Nokia Market Analysis

The roots of Nokia go back to the year 1865 with the establishment of a forestry industry enterprise in South-Western Finland by mining engineer Fredrick Idestam. While in the year 1898, witnessed the foundation of Finnish Rubber Works Ltd, and in 1912, Finnish Cable Works began operations. Gradually, the ownership of this two companies and Nokia began to shift into hands of just a few owners. Finally, these three companies were merged to form Nokia Corporation in 1967. [1] Nokia Corporation engages in the manufacture of mobile devices and mobile network equipment, as well as in the provision of related solutions and services worldwide. The company has four main business functions or segments: Mobile Phones, Multimedia, Enterprise Solutions, and Networks. The Mobile Phones segment provides various mobile voice and data devices. This segment offers mobile phones and devices based on GSM/EDGE, 3G/WCDMA, and CDMA cellular technologies. The Multimedia segment offers mobile devices and applications with multimedia connectivity over GSM, 3G/WCDMA, WLAM etc. Strategic Management of Nokia The External Analysis examines opportunities and threats that exist in the environment and I will be discussing the fallowing. . P. E. S. T Analysis 2. Porter’s Five Forces/Market Trends 3. Types of Market 1. P. E. S. T Analysis: PEST identifies the political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors that of which directly affect a company. In this case Nokia. Political – As markets are deregulated, both operators and manufacturers are free to act independently of government intervention. In Countries like India and China where Partial regulations exist, government intervention does take place. Economic – With incomes rising, people have more disposable income, which enables consumers to be more selective with their choice of mobile phone, looking to other factors rather than fulfilling the most basic of user needs (text messaging and phone calls) and price being such a key factor. Social – The rise of the so-called information society has made telecommunications increasingly more important to consumers, both in terms of work and leisure. Users are more aware of mobile phone handset choice and advancements due to increased information availability. Strategic Management of Nokia Technological – There have been much global advancement in technology such as MMS, Bluetooth, WAP, GSM, GPRS, cameras etc. The Asian markets are more technologically advanced than their European counterparts, for example in 2002, just 4% of phones had cameras, whereas in Asia 90% did. It uses concepts developed in Industrial Organization (IO) economics to derive five forces which determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. It consists of fallowing factors. Power of New Entrants:In any market arrival of a new product is not always welcomed. In mobiles world it’s not different a mobile phone or an online service is launched by Nokia it has as 50 percent chance of success. It’s like the launch of Nokia’s N95 Smartphone which was much appreciated by buyers then the launch of N96 Smartphone. Power of Buyers:Due to recent down fall in the economy, the demand of consumers buying new mobiles has come to a halt. Due to which companies everywhere are thinking of strategies to increase the demand of their products. Strategic Management of Nokia Threat of Substitute:There are substitute for everything out in the world. So goes for the mobile, and the services provided by Nokia but the problem lies in consumers switching to the substitute. The main reason is that most people don’t like to change to something new because they might find it hard to use or switch over. Power of Suppliers:If the suppliers change the price then company in this case Nokia has a direct impact on the pricing of their products. If there are more suppliers then it is easy to change from one to another if the first one is not able to provide the services a company needs. Competitive Rivalry:Business is good where there are competitors because it gives more chance to improve and go ahead of your rivals. Nokia keep their product catalogs up-to-date and keep looking for better technologies to update its mobile and services. 3. Types of Market : There are different types of markets on which a company makes strategies to fallow and consider before releasing products. Which are discussed as below. Monopoly:Nokia as a mobile manufacturer has dominated mobiles market with its high end N-series Smartphone to its low end mobiles. It was Nokia’s intentional strategy to keep ahead with the technology to keep customers interested in its products. Duopoly:It’s a market state when two companies dominate the market. In this market Nokia is challenging HUAWEI technologies in producing 3G technology dongles because at present time there is no other company in the world expect Huawei producing 3G dongles. Oligopoly:It’s a type of market where small numbers of companies in the market collude to take control of the market prices and products. In Nokia’s case it is colluding with Sony Ericsson and Samsung to make phones which use Nokia’s mobile operating system (Symbian S60). This eliminates the use of Window’s mobile operating system and newly introduced Google’s operating system Android. Perfect Competition:It’s a market where all Companies are on a same level. Nokia as a leading manufacturer still have Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, and LG give a tough competition with products ranging from every low end user to high end tech loving customer. Internal analysis : Strategic Management of Nokia â€Å"It’s a management technique developed by Bruce Henderson for Boston Consulting Group in 1970 for assessing the long-term viability or profitability of products and market sectors. Categories include cash cows, dogs, stars, problem child or a question mark companies. †[1] Problem Child/Question mark:When a new product is launched in a promising market but it has a low market share but got potential to be a Star then a Cash cow or if everything fails it could become a Dog. In Nokia’s case its latest product from N-series Smartphone N96 is struggling to get the market share like its predecessor N95 Smartphone. Cash Cow: When a certain product’s market matures and its demand slows but it has a large market share is known as Cash Cow. Nokia has many products that reached their maturity and died away in recent days its high end Smartphone N95 reached its market demand and is slowly dying away because new technology is introduced every day. Star:It’s a new product when launched has a high market response and its sales rise. Companies like Nokia are in a search of new products which can be turned into stars and they invest money in Problem Child and Dogs to turn them in to a Star and then hope to turn them in to Cash Cow. Dog:A Dog is a product new or old market shares and sales decline very fast. In mobile industry technology changes very drastically so even a Star with bad strategy and marketing can be turned in to a Dog just as easy Strategic Management of Nokia Core competencies are activities and process performed by a company to keep ahead of the market and its competitors. â€Å"Business professors Bateman and Snell offer this answer: Simply stated, core competence is something a company does especially well relative to its competitors. †[4] Competencies of a company are things that are hard to imitate like customer loyalty etc. These Core Competencies change from time to time. In today’s market where every company is in a lose Nokia is thinking of new ways to get an edge on its competitors by introducing new services and products that are harder to imitate and trying to give most for consumers money. SWOT Analysis: Strengths: 1. Nokia has largest network of distribution and selling as compared to other mobile phone company in the world. 2. The financial aspect is very strong in case of Nokia as it has many more profitable businesses. 3. The product being user friendly and have all the accessories one want. 4. Nokia with wide range of products for all classes. . The re-sell value of Nokia phones are high compared to other company’s product. Weakness: 1. Some of the products are not user friendly. 2. Some of the weakness includes the price of the product offered by the company. 3. Nokia does not like to adopt change very quickly. 4. The service canters in third world countries are very few. Opportunity: 1. Nokia is also thinking of moving from mobile manufacture to personal computer manufacture. 2. As the standard of living in third world countries has increased the purchasing power of the people has increased as well 3. Nokia has to target right customer at right time to gain the most out of the situation. Threats: 1. The threats like emerging of other mobile companies in the market. 2. The new mobile operating systems from Google and Microsoft. 3. The biggest threat is not adopting new technology and putting in good use. 9 Conclusion: After writing this article I came to a conclusion that in any business successful or a newly established if not managed well and cannot take advantage of its opportunities can come to its knees. So for a business to run successfully have to man age its Competitors and threats that may affect the performance of a business.

The Funniest Incident

One Sunday moming, I received an invitation from a friend of mine, Sudhir. I had come back from the UK to my native place. So, he invited me to lunch. I got up early in the morning and started getting ready. My sister gave me a cup of tea early in the morning. Then, 1 took my bath and got ready. My sister then again asked me to take some snacks and tea but I refused to take it as I was more interested in reaching my friend’s house. She insisted upon me to take a heavy breakfast but I ignored her request. I went out of my house and stood at the bus-stop.I boarded the bus. The conductor came and asked me to buy a ticket. I asked him to give me a ticket for Babar Lane. The conductor frowned upon me saying, â€Å"It is going in the reverse direction, you get down at the next stop and catch another bus. † I was baffled for some time. Then, I alighted from the bus and again waited for the bus going to the Babar Lane. I got the bus and reached 15, Babar Lane. But surprisingly, when I reached his house, I found the door locked. I was puzzled and thought whether I had come to the right place.After some time, a neighbour of my friend came and asked me, â€Å"Why are you standing here? Do you want to meet someone? † I replied, â€Å"Yes, I want to see Mr Sudhir living in Quarter No 15. † He immediately quibbled, â€Å"But he changed his house last Wednesday and has gone to R K Puram. † Frustrated, I came back to the bus stop. I was feeling hungry. After some time, it started drizzling. I was now in a fix as to what to do. My confusion was compounded by the torrential rains! p’ had refused to take morning breakfast in the hope that I would take it at my friend’s house.At this state, my anger was mounting. I was cursing myself as well as my fate. But I controlled my anger. I made up my mind to meet Sudhir. An idea hit my mind. I gave a ring at the Enquiry Office, R K Puram. The person on duty gave me his address. I made my jo urney to R K Puram and reached the quarter as I was told by the Enquiry Office. I rang the door bell. Tupan, a tiny tot (Sudhir’s youngest brother) came out and greeted me with a â€Å"Hello uncle ! † The moment I entered the drawing room, I saw the parents of Sudhir sitting on the sofa.They offered me a seat and I sat comfortably. As I was about to talk about invitation extended to me by Sudhir, Dolly (Sudhir’s sister) came with tea. She was looking like a pretty and vivacious damsel. (Let it be known that I used to love this girl from my college days and had written many love letters to her, making a proposal for marriage). Now, the elderly mother of Sudhir began to talk very politely, â€Å"Look son, the invitation to tea was a joke. As you know, today is First of April — Fool’s Day.But you are fortunate that your proposal of marriage has been accepted by all the members of our family. † I was thrilled to hear these words coming from the august lips of Dolly’s mother. My joy knew no bounds. The facial expressions of Dolly were quite attractive. Her looks pleased me as she was making silent expressions of love. We had the tea to our heart’s content. I rushed from their house in order to convey this happy news to my parents. This day, indeed, was the funniest ever and happiest day of my life. IT WAS TRULY, THE FUNNIEST EVER INCDENT†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.

