Write A Unified Essay About The Way Each Author Portrayed The Devil In

Write a unified essay about the way each author portrayed the devil in "The Devil and Tom Walker" and "The Devil and Daniel Webster". Use examples from each to establish the controlling idea about how the authors developed the character. Show how each author uses specific literary techniques to develop the character. Red 3 "The Devil and Tom Walker" and "The Devil and Daniel Webster" might share similar titles, but their portrayal of the devil is completely different from the other. In fact, the only significant similarity between these two stories is the title. Of course, there are other details that are similar, but none significant enough to waste printer ink. Each author, Washington Irving and Stephen Ben?t, respectively, portrays the Devil in their own capacity, which makes the two stories even more enjoyable to read. Irving's "The Devil and Tom Walker" has the devil as more of a ruthless, "outdoorsy" type creature, while Ben?t's "The Devil and Daniel Webster" shows the devil as a common businessman, more civilized. "The Devil and Tom Walker" takes place during 1727 in the area that is today New England. Irving shows the area as very rural and country-like, and the main character, Tom Walker, is a very poor man, whose lifestyle is the epitome of a rural life. Therefore, the devil must be portrayed as normal in Tom's lifestyle. For while Tom was making his walk through the woods and "Ol' Scratch" was dressed in a pinstriped three-piece suit, he wouldn't fit the part. Therefore, the woodsman style persona of the devil, down to the dark skin and long hair, makes you feel like he is a complete part of Tom's environment. Besides the idea of the setting to bring about the devil, there is also the comparison to Tom himself. Normally, the Devil is shown at a similar level as the protagonist in a devil story. In "The Devil and Tom Walker", Tom is not a very educated man. He doesn't have a job that involves intelligence at first. When we first meet the devil, he is in a murky, swampy area, and talks to To m with a bit of a colloquial drawl. However, when we see the devil again at the end of the story, Tom is a bit more educated through his loan shark dealings, as well as through his extreme perusal of the Bible. When we see the devil now, he is on a long, dark horse, something that is a bit above the level of a murky swamp dweller. The imagery of the devil is a wonderful way that Irving has of making the devil seem so outdoors-like and rural. In making the devil, Irving's use of irony is wonderful, especially in the part where the devil had the names of prominent men engraved on his trees, as well as the part where Tom boldly states, "The devil take me if I have made a farthing!". Overall, Irving's "The Devil and Tom Walker" shows the lighter side of the devil. Ben?t's "The Devil and Daniel Webster", however, puts a whole different light on the devil. In this version of man vs. devil, the devil is shown as more of a businessman, rather than as an outdoorsman. His title is changed from "Ol' Scratch" to "Mr. Scratch", his wardrobe changes from dirty rags to briefcase carrying, and his setting and lifestyle change from swamp dweller to urban businessman. "The Devil and Daniel Webster" takes place over one hundred years later, in a pre-Civil War era, ranging from anywhere between 1835-1860. However, it is also taking place in New England, in the now-established state of New Hampshire. The character affiliated with the devil in this story is not Webster himself, but a commoner named Jabez Stone. Stone was a man who was very unlucky and unhappy with the way his life had been turning out so far, so he goes to the devil for help. This time, the devil makes a formal written agreement instead of a handshake, and has all his contracts filed in an orde rly manner. Ben?t makes it seem as though the devil is running a business or performing a profession rather than just doing it for the sole purpose of self-benefit.

How to Write a Presentation in Philosophy Easy Guide + 15 Powerful Topics

How to Write a Presentation in Philosophy Easy Guide + 15 Powerful Topics Stuck with your philosophy presentation and need advice? Many students believe that writing and delivering a good philosophy presentation is extremely challenging because writing in philosophy differs from writing in other college courses. They are mistaken. In fact, writing a good philosophy paper is similar to writing an impressive paper in history, literature or economics. Although philosophy papers have their specifics, good writing of any paper is the result of proper training, much practice, and hard work. To help you get started with your writing efforts, here we have gathered a lot of full guides to all writing assignments out there. In this article, we are going to discuss how to write an impressive presentation in philosophy. You will find a brief writing guide and 15 great philosophy presentation topics. What Is a Philosophy Presentation? Let’s start with discussing philosophy presentation specifics. Philosophical presentations are different from presentations in most subjects because you are not supposed to do a research, provide a report on a particular topic, present results of experiments and findings of specific tests or tell about your impressions or personal feelings. Instead, you need to provide a reasoned defense of your thesis statement. That means that you need to convey a specific point and provide justification or grounds to convince your audience to accept it. Generally, your ability to write demonstrates your ability to communicate ideas and provide a logical argument. But when it comes to writing and delivering a presentation in philosophy, you should also demonstrate your ability to think. And the quality of your philosophical writing is the measure of your ability to think clearly, concisely, and in a cohesive manner. Speaking about philosophy, being a good writer is the same as being a good thinker. A good philosophical presentation is clear and makes a logical argument where every sentence contributes to entire paper, providing compelling reasons for other people to accept the writer’s point of view. The goal of a good argument in philosophy is to express and defend true conclusions, clarifying the key reasons that support them and separating claims that fail to do it. That’s why you need to present arguments and critically evaluate them. Besides, your presentation should be well-organized with a clear structure that includes an introduction and a conclusion. And your paper should show your creative thinking – puzzles, interesting questions, innovative examples, rhetorical devices. How to Choose a Topic for a Presentation in Philosophy Choosing a great topic is one of the first things you should consider when working on your presentation and you should approach this important step wisely. Here are some useful tips on how to do it right. Choose a topic that you are interested in – your audience will appreciate your passion during the presentation; Make sure that your presentation topic is broad enough so you will be discussing an important issue. But your topic should be also narrow enough so you will be able to address the issue thoroughly during a short period of time; It’s crucial to understand the limitations of your topic and have a good idea of how much you can accomplish; Try to summarize your argument into a single paragraph. If you can’t do it, your topic is too broad. To help you get started, we offer you 15 awesome Philosophy topics for impressive presentations: Leibniz on Space and Time; Ancient Greek Skepticism; Wittgenstein on the Concept of Language Games; History of Feminist Philosophy; Is Death an Evil? Is Determinism Inherent in Nature? History of the Free Will Problem; Descartes Program of Radical Doubt; Russells Theory of Descriptions and Facts; Are There Absolute Certainties? Is Truth Relative or Absolute? How Does Human Perspective Evolve? Democracy and Its Difficulties; Civil Disobedience; Discuss the Idea of a Universal Language. Structuring a Philosophy Presentation When you have chosen a topic, make sure you clearly understand it and start reading recommended texts and take notes. After that spend some time thinking about the question itself and make sure that everything you have written is relevant to the question. There are two types of philosophy writings – exposition and evaluation but every philosophy presentation should include a clearly articulated thesis. It’s a certain claim that you will argue for. For example, if your presentation on Aristotle theory of ethics is expository, you may simply state your goal: ‘Aristotle supports a virtue theory of morality.’ If your presentation is argumentative, you need to clearly state your position in the philosophical debate: ‘I am going to argue that Aristotle theory of ethics fails because it doesn’t provide an appropriate interpretation of specific moral actions.’ After you have formulated a precise thesis statement, think about the content of your philosophy presentation – in what order you are going to explain different terms and positions, where you are going to present the position and argument of your opponent. Create an outline that will allow you to spot problems in your paper more easily. You may use the following general structure. Introduction Present your topic; State thesis statement that you will defend; Name the key points in your argument that support your thesis or state the issues that you will discuss and briefly outline the roadmap for your argument. Main Body Explain the arguments that you stated in the introduction and support them with citations, paraphrases, and quotes from the text; Critically evaluate the arguments. Conclusion Restate the thesis statement and summarize the basic issues that you have explained in the body and your criticism. Write an Introduction There is no need to make your introduction lengthy. Don’t start it with a general statement that your topic is important and that philosophers have been addressing this question for hundreds of years. Make your introduction as brief as possible. Go directly to your topic and introduce your thesis statement. Explain technical or ambiguous terms that you use in your thesis or in your argument. You can also tell your readers why they should care about the truth of your claim. Briefly outline the argument you are going to provide during the presentation and briefly tell about the argument that you are going to criticize. You may write the introduction using the first person singular: ‘First, I will analyze†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Try to avoid empty or abstract sentences like this one: ‘The paper will then describe an argument which P. provides for his conclusion.’ You’d better briefly state your argument to inform your audience about the subject of your presentation. Write Write Exposition It’s important to explain the whole argument before you start evaluating it. Try to make this part of your philosophy presentation as clear as possible and don’t forget to show logical connections between different points. Remember that an argument is the main goal of your paper so you should focus on it and never skip any steps. If you present any claim that your audience may find doubtful, give them good reasons that will convince them to accept it. Anticipate possible objections and present them to make your argument more compelling. Think about the strongest possible objections to the argument. You should also always present counterarguments and reasons which prove that your argument is true. Present your argument in one paragraph and then start another paragraph with: ‘However, other scholars believe that †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Write an Evaluation If your presentation is devoted to a specific philosophic theory, you need to discuss both its strengths and weaknesses. You need to tell about the strength of the theory, provide the arguments that support the theory and criticize them, and reply to the criticism. When making a critical evaluation of a philosopher’s position or theory, you can criticize their argument on the basis of 4 criteria: Lack of clarity in the author’s reasoning; Reasons that support the conclusion are false; The author provides reasons which don’t support his conclusion; The author doesn’t give implications of the reasoning. You can also compare 2 or more theories. In such papers, your thesis could be that one point of view is better than the other or that neither of them is clearly stronger. You may argue that every position has its own strengths and weaknesses. Write a Conclusion Your conclusion should briefly summarize the results of your arguments. Don’t speak about new issues or new criticism. Think about finding an innovative way to wrap up your presentations. Sometimes, you need to say that problems still remain. For example, it would be better to conclude a presentation about Socrates’ theory in this way: ‘Socrates’ well-known theory of recollection can be defended against different objections and criticism.’ Edit and Proofread Your Draft Reread your draft sentence by sentence and make sure that each point is expressed clearly. Make the necessary changes to improve the content and logic. Remember that your presentation should be written in a simple language and everything should be direct and to the point. Look for opportunities to improve your structure such as rewriting awkward sentences, adding appropriate examples and transitions. Make sure your talk is divided into sections which coincide with the logical structure and provide signposts for your audience. Don’t attempt to cover too much material or present too complicated content. Your audience won’t be reading your paper, they will be listening to you. It’s critical to estimate how much time is needed for your audience to grasp your key points and how complex your argument should be to ensure that your audience will be able to fully understand it. If you present too much material, your listeners will not be able to follow your presentation because they will be bored or disengaged. That’s why you may need to simplify the material to make your philosophy presentation easy to follow. Use straightforward prose. Try to use short simple sentences and keep your paragraphs short as well. Express your ideas with only familiar words and be careful with using specialized language. When you are satisfied with the content of your final draft, proofread it carefully to eliminate grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes. Read your paper aloud to make sure that your prose is clear and concise and ask someone else to read your paper. If this person is unable to understand your presentation completely and gets stuck on certain sentences, you should revise your content again and smooth it out. Create Visual Aids for Your Presentation in Philosophy Visual aids are important when delivering any presentation because they can help your audience understand better the structure of your argument and make it easier for them to follow it. Visual aids are also helpful for emphasizing your key points and key terms. You can create hand outs and slides (Keynote, PowerPoint) to make your presentation more impressive. Make sure that your slides and handout are easy to read – avoid using fancy fonts and too small typeface. Don’t include a lot of text on the slides because it’s a hindrance for your audience. The only exceptions are certain definitions that can help your listeners follow your logic. Create bulleted lists of keywords and short phrases so that each point on your slides could be read in less than 2 seconds. Never include long quotes or complex formulas because they are time-consuming to absorb. Finally, when you are satisfied with the text and the slides, you should practice giving your philosophy presentation beforehand. In this way, you’ll increase your chances to avoid certain pitfalls of a bad presentation. When practicing, you should try to speak in a way that is natural to you and get the timing of your talk. Ask a couple of friends to listen while you are practicing and ask for their feedback. They can make some suggestions for adjusting. Practice delivering your presentation in philosophy several times and you’ll feel more confident in your ability to impress your audience and enhance your chances for the success. We hope that our detailed writing guide will help you create and deliver a powerful philosophy presentation that will make a great impact on your audience.

