and understanding of the organisation, management and technology. (Essentials of Management Information Systems, Laudon and Laudon 1995 pg 9) Organisation IS systems are a major part of a organisation structure and without this they may not able to exist at all for example a credit reporting firm without this system they will not be able to operate at all. The major elements of a organisation are its people, structure and operating procedures, politics and culture. Formal and large organisations are different as they are divided in to hierarchal structure. This structure is a pyramidal structure with management being at the top middle management in the middle and operational staff at the bottom. There are different types of employees within a organisation and work at different levels. Knowledge workers are people such as engineers and architects who innovate ideas for the organisation. These people work at the top of the organisation, data workers such as secretaries and bookkeepers who work with the middle management and at the bottom level are the production or service workers who work on providing the service or creating the final product. (Laudon and Laudon 1995 , pg 9) Management Managers are responsible for innovating new ideas so that the organisation is always developing new products or delivering new service. The three type of managers are senior management who are responsible for making long term decisions, middle management who are responsible for helping the senior management to make these decisions and operational management to take of day to day running of the organisation and tackle any short term problems. (Laudon and Laudon 1995 , pg 9) Technology IS systems are one of the tools that a organisation uses to deal with change and more importantly it holds the organisation together. This is done through a number of different technologies such as computer hardware that enables the organisation to input, out put and process information throughout the organisation. A example of computer hardware is monitors, keyboards and printers. Computer software is a sequenced programming instruction that allows the hardware to function. Storage technology allows the data to be stored and can be transferred between computers a example of storage technology is disks, tapes and pen drives. Telecommunication technology allows all of the physical hardware to connect together. This also includes out put components such as printers. This allows programs and information to be accessed anywhere within the organisation. (Laudon and Laudon 1995 , pg 9) As Panasonic was not managing its data within the organisation properly. This is shown when the different divisions of Panasonic (Europe, North America and Asia) did not share a single platform as they should have because of the size of the company and the different countries and time zones they were in for example they had inconsistent data on its products and customers. This problem in turn affected the culture of the organisation as each office in each time zone were not working towards the same goal and objective set out by Panasonic instead they were totally focused on their own region on a product launch instead. this resulted in a decrease in operational efficiency and higher costs from the company. This shows that Panasonic did not have any control over the data it possessed and therefore was useless possessing this data as it was not in any logical order to use. The management of Panasonic had changed the CEO in 2006 to a person called Fumio Otstubo. In 2006 Panasonic was operating margin was only 5% and the goal for 2010 was 10%, in the industry where consumers expect the price of new technology to decrease over time. It was impossible to expect to increase profit margin by increasing prices, instead there was a need to reduce costs and increasing sales. To achieve this target he decided on the strategy was reducing the cost and increasing sales. To solve the problem Panasonic decided to collect their data pursue a single vision of truth. This information gathered came through a variety of formats for example fax machines, mail, e-mails and phone calls. How ever using this system also had a risk of inaccuracies and inefficacies. Evaluate how the master data management address these problems and discuss the effectiveness of this solution. Panasonic decided to change the strategy of how it obtained its data from within the company. The strategy that Panasonic was using was the pull model and replace it with a push strategy. These models differ in how data is obtained and affects how a organisation is run. The push model is also known as the build to stock model. In the push model production within the organisation is based on forecast sales it has made. The forecast are guesses and demands for the actual product or service that the organisation is going to provide. (Bocij p et al 2006, pg 170) Above: a diagram showing the push model. Note that the suppliers production is based forecasts throughout the chain except from manufacturer pulls from the supplier. . This goes from the supplier, manufacturer, distributor and retailer. (Management Information Systems Managing The Digital Firm, Laudon and Laudon 2006 pg 366) , The pull model is also known as the demand driven model or made to order model. A actual product or service is only manufactured once a ordered. The main difference between both of the models is a organisation only makes what they sell, not what they make. (Bocij p et al 2006, pg 170) Above: a diagram showing the pull model. Note that each process is pulled from the customer through each process to the supplier. A product is only made when a customer orders the product to reduce costs in wastage.(Management Information Systems Managing The Digital Firm, Laudon and Laudon 2006 pg 367) When Panasonic implemented a push model to replace a pull model to interpret and sort data as previously when employees in marketing looked for specific information they had to look in many different locations. Using the push model allowed Panasonic to create a centralized data bank then this sends the requested information to employees in marketing and sales immediately and constantly. Retail partners such as Wal-Mart who are recipients of the data can view the data at all phases of a product rollout. Therefore, specific employees can have better visibility of their products and services. The outcome of this push model is that customers are less likely to become confused while researching Panasonic products. Panasonics Europes data management was upgraded with master-data-management (MDM) software and this was provided from IBMs Web Sphere line. The software enabled Panasonic Europe to gain better control of their data and better streamline the business process. The MDM implementation included the business process analysis, data assessment, data cleansing, and a master data service layer. The MDM allows employees with access to view the companys data and activities throughout the organization. The aim of the MDM was integrate all of the various departments and consolidate them so any information can be accessed from the master file. Within a year and a half, Panasonic Europe was getting products to market faster and spending 50 percent less time creating and maintaining product information. Time-to-market for a product was reduced from five to six months to one to two months. Critically analyse the challenges Panasonic faced when implementing this solution. During the installation stage Panasonic faced some problems when they implemented the new system. When Implementing MDM system it is a multi-step process that includes business process analysis, data assessment, data cleansing, data consolidation and reconciliation, data migration, and development of a master data service layer. The MDM bought together all of the business processes this required information from all of the departments to come together. There was the issue of levels of authenticity of accessing data at different levels. Another problem that Panasonic faced was at its North America that it had to confront a number of countries that spoke different languages and each country had its own currency. Each country would have its own culture and therefore would have contributed more problems for Panasonic. The culture within a organisation or country is defined as being shared values, in written rules an assumptions within the organisation and how the organisation works. This problem was also faced by its European arm had to do when implementing its system. (Laudon and Laudon 2004 , pg 390) Panasonic also faced another problem this was reorganising and consolidating data information for its products for Wal-Mart. Then Panasonic stated to look closer on what information was needed for Wal-Mart and looked at what was adhered by the industry standards. Panasonic decided to look in its legacy systems for this data. Panasonic then turned to IBM to help them to create an interface apparatus to collect the required data for a repository. Bob Schwartz made a strong case to the corporate office in Japan that integrating a data management strategy globally would be a major benefit to the companys infrastructure. This was going to be hard as traditionalists would have resisted change. This is due the culture of fear that is within a organisation when implementing change as employees fear that the way they are working is fine and there is no need for change as new change within the organisation will be a threat to their jobs. Bob Schwartz also realised that Panasonic needed to integrate their new system with MDM technology. Bob Schwartz increased profits by integrating shared data inventory among the vendors such as Best Buy and Circuit City. As a result of them implementing MDM, Panasonic had become more competitive and could produce new products for the global market.

