Saturday, August 31, 2019

Left Wing Extremism Essay

Six years back, when on November 4, 2004, the Prime Minister proclaimed Left Wing Extremism as the biggest threat confronting the nation that had to be dealt at ‘war footing’, it had a ring of resolve of a freshly elected government to take the bull by its horns. However, when he repeats the same now, it carries an air of helpless lamentation. The efforts at war footing notwithstanding, during the last six years, the area under Naxal influence has nearly doubled extending to nearly 203 districts in fourteen states. The strength of armed guerrillas has swelled from less than 7,000 then to somewhere around 13,500 now. Left extremists, today, have many more and much sophisticated weapons; (estimated to be nearly 14000 as against 5500 in 2004) and have upgraded their tactics, field craft and skills in handling weapons and explosives manifold. They raise funds nearly to the tune of Rs. 1,200 Crore a year, which in an impoverished area of their dominance is a huge amount to create instability and enables them to pay regular monthly salaries to their armed cadres. Economic conditions of the people have by and large remained unchanged despite sizeable developmental outlays – most of the funds either misused or siphoned off by the corrupt. It would be erroneous to infer that the government took no initiatives both at security and developmental fronts to deal with the situation. However, in terms of results achieved, the efforts made have failed to achieve the expected results. It makes it a case less of error of intention, and more of lack of capability, which in a national security paradigm is a cause of much greater concern. The matter that needs to be pondered over is why a country of India’s Comprehensive National Power is unable to cope with an existentialist threat from an ideology that has been defeated and discredited world over, is unable to counter an offensive by under-resourced and ill trained tribals and despite being world’s biggest democracy is unable to mobilize its civil society in its fight against the extremists, whose agenda is patently anti-national. The first requirement for designing an effective response is to accept the realities as they are and to make a hard assessment of the enemy – his mindset, doctrines, capabilities and goals. One can not win unless one fights and one can not fight till one is able to define the enemy – boldly and bluntly. One major reason why we, as a state, have often gone wrong in our responses and not derived full value out of our efforts and sacrifices is our fear to face the hard realities as they exist, notwithstanding the compelling evidence. What needs to be accepted by all those in power and those who aspire for it is that Left Wing extremism is pure and simple terrorism that fully meets the conventional definition of the term i. e. Use of violence to terrorise people for achieving political objectives’. Their armed struggle is for acquiring and then retaining political power through barrel of the gun and both in theory and practice they have not deviated from this goal. While often advanced causative factors –developmental, social, political etc. – may have ample justifications on their own merit, for Maoists they are only instrumentalities to seize political control. In pursuance of this end, they are prepared to make a common cause with all those who are inclined to give expression to their dissent through violence. They support everything that negates Indian nationhood – may it be the secessionists in J&K, insurgents in North East, radical Islamic groups or armed ethnic groups. In an interview in 2007 Ganapathy, the Secretary General of CPI-Maoists asserted â€Å"We see the Islamic upsurge as a progressive anti-imperialist force in the contemporary world. It is wrong to describe the struggle that is going on in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Kashmir, Chechnya as Islamic fundamentalism. Our Party supports the Islamic upsurge†. Commenting on 26/11 massacre of Mumbai, Bimal, Polit Bureau Member was quoted in Hindustan Times that â€Å"We do not support the way they attacked the Victoria station, where most of the victims were Muslims. At the same time, we feel the Islamic upsurge should not be opposed as it is basically anti-US and anti-imperialist in nature. We therefore want it to grow. † Varavara Rao referring to North East insurgencies stated on May 13, 2007 that â€Å"This is a time for all revolutionary, democratic and nationality movements, like the ones in Kashmir and the Northeast to unite, and something will come out of this unity†. They stand against India’s sovereignty, unity, democratic polity and civilisational values and hence will have to be fought and defeated at all planes – ideological, political, and physical. Any dilution in accepting this basic character of the threat will only compound the problem and prolong the national agony. Having settled the goal, the next stage is working out the strategy to achieve it. It is obvious that the policy of ‘blow hot blow cold’ does not work and only betrays the confusion indecisiveness of those in power. It also demoralizes the security personnel. Indecisiveness is a consequence of fear and needs to be shunned. The security apparatus of the country, given the right resources, empowerments and leadership is quite strong and resilient to take on the Left Extremists. They need to be provided best of weapons, vehicles, communication equipment, armoured personnel carriers, night vision devices, portable gen-sets, direction finders etc. There is also an urgent need to improve their living conditions, making safe their work places and keeping their morale high. Most importantly, tactical plans should be well deliberated upon by senior and experienced officers and wherever possible duly rehearsed. It is particularly necessary where central forces have to work along side the local police forces. Maoists are great political analysts who carefully work-out their long term strategy and tactical plans. Maoists in their political estimates assess, and probably with some justification, that the political class in the country, irrespective of the brand names that they carry, are fast losing their legitimacy and credibility. The elected representatives hold their positions more by virtue of legality of the process that catapultes them to power than the moral authority, trust and respect of the people that they claim to represent. The credibility of the governmental apparatus to provide a sense of security and justice to the people, redress their basic grievances, assure development and assure dignity is at a low ebb. Most of the extremist actions analysed in strategic terms are aimed at exploiting this in firmity and indulging in acts will further erode the legitimacy and credibility of the system. Their attacks on police and para-military forces are aimed at demonstrating that the coercive power of the government is a myth as it is even unable to protect itself. Their holding Jan Adalats, imposing fines and dictating terms for talks are calculated to undermine the government’s ability to enforce its writ and authority and gave credibility to their propaganda that government is only a ‘paper tiger’. On the contrary, the state has been able to do little to demolish the contrived self image of the Left Extremists as saviors of the people. The discordant voices within the government and display of confusion and indecisiveness immensely boost their moral. While the far flung tribal areas are in the news because of incidents of violence what is lesser known is their fast spreading influence in urban suburbs, among the trade unions, unemployed youth etc. much beyond the tribal areas. To meet this grave challenge the political class first needs to do a serious introspection and subordinate their party interests if not for the larger national interests than at least for their own self interest. All political parties need to realize that they face an existentialist threat as the political power, the booty of the war, has to be seized from them. This is a classical model of Fourth Generation Warfare-(4GW) – a warfare where the enemy is invisible and the battle is for the control of civil society – through coercion, controlling the hearts and minds of the people or delivering results by redressing grievances of the people. The modern day guru of Fourth Generation Warfare, William Lind aptly observes that, â€Å"If nation states are going to survive, people in power must earn and keep the trust of the governed. Addressing the American Council of Foreign Relations he said â€Å"The heart of Fourth Generation Warfare is a crisis of legitimacy of the state†. How true to the Indian model when he added that, â€Å"The establishment is no longer made up of ‘policy types’- most of its important functionaries are placemen. Their expertise is in becom ing and then remaining members of the establishment. Their reality is covert politics and not the competence or expertise†. When the 4GW will visit them their response would be to â€Å"close the shutters on the windows of Versailles†. Majority of the people in Maoist affected areas and even their supporters and cadres have little to do with Maoism at ideological level. They are only alienated and angered people with real of perceived sense of injustice, oppression and indignity. Maoists are cleverly exploiting this sentiment to their advantage – caste conflicts in Bihar, resentment against landlords in Andhra, discontent against forest laws in tribal areas, unemployment amongst youth and radicalism among Muslims are all given prescription of capture of power through gun as the ultimate solution of all their problems. While the local grievances need to be effectively addressed through improved governance and ruthless accountability, there is also a need for creating mass awareness of the ultimate designs and consequences of what the extremists stand for. Maoist propaganda must also be effectively countered, particularly at the political level. Democratic political parties have plenty of political arguments and facts in their favour to demolish the subversive propaganda of the Left extremists. They also have reach and access upto village levels with intimate social networking that needs to be arnessed. This task cannot be undertaken by the government agencies or the police. Additionally, through a concerted, credible and sustained psy-war offensive contradiction in their ideologies and practices, tales of their brutalities, collaborations with the rich to collect funds, incidents of moral turpitude etc. should be highlighted. The local and national media, think tanks and NGOs operating in the region could be leveraged for the purpose. Some of their front organizations, masquerading as think tanks and NGOs engaged in subversive propaganda also need to be tackled effectively. At tactical level the most important advantage of 4GW warriors is the advantage of invisibility. Only quality operational intelligence can make them visible for counter tactical operations aimed at pre-empting, preventing and punishing the depredators. It is also the only instrumentality through which they can be tactically surprised and their advantage of speed and surprise neutralized. The tendency to raise additional battalions without corresponding accretion in operational intelligence capability creates little pressure on the extremists and only provides them more targets to hit at. State Police forces, with their intimate knowledge of the terrain, language and local people are best equipped to develop ground intelligence. They need to be resourced and trained for intelligence work. Diversion of at least 30% of central modernization grants to state police for intelligence up-gradation should be made mandatory. Money is one of the most important factors helping extremists to acquire weapons and explosives, raise their cadre strength by recruiting youth on regular salaries and carrying out mass mobilization programmes. They are reportedly collecting Rs. 1,600 crore a year, which is a big money for carrying out armed insurrection in an impoverished area. With a determined effort and much lower risk, the governments can take stern actions against business houses paying protection money, transporters paying levies, contractors giving taxes and corrupt government officials sharing the loot from the developmental funds. Most would be willing to cooperate if provided sense of security and protection which can be achieved at a much lesser cost. There is no doubt that this menace ultimately will be contained and countered. A finely chiseled strategic response is required only to minimize its cost to the nation in terms of valuable lives lost, growth and development stalled and innocent people falling prey to malicious propaganda of the extremists. The civil society and opinion builders have a vital role to play in this. They should create right pressures on the politicians and create broad spectrum awareness among the people to help bring about a convergence in national response.

