Saturday, August 31, 2019
Marketing Creating and Capturing Customer Value
Yoking Chem.. Struck is the coffee icon people either love it, hate it, need it, or you wouldn't be caught dead there. Among the reasons to love: Struck gave us coffee language â⬠or shamed us into it, depending on who you ask â⬠turned the masses into espresso junkies and offers travelers a constant presence all over the world. Among the reasons to hate Struck: It's making us fatter, turned espresso drinks into fast food and gave us its own coffee language. According to the article at the washcloth. Mom, â⬠reasons why I hate Struckâ⬠, the author wrote the 5 reasons are 1, Overpriced products, 2, Their marketing angle is to appeal to vain rich people, 3, Anyone who feeds you addictive chemicals is not your friend, 4, They pay their workers poorly, 5. They force their workers to dress and act like slave. But I feel some economic fallacies behind this particular article, for arguing their CEO earns too much, or their workers deserve more money is ludicrous. The wor kers are being paid for their services; it's not an easy Job to be the CEO.However, Struck as one of the most successful company in the world, they must have their reasons to be so persuasive, and make people love it. According to the Article ââ¬Å"5 Reasons Why Struck Is so persuasiveâ⬠The author wrote about his thoughts on why Struck Is so persuasive without any advertising on television or magazines. Reason 1 ââ¬â They create an experience when you walk Into a store; 2 ââ¬â The baristas and others who work here really seem to enjoy their Jobs; 3 ââ¬â Something that stands out about Struck Is how easily recognizable Its cups are; 4 ââ¬â the convenience of Struck app; 5- The convenience of drive through service Marketing Creating and Capturing Customer Value Yoking Chem.. Struck is the coffee icon people either love it, hate it, need it, or you wouldn't be caught dead there. Among the reasons to love: Struck gave us coffee language â⬠or shamed us into it, depending on who you ask â⬠turned the masses into espresso junkies and offers travelers a constant presence all over the world. Among the reasons to hate Struck: It's making us fatter, turned espresso drinks into fast food and gave us its own coffee language. According to the article at the washcloth. Mom, â⬠reasons why I hate Struckâ⬠, the author wrote the 5 reasons are 1, Overpriced products, 2, Their marketing angle is to appeal to vain rich people, 3, Anyone who feeds you addictive chemicals is not your friend, 4, They pay their workers poorly, 5. They force their workers to dress and act like slave. But I feel some economic fallacies behind this particular article, for arguing their CEO earns too much, or their workers deserve more money is ludicrous. The wor kers are being paid for their services; it's not an easy Job to be the CEO.However, Struck as one of the most successful company in the world, they must have their reasons to be so persuasive, and make people love it. According to the Article ââ¬Å"5 Reasons Why Struck Is so persuasiveâ⬠The author wrote about his thoughts on why Struck Is so persuasive without any advertising on television or magazines. Reason 1 ââ¬â They create an experience when you walk Into a store; 2 ââ¬â The baristas and others who work here really seem to enjoy their Jobs; 3 ââ¬â Something that stands out about Struck Is how easily recognizable Its cups are; 4 ââ¬â the convenience of Struck app; 5- The convenience of drive through service
Friday, August 30, 2019
Pritchett, Lant (2006) Center For Global Development Essay
Introduction: When the wings are strong, even the birds fly! Birds also, as a rule migrate, flying thousands of miles to the area and the climate of their choice every year. Even before the Christian era, adventurous traders and devoted missionaries have been moving from one country to another for their purposes in view. Migration is an age-old happening. The industrial and internet revolutions, the modern materialistic civilization have commercially shrunk the world. ââ¬ËAtlas has shrugged!ââ¬â¢ When basic conditions are created for the people to move from one country to another, irresistible demographic forces are bound to exert their pressure. To check these forces through anti-immigration ideas is like blocking the furiously advancing avalanche with the fence of straw. Or trying to touch the moon by kite-flying! Or controlling the rising flood waters by filling pitchers! Statistical studies are no doubt needed, but it is no use digging the well when the house is on fire. In times of war, your goal should be to win the war, no matter how you win. I mean to say, all the relative efforts should be to tackle the root cause of the problem. It is no ordinary chat on the subject of migration by Pritchettâ⬠¦. Pritchettââ¬â¢s ideas are far-sighted. The world leaders talk about globalization and ââ¬Å"the world is one familyâ⬠concept, but the so-called national interests are entrenched too strongly in them. They wish to remain dry under water. Efforts are constantly on the anvil to check labor mobility.à Political interests are the main consideration; welfare of the common man is nicely swept under the carpet, by arguments and counterarguments. The governments are resisting the liberal ideas, because the rich people of the country protest against creating favorable conditions for the labor to immigrate! Some forward thinking statesmen/ politicians have to take initiative to break he deadlock if they really wish to do something tangible for the welfare of the people to whom employment means their livelihood. Temporary work-permits and protection of migrantsââ¬â¢ fundamental human rights are the important issues. Lant Pritchett is touching the live wire! Your book will be controversial, Mr. Pritchett, but do not bother. All great ideas have been controversial. Some centuries ago, people and intellectuals did believe that the Earth is flat and the sun does the rotations! The book is not a voluminous work by page-count, just 151 pages, but they are sufficient to stir the thinking process of the individuals concerned, the politicians and the policy-makers. He tenders provocative ideas, on the issues where provocation is required.à The book has 5 chapters, i) Four Irresistible Forces for Increased Labor Mobility, ii) The Fifth Irresistible Force: Ghosts & Zombies, iii) Immovable Ideas: Myths and Truths, iv) Accommodating Forces and Ideas to achieve developmentââ¬âFriendly Labor Mobility v) Conclusion: Let their People Come. To the fundamental question in Economics, what are the factors of production, the answer is, land, labor, capital and organization. Labor is the most important of them for capital without labor is dead! It is not that Lant is unaware of the political consequences of labor immigration. But he is an economist. He has soft-corner for the labor and it is not mere wishful thinking. He gives his favorable disposition towards the labor force and makes out a brilliant case for expanded immigration in rich countries. If you are thinking in terms of globalizing everything, why not labor, is the question posed by Lant. He has his own style of working on his projects. He is not concerned about the ideologies and methodologies. He will not stick to any special type of ââ¬Å"ismâ⬠. He is a man without a label or a tag. He works with a pure heart and for the cause which he considers and concludes to be right. He is truly a global person with the global approach to his thinking. He doesnââ¬â¢t believe in half- hearted measures. He is the proverbial individual who believesââ¬âdo not strike; if you strike, strike so hard that there is no need to strike again! He gives unassailable ideas and reasons in the very first chapter of the book: He says, ââ¬Å"Four irresistible forces today cause observed increases in labor mobilityââ¬âand each promises to become even more powerful in future. Those forces are wage gaps, demographics, ââ¬Å"everything but laborâ⬠globalization, and the services future of labor demand in industrial countries. A fifth forceââ¬ârapid and massive shifts in the desired populations of various countriesâ⬠¦. Four preliminary observations are useful.â⬠(Pritchett, 2006, p.13) Pritchett is on war with both left and rightââ¬âand therefore, he invites controversy. His question to world leaders is why you stop at standard solutions, trade and aid. He stands solidly behind the guest-worker program. Why shouldnââ¬â¢t millions of the poorest of the world choose to work in richest economies? He is worried why people are so insensitive about this issue. He is willing to beat the national borders on this issue and paints the grim picture emerging on the curtain of the mind of an ordinary worker. ââ¬Å"Gaps in per capita across countries are only suggestive of migration pressures, because the relevant question for a worker is the difference in wages that he or she would earn in two countries.â⬠Pritchett, 2006, p.18) Pritchettââ¬â¢s critics say he thinks much ahead of his time; all great thinkers do think so! He is opposed for, Western countries do not wish to jeopardize their sovereignty, cause tremors in à the levels of domestic wages, terrorism is such a big question that involves national security, the developing countries would not like to drain their own talent on a large scale, with children migrating on such a large scale, what about the poor parents?ââ¬âit is going to be such a big sociological problem, the cultural cohesion of all the affected countries will be disturbed beyondà repair, the churning process will be damagingââ¬âPritchett has some soft à answers for many such important issues, butà his hard critics are not willing to listen. Pritchett says that the migrants are temporary workers; they are coming to return to their home country. They will stay 3 to 5 years, with no scope for regular citizenship, and they are coming as stop-gap arrangements to work in areas with certified labor shortages. They will not bring the families. So, the taxpayers of the host country need not take up the responsibility of educating the migrantsââ¬â¢ children. A revolving labor pool will be created. Lant Pritchett is no ordinary think-tank and he is always battle ready to talk and write on global issues. He is a non-resident fellow at the Centre for Global Development and is a lead socio-economist with the World Bank, based in New Delhi, India. He is to take up the assignment of Professor of the Practice of Economic Development at Harvardââ¬â¢s Kennedy School of Government, shortly. (I think he has since taken up his assignment.) Conclusion: Labor unrest has been the cause of many devastating revolutions. Then pages of labor movements all over the world, daubed in bloodshed, ask a crying question. How to make this Planet Earth peaceful with plenty and prosperity? The answer is simple and direct. Eyes full of understanding, heart full of love, life that effuses conflicts, and employment opportunities and freedom of movement for one and allââ¬âthese alone are enough!