The purpose of Building Standards Dissertation

The purpose of Building Standards - Dissertation Example In the UK, over one third of the carbon dioxide emissions come from buildings. The emission of carbon dioxide is very harmful to the environment and in order to protect the ozone layer we have to emphasise the importance of standards. Building Standards are fundamental to the health and safety of us all. In this regard the authorities are working hard to ensure that standards are achieved and continuously improved. Compliance and enforcement has become new issues as standards are being adapted to keep abreast with design, technology, materials and construction, as well as energy conservation issues. However, there has been increasing concerns with regards to the level of compliance, frequency, pace and increasing complexity of these changes. Construction standards have evolved overtime with frequent and more complex Building Regulations since the 1990’s. These changes relate to: Structure of buildings, Fire safety to both dwelling houses and other buildings, Site preparation a nd resistance to contaminants and moisture; Toxic substances; Resistance to the passage of sound; Ventilation; Hygiene; Drainage and waste disposal; Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems; Guidance and Supplementary Information on the UK Implementation of European Standards for Chimneys and Flues; Conservation of fuel and power to existing dwelling houses, other buildings, new dwelling houses and other new buildings; access to and use to buildings; Glazing – safety in relation to impact, opening and cleaning.

Violence in Schools and Social Development Essay

Violence in Schools and Social Development - Essay Example While many methods have been utilized to address this issue, they generally fall somewhere between the liberal ideals regarding rehabilitation of the perpetrators of violence because they have had a disadvantaged childhood to the conservative approach which advocates punishment and restitution to the victim. Generally speaking, the liberal view supports compassion while the conservative believes strictly in the individual accounting for their actions. Violence in schools is being viewed more and more as not only a social injustice issue for children but also as a public health concern. Violence creates an atmosphere of fear that affects the victims, the offenders and the surrounding public. This cycle of fear and mistrust propagates both antisocial and self-disparaging patterns of behavior. For the offender, studies have concluded that there often is a progression of aggressive and violent behaviors over time. Victims of violence, especially young people, carry with them throughout their lives the emotional scars usually in the form of self-criticism. Those kids that perpetually commit violent acts towards classmates are more likely to use drugs and alcohol, to quit going to school altogether and go on to be involved in criminal behaviour later in life. Children who are often the victims of schoolyard violence tend to experience more stress in their lives which leads to higher levels of anxiety, depression, physical illnesses and thoughts of suicide than those that do not. For both bully and bullied, these actions negatively affect learning potentials and retards personal development. The seemingly never ending cycle of intimidating actions works to tear apart the underpinnings of a civil society from the bottom up. The reason children act out violently towards others is because they have been treated with disrespect or have been bullied themselves. A pattern of poor social adjustment perpetuates itself

Business Law For Example Coca-Cola Research Paper

Business Law For Example Coca-Cola - Research Paper Example Further, through this report, it is clear that the company has the duty to ensure strict observance of the different laws to reduce the harm that any come as result of non-compliance. Given the sensitive nature of the business that the company (Coca-cola) engages in, it is important to ensure that the company abides by laws intellectual property. Given that Coca-Cola deals with secrets that must be protected. The advantage of this to the company is that they can protect their original ideas so that the inventions and innovations of the company. By listing their innovations and making use intellectual laws that protect their works. The essence of these laws is that they will encourage creativity in the company. Through these sought of these laws ensure that technologies are protected and that individuals who work to bring new ideas are encouraged to bring new innovations. The encouragement makes those involved in the innovation and secrets to enjoying the benefits of their hard earned labor. In this regard, the company should protect intellectual property through copyrights, patents, and trademarks (Edmonds, 2013). Through copyrights, the company is capable of protecting the expressive arts such as the shape of the bottles of soda. That would prevent any other person or organization from using or displaying such materials to the public. Patents, on the other hand, would protect the inventions of the company from being used by any other company. For example, Coca-Cola ingredients are protected and that make them exclusive to the company. On the same note, the company can make use of trademarks to protect the name of the company from being used in any other place in the world. This also applies to products made by the company.