Myanmars Challenges Essay -- Burma

State building and the implementation of policy is a central process to the legitimacy of government worldwide. These critical facets of government institutions have been thoroughly challenged throughout Myanmar’s history, a country with an awful human rights record. In this essay I will focus on the last decade in particular, where Myanmar’s state capacity and political institutions have been challenged immeasurably. This essay will focus on the implications that pose a challenge to Myanmar’s state capacity and development. First, I will discuss the military coup d’Ã ©tat, which was followed by military junta heading the Burmese state for several decades. I will then examine the issue of internally displaced people and the resulting ethnic and religious conflict. Lastly, I will investigate the issue of drug trafficking and slave labour in Myanmar. State capacity is an enduring and central process for state autonomy. The state is famously defined by Sociologist Max Weber as the ’human community that claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory.’ Therefore, state capacity is the rule of enforcement: ‘the ability of states to plan and execute policies, therefore being able to enforce laws cleanly and transparently.’ The capacity of the state is central to the legitimacy of the state, which can be challenged and measured by a countries internal coherence, stability, collection of tax, and security of the state of the enforcement law. O’Neil continues to say a state is weakly institutionalised if it must exercise force in order to ensure compliance. A military junta has been in power in Myanmar since the coup d’Ã ©tat in 1962, which overthrew the government and opened the ‘Burmese road to Soci... ...: Routledge, 2008. Miller, Rebecca. Human Trafficking in South East Asia. in South East Asian Development Routledge, London, 2008. 126. The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) on Media Press on ‘ Saffron Revolution’. Accessed April 5, 2012 http://www.ncgub.net/NCGUB/staticpages/index2fad.html?page=announcements Pedersen, Morten (2008): Burma’s Ethnic Minorities. Critical Asian Studies, 40:1, 45-65. O’Neil, Patrick. Essentials of Comparative Politics. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010. Smith, Martin. State of strife: the dynamics of ethnic conflict in Burma Singapore: Institue for Southeast Asian Studies. 2007. Smith, Martin. Burma's Ethnic Diversity Anti-Slavery International 1994. 35-44. U.S. Department of State "Burma." International Narcotics Control Strategy Report. 2010. Academic OneFile. 5 Apr. 2012. P.170.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Truth and Tom Sawyer :: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Truth and Tom Sawyer    â€Å"The road to truth is long, and lined the whole way with annoying bastards.† Alexander Jablokov The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain, has many themes; one theme is the importance of truth in society.   A Society is inevitable. It will always be there as a pleasure and a burden. Society expects, or perhaps demands, certain behavior from the individual.   If one wishes to enjoy the pleasures of society then one must play by society’s rules.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tom Sawyer, THE MAIN CHARACTER, is an imaginative young man who sometimes allows his imagination and high-spirit TO get in the way of telling the truth.  Ã‚   Tom is very adventurous; he never passes up a chance to play pirates, robbers, or soldiers. We are introduced to Tom, when he is climbing in his window after a long night of cavorting with his friends. Soon after this, Tom meets Huckleberry Fin. Huck is a social outcast who likes to live by his own terms.   Tom and Huck become good friends.   One night the two boys go to the graveyard AND while they are there they witness the murder of the town doctor, Mr. Robinson. The boys watched as Injun Joe kills the doctor and frames a drunk by the name of Muff Potter, who happens to be IN the wrong place at the wrong time. The boys swear never to speak of THE MURDER again. Later, Tom falls in love with his new neighbor, Becky Thatcher. Eventually the two become engaged, but the engagement falls through when Tom accidentally mentions his former love while talking with Becky. The two feud and do not speak. Meanwhile, the whole town is gossiping of the murder of Dr. Robinson and the prosecution of Muff Potter. A trail quickly forms and Muff is put on the stand.   Tom cannot allow the innocent Muff TO go to jail.   As the trial comes to a close, Tom testifies and indicates the guilt of Injun Joe.   When the trial ends, the manhunt for Injun Joe begins AND Tom is treated like a hero.Tom feels guilty knowing he broke a sacred oath with Huck. Becky and Tom soon become friends again after Tom takes Becky’s punishment at school for being careless with the teacher’s things.

The Theme of Capital Punishment in Norman Mailers The Executioners So

The Theme of Capital Punishment in Norman Mailer's The Executioner's Song Throughout this entire book many different points of view are present. Since the main topic of the book is the murders that Gary Gilmore committed and the controversy of his sentence, it was difficult to choose the exact thesis. I believe I came pretty close with the one that I have chosen. I believe that Norman Mailer's thesis in The Executioner's Song (1979) is: The controversy over capital punishment. One reason I believe that this is the thesis is because Gary Gilmore says, "Nicole my inclination is to let them execute me." (473) By Gary telling Nicole, his girlfriend, this he shows that he is ready and willing to accept the fact that what he did was wrong. His preferred method of execution is to be shot....