Thursday, August 29, 2019
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 ââ¬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 60ââ¬â¢s. Market is the main criteriaà 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: ââ¬â Localisation of products to address local mid market ââ¬â Proximity to demand and regional raw materials resources ââ¬â Vast scale of operations and flexibility ââ¬â Diligence and industrial skills of workers ââ¬â Better ââ¬Å"time to marketâ⬠and reduction of logistics costs ASIAN economies have emerged as major sourcing destination for globalà 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 ââ¬Å"In future, next shoring, not the off shoring, drives manufacturing location decisionâ⬠According to me I accept the topic ââ¬Å"In future, next shoring, not the off shoring, drives manufacturing location decisionâ⬠. 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, ââ¬Å"There was a herd mentality to offshoring and an inability to see the total costs.â⬠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 arenââ¬â¢t as appealing as they once were. In fact, today, manufacturers are doing something that would have been unthinkable a decade ago: theyââ¬â¢re bringing manufacturing home. A few examples: in January, Bill Simon, Wal-Mart U.S. President and CEOà 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 ââ¬Å"is quickly becoming outdated as a business model for GE Appliances.â⬠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 ââ¬Å"In future, next shoring, not the off shoring, drives manufacturing location decisionâ⬠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 companyââ¬â¢s executive vice president of global supply chains in 2013. There is just as much opportunity in global sourcing as there was five years agoââ¬âif not more. ââ¬Å"They used to be focused on China or India, but their Shanghai office now is looking at a number of countries.â⬠There is pressure to source in America, and MSC Industrial Directââ¬â¢s product offering takes that into account. ââ¬Å"The way we go to market is to have a ââ¬ËMade in the USAââ¬â¢ product in every category,â⬠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,â⬠Jones explains. ââ¬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 marketà area 1.5 Conclusion Thus from the above case studies and market analysis itââ¬â¢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 ââ¬Å"In future, next shoring, not the off shoring, drives manufacturing location decisionâ⬠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 organizationââ¬â¢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 inà 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 employeeââ¬â¢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 donââ¬â¢t achieve their goals. The first outcome of the Creative Development Institute, ââ¬ËeyeCan,ââ¬â¢ 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 ourà talented workforce introduces to assist those in need. 2.2 Analysis of Samsung Mobiles using P.E.S.T and Poterââ¬â¢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, Porterà ´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 directà 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 ââ¬Å"Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legalâ⬠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 companyââ¬â¢s decision making processes is evident as well as its ability to change to conditions under which competition takes place. For example, the Finnish governmentââ¬â¢s decision to allow bundling of mobile phones had a direct impact on both handset manufacturersââ¬â¢ and mobile operatorsââ¬â¢ 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 ââ¬Å"stakeholder groups that a firm has regular dealings withâ⬠(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 ââ¬Å"Can they provide the quality we require at a good price?â⬠, ââ¬Å"Can they adjust to changes in the supply volume?â⬠and ââ¬Å"What is out power relative to our suppliers and vice versa?â⬠Increasingly, however, large multinational companies in particular are concerned about the ethicality of their suppliersââ¬â¢ operations. Recently, for example, Samsung was alleged to have used so called ââ¬Ëblood metalsââ¬â¢ 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 ââ¬Å"â⬠¦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.â⬠- 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.à 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 companyââ¬â¢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 companyââ¬â¢s micro-environment is customers. In thisà 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 todayââ¬â¢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 supplierââ¬â¢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 ââ¬Å"the effort of two or more parties acting independently to secure the business of a third party byà offering the most favourable termsâ⬠. (Merriam Webster Online, 2011) Correspondingly, The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics states that ââ¬Å"competition arises whenever two or more parties strive for something that all cannot obtain.â⬠(Stigler, 2008) In this thesis, these competing ââ¬Å"partiesâ⬠are handset manufacturers who act to ââ¬Å"secure the businessâ⬠or ââ¬Å"strive forâ⬠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 ââ¬Å"in which producers are so few that the actions of each of them have an impact on price and on competitorsâ⬠(Merriam Webster Online, 2011). Second, there are fairly high barriers to entry due to the capital intensive nature of the business. In addition,à gaining market share generally requires significant investments in marketing and established manufacturers can benefit from advantages of scale. Poterââ¬â¢s 5 Force Model The Porterââ¬â¢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 armââ¬â¢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 participantsââ¬â¢ 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 todayââ¬â¢s knowledge-intensive companies. Figure 2.2 Porterââ¬â¢s Five Forces ââ¬âmodel The rationale for choosing the Five Forces framework was as follows. The model was to be well-known and tested. Even though Porterââ¬â¢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 Porterââ¬â¢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 inà 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. Samsungââ¬â¢s Information and Telecommunication R&D Center is in Suwon, where the companyââ¬â¢s headquarters are located. This R&D Center was designed to incorporate all of its business specialtiesââ¬âsemiconductors, electronic components, multimedia, and telecommunicationsââ¬âto 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 Samsungââ¬â¢s clever marketing strategies played an important role in lifting Samsungââ¬â¢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, ââ¬Å"Samsung DIGITall: Everyoneââ¬â¢s invited.â⬠One of Samsungââ¬â¢s major global branding strategies is Olympic sponsorship. Inà 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 Samsungââ¬â¢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. Samsungââ¬â¢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 ââ¬Å"digital convergenceâ⬠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 Samsungââ¬â¢s high-end strategy, which was attributed to Samsungââ¬â¢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 sourcesà 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 Samsungââ¬â¢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 Samsungââ¬â¢s patents are on applied technologies, which are developed based on othersââ¬â¢ patent-protected core technologies. Recently, Samsung experienced a shortage in the supply of Qualcomm chips and camera-phone modules. This suggests that Samsungââ¬â¢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, companyââ¬â¢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 lifeà 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
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Possible Problems in Air Arabia's Future Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Possible Problems in Air Arabia's Future - Essay Example and Europe tourist trade, where travelers are more affected by high oil prices than are local travelers. Low-cost airlines have been able to supply routes previously unserved or underserved by traditional network airlines, with local customers taking advantage of low cost. What are the factors that allow an airline to compete successfully with ticket prices It is necessary for an airline like Air Arabia to look to their competition and find ways to offer lower prices than any other airline and still maintain customer satisfaction (Sector; Air). 1. "No frills" services such as not serving food on board or by charging customers for food and drink. Air Arabia maintains competitive pricing by offering a single class with a simple fare structure, and by charging money for on-board food, drinks, and headsets through agreements with various companies to sell consumer items on board, thereby providing a good complimentary income to the low cost model. By focusing on short direct flights, it might not even be necessary to offer food at all (Air 19). 3. Creating package deals through cooperation with hotels and car rental companies.