Critical Thinking and Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Critical Thinking and Decision Making - Essay Example Logical thinking is a way of thinking that aims at solving a problem or analyzing a situation by resorting to a formal and systematic approach that is akin to being mathematical (Thagard, 2012, p. 38). Logical thinking aids the critical thinking process by allowing an individual analyze a problem or a situation, while restraining the influence of the strong emotions that impact the critical thinking process at a particular time. However, logical thinking carried to its extremes and totally insulated from emotions may turn out to be too mechanical and may lead to wrong conclusions. A pessimistic thinking is one that makes an individual blame oneself if the things go wrong (Thagard, 2012). Pessimistic thinking within limits aids critical thinking by making a person become more alert and responsible. However, too much pessimism obfuscates the critical thinking process by causing excessive stress and

Renaissance Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Renaissance Art - Essay Example nimity is neither dependent upon his genealogy nor upon his extraordinary achievements as a statesman or a brave warrior- unlike Agamemnon or Achilles. On the contrary, man’s intellectual achievements, as personified by Faustus, coupled with his ceaseless passion for rediscovery were for Marlowe, the sole criteria for ascertaining a man’s greatness. In addition to this, through his awe-inspiring tragedy, Marlowe also revolutionized the much popular debate between fate and free-will. According to the ancient Greeks, fate almost always superseded free-will. They believed that destiny was unalterable. Once his unintentional sin is disclosed to him, the Greek tragic hero, Oedipus considers himself as the victim of the malevolent forces of nature. However, instead of waging a battle against the Oracle; he realizes his limitations as a mortal, indulges in self-martyrdom by blinding himself and surrenders himself to the ominous fate that awaits him. Dr. Faustus, on the other h and, emerges out as an apostate by exclaiming that, â€Å"a sound magician is a demi-god† (I. i. 61). He undoubtedly epitomizes the Renaissance individual- one who unlike the classical Greek heroes, defies the dictates of Divinity. Moreover, Faustus also contests the notion that man’s abilities are limited. He is enticed by the secular-humanistic assertion made by Mephostophilis, â€Å"But think’st thou heaven is such a glorious thing?/I tell thee Faustus it is not half so fair/As thou or any man that breathes on earth† (II. ii. 5-7). Thus, Faustus adheres to the belief that Heaven is great, but man is greater still. Thus, by negating the supreme role played by fate and by placing much more emphasis on individual responsibility, Marlowe has iterated that the Renaissance individual’s suffering is... This paper work describes a period of ‘rebirth’, resulted in the flourishing of arts and literature. During the Reneissance skepticism, humanism, emphasis on rational thought and reformulation of traditional belief systems were the hallmarks. The practice of viewing everything with an eye of skepticism and daring to explore the unexplored led to the formulation of: the notion of Copernican motion, the acknowledgement of the unimaginable potential granted to man by Providence and most importantly the conviction that dogmatic religious ideology or a puritanical belief system is not the absolute. In the literary realm, Marlowe’s ‘Dr.Faustus’, can be categorized as a paradigmatic example of the Renaissance literature. With the emergence of Renaissance, art in general and painting in particular assumed an altogether different dimension. In the classical Greek and Roman eras, decorated vases and sculptors were in vogue. Likewise, the Golden era of Byzantine had also seen a flourishing of arts and culture. However, in these afore-mentioned eras, not much emphasis was placed on making art life-like. The endeavour of making paintings and portraits resemble real life and of depicting man as a sentient being, was taken up by the renowned artistic masters of the Renaissance period- Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Mossacio (also known as Tomasso Guidi) and Rembrandt. Rembrandt was undoubtedly one of the most accomplished Dutch artists of the late Renaissance period- the seventeenth century.

The role of Project Management to an Organization Essay

The role of Project Management to an Organization - Essay Example The project management cycle undergoes a five-step approach; they are initiation, planning, execution, monitoring/control and closure. Initiation is a process involving the giving of an overview of how the project looks like, and the strategy implemented in the organizations plan. This is done to achieve the desired results and in addition, it is where a project manager is appointed to guide the rest of project members due to his or her experience and skills. Planning is the second step, which includes risk assessment alongside defining the system used in order complete the plan. Execution and control are the third and fourth step respectively, which involves planning a solution used for the implementation of solving problems noted in the requirements of a project. Closure, which is the fifth and last step, involves a manager ensuring the little things in a project receive a proper conclusion, when the formal project review is written.The benefits attained from a good project managem ent includes, a delivery service that is better and efficient since, it provides a â€Å"roadmap† that can be easily followed for the purposes of project completion. The other benefit is, customer satisfaction is improved, increased and enhanced such that, when a project is completed in good time a customer can be happy and recommend you for more work. The third benefit is that, service delivery is made effective and enhanced. The improvement of growth and development of a team is another benefit. since, when a project yields positive results, a team commands much respect and inspires the team to work harder. A greater competitive and standing edge is another benefit when a good project is implemented. The other benefits will include better flexibility, increase in quality and quantity and increased risk assessment. As mentioned earlier, planning is the second phase for any project management cycle to be successful. It includes a breakdown and assignment that should be detailed of the task in your project from the time it commences to the time it ends. It involves taking risks of the assessment and being able to define the steps needed for the successful of a task completion. Research is an important factor in planning because it gives a chance of choosing

CRM Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

CRM - Assignment Example This system will be available to the customers over the internet where they directly send their requests therefore maintaining an interactive customer experience thus enhancing customer satisfaction (Peelen 108). However, the primary goal of the system I am proposing for XYZ Corporation is to increase profits and reduces the costs incurred by the customers in accessing the products. The CRM system will also enable the corporation to track the online actions of the consumer thus it will possible to determine their future moves. The system will also be able to send direct emails to customers. The first step towards implementation of the CRM will be creation of a customer database which is the foundation of the customer relationship activity (Annekie and Adele,57). The homegrown systems used at XYZ Corporation will help in gathering the customer information for the already existing customers. The catalog will consist of data about the customers such as their transactions like the purchase history, price paid and the delivery date. The database will also contain the customer contacts that will be extracted from the homegrown system for the existing customers. Descriptive information will also be included in the database for the purpose of data analysis. The database will be integrated with the CRM system to be implemented such that the data stored on the database c an be accessed through the system. Capturing all the data related to the customers will help XYZ corporation management in understanding the needs of their customers thus; they can focus their production on the customer preferences (Annekie and Adele, 66). It also helps the management understand the customer trends thus they can identify the customer potential. Having a clear understanding of the customers will also help in maximizing profits. By considering all the needs and preferences of the customers,

Sony Reels from Multiple Hacker Attacks Case Study

Sony Reels from Multiple Hacker Attacks - Case Study Example This act of stealing an individual’s private and personal information and then impersonating them is referred to as the criminal act of identity theft (Easttom, 2011). But there is a lack of customers who have reported that their identities have been stolen due to the Sony debacle. This writing will focus on several questions related to the case. The writing focuses on the issue of losses that Sony has already realized and Sony might be facing in the coming years. These losses are both a monetary and non-monetary in nature. These losses include the monetary loss of $171 million that Sony expects to lose as a result of the series of hacking activities that have been carried out against them. These losses even include the loss of market share in the market of online gaming and other online transactions (Conn, 2002). These losses even include the effort and money that Sony will have to invest in order to get back on track. The writing even focuses on Sony Company’s responsibility towards the safeguarding of the information of its prestigious clients and the measures that Sony could have taken in order to protect the customers and the actions it will have to implement in future to save their business from hackers. Sony could have taken various measures in or der to protect its customers these measures includes the hiring of White Hat Hackers who are hackers employed for the purpose of securing computer systems from the vulnerability of hacking (Wilhelm, 2013). The writing further focuses on measures that need to be taken in order to deter professional hackers from indulging in the future.

Nuclear power stations based on fission of uranium Essay

Nuclear power stations based on fission of uranium - Essay Example The process of splitting the nuclei is known as fission reaction which distinguishes nuclear power stations from ordinary power generators. Uranium is a non-renewable resource which means that once all the uranium present inside the earth’s crust is used then it cannot be reproduced. Nuclear fission is basically a chain reaction i.e. once the chemical composition of uranium nuclei starts to break then reaction continues until all the uranium material is used by the reactors (Nuclear Fission, 2013). This chain reaction is built and processed under high supervision because if the reaction goes out of control then it will turn in to a nuclear bomb. Hence the primary responsibility of power stations is to keep the process under control in order to avoid destructive consequences. The overall process of splitting the nuclei and converting them into small parts is also known as radioactive decay. Nuclear power stations play a vital role in production of heat and energy which are bene ficial to generate electricity on comparatively larger scale. However, the overall process of fission reactions has numerous environmental hazards in terms of waste products which are significantly harmful for future human generations. Moreover, protecting the nuclear plant incurs huge costs while still bring a threat of nuclear explosion (Nuclear Fission, 2013). Physical Principles of Power Generation The nuclear fission reaction starts with the mere activity of neutrons. When a neutron is fused with another heavy nucleus i.e. Uranium-235, then the uranium nucleus captures the neutron in order to form a compound nucleus (Physics of Uranium and Nuclear Energy, 2012). That is: When Uranium-235 is kept as a thermal reactor in the nuclear plant then collision with the new neutron increases the overall energy of the reactor. Hence the total energy is equally distributed among 236 neutrons and protons which make the nucleus comparatively unstable. Consequently the heavy nucleus is broken down into smaller nuclei while producing huge amount of energy. Around 85% of the released energy is categorized as kinetic energy which is then converted in to heat. Nuclear Fission Reaction also produces certain by-products including Barium (Ba), Strontium (Sr), Caesium (Cs), Krypton (Kr), Xenon (Xe) etc. Approximately 6% heat is produced due to the formation of these fission by-products (Physics of Uranium and Nuclear Energy, 2012). The following equation explains the formation of Barium during the Nuclear Fission Reaction. With the split of nucleus two or three other neutrons are produced which again fuse with the heavy nucleus of uranium while splitting the nuclei and producing immense energy. Hence in this way the chain reaction is carried in the nuclear reactor. As more and more neutrons are produced more energy is generated and therefore the reaction is restricted to take place under high observation and controlled equipment (Physics of Uranium and Nuclear Energy, 2012). Fo llowing is the Graphic Representation of the Nuclear Reaction Using Uranium Controlling Mechanism of Nuclear Fission Reaction As discussed above that the uncontrollable nuclear fission can turn into a nuclear bomb therefore it is highly significant to make extensive security measures so as to control the activity of neut