Foundation’s Edge CHAPTER FIVE SPEAKER

SPEAKER Trantor! For eight thousand years, it was the capital of a large and mighty political entity that spanned an ever-growing union of planetary systems. For twelve thousand years after that, it was the capital of a political entity that spanned the entire Galaxy. It was the center, the heart, the epitome of the Galactic Empire. It was impossible to think of the Empire without thinking of Trantor. Trantor did not reach its physical peak until the Empire was far gone in decay. In fact, no one noticed that the Empire had lost its drive, its forward look, because Trantor gleamed in shining metal. Its growth had peaked at the point where it was a planet-girdling city. Its population was stabilized (by law) at forty-five billion and the only surface greenery was at the Imperial Palace and the Galactic University/Library complex. Trantor's land surface was metal-coated. Its deserts and its fertile areas were alike engulfed and made into warrens of humanity, administrative jungles, computerized elaborations, vast storehouses of food and replacement parts. its mountain ranges were beaten down; its chasms filled in. The city's endless corridors burrowed under the continental shelves and the oceans were turned into huge underground aquacultural cisterns – the only (and insufficient native source of food and minerals. The connections with the Outer Worlds, from which Trantor obtained the resources it required, depended upon its thousand spaceports, its ten thousand warships, its hundred thousand merchant ships, its million space freighters. No city so vast was ever recycled so tightly. No planet in the Galaxy had ever made so much use of solar power or went to such extremes to rid itself of waste heat. Glittering radiators stretched up into the thin upper atmosphere upon the nightside and were withdrawn into the metal city on the dayside. As the planet turned, the radiators rose as night progressively fell around the world and sank as day progressively broke. So Trantor always had an artificial asymmetry that was almost its symbol. At this peak, Trantor ran the Empire? It ran it poorly, but nothing could have run the Empire well. The Empire was too large to be run from a single world – even under the most dynamic of Emperors. How could Trantor have helped but run it poorly when, in the ages of decay, the Imperial crown was traded back and forth by sly politicians and foolish incompetents and the bureaucracy had become a subculture of corruptibles? But even at its worst, there was some self-propelled worth to the machinery. The Galactic Empire could not have been run without Trantor. The Empire crumbled steadily, but as long as Trantor remained Trantor, a core of the Empire remained and it retained an air of pride, of millennia, of tradition and power and – exaltation. Only when the unthinkable happened – when Trantor finally fell and was sacked; when its citizens were killed by the millions and left to starve by the billions; when its mighty metal coating was scarred and punctured and fused by the attack of the â€Å"barbarian† fleet – only then was the Empire considered to have fallen. The surviving remnants on the once-great world undid further what had been left and, in a generation, Trantor was transformed from the greatest planet the human race had ever seen to an inconceivable tangle of ruins. That had been nearly two and a half centuries ago. In the rest of the Galaxy, Trantor-as-it-had-been still was not forgotten. It would live forever as the favored site of historical novels, the favored symbol and memory of the past, the favored word for sayings such as â€Å"All starships land on Trantor,† â€Å"Like looking for a person in Trantor,† and â€Å"No more alike than this and Trantor.† In all the rest of the Galaxy – But that was not true on Trantor itself! Here the old Trantor was forgotten. The surface metal seas gone, almost everywhere. Trantor was now a sparsely settled world of self-sufficient farmers, a place where trading ships rarely came and were not particularly welcome when they did come. The very word â€Å"Trantor,† though still in official use, had dropped out of popular speech. By present-day Trantorians, it was called â€Å"Hame,† which in their dialect was what would be called â€Å"Home† in Galactic Standard. Quindor Shandess thought of all this and much more as he sat quietly in a welcome state of half-drowse, in which he could allow his mind to run along a self-propelled and unorganized stream of thought. He had been First Speaker of the Second Foundation for eighteen years, and he might well bold on for ten or twelve years more if his mind remained reasonably vigorous and if he could continue to fight the political wars. He was the analog, the mirror image, of the Mayor of Terminus, who ruled over the First Foundation, but how different they were in every respect. The Mayor of Terminus was known to all the Galaxy and the First Foundation was therefore simply â€Å"the Foundation† to all the worlds. The First Speaker of the Second Foundation was known only to his associates. And yet it was the Second Foundation, under himself and his predecessors, who held the real power. The First Foundation was supreme in the realm of physical power, of technology, of war weapons. The Second Foundation was supreme in the realm of mental power, of the mind, of the ability to control. In any conflict between the two, what would it matter how many ships and weapons the First Foundation disposed of, if the Second Foundation could control the minds of those who controlled the ships and weapons? But how long could he revel in this realization of secret power? He was the twenty-fifth First Speaker and his incumbency was already a shade longer than average. Ought he, perhaps, not be too keen on holding on and keeping out the younger aspirants? There was Speaker Gendibal, the keenest and newest at the Table. Tonight they would spend time together and Shandess looked forward to it. Ought he look forward also to Gendibal's possible accession some day? The answer to the question was that Shandess had no real thought of leaving his post. He enjoyed it too much. He sat there, in his old age, still perfectly capable of performing his duties. His hair was gray, but it had always been light in color and he wore it cut an inch long so that the color scarcely mattered. His eyes were a faded blue and his clothing conformed to the drab styling of the Trantorian farmers. The First Speaker could, if he wished, pass among the Hamish people as one of them, but his hidden power nevertheless existed. He could choose to focus his eyes and mind at any time and they would then act according to his will and recall nothing about it afterward. It rarely happened. Almost never. The Golden Rule of the Second Foundation was, â€Å"Do nothing unless you must, and when you must act – hesitate.