Biochemical Analysis of Rice

Biochemical Analysis of Rice Rice (Oryza sativa (2n = 24) is a monocot plant and belongs to the Poaceae family and Oryzoidea subfamily. It occupies almost one-fifth of the total land area under world cereals. It covers about 148 million hectares annually that is roughly 11 percent of the world-cultivated land. It is life for more than half of humanity and in past, it shaped the cultures, diets, and economies of billions of people in the world (Farooq et al., 2009). More than 90 percent of the worlds rice is grown and consumed in Asia where 60 percent of the world population lives. The world major rice consuming countries are China, India, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Philippines, Japan, Brazil, South Korea and USA that consume 135, 85, 39, 37, 26, 18, 10, 10, 9.7, 8.7, 8.1, 5.0 and 3.9 million metric ton, respectively (Meng et al., 2005; USDA, 2003-04). Biochemical and nutritional aspects of rice Rice is a major source of macro and micronutrients for human being. It feeds more than two billion people worldwide and is the number one staple food in Asia. It provides over 21 percent of the calorific needs of the worlds population and up to 76 percent of the calorific intake of the population of South East (SE) Asia (Fitzgerald et al., 2009). It is mostly consumed as a polished grain, which usually lacks its nutritional components such as minerals and vitamins 41 P. Lucca et al., Genetic engineering approaches to enrich rice with iron and vitamin A, Physiol. Plant. 126 (2006), pp. 291-303. Full Text via CrossRef | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (7)( Lucca et al., 2006). Since the advent of molecular techniques, recently genetically modified rice verities have been developed, which contains more nutritional aspects like minerals and vitamins in endosperm (Vasconcelos et al., 2003; Paine et al., 2005; Fitzgerald et al., 2009). The major value-added nutritional protein c onstituents of the rice. Rice Position in Pakistan In Pakistan, besides its importance as a food crop, rice is the second important component of daily diet of bulk of the population after wheat. About 23% of the total foreign exchange earnings is shared by rice and thus called as Golden Grain of Pakistan (Shah et al., 1999). Around one third of total production is annually exported and two third is locally consumed to meet food needs. Rice is also used in dishes for special occasions (Sagar et al., 1988). Pakistan is the third largest rice exporting country. In Pakistan, rice occupies about 10% of the total cultivated area, accounts for 6.1% of value added in agriculture and 1.3% in gross domestic product. Production of rice during 2007-08 was estimated at 5,540 thousand tones, 10.4% higher than last year with 6.1% increase in yield per hectare (Anonymous, 2006). Area, production and yield of rice for the last 5 years are shown in Fig. 1. Varieties of basmati rice, sub-species of indica, are economically important due to the high quality of the grain and constitute an important source of revenue for two major rice-growing countries in Asia (Pakistan and India). The international market for basmati rice has always been higher than that of the moderate varieties. Pakistans annual rice export stands at about 2.5 million tons, which earn a total of 513.0 million dollars for the country (Anonymous, 1998). During the year 2005-2006 rice export was about one billion US$ (Bashir et al., 2007). Rice growing areas of Pakistan Depending upon the irrigation water availability, rice can be grown in any part of the country from sea level up to 2500m height. Pakistan has a climate and a potential in soil that permits the expectations of a most bright future for the productions of rice. Considering temperature difference, optimum sowing seasons and the varietals performance, rice growing areas can be divided in four ecological zones (Salim et al., 2003; Table-1.2). Rice is grown in all four provinces of Pakistan. However, the acreage under rice varies greatly from one province to another. The Punjab and Sindh are the major rice growing provinces with about 59% and 33%, respectively of the total rice in the country. The remaining 5% of the area is planted in Baulochistan and 3% in NWFP (Bhatti and Anwar, 1994). Despite the fact that its cultivated area is far smaller than wheat (more than 7.24 million), it has a great impact on national economy due to two reasons. Firstly, rice is the only crop which can be grown successfully in vast chunks of salt-ridden and water-logged areas where it facilitates not only the reclamation of land for the cultivation of other crops but also provide food. Secondly, superior quality basmati has a consistently increasing demand in the foreign countries. Consequently, there is a great scope for augmenting the foreign exchange earning by exporting it in bigger quantity. In view of these facts, it is highly desirable to increase the production and improve the quality of rice the quality is particularly more important from the trade view point, as it is instrument entail in increasing and then sustaining the demand in the foreign market in competition with other rising exporting countries. There in no denying the fact that purity is the very sole of quality. The impurities not only restrict the export trade, but also inflict losses to the growers, millers and the consumers alike. Therefore, these should possibly be minimized (Saleem et al., 2003). Major rice varieties in Pakistan More than 20 rice varieties have been released for general cultivation in Pakistan (Bashir et al., 2007). A general description of agronomical and physiochemical characteristics of these varieties. Importance of Basmati Rice in Pakistan There are thousands of rice varieties and landraces, which differ with respect to plant and grain characteristics. Of these, aromatic (Basmati) rice constitutes a small but special group that is regarded as best in grain quality, superior aroma and usually used for special dish preparation (Khush and dela Cruz, 2001). Quality of rice may be considered from the view point of size, shape and appearance of grain, milling quality and cooking properties (Dela Cruz and Khush, 2000). Pakistan is famous for the production and export of Basmati rice. The origin of the word Basmati can be trade to the word Basmati meaning earth recognized by its fragrance. The Hindi word Bas was derived from the Pakrit word BAS and has a Sanskrit root Vassy (Aroma), while Mati originated from Mayup (ingrained from the origin). In common usage Vas is pronounced as Bas and while combining Bas and Mayup, the later changed to Mati thus the word Basmati (Ahuja et al., 1995; Gupta, 1995). The fragrance of basmati rice is most closely associated with the presence of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (Buttery et al., 1983; Lorieux et al., 1996; Widjaja et al., 1996; Yoshihashi et al., 2002). Although many other compounds are also found in the headspace of fragrant rice varieties (Widjaja et al., 1996) possibly due to secondary effects related to the genetic background of the rice variety, 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline is widely known to be the main cause of the distinctive basmati and jasmine fragrance. The desirability of fragrance has resulted in strong human preference and selection for this trait. Non-fragrant rice varieties contain very low levels of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, while the levels in fragrant genotypes are much higher (Widjaja et al., 1996). Basmati rice occupies a prime position in the Indian subcontinent and is becoming increasingly popular in Middle East, Europe, USA and even in non-traditional rice growing countries such as Australia (Bhasin, 2000). High-quality, traditional Basmati rice varieties command premium prices, more than three times that of non-Bamati rices in the world market due to its exquisite aroma, superfine grain characteristics and excellent cooking (extra elongation, soft and flaky texture) qualities (Bhasin, 2000; Singh et al., 2000a; Khush and dela Cruz, 2002). Basmati rice traditionally grown in the Himalayan foothills regions of Pakistan and India, and the name is traditionally associated with this region. Basmati rice is the result of centuries of selection and cultivation by farmers (Khush, 2000). Cultivation of basmati rice in mainly confined to the Kallar tract (Gujranwala, Sheikhupura and Sialkot districts) of Punjab province. Basmati rice always fetch a higher price in the domestic as well as in the international market due to their peculiar quality features such as pleasant aroma, fine grain, extreme grain elongation (7.6mm long) and soft texture on cooking. In spite of hard competition from India, Thailand and the United States, Pakistan enjoys a good position in the global trade of aromatic rice and every year earns a lot of foreign exchange (Akram and Sagar, 1997). Genetic Diversity in Rice Diversity among organisms is a result of variations in DNA sequences and of environmental effects. The diversity in crop varieties is essential for agricultural development for increasing food production, poverty alleviation and promoting economic growth. The available diversity in the germplasm also serves as an insurance against unknown future needs and conditions, thereby contributing to the stability of farming systems at local, national and global levels (Singh et al, 2000). In crop improvement program, genetic variability for agronomic traits as well as quality traits in almost all the crops is important, since this component is transmitted to the next generation (Singh, 1996). Study of genetic divergence among the plant materials is a vital tool to the plant breeders for an efficient choice of parents for plant improvement. Genetically diverse parents are likely to contribute desirable segregants and/or to produce high heterotic crosses. Parents identified on the basis of dive rgence for any breeding program would be more promising (Arunachalam, 1981). In early 1970s, public authorities felt the need that genetic resources should be collected, maintained and conserved, especial focus was on important food crops e.g wheat, rice, barley etc (Hawkes 1983; Bellon et al., 1998; Barry et al., 2007). This was the first official attempt to preserve genetic diversity. Currently different genetic diversity assessment methods including morphological, biochemical and molecular markers are available. Morphological Markers used to study genetic diversity Morphological evaluation is the oldest and considered as the first hand tool for detection of genetic variation in germplasm (Smith and Smith, 1989). It is cheap and convenient. It requires not any in depth knowledge at genomic or proteomic level. However, morphological markers are relatively less effective for genetic diversity analysis due to sensitivity to environmental influences and developmental stage of the plant (Werlemark et al., 1999). It takes long time, requires seasonal changes and quite laborious. The genetic variability for some of the traits needed for high yield performance and stress tolerance is limited in cultivated germplasm. This is because a small core of adapted progenitors has been used repeatedly in rice breeding programs such that the genetic base of rice has become narrow (Moncada et al. 2001; Hargrove et al. 1980; Dilday 1990). Introgression of genes from other rice species can provide genetic variation to improve rice and meet the challenges affecting ri ce production. Morphological traits including both qualitative and quantitative ones are used to evaluate genetic relationship among genotypes (Goodman 1972; Bajracharya et al., 2006). Fida et al. (1995) reported the evaluation of elite rice genotypes for agronomic traits during 1992 at NARC, Islamabad. All the genotypes possessed similar grain quality. Agronomic evaluation was used for screening of lines with desired performance by Akram et al. (1995), in field leading to the identification of varieties possessing longer and fine grains as donors for utilization in breeding programmes aimed for the improvement of grain length in Basmati rice. Iqbal et al. (2001) morphologically evaluated selected landraces for paddy yield and other important agronomic traits as a propose to select parents for hybridization program. All the landraces possessed some desirable agronomic traits so these proved effective in rice breeding programmes. Koutroubas et al. (2004) described variation in grain quality traits among some European rice lines. They concluded that these lines could be used as parents for introgression of desired traits into different rice cultivars grown in Europe. They also suggested that the interrelations among grain quality traits found in these lines could be useful to study the relationship among their grain quality components and for improving selection criteria. Nabeela et al. (2004) evaluated fifteen agronomical important traits in landrace genotypes of rice collected from various parts of Pakistan. A significant amount of genetic variation was displayed for most of the traits examined. The coefficient of variation was more than 10% for all the characters with exception of grain length. Seven accessions with best performance for individual character were identified, by exploiting their genetic potential. These genotypes can have a beneficial use in the breeding programs. Nepali rice landrace diversity was evaluated by Bajracharya et al. (2005) by usin g morphological traits as one of the parameter for selection. The genotypes varied only for few quantitative traits controlled by major genes; husk color, seed coat and panicle traits. Agronomic characterization also helped to decide which traits need to be improved for further crop improvements. Zaman et al. (2005) studied fifteen different rice varieties which showed that the different morphological characteristics such as the yield, tiller number per hill and filled grains per panicle did not contribute towards the total divergence. This suggested that the breeding improvement of these morphological characteristics have the little possibility. Little phenotypic variation at farm level was observed in Vietnamese rice by Fukuoka et al. 2006, which was considered to be the result of genetic drift and selection by the farmers, on farm conservation of the landraces of rice is considered to be under a force to decrease phenotypic diversity. Different phenotypic profiles contribute to t he conservation of regional genetic diversity of the landraces of rice. Veasey and colleagues (2008) investigated the genetic variability among different rice species from South in a greenhouse experiment. They showed a significant difference (p Keeping in view these benefits, morphological variation is a selection criterion for plant scientists among landrace genotypes. Though the environmental factors also play an important role in morphological variation but the knowledge of agro-morphological diversity and the distribution pattern of variation among crop species could be an invaluable aid in germplasm management and crop improvement strategies. Zeng et al. (2003) studied ecogeographic and genetic diversity based on morphological characters of rice landraces (Oryza sativa L.) in Yunnan, China. A great difference in ecological diversity index of rice resources between prefectures or counties in Yunnan province exists. Kayode et al. (2008) studied the relationship in geographical pattern and morphological variation of 880 rice landrace in CÃ ´te d’Ivoire for 13 agro-morphological characters. Result of the phenotypic frequency showed differential distribution of landraces with height, heading and maturity period whic h reflected the distribution pattern of different Oryza sativa landraces in CÃ ´te d’Ivoire that proved useful in germplasm management and breeding programs. The altitudinal distributions of grain length, grain width, grain length to width ratio and grain weight were evaluated by Siddiqui and coworkers in 2007. It was noticed that grain length decreased with the increase in altitude, while