The New Technology of War Essay Example for Free

The New Technology of War Essay Tanks: Tanks were massive killing machines, which could hold many goods and many men. This was an advantage because before tanks were invented, the soldiers had to walk to and from different battlefields under the risk of shellfire. The tanks were obviously bullet proof and protective and could move through the battlefield. They could go through wire entanglements and cross enemy trenches. This was useful to make a space for friendly soldiers to attack and could push back the enemy frontline a few miles. The tanks were strong enough to carry massive guns capable of blowing down enemy trench walls from a 100 metres away. Ties meant that the enemy would be open so the friendly soldiers could shoot in. Because the tanks were so massive, they tear up mud by their caterpillar tracks, which make it a disadvantage for friendly troops to run and walk over. Many of the German trenches were too wide so the tanks front fell into the trenches instead of going over. Consequently if the machine gunners were close to the tank, they could put sticky bombs on the side of it. The tanks were sometimes unreliable and most broke down at the start. This meant that lots of them would be a waste of money. There were still many mechanical problems with tanks, but they proved themselves to be a weapon of the future. In the event, the full potential of the tank was not to be realised until it had been from its infantry support role. Once it appeared, backed by air power, the age of battlefield domination was over. Wars of movement were once possible. With machine guns the tanks were killing machines that were lethal. Machine guns: It provided rapid and sustained fire so you wouldnt waste valuable time reloading the weapon. This also meant that the enemy could be mowed down easily so that it could hold the frontline and was a very valuable defensive item. They were useful in planes because it was very hard to hit enemy planes so machine guns could fire randomly and fast so there would be a definite hit. The machine guns were very expensive and when in a time of war, countries were strapped for cash so they were very rare. They also used a lot of ammunition. Around 120 bullets were fired per minute so it would cost lots and lots of money to fuel it. The machine guns could not be used to attack because they were too heavy. Also if their own troops were going across, then the machine gunners would have to stop because they would kill their own men. The machine guns were a great invention and provided a fresh new start for some future technology. It proved useful in many battles. These machines mainly won some of these battles. Gas: The gas method was deadly and had never been seen before. It could spread through walls and trenches and went as far as it could until it diffused. This meant that you didnt always have to hit the right spot while releasing the gas. The gas could also kill people fast and could cloud the vision of many people so they would wander out, linking it to the tanks and so the tanks could move across without being seen or heard if the soldiers had gas masks on until the tanks came close. Usually to attack you would need to lose a few men at least but this new method meant that no friendly soldier would be hurt in the process. Although gas could kill quickly, it took a long time to get to its destination just like a zeppelin. Lots of gas was really needed to kill the enemy soldiers because the gas needed to be dense. This meant that it was expensive to use the gas and it wasnt always effective because most of the soldiers had gas masks after a few months. This meant that gas could be totally ineffective and so it would be such a waste of money on the gas. Gas, of course, could accidentally come back to your own trenches from wind coming your way. Gas was highly feared by many humans throughout Europe because many rumours had gone around that it was the work of the devil and could kill anything so when gasmasks were introduced it meant that many people were rushing around for them like they were a saviour. Planes and Zeppelins: Planes and zeppelins were very useful because there was warfare everywhere. On land, under ground and on water but now in the air. It was useful because no guns were able to fire up at 180à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ so planes were very unlikely to get shot down. They could drop bombs straight down on the enemy. This meant they could be accurate. Planes are linked with machineguns because of the use of them in planes so you didnt have to be accurate to shoot fighter planes. Zeppelins could be massive transport carriers of weapons and other goods. These sorts of machines would take a lot of time to make and be expensive which makes them like tanks. They were not always in the air and so had hangers and such where lots of bombers could easily blow them up before they could get into the air. Like most of technology, both sides would always find out the secret of the new machine so battles in the sky would always take place and would normally be a long battle or a stalemate. Planes were lightweight because they could not fly if they werent so this meant they had no armour so were unreliable. Planes and zeppelins were not used until the Second World War because earlier planes were unsuccessful and zeppelins hadnt been invented yet. But planes were found to be useful and they evolved around the war. The zeppelins were massive airplanes like air tanks ready to drop massive bombs. Modern Technology These modern methods were more effective, accurate and much more reliable. The older methods included horses, which were fast, but as animals they needed feeding, looking after and they needed rest so that meant they would have to wait prolonged periods for the chance to attack. It would cost money to feed the horse. They needed medicine to look after the horse as well. Dogs and pigeons were also used in the war for communication. Pigeons could fly distances of up to 60 miles and 80% of messages got through. But radio messages and telegraph wires were much more useful and would have direct contact with HQ and all messages would get through. So the older methods were fine for the time. Most battles did not take place and were stalemates so the newer technology was needed to break the stalemate and reach a quicker end of a battle, meaning a quicker war. But machine guns were meant to defend trenches and so were effective that they caused most of the stalemates. Many people had good ideas but tanks were the best and this pushed back enemy lines because enemy machine guns could not shoot them and waves of soldiers followed behind them. But tanks were for blowing up artillery not soldiers. So the army needed a weapon for killing masses of soldiers. The answer was gas. At first gas was used to knockout enemy soldiers but gradually more lethal gases were introduced. To kill, blind, maim and blister the enemy. Gas broke stalemates easily 178,500 British were hurt and 7,500 killed by gas. The Germans had 101,650 hurt and 5,350 killed. But then gas masks were invented and gas became so useless that some other machine was needed. Planes were used in earlier wars but were not effective but now new types were available so armies tried them and they seemed unstoppable by guns because they were so fast and there were battles in the air but as per usual there were guns to shoot down planes. So many new inventions were made and were, as you can see from my evidence, much more effective then old fashioned methods but there was always something to stop the new technology. The best defensive weapon is apparent to be the machinegun out of the new and old technology. This is because of the way it mowed down the enemy soldiers coming towards the trench. They could also be far apart because the gun could rotate up to 360à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. Even though it is a defensive weapon, it was most useful in attacking machines such as planes because of its quick fire. The best technology for attack was the planes because of their ability to pass over anything and have no boundaries unlike tanks, which cant pass over some trenches. They were able to break the stalemate by bombing front trenches and pushing the enemy back. New Technology and inventions were vital in breaking the stalemate in the war on the western front and completely replaced older fashioned methods. To discuss this we need to look at different parts of the sentence. To start off with New technology and inventions were vital to break the stalemate in the war can be discussed easily. It says that they were vital but they were not only used to break the stalemate they were used also to keep the stalemate (machine guns). Some were not vital to the breaking of the stalemate but some were just used to destroy the trenches but not actually cause enough damage to break the stalemate and push the enemy back. The second part of the sentence is and completely replaced older fashioned methods. The word completely should not be used because if all the modern technology failed then the soldiers would have to rely on the older methods. So the word completely should be changed to parts. The fact is that nothing is ever totally replaced or exterminated. For example small pox is still around in the world today but not in Europe and that is why it is like the new technology. It may have replaced the older fashioned methods in Europe but it still did not replace it in the whole world. For example in China at that time, many horses were still used at the time. This sentence only complies with the positive side of the effect of modern technology. It uses two main facts to present the idea that the modern technology was only good. Coming into the new century was a big time for the old 19th century people. They were a new generation of invention lovers who were not afraid of the new technology unlike the generation before them. So they welcomed the new machines not fearing what damage they could do because they had only experienced mostly good things from new machines. Conclusion: The whole point of the essay was not to find out both sides of the modern weapon findings. As I went over the project I found different ideas and views on how technology was good and needed and how European Warfare would have been better off without it. I found out which machines were useful and which caused more hassle than good. I found why people views were what they were and whether they were good enough or not. At first before I came into this project fully, my views were that all technology was for the best but some were not and some were vital for peace. Weapons can be used for peace but they are mostly used for war. I found that tanks, if not invented, would surely effect the damage felt on Britain. Most probably increasing it because of the way the British used it so much. I had also found that if the German machine gun had not been invented, that the Germans may have lost the war much quicker because of the way they fiercely mowed down enemy soldiers heading towards the trenches. I found that many people had to put their trust in the machines and use them because of the inevitable increase in use of them. Many people I have read about have pushed for an technological advance in weapon warfare where others have the sure belief that it will all end up wrong.