Friday, August 30, 2019

American vs Hatian Revolution

American vs. Haitian Revolution While the revolutions in colonial America and Haiti had much compatibility, they were also unique in their own ways. In both revolutions, the rebels revolted against a foreign superpower that was in a weakened economic state in order to gain economic and social freedom. However, the Haiti revolution stressed freedom for everybody, including slaves, unlike the American Revolution that basically focused on the needs of the middle class. The revolutions in both of these countries revolutions would have been unsuccessful if it were not for the crippling problems faced by both opposing superpowers. The success of the Haitian revolution was due in no small part to the political turmoil brought about by the French revolution. This weakened the ability of the colonial administrators in Haiti to maintain order and caused the authority of colonial officials to no longer be clear; even the very legitimacy of slavery was even being challenged in France. The turmoil in France and Haiti paved the way for a struggle between the elite plantation owners and the free black slave owners. This fighting in turn gave the slaves, under the leadership of Toussaint L'Ouverture, the unheard of opportunity to revolt against their owners and emancipates them from a brutal system of bondage (Corbet). The revolution in the Americans was against its mother country, Great Britain, and unlike Haiti, the British army was in full force when war broke. There were, however, economic weaknesses that led to the inevitable revolution against Britain. Britain was burdened by debts from the French and Indian War, and therefore taxed the colonies substantially to make up for this. The ideologies of the revolutions in both Haiti and America were very similar. In America, philosophers such as Thomas Paine and John Locke preached social and economic freedom. Thomas Paine writes, â€Å"And he hath†¦

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Google †PESTEL & Porter’s Five Forces Analysis Essay