the grain width increased with the increase in altitude, resulting into a decrease in length to width ratio with the increase in altitude. Considering the change in altitude as a difference in habitat and environment, it can be assumed that Pakistan rice cultivars show a wide variation between and within locations. It may be concluded that the Pakistan rice genetic resources comprise of great diversity for grain morphological characteristics. The prevailing diversity for grain type (shape and size) and pericarp color has distinct correlation to its geographical distribution in terms of alt itude. Morpho-physiological traits are an important tool in hands of plant breeders for identification and purity testing of rice varieties. Sharief et al. (2005) investigated the genetic purity of four different rice varieties on the basis of morphological characteristics at their different growth stages. All of the varieties were identified by different morphological characteristics in terms of flag leaf area, grain color, seed width, number of tillers, time of heading, absent awing, slemma, palea pubescence, plant height, and culm diameter. Biochemical markers for analysis of diversity Seed proteins are very helpful in genetic diversity evaluation in cereal crops because the seeds of these crops have nutritional value. Glutelin, globulin and prolamin are important seed proteins in rice. Variation in these proteins at subunit level changes the quality of rice. Various tools were used to assess variability at peptide level. Biochemical markers have some disadvantages being tissue specific and affected by environmental and developmental changes. These disadvantages could be eliminated by the use of seed storage protein as they are conservative in nature and least effected by environmental changes. (Thanh et al., 2006) Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate-Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) is useful method not only for revealing variations but also for identification of a variety in seed storage proteins. Four protein fractions (albumin, globulin, gliadin and glutenin) separated by SDS-PAGE as biochemical marker for evaluating polymorphism in three spelt wheat varieties. Very significant difference was observed at protein profile level in old cultivars and new breeding lines (Dvoracek and Curn 2003). Sengupta and Chattopadhyay (2000) identified twelve rice varieties on the basis of banding pattern obtained by SDS-PAGE. Aung et al. (2003) investigated 350 local rice cultivars from different regions of Myanmar. These were analyzed by using SDS-PAGE and IEF. Various cultivars differed in their SDS-PAGE profiles. Padmavathi et al. (2002) evaluated seven aromatic and five non-aromatic rice cultivars using SDS-PAGE. Two bands of 60.3 and 51.3KDa were polymorphic for their presence in both aromatic and non-aromatic genotypes and suggested that these polymorphic bands can be used as markers for verification of hybridity in crossing programme. Rehana et al. (2004) investigated twenty accessions of Pakistani rice germplasm for total seed protein by using SDS-PAGE, to determine the magnitude of genetic variation with respect to geographical distribution. Vari ation in protein banding pattern with respect to various geographical regions was evaluated and it was suggested that the inter-specific variations were more pronounced as compared to intra-specific variations. Variation in banding profile of globulin and glutelin was used as identification tool for differentiating coarse, fine and super fine rice cultivars by Thind and Sogi (2005). Jahan et al. (2005) studied protein diversity in 576 rice cultivars from Bangladesh and SDS-PAGE was used for separation. Thanh et al., 2006 used seed storage protein profiles of different varieties including rice for evaluation of genetic purity and variability. Molecular markers for diversity analysis Variation in a DNA sequence is known as DNA polymorphism. This quality of DNA can be used as a marker to assess diversity in the genome of any organism. An ideal DNA marker must have any of the following qualities: Highly polymorphic in nature, co-dominant inheritance, frequent occurrence in genome, selective neutral behaviour, easy access/availability, easy and fast assay, high reproducibility and easy exchange of data between laboratories (Joshi et al., 1999). DNA-based molecular markers/DNA fingerprinting can increase screening efficiency in breeding programs in a number of other ways. For example, they provide: the ability to screen in the seedling stage for traits that are expressed late in the life of a plant (i.e. grain or fruit quality, male sterility, photoperiod sensitivity), the ability to screen for traits that are extremely difficult, expensive, or time consuming to score phenotypically (i.e. root morphology, resistance to quarantined pests or to specific races or biotyp es of diseases or insects, tolerance for certain abiotic stresses such as drought, salt, or mineral deficiencies or toxicities), the ability to distinguish the homozygous versus heterozygous condition of many loci in a single generation without the need for progeny testing (since molecular markers are co-dominant), and the ability to perform simultaneous marker-aided selection for several characters at one time. Random Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs) Randomly-amplified polymorphic DNA markers (RAPD) are arbitrary sequence markers developed by Welsh and McClelland in 1991. This procedure detects nucleotide sequence polymorphisms in DNA by using a single primer of arbitrary nucleotide sequence. In this reaction, a single species of primer anneals to the genomic DNA at two different sites on complementary strands of DNA template. If these priming sites are within an amplifiable range of each other, a discrete DNA product is formed through thermocyclic amplification. On an average, each primer directs amplification of several discrete loci in the genome, making the assay useful for efficient screening of nucleotide sequence polymorphism between individuals. However, due to the stoichastic nature of DNA amplification with random sequence primers, it is important to optimize and maintain consistent reaction conditions for reproducible DNA amplification. They are dominant markers and hence have limitations in their use as markers for ma pping, which can be overcome to some extent by selecting those markers that are linked in coupling. RAPD assay has been used by several groups as efficient tools for identification of markers linked to agronomically important traits, which are introgressed during the development of near isogenic lines. though it is less popular due to problems such as poor reproducibility faint or fuzzy products, and difficulty in scoring bands, which lead to inappropriate inferences but it is still applied as markers in variability analysis and individual-specific genotyping has largely been carried out,. Raghunathachari et al. (2000) differentiated a set of 18 accessions from Indian scented rice by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. The RAPD analysis offered a rapid and reliable method for the estimation of variability between different accessions, which could be utilized by the breeders for further improvement of the scented rice genotypes. Porreca et al. (2001) reported confirmati on of genetic diversity among 28 rice cultivars, different for biometric traits, biological cycle and suitability to water limitation, using RAPD markers. High level of polymorphism was found between japonica and indica subspecies, whereas japonica cultivars with long grains (tropical) resulted to be genetically different from the short grains genotypes (temperate). Genetic relationships among indica and japonica cultivars and between tropical and temperate japonica was estimated. Variability among the varieties could lead to good heterotic combinations between japonica genotypes. Neeraja et al. (2002) determined genetic diversity in a set of landraces in comparison to a representative sample of improved rice varieties, using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Analysis of 36 accessions using 10 arbitrary decamer random primers, revealed 97.16% polymorphism. Similarity values among the landraces ranged from 0.58 to 0.89 indicating wide diversity. The landraces and improved vari eties formed separate clusters at 0.65 similarities suggesting that genetically distant landraces could be potentially valuable sources for enlarging and enriching the gene pool of improved varieties. Kwon et al. (2002) evaluated genetic divergence among 13 Tongil type rice cultivars and the relationship between genetic distance and hybrid performance in all possible nonreciprocal crosses between them assessed. These results indicate that GDs based on the microsatellite and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers may not be useful for predicting heterotic combinations in Tongil type rice and support the idea that the level of correlation between hybrid performance and genetic divergence is dependent on the germplasm used. Rabbani et al. (2008) evaluated the genetic polymorphism and identities of several Asian rice cultivars by using random amplified polymorphic DNA technique. On the basis of analysis performed on similarity matrix by using UPGMA, they grouped 40 cultivars in to three main clusters correspondent to aromatic, non-aromatic and japonica group, and a few independent cultivars. The cluster analysis placed most of the aromatic cultivars close to each other showing a high level of genetic relatedness. But the clusters produced by the aromatic cultivars were distinct from those of non-aromatic and japonica types. In this study, several improved and obsolete cultivars originating from diverse sources did not produce well defined distinct groups and indicated no association between the RAPD patterns and the geographic origin of the cultivars used. Amita et al. (2005) performed molecular and hybridization studies to investigate variation patterns in O. meridionalis by producing 119 polymorphic RAPD markers from 12, 10-mer operon primers. In addition, they detected 67 alleles by using 11 SSR primers. They showed speciation in O. meridionalis a with respect to its geographic distribution in northern Australia and Irian Jaya. Santhy et al. (2003) test ed application of RAPD markers for the identification of three rice (Oryza sativa L.) hybrids and their parental lines i.e. CMS female parent (A line), maintainer (B line) and pollen parent (R line), using 17 random oligonucleotides. It was possible to distinguish each of these genotypes, following a combination of selected primers. The results are discussed in view of its application for the purpose of Plant Variety Protection and for testing the genetic purity of A line and hybrid seed lots. Simple Sequence Repeats Analysis Microsatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) are simple tandemly repeated di- to penta-nucleotide sequence motifs. Microsatellite data are also commonly used to assess genetic relationships between populations and individuals through the estimation of genetic distances (e.g. Beja-Pereira et al., 2003; Ibeagha-Awemu et al., 2004; Joshi et al., 2004; Sodhi et al., 2005; Tapio et al., 2005). The most commonly used measure of genetic distances is Neis standard genetic distance (DS) (Nei, 1972). Because of microsatellite abundance and even distribution in nuclear genomes of eukaryotes and some prokaryotic genomes, they offer valuable good source of polymorphism, which make them a promising class of genetic markers. The high levels of polymorphism performed by these markers; they are mostly referred as SSLP (simple sequence length polymorphism). Li et al. (2004) examined genetic diversity within and differentiation between the indica and japonica subspecies, including 22 accessions of indica and 35 of japonica rice by using five microsatellite loci from each chromosome having total 60 loci. Evaluating on chromosome-based comparisons it is concluded that nine chromosomes (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 and 11) harboured higher levels of genetic diversity within the indica rice than the japonica rice. By applying chromosome-based comparisons they suggested that the extent of the indica-japonica differentiation varied substantially, ranging from 7.62% in chromosome 3 to 28.72% in chromosome 1. At 15 of the SSR loci, traditional and crossbred Basmati rice varieties amplified different alleles than those in the indica and/or japonica rice varieties. During this study the identified SSR markers, which can be used to differentiate among the traditional Basmati varieties and between traditional Basmati and other crossbred Basmati or long grain, non-Basmati rice varieties. Genetic relationships among rice genotypes as determined by UPGMA cluster analysis and three-dimensional s caling based on principal component analysis showed that the three traditional Basmati rice varieties are closely related and have varying degree of similarity with other crossbred Basmati rice varieties Priyanka et al. (2004). Amanda et al. (2004) classified 234 accessions of rice into five distinct groups corresponding to indica, aus, aromatic, temperate japonica, and tropical japonica rices using 169 microsatellite markers. Yunbi et al. (2004) evaluated diversity in 236 rice accessions by applying 113 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and 60 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci at DNA level. Higher value of polymorphism information contents (0.66) was recorded for SSR markers as compared to RFLP (0.36). A diverse subset of 31 rice cultivars was identified that embodied 95% of RFLP and 74% of SSR alleles. This subset was useful in developing core collections and an efficient source of genetic diversity for future crop improvement. Zhang et al. (2005) evaluated the poten tial of discriminate analysis (DA) to identify candidate markers linked with agronomic traits among inbred lines of rice (Oryza sativa L.). A sum of 218 lines originating from the US and Asia were planted in field plots of Texas. Data were collected for 12 economically important traits, and DNA profiles of each inbred line were produced using 60 SSR and 114 RFLP markers. Model-based methods revealed population structure among the lines. Associated marker alleles pointed to the same and different regions on the rice genetic map when compared to previous QTL mapping experiments. Results of the study suggested that candidate markers associated with agronomic traits can be readily detected among inbred lines of rice. Bajracharya et al. (2005) estimated genetic diversity of rice landraces collected from different locations of Nepal based on agro-morphological variability and microsatellite marker polymorphism. They 39 microsatellite (simple sequence repeats, SSR) markers among these coll ected accessions by using 10 different names. After studying all these qualitative and quantitative traits they concluded that these accessions showed low morphological diversity having an average Shannon Weaver diversity index of 0.23. Among the studied traits only 16 morphological traits showed significant variation among the accessions. Discriminant function analysis showed that only 36% of accessions could be clustered according to name by morphological traits. Only one SSR locus was polymorphic, distinguishing only one accession. Genetic differences among new rice lines (NERICA), developed by cross breeding of African rice (Oryza glaberrima) with high yielding Asian rice (Oryza sativa subsp. japonica), were explored by using simple sequence repeat markers (Semagn et al. 2006). Michael et al. (2006) characterized 330 rice accessions, including 246 Indonesian landraces and 63 Indonesian improved cultivars, by studying 30 fluorescently-labeled microsatellite markers. By using gene tic diversity analysis they characterized the Indonesian landraces as 68% indica and 32% tropical japonica, having an indica gene diversity of 0.53 and a tropical japonica gene diversity of 0.56