Slavery in Bristish America Essay Example for Free

Slavery in Bristish America Essay That was because slavery expanded rapidly while indentured servants had more rights. The spread of tobacco made Chesapeake planters to move from indentured servants to slaves. There were many reasons for this change. Firstly, by law, blacks had many disadvantages. Such as, they could not claim the protection under the English law. Secondly, while indentured servants had fixed terms, blacks’ terms of service never expired. Moreover, children of slaves would also become slaves and their skin color made them much harder to escape to the outside world. They would be enslaved for forever, with extreme small chances of being released, unless they were deported to other areas. Another reason that helped expand slavery was that, blacks had been used to working on fields with all the hard work. They also encountered many diseases and had developed antibodies to resist to them. Therefore, black population were less likely to be defeated by epidemics, while the Indian population’s death rate was very high due to this reason. The second main reason that led to the expansion of slavery in British America was the law. â€Å"As late as 1680, there were only 4500 blacks in the Chesapeake, a little over 5 percent of the region’s population. † (104) Even when the black population was still that small, new law was enacted to improve and status of white servants and further blocked access to freedom for blacks. A Virginia law of 1662 provided that in the case of a child one of whose parents was free and one slave, the status of the offspring followed that of the mother. This provision not only reversed the European practice of defining a child’s status through the father but also made the sexual abuse of slave women profitable for slaveholders, since any children that resulted remained the owner’s property. )† (106) And, â€Å"In 1667, the Virginia House of Burgesses decreed that religious conversion did not release a slave from bondage. (106) Moreover, authorities tried many ways to prevent the growth of free black population by stating that children of black men and white women were illegitimate. Another main reason that led to more freedom for indentured servants and led to the expansion of slavery in British America was the Bacon’s Rebellion of 1676. As a result of this confrontation, the authorities reduced taxes and adopted a stricter Indian policy. Encouraged the growth of former indenture servants by expanding to the West. After the Rebellion, it became more economical to purchase slaves ecause the death rate began to fall. Moreover, the end of a monopoly on the English slave trade opened the door to many other traders to get into this profitable business, shipping more and more slaves to British America. As a result, the black population grew quickly: â€Å"By 1700, blacks constituted more than 10 percent of Virginia’s population. Fifty years later, they made up nearly half. † Eric Foner stated â€Å"While slavery was expanding in British America, so too was freedom† That was because slavery expanded rapidly while indentured servants had more rights.