1.0 Introduction Google Inc, a global technology company, founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, is the most popular search engine in the world. Google provides numerous free services and products such as Google search, YouTube, Google Maps, and has transformed how people use and share information. Google’s business spans from advertising, data analytics, operating systems to technologically advanced devices such as Google Glass, Driverless cars, Solar-powered drones, and was recently named â€Å"The World’s Most Valuable Brand† due to consumers perception of Google being a forward-looking company focused on innovation (Bloomberg, 2014). As of 2013, Google has 43,862 employees working in more than 70 offices in over 40 countries around the world with their headquarters located in Mountain View, California, USA. (2014). For the purpose of this study, I will be basing my analysis of Google in Singapore, its Southeast Asia headquarters which opened in 2007. The following sections will analyse the various factors that will influence Google’s operations in Singapore, and conclude with recommendations of how Google should further improve to boost its competitive edge. 2.0 PESTEL Analysis 2.1 Political Though little political restrictions affect Google’s operations due to the nature of its business, government stability is a major aspect in Google’s strategic planning. Singapore had been rated Asia’s most politically stable country (Berdzenadze, 2013), and Asia’s most competitive economy in the Global Competitiveness Report by the World Economic Forum (2013). When the market of operations has political and economic stability,  businesses will thrive and in turn advertise more, thus increasing business opportunities for Google. 2.2 Economic Google was hailed as being â€Å"Recession-Proof† when they continued to post solid earnings through the economic downturn (Quittner, 2008). It is well positioned to weather the downturn, as its services are free to consumers, and advertisers substituted traditional media advertising with online advertising to cut costs. Regardless, Singapore is widely acknowledged as having one of the best business environments in the world. Ranked as the world’s easiest place to do business (The World Bank Group, 2014) and city with the best investment potential (as cited by Economic Development Board, 2014), Singapore with its sound monetary and fiscal policy attracts many investors. The more investment dollars pour into a business, the more they are willing to spend on advertisements, which increases business opportunities for Google. 2.3 Social In Singapore where there is high internet penetration rate of 87% and mobile penetration rate of 156% (IDA, 2014), consumers comfortable with technology often see the internet as the first source of product research before making their final purchase, making Google a very important part of the process. To increase the number of users accessing Google’s services from their mobile device, Google released its own Android mobile operating system which now holds 55.8% of the mobile device market share (comScore, 2014). It is thus increasingly important for marketers to influence consumer’s final purchasing decisions by advertising in this space. However, Google’s infrastructure created to customise and personalise each user’s search experience by storing their personal information has been  received with mixed reactions as some find Google’s sale of such information a violation of their privacy. As people’s attitude and concern towards protecting their private data change, Google’s business may face a threat. 2.4 Technological Beyond a search engine, Google constantly innovates and develop its wide range of free products aimed at strengthening user engagement. Technology rapidly advances, and Google actively takes measures to ensure they do not fall behind. According to Bloomberg data, Google has acquired 127 companies in the past three years (as cited by Farzad, 2014). Besides buying companies, such as Waze, a GPS navigation software, and Admeld, an advertising optimisation platform, in a smart defensive play to acquire companies that poses a threat to its business, Google has been acquiring a wide range of technological companies from Humanoid robots to Airborne wind turbines to Home automation devices. In a bid to strengthen its business, Google is increasingly moving into developing hardware technology that has a tangible presence in consumer’s homes and offices. 2.5 Environmental It is estimated that Google runs over a million servers in data centres worldwide, with its first Southeast Asia data centre in Singapore operating since 2013, and consumes a huge amount of electricity. Every time someone makes a search or sends an email, they contributes to the electricity bill at Google’s data centre (Tan, 2014). However, Google argues that they have made the world a greener place considering the electricity consumption for a search in lieu of a drive down to the library. Above all, unlike other companies, Google builds most of their own data centres down to the energy-saving chips it uses, and custom-designs its servers for efficient energy use (Glanz, 2011). Its  facility in Singapore uses recycled water for its cooling system. Although Google is a high carbon footprint business, it has adopted a proactive strategy to hold itself up as a 3ly responsible company by making its facilities environmentally-friendly through generating its own renewable energy from solar panels, wind farms and purchasing carbon offsets by funding green efforts. 2.6 Legal From the perspective of law and regulation, the internet is inherently transgressive and difficult to govern since it is global, and information can be instantly transferred at anytime, anywhere. Google’s products collects a lot of personally identifiable information on its users – DoubleClick cookies tracking online footprints, Google wallet storing name, credit card details, and thus how this information is compiled, used or stored are a natural concern. Google’s data centre in Singapore serves users around the region, and Singapore’s business-friendly approach with the privacy law on international transfers of data that does not restricts transfers to specific countries on their approved list, but instead puts the onus on the company to put in place measures to ensure personal data is transferred to locations with comparable standard of protection, makes compliance issues less complicated than that of Europe’s (Bratby, 2013). In general, Singapore is a relatively late adopter of privacy laws (The Register, 2014), and is largely reactive rather than transformative. As such, legal issues that may arise in Singapore are likely to be those that Google already has measures or policies in place. 3.0 Porter’s Five Forces Analysis 3.1 Threat of New Entrants Although the internet has traditionally been viewed as a â€Å"low barrier to entry† marketplace, the barriers to entry in the internet search market are high, as it would take a giant step in innovation, and a mammoth starting capital to build a network infrastructure that could compete with all of Google’s services and products. The scale of Google’s businesses has become a significant barrier to entry. Nevertheless, companies focusing solely on developing a single product or service that Google offers could potentially usurp Google’s dominance in that area, as seen with the Rubicon Project, an advertising start-up which surpassed Google’s Ad Network reach by over 6 million unique visitors (Thomas, 2012). 3.2 Threat of Substitution Some of Google’s products and services could potentially be substituted, such as users choosing GPS instead of Google Maps, but Google’s primary business is their online search engine, which is difficult to substitute. Everyday, an average of 5.9 billion Google searches are made (Statistic Brain, 2014). Although there are alternative sources of information such as newspapers, books, television, or radio, the internet is the preferred source for people to retrieve information as it provides information on demand. As of now, the threat of substitution is low as there are no foreseeable substitutions for online search. 3.3 Supplier Power Google owns its search platform and advertising services tool, thus it has very limited exposure to suppliers. Due to the advertising system used to generate revenue, both the advertiser and search engine user are Google’s customers. However, websites that have given inventory to Google for sale can be considered their supplier. As websites frequently have their inventory  listed across multiple ad exchanges, Google will have to return both quantity of sales and quality of pricing of their buys to maintain the impressions given to them for sale by web publishers. So long as Google maintains strong market dominance, supplier bargaining will remain low. 3.4 Buyer Power Although internet users are free to switch to alternative platforms, most of Google’s products and services that they use are at no cost to them. Whereas in the case where the buyer is the advertiser, buyer power is low as there are limited vendors they could spend with. A key feature of Google’s ad buying platform, DoubleClick, is that advertisers can buy ads on 300 different websites with a few clicks instead of making 300 calls or meetings to get the ads on all the websites. The scale of modern online media buying is staggering as Google provides access to millions of possible sites for advertising. Although Google’s products are not unique, they are at scale, and can make competition difficult for start-up and smaller competitors. 3.5 Industry Rivalry Google is known for being the best search engine with high relevance within its searches, thus its position as the market leader in the search market with about 80% market share (Nguyen,2012). Though competitors have caught up, and substitution of Google search in favour of Yahoo or Microsoft’s Bing is certainly possible, ‘Googling’ has now been ingrained in people’s mind, and is largely a habit instead of being driven by significant product differentiation. When Google introduced the Android operating system, they have placed themselves in direct competition with Apple. Though Android phones currently has larger market share than iOS phones, Apple will not easily give in in the battle of mobile operating systems. Google’s strategy is all about scale and interoperability. With advertising making up over 90% of its total revenue (Google Inc, 2014), it is critical for Google to protect its space, thus its entrance into the browser and mobile operating system market. When one owns the platform, one has the stage. Google tries to own as much of the overall ecosystem as they can so as to lock in its users and keep out competitors. In doing so, it does not need considerable advertising expense to stay and remain on top. 4.0 Conclusion & Recommendations In terms of PESTEL analysis, I recommend that Google venture into new markets around the region. Singapore is a mature market, thus opportunities to grow further are rather limited due to its market saturation and small population. In essence, it is difficult to justify large advertising spend when it can never attract large reciprocal sales as it simply does not have the population to support it. However, expansion into emerging markets in Southeast Asia such as Indonesia or Philippines will help its revenue growth. To illustrate, Indonesia has internet penetration at 24% (Statista, 2014), which translate to 60 million users. That is 12 times Singapore’s population. The propensity of growth there is phenomenon. In terms of Porter’s Five Forces analysis, I recommend that Google diversify into other ventures that helps generates income as it is not healthy for the company to rely almost entirely on one source of revenue. With its wide range of free products and services, Google could select a few of its products to further develop as alternative revenue sources such as its VOIP business, or licensing fees for its products. Google will also need to ensure that it maintains its momentum in the research and development of its search engine to ensure that it is ahead of its competitor. With Microsoft and Yahoo search’s merger, the convergence of technologies will improve their search engines, and possibly catapult Yahoo’s more successful products such as Yahoo Finance and Flickr. As long as Google’s continue to innovate and stay ahead of its game, they will remain the market leader in the industry. 5.0 References Bloomberg. (2014, May 21). Google Overtakes Apple as Most Valuable Brand [Video file]. Retrieved 13 June 2014, from http://www.bloomberg.com/video/google-overtakes-apple-as-most-valuable-brand-PgHrIgIsQMuzLZA4CxRJSg.html Bratby, R. (2013) Singapore takes business-friendly approach in data protection guidelines. Retrieved June 24, 2014, from http://www.zdnet.com/sg/singapore-takes-business-friendly-approach-in-data-protection-guidelines-7000021091/ comScore. (2014). comScore Device Essentials – Singapore & Hong Kong 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2014, from https://www.comscore.com/content/download/23711/1282705/version/1/file/ singapore-vs-hongkong-mobile-usage.pdf Berdzenadze, I. (2013) Singapore: Asia’s Leading Business Hub. CNN. Retrieved June 24, 2014, from http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-953461 Economic Development Board. (2014). About Singapore – Facts and Rankings. Retrieved June 13, 2014, from http://www.edb.gov.sg/content/edb/en/why-singapore/about-singapore/facts-and-rankings/rankings.html Farzad, R. (2014). Google at $400 Billion: A New No. 2 in Market Cap. Business Week. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-12/google-at-400-billion-a-new-no-dot-2-in-market-cap Glanz, J. (2011, Sep 9). Google Details, and Defends, Its Use of Electricity. The New York Times, pp. B1. Retrieved June 23, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/technology/google-details-and-defends-its-use-of-electricity.html Google Inc. (2014) Google Annual Report 2013. (pp. 26). Retrieved June 13, 2014, from http://investor.google.com/proxy.html Google Inc. (2014) Company – Google locations. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://www.google.com/about/company/facts/locations/ Google Inc. (2014) Investor Relations – 2014 Financial Tables. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from https://investor.google.com/financial/tables.html Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore. (2012). Google breaks ground for Singapore data centre. Retrieved June 13, 2014, from http://www.ida.gov.sg/blog/insg/in-the-news/google-breaks-ground-for-singapore-data-centre/ Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore. (2014). Infocomm Landscape – Facts and Figures. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://www.ida.gov.sg/Infocomm-Landscape/Facts-and-Figures Quittner. J. (2008, 16 Oct). Behold! The Recession-Proof Google!. Time. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1851286,00.html Statisticbrain. (2014). Google Annual Search Statistics | Statistic Brain. Retrieved June 16, 2014, from http://www.statisticbrain.com/google-searches/ Tan, H. (2011, 21 Dec). Rainfall to cool Google’s data centre here. The Straits Times, pp. 21. Retrieved June 23, 2014 from http://newslink.asiaone.com/user/OrderArticleRequest.action? documentId=nica_ST_2011_22596292&year=2011&month=12&date=21 The Register. (2014). Singapore lures big biz with mega data protection regime. Retrieved 24 June 2014, from