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 16
History - Essay Example The blue dragon is pictured moving in up and down waves like a fancy kite dragon I once saw flying in the air. It is a good luck sign in most Asian countries and is a very happy creature as compared with western dragons. It is in the classic ginger Jar shape. This kind of porcelain was really popular and expensive, since the cobalt blue dye had to be imported from India through China, so it was only used for dragons. These made their way west on the Silk Road, along with the rare and coveted silk to western European courts all the way to Great Britain even during the most isolationist times. The motif and some of the shape and technique was copied in the UK, as I have seen these before outside of the museum, even in boot sales. (Dragon Jar 2009) Things like this, spices and silk made the trade with the east very profitable, and controlling the Mediterranean was the key to domination. Mostly the trade was dominated by the Mughal Empire, China or the Portuguese. The next artifact I noticed in this collection was another lovely round teapot with a bird on it. Since it also originated in Korea during the same time period, I have to assume the bird is the Phoenix, the alter-ego of the Dragon even though it is very small, because the painting is done with Cobalt Blue. The teapot is in lovely condition and sports a ropy handle and a lid. It could also have been used to serve wine. Clear bottles were likely very rare in Asia as they were using more porcelain and clay, so this would not have been an unusual way to use a teapot. In the Chinese artifacts there were many beautiful dishes in porcelain from China, even one with the same kind of dragon on it, also pictured moving like a flying snake with six legs. This plate was very colorful in red, blue and green. It was even decorated on the underside, and must have been some household headââ¬â¢s prized
Political Morality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words
Political Morality - Essay Example t of knowing whether the public require to know about politicianââ¬â¢s private lives only during the time when this information is important for assessing their capability to be elected into office. Consequently, I do not agree with this claim. In fact, the public require knowing the private lives of politicians all the times. Even such things as the politicianââ¬â¢s sexual relationships and private finances have to be known to the public especially when they have a connection with the management of public resources. Dimensions of privacy and publicity Social practices and activities of public life versus private life have a wide range of domain. There are however, three broad dimensions of these forms of life. These are access, agency, and interest. Access refers to visibility of resources and information. Agency refers to the control and capacities, which political agents enjoy while interest refers to the relevance of resource utilization (Benn and Gaus, 1983). Access, also known as visibility involves many things. First, it involves the people physically accessing such spaces as beaches, theatres. If the access is public, then it means that anyone has the right to space. On the other hand, if access is private, it means that group, or someone has access right. In this case, such a person can allow or deny others access. Access to space does not come in as far as the need to know more about a politician is concerned. In any case, the politician does not wait until the public is aware so that he or she can get into such spaces as theatres or beaches. These are recreational places and politicians have the right to get entertained. This right does not affect the management of public resources in any way. In fact, it is considered in remuneration. This is why every employee has entertainment allowance (Benn & Gaus, 1983). Secondly, it involves people accessing social activities like public meeting. For public meeting, anyone has the right of
Monday, August 26, 2019
Changes in the Demand and Supply of Cooking Gas in the U.S Research Paper
Changes in the Demand and Supply of Cooking Gas in the U.S - Research Paper Example This paper describes current state of American market for cooking gas in terms of the volumes of demand and supply at a time of the introduction of new technology of gas production. There is also a grafical illustration of these changes in the diagram in the paper. Cooking gas is one of the basic items whose demand and supply has been very unsteady over the years 2011-2013 . These situation led to changes in the prices for cooking gas in the U.S. The new engineering tools have resulted into boom in the supply of natural gas products, hence a change in the consumption pattern for cooking gases. Natural gas has become a preferred energy source in the U.S. and has served as the replacement of the old and popular coal-fired generations and nuclear gas in some circumstances. The U.S. has faced a new challenge in meeting the growing demand for natural gas products, particularly cooking gas, as the supply of natural gas products with the the introduction of new technology significally rised. The report by the EIA revealed that the demand for natural gas has been fueled by the fast increasing industrial energy demand. The industries are preferring natural gas over other sources of energy given its economics value such as reduced negative externalities such as pollution and affordability These changes in the prices of natural gas have given rise to speculative demand for natural gas in the U.S. Given the price elasticity of demand for natural and cooking gases in U.S., any little change in the demand for these products results into a significant change in prices.