The General Motors Company Analysis

The General Motors Company Analysis General Motors Company was formed in 2009 originally as a Delaware limited liability company, Vehicle Acquisition Holdings LLC and subsequently converted to a Delaware corporation, NGMCO, Inc. The conversion followed the acquisition on July 10, 2009 of a substantial part of all assets while assuming certain liabilities of General Motors Corporation through a 363 Sale under the Bankruptcy Code and subsequent change of name to General Motors Company (General Motors, 2012). As a result of the 363 Sale and other recent restructuring and cost savings initiatives, GM 2012 has improved its financial position and level of operational flexibility as compared to when Old GM operated the business. They commenced operations upon completion of the 363 Sale with a total amount of debt and other liabilities at July 10, 2009 that was $92.7 billion less than Old GMs total amount of debt and other liabilities at July 9, 2009. They reached a competitive labour agreement with their unions, restructured their dealer network and reduced and refocused their brand strategy in the U.S. to their four brands (General Motors, 2011). In November and December of 2010 they consummated a public offering of 550 million shares of their common stock and 100 million shares of Series B Preferred Stock and listed both of these securities on the New York Stock Exchange and the common stock on the Toronto Stock Exchange (General Motors, 2012). Today, General Motors Company is a brand new company with 100 years of history. They remain one of the worlds largest automotive companies with operations in 120 countries and more than 200,000 employees around the world. In 2010, they sold 8.39 million vehicles, more than three-quarters of which were sold outside the U.S. (General Motors, 2011). Small Business Units (SBUs) within GM General Motors Company is divided into five segments, namely GM North America (GMNA), GM Europe (GME), GM International Operations (GMIO), GM South America (GMSA) and GM Financial (General Motors, 2012). Each of these segments can be considered as a Strategic Business Units (SBU). Automotive Business GM product range includes a global vehicle portfolio of cars, crossovers and trucks. GM is committed to leadership in vehicle design, quality, reliability, telematics and infotainment and safety, as well as to developing key energy efficiency, energy diversity and advanced propulsion technologies, including electric vehicles with range extending capabilities such as the Chevrolet Volt. Their business is diversified across products and geographic markets. They meet the local sales and service needs of their retail and fleet customers with a global network of independent dealers. Of their total 2011 vehicle sales volume, 72.3% was generated outside the U.S., including 43.4% from emerging markets, such as Brazil, Russia, India and China (collectively BRIC), which have recently experienced the industrys highest volume growth. Their automotive business is organized into four geographically-based segments (GM North America (GMNA), GM Europe (GME), GM International Operations (GMIO), GM Sou th America (GMSA)) (General Motors, 2012). GMNA, with sales, manufacturing and distribution operations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and sales and distribution operations in Central America and the Caribbean, represented 32.4% of their vehicle sales volume in 2011 and had the largest market share in this market at 18.4% (General Motors, 2012). GME has sales, manufacturing and distribution operations across Western and Central Europe. GMEs vehicle sales volume, which in addition to Western and Central Europe, includes Eastern Europe (including Russia and the other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States among others), represented 19.2% of their vehicle sales volume in 2011. In 2011 they had the number four market share in this market at 8.8%. GMIO distributes Chevrolet brand vehicles which, when sold in Europe, are included in GME vehicle sales volume and market share data (General Motors, 2012). GMIO has sales, manufacturing and distribution operations in Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Vehicle sales volume, which includes Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East, is their largest segment by vehicle sales volume representing 36.6% of global vehicle sales volume including sales through their joint ventures in 2011. In 2011, GMIO had the number two market share for this market at 9.5% and the number one market share in China overall deriving 77.1% of its vehicle sales volume from China (General Motors, 2012). GMSA, with sales, manufacturing and distribution operations in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela as well as sales and distribution operations in Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay represented 11.8% of their vehicle sales volume in 2011. In 2011 they had the largest market share for this market at 18.8% and the number three market share in Brazil. GMSA derived 59.4% of its vehicle sales volume from Brazil (General Motors, 2012). Automotive Financing GM Financial specializes in purchasing retail automobile instalment sales contracts originated by GM and non-GM franchised and selected independent dealers in sale of used and new automobiles. GM Financial also offers lease products through GM dealerships in connection with the sale of used and new automobiles that target customers with sub-prime and prime credit bureau scores. GM Financial primarily generates revenue and cash flows through the purchase, retention, subsequent securitization and servicing of finance receivables. To fund the acquisition of receivables prior to securitization, this financial arm uses available cash and borrowings under its credit facilities. GM Financial earns finance charge income on finance receivables and pays interest expense on borrowings under its credit facilities. Periodically it transfers receivables to securitization trusts that issue asset-backed securities to investors. The securitization trusts are special purpose entities (SPEs) that are a lso variable interest entities that meet the requirements to be consolidated in the financial statements (General Motors, 2012). Current Business Strategies at GM Generic Strategy GM uses differentiation focus strategy, as its competitive strategy. In Britain, you can buy a Vauxhall, a Chevrolet, a Saab, a Cadillac or a Hummer. On the Continent, you can trade in the Vauxhall for an Opel. In China, perhaps youd prefer a Buick, in Dubai a GMC. How about a Holden? Well, youll have to travel to Australia or New Zealand but they are all General Motors brands. Rather than focusing on one product, GM wants its consumers to be able to choose from a variety. Chevrolets are being marketed to entry-level car buyers, particularly in Eastern and Central Europe. Opels and Vauxhalls are for middle market consumers with a progressive take on new technology, Cadillacs have proved popular with wealthy buyers in Russia and Hummers are for people who like Hummers, wherever they happen to be (Pfanner, 2008). Chapter 7 Strategy directions Their vision is to design, build and sell the worlds best vehicles. The primary elements of their strategy to achieve this vision are to: Deliver a product portfolio of the worlds best vehicles, allowing them to maximize sales under any market conditions. Sell their vehicles globally by targeting developed markets, which are projected to have increases in vehicle demand as the global economy recovers, and further strengthening their position in high growth emerging markets. Improve revenue realization and maintain a competitive cost structure to allow them to remain profitable at lower industry volumes and across the lifecycle of their product portfolio and maintain a strong balance sheet by reducing financial leverage given the high operating leverage of their business model (General Motors, 2012). Product development Product development strategy is defined as; developing new products or modifying existing products so they appear new, and offering those products to current or new markets. There is nothing simple about the process. It requires keen attention to competitors and customer needs now and in the future, the ability to finance prototypes and manufacturing processes and a creative marketing and communications plan (Nielsen, 2012). GM uses product development as its corporate strategy by maintaining a broad portfolio of vehicles so that they are positioned to meet global consumer preferences through the following ways: Concentrate their design, engineering and marketing resources on fewer brands and architectures. Increase the volume of vehicles produced from common global architectures to more than 50% of total volumes in 2015 from less than 17% today. They expect that this initiative will result in greater investment per architecture and brand and will increase product development and manufacturing flexibility, allowing maintenance of a steady schedule of important new product launches in the future. The four brand strategy in the U.S. will continue to enable GM to allocate higher marketing expenditures per brand (General Motors, 2012). Develop products across vehicle segments in GM global markets: To develop vehicles in each of the key segments of the global markets in which GM competes. For example, in September 2010 the Chevrolet Cruze was introduced into the U.S. small car segment, an important and growing segment where historically GM had been under represented (General Motors, 2012). Continued investment in a portfolio of technologies: Continue to invest in technologies that support energy diversity and energy efficiency as well as in safety, telematics and infotainment technology. Commitment to advanced propulsion technologies and intention to offer a portfolio of fuel efficient alternatives that use energy sources such as petroleum, bio-fuels, hydrogen and electricity, including the new Chevrolet Volt thus increasing fuel efficiency of GM vehicles with internal combustion engines (General Motors, 2012). This will be achieved through features such as cylinder deactivation, direct injection, variable valve timing, turbocharging with engine downsizing and six speed transmissions. GM expects for example the Chevrolet Cruze Eco to be capable of achieving an estimated 40 mpg on the highway with a traditional internal combustion engine. GM will expand their telematics and infotainment offerings and, as a result of the OnStar service and their partnerships with compani es such as Google, are positioned to deliver safety, security, navigation and connectivity systems and features (General Motors, 2012). GM Diversity Strategy At GM to serve a diverse global market with unique segments they view diversity as a business imperative that should be leveraged on to produce cars that match the different demands in the Market. In their diversity Strategy they focus on five areas (General Motors, 2012); they have customers all over the world and so are dealerships distributed to ensure customer tastes are reflected in GM products (General Motors, 2012). They also have an inclusive workplace environment of choice which allows employees to perform at their peak; including training of staff on diversity as a cultural and business imperative. Through the GM Foundation support to communities is given with an emphasis on diverse sectors; Health, Education, Human rights. Suppliers; through growth of diverse and competitive supply base are also thus included. Through its dealer development network whose mission is to provide a profitable dealer network across all brands that reflects the diversity of the American Market consistent with the US Government designation of the underrepresented groups by supporting: GM Women retail network whose purpose is to attract and develop women dealer. National Candidate Program which purposes to prepare women and minority potential candidates to become GM dealer owners and operators through training (General Motors, 2012) Vertical integration Vertical integration is the process through which a firm owns its upstream suppliers and its downstream buyers. This can have a significant impact on a business units position in its industry with respect to cost, differentiation and other strategic issues, the vertical scope of the firm is an important consideration in corporate strategy. Expansion of activities downstream is referred to as forward integration and expansion upstream is referred to as backward integration (Quick MBA, 2010). GM expands its activities downstream. For the automotive industry, forward integration woul be into retail, repairs and servicing and this is exactly what GM is doing.GM enters into contracts with each authorized dealer agreeing to sell to the dealer one or more specified product lines at wholesale prices and granting the dealer the right to sell those vehicles to retail customers from an approved location. Their dealers often offer more than one GM brand at a single dealership in a number of their markets in order to enhance dealer profitability. Authorized dealers offer parts, accessories, service and repairs for GM vehicles in the product lines that they sell using GM parts and accessories. The dealers are authorized to service GM vehicles under their limited warranty program and those repairs are to be made only with GM parts. The dealers generally provide their customers access to credit or lease financing, vehicle insurance and extended service contracts provided by GM Financia l, Ally Financial, Inc. (Ally Financial) and other financial institutions (United States Securities and Exchange Commission, 2011). The quality of GM dealerships and their relationship with their dealers and distributors are critical to their success as dealers maintain the primary sales and service interface with the end consumer of their products. In addition to the terms of their contracts with their dealers they are regulated by various country and state franchise laws that may replace those contractual terms and impose specific regulatory requirements and standards for initiating dealer network changes, pursuing terminations for cause and other contractual matters (United States Securities and Exchange Commission, 2011). Chapter 8; 8.6, 8.7 Sell GM vehicles globally by continuing to compete in the largest and fastest growing markets globally. They intend to do this by broadening GMNA product portfolio, launching thirteen new vehicles in GMNA across the four brands in 2011 and 2012, primarily in the growing car and crossover segments, where, in some cases, GM is under-represented, and an additional twenty nine new vehicles between 2013 and 2014. GM believes that it has achieved a more balanced portfolio in the U.S. market, where they maintained a sales volume mix of 36% from cars, 38% from trucks and 26% from crossovers in 2010 compared to 51% from trucks in 2006. COMPETITIVE DRIVERS Refresh GMEs vehicle portfolio to improve product quality and product perception in Europe, by the start of 2012, GM plans to have 80% of the Opel/Vauxhall carlines volume refreshed such that the model stylings are less than three years old. Four product launches were scheduled for 2011. As part of the planned rejuvenation of Chevrolets portfolio, which increasingly supplements the Opel/Vauxhall brands throughout Europe, the entire Chevrolet lineup is to be moved to new global architectures (General Motors, 2012). COMPETITIVE DRIVERS Increase sales in GMIO, particularly in China to execute growth strategies in countries where GM already holds strong positions, such as China, and to improve market share in other important markets, including South Korea, South Africa, Russia, India and the ASEAN region. GM aims to launch 70 new vehicles throughout GMIO through 2012 (General Motors, 2012). To enhance and strengthen the GMIO product portfolio three strategies were to be employed: leveraging GM global architectures; pursuing local and regional solutions to meet specific market requirements; and expanding joint venture partner collaboration opportunities. Increase sales in GMSA, particularly in Brazil, GM was to launch 40 new vehicles throughout GMSA through 2011. To strengthen GMSA product portfolio GM had three strategies: leverage on global architectures; pursuing local and regional solutions to meet specific market requirements; and expanding joint venture partner collaboration opportunities (General Motors, 2012). COST DRIVERS; CSD Ensure competitive financing is available to dealers and customers by maintaining multiple financing programs and arrangements with third parties for the wholesale and retail customers to utilize when purchasing or leasing vehicles. Through long standing arrangements with Ally Financial and a variety of other worldwide, regional and local lenders, provide customers and dealers with access to financing alternatives. GM was to further expand the range of financing options available to its customers and dealers to help grow vehicle sales through two specific objectives: ensure certainty of availability of financing; and competitive and transparent pricing for financing, for dealers and customers. GM Financial was to offer increased availability of leasing and sub-prime financing for GM customers in the United States and Canada throughout economic cycles. Plans to use GM Financial to initiate targeted customer marketing initiatives to expand vehicle sales were also in the pipeline (Gener al Motors, 2012). Reduce breakeven levels through improved revenue realization and a competitive cost structure. In developed markets, GM was to improve its cost structure to become profitable at lower industry volumes. Capitalize on cost structure improvement and maintain reduced incentive levels in GMNA by sustaining the cost reduction and operating flexibility progress so far resulting from the North American restructuring. Current U.S. and Canadian hourly labour agreements provide the flexibility to utilize a lower tiered wage and benefit structure for new hires, part-time employees and temporary employees. GM was to increase vehicle profitability by maintaining competitive incentive levels with strengthened product portfolio and by actively managing production levels through monitoring of dealer inventory levels. The twelve months ended December 31, 2010 and based on GMNAs 2010 market share, GMNAs earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) would have achieved breakeven at GMNA wholesale volume of approximately 2.3 million vehicles, consistent with an annual U.S. industry sales volume of approximately 9.5 to 10.0 million vehicles (General Motors, 2012). COST DRIVERS; SE Execute the Opel/Vauxhall restructuring plan. GM expected the Opel/Vauxhall restructuring plan to lower vehicle manufacturing costs. The plan included manufacturing rationalization, headcount reduction, labour cost concessions from the remaining workforce and selling, general and administrative efficiency initiatives. Specifically, GM has reached an agreement to reduce European manufacturing capacity by 20% through, among other things, the closing of Antwerp facility in Belgium and the rationalization of the powertrain operations in our Bochum and Kaiserslautern facilities in Germany. Additionally, GM had reached an agreement with the labour unions in Europe to reduce labour costs by Euro 265 million per year. The objective of the restructuring, along with the refreshed product portfolio pipeline, was to restore the profitability of the GME business. Enhance manufacturing flexibility. Primarily produce vehicles in locations where they are sold and have significant manufacturing capacity in medium- and low-cost countries, intention being to maximize capacity utilization across the production footprint to meet demand without requiring significant additional capital investment. For example, GM was able to leverage the benefit of a global architecture and start initial production for the U.S. of the Buick Regal 11 months ahead of schedule by temporarily shifting production from North America to RÃ ¼sselsheim, Germany (General Motors, 2012). Maintain a strong balance sheet. Given the businesss high operating leverage and the cyclical nature of the Motor industry, GM was to minimize on financial leverage. Excess cash was to be used to repay debt and to make discretionary contributions to the U.S. pension plans. Based on this planned reduction in financial leverage and the anticipated benefits resulting from operating strategy described above, GM would aim to attain an investment grade credit rating over the long-term (General Motors, 2012). Internationalization and Information Communication Strategy General Motors GM seeks to leverage on ICT to increase operational efficiency while generating value through saved costs.To execute this strategy, GM embraced a globally unified business model that emphasized the deployment of highly standardized engineering and manufacturing platforms that could be easily implemented and supported in any market around the world. The global, standards-based operating model would accelerate GMs move into emerging markets and generate efficiencies and cost savings through the use of common infrastructure components and processes. Among key initiatives designed to support the new unified operating model, GM invested in information technologies to more tightly integrate its manufacturing plants across the globe, control costs, and accelerate the introduction of new communications and collaboration applications. Key to this strategy was the implementation of modern standards-based network architecture called the Plant Floor Controls Network (PFCN) at mo re than 150 GM manufacturing plants worldwide (Cisco, 2010). Based on a single set of Cisco-based network designs and equipment, the PFCN solution replaced GMs aging and heavily customized legacy networks that were becoming increasingly unreliable, as well as difficult and expensive to maintain. The move to the PFCN solution enabled GM to standardize the design of each plant network and establish a single engineering team that monitors and troubleshoots network operations globally. The result: network downtime has dropped by about 70%, leading to fewer unplanned work stoppages on the plant floor. Furthermore, GM now needs two-thirds fewer network engineers and analysts to support the same number of plants (Cisco, 2010). The standardized Cisco network design also helped GM rationalize and reduce its legacy inventory of network devices and spare parts, cutting inventory carrying costs by 70%. It also allowed GM to create cost-efficient global applications that can be rolled out to plants quickly, and to automate system-management tasks like upgrades and patches. As a result, GM now spends 30% less time managing plant software. According to an analysis by Mainstay Partners, GMs investment in the Cisco-based PFCN solution will generate a return on investment (ROI) of 166% (Cisco, 2010). The full range of benefits is illustrated in Figure 1 and includes: Figure 1 What? Financial Consequence $ Million Labor Cost Saving as a result an efficient deployment of network Engineers 21.2 Labor cost saving from more efficient deployment of network operations analysts 53.9 one-off savings from faster network setups at each plant 16.4 Cost Saving from leaner inventory quantities 5.4 Reduced lost unit profit contribution from higher network uptime 76.4 Total PFCN additional benefits in the next five years (estimate) 173 (Cisco, 2010) Describe the processes through which the strategy has been developed/formed based on your findings and knowledge/experience. (i.e., is it intended as a written document (as a plan), or emergent as a pattern of decision-making/activities/behaviours. Refer to Chapter 12). Chapter 12 Evaluation of GMs intended strategy As consequence of many years of bad strategic decisions and operational troubles GM US market share has fallen to 20 percent for the first time in decades (51 percent at the peak of the company dominance) and its sales outside the United States now almost equal its domestic sales. GM has become a bureaucratic organization with immense dimensions and difficult to manage. The innovation and customer focus orientation that once served as the pillar of the organization had blurred. For many years now, GM has been producing boring and low quality cars with lack of innovation and distinctiveness creating a total disconnection between customers needs and its products (Vaccara, 2009). GM core problems were: Deficient product development (including lack of innovation) and the difficulty to develop cars that appeal to the market had created a bad reputation for its brands and the company in general. Lack of customer focus orientation and the impossibility to listen to the market voice had been impeding GM to create customer value and therefore hurting its sales in large scale. Disproportioned increase in healthcare and benefits costs giving in to union demands and creating a program that paid workers even when plants were not running had created financial deficiencies and affected cash flows and operations. The increasing size of its divisional organizational structure due to bureaucracy and the difficulty to manage many brands across many markets around the world had developed into a major managerial problem for the company (Vaccara, 2009). Emergent strategy On 2nd June, 2009, General Motors declared itself bankrupt in a legal filing at a federal courthouse in downtown Manhattan, kicking off the biggest industrial insolvency in US history. According to GMs bankruptcy filing, the company had assets of $82.3 billion, and liabilities of $172.8 billion. That would make GM the fourth largest U.S. bankruptcy on record, according to Bankruptcydata.com, just behind the 2002 bankruptcy of telecom WorldCom (Cark, 2009). GM used the trip into bankruptcy court to shed plants, dealerships, debt and other liabilities it could no longer afford. Emerging out of bankruptcy quickly was a new GM, made up of the four brands that GM would keep in the U.S. market; Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick as well as many of its more successful overseas operations (Isidore, 2009). Obama said the massive reorganization of GM would leave the US government holding 60% of the companys equity. But it was necessary to preserve an iconic symbol of American business and maintain a viable US auto industry (Cark, 2009). Todays GMs business strategy is developed as a result of the failures of the Old GM and their determination not to repeat the same mistakes. Most of the current strategies are part of those imposed on the old GM when it borrowed money. Evaluate innovation/entrepreneurship practices/strategies used by the organization. Refer Chapter 9. Innovation and Entrepreneurship GMs innovation is driven by market pull. Market pull reflects a view of innovation that goes beyond invention and sees the importance of actual use. At GM, managements are making an effort to establish a direct connection with customers and giving the impression that their voice is now important for the company. It now offers a 60 day satisfaction warranty. This strategy is reflected under the slogan: If you dont love it well take it back. GM is also producing some environmentally friendly vehicles. A more environmentally conscious population seem to be very interested and this strategy seems to work fine due to the rising cost of fuel. Therefore it is extremely necessary to address issues like availability of alternative fuels and revise current infrastructure to estimate feasibility of the strategy in the long run (Vaccara, 2009). Open or closed innovation Open innovation means that valuable ideas can come from inside or outside the company and can go to market from inside or outside the company as well (Chesbrough, 2003), while closed innovation is a traditional approach to innovation where organizations rely on their own internal resources; its laboratories and marketing departments (Johnson, Whittington, Scholes, 2011). GM applies an open innovation framework. GM gathers its data from customer clinics and marketing surveys and combine this information with formalized assessments of new technology. These analyses are used to guide vehicle and feature concept studies, which are critically reviewed to determine appropriate responses to emerging market and business opportunities. A response can be that no action is taken on a particular idea if they do not think it will yield true value for the customer. But more typically, the response leads to action, which is taken along one of two paths (Howell, 2000). The first path is to get it into the product now. This route is taken if the technology is ready and getting it into a product is just a matter of final development and vehicle integration. In this case, it is targeted for a production date and becomes part of the product plan. When a technology is not yet mature, it is the responsibility of the RD Center to develop it to the point where it is ready for integration into a future product (Howell, 2000). The intent of the innovation process is to ensure that a steady stream of product and technology options is developed on the basis of the companys sense of where the market is headed. These options are potential responses that GM can use to capitalize quickly on new opportunities. The process is designed to be dynamic, with new information and ideas moving continuously through the system. Each time the company goes through an innovation cycle, they gain knowledge and discover new ways to apply it to subsequent product and technology programs (Howell, 2000). Innovators or Followers The key choice of GM managers is to be leaders and not followers. The firm is trying to get its innovation out to the market and make it first than anybody else. GM wants to become a worldwide leader automaker providing total customer value through customer-driven service, innovation, technology and competitive operations. They want to re-invent the automobile industry focusing on protecting and contributing to a cleaner world. They want to become a good place to work, a place in which every employee feels proud of its responsibilities and performance with the company. A place in which, customers and suppliers are their top priority and communications with them are fluent in every possible contact point. A place in which, distributors are proud to become part of their family and feel confident of the quality and safety of their products. Finally, they must experiment with ideas to develop new designs and innovative products and launch them accordingly, to satisfy consumer taste and a llow stockholders to realize a fair return on their investment (General Motors, 2011). Conclusion