Cest la Vie America vs. French Lifestyles Essay

Cest la Vie America vs. French Lifestyles - Essay Example As the paper stresses   Americans have called the French â€Å"cheese-eating surrender-monkeys,† have been derided as weak capitulators to terrorists with loose morals and an eye toward lechery, have had the† french† fry relabeled â€Å"freedom† fry. Certainly, anything French is not very popular in some circles in America today. Thus, it is only with conviction and certainty that one can assert that on the points of daily life, food and culture, the pace of life, and its great cities, one can only conclude that the French lifestyle is superior to the American lifestyle. Tres courageux! Thid paper outlines that in France, one’s daily life is taken at a much slower pace and has a greater focus on leisure time and enjoying what life has to offer. It is not uncommon for business people to eat three or four-hour lunches in France, enjoying conversation and a good bottle of wine along the way. Certain French workers are given subsidies for lunch expenses and bars/restaurants that honor those subsidies are ubiquitous. There is a focus on enjoying eating times, and although there are fast food restaurants in France, they are not iconic as in America and eating food on-the-go in France is still a cultural faux-pas, and will engender stares and snorts. There are less malls and more of a focus on local specialty shops, like grocers, meat markets, cheese stores, chocolatiers, butchers, cobblers, and similarly specialized shops. Indeed, the cafe life--sitting out at a cafe, sipping a coffee or a drink, looking at the world pass by, is one of life’s great pleasures . In America, the outside cafe is a rarity, and even if one finds one, usually one has one drink and must leave (turnover is king!).  

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Art and cinema Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Art and cinema - Essay Example llock focuses on a more personal and fanciful aspect as it creates a somewhat fictional account of the early life and influences that helped to develop Pollock in the way that he did. A heavy focus upon his alcoholism and the level of psychological trauma he suffered as a tortured genius is specifically engaged. Although this might in fact be true, the effect that such a representation has is first and foremost engaged for dramatic effect. Finally, the third film, Who the Fuck is Jackson Pollock, is an adventure film told with on the backdrop of Pollock’s life and contribution to art. Although it should not be dismissed, this particular film cannot be viewed as authoritative as Pollock is only an â€Å"aside† to the actual intrigue and primary interest of â€Å"finding lost treasure† that pervades the film. By means of comparison and contrast to one of the clips that was viewed as compared to one of the films that was viewed for this section, the two that have been chosen are â€Å"F is for Fake† and â€Å"Who the Fuck is Jackson Pollock†. The first film focuses upon the fact that the world of art forgery is a developed industry; leveraging the â€Å"artistic† abilities of master forgers who are able to adequately mimic the techniques, colors, patterns, and approach that well-known and highly sought after experts were responsible for crafting. By mean of comparison, â€Å"Who the Fuck is Jackson Pollock† depicts a much more magical interpretation of artwork as something that only Pollock could have been responsible for. The differential between these two has to do with the fact that one assumes that Pollock must be the master painter of the artwork in question; whereas the other clip maintains the fact that even some of the most convincing pieces are in fact forgeries. Henri Cartier Besson’s â€Å"Images a la Sauvette† engages the reader with the understanding that art, whether photographic or within some other genre, must not specifically be engaged in the

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Philippines Demographics Profile Research Paper

Philippines Demographics Profile - Research Paper Example Comparison with other countries is also presented in this essay. Base on the study done in the Population Growth of the Philippines, the country is said to be considered as one of the 12th world populous country. This is one of the reasons why poverty in the said country is increasing. The Philippines' annual population growth slowed down to a rate of 1.95 percent last year, prompting economic authorities to say that the deceleration would help make the country's poverty reduction goal within reach. a - Includes the household population, homeless population, Filipinos in Philippine Embassies/Consulates and missions abroad and institutional population who are found living in institutional living quarters such as penal institutions, orphanages, hospitals, military camps, etc. at the time of the census taking. At present the Philippines has a population of (2007 est.): 91,077,287 (growth rate: 1.8%); birth rate: 24.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 22.1/1000; life expectancy: 70.5; density per sq mi: 791. (www.infoplease.com). As compared to the 2000 census the growth rate has become even slower from 1.95% to 1.8%. The reason for the decline of population growth is because of several programs created by the government, to stop the continued growth of the population, which is causing severe poverty in the country Sources of Data The Survey Dataset files includes survey and study about individual recode, household recode, birth recode, couples recode, children's recode, male recode, household recode and geographic dataset. (www.measuredhs.com). The files for the mentioned study can be access thru the UN Demographic Yearbook. Below are the data gathered from the UN Demographic Profile: Household surveys are an important source of socio-economic data. In developing countries, they have become a dominant form of data collection, supplementing or sometimes even replacing other data collection programmes and civil registration systems. (http://unstats.un.org) The Philippines' is a developing countries and the future of the country depends on it's population. Several data's are important in studying the demographic profile of a certain country. These data can be access in the UN Demographic Profile. Migration from Urban to Rural Migration is an important livelihood strategy in the Philippines. Gender differences in