† The First Speaker sighed softly. Living in the old University, with the brooding grandeur of the ruins of the Imperial Palace not too far distant, made one wonder on occasion how Golden the Rule might be. In the days of the Great Sack, the Golden Rule had been strained to the breaking point. There was no way of saving Trantor without sacrificing the Seldon Plan for establishing a Second Empire. It would have been humane to spare the forty-five billion, but they could not have been spared without retention of the core of the First Empire and that would have only delayed the reckoning. If would have led to a greater destruction some centuries later and perhaps no Second Empire ever The early First Speakers had worked over the clearly foreseen Sack for decades but had found no solution – no way of assuring both the salvation of Trantor and the eventual establishment of the Second Empire. The lesser evil had to be chosen and Trantor had died! The Second Foundatianers of the time had managed – by the narrowest of margins – to save the University/Library complex and there had been guilt forever after because of that, too. Though no one had ever demonstrated that saving the complex had led to the of the Mule, there was always the intuition that there was a connection. How nearly that had wrecked everything! Yet following the decades of the Sack acrd the Mule came the Golden Age of the Second Foundation. Prior to that, for over two and a half centuries after Seldon's death, the Second Foundation had burrowed like moles into the Library, intent only on staying out of the way of the Imperials. They served as librarians in a decaying society that cared less and less for the ever-more-misnamed Galactic Library, which fell into the desuetude that best suited the purpose of the Second Foundationers. It was an ignoble life. They merely conserved the Plan, while out at the end of the Galaxy, the First Foundation fought for its life against always greater enemies with neither help from the Second Foundation nor any real knowledge of it. It was the Great Sack that liberated the Second Foundation – another reason (young Gendibal – who had courage – had recently said that it was the chief reason) why the Sack was allowed to proceed. After the Great Sack, the Empire was gone and, in all the later times, the Trantorian survivors never trespassed on Second Foundation territory uninvited. The Second Foundationers saw to it that the University/Library complex which had survived the Sack also survived the Great Renewal. The ruins of the Palace were preserved, too. The metal was gone over almost all the rest of the world. The great and endless corridors were covered up, filled in, twisted, destroyed, ignored; all under rock and soil – all except here, where metal still surrounded the ancient open places. It might be viewed as a grand memorial of greatness, the sepulcher of Empire, but to the Trantorians – the Hamish people – these were haunted places, filled with ghosts, not to be stirred. Only the Second Foundationers ever set foot in the ancient corridors or touched the titanium gleam. And even so, all had nearly come to nothing because of the Mule. The Mule had actually been on Trantor. What if he had found out the nature of the world he had been standing on? His physical weapons were far greater than those at the disposal of the Second Foundation, his mental weapons almost as great. The Second Foundation would have been hampered always by the necessity of doing nothing but what they must, and by the knowledge that almost any hope of tinning the immediate fight might portend a greater eventual loss. Had it not been for Banta Darell and her swift moment of action. And that, too, had been without the help of the Second Foundation? And then – the Golden age, when somehow the First Speakers of the time found ways of becoming active, stopping the Mule in his career of conquest, controlling his mind at last; and then stopping the First Foundation itself when it grew wary and overcurious concerning the nature and identity of the Second Foundation. There was Preem Palver, nineteenth First Speaker and greatest of them all, who had managed to put an end to all danger – not without terrible sacrifice – and who had rescued the Seldon Plan. Now, for a hundred and twenty years, the Second Foundation was again as it once had been, hiding in a haunted portion of Trantor. They were hiding no longer from the Imperials, but from the First Foundation still – a First Foundation almost as large as the Galactic Empire had been and even greater in technological expertise. The First Speaker's eyes closed in the pleasant warmth and he passed into that never-never state of relaxing hallucinatory experiences that were not quite dreams and not quite conscious thought. Enough of gloom. All would be well. Trantor was still capital of the Galaxy, for the Second Foundation was here and it was mightier and more in control than ever the Emperor had been. The First Foundation would be contained and guided and would move correctly. However formidable their ships and weapons, they could do nothing as long as key leaders could be, at need, mentally controlled. And the Second Empire would come, but it would not be like the first. It would be a Federated Empire, with its parts possessing considerable self-rule, so that there would be none of the apparent strength and actual weakness of a unitary, centralized government. The new Empire would be looser, more pliant, more flexible, more capable of withstanding strain, and it would be guided always – always – by the hidden men and women of the Second Foundation. Trantor would then be still the capital, more powerful with its forty thousand psychohistorians than ever it had been with its forty-five billion – The First Speaker snapped awake. The sun was lower in the sky. Had he been mumbling? Had he said anything aloud? If the Second Foundation had to know much and say little, the ruling Speakers had to know mere and say less, and the First Speaker lead to know mist and say least. He smiled wryly. It was always so tempting to become a Trantorian patriot – to see the whole purpose of the Second Empire as that of bringing about Trantorian hegemony. Seldon had warned of it; he had foreseen even that, five centuries before it could come to pass. The First Speaker had not slept too long, however. It was not yet time for Gendibal's audience. Shandess was looking forward to that private meeting. Gendibal was young enough to look at the Plan with new eyes, and keen enough to see what others might not. And it was not beyond possibility that Shandess would learn from what the youngster had to say. No one would ever be certain how much Preem Palver – the great Palver himself – had profited from that day when the young Kol Benjoam, not yet thirty, came to talk to him about possible ways of handling the First Foundation. Benjoam, who was later recognized as the greatest theorist since Seldon, never spoke of that audience in later years, but eventually he became the twenty-first First Speaker. There were some who credited Benjoam, rather than Palver, for the great accomplishments of Palver's administration. Shandess amused himself with the thought of what Gendibal might say. It was traditional that keen youngsters, confronting the First Speaker alone for the first time, would place their entire thesis in the first sentence. And surely they would not ask for that precious first audience for something trivial – something that might ruin their entire subsequent career by convincing the First Speaker they were lightweights. Four hours later, Gendibal faced him. The young man showed no sign of nervousness. He waited calmly for Shandess to speak first. Shandess said, â€Å"You have asked for a private audience, Speaker, on a matter of importance. Could you please summarize the matter for me?