The Genre of Cyberpunk :: Literature Science Fiction Essays

The Genre of Cyberpunk Cyberpunk is, as its authors would have it, a revolutionary new genre. The Movement is made up of radical new authors breaking from traditional SF ideology and prose. The style evokes a sense of fear and paranoia while overloading the reader with information. Aside from these indefinable feelings evoked by the genre, cyberpunk contains several concrete, identifiable themes in every story. The central theme is about fringe characters -- outsiders -- living in a grimy, seedy world ruled over by huge, all-encompassing megacorporations. The megacorps permeate the world of these characters with an impersonal, hopeless aura. One can either work for them as a wage-drone in mediocrity, or against them as against gods in a pitiful fight to outwit them. The cyberpunk world is completely overwhelmed, infused, and inundated by corporate technology such as decks, the Matrix, "prosthetic limbs, implanted circuitry, cosmetic surgery, genetic alteration" (Sterling xiii), and artificial intelligences . The megacorporate philosophy that everything can be bought and sold, like the technology that is bought and sold, makes human life cheap and worthless. Technology has replaced humans, much like machines today have already replaced workers on the assembly line. The Girl Who Was Plugged In is an exquisite example of cyberpunk, although it was published about a decade before the Movement. The story examines characters on the fringe of society; characters who are unaccepted and unaccepting of mainstream society. In the tradition of Gina and Rickenharp the rock-and-roll dinosaurs, Mona the prostitute, and Case the burned-out decker, P. Burke is a prime example of such an outcast. In her original and final form, Burke is "the ugly of the world" (Tiptree 45). She does actually worship the corporate gods and comes to love living in the luxury of society, but she would gladly throw it all away for Paul. Although born into the corporate hierarchy/family, Paul is as much an outsider as Burke. He's a revolutionary fighting the good fight against the megacorporate entity of GTX with the corp's own equipment, making shows "pregnant with social protest. An underground expression" (Tiptree 66). This fits with Sterling's comment that cyberpunk is due to th e "overlapping of worlds that were formerly separate: the realm of high tech, and the modern pop underground" (Sterling xi). If Burke and Paul constitute the punk archetypes of the story, then the high tech, the cyber, elements of the story are everywhere to be seen. The Genre of Cyberpunk :: Literature Science Fiction Essays The Genre of Cyberpunk Cyberpunk is, as its authors would have it, a revolutionary new genre. The Movement is made up of radical new authors breaking from traditional SF ideology and prose. The style evokes a sense of fear and paranoia while overloading the reader with information. Aside from these indefinable feelings evoked by the genre, cyberpunk contains several concrete, identifiable themes in every story. The central theme is about fringe characters -- outsiders -- living in a grimy, seedy world ruled over by huge, all-encompassing megacorporations. The megacorps permeate the world of these characters with an impersonal, hopeless aura. One can either work for them as a wage-drone in mediocrity, or against them as against gods in a pitiful fight to outwit them. The cyberpunk world is completely overwhelmed, infused, and inundated by corporate technology such as decks, the Matrix, "prosthetic limbs, implanted circuitry, cosmetic surgery, genetic alteration" (Sterling xiii), and artificial intelligences . The megacorporate philosophy that everything can be bought and sold, like the technology that is bought and sold, makes human life cheap and worthless. Technology has replaced humans, much like machines today have already replaced workers on the assembly line. The Girl Who Was Plugged In is an exquisite example of cyberpunk, although it was published about a decade before the Movement. The story examines characters on the fringe of society; characters who are unaccepted and unaccepting of mainstream society. In the tradition of Gina and Rickenharp the rock-and-roll dinosaurs, Mona the prostitute, and Case the burned-out decker, P. Burke is a prime example of such an outcast. In her original and final form, Burke is "the ugly of the world" (Tiptree 45). She does actually worship the corporate gods and comes to love living in the luxury of society, but she would gladly throw it all away for Paul. Although born into the corporate hierarchy/family, Paul is as much an outsider as Burke. He's a revolutionary fighting the good fight against the megacorporate entity of GTX with the corp's own equipment, making shows "pregnant with social protest. An underground expression" (Tiptree 66). This fits with Sterling's comment that cyberpunk is due to th e "overlapping of worlds that were formerly separate: the realm of high tech, and the modern pop underground" (Sterling xi). If Burke and Paul constitute the punk archetypes of the story, then the high tech, the cyber, elements of the story are everywhere to be seen.

Human Resources Code of Ethics Essay

Message I am thrilled to join Company X’s management team. My colleagues have been stellar in providing me support and helping me accilmate to the organizational culture, which is different from what I am accustomed to. I have encountered my first challenge, a challenge that is incumbent that I bring to your attention along with three detailed solutions, inclusive of attractive and detractive aspects of each. It is also important that I share with you the methodology I employed to arrive at these conclusions, since it is reasonable for you to have access to and test the methodology employed to engender these solutions. I will also recommend to you an appropriate course of action. Separately, I will present a report, which will report the findings of an analysis that I conducted on our company’s ethical decision-making process. This report will include strategies to mitigate against concerns I will have raised in the memorandum. I will also discuss the process of creating a code of ethics that will provide for employee growth through ethical decision making and continued company revenue growth. Production Concern Company X is the leader in the production of toy whistles for children the world over. Our principal production plant is located within the United States and, naturally, is under the purview of production guidelines set forth by the U.S. government. The quality-assurance department recently informed me of a production issue that has arisen. Toy whistles that have been manufactured and are on schedule for shipment undergo an arduous testing process to ensure that the  constitution of each toy meets federal regulations. Toy whistles that will be shipped to South American countries have, unfortunately, failed lead-level requirements; they are slightly higher in lead than what is legally tolerable. Our company has decisions to make about how we address this considerable concern. After analysis, collaboration with team members, and sufficient reflection, I have developed three solutions to address this concern. Each solution has attractive and detractive aspects, both of which I will discuss. Ethical, legal, and financial considerations must be made with all solutions. Solution 1: Cease shipment; Re-produce Toy Whistles At current lead levels, the toy whistle would not be shipped to customers. The entire production process would re-apply, which includes re-securing the raw materials necessary to make replacement whistles, re-producing those whistles through the production process, and commissioning the quality-assurance department to verify that the whistles meet all federal guidelines for selling and consumption. It will also be important that the quality-assurance department provide a quality verification of its own processes. Such a verification will be necessary, since antecedent quality processes failed to identify the higher-than-normal lead levels of our toy whistles. Solution 1: Explanation of Method Used to Select Solution A combination of brainstorming and SWOT analysis were employed to determine three solutions for our company’s quandary. The brainstorming process involved three team members who reviewed the situation and offered ideas—any ideas—as solutions. Each team member produced two ideas, totaling six possible solutions. The following is a breakdown of submissions by team members: Bob Jones| Celine Jiles| Patti Durant| Stop Production; Adjust Lead Levels| Continue Production; Bribe Foreign and  Domestic Government| Stop Production; Offer Different Product| Stop Production; Make Plastic Whistles| Continue Production; Ignore Lead Levels| Stop Production; Close Business| A SWOT analysis was performed on each decision alternative to test its integrity. SWOT is an acronym for â€Å"Strengths,† â€Å"Weaknesses,† â€Å"Opportunities,† and â€Å"Threats† (Bradford, Duncan, & Tarcy, 2000). The goal is to reduce the possible responses to those that require attention. Bob Jones Solution A Strengths: Legal and ethical approach to doing business. Promotes high levels of customer service. Holds all parties accountable for their actions due to process review and refinement. Weaknesses: Delayed production. Poor customer-satisfaction surveys in the short term. Costly to hold up production. Opportunities: Favorable contract renegotiation if determined process failure with supplier. Possible acquisition of new customers if mitigative steps made known. Threats: Possible government intervention if lead levels are exposed. Possible customer revolt if mitigative steps to lead levels not perceived correctly. Customer churn—possibly to competitor—due to production delay. Board of directors overhaul of C-level management Based on these considerations, Solution A is a viable candidate for resolution. Bob Jones Solution B Strengths: No delay in production. Customer satisfaction not harmed. Foreign government receptive to bribes. No disruption to revenue. Weaknesses: Domestic government not receptive to bribing. Massive costs due to bribing. No consideration for customer health. Short-term solution. Socially irresponsible course of action. Opportunities: Short-term customer growth. Relationship-building with foreign government. Threats: Considerable legal actions from both domestic and foreign government if not receptive bribes. Possible legal threats from customers. The costs associated with Solution A indicate that it is not a viable solution. Celine Jiles Solution A Strengths: Legal and ethical approach to doing business. Promotes high levels of customer service due to considering customers’ health. Holds all parties accountable for their actions due to process review and refinement. Weaknesses: Massive delays in production. Abrogation of contract with current supplier. Extensive training costs for new products. Extensive project-management costs to deploy new product. Substantial increase in customer churn due to offering different product. Possible negative press in foreign market. Possible domestic layoffs due to change in product. Opportunities: New streams of revenue due to new product. New streams of customers due to new-product demand. New, lower cost contracts with new suppliers. Possible employment of foreign workers to replace costly domestic workers. Threats: Legal threats from current employees subject layoff. Possible customer revolt if competitor unable to make up for our departure from whistle market. Increased regulatory scrutiny possible based on new product. Intractable board of directors. Based on these considerations, Solution A is a viable candidate for resolution. Celine Jiles Solution B Strengths: Minimal delay in production. Avoid lead-level requirements. Safter products for customers, thereby increasing customer satisfaction. Avoid legal issues from foreign and domestic governments. Contract abrogation with supplier if process failure due to supplier. Socially responsible course of action. Weaknesses: Contract abrogation with existing supplier if Company X process failure. Short-term customer dissatisfaction due to minimal production delay. Training for production of new whistles. Costly process refinements. Opportunities: Possible acquisition of new customers. Long-term customer growth. Possibly reduced prices with contract negotiations for new suppliers. If process adjustments made public, possible acquisition of customers in other countries. Threats: Minimal threat of legal action from domestic or foreign governments due to initlal lead-level failures. Minimal threat of substantial customer churn. The strengths of Solution B indicate that is viable enough to be considered. Patti Durant Solution A Strengths: Reduced production costs. Short-term customer satisfaction due to on-time delivery. Possible increased customer acquisition. Weaknesses: Very short-term solution. Disregard for long-term customer health. Disregard for domestic legal mandates. Socially irreponsible course of action. Long-term profit loss. High customer churn in long term. Opportunities: Short-term increase in streams of revenue. Threats: Extensive legal threats from public and private sector. Abrogation of current contracts iminent. Long-term erosion of shareholder confidence. Solution A should not be further considered due to the blantant disregard for customer safety. Patti Durant Solution B Strengths: Regard for customer health. Weaknesses: Total loss of all revenue and profit. Opportunities: No known opportunities. Threats: Possible legal action from suppliers, employees, customers, and governments due to abrogation of contracts, inability to pay out on employee pensions, or willfully missed customer demand. Solution B is unquestionably not worthy of further consideration. Solution 1: Advantages and Disadvantages The important advantage this solution offers is that our toy whistles’ lead levels will not detrimentally influence the health of our customers. Our identification of this issue will allow our company to take mitigative actions before the whistles are in the hands of our consumers. Another advantage of this solution is that our customers will be unaware that there could have been an issue with the whistles. Our consumers’ ignorance allows our company to avoid a public-relations concern or public excoriation of our product and company brand. There are no government mandates that our company must disclose these sorts of issues if they are discovered before being delivered to our customers. An important disadvantage to this solution is that the investigative process and resultant process refinements will prove costly and timely. It is evident that a production and service failure has occurred, since our whistles’ lead levels currently contravene United States legislative mandates; however, we are not certain where in the supply chain this failure has occurred. Unnecessary people-power must be devoted to resolving this issue sufficiently to prevent issues in the similitude of this one. Another disadvantage to this solution is the effect it will have on employee morale. To be specific, the judgment of the managers of these processes is dubious and will have to be investigated. It is unquestionable that coaching and development, inclusive of corrective action, will have to be meted to all parties involved in this situation. And because of the cost of resolving this matter, some managers and their employees may have to have their employment terminated. No matter how delicately the corrective action will be handled, other employees will inevitable respond negatively. This situation may encourage discussions of unionization. It may engender unnecessary employee churn. Or for those who have their employment terminated as a result of our investigation, it may very well involve contending against ex-employee litigation for perceived wrongful termination, which will involve government agencies and their investigations. Solution 1: Ethical Considerations This solution is an ethically viable option. The reason is that the lead levels prescribed by the federal government are ostensibly predicated on customer saftey and, if more stringent, supersede lead-level requirements of the target country. Providing customers, especially young children, with high-lead toys is immediately unethical and demonstrates a disconnection from social responsibility. Solution 1: Financial Considerations This solution, however, is the most costly and will make profit from these sales impossible unless we increase the price of the toy whistles. The  following are cost considerations of this solution: 1. Vetting Raw-Material Supplier: It is possible that the raw materials that we obtain from our supplier do not possess the integrity that we expect, which would cause products to fail quality verfifcations. An audit would be required of the supplier. This audit would entail the following costs: a. On-site inspections: $10,000, inclusive of labor costs and travel expenditures b. Report of findings: $5,000, inclusive of labor costs of presenting the findings c. Negative findings: $10,000, inclusive of replacing and contracting with a different raw-materials supplier. d. Positive findings: $15,000, inclusive of sunk costs of on-site inspections and reporting of findings (since no issue would have been with the supplier) 2. Vetting Production Processes: There may be deficiencies in the production process that cause higher levels of lead to result in our products. Here are the costs associated with this vetting: e. Departmental inspections: $7,000, inclusive of labor costs f. Report of findings: $5,000, inclusive of labor costs of presenting the findings g. Negative findings: $50,000, inclusive of making process adjustments, training on new processes, and follow-up labor costs h. Positive findings: $12,000, inclusive of sunk costs of inspections and reporting of findings. As easily noted, the costs of making process changes are considerable. However, the costs of these changes should not, by themselves, be an impetus to continue to produce high-lead toy whistles.