Monday, August 26, 2019

Care study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Care study - Essay Example The Eskimos have a tradition wherein when a member of the family has reached an age where he or she is no longer an active participant of the tribe, the son or the closest member of the family is tasked to take him miles from the home and leave him in the freezing cold. Such practice, although barbaric, was accepted not only by the family member who has to do the form of euthanasia but also by elderly himself to be his fate. In simple logic, those who no longer contribute to the benefit of the family has lost his worth and must therefore accept the reality of death as promulgated by those close to him. The very thought of this scenario where an old person is left to die in frigid weather arouses disturbing thoughts in a humane perspective. The necessity to enforce that every person must be attributed with not only the quality of life but also the quality of death should be affixed to the elderly. The elderly psychiatry ward poses a professional challenge to the individuals assigned to it. But most importantly, it also yields the obligation to impart an emotional aspect to the care that they receive. Otherwise, rather than being treated as individuals, they may be deprived of the respect that is not entirely undue to them. There are a number of problems that arises in the nursing profession. One of such that persists is the ethical dilemmas that health professionals face in their career. Ethics, or in simple interpretation is the ability to distinguish between right and wrong is embraced in the moral conception of decision-making for individuals. Being professional is synonymous to doing the right thing that is good not only for the client but also for one’s own being. The Nursing & Midwifery Council’s promulgation of a Code of Conduct provides for set guidelines that must be met by nurses and midwives in their careers and their interaction with clients to ensure that they remain faithful to their oath. Rumbold (as

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Answering questions and doing research Assignment

Answering questions and doing research - Assignment Example They do not indicate any doubt on the Adidas products or material durability. The only challenge that came out, however, was the issue of design and price. There is a need for Adidas to input more efforts and try to design new products that are attractive to the customers. Several people have heard about â€Å"Adidas† as a brand and have bought Adidas products before. However, the populations had varying attitudes and perception towards Adidas. Some thought that Adidas was a product of some famous football (Regine Business Research, 2013). Research also reveals that other people initially thought that Adidas was a brand meant for people who were of very high class. Most of the people, however, indicated that they buy Adidas products and prefer the Adidas products over the products of other brands such as Nike and Puma. Several respondents feel satisfied with the material and quality used in the products of Adidas. The respondents however had issues with the design of the products of Adidas. They feel that Adidas design is sub-standard with no attractive, stylish design. Several people preferred the Nike designs. Some people compare it to Nike and come out with some differences. Some people feel that Adidas has a problem with its branding as compared to Nike. People get positive and immediate impressions when thinking about the Nike brand and to the contrary, not when the same people think about the brand of Adidas. Adidas has got no stellar branding work like Nike making the market share of Nike relative. As a result, the worldwide market share of Adidas is almost half that of Nike (Regine Business Research, 2013). It is very important for Adidas to consider the influences from the groups because the groups and the company mutually depend on each other. According to Beard (2014), the groups consume the products of Adidas and, therefore, influence the success of the company

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Automatic Speech Recognition Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Automatic Speech Recognition - Research Paper Example The creation of ASR system had an aim to provide people with a machine that can translate each word spoken by them in real time. The system still has enough to incorporate and advance more. There still is a gap between expectations from ASR systems and their performance. The ASR systems are meant to recognize the speech of human beings without being interrupted from the speaker’s accent, choice of words, noise or other features. Commercially available ASR systems need a lesser amount of speaker training and have the capability to recognize the continuous speech vocabulary with higher efficiency along with a broader range of vocabularies being captured. Commercial companies are often found to claim that ASR systems provide 98 to 99 percent accuracy provided that they are working under optimal conditions. Optimal conditions are when the users have speech habits which are in line with the training data, when the users have proper speaker adaptation and when the process is carried out in a noise-free environment. It can be explained from this information that recognition rates for heavily accented people may be lower than others. Although there still is a room for improvement in Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) systems, there are a number of application areas which benefit from its use. Telecommunications is one of the major application areas as speech recognition software acts as an interface that directly transfers data through a communication system into the information system. Today, inquiry systems, dialing assistance and telephony interpretations are some of the examples where ASR systems are used. Office automation is another area that benefits from the use of ASR. The crucial application areas of ASR include ASR in CAD applications and providing input using direct command in computers. Medical applications also make use of this technology for

Friday, August 23, 2019

Children's Welfare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Children's Welfare - Essay Example On my part, I strongly believe that corporal punishment should only be given as a last resort. As long as there are other ways to correct the behavioral problems of a child, parents and guardians should not implement corporal punishment. We must understand that corporal punishment can lead to abuse and abuses suffered by young children often leave lasting imprints in their personalities. Is corporal punishment a form of child abuse? Technically, child abuse is different from corporal punishment and we should be very careful about equating the two together. All I am saying here is that corporal punishment has the potential of escalating into abuse. Note the abuse is a blatant disregard of the rights and feelings of the child which often involves injuries on the part of the child. Example of abuses on children is kicking, punching, burning and the likes. On the other hand, corporal punishment is geared towards letting the child experience pain without sustaining injury for purposes of controlling or correcting the wrong behaviors of the child (Larzelere, R. E., Klein, M., Schumm, W. R., & Alibrando, S. A., Jr. (1989). A popular example of corporal punishment is the traditional spanking. One of the leading arguments against the implementation of corporal punishment at home is that the act embodies a kind of aggression. When a parent becomes so angry that he or she exhibits aggressive behavior such as spanking, the child may misconstrue the action of the parent or guardian as a kind of norm. Note that young children learn by imitating their parents so there is a big possibility that when the child is repeatedly exposed to aggressive behaviors, he or she will also adopt such attitude (Parke & Slaby, 1983). What is really scary here is that the child may see aggression as a way to subdue or control the behavior of another person. For instance, when a parent spanks a child for not following orders and then do not explain the child later on why he or she