† And Gendibal, speaking quietly, almost as though he were describing what he had just eaten at dinner, said, â€Å"First Speaker, the Seldon Plan is meaningless!† Stor Gendibal did not require the evidence of others to give him a sense of worth. He could not recall a time when he did not know himself to be unusual. He had been recruited for the Second Foundation when he was only a ten-year-old boy by an agent who had recognized the potentialities of his mind. He had then done remarkably well at his studies and had taken to psychohistory as a spaceship responds to a gravitational field. Psychohistory had pulled at him and he had curved toward it, reading Seldon's text on the fundamentals when others his age were merely trying to handle differential equations. When he was fifteen, he entered Trantor's Galactic University (as the University of Trantor had been officially renamed), after an interview during which, when asked what his ambitions were, he had answered firmly, â€Å"To be First Speaker before I am forty.† He had not bothered to aim for the First Speaker's chair without qualification. To gain it, one way or another, seemed to him to be a certainty. It was to do it in youth that seemed to him to be the goal. Even Preem Palver bad been forty-two on his accession. The interviewer's expression had flickered when Gendibal had said that, but the young man already had the feel of psycholanguage and could interpret that flicker. He knew, as certainly as though the interviewer had announced it, that a small notation would go on his records to the effect that he would be difficult to handle. Well, of course! Gendibal intended to be difficult to handle. He was thirty now. He would be thirty-one in a matter of two months and he was already a member of the Council of Speakers. He had nine years, at most, to become First Speaker and he knew he would make it. This audience with the present First Speaker was crucial to his plans and, laboring to present precisely the proper impression, he had. spared no effort to polish his command of psycholanguage. When two Speakers of the Second Foundation communicate with each other, the language is like no other in the Galaxy. It is as much a language of fleeting gestures as of words, as much a matter of detected mental – change patterns as anything else. An outsider would hear little or nothing, but in a short time, much in the way of thought would be exchanged and the communication would be unreportable in its literal form to anyone but still another Speaker. The language of Speakers had its advantage in speed and in infinite delicacy, but it had the disadvantage of making it almost impossible to mask true opinion. Gendibal knew his own opinion of the First Speaker. He felt the First Speaker to be a man past his mental prime. The First Speaker – in Gendibal's assessment – expected no crisis, was not trained to meet one, and lacked the sharpness to deal with one if it appeared. With all Shandess's goodwill and amiability, he was the stuff of which disaster was made. All of this Gendibal had to hide not merely from words, gestures, and facial expressions, but even from his thoughts. He knew no way of doing so efficiently enough to keep the First Speaker from catching a whiff of it. Nor could Gendibal avoid knowing something of the First Speaker's feeling toward him. Through bonhomie and goodwill – quite apparent and reasonably sincere – Gendibal could feel the distant edge of condescension and amusement, and tightened his own mental grip to avoid revealing any resentment in return – or as little as possible. The First Speaker smiled and leaned back in his chair. He did not actually lift his feet to the desk top, but he got across just the right mixture of self-assured ease and informal friendship – just enough of each to leave Gendibal uncertain as to the effect of his statement. Since Gendibal had not been invited to sit down, the actions and attitudes available to him that might be designed to minimize the uncertainty were limited. It was impossible that the First Speaker did not understand this. Shandess said, â€Å"The Seldon Plan is meaningless? What a remarkable statement! Have you looked at the Prime Radiant lately, Speaker Gendibal?† â€Å"I study it frequently, First Speaker. It is my duty to do so and my pleasure as well.† â€Å"Do you, by any chance, study only those portions of it that fall under your purview, now and then? Do you observe it in microfashion – an equation system here, an adjustment rivulet there? Highly important, of course, but I have always thought it an excellent occasional exercise to observe the whole course. Studying the Prime Radiant, acre by acre, has its uses – but observing it as a continent is inspirational. To tell you the truth, Speaker, I have not done it for a long time myself. Would you join me?† Gendibal dared not pause too long. It had to be done, and it must be done easily and pleasantly or it might as well not be done. â€Å"It would be an honor and a pleasure, First Speaker.† The First Speaker depressed a lever on the side of his desk. T here was one such in the office of every Speaker and the one in Gendibal's office was in no way inferior to that of the First Speaker. The Second Foundation was an equalitarian society in all its surface manifestations – the unimportant ones. In fact, the only official prerogative of the First Speaker was that which was explicit in his title he always spoke first. The room grew dark with the depression of the lever but, almost at once, the darkness lifted into a pearly dimness. Both long walls turned faintly creamy, then brighter and whiter, and finally there appeared neatly printed equations – so small that they could not be easily read. â€Å"If you have no objections,† said the First Speaker, making it quite clear that there would be none allowed, â€Å"we will reduce the magnification in order to see as much at one time as we can.† The neat printing shrank down into fine hairlines, faint black meanderings over the pearly background. The First Speaker touched the keys of the small console built into the arm of his chair. â€Å"We'll bring it back to the start – to the lifetime of Hari Seldon – and we'll adjust it to a small forward movement. We'll shutter it so that we can only see a decade of development at a time. It gives one a wonderful feeling of the flow of history, with no distractions by the details. I wonder if you have ever done this.