Salvador Luria :: essays research papers

Salvador Luria   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Salvador Luria was one of the founders of microbiology, as we know it. He emigrated from here from his native country of Italy in 1940. His work in the United States is his best known. His work on bacteriophage (bacterial virus) here brought up many new topics in bacteriology, biochemistry, and virology.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Born in 1912 in Turin, Italy Salvador Luria was born to David Luria and Ester Sacerdote. His father was a well-respected Jewish leader in his hometown. Salvador attended Liceo d’Azeglio high school. This was one of Northern Italy’s most highly recognized schools. After he finished high school he enrolled in medical school at the University of Turin. In medical school he studied with nerve tissue expert Giuseppe Levi. He met Ugo Fano who later taught him calculus and physics in an after school class using astronomy as a base.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The influence that Fano had on Salvador was so great that he decided to pursue basic sciences. He decided to go with Radiology, he believed this was the gap between physics and medicine. He received his medical degree in 1935. Although he had received his degree he was not happy. He believed Radiology was the most boring part of the medical world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Salvador was drafted into the Italian Army as a medic. This proved he was not made for a medical career. He was discharged in 1937 and moved to Rome. In Rome he study at the Physics Institute of the University of Rome. He was shown the writings of Max Delbruck, who had boldly stated a gene, was a molecule. Salvador later said that Max’s writings were the â€Å"Holy Grail of biophysics.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While living in an old broken down trolley car in the streets of Rome Salvador started a conversation with a microbiologist by the name of Geo Rita. Geo introduced him to bacteriophage, Salvador believed he could prove Max’s theory. He fled Europe in 1940 when the Nazi war machine was an approaching. He acquired an American visa and came to the United States.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once he arrived in the United States he got a position at Columbia University. He got a hold of Delbruck and Delbruck agreed to help him in his experiments. They spent the summer of ’41 in Columbia University’s Biological Laboratory. Here Salvador rejoined his old friend Ugo Fano. In 1942-1943 he continued his bacteriophage studies. He was trying to prove the process or processes that caused bacteria mutation.

Diamonds Are My Best Friend Essay -- essays research papers

“It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in spring, when everything else begins again. And it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings. And then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.'; A. Bartlett Giamatti, the former commissioner of Major League Baseball. From the lush, green grass to the smell of an old leather glove, baseball is truly an extraordinary game. Let us look beyond the enormous salaries and free agency and examine baseball for what it really is: an outstanding form of entertainment. Baseball is incredibly important to me, as not only have I learned an enormous amount from it, I have experienced a whole spectrum of emotions during my love affair with the game. I have been a baseball fan all my life. I remember watching my beloved St. Louis Cardinals play in their robin’s egg blue uniforms in the early 1980’s. We had a birdfeeder in our backyard, and every morning, the same cardinal would stop for his breakfast. I named him Tommy Herr, after the Cardinals second baseman at the time. Tommy has long since retired, but I will always remember the little bird flying in my backyard. It is difficult for one to approach this subject without a sense of heroism and romanticism of it’s rich history. One of my favorite parts of going to the ballpark is listening to the fascinating stories of old timers, the men who have loved the game since childhood. They remember Musial, Maris, and Mantle. They can tell you stories of hearing Hank Aaron hitting his record breaking home run on the radio, or watching Lou Gehrig as a young child. Many of the greatest baseball stories can be heard from these men, living encyclopedias if what the game once was, and it today. Someday I will be sitting in the box seats of a ballpark, and a young child will take the seat beside me. I can captive his imagination with anecdotes of Cal Ripken Jr.’s remarkable streak, Ozzie Smith’s amazing back flips, Pedro Martinez’s menacing fastball, and the magical summer of 1998 when Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire mystified the world with their long ball heroics. Only in recent years have I begun to truly appreciate the game for what it really is. While some go to the ballpark to see home runs, popular players, or fireworks, I find myself attracted to th... ... that next year, it will all begin again. A fresh new start. A brand new season. However, right now, it is fall. A pitcher grabs a coat to keep his throwing arm warm in this chilly rain, and soon the entire dugout is seen donning coats. The leaves start to change to brown. Kids go back to school. Football begins to creep onto the minds and lips of sports fans. The season comes to a close, and the spring looks terribly far away with an icy cold winter between now and the promises that lie ahead. Baseball has survived throughout the years. It has survived two World Wars. It has survived a depression. It will continue to survive throughout the next millennium. It has gone on strike and saw half it’s fans leave, then watched them come back to see truly great men exhibit even greater talent. Baseball is a sport for the ages. Eighty year old men who have watched this game for years come to the park and sit next to eight year old boys who have never seen a professional game in their lives. That’s what baseball is all about. It is extraordinary. Athletes rise above the compitition and achieve greatness while astonishing veteran fans and simultaneously earning new ones.