Manufacturing strategy Essay

1.1 Introduction to OFF Shoring and NEXT Shoring: Off shoring is the type of relocation of an industry or an company of a business from one country to another i.e typically an operational process, such as manufacturing process. Next shoring is â€Å"the transfer of business or manufacturing processes to companies in a Nearby location. Where both parties may be benefited from one or more of the following dimension of proximity i.e Cultural, linguistic, political etc., 1.2 Understanding the change in Market, Manufacturing Cost and Technology: Over the decade Manufacturing cost, market and Technology has played an important role in selecting the location of the Manufacturing industry weather it has to Off shored on Next shored. Therefore understanding these three are the major factors for selecting the location of an Industry. Combination of economic force is fast eroding in developing nations cost advantage as an export platform for developed countries market. Mean while with an increasingly flexible work force and a better corporate sector is becoming more attractive place for manufacturing many goods consumed in the developed countries. An Analysis conducted by BCG (Boston Consulting Group) that by sometime around 2015 for many goods destined in the developed countries manufacturing in their neighbouring place is more economical than producing in the developed nations. The key reasons for this thought are mentioned below, Wage and benefits increases of 15 to 20 % per year at the average in developing countries which will slash the advantage over low cost states in the Developed countries. Because Labour accounts a portion of Products Manufacturing Costs. Transportation Cost, Duties, supply chain risks, Industrial real estates and other cost have increased considerably in the past decade this also plays a role but this additional cost will be differed at the minimum level when compared to developed and developing nations. Technology which is another major factor for choosing the Location of Manufacturing Industries. Where Automation, R&D and other measures to improve the productivity in developing nations may reduce the manufacturing price but in modern decade Technology is wide spread it reaches every nook and corner at a rapid phase than in the 60’s. Market is the main criteria  for an Industry to be started. An Industry which has started Next to its marketing area will have an advantage of immediate feedback, customer response to the product. Thus gives them an edge for R&D to develop their products to further level. Thus from our understanding change in Market, manufacturing cost and Technology will have a say on setting up an OFF Shore or a NEXT Shore location for an Product. 1.3 Drivers for OFF Shoring and NEXT Shoring: 1.3.1 Drivers For Next Shoring Manufacturing companies look to externalise back office Responses on impact of Next-shoring on supply chain, services to focus on core operations. Risk associated with supply chain management are increasing in low-cost countries Labour wage rates in offshore locations in emerging synchronization economies like India, China, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia are increasing, as workers are demanding higher wages. Cost of shipping goods around the world is rising due to Lead times and higher fuel price Eastern Europe has emerged as a location for Next-shoring operations, backed by favourable factors like highly skilled talent, especially technical talent and close proximity to end markets like the UK. Other factors include cultural similarities, time zone and strong data protection laws Tax incentives are usually not the main driver but they could tip the balance just as manufacturing taxes may make a country less attractive. 1.3.2 Drivers for OFF Shoring: Key driving forces for demand shifts to the developing countries are economic growth, demographics and rising incomes in emerging markets, in particular in Asia. further major factors driving this trend are: – Localisation of products to address local mid market – Proximity to demand and regional raw materials resources – Vast scale of operations and flexibility – Diligence and industrial skills of workers – Better â€Å"time to market† and reduction of logistics costs ASIAN economies have emerged as major sourcing destination for global  companies. Growth of the employable population and increased investments in the region. National/regional regulatory effects (safety standards, etc.) and free trade agreements. Within Asia itself, a shift can be noticed as rising wages and higher costs in china are making manufacturers consider other locations in southeast Asia. ASIAN countries like India, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam provide a dynamic talent pool with highly educated and young people as well as lower wage costs. 1.4 Debate on â€Å"In future, next shoring, not the off shoring, drives manufacturing location decision† According to me I accept the topic â€Å"In future, next shoring, not the off shoring, drives manufacturing location decision†. In the Next future next shoring is what the manufacturing industries will consider to have competitive edge over the market. Over the past few decades there has been an advantage over the cost (like Labour, land) in developing countries over developed countries. Eg. In India, China, etc., where the manufacturing industries have got much cheap labour force and land for their industries to start. They have enjoyed a great success by installing their manufacturing units in these low cost locations. But in recent years the advantage over the cost has shrinking due to globalisation and annual wage rise, which might see off their advantage over the developed nation. Rewind 15 or 20 years. Offshoring was all the rage. As far back as 1979, companies were starting to send manufacturing to low-wage destinations like India, China, Taiwan and Vietnam to lower labour costs. According to John Shook of the Lean Enterprise Institute, â€Å"There was a herd mentality to offshoring and an inability to see the total costs.† Today, wages in Asia are rising from 15 to 20% annually, according to The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). As a result, the economics of manufacturing in India, China, Taiwan and Malaysia aren’t as appealing as they once were. In fact, today, manufacturers are doing something that would have been unthinkable a decade ago: they’re bringing manufacturing home. A few examples: in January, Bill Simon, Wal-Mart U.S. President and CEO  committed to buy $50 billion of American-made products over the next 10 years. Similarly, after producing appliances offshore for years, General Electric is moving production operations back to the United States. GE CEO, Jeffrey Immelt, stated in the Harvard Business Review that outsourcing â€Å"is quickly becoming outdated as a business model for GE Appliances.† According to The White House blog, Ford, Apple, and Caterpillar are making large investments in U.S. facilities. Thus according to the above points I accept â€Å"In future, next shoring, not the off shoring, drives manufacturing location decision† 1.4.2 A Case Study for selecting Next Shoring than off shoring: Melville, N.Y.-based MSC Industrial Direct Company, a direct marketer and distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair, and operations supplies, distributes approximately 600,000 industrial products from 3,000-plus suppliers to 320,000 customers. Global sourcing is here to stay, whether operations are in Mexico, China, or other countries, said by Doug Jones, the company’s executive vice president of global supply chains in 2013. There is just as much opportunity in global sourcing as there was five years ago—if not more. â€Å"They used to be focused on China or India, but their Shanghai office now is looking at a number of countries.† There is pressure to source in America, and MSC Industrial Direct’s product offering takes that into account. â€Å"The way we go to market is to have a ‘Made in the USA’ product in every category,† Jones said this earlier this year. G lobal sourcing does brings challenges, however. The company follows a rigorous process to qualify a new production source, with a focus on quality. MSC also weighs the impact of lead time on cost and service. We realize our service model increases from 10 or 15 days to 180 days from purchase order to receipt if we source in China or India,† Jones explains. â€Å"We weigh the additional investment in lead time and inventory, currency valuations, and other factors, and make sure our total landed cost (TLC) still looks good or almost equal to cost in USA, Where they receipt the product at much less time. Monitoring TLC is no small task at MSC, which maintains a global sourcing team dedicated to managing it. This add further cost to monitor. On considering all these MSC starts to Next shoring its supplier base to market  area 1.5 Conclusion Thus from the above case studies and market analysis it’s time to move on from OFF shoring to Next shoring in the Near future which seems more economic and fruitful for manufacturing sector. Even though OFF shoring at present seems more economic currently but in the Near future we are expecting the wage rise factor which would nullify the cost advantage in developing nations and will make the manufactures to rethink on their strategies of OFF shoring and tends to change their strategy for Next Shoring. Thus â€Å"In future, next shoring, not the off shoring, drives manufacturing location decision† PART-B 2.1 Role of Korean Culture in Samsungs Success: It has become increasingly important for employees to have vested stake in the growth potential of its company. People expect a participatory work environment where they can feel a sense of dignity, pride, and ownership of the organization’s vision. Samsung Mobiles strives to build a creative organizational culture, and acknowledges that the investment we make in strengthening the core competencies of our employees will have a direct impact on our competitiveness. We actively promote a flexible organizational culture that allows employees to pursue a healthy work-life balance, in a dynamic, creative and challenging work environment that is not risk-averse. As an international company we embrace individuals with different background and abilities. Korean Culture :- Work & Life Balance through Work Smart Samsung Mobiles has not only contributed to balancing work and life but also to improving productivity by adopting a flexible work schedule in Korea to help eliminate unnecessary overtime and to maximize work performance through effective time management. We introduced a pilot, flexible work schedule in  our TV, mobile phone, and consumer electronics sectors beginning in 2009 and expanded it to all divisions in 2010. Under this new effort, employees arrive at work between 6.