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Pirate ship theme party for kids Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Pirate ship theme party for kids - Essay Example The guestsââ¬â¢ tour in the ship along with planned events would be calculated in advance. Upon enterance there would be a treasure hunt expedition where the guests would be given a series of clues and instructions in order to search for the treasure. As guests would mingle with staff in the ship, they would be engaged in numerous activities such as games such as paintball, puzzles or trick games, pirate shows and other activities like music, dance and food. Time-consuming activities such as search for treasures or paint-ball will have a great effect on the fun quotient of children as they would engage in the party and lose sense of time. How is staff used to create the sense of theatre created? ? Of the four realms of experience provided by Pine and Gilmore, the Pirate theme would be designed as Escapist with active levels of participation and emersion. Firstly, all the staff will be dressed in pirate costumes to induce a feeling of being in a pirated ship. Most of the staff woul d be wearing uniforms of capitan, officers and ordinary seamen. Adapting the real diversity of Pirates, the staff would speak in a number of accents such as English, American, West Indian, Scottish and Spanish. Other theatrics adopted by the staff in creating a sense of theatre are the use of props such as parrots, pistols, swords, playing cards, box of jewels, board games, dices, musical instruments such as harmonica and fake tobacco. Frequently the staff would engage guests in trick games, converse with them in their accents and show them their visual props. There will also be sound effects in background as lightening or splashes of water, sea storm or voices from another ship. Is the guestââ¬Ës role is explained? ? The concept of Experience Economy as explained by Pine and Gilmore dwells upon two particular dimensions of the experience ââ¬â customer participation, and connection. The escapist realm of Pirate theme experience would actively engage guests by explaining them their part and making them aware that they are active participants of the theme. The guest will be prepared for the role by dressing up as a pirate. Purposefully, each guest would be classified into pirate camps and given different dresses such as a Carribean pirate, an English pirate (seaman) or a Welsh officer. Variations would also be made by giving them different hats, eye patches, beads, hairdos, swords and other accessories. To complete their get-up as a pirate, kids will have a make-up session with their face airbrushed and dark eyes. Before entering the ship, guests would receive a small bag of their belongings including some fake jewels, their prized possessions, tips on playing games and winning treasures etc. Is the proposed transformation of the guest explained? The proposed transformation of kids into a Pirated Ship will be based upon the following activities: Costume designing: Both guests and staff would be wearing pirate themed costumes giving a sense of seventeenth century era. Five Senses: All senses of guests would be stimulated such as Owning pistols (Touch), Pirate ship/costumes/parrots (Sight), Lightening and ship sounds (Hearing), Smell of fresh paint/wood (Smell) and Sea-food (Taste). Games: There will be a number of games such as board and dice games, ship adventure games that will help transform kids into the world of pirates. Pirate Ship Environment: The Pirate Ship Environment such as wooden planks, presence of water, ship sirens, maps and compasses will also assist in guestsââ¬â¢
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Over the long term, has state power increaded r decreased in relation Essay
Over the long term, has state power increaded r decreased in relation to that of the federal government - Essay Example Similarly, it has acquired most of state powers such as the mandate to control inter-state commerce, the autonomy to agree on treatises with foreign countries and the authority to form an arm and declare war on enemies2. Additionally, the federal government has becoming powerful resulting to undesired incidents such as the Civil unrest or war which strengthened unions, the Great Depression which instituted bureaucracies for assisting the suffering Americans and Civil Rights Movement that called for intervention at the state level to reduce rampant cases of racism against blacks. Furthermore, because of the protection of Constitutional powers, the federal government has usurped state powers in terms of fundamental rights and freedoms enjoyed by citizens. This is manifested in through federal courts that ensure violators of such rights and freedoms enshrined in the constitution are tried and convicted. On that note, state has been reduced to playing minor roles of supervising the feder al government to avoid losing its independence and
Friday, August 23, 2019
Electronic Media Education Tool Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Electronic Media Education Tool - Essay Example From the discussion it is clear thatà the incorporation of electronic media as an education tool is highly influenced by huge health facts and epidemiological conditions that directly hamper the model taken in the basic way of life of the older.à There are established International guidelines on levels of exposure various intensities of microwave frequency EMFs.à For instance, ICNIRP perimeter the power levels of incorporated wireless devices. Hense, wireless device manufacturers always have the baseline recommendable for manufacture of their instruments exceed the guidelines. The guidelines majorly take into account considerable thermal effects, but non-thermal effects have not been convincingly demonstrated.This paper stresses thatà the main guidelines on design of the electronic media as an education tool hugely borders on the main instruments. For instance; computer affects, internet and other facilities entailed in enhancing the opposite working of the electronic media as an education system.à Old age refers to a unique stage in life when the human body system is made weak to some extent. The group always have predicament with proper posture while walking or sitting. Disregard to proper sitting positions always results in backaches and pains, spinal injury and elevated fatigues.à Others may have developed other specific problems for defects with hearing, seeing, memory loss and other minor issues.
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Ec Assignment for Microbiology Essay Example for Free
Ec Assignment for Microbiology Essay 1) First, the urine sample container should be labeled accordingly. Urine samples and transport containers should be free of any particles or anything that may interfere with the sample. The sample should be in a secure container with a leak resistant lid; this will also prevent exposure to the person handling the sample while also protecting the sample from being contaminated. It is important to not reuse any specimen container to insure that the sample is in a sterile environment and is not at risk from being contaminated. Nurses can encourage the patient to wash their hands before and after they provide the sample. The patient can also be advised to replace the lid on the specimen as soon as the sample has been collected to keep contaminates from getting in the sample. Nurses should explain that these steps will ensure the most accurate results. Nurses should also follow protocol to avoid contamination. Nurses should wear gloves at all times and wash their hands regularly. Urine should be stored properly as to avoid any additional growth of bacteria. (Becton, 2004) 2) This protocol is for samples analyzed in a doctorââ¬â¢s office or for a routine laboratory culture that were midstream samples for urine culture or for urinary tract infections. Negative macroscopic screened urines do not routinely require microscopic examination of urine sediment. Microscopic examination of urine sediment may be warranted when macroscopic examination is positive for blood (Hb), protein (greater than a trace), nitrite, leukocyte esterase, turbidity, or glucose concentration greater than 55mmol/l. Choices for urinalysis are urine culture only, Macroscopic microscopic if dipstick positive, Macroscopic urine culture if pyuric or nitrite present, Macroscopic dipstick, Microscopic, or special case. (Association, 2011) 3) The most common symptoms of a urinary tract infection are pain or burning feeling during urination, feeling of urgency to urinate, altered appearance of the urine, pain or pressure in the rectum for men or in the area of the pubic bone for women, and only passing a tiny amount of urine even when the urge to urinate is strong. (Net, 2011) Edith is more susceptible to a urinary tract infection because she is a female. Women have shorter urethras therefore it is easier for bacteria to enter the urinary tract. Men are much less likely than women to get UTIs and when they do it is often related to another underlying medical condition, such as kidney stone or an enlarged prostate. (WebMD, 2005-2012) 4) Cipro is short for ciprofloxacin. Ciprofloxacin is an antibiotic that is used to treat bacterial infections. Ciprofloxacin belongs to the fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics. Cipro stops the multiplication of bacteria by inhibiting the reproduction and repair of their genetic material. (Net, ciprofloaxin (Cipro, Cipro XR) drug class, medical uses, medication side effects, and drug interactions by MedicineNet.com , 2012) 5) Clindamycin inhibits protein synthesis by reversibly binding to the 50s subunit of the ribosomal thus blocking the transpeptidation or translocation reactions of susceptible organisms resulting to stunted cell growth. (LLC) 6) Most antibiotics are taken in a pill form and they can kill many of different strains of good bacteria in the digestive tract. A common complaint of taking antibiotics is stomach upset and diarrhea. Eating yogurt while taking antibiotics may help prevent some of the discomfort of antibiotic use because yogurt is made from milk and fermented with live cultures of the same types of bacteria that are normally present in a healthy digestive tract. Continuing to eat yogurt several days after discontinuing the antibiotics may help to replace good bacteria in the intestines. (Strong) 7) The warnings in using Clindamycin include but are not limited to diarrhea, colitis, and pseudo membranous colitis. These symptoms can persist for several weeks after discontinuing the use of the antibiotic. (A.D.A.M.) 8) The bad bacteria, that can cause diarrhea in people taking antibiotics, are called C difficile and its numbers are normally kept at low levels by the healthy flora in the gut. When a person is treated with antibiotics and the amount of healthy bacteria is decreased, C difficile may begin to multiply and produce a substance that is toxic and can cause diarrhea. This is known as pseudo membranous colitis. (About.com) The Clostridium difficile bacteria are normally present in the intestine; however, it may overgrow when antibiotics are taken. The bacteria release a powerful toxin that causes the symptoms. The lining of the colon becomes inflamed and bleeds, and takes on a characteristic appearance called pseudo membranes. (A.D.A.M) 15) C. difficile often relapses because it passes through a life cycle in which the actively dividing form transforms itself into the spore stage. Spores are inert and metabolically inactive, so they do not cause disease. At the same time though spores are very tough and are hard to kill even with the most powerful antibiotics. (Publications, 2000-2012) 16) A nonsocomial infection can be spread by cross-infection (from one patient to another), endogenous infection (a patientââ¬â¢s own flora), or environmental transfer (an object being used on a patient that is already contaminated). A patientââ¬â¢s risk may be increased due to age, decreased immune resistance, underlying disease, and therapeutic or diagnostic interventions. (Broaddus, 1997) 17) Clostridium difficile was first described in 1935 as a component of the intestinal flora in healthy newborn infants. The active role of C. difficile in human disease was not recognized until the 1970s when it was identified as the causative agent of pseudo membranous colitis. Additional studies demonstrated that C. difficile-associated disease encompasses a range of disease severity from colitis to toxic megacolon.