† â€Å"Never exactly this way, First Speaker.† â€Å"You should. It's a marvelous feeling. Observe the sparseness of the black tracery at the start. There was not much chance for alternatives in the first few decades. The branch points, however, increase exponentially with time. Were it not for the fact that, as soon as a particular branch is taken, there is an extinction of a vast array of others in its future, all would soon become unmanageable. Of course, in dealing with the future, we must be careful what extinctions we rely upon.† â€Å"I know, First Speaker.† There was a touch of dryness in Gendibal's response that he could not quire remove. The First Speaker did not respond to it. â€Å"Notice the winding lines of symbols in red. There is a pattern to them. To all appearances, they should exist randomly, as even Speaker earns his place by adding refinements to Seldon's original Plan. It would seem there is no way, after all, of predicting where a refinement can be added easily or where a particular Speaker will find his interests or his ability tending, and yet I have long suspected that the admixture of Seldon Black and Speaker Red follows a strict law that is strongly dependent on time and on very little else.† Gendibal watched as the years passed and as the black and red hairlines made an almost hypnotic interlacing pattern. The pattern meant nothing in itself, of course. What counted were the symbols of which it was composed. Here and there a bright-blue rivulet made its appearance, bellying out; branching, and becoming prominent, then falling in upon itself and fading into the black or red. The First Speaker said, â€Å"Deviation Blue,† and the feeling of distaste, originating in each, filled the space between them. â€Å"We catch it over and over, and we'll be coming to the Century of Deviations eventually.† They did. One could tell precisely when the shattering phonemenon of the Mule momentarily filled the Galaxy, as the Prime Radiant suddenly grew thick with branching rivulets of blue – more starting than could be closed down – until the room itself seemed to turn blue as the lines thickened and marked the wall with brighter and brighter pollution. (It was the only word.) It reached its peak and then faded, thinned, and came together for a long century before it trickled to its end at last. When it was gone, and when the Plan had returned to black and red, it was clear that Preem Palver's hand had been there. Onward, onward â€Å"That's the present,† said the First Speaker comfortably. Onward, onward Then a narrowing into a veritable knot of close-knit black with little red in it. â€Å"That's the establishment of the Second Empire,† said the First Speaker. He shut off the Prime Radiant and the room was bathed in ordinary light. Gendibal said, â€Å"That was an emotional experience.† â€Å"Yes,† smiled the First Speaker, â€Å"and you are careful not to identify the emotion, as far as you can manage to fail to identify it. It doesn't matter. Let me make the points I wish to make. â€Å"You will notice, first, the all-but-complete absence of Deviation Blue after the time of Preem Palver – over the last twelve decades, in other words. You will notice that there are no reasonable probabilities of Deviations above the fifth-class over the next five centuries. You will notice, too, that we have begun extending the refinements of psychohistory beyond the establishment of the Second Empire. As you undoubtedly know, Hari Seldon – although a transcendent genius – is not, and could not, be all-knowing. We have improved on him. We know more about psychohistory than he could possibly have known. â€Å"Seldon ended his calculations with the Second Empire and we have continued beyond it. Indeed, if I may say so without offense, the new Hyper-Plan that goes past the establishment of the Second Empire is very largely my doing and has earned me my present post. â€Å"I tell you all this so that you can spare me unnecessary talk. With all this, how do you manage to conclude that the Seldon Plan is meaningless? It is without flaw. The mere fact that it survived the Century of Deviations – with all due respect to Palver's genius – is the best evidence we have that it is without flaw. Where is its weakness, young man, that you should brand the Plan as meaningless?† Gendibal stood stiffly upright. â€Å"You are right, First Speaker. The Seldon Plan has no flaw.† â€Å"You withdraw your remark, then?† â€Å"No, First Speaker. Its lack of flaw is its flaw. Its flawlessness is fatal!† The First Speaker regarded Gendibal with equanimity. He had learned to control his expressions and it amused him to watch Gendibal's ineptness in this respect. At every exchange, the young man did his best to hide his feelings, but each time, he exposed them completely. Shandess studied him dispassionately. He was a thin young man, not much above the middle height, with thin lips and bony, restless hands. He had dark, humorless eyes that tended to smolder. He would be, the First Speaker knew, a hard person to talk out of his convictions. â€Å"You speak in paradoxes, Speaker,† he said. â€Å"It sounds like a paradox, First Speaker, because there is so much about Seldon's Plan that we take for granted and accept in so unquestioning a manner.† â€Å"And what is it you question, then?† â€Å"The Plan's very basis. We all know that the Plan will not work if its nature – or even its existence – is known to too many of those whose behavior it is designed to predict.† â€Å"I believe Hari Seldon understood that. I even believe he made it one of his two fundamental axioms of psychohistory.† â€Å"He did not anticipate the Mule, First Speaker, and therefore he could not anticipate the extent to which the Second Foundation would become an obsession with the people of the First Foundation, once they had been shown its importance by the Mule.† â€Å"Hari Seldon†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and for one moment, the First Speaker shuddered and fell silent. Hari Seldon's physical appearance was known to all the members of the Second Foundation. Reproductions of him in two and in three dimensions, photographic and holographic, in bas-relief and in the round, sitting and standing, were ubiquitous. They all represented him in the last few years of his life. All were of an old and benign man, face wrinkled with the wisdom of the aged, symbolizing the quintessence of well-ripened genius. But the First Speaker now recalled seeing a photograph reputed to be Seldon as a young man. The photograph was neglected, since the thought of a young Seldon was almost a contradiction in terms. Yet Shandess had seen it, and the thought had suddenly come to him that Stor Gendibal looked remarkably like the young Seldon. Ridiculous? It was the sort of superstition that afflicted everyone, now and then, however rational they might be. He was deceived by a fugitive similarity. If he had the photograph before him, he would see at once that the similarity was an illusion. Yet why should that silly thought have occurred to him now? He recovered. It had been a momentary quaver – a transient derailment of thought – too brief to be noticed by anyone but a Speaker. Gendibal might interpret it as he pleased. â€Å"Hari Seldon,† he said very firmly the second time, â€Å"knew well that there were an infinite number of possibilities he could not foresee, and it was for that reason that he set up the Second Foundation. We did not foresee the Mule either, but tie recognized him once he was upon us and we stopped him. We did not foresee the subsequent obsession of the First Foundation with ourselves, but we saw it when it came and we stopped it. What is it about this that you can possibly find fault with?