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. and to work eight hours per day. As of March 2012, approximately 65,000 Korean employees have taken advantage of this system out of a total of 100,000 Korean employees. Samsung believed it is important for everyone to be able to assume personal responsibility for their time. This will continue to contribute to a working atmosphere that allows employees to focus on their job in an autonomous and creative atmosphere. Thus they branded this as Work smart strategy. This helped Samsung a lot in its success. Work Culture that Encourages Learning and Development Samsung Mobiles has established a Creative Development Research Institute System to provide employees with opportunities to pursue creative new ideas that take full advantage of their talents and professional passions in a way that encourages taking risks. This new initiative encourages employees to be more entrepreneurial in developing creative ideas that can become new businesses. Once an employee’s plan is accepted, they may concentrate on the project as a member of a task force for up to one year. During this period, they will be free from their usual responsibilities and may receive a dedicated work space, development expenses and necessary equipment as appropriate. Successful outcomes are encouraged through an incentive program; however they are not subject to penalty if they don’t achieve their goals. The first outcome of the Creative Development Institute, ‘eyeCan,’ was launched in February 2012. The eyeCan is a special mouse for the disabled, which allows its user to use a computer using eye movement. Samsung Electronics will continue to support similar technology projects that our  talented workforce introduces to assist those in need. 2.2 Analysis of Samsung Mobiles using P.E.S.T and Poter’s 5 Force Model: As the main objective of this thesis is to analyze the European and the U.S. mobile phone markets, the selected framework supports this aim by approaching the markets on two different levels. Primarily, the analytical framework focuses on micro-environment i.e. looking at the markets from the viewpoints of the actors (suppliers, distributors, customers) and from that of competition. To analyze the contribution of each of these actors and other sources of competition, another well-established model, Porter ´s five forces, will be utilized (Section 2.3). Where necessary, the observed phenomena are also interpreted from a wider, macro environmental perspective although more detailed analysis of macro-environmental factors will be omitted. The exclusion is justified by the fact that competition, even though influenced by the macro environment, takes place within the micro environment. In addition, concentrating on the micro-environment allows a broader and more in-depth treatment of th e most relevant actors present in the micro-environment. On another dimension, the framework applies two different conceptual approaches, namely, international business (IB) environment and industrial organization (IO) economics. These approaches together serve to supplement the strongly microeconomics focused framework with suitable concepts grounded in the strongly 7 related IB and IO disciplines. While the industrial organization focuses on the company/market boundary from the perspective of imperfect competition, international business focuses on the qualities of international markets and companies operating across country boundaries. These approaches will be discussed in detail in Section 2.4. The analytical approach of the thesis is summarized in . Figure 1. Analytical framework of the study 2.2. Macro-environment By definition, the macro-environment involves factors outside of the direct  control of the business. These factors, then, include the economy, government policies, social changes etc. A firm may, for example, be influenced by new legislation or changes in taxation policies but the firm rarely has power to shape them itself. Thus, macro factors have the ability to fundamentally change the environment of an organization but the relationship is typically one way. (Gillespie, 2007) One of the most utilized frameworks to analyze the macro factors is the PEST analysis. The PEST framework stands for â€Å"Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal† and is used for analyzing the macro-environment in which companies operate and which also significantly affects each business independent of its size (Johnson et al., 2006:65) in each case including (or excluding) some factors and giving more weight to some in comparison to others. However, it always aims at capturing the essential of the macro-environment under a few broad categories to facilitate understanding and management of each factor within the business and to identify the key drivers of change (Johnson et al., 2006:69). Table 2.1. Components of the PEST analysis (Gillespie, 2007) Even though the macro-environment will not be analyzed in detail in this thesis its influence in a company’s decision making processes is evident as well as its ability to change to conditions under which competition takes place. For example, the Finnish government’s decision to allow bundling of mobile phones had a direct impact on both handset manufacturers’ and mobile operators’ business. Thus, references to the macro environment and changes in it will be made alongside the analysis on companies and their micro-environment. 2.3. Micro-environment The micro-environment can be defined as consisting of â€Å"stakeholder groups that a firm has regular dealings with† (Gillespie, 2007). For the purpose of this thesis, the focus will be on suppliers, distributors, customers and competition as illustrated in Figure 1 following the concise definition of micro-environment by Gillespie (2007). Suppliers In regard to its suppliers, any company generally needs to address questions such as â€Å"Can they provide the quality we require at a good price?†, â€Å"Can they adjust to changes in the supply volume?† and â€Å"What is out power relative to our suppliers and vice versa?† Increasingly, however, large multinational companies in particular are concerned about the ethicality of their suppliers’ operations. Recently, for example, Samsung was alleged to have used so called ‘blood metals’ in their mobile phones, to which Samsung responded by implementing yet more stringent systems to track the origin of its raw materials (Yle, 2010). Especially in the business of mobile phone manufacturing, suppliers and supply chain management (SCM) play a crucial role. Since mobile phones, smart phones in particular, contain numerous highly specialized components and modules, handset manufacturers generally acquire most of the components, software and even ass embly from their suppliers and subcontractors (see the mobile phone value system in Figure 9). Samsung, for example, lists 35 countries as its main supplying locations and applies its so called Code of conduct to all its business partners. In the Code of conduct (Samsung,2011f) Samsung states that â€Å"†¦Samsung encourages its partners, subcontractors, or suppliers to strive beyond legal compliance in areas such as governance, human rights and the environment. Samsung incorporates ethical, social and environmental criteria in its procurement agreements and commits to monitoring the performance of its partners and to taking immediate and thorough remedial steps in cases where the ethical performance of its business partners comes into question.†- Samsung Thus, mobile phone manufacturers rely on suppliers to varying but generally great extent and can even be held responsible for choosing suppliers that use e.g. child labour or non-recyclable materials. To construct an iPhone, Apple, for example, sources its Retina display from LG, the A4 processor from Samsung, gyroscopes from STMicroelectronics, touch sensitive panels from Wintek and TPK, and chips from Skyworks Solutions and TriQuint Semiconductor (Apple Insider, 2010). However, some conglomerates, e.g.  Samsung manufacture most of the modules in-house which enables cutting down the number of suppliers and facilitates integration in the production process. Even if the recent business wisdom has advised companies to divest non-core functions and focus on a few core competencies, Samsung has proven that conglomerates may be highly profitable while retaining their non-core parts. Unlike Motorola, Samsung kept its component manufacturing in-house and focused on synergies from producin g both components and end products. (Hyà ¶ty, 2011:250-252) Distributors The second essential element of a company’s micro-environment is distributors. The choice of distribution channels is critical for a number of reasons. Firstly, the distributors strongly influence the final sales price of each product and thereby directly affect the sales quantity. Second, the distributors and later retailers play an important role in how the product is presented to the customer and, to some extent, how it is positioned relative to competing products. Finally, the choice of the distribution channel affects how customers perceive the brand. While Samsung, for example, utilizes a wide range of sales channels for its Samsung branded products, it sells its luxury phone brand Vertu (typically gold and diamond decorated, ranging from $6000 to $300 000) only in Vertu and Samsung flagship stores (Vertu, 2011; Dialaphone, 2007) In the mobile handset business, the distribution channel plays a crucial role. While in Europe most mobile phone manufacturers rely on a large number of individual distributors and retailers, in North America the bulk of handset sales is carried out by mobile network and virtual operators (see Figure 22). The long-lasting dominance of mobile operators over distribution in the United States has allowed them to introduce additional requirements related to e.g. tailoring and branding of phones, and together with subsidies a commanding position in the industry. Still, the choices related to distribution come down to the same basic questions, i.e. what are the total costs, how is the brand communicated, how flexible is the distributor etc. Customers The third element of the company’s micro-environment is customers. In this  respect, it is common to separate between individual consumers and organizational (or industrial) customers (or buyers). While consumers are traditionally considered less rational and impulsive in their decision making process, companies tend to be viewed as professional buyers following strict budget, cost and profit considerations. (see e.g. Webster & Wind, 1972; Baumgartner & Steenkamp, 1996) These kind of clear differences in purchasing behaviour have been questioned (Wilson, 2000) and today’s B-to-B marketers widely recognize that emotions play an important role also in business buying decisions (Kotler & Armstrong, 2006:178). In the mobile phone business, consumers represent an enormous variety of tastes, preferences and affluence. In developing countries, the sales of low-end mobile phones (often under $50) dominate, while in developed markets of e.g. Europe and North America, consumers often opt for more advanced models incorporating cameras, GPS navigation, Internet browsing etc. Moreover, most of these consumers appreciate value added features and post-purchase services provided by the manufacturer (e.g. Apple App Store, Nokia Ovi Store and Google Android Market) and often base their purchase decision on the combination of the phone and the availability of these services (see e.g. Singh & Goyal, 2009). Industrial buyers, on the other hand, tend to value services related business use of the phone (e-mail, data security etc.) and supplier’s ability to provide a communications solution to the company instead of only handsets. Finally, with regard to the mobile phone industry in Europe, Asia and the United States, there are some significant differences in customer profiles. While in Europe & Asia a handset manufacturer can sell both directly to the consumer and via distributors and retailers, in the United States the only major customer is the operator that, then, functions as a distributor and retailer. This, obviously, has its effect on what kind of marketing is needed to reach the end customer. Competition The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines competition as â€Å"the effort of two or more parties acting independently to secure the business of a third party by  offering the most favourable terms†. (Merriam Webster Online, 2011) Correspondingly, The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics states that â€Å"competition arises whenever two or more parties strive for something that all cannot obtain.