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Victorian England Essay Example for Free
Victorian England Essay We are studying the novel Great Expectations which was written by Charles Dickens. In this novel Dickens shows his concerns about injustices within the society that he lives in and he intends to describe to us what his childhood and past life may have been like. This novel is written in first person narration. The form its written in is called bildungsroman. It means the protagonist of the book i. e. Pip is now grown up and is looking back on his life. I intend to compare the similarities between Chapter 1 and Chapter 20 focusing on the differences between both of them. Section 2: In the beginning of the novel Pip is standing lonely and desolate in a graveyard overlooking the graves of his parents and five brothers. He appears poor and vulnerable and lives with his sister and Joe Gargery (blacksmith). Since his parents died his sister has been raising him by hand. Dickens uses the weather and the fact that Pip feels lonely to create a frightening atmosphere and environment around Pip. When Pip is standing in the graveyard he is scared and caught by a convict called Magwitch. Magwitch catches Pip and hangs him in thin air whilst asking him his name and where he lives. Pip is terrified yet he replies with him name and tells Magwitch that he lives with the blacksmith. Magwitch shakes Pip a couple of times to empty out his pockets and he searches for any food he may be carrying. He then threatens Pip and makes him promise to bring him food tomorrow. He makes him swear he shall not tell anyone his location or a man Magwitch claims as his accomplice will find Pip and tear out his heart and his liver. Magwitch describes this man as brutal and says it will be hard to keep him away from Pip if Pip doesnt follow his instructions. Pip returns to his house and is insulted and hit by his sister while Joe defends him from her. Hes told to steal some food for the escaped convict. Dickens wants the reader to fell sorry for both Pip and Magwitch in this Chapter as they are both feeling lonely and need help. Section 3: Pip and Magwitch and both very vulnerable and scared characters. Pip is scared of Magwitch not knowing that he in turn is also scared of the soldiers that have been sent out to capture him. Pip gives the file and the food to Magwitch telling him that there is also another escaped convict in the nearby area and that the soldiers are close by searching as the gunshots are being heard by everyone. Quotations: Missing Dickens intends to reflect the real Victorian society by showing that instead of Mrs . Joe sending Pip to live elsewhere she keeps him by herself. Also, the convicts want to escape prison because they are being kept in hulks and the living conditions are terrible. The transport during Victorian days was mainly walking. ( During the days when Charles Dickens was growing up trains existed but he chooses to write his novels in the past tense even from his time). When convicts were given harsh punishments they were mainly transported to Australia and should they choose to return they would be killed. Dickens links the novel to Victorian England and shows that the poor and uneducated arent treated in the same way as the rich people were. Section 4: In Chapter 20 Pip has changed from being a child and is now twenty three years old. He has lost most of his morals in trying to become a gentleman. He now knows how to present himself in society and the people around him but knows nothing of how he should behave with his old friend and mentor, Joe. Also Pip has changed from being poor to having wealth. Pip is the same in some ways such as feeling guilty about anything he does wrong but as well as his wealth, he has also had a change in his attitude. He behaves as if most people are beneath him and his is better then them in most ways so basically he thinks himself better then anyone else and is bigheaded. He lives with his roommate and best friend Herbert Pocket. Dickens is using first person narration in this novel to present Pip in different ways as compared to Chapter 1. Pips arrogance and ungratefulness towards his true benefactor is shown through what he thinks. Pip doesnt like the fact that his benefactor is a criminal who he helped in his childhood. Section 5: Once again Dickens has presented us with atmosphere that frightens Pip just like in Chapter 1. Dickens highlights the fact that the weather is once again stormy, rainy and cloudy all the time. He creates the same conditions that occurred the first time that Magwitch entered Pips life thus introducing the fact that Magwitch will return in this Chapter. When Magwitch shows up at Pips flat, Pip is terrified and he still thinks of Magwitch as the powerful figure from his childhood and starts feeling vulnerable not knowing that Magwitch feels the same way as he is a return convict from Australia and could end up in prison again. Pip is surprised to find out about Magwitch having given him enough money to cover his expenses and live like a gentleman. He appears to be the same as he was all those years ago, he behaves and acts as if him and Pip are very close when in fact Pip is horrified over what he has just found out. He wants to be able to live with Pip and he thinks of him as a very nice person for having helped him when he was a child. Section 6: At the beginning of Chapter 20 Pip is faced with tough decisions. He is confused about how to deal with the circumstances he is faced with. When Pip is faced with the reality that Mrs. Havisham has not been his benefactor and therefore realises that means that Mrs. Havisham had not intention of wanting him to marry Estella. He thinks that he has been cheated and Pip doesnt like the fact that whatever he has achieved has been accomplished by the convict and murderer who Pip helped during his childhood. First person narration is used here to explain Pips disappointment and sadness. When Pip about Magwitch having funded him he is not pleased besides knowing that Magwitch is a criminal he also knows that this means Miss Havisham was not preparing him to marry Estella therefore there is now no hope for him being able to do so. Conclusion: At the time this novel was written the justice system in Victorian England was very harsh especially with the poor people. Dickens has shown Magwitch as a very nice person who is good hearted and wants to help Pip in any way that he can but he finds it hard to do so because since he has gotten in trouble with the law. If he chooses to return to England and meet Pip he will suffer harsh justice. Since he murdered his partner, Compeyson then Magwitch will be put to death. During the time Dickens wrote this novel the death penalty was very common and whilst writing each of his novels he chooses a character who is poor and suffering due to the legal system. Through Pips experiences in this novel we can now fully understand that the poor arent treated equally to the rich in any way. The poor are mainly uneducated and the rich live exquisite lifestyles in which they are free to do whatever they please. Victorian England is projected as full of injustice ands the differences between rich and poor is emphasized.