† â€Å"For one thing,† said Gendibal, â€Å"the obsession of the First Foundation with us is not yet over.† There was a distinct ebb in the deference with which Gendibal had been speaking. He had noted the quaver in the First Speaker's voice (Shandess decided) and had interpreted it as uncertainty. That had to be countered. The First Speaker said briskly, â€Å"Let me anticipate. There would be people on the First Foundation, who – comparing the hectic difficulties of the first nearly four centuries of existence with the placidity of the last twelve decades – will come to the conclusion that this cannot be unless the Second Foundation is taking good care of the Plan – and, of course, they will be right in so concluding. They will decide that the Second Foundation may not have been destroyed after all – and, of course, they will be right in so deciding. In fact, we've received reports that there is a young man on the First Foundation's capital world of Terminus, an official of their government, who is quite convinced of all this. – I forget his name†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Golan Trevize,† said Gendibal softly. â€Å"It was I who first noted the matter in the reports, and it was I who directed the matter to your office.† â€Å"Oh?† said the First Speaker with exaggerated politeness. â€Å"And how did your attention come to be focused on him?† â€Å"One of our agents on Terminus sent in a tedious report on the newly elected members of their Council – a perfectly routine matter usually sent to and ignored by all Speakers. This one caught my eye because of the nature of the description of one new Councilman, Golan Trevize. From the description, he seemed unusually self-assured and combative.† â€Å"You recognized a kindred spirit, did you?† â€Å"Not at all,† said Gendibal, stiffly. â€Å"He seemed a reckless person who enjoyed doing ridiculous things, a description which does not apply to me. In any case, I directed an in-depth study. It did not take long for me to decide that he would have made good material for us if he had been recruited at an early age.† â€Å"Perhaps,† said the First Speaker, â€Å"but you know that we do not recruit on Terminus.† â€Å"I know that well. In any case, even without our training, he has an unusual intuition. It is, of course, thoroughly undisciplined. I was, therefore. Not particularly surprised that he ad grasped the fact that the Second Foundation still exists. I felt it important enough, however, to direct a memo on the matter to your office.† â€Å"And I take it from your manner that there is a new development?† â€Å"Having grasped the fact that we still exist, thanks to his highly developed intuitive abilities, he then used it in a characteristically undisciplined fashion and has, as a result, been exiled from Terminus.† The First Speaker lifted his eyebrows. â€Å"You stop suddenly. You want me to interpret the significance. Without using my computer, let me mentally apply a rough approximation of Seldon's equations and guess that a shrewd Mayor, capable of suspecting that the Second Foundation exists, prefers not to have an undisciplined individual shout it to the Galaxy and thus alert said Second Foundation to the danger. I take it Branno the Bronze decided that Terminus is safer with Trevize off the planet.† â€Å"She might have imprisoned Trevize or had him quietly assassinated.† â€Å"The equations are not reliable when applied to individuals, as you well know. They deal only with humanity in mass. Individual behavior is therefore unpredictable and it is possible to assume that the Mayor is a humane individual who feels imprisonment, let alone assassination, is unmerciful.† Gendibal said nothing for a while. It was an eloquent nothing, and he maintained it just long enough for the First Speaker to grow uncertain of himself but not so long as to induce a defensive anger. He timed it to the second and then he said, â€Å"That is not my interpretation. I believe that Trevize, at this moment, represents the cutting edge of the greatest threat to the Second Foundation in its history – a greater danger even than the Mule!† Gendibal was satisfied. The force of the statement had worked well. The First Speaker had not expected it and was caught off-balance. From this moment, the whip hard was Gendibal's. If he had any doubt of that at all, it vanished with Shandess's next remark. â€Å"Does this have anything to do with your contention that Seldon's Plan is meaningless?† Gendibal gambled on complete certainty, driving in with a didacticism that would not allow the First Speaker to recover. He said, â€Å"First Speaker, it is an article of faith that it was Preem Palver who restored the Plan to its course after the wild aberrance of the Century of Deviations. Study the Prime Radiant and you will see that the Deviations did not disappear till two decades after Palver's death and that not one Deviation has appeared since. The credit might rest with the First Speakers since Palver, but that is improb – â€Å"Improbable? Granted none of us have been Palvers, but – why â€Å"Will you allow me to demonstrate, First Speaker? Using the mathematics of psychohistory, I can clearly show that the chances of total disappearance of Deviation are too microscopically small to have taken place through anything the Second Foundation can do. You need not allow me if you lack the time or the desire for the demonstration, which will take half an hour of close attention. I can, as an alternative, call for a full meeting of the Speaker's Table and demonstrate it there. But that would mean a loss of time for me and unnecessary controversy.† â€Å"Yes, and a possible loss of face for me. – Demonstrate the matter to me now. But a word of warning.† The First Speaker was making a heroic effort to recover. â€Å"If what you show me is worthless, I will not forget that.† â€Å"If it proves worthless,† said Gendibal with an effortless pride that overrode the other, â€Å"you will have my resignation on the spot.