Beauty and Beast

Beauty and Beast is a story of love, liberty, freedom, and identity in the society. It exposes the readers to a widower merchant living in his mansion with his six children, three daughters, and three sons. Even though the three girls are beautiful, the youngest, Beauty is the prettiest. She is equally kind and pure-hearted. The other two are selfish, spoiled and vain. In explicating the things that happen in the story, the author uses different literary tools to make the story electrifying while giving the readers an outlook that contrasts the inner beauty with the outer one (Warner, 1995). The stylistic devices are essential for the progression of the characters and development of the plot.The merchant finally loses everything at the sea. Live becomes challenging and the family moves to a farmhouse where they work for a living. As stated in the story, â€Å"Suddenly the merchant lost his fortune, and the only property he had left with was a small country house quite far from the city† (Zipes, 2005 pp. 806). From the statement, it is apparent that the life has taken a different twist for the family and it has to adjust to the new status to survive. Some years later, he gets the news that one of the ships that had sent off has landed on the port after escaping destruction. He then leaves for a journey to check on it but before leaving, he asks his children what they would want him to bring for them. The sons ask for weapons and horses, the oldest daughters' requests for jewels and good dresses while Beauty is only comfortable with a rare rose.However, it does not ogre well with him as he finds out that his ship has been apprehended to settle his debts. He is left with no money to buy the gifts that he promised his children. While on his way returning home, he is lost in the storm and cannot trace his way home. He looks for shelter and bumps into an elaborate palace, where he finds tables with sufficient food and drink, which appears to have been left for him by an unknown person. He accepts the gifts and spends the night at the palace, but in the morning sees a rose and remembers to take it to her daughter, Beauty. That decision opens a bandura box for more challenges that force him to accept tough conditions for his safety. After plucking the rose, the Beast told him â€Å"You're very ungrateful† he then added, â€Å"I saved your life by offering you hospitality in my c astle, and then you steal my roses, which I love more than anything else in the world. You shall die for this mistake† (Zipes, 2005 pp. 808). Life becomes tougher every moment for the merchant. The Beast makes a demand that he would only let him go if he would allow one of his daughters to return. Even though not happy about it, he has no otherwise than to accept the condition. The Beast gives him enough wealth, fine clothes, jewels, but tells him that Beauty should not know about their agreement (Warner, 1995). When he reaches home, he talked to his children. His sons are willing to go, but the merchant is unready to allow them to go. Beauty then agrees to go, and upon arrival, she is well received by the Beast who graciously tells him that she is the mistress of the castle and that the Beast would be her servant. Beauty spends three months in the castle but was troubled by the fact that every time before she goes to bed, the Beast would ask for her hand in marriage. She insists that she is only a friend, but not interested in getting married to him. She says, â€Å"I'll always be your friend. Try to be content with that† (Zipes, 2005 pp. 812). At night, he dreams of a good-looking prince persuading her to accept the proposal. At first, she cannot comprehend the relationship between the prince and the Beast but later realizes that he is a captive in the palace. One major takeaway from the story is that even the dreadful people in the world also have something good out of him.Later, the Beauty gets sick and asks the Beast to allow her to go home to see her father. She agrees to get back soon, but while home, her sisters become envious and uses tricks to shed false tears after rubbing onions on his eyes. They do so to make her delay so that the Beast would get angry with her. She then feels guilty for having broken the promise she made to the Beast (Zipes, 2005). She uses the mirror to see him back in the palace but is horrified to see him heartbroken near the rose bush where her father had plucked her gift. She weeps over him telling him that she loves. Suddenly, the Beast is transformed into a handsome prince that she has always seen in her dreams. He narrates to her that he was turned into a beast by a fairy and that the only thing that could save him is finding a true love.To conclude, the story has a lot for the readers to learn and disinter. For instance, through Beauty, one can appreciate the character. The content of one's character enables him or her to attract good things, including the lost fortunes. Through the Beast, one can appreciate that even the dreadful people have the other side of life that can be appreciated. Finally, even if the family was challenged and walked from grace to grass, through one good person, their glory could be restored.

Multiculturalism the problem today

In turn toing the essay inquiry Is Multiculturalism the job now ; I will be reasoning that it is a job now by giving sensible and valid justifications. I will be besides examine the single constructs and definitions of multiculturalism every bit good as touching somewhat on urban civilization, and show how these constructs are represented in today ‘s society with negatively. Harmonizing to Giddens ( 2001 ) civilization is defined as â€Å"the values, ceremonials and ways of life feature of a given group† . These values and norms can change and are slightly dependent on societal and cultural influences experienced by a peculiar group. One such peculiar group or civilization I will be looking at are Muslims and the decisions that Tariq Modood drew when measuring the after mat of the bombardments of 7/7. Other such groups or influences can in bend create the outgrowth of farther subcultures within mainstream civilization that can be identified and segmented by elements such as ethnicity, gender and faith, and in bend become subcultures which is defined as â€Å"meaning systems, manners of look or life styles developed by groups in low-level structural places in response to dominant significance systems, and which reflect their effort to work out structural contradictions originating from the wider social context† ( Brake: 1985: p8 ) . Subcultures harmonizing to Blake ( 1985 ) are different from one another because they each consist of three typical basicss they are â€Å"Image – visual aspect composed of costume, accoutrements such as hair – manner, jewelry and artifacts. Demeanour – made up of look, pace and position, for illustration what they were and how they wear it. Argot – a particular vocabulary and how it is delivered to work out structural contradictions originating from the wider social context† . ( Brake: 1985: p8 ) . Most theorist including Thornton ( 1995 ) have the same decision when specifying subcultures ; â€Å"Subcultural political orientations are a agencies by which youth imagine their ain and other societal groups assert their typical character and affirm that they are non anon. members of an uniform mass† . ( Thornton: 1995: p185 ) . When looking at subculture, Hebdige ( 1979 ) acknowledge â€Å"That familiar objects warrant analysis as marks and depositories of organized significances, as much linguistic or ‘pure ‘ ocular signal. Under the conceptual umbrella of subculture, he brings together art, literature, music, manner, and even attitude, and places these on the same analytical plane. ( McRobbie: 1994: p14-15 ) . Multiculturalism is normally defined as the acknowledgment of diverse cultural brotherhoods that applies to the demographic make-up of different topographic points or intuitions. The thoughts of multiculturalism are the interaction of diverse cultural civilizations that need to be respected and valued in mundane life. Pakulsk ( 1997 ) believes that multiculturalism can besides be translated as cultural citizenship, which is a combination of civil, political and societal rights. Cultural citizenship involves others admiting and accepting the demands and differences when set uping equal rights to suit these differences. ( Fulcher & A ; Scott: 2007 ) , which besides includes an person to show one ‘s ain individuality, instead than an individuality be forced onto them as society deem tantrum. Harmonizing to the Parekh study ( 2000 ) multiculturalism covers five single facets, which as follow:All persons have the right to be treated every bit, irrespective of gender, coloring material, ethnicity, faith and age.As Britain is a broad and multicultural society it needs to take into history the demands of other spiritual and cultural communities.Persons all have different demands which can non be ignored a unvarying signifier of intervention can non be applied has this will take to favoritism and equality.Each society needs to consistent and respectful of diverseness and alteration.That equal chances and self – development should be for all.The Parekh study ( 2000 ) besides goes on to province that adjust to coherence, equality and diverseness by using three different theoretical accounts the first being the Nationalist theoretical account which is when the province promotes a â€Å"single national culture† ( The Parekh Report: 2000 ) .Whereas the existent theore tical account is based on the fact that Britain is a homogenous society, which it is non because of its many at odds traditions. The 2nd theoretical account is that of the Liberal theoretical account which requires a â€Å"common political culture† ( The Parekh Report: 2000 ) . A difference of both the populace and private domains needs to be acknowledged within different communities, and non merely for the dominant civilization. Where as the dominant civilization is shown through linguistic communication, faith, values and ethical motives, which minorities do non experience that they can take part in as they are made to experience inferior. The last theoretical account is that of the pluralist theoretical account which focuses on â€Å"cultural diverseness is accommodated in the public realm† ( The Parekh Report: 2000 ) . In the theoretical account alteration and integrating is recognized and non merely tolerated. When specifying urban civilizations we are uniting a mixture of different metropoliss all over the Earth, that have certain behaviors and cultural basicss that are different from persons populating in rural countries. Urban civilization is â€Å"The metaphor for corporate life and the new infinite for researching both individuality and difference ( Jenks: 1993: p189 ) . The word urban is used in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada to exemplify hip hop civilization or a sub vision of black civilization. Caribbean civilization has â€Å"A distant societal and geographical footing and is the merchandise of a alone historical experience ( The Parekh Report: 2000: p29 ) . But Caribbean civilization has besides been diluted by other cultural influences such as â€Å"East Indian, British, Spanish, Gallic, Dutch, Portuguese and Chinese. It can non be traced back to one set of roots† ( The Parekh Report: 2000: p29 ) . In decision, modern-day Youth civilization chiefly relies on selling and consumerism, without assorted media formats i.e. the cyberspace, magazines, and record labels, wireless Stationss and music telecastings young persons would happen it difficult to emulate persons or follow manner tendencies and remain abreast with the latest technological promotion such as the development of societal networking sites viz. Facebook and Twitter. When the mainstream media is picturing youth civilization, multiculturalism and urban civilization, more frequently than non they are negatively reproduced or sensationalised to derive maximal impact in order to derive readers attending, therefore the positive facets of youth civilization is frequently ignored in favour sensationalisation. One such media mercantile establishment which is rather expert at this negative reproduction is the South London Press which preponderantly highlights violent offenses ( allegedly ) committed by black urban young persons in the South London locality. Then there is the Eastern Eye which is a publication that is circulated in the Asiatic communities of Hounslow and Southall in West London that focuses on ( allegedly ) offense that is committed by urban Asians young persons. This phenomenon could be attributed to market cleavage as publishing houses attempt to aim a specific section of a crowded market place with dwindling readership Numberss in order to derive limited market portion, in my position this effort by print media to derive market portion and increase circulation have resulted in them concentrating chiefly on negative sensationalised headlines and either intentionally or negligently take to disregard positive facets of youth civilization and in peculiar urban civilization.Bi bliographyBlake, M ( 1985 ) Comparative young person civilizations – The sociology of young person civilizations and young person subcultures in America, Britain and Canada, USA, Routledge and Kegan Paul Inc Fulcher, J & A ; Scott, J ( 2007 ) Sociology, Oxford University Press Giddens, A ( 2001 ) Sociology Fourth edition, Cambridge, Polity Press Haralambos, A ( 1983 ) Sociology a new attack, Polity Press Jenks, C ( 1993 ) Culture – Second Edition, Routledge Kidd, W, Kirby, M, Koubel, F, Barter, J Hope, T Kirton, A, Madry, N, Manning, P, and Triggs, K ( 1998 ) Reading sociology, Oxford, Heinemann educational publishing houses Longhurst, B ( 1995 ) Popular music and society, Cambridge, Polity imperativeness McRobbie, A ( 1994 ) Postmodernism and popular civilization, London, Routledge O ‘ Donnell, G ( 1993 ) Sociology today, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Representations and Youth, available at hypertext transfer protocol: //www.mediaed.org.uk/posted_documents/repsyouth.html The Parekh Report ( 2000 ) The Future of Multi- Ethnic Britain, Profile books Thornton, S ( 1997 ) The societal logic of subcultural capital { 1995 } .In K.Gelder and S Thornton Eds. , The subcultural reader. London, Routledge