Thursday, August 22, 2019

American Tool Works Essay Example for Free

American Tool Works Essay This course focuses on improving the performance of the firm and its supply chain through coordination among multiple sites, functions, and economic actors (customers and suppliers). Students will know how to design and implement strategies for structure and management, both cross-functionally, with the firm, and across an industry value chain among interacting firms. These strategies include restructuring supply chain facility networks, coordinating information and materials flow, managing supplier relations, and managing customer order fulfillment processes. The theme of the course is that strategies that enhance integration throughout the supply chain can lead to improved performance (in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, quality, customer satisfaction, cost, flexibility, etc. ), providing firms with a source of competitive advantage. TEXTBOOK: D. Simchi-Levi, P. Kaminsky, and E. Simchi-Levi, Designing and Managing the Supply Chain: Concepts, Strategies, and Case Studies, 3rd ed. , McGraw Hill/Irwin, New York, 2008, ISBN 978-0-07-298239-8. READINGS:Additional articles and cases will be made available through WebCT and http://cb. hbsp. harvard. edu/cb/access/5023124 SOFTWARE:The Beer Game simulation software is available on the web and will be used for real-time ordering, planning, forecasting decisions in the supply chain. The Risk Pool Game is available on the CD that comes with the text. The Global Supply Chain Management Simulation is available through harvardbusinessonline. com and allows students to manage product design, procurement, and production for four simulated years. Excel will be used for inventory management, supply contracts, and for optimal resource allocation and distribution network configuration. PREREQUISITES: Second year standing COURSE OBJECTIVES: 1. Recognize salient challenges and opportunities for managing supply chains. 2. Become familiar with supply chain strategies that have been adopted by leading companies. 3. Learn to use several analytical tools to assess tradeoffs and support decision making. METHOD: This course stress those models, concepts, and solutions methods that can be applied to the design, control, operation, and management of supply chain systems. The course includes lectures, case discussions, presentations, and hands-on, practical exercises and games to provide both a sound base of learning and an opportunity to test and develop skill. Students should do all of the assigned readings and cases before coming to class, and prepare for, and contribute to, class discussions. Excel is used to support the quantitatively intensive topics. STUDENT TEAMS: Teams will consist of about five students who will work together as the presenting and questioning teams for cases and articles as described below. The teams may allocate the work as desired, as long as all team members agree with the allocation. The team should let a member know if they are not performing at an appropriate level, and should contact the instructor if problems persist. Each team member will provide the instructor with an evaluation of their team members’ performance at the end of the term by allocating 100 total points (no self-allocation) between the other members. This information will be used to adjust team work grades. CASE PRESENTATIONS: Each student team will have the opportunity of serving as the â€Å"presenting team† for two of the cases and the â€Å"questioning team† for one of the cases that we will discuss in class. The â€Å"presenting team† will provide the background and content of the case, an analysis of what the company did correctly or incorrectly, and suggestions about what the company should do in the future. They should also address any questions given as part of the case write-up or indicated by the instructor. The â€Å"questioning team† will be responsible for questioning the presenting team, offering alternative solutions, and for leading the rest of the class in a discussion of the case. The questioning team will submit a written list of questions prior to the presentation. The members of the class will be asked to assess the performance of both teams. The instructor will incorporate the class evaluations into the presentation grades.

Progeria Essay Example for Free

Progeria Essay As much as i love to learn about commonly known dieseases in class one diesease that striked me as i was watching a tv show last year was progeria. Progeria is derived from the Greek work meaning prematurely old. Jonathan Hutchinson and Hastings Gilford discovered the syndrome in 1886. The name Hutchinson Gilford progeria syndrome existed because of this. doctors have discovered a single gene mutation responsible for Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome. The gene is called lamin A this is the protein necessary for holding the center of a cell together. Researchers believe the genetic mutation enables the cell to be unstable, which appears to lead to progerias characteristic aging process. As newborns with progeria it usually appear normal but as times progess the cchildrens growth ceases and they start developing characteristics of the eldelry. A study from the Netherlands has shows that 1 in 4 million births (within the Netherlands) are diagnoesed with progeria Currently, there are 80 known cases in the world. Approximately 140 cases have been reported in medical history. Classical Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome is usually caused by a odd mutation taking place during the early stages of embryo development. It is almost never passed on from affected parent to child, as affected children rarely live long enough to have children themselves. Theres no cure for progeria Regular monitoring for cardiovascular disease may help with managing your childs condition. Some children undergo coronary artery bypass surgery or dilation of cardiac arteries to slow the progression of cardiovascular disease. Drugs known as FTIs, which were developed for treating cancer, have shown hope in laboratory studies in correcting the cell defects that cause progeria. FTIs are currently are being studied in human clinical trials for treatment of progeria. interstingly Children affected with progeria age rapidly – about 7 to 10 times faster than normal which means their looks and physiology resemble a 70- to 80-year-old person, but they keep a dwarfish child-like body. Death usually occurs between the ages of 12 and 14 years. This generally happens as a result of cardiovascular deterioration, which includes things atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, and congestive heart failure. Typically doctors will not find the following features usually dealing with aging Tumors, Cataracts, Hearing Loss, Diabetes. The outcome is very poor and that is because death always occurs in cases of Progeria. There is currently no cure for this mortal disease and the only treatment is to simply deal with the reducing the complications that come up such as the cardiovascular deterioration. The earliest influences of progeria on popular culture occurred in the 1922 short story The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald (and later released as a feature film in 2008). The main character, Benjamin Button, is born as a seventy-year-old man and ages backwards; it has been suggested that this was inspired by progeria. Also Charles Dickens may have described a case of progeria in the family of Smallweed of Bleak House, specifically in the grandfather and his grandchildren Judy and twin brother Bart. A Bollywood movie Paa was made about the condition and in it the lead character (Amitabh Bachchan) played an 11-year-old child affected by progeria. The movie Renaissance deals with progeria. In episode sixteen of the first season of the television show The X-Files, the corrupt doctor had experimented on children with Progeria. In the 4 book series Otherland by Tad Williams one of the main characters suffers from progeria. in 1978 book When Bad Things Happen to Good People, which explores God and the problem of evil, was written in response to his 14 year old sons death by progeria. Amd lastly South African artist/hip hop artist Leon Botha was one of the oldest known Progeria sufferers, surviving to the age of 26 before his death in June 2011 in conclusion progeria is a diesease that has effected many and kiled many children altering their life immensly. the fact that there is no cure for this diesease is some what a hard truth for patients with this diesease. socially also many progeria patients are not accepted because of their physical abnormalities and disfigures. Never the less exstensive research has been sought out in order to cure and treat progeria.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Overview Of Walmart Cost Leadership