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
How Globalisation Is Shaping Up The Chinese Culture Media Essay
How Globalisation Is Shaping Up The Chinese Culture Media Essay It is a term coined by critical theorists Theodor Adorno (1903-69) and Max Horkheimer (1895-1973). So-called cultural industries or creative industries have become very popular recently with Chinas economic planners and business people. These people, in constant search for new areas with growth potential and business commercial opportunities, I believe they have spotted a bonanza after seeing market victories by companies such as Shanda, the Nasdaq-listed computer game developer, and Hunan Satellite TV, which produced quite a few commercially successful programmes like Super Girls, designed after American Idol. Cultural industries have already been put into the local governments. Chinese cultural industry maintains growth by government supported loans. Chen Yuxin, Li Huizi BEIJING, Aug. 4 (Xinhua). A list of 15 cultural enterprises has been submitted to the Export and Import Bank of China via the Ministry of Culture for a huge amount of bank loans to support development of Chinas cul tural industry. The State Council of china to, import and export projects, will grant loans of at least 20 billion Yuan. The cultural industries have become a fresh driving force of Chinas economic growth. The gross output value of Chinese cultural industries including the press, movie, broadcast, journalism, advertising, tourism, show business, Internet communication and relevant services hit 1.2 trillion yuan (about 150 billion US dollars) in 2004.( Dominic Power and Alien J. Scott,2004). Ever since the publication of Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimers essay on culture industries in the mid 1940s, there has been a lively debate about the production, distribution, and consumption of cultural products. Cultural industries worldwide have adapted to the new digital technologies and to the arrival of national, regional and international regulatory policies. These factors have radically altered the context in which cultural goods, services, and investments flow between countries and consequently, these industries have undergone a process of Globalisation and progressive concentration, resulting in the formation of a few big corporations. These industries also provide an increasingly important avenue for employment creation. The growing significance of the cultural industries within the economy and to employment is becoming apparent. Moreover, in certain countries, cultural industries may also be referred to as creative industries or future-oriented industries. In all cases, the conception includes printing, publishing and multimedia, audiovisual, phonographic and cinematographic productions as well as crafts and design. However, in some countries, this concept also embraces architecture, visual and performing arts, sports, manufacturing of musical instruments, advertising and cultural tourism. By all means, we are talking about industries that add value to contents, generate value for individuals, societies and wealth, nurture creativity and innovation in production and commercialisation processes. They are also central in promoting and maintaining cultural diversity. Creative works, embedded in books, records, films, multimedia, crafts and fashion design products, nowadays most popular gateways to enjoy cultural and artistic expressions and are conveyed worldwide disseminated by cultural industries. To a large extent, reciprocal images and stereotypes of cultures and civilizations are being constructed through global cultural industries. World citizens need opportunities to develop new content, products reflecting their own concerns, lifestyles and interests, as well as the means to ensure that these cultural goods and services can compete in domestic, regional and global markets. GLOBALISATION: Globalization is often seen by its proponents as facilitating a new idealism of Economic openness, political transparency, and global culture. Globalization provides an opportunity for the advancement of common human standards and equality as norms and rules are channelled throughout the world. This Global proximity is thought to foster cooperation and to increase security. Alternatively, globalization is often seen as a tool for large hegemonic states to exercise economic primacy with little regard for human rights, labour standards, or the environment. But Globalisation has shaped up the Chinese industry well. The global television system has dramatically changed during the past two decades. The number of television sets and the number of TV channels has rapidly increased as television industries have been privatized and commercialized. New broadcasting systems such as cable and satellite broadcasting industries have also become part of everyday life around the world. The transform ation of the global television industry system can be understood within the larger context of global political-economic shifts and accompanying technological development. Specifically, I explore the changing structure of the Chinese broadcasting industry by examining consolidation. That is, I analyze foreign and domestic investment activities of the TV industry. I also discuss the role of national governments and domestic communication industries in the transformation of the broadcasting system. The Global Alliance for Cultural diversity: Making Globalization and work for culture. At the time we drafted the universal declaration on Cultural Diversity, we realised that those aspects relating cultural goods and services conveyed by cultural industries could only attract real interest among member states that already had a minimum of cultural industry infrastructure and Were in a position to design and finance appropriate cultural policies. It therefore appeared necessary to advance, in parallel, operational action to develop and strengthen cultural industries (Publishing, music, cinema and audiovisual, multimedia, crafts and Fashion design) in developing countries. We were also fully aware that piracy was eroding the sound development of legally established local industries in many countries and was about to become a major enemy of cultural diversity at the global scale. International instruments on cultural diversity and trade agreements will have little value for developing countries if there are no endogenous goods or Services to be consumed domestically or t o be exported. Hybridization and global culture: Globalization has been seen as a process, but also a project; a reality, but also a belief (Mattelart, 2002). There is continuing debate over its onset, definition and end result. Many believe that a global culture will emerge with the rise of globalization. Yet opinions are divided over what the nature of this culture will be, whether it will be a single homogeneous system that is characterized by convergence and the presence of the universal in the Particular (Wallerstein, 1990) or it will be an ensemble of particulars that features long distance interconnectedness (Hannerz, 1996). With The rise of post colonialism, the concept of hybridity has become a new facet of the debate about global culture in the social sciences. (Bhabha, 1994). As cable and satellite television mushroomed in the 1990s, the demand for Films and television programs grew twentyfold and more in China. This demand has led to the localization of global products and the globalization of local products on an unprecedented scale. This phenomenon allows producers to borrow ideas to enlighten an established story model or to make content adjustments to cater to the needs of a different audience. In 2001, a Chinese language martial arts film became the then highest grossing foreign language film ever made (Lahr, 2003: 72) in the history of Hollywood film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, has almost every ingredient needed to make it authentically Chinese. Adapted from a novel Published in China in the early 1930s, it features romantic martial arts story that is set in ancient China. The Cheesiness of the film is also Characterized by dazzling sword fights, period costumes, an iconic Chinese Setting and an all Chinese cast who speak Mandarin throughout the film. However, one aspect of the film production sets it apart from other Chinese Martial arts films; it was made with an eye on the market beyond Greater China, was financed through international production, bonds and bank loans and was distributed by a transnational distributor. Despite the attacks that the film has received from critics, its market success in repackaging an ethnic Story for a global audience, manifests two closely linked characteristics of Cultural production today; namely, the indispensable role of the capitalist, mechanism in financing, marketing and distribution and the emergence of Cultural fusion and hybridization as a prevailing strategy for transnational content design. It is also one of Disneys most profitable films. Crouching Tiger was originally targeted at art theatres outside of the Greater China region, but with a box office total of US$213,200,000 and international awards, including the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. It became the most successful Non-American film made. Wang, D.L. (1985). Understanding local reception of globalized cultural products in the context of the International cultural economy: The populist oriented Hollywood blockbuster movies that tend to target the lowest common denominator are often accused by Chinese intellectuals of being culturally debilitating. Yet Chinas nationwide debate revolving around two technocratic, spectacle driven domestic blockbusters by its renowned film director Zhang Yimou, Hero (2002) and House of Flying Daggers (2004). Their excessive marketing have demonstrated Hollywoods broader and more systemic impact on Chinas film style, marketing practice and media