† (Stigler, 2008) In this thesis, these competing â€Å"parties† are handset manufacturers who act to â€Å"secure the business† or â€Å"strive for† the limited resource, i.e. the money, of their customers. In terms of developed economic theory, competition is one of the most researched areas of economics. Economists generally differentiate perfect and imperfect competition, concluding that no other system is more Pareto efficient than perfect competition. According to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 1999) perfect competition is defined by four conditions: a) There are such a large number of buyers and sellers that none can individually affect the market price. This means that the demand curve facing an individual firm is perfectly elastic. b) In the long run, resources must be freely mobile, meaning that there are no barriers to entry and exit. c) All market participants (buyers and sellers) must have full access to the knowledge relevant to their production and consumption decisions. d) The products should be homogenous. Imperfect competition, thus, occurs when any of the criteria for perfect competition is not satisfied, e.g. when there is information asymmetry between buyers and sellers, either buyers or sellers are able to influence prices or products are not homogenous. In regard to the mobile phone industry, there is a clear case of imperfect competition. Firstly, the three largest manufacturers Samsung, Samsung and Nokia held about 64 % of the global unit sales in Q1/2010 while the tenth largest Huawei had 1,3 %. (Gartner, 2010) This kind of a market situation is generally referred to as an oligopoly â€Å"in which producers are so few that the actions of each of them have an impact on price and on competitors† (Merriam Webster Online, 2011). Second, there are fairly high barriers to entry due to the capital intensive nature of the business. In addition,  gaining market share generally requires significant investments in marketing and established manufacturers can benefit from advantages of scale. Poter’s 5 Force Model The Porter’s five forces model has been criticized, for example, for its underlying assumptions. Firstly, an industry is assumed to consist of an unrelated set of buyers, sellers and substitutes and competitors that interact at arm’s length. Second, companies can gather wealth that allows them to erect barriers against existing competition and new entrants thereby creating structural advantage. Finally, the prevailing uncertainty is assumed low enough to permit predictions about the participants’ behavior and choose a strategy accordingly. In addition, one should also note that the model was developed more than 30 years and, since then, new industries have been born and the old ones taken new shapes. In an argument that the classical model such as the Five Forces and value chain analysis were designed for the analysis of traditional industrial firms and do not apply well to today’s knowledge-intensive companies. Figure 2.2 Porter’s Five Forces –model The rationale for choosing the Five Forces framework was as follows. The model was to be well-known and tested. Even though Porter’s model has been criticized for its applicability to certain industries and for its assumptions, few models have gone through such thorough testing and prevailed. While no model is perfect the limitations of the Porter’s framework are, nevertheless, well-known and documented. Finally, the use a widely accepted framework facilitates reading and interpretation of the results as opposed to some other model with less prevalence and academic/practitioner interest. Table 2.2 Opportunities and Threats for Samsung Mobile 2.3 Suitable Business strategy to overcome threats and grab Opportunity in Samsung: Global R&D (Research & Development) In 2003, Samsung invested 3.5 trillion won ($3 billion) or 8% of total revenues in R&D. It acquired 1,313 US patents in 2003, ranking it 11th in  the world in US patent awarded. (Exhibit 9) Samsung has about 19,700 researchers working in R&D. Researchers account for approximately 34% of its total employees. Every year, R&D engineers developed about 100 new technologies and they work on the development of core technologies in the fourth generation (4G) mobile communications and in next generation memory chips. Samsung’s Information and Telecommunication R&D Center is in Suwon, where the company’s headquarters are located. This R&D Center was designed to incorporate all of its business specialties—semiconductors, electronic components, multimedia, and telecommunications—to maximize technological synergies among them. The Suwon R&D Center also interconnects with other R&D centers, both in Korea and in other countries. In the mobile business, Samsung has applied for 12,000 patents in Korea and 25,000 patents overseas since 1998. The main focus of R&D is the development of new technology standards for 4G communications and the mobile Internet. Samsung holds approximately one hundred patents related to 3G and 4G technologies. Recently, Samsung sold its cdma2000 1x EV-DO system to Japan and Southeast Asian countries. Global Marketing Samsung’s clever marketing strategies played an important role in lifting Samsung’s image from that of a low-end manufacturer to that of a global digital technology leader. For effective global marketing and branding, Samsung established a new organization to deal with its integrated global marketing activities. Eric B Kim, who used to work at IBM, was recruited to lead the Global Marketing Department. One of his most important decisions was to cease all existing contracts with 55 advertising agencies and to sign a $400 million contract with one ad agency, FCB Worldwide. Since then, Samsung has unveiled a series of corporate branding campaigns and the slogan, â€Å"Samsung DIGITall: Everyone’s invited.† One of Samsung’s major global branding strategies is Olympic sponsorship. In  1996, Samsung was an unofficial sponsor of the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, having sponsored the Samsung Expo in the Pavilion of the Main Stadium. In the same year, Kun Hee Lee was selected as an IOC member, and Samsung received an opportunity to participate in TOP (The Olympic Partners). The IOC proposed that Samsung participate in sponsoring the home appliance category for the Olympics. However, Samsung wanted to utilize the opportunity to promote a high-tech image, and felt that the home appliance category was not enough to emphasize Samsung’s technological advances. Samsung set its sights on the telecommunications category and believed that, through the Olympic sponsorship, it could shed its image as a low-end home appliance maker and reposition itself as a high-tech mobile communications company. To win the sponsorship negotiations, Samsung concentrated its marketing resources on the mobile phone business. Samsung’s Key Issues to rectify their threats Though Samsung has continued its success in the mobile phone business, it faces a number of challenges to keep the growth momentum in the future. First, competition in the mobile phone market will become more intense. Lower entry barriers will bring in more competitors to the market, and the â€Å"digital convergence† will accelerate the competition even further. Companies from other industries such as PCs or network services will compete directly with Samsung. As such, it will have to devise more creative win-win strategies in the highly uncertain digital convergence landscape. Second, the sustainability of Samsung’s high-end strategy, which was attributed to Samsung’s brand building, may be in question. Samsung has achieved high profit margin, which is comparable to that of Nokia, mainly based on its high price, while Nokia has done so based on its cost dynamics. In terms of per-unit cost, Nokia spends less on R&D and marketing. One might doubt whether the high-end strategy can really be sustainable. As the mobile communications market becomes saturated, future revenue sources  will come mainly from emerging markets (China, Brazil, India, Eastern Europe, etc.). First-time buyers in emerging markets tend to prefer affordable phones. This could hurt Samsung unless it begins to cover the low and middle-end markets. Nokia and Motorola, as well as many newcomers from China, have already targeted those emerging markets. How to compete in the low and middle-end markets, while preserving its premium brand image, will be important questions in Samsung’s future growth. Third, Samsung is highly dependent on foreign companies for core technologies and modules. For example, it sources core CDMA base-band chips from Qualcomm and sophisticated camera-phone modules from Japanese firms. Consequently, the proportion of royalty payment in total manufacturing cost is likely to increase unless Samsung develops its own technologies. Some industry experts argue that most of Samsung’s patents are on applied technologies, which are developed based on others’ patent-protected core technologies. Recently, Samsung experienced a shortage in the supply of Qualcomm chips and camera-phone modules. This suggests that Samsung’s high dependency on core technologies and product modules would threaten not only its future profitability but also its competitive position. Product Life Cycle of Samsung Galaxy : For my analysis it will be useful to understand how Samsung has introduced its Galaxy Smartphones. The introduction stage of a product is one of the most important, because in this stage a company positions its products in the market. In order examine the strategic choice of the company I need to understand the strategic possibilities in the introduction stage of a product. According to Kotler and Keller, company’s positioning and differentiation strategy must change throughout the life of its products. I will give a brief description of the stages of the product life cycle and strategic possibilities in each of these stages. According to Kotler and Keller to be applicable to a product the assumptions behind the life-cycle are that the product must have limited life; sales go through different stages, with different challenges, opportunities and problems; profits change at different stages; products require different manufacturing, financial, marketing, purchasing and human re source strategies in each life  cycle stage. The Smartphone products fulfill these assumptions. Kotler and Keller recognize 4 different Life-cycle stages for a product. Introduction Stage Introduction is a period of slow sales growth as the product is just introduced. It is also recognized with heavy advertising. According to Shaw (2008) in the introduction stage a company can choose by penetration strategy or niche strategy. A penetration strategy involves aggressive marketing mix and product for the mass market offered at a low price. A niche strategy according to Shaw (2008) involves a narrow market segment and a higher price. In this stage Shaw (2008) recognizes only two possibilities targeting the mass market with low price and a niche strategy involving higher price. Looking at the smartphone market it is possible for the companies to target mass market with higher price as for instance iPhone & Nokia does. This is also due to the affordable terms of the mobile operators where people can buy the Smartphone on leasing. 6.2 Growth Stage This is a period of rapid growth and market acceptance. Here the profits are higher. According to Shaw (2009) in the growth stage companies can choose between two strategic options these are segment expansion and brand expansion. In segment expansion, the company can add new target segments, with their own marketing mixes. Strategic alternative to segment expansion might be brand expansion. This strategy adds new products or variations to the existing line. The strategy delivers to the customer segment bigger choice, or greater value. Some of these strategy ideas might be delivery, gift-wrapping (Shaw, 2012). 6.3 Maturity Stage In maturity stage the sales are lower as the product is already bought from most of the Potential buyers (Kotler and Keller 2009 p.490). According to Shaw (2010) in Maturity stage it is common for a company to employ s stable marketing mix. As the Product moves further on the curve harvesting strategy becomes necessity. 6.4 Decline Stage Here sales decline and profits erode (Kotler and Keller 2009 p.490). In this stage Shaw (2011) recognize only divesting strategy as an option. The following picture shows the life cycle of Samsung Galaxy (first model in Smartphone ) by Samsung which was launched in 2008. Where in the introductory period it was blooming since it was on affordable cost. This model was soon hit in the market. In 2009 its has started its tremendous growth. In around 2010 it reached its maturity state. Where Samsung enjoyed a lot on its success. This encouraged Samsung to do R&D in Galaxy model and they started to develop a lot newer version. Due to introduction of new models and everyone had the current model, Galaxy has started to decline in 2011. Figure 2.2 Product Life cycle of Samsung Galaxy