Maker

Fees Payment System of Red Link Institute of Science and Technology: A proposed study toward computerized Payment System Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Background of the Study The technology today plays a vital role in our society. It makes man work easier and fast. It lessens error of work by using machines. It reduces costs to an organization from paper works up to computerized working system. Many manual transactions can be computerized by using software applications or computer systems to make work easier and efficient.It also helps human to solve and understand complex problem and analysis such us the computational need of humans. Payroll is an example of a complex transaction because it is a critical business operation dealing with numerous accounts and produce plenty and confidential files. Applying manual procedure on a Payroll transaction involving the vast beat answer in that problem would be computer because computers can simulate enormous data and can process complex transaction in a fast and efficient way.It can generate numerous accounts and data accurately. A Computerized Payment System will not only provide accurate calculation and fast process of Payroll transaction but it will secure data through security implementation and accordingly arrange files provided by a well designed database that will produce a paperless environment. Statement of the Problems The common problem of the study is how to improve the manual processing system of monitoring of student fees payment of The Red Link Institute of Science and Technology. 1.Time consuming process for the payment The Red Link Institute of Science and Technology still using the manual method of fees payment process. A lot of jobs are assigned to the payroll maker and accounting clerk, with cause’s inconvenience to their services. In this method, it will need more time and manpower to complete the payroll of each employee. 2. Laborious payment process Nobody could admit the inescapable fact that wha t makes the manual procedure take a long time to finish the task is due to the many steps and processes to undergo.There is the collection of data such as DTR, REMITTANCES, and individual manual calculation of payroll. Individual data is transferred through sheets, encoding and double checking after calculating. All this process requires labor and effort to complete the task. 3. Misposting and understating of employee’s data The logical process of manual procedure result to too much time consumption. It often times result in misposting and understating of each employees data of plenty of files that is hard to accommodate. Objectives of the StudyThis study is intended to design and develop a Computerized Payment System for Red Link Institute of Science and Technology. Specifically, this study aims: 1†¢ To minimize the effort of the User in processing the Payment Form. 2†¢ To make an efficient and accurate computation of Payment. 3. To create a well-arranged database and to implement strong security of the system for data security. Significance of the Study The proposed system will help the accounting section. It will help to lessen the time and effort of the School staff preparing payments of Students.The System develop can accommodate changing figures and produce a paperless environment through well design database. To Proponents This study will help the proponents to enhance the ability on how to create an understandable computerized system in an easy way. This will serve to the proponents as a challenge to do a better system. To the other Researcher This study gives knowledge to the researcher on how to create a Computerized System in understandable way. This will serve as a fresh ground for the researcher whose study will be related in the field of Information Technology.

Emily Dickinson’s “A Certain Slant of Light” Analysis Essay Essay

In her poem, There’s a certain Slant of light, Emily Dickinson uses metaphors and imagery to convey the feeling of solemnity and despair at winter’s twilight. The slanted light that she sees, is a metaphor for her battle with depression. Anyone who is familiar with Dickinson’s background will have a better understanding of what she is trying to say in this poem. Dickinson was known as a recluse and spent most of her life isolated from the outside world. The few people that she did come in contact with over the years are said to have had a major impact on her poetry. Although, her main muse of her work seems to be despair and internal conflict. What’s interesting about the poem is that Dickinson uses metaphors to describe depression, as well as religion. It is clear that the poet intends to highlight the light in the afternoon with its heaviness and solemnity. The time of year that the poet is describing is winter, while the time of day is twilight, or the afternoon, as said in the poem. Often times, and how I’ve interpreted it, the season, plus the time of day can be considered a metaphor for death. In Dickinson’s, There’s a certain Slant of light, she used a metered rhyming scheme that follows the pattern of ABCB. Since the poem uses rhyming, it’s closed form. There are four stanzas that almost have a hymn-like rhythm. It’s unclear if that was intentional or not due the religious metaphors within the stanzas. Dickinson used trochaic and iambic meters through out the poem. She also used stressed and unstressed syllables. The opening line of the poem, states the title and at the same time, introduces what the poem is essentially about. The poet goes on to say that the winter light, which slants in through the windows, weighs upon the speakers soul like â€Å"the Heft of Cathedral tunes.† Organs, with their multiple pipes, strike ears and fill Cathedrals with a sound that often leaves you with a feeling of unwelcome solemnity and grandiosity. This can leave listeners with an overwhelming feeling that lays heavy in their being. The image of winter, as well as the organ music, adds gloom to the poem. There’s a sense of anguish that the speaker is feeling and you believe that a certain slant of light might connote hope, but not even sunshine on a winter afternoon could bring happiness into the speaker’s life. Winter itself is a symbol of death and decay, opposed to summer, which is characterized by sunshine and joy. Like the Cathedral tunes, the light reminds her of desolation. The feeling of despair is transported into an auditory feeling, which is where the organs come in. The word â€Å"heft† has two meanings, weight and significance. It can refer to the cathedral tunes, and also the speaker being weighed down by despair. In the second stanza, the light oppresses her soul; it gives her a â€Å"Heavenly Hurt.† The experience of slanted light is a metaphor for ideas and how it feels to experience depression. This kind of heavenly hurt leaves no scar behind, but it creates an internal difference that brings a change in demeanor. The phrase â€Å"Heavenly Hurt† brings together a feeling of elation and the reality of what the speaker is feeling. The alliteration of this phrase is used as an emphasis. In the third stanza, the first two lines are, â€Å"None may teach it – Any – ‘Tis the Seal Despair -† This is saying that no one is able to teach us what death feels like. We can prepare for it, in the sense of what we believe will come after, but the actual physical and mental feeling is unknown. Death is very unpredictable in the way that we don’t know how our lives will end, but it’s on everyone’s mind. In the line, An imperial affliction, Sent us of the Air – (11-12) the speaker has made a connection with the winter light, the â€Å"Heavenly Hurt†, and the feeling of internal difference and despair. In Dickinson’s poem, an imperial affliction is a metaphor for an all-encompassing despair that comes from the air. Whenever we have a strong emotion, like happiness, we tend to see the world around us in a brighter light and over all it makes us feel joyful. If we’re feeling down, like the speaker of this poe m, we see the world as how we feel inside; things look unpleasant, and grey and dismal. We’re unable to see a ray of hope that is coming through the window in the form of sunshine. In the fourth stanza, when death, or â€Å"it† as the speaker calls it, comes everything listens. When someone dies, those still on this earth sometimes experience stillness in nature, as if the world is on hold and listening to us. In Dickinson’s poem the stillness comes from the slant of light, and the landscape and shadows listen and figuratively hold their breath. The landscape and shadows are personified in this stanza. The capitalization of â€Å"Landscape† and â€Å"Shadows† gives the impression that the speaker is referring to someone she knows. The mood here changes quite a bit compared to the first three stanzas of this poem. You get a sense of anticipation instead of despair, and the oppression that the speaker has felt has lifted and now she’s feeling light and maybe some what alluring. In the final two lines of the poem, the poet uses sort of a morbid imagery. â€Å"When it goes, ‘tis like the Distance, On the look of Death.† (15-16) Dead people have a distant look to them since the life in their being is gone somewhere else. We also see the exit of winter light at the end of the day in the same distant way we might see some deaths. Death is mysterious to those on earth, just as the sunset in the heart of winter is. The day is blanketed in shadows due to the sun’s proximity to earth during this season, and as it sets, it’s a gradual process, that sometimes leaves the world at a standstill, much like death. The dash at the end serves as emphasis that a period wouldn’t leave behind. As readers, we’re left with no definitive answers in regards to the light or the speaker’s internal despair. Dickinson almost made this intentional in a way that the reader might feel an equal despair or oppression at the outcome of the poem, or the â€Å"light† might leave us with a feeling of enlightenment and hope. At the end of this poem, we’re left with a feeling of despair, that Dickinson almost made intentional in order for the reader to better understand how the speaker feels as the light breaks through the windows on winter afternoons. Emily Dickinson’s use of imagery and metaphors highlights her battle with depression and isolation. There’s a certain Slant of light (about 1861) Emily Dickinson There’s a certain Slant of light, Winter Afternoons – That oppresses, like the Heft Of Cathedral Tunes – Heavenly Hurt, it gives us – We can find no scar, But internal Difference, Where the Meanings, are – None may teach it – Any – ‘Tis the Seal Dispair – An imperial affliction Sent us of the Air – When it comes, the Landscape listens – Shadows – hold their breath – When it goes, ‘tis like the Distance On the look of Death – Works Cited Page Kennedy, X. J.. An introduction to poetry. Boston: Little, Brown, 1966. Print.