culture, which are increasingly in line with the unified global standard set by Hollywood and marked by relentless commercialism. By studying the two movies, reception in China, describes how a national culture receives globalized versions of its own traditions, the role of Hollywood, and the implications for international cultural exchange and national identity in the context of the international cultural economy. (Bezlova, A, 2003) Exploring the Meanings of Globalization in Beijing: A number of people who view globalization from a Universalist perspective criticize the growing erosion of traditional values aided by rapid development of information technology and transnational corporations (Barber 1992; Parker 2005). At its extreme, proponents of this school appear to suggest that globalization is another form of cultural imperialism. Think globally, act locally is the business motto of Viacom Inc, one of the largest global entertainment corporations in the world. Through the case study of Viacoms MTV Channel in China, examines how transnational media corporations have localized in China, and the implications of the globalization/localization process. Viacom may well be the first American global media enterprise to significantly penetrate the China market and has drawn the attention of the Chinese public and officials alike. In 1999 Viacom spent $37.3 billion acquiring CBS, the network on which Jiang Zimen agreed to be interviewed by Mick Wallace on the programme 60 Minutes. This created perhaps the deepest impression of Viacom in Chinese minds. With pre-eminent positions in broadcast and cable television, radio, outdoor advertising and online (Viacom.com), Viacom covers creation, promotion, and distribution of entertainment, news, sports, music and comedy of all these businesses. MTV (Music Television) is the worlds most widely distributed television network, reaching more than 340 million households in 140 countries via 31 localized TV channels and 17 web sites. Since its establishment in 1981, through its ground-breaking visual expression of popular music, MTV has become a global youth phenomenon. Viacom first entered China through its entertainment arm MTV Asia 3, which covers three regional channels, MTV Mandarin, MTV Southeast Asia and MTV India, and reaches over 124 million households in 21 territories. The Chinese-language MTV Mandarin was inaugurated in 1995 along with its precursor, Channel V of Murdochs News Corporation, one of o nly two legal foreign owned music channels in China. In the late 1990s, while Murdoch had already found the key to opening Chinas door by satellite broadcasting with both legal and illegal reception and other cable relay services, MTV seized the opportunity to extend its arm into the region (Xu, 2002). Initially MTV China was available only in expensive hotels and areas inhabited by foreigners. Like Viacoms localization strategies in other countries, MTV renounced campaigning against the Chinese government for acceptance in China. With the experience of creating animated Korean characters strongly laden with traditional cultural elements in Korea, they repeated the experiment in China and thrived on four locally produced television programmes, the main 60-minute MTV programme MTV Global Village (Tian Lai Cun), MTV Star Profile (Mingxing Dangan) featuring biographies of artists in movies, MTV Chart of Glory (Guangrong Bang), a synopsis of music charts across the globe, and MTV Learning English (Xue yingyu) which teaches cool English. Th is programming serves up a playlist consisting of 70 percent Chinese music videos with the balance made up of international videos for viewers in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It also cooperated with Chinas state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) to produce the CCTV-MTV Music Awards in Beijing and later with Shanghai Media Group (SMG) to create 72 Global Media and Communication of Style Awards in Shanghai. Coupled with the localization strategy of local people, local programme, MTV sell their made-in-China syndicated programmes to stations in different Chinese cities, inserting advertising between the programme slots, and have thus gradually established their profitable business Weber, Ian (2003). The time race and time signification in the reform era: A study of changing movie theatres in urban China, this case of changing Chinese movie theatres serves as a miniature of the discursive process of how tension and ideological contention in cultural Production is revealed in Chinas reform era. For a long time, movie Theatres in China operated as a state-subsidized institution. Since 1979, China has been attempting to establish a market economy under the control of the Communist Party. The economic reform has brought various tensions to the fore, particularly those between state control and individual choice, the public and private spheres, material and cultural production, and ideological domination and resistance. Through the analysis of movie theatres, we intend to shed some light on the working of these tensions and on the main currents of cultural dynamics in Chinas reform era. Time also reveals itself as an irreversible arrow. The past exists in archives and our recollections, the present lives in direct experiences, and the future is in our imagination or inspiration. Nevertheless, the three time categories may not be so neatly arranged in a sequential order. The past is often situationally Constructed in the specific contexts of present social practices and is used as a symbolic resource (Appadurai, 1981). Social actors are able to follow and to reshape the script that explicates the past in the cultural sphere, Zhou, Tai (1993). The Deepening development of city movie theatres are renovation in the Nation (Quanguo chengshi yingyuan gaizao xiang zongshen fazhan), in China Film Yearbook 1993, p. 224. Beijing: China Cinema Press (Chinese). A developing market in News: Xinhua News Agency and Chinese newspapers Nothing can give us a better understanding of the earliest news agencies than tracing the history of their links with newspapers. It is also true that, without consideration of news agencies, the history of the capitalist newspaper industry cannot be fully understood. The early history of traditional news agencies is largely tied up with the development of the Newspaper industry (Thussu, 2000: 20; Gorman and McLean, 2003: 6-7). In the process of globalization, particularly in the contemporary digital environment based on the internet, news agencies, both old and new, have been challenged by rapid technological and economic changes. In this new environment, they have to compete not only with their counterparts but also with diversified media and non-media news providers. Intensifying Competition as a result of marketing, commercialization and digitalization, on the one hand it is forcing traditional news wholesalers to change their business model in order to survive; on the other hand, it is providing more opportunities for new entrants along with the fragmentation of news and information markets. The acceleration of marketing of the Chinese economy as a whole, and of the media industry in particular, has forced the national news agency to adopt more market principles in order to survive intensifying competition in both domestic and international markets Chu, L.L. (1994). Television and New Media: Greater China, understood as Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Peoples Republic of China, has been divided along political and economic lines for most of the past century. Nevertheless, just in the past decade, after globalisation television has emerged as a medium able to cross the boundaries within and around Greater China, to create new patterns of exchange within the Chinese speaking world, and to engage in complex ways with global forces of culture and commerce. This process has been driven by the liberation of National television industries of China and Taiwan since the 1980s. The establishment of commercial cable and satellite networks, both local and multinational, and the development of the technologies, reproduction of video cassettes and video compact discs have created a unified market for Mandarin-language television programming. The particular characteristics of the regions, with strong commercial production skills in Hong Kong and to a lesser extent Taiwan, and the colossal g rowth of the mainland Chinese commercial television industry have shaped the kinds of programming being produced and the way advertising has approached the market. One of the ways television expresses difference within Greater China is with the Chinese conceptualization of modernity. As argued by Duara, Fitzgerald, and others, the ideology of modernity in China is a sharply relational one, particularly preoccupied with Chinas relationship to other Sinclair. The Chinese ideology of modernity is concerned, on one hand, with the national need for Chinas technological modernization and, on the other, with the value of the personal practice of modern behaviours and lifestyles (Anagnost 1997, 75). Star TV was forced to accommodate Chinese officials in an attempt to gain carriage on government cable systems. Moreover, Rupert Murdochs dreams of exploiting a pan Asian market were dashed by the cultural diversity of audiences and the logistical demands of competing with local and national television broadcasters. Likewise, the complexity of product distribution networks on the ground undermined the possibility of expansive advertising strategies in the sky. And, finally, the promotional chores associated with building services inside China were worsened by restrictions on newspaper and magazine advertising. The Rise of the Anchor in Chinese Television: The television industry perceived influence of TV anchors (presenters) on Chinese television in the past 10 years or so, including the approaches and various institutional guidelines and disciplinary