Overview Of Walmart Cost Leadership The low cost strategy emphasizes having the lowest costs, not necessarily the lowest price, in a market. A firm attempting to realize a low cost strategy should stress resources that facilitate efficiency. A firm that has successfully achieved a low cost position will have the lowest costs relative to competitors. A firm can use such a position to either lower its prices and gain market share and sales from rivals or keep its prices at the present market level and make relatively more profit per unit sold. The key idea is that cost and price are independent choices, and this strategy is focused on cost. The differentiation strategy focuses on developing a unique product or (equally useful) a perception of a unique product that customers are willing to pay a premium for. If a firm is not receiving a premium price for its goods or services it is NOT a differentiator. A firm seeking to follow a differentiation strategy should attempt to develop and enhance its resources that promote customer responsiveness, quality, and/or innovation. Note that costs are still important to a differentiator because it is possible that the costs of making the product unique will be greater than the premium consumers are willing to pay for it. The firm can choose to compete in the mass market with a broad scope, or in a defined, focused market segment with a narrow scope. In either case, the basis of competition will still be either cost leadership or differentiation. In adopting a narrow focus, the company ideally focuses on a few target markets (segmentation strategy or niche strategy). The choice of offering low prices or differentiated products/services should depend on the needs of the selected segment and the resources and capabilities of the firm. It is hoped that by focusing your marketing efforts on one or two narrow market segments and tailoring your marketing mix to these specialized markets, you can better meet the needs of that target market. The firm typically looks to gain a competitive advantage through product innovation and/or brand marketing rather than efficiency. Competitive Advantage Cost Uniqueness Broad Competitive Scope Narrow Our focus in this report is to showcase implementation of these strategies by picking examples of companies that have successfully used these strategies to gain competitive advantages. Walmart: Cost Leadership Founded by Sam Walton, the first Wal-Mart store opened in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962. Seventeen years later, annual sales topped $1 billion. By the end of January 2002, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart), was the worlds largest retailer, with $218 billion in sales. Wal-Marts winning strategy in the U.S. was based on selling branded products at low cost. Each week, about 100 million customers visited a Wal-Mart store somewhere in the world. The company employed more than 1.3 million associates (Wal-Marts term for employees) worldwide through more than 3,200 stores in the United States and more than 1,100 units in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, China, Korea, Germany, and the United Kingdom. In 2001, Fortune magazine named Wal-Mart the third most admired company in America, and the Financial Times and PricewaterhouseCoopers ranked it as the eighth most admired company in the world. The following year, Wal-Mart was named number one on the Fortune 500 list and was presented with the Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership, a presidential award that recognized companies for outstanding achievement in employee and community relations. Wal-Mart enjoyed a 50 percent market share position in the discount retail industry. Procter Gamble, Clorox, and Johnson Johnson were among its nearly 3,000 suppliers. Though Wal-Mart may have been the top customer for consumer product manufacturers, it deliberately ensured it did not become too dependent on any one supplier; no single vendor constituted more than 4 percent of its overall purchase volume. About 85 percent of all the merchandise sold by Wal-Mart was shipped through its distribution system to its stores. (Competitors supplied to their retail outlets on average less than 50 percent of the merchandise through their own distribution centers.) The company owned a fleet of more than 3,000 trucks and 12,000 trailers. (Most competitors outsourced trucking.) Wal-Mart had implemented a satellite network system that allowed information to be shared between the companys wide network of stores, distribution centers, and suppliers. The system consolidated orders for goods, enabling the company to buy full truckload quantities without incurring the inventory costs. Wal-Marts Value Proposition Wal-Marts value proposition can be summed up as everyday low prices for a broad range of goods that are always in stock in convenient geographic locations. It is those aspects of the customer experience that the company overdelivers relative to competitors. Underperformance on other dimensions, such as ambience and sales help, is a strategic choice that generates cost savings, which fuel the companys price advantage. If the local mom-and-pop hardware store has survived, it also has a value proposition: convenience, proprietors who have known you for years, free coffee and doughnuts on Saturday mornings, and so on. Sears falls in the middle on many criteria. As a result, customers lack a lot of compelling reasons to shop there, which goes a long way toward explaining why the company is struggling to remain pro ¬Ã‚ table. Walmart in 2010 Growth opportunities continue. Price leadership continues to be the cornerstone of how it goes to market. Growth in the United States will come from additional penetration into more metropolitan markets, as well as from new formats and stronger integration with the online business. Walmart.com traffic exceeded one billion visits this past year, growing more than 15 percent over the previous year through Site-to-Storeà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ and home delivery. Leverage scale and reduce costs. Innovation, process improvements and strong management teams drove significant improvements in our business. Walmart repositioned the business to leverage operating expenses on a slower rate of sales growth this past year. Improved productivity through enhanced scheduling systems better matched associate staffing levels in stores to customer traffic. Stronger supply chain processes also improved inventory flow. Merchandising and planning systems contributed to lower inventory levels, which were also benefited by increased sell-through. Global sourcing initiatives now under way strengthen efforts to drive down the cost of goods and pass those savings on to customers. Improved returns. Walmart significantly increased its cash flow and return on invested capital in fiscal 2010. Gross margin improvements, tight expense control, strong inventory management and efficient capital allocation contributed to this improved performance. It reduced year-end inventory by $1.8 billion, or 7.6 percent, and increased inventory turns as well. Apples differentiation approach enhances the companys competitive advantage in the market. It favors Apple to continue down a path that not only maintains premium positioning but also enhances it. It is clearly doing this at the research and development (RD) level. The introduction of a new portable manufacturing process (the unibody MacBook and MacBook Pro) and a relatively fast-paced operating system release cycle are clearly a function of Apples ever-evolving differentiated positioning. The upcoming Mac OS X Snow Leopard (successor to Mac OS X Leopard) and iPhone OS 3.0 will continue to push the envelope and set the groundwork for continued innovation in the years to come. Apple has never shied away from starting over. It did this with the transition to Mac OS X, the transition to Intel processors, and the re-design of their portable Macs. Each enhancement widens the differentiation gap that competitors must narrow or copy in order to compete with Apple. The Company participates in several highly competitive markets. While it is widely recognized as a leading innovator in the markets where it competes, these markets are highly competitive and subject to aggressive pricing. To remain competitive, Apple believes that increased investment in research and development and marketing and advertising is necessary to maintain or expand its position in the markets where it competes. Digging deeper into the strategy, the trade-off protects Apples unique position. Competitors have two main ways to imitate an incumbent. A competitor can (1) reposition itself or (2) straddle, an approach that attempts to match the incumbents position while maintaining its existing position. By maintaining its price premium at the expense of unit volume, Apple has created an imitation barrier that competitors cannot easily cross. PC competitors cannot realistically enter Apples space by transforming themselves into a premium brand without alienating or pricing out existing customers. If a competitor decided to reposition or straddle it would have to compete with Apples decades long premium brand equity. Thus, PC vendors have two transformational issues working against them, time and cost. Apples competitors will not be able to transform their brand image overnight. Any such effort will take considerable amount of time on numerous dimensions ranging from product design to marketing. T his leads to the second issue, cost. Any transformation undertaken by a competitor will cost tens or perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars in a sustained re-branding and advertising campaign. In todays marketplace, a cost of this magnitude is not feasible. From a trade-off perspective, Apple has systematically analyzed what not to do; attempt to compete at lower price points. Apples entry into retailing, for example, is designed to provide better point-of-sales service to customers wishing to purchase an Apple product than can be had from independent stores. By helping to raise the overall level of differentiation associated with Apples offering, the strategy is designed to strengthen Apples competitive position. Zara: Focused Differentiation Zara is a phenomenon in the textile industry; it was a start-up in Spain and gradually has evolved to be today a very successful leader quoted company in its industry. Zara, the most profitable brand of Inditex SA, the Spanish clothing retail group, opened its first store in 1975 in La Coruà ±a, Spain, they have expanded operations into 45 countries with 531 stores located in the most important shopping districts of more than 400 cities in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. Throughout this expansion Zara has remained focused on its core fashion philosophy that creativity and quality design together with a rapid response to market demands will yield profitable results. In order to realized these results Zara developed a business model that incorporated the following three goals for operations: develop a system the