† It took, actually, considerably more than half an hour, for the First Speaker questioned the mathematics with near-savage intensity. Gendibal made up some of the time by his smooth use of his MicroRadiant. The device – which could locate any portion of the vast Plan holographically and with required n either wall nor desk sized console – had come into use only a decade ago and the First Speaker had never learned the knack of handling it. Gendibal was aware of that. The First Speaker knew that he was. Gendibal hooked it over his rigth thumb and manipulated it with his four fingers, using his hand deliberately as though it were a musical instrument. (Indeed, he had written a small paper on the analogies.) The equations Gendibal produced (and found with sure ease) moved back and forth snakily to accompany his commentary. He could obtain definitions, if necessary; set up axioms; and produce graphics, both two-dimensional and three-dimensional (to say nothing of projections of multidimensional relationships). Gendibal's commentary was clear and incisive and the First Speaker abandoned the game. He was won over and said, â€Å"I do not recall having seen an analysis of this nature. Whose work is it?† â€Å"First Speaker, it is my own. I have published the basic mathematics involved.† â€Å"Very clever, Speaker Gendibal. Something like this will put you in line for the First Speakership, should I die – or retire.† â€Å"I have given that matter no thought, First Speaker – but since there's no chance of your believing that, I withdraw the comment. I have given it thought and I hope I will be First Speaker, since whoever succeeds to the post must follow a procedure that only I see clearly.† â€Å"Yes,† said the First Speaker, â€Å"inappropriate modesty can be very dangerous. What procedure? Perhaps the present First Speaker may follow it, too. If I am too old to have made the creative leap you have, I am not so old that I cannot follow your direction.† It was a graceful surrender and Gendibal's heart warned, rather unexpectedly, toward the older man, even as he realized that this was precisely the First Speaker's intention. â€Å"Thank you, First Speaker, for I will need your help badly. I cannot expect to sway the Table without your enlightened leadership.† (Grace for grace.) â€Å"I assume, then, that you have already seen from what I have demonstrated that it is impossible for the Century of Deviations to have been corrected under our policies or for all Deviations to have ceased since then.† â€Å"This is clear to me,† said the First Speaker. â€Å"If your mathematics is correct, then in order for the Plan to have recovered as it did and to work as perfectly as it seems to be working, it would be necessary for us to be able to predict the reactions of small groups of people – even of individuals – with some degree of assurance.† â€Å"Quite so. Since the mathematics of psychohistory does not allow this, the Deviations should not have vanished and, even more so, should not have remained absent. You see, then, what I meant when I said earlier that the flaw in the Seldon Plan was its flawlessness.† The First Speaker said, â€Å"Either the Seldon Plan does possess Deviations, then, or there is something wrong in your mathematics. Since I must admit that the Seldon Plan has not shown Deviations in a century and more, it follows that there is something wrong with your mathematics – except that I detected no fallacies or missteps.† â€Å"You do wrong,† said Gendibal, â€Å"to exclude a third alternative. It is quite possible for the Seldon Plan to possess no Deviations and yet for there to be nothing wrong in my mathematics when it predicts that to be impossible.† â€Å"I fail to see the third alternative.† â€Å"Suppose the Seldon Plan is being controlled by means of a psychohistorical method so advanced that the reactions of small groups of people – even perhaps of individual persons – can be predicted, a method that we of the Second Foundation do not possess. Then, and only then, my mathematics would predict that the Seldon Plan should indeed experience no Deviations?† For a while (by Second Foundation standards) the First Speaker made no response. He said, â€Å"There is no such advanced psychohistorical method that is known to me or, I am certain from your manner, to you. If you and I know of none, the chance that any other Speaker, or any group of Speakers, has developed such a micropsychohistory – if I may call it that – and has kept it secret from the rest of the Table is infinitesimally small. Don't you agree?† â€Å"I agree.† â€Å"Then either your analysis is wrong or else micropsychohistory is in the hands of some group outside the Second Foundation.† â€Å"Exactly, First Speaker, the latter alternative must be correct.† â€Å"Can you demonstrate the truth of such a statement?† â€Å"I cannot, in any formal way; but consider. – Has there not already been a person who could affect the Seldon Plan by dealing with individual people?† â€Å"I presume you are referring to the Mule.† â€Å"Yes, certainly.† â€Å"The Mule could only disrupt. The problem here is that the Seldon Plan is working too well, considerably closer to perfection than your mathematics would allow. You would need an Anti-Mule – someone who is as capable of overriding the Plan as the Mule was, but who acts for the opposite motive – overriding not to disrupt but to perfect.† â€Å"Exactly, First Speaker. I wish I had thought of that expression. What was the Mule? A mutant. But where did he come from? How did he come to be? no one really knows. Might there not be more?† â€Å"Apparently not. The one thing that is best known about the Mule is that he was sterile. Hence his name. Or do you think that is a myth?† â€Å"I am not referring to descendants of the Mule. Might it not be that the Mule was an aberrant member of what is – or has now become – a sizable group of people with Mulish powers who – for some reason of their own – are not disrupting the Seldon Plan but supporting it?† â€Å"Why in the Galaxy should they support it?† â€Å"Why do we support it? We plan a Second Empire in which we – or, rather, our intellectual descendants – will be the decision makers. If, some other group is supporting the Plan even more efficiently than we are, they cannot be planning to leave the decision – making to us. They will make the decisions – but to what end? Ought we not try to find out what kind of a Second Empire they are sweeping us into?† â€Å"And how do you propose to find out?† â€Å"Well, why has the Mayor of Terminus exiled Golan Trevize? By doing so, she allows a possibly dangerous person to move freely about the Galaxy. That she does it out of motives of humanity, I cannot believe. Historically the rulers of the First Foundation have always acted realistically, which means, usually, without regard for ‘morality.' One of their heroes – Salvor Hardin – counseled against morality, in fact. No, I think the Mayor acted under compulsion from agents of the Anti-Mules, to use your phrase. I think Trevize has been recruited by them and I think he is the spearhead of danger to us. Deadly danger.† And the First Speaker said, â€Å"By Seldon, you may be right. But how will we ever convince the Table of this?† â€Å"First Speaker, you underestimate your eminence.†