measures imposed by government departments and media institutions. Through the case of China Central Television (CCTV) and based on a theoretical framework that draws on the discourse of news culture, the study explores the different types of anchored media presented in the genres of news and current affairs, and tracks the rise of four of Chinas most popular anchors in these genres. Using a combination of discourse, visual and policy analysis, the popularity of high-profile anchor people in China since the mid 1990s has created a new type of influence, one not without its limitations but which may also contribute to a public sphere with Chinese characteristics. Chinese pop culture and music: Popular music and the culture industries, the intersection between gender politics in Chinese societies and the musical success of Faye Wong, the reigning diva of the Hong Kong based pop music industry. Unlike earlier female singing stars, Fayes music and public personal explicitly resist standard market practices and conventional representations of femininity. Yet, paradoxically, these unconventional qualities have contributed to her sustained success over the past 10 years. Thus, Fayes star personal operates both as a marketable commodity and as a site of significant cultural work in the region of gender politics. Using Bourdieus distinction between economic and cultural capital, shows how music companies enriched cultural capital as part of their promotional efforts and how in turn exploited that very capital in unconventional ways. Chow, Chien-I (1998) The Globalization of Chinese Film and TV: Michael Curtin is among many Western scholars and critics to focus their attention on the Chinese film and TV industry. His book presents a vivid picture of the development and globalization of the Chinese film and TV industry in the Greater China area from the 1950s till now. Apart from the unparalleled abundance of in depth interviews with key players, one of the greatest values of Curtins book is its intensity. While drawing a historic picture of the development of Chinese film and television, it raises many profound questions about the changing society of Greater China. Among these questions, two of them should attract wide attention from scholars who are interested in researching Chinese media. First, is the long-term tradition of paternalism, and second a conspicuous lack of creativity in the current film and television work. Summarized in brief, these two questions could be visualized as how the tradition of paternalism influences the capital operation of Chinese media enterpr ises and what are the social factors which gave rise to the lack of creativity in the Chinese media today. The Internet and the rise of a transnational Chinese cultural sphere, its basic elements are two kinds of online spaces, non-interactive spaces in the form of online magazines and newsletters, and interactive spaces such as chat rooms, newsgroups and bulletin board systems Arnold, Wayne (1998). The realities of virtual play: Video games and their industry in China: Video game is an umbrella term for arcade games; console Games, single PC games and online games. Video games have 20year history in China and continually impress us with their impressive statistics. With Over 20 million online gamers and the largest game population in the world, China was predicted to be the largest online game market in 2007 (Game Trust and Diffusion Group, 2004). In 2005 alone, video games generated 6.7 Billion RMB (US $0.8 billion) of revenue in China (Pop soft, 2006). Playing video games has displaced TV watching as a major leisure activity among Chinese youth. A recent survey showed that 25.4 percent of urban youth reported video games as the medium they most enjoyed, followed by Television (18.8%). Average playtime reached 0.98 hours a day (Yang et al. 2004). As video gaming soared in popularity, it became recognized as an official Sport by the state. Aside from being a huge economic and entertainment phenomenon, video games have complex social and cultural im pacts. Researchers suggest video Games are becoming a social location in which new social relations, community Networks and new life-styles are formed (Humphrey, 2005; Wang, 2003). Furthermore, as a new and popular medium, video games have significant ideological and cultural influences on young people. They also function as a rich art form and a new venue for critical expression (Jenkins and Squire, 2002). Despite their cultural and social significance, rapid growth and widespread appeal in China, video games unlike traditional media have received a huge attention from international communication researchers. Globalizing Evolution: Female Choice, Nationality, and Perception of Sexual Beauty in China: In the Confucian discourse on womanhood, the essential attributes of a good woman in addition to virtue, words, and work included appearance. While traditional self adornment had various aspects, modern thinkers and activists examining the relationship between the female condition and Chinas self-strengthening efforts focused mainly on foot binding. Reformers such as Liang Qichao and Kang Youwei and revolutionaries such as Qiu Jin believed that their lack of education and bound feet made the female population ignorant and weak and were conditions that must be removed (Edwards, 2000: 126-27). But Globalisation has brought them back with reform. Fashion appearance has outreached from China to other parts of the world including the fashion products. The Chinese women are more beauty conscious and they are open up for any fashion industry. An evolutionary perspective on physical attractiveness suggests that individuals find those characteristics associated with reproductive success attra ctive. We take this evolutionary perspective global to know how Chinese men and women rate the sexual beauty of East Asian compared with Caucasian models. Chinese men and women from hotshot, a northern city, and Chengdu, a southern city, to rank photos of both Chinese and Caucasian male and female models obtained from Chinese magazines. Results revealed that Chinese women ranked Caucasian male and female models as more attractive. Chinese men, however, did not differentially rank East Asian and Caucasian women, though they did rank Caucasian men as being more attractive. The process of globalization can still be linked to potentially adaptive preferences for physical attractiveness, and call for more research. (Tang Parish, 2000). Administrative of Chinese reform in the new millennium: The 1998 Reform was a progressive reform characterized by its transitional features. Though this reform has achieved much in separating the government from enterprises and in altering the functions of the government, a well functioning administrative system suitable for a market economy and responsive to globalization is an ongoing process. China practises a party state structure, where there exists no institutionalized mechanism to harness the power of the government in relation to the economy. Besides the deepening of market-oriented reform, Chinas increasing involvement in the global economy, symbolized by its entry to the WTO in November 2001, has infused a new impulse. (You Ji, 1998). Globalization and Chinas increasing integration with the world economy have also provided much of the justification for the relentless administrative reforms in China. Globalization has made the competitiveness of a nation the primary concern of government, as is the case for China. The process of economic integration with the world economy has put great pressure on the functioning of the Chinese government and its responsiveness. The heavy intervention of government in the Chinese economy in the recent past has proven no longer suitable for a market economy and free trade. In order to attract and retain foreign investment within its territory and to secure a high level of economic growth, the Chinese government has been under continuous pressure from inside as well as outside to adopt policies consistent with the global trend and practice. For this purpose, the role of government and its functions have been rethought over and over, and readjusted. Conclusion: Chinas rising profile in world economic affairs is beyond dispute after globalisation. The economy explores several ways to think about Chinas experience as a latecomer, offering a preliminary assessment of its development and the evolving nature of its foreign economic relations. In particular, I reject the view that China is emerging as the hub of a regional economic order in East Asia that is increasingly cohesive and independent of other regions of the world. The Chinese economic activity within global commodity chains form cross border integration that affects interdependence among Nation-states at multi-continental distances. (Breslin. S, 2005). A conspicuous trope within contemporary Chinese society, nostalgia is a product of two recent transformations. First, drastic changes in economic and political life have led to anxiety and uncertainty, together with excitement and hope. Second, economic rationalization of the cultural industries has resulted in extensive repackaging and repurposing of existing content in order to reduce cost and secure customer acceptance. The culture industry has become the driving force of Chinese economy now. They find expression in TV drama, pop music, theme restaurants, mass circulation magazines and film. Images of past glory and aspirations confront each other as they define the Chinese route that has led to the present, and presumably will lead into the future. Visions of the good life within these historical frames of nostalgia are highly contentious. But their appropriation illustrates the potential for creativity, not only in the business strategies of commercial culture, but also in the social imagination and design for a new China. (Wu, Jing (2002).
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