requires short lead times, decrease quantities produced to decrease inventory risk, and increase the number of available styles and/or choice. These goals helped to formulate a unique value proposition: to combine moderate prices with the ability to offer new clothing styles faster than its competitors. These three goals helped to sha pe Zaras current business model. Capabilities of Zara, or the required resources needed to exploit the opportunities and execute this conceptual strategy, are numerous for Zara. Zara maintains tight control over their production processes keeping design and manufacturing in-house or with some strategic partnerships located nearby Headquarters. Value drivers for Zara are both tangible and intangible in the benefits that are returned to all stakeholders. Tangibly, Inditex, the parent company of Zara, has 11.02% net margin on operations and their market capitalization (Equity market value) is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬13, 981 (in thousands) in 2002. Their net working capital (current assets current liabilities) is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬133 (in thousands) . Additionally, the success of Zara can be demonstrated through their outstanding financial performance. From 1996 to 2000, Inditex SA tripled their corporate profits and in 2001, a year of overall economic downturn in the retail industry, Inditex SA saw a 31% increase in profits. Int angibly, customer loyalty and brand recognition have provided significant value to Zara. The number of consumers they attract continues to rise and their brand is synonymous with the cutting edge of fashion at affordable prices. The successful implementation of Zaras business model provides great value to stakeholders and differentiates their business from their peers. Vertical integration: a distinctive feature of Zaras business model, has allowed the company to successfully develop a strong merchandising strategy. This strategy has led Zara to create a climate of scarcity and opportunity as well as a fast-fashion system. Zara manufactures 60% of its own products. By owning its in-house production, Zara is able to be flexible in the variety, amount, and frequency of the new styles they produce. Also, 85% of this production is done through the season, which allows the chain to constantly provide its costumer with very updated products. Traditional retailers lack this flexibility. Traditional retailers are obligated to place production orders to manufacturers overseas at least 6 months in advance of the season. Zara purchases its fabric in advance , much of it in grienge form this gives flexibility to colour print , to desired effect. Low current inventory: Regular customers know that new products are introduced every two weeks and most likely would not be available tomorrow. Therefore, Zaras scarcity climate allows the company to sell more items at full price. This strategy minimizes Zaras total cost because it reduces 15-20% of markdown merchandise compare to a traditional retailer. Zaras centralized distribution facility gives the chain a competitive advantage by minimizing the lead-time of their goods, distribution center is a place where merchandise is moved rather than stored. The current ratio shows that for every euro in short-term debt, Inditex has 1.02 million euros in current assets. HM however, has 3.40 million euros in current assets for every euro in short-term debt. The company designs and cuts its fabric in-house and it acquires fabrics in only four colors to keep costs low. Zara postpones dyeing and printing designs until close to manufacture, thereby reducing waste and minimizing the need to clear unsold inventories. Technology: Whether measured by IT workers as a percentage of total employees or total spending as a percentage of sales, ZaraÊ ¼s IT expenditure is less than one-fourth the fashion industry average. Zara excels by targeting technology investment at the points in its value chain where it will have the most significant impact, making sure that every dollar spend on tech has a payoff. It still uses the DOS system without much networking capability, whereas its competitors like Prada use RFID technology, Benneton uses SAP. Marketing Advertising: Zara also has an advantage over its competitors due to its low advertising costs. Zaras advertising investment is 0-.3% as compared to traditional retailers who expends 3 4%. Zara relies mainly on its stores to project their image. For that reason, Zara has a department, which exclusively works in acquiring global prime real estate locations. In addition, this department is responsible for the frequent refurbishing of store layouts, as well as the creation of a common window display for Zaras global stores. Controlling notorious bottlenecks along the supply chain is key to speed. For example dyeing and fit are critical processes within the supply chain. Zara is a large investor in a dye and finishing plant-a notorious bottleneck. Its control allows them to oversee the dyeing process. A further trouble spot is sewing. Even though Zara uses sub-contractors some subcontractors, it carries out the bulk of all cutting itself-a crucial process that determines fit. 60% of the manufacturing processes are outsourced in countries close to the Zara headquarters in Spain to help achieve a quick turnaround. Zara maintains a strong relationship with their contractors and suppliers-viewing them as part of the company. To successfully react to consumers demands, design decisions are delayed as long as possible. Typically, Zara pre-commits to 50%-60% of its production in advance of the season, whereas other clothing retailers commit to 80%-90%. Thus Zara reserves mill capacities to ensure production fac ilities are available when needed. Value Chain In todays competitive environment, Zara has shown that fine tuning the supply chain is no longer a strategic tool, but a necessity. It has shown that supply chain management can be managed provide sustainable competitive differentiation and positioning on the one hand and increase throughput, reduce inventories and operating expenses on the other. Zaras Product Offering Zaras unique capabilites allow it to cater to a focussed set of customers yet at a cost leadership position. Zara has a competitive advantage in logistics, with production just in time with better performance that its competitors, it also has the ability to renew all what is in their stores in few weeks. It also counts with storage in Europe, in Zaragoza that is close to the distribution centres. Product Offer Supply process High customisation Low volume High Margin High quality High volume High standardisation Low unit margin Low quality Flexible process High fashion: out of price Rigid Process ZARA MS :Out of fashion According to Porter, the reason so many firms suffer aggressive, margin eroding competition, is because theyve defined themselves according to operational effectiveness rather than strategic positioning. Operational effectiveness refers to performing the same tasks better than rivals perform them. Everyone wants to be better, but the danger in operational effectiveness is in sameness. At its heart Zara is building on a vertically integrated demand and supply chain, while most other textile chains rely on outsourcing and cheap labour in China. It enables company to short turnaround times and achieves greater flexibility, reducing stock to a minimum and diminishing fashion risk to the greatest possible extent. Ikea: Focused Cost Leadership Ikea is one of the known global home furniture and household goods retailer which is a privately owned company. It was established by Ingvar Kamarad Sweden and in year 2008 the company owned 244 Ikea stores in 24 nations and the management is still planning to open 23 new stores. The company has also 32 stores on 16 nations and these stores were still managed and owned by franchisees outside the Ikea Group which extends the global reach of Ikea to 35 territories overseas. The Ikea Group has also been able to diversify their products beyond furnishings and furniture into food products and prefabricated housing. The company has been able to ensure that they have franchise agreements among most of the overseas operations to ensure capitalization of local marketing expertise and practices of the franchisees. The concept and trademark of Ike is owned by Ikea Systems BV and the operations of the company are basically controlled by Ingka Holding. Primarily, the company is based on providing broad range of well-designed, functional home furnishing goods at an affordable cost to attract more customers. This concept of the Ikea is the foundation of their business operations which includes product designing, manufacturing, transportation, retailing, and assembling. The company sees to it that they work hard in attaining their business goals and providing quality products and services among their target market. Strategy Analysis In order to analyse the capabilities of IKEA, different marketing tools will be considered. This includes the SWOT Analysis, Porters Five Forces Model, and Core Competencies analysis. Capabilities Analysis According to Kim and Weaver (2000), the administration and management of a particular business organization entails full utilization of the resources of the company in order to lead, direct, and control operations to meet the set objectives. It can be said that IKEA has been able to use strategic approach to sustain their competitive advantage. One of the capabilities IKEA is how the leaders of the company do their business. Guided by their vision and mission, the leader and management of the industry clearly illustrate integrity in all their actions. The management has also strong commitment in promoting the company values and the value of diversity among the employees and staffs. In addition, the management of the company has been able to understand the priorities of the business and make every decision in line with the strategic direction by giving consideration to the effect on all aspects of the business and on other stakeholders. Another sustainable capability of the company is its continuous focus on the importance of both internal and external customers to ensure that these customers remain loyal to them. The company also makes it sure that they motivate, inspire, coach, guide, and support their staffs to realise the mission of the IKEA. Furthermore, the companys ability to identify and recognise contributors is another factor that sustains the companys competitive advantages. The ability of the management to diversify and differentiate their business strategy to dominate the global market can also be considered as the major capabilities of the IKEA. Swot Analysis In this report, the analysis of the current situation of Ikea will be done using different marketing tools. Herein, IKEA will be analysed through the use of SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis. The purpose of this internal and external analysis is to see what the organization has to work with as it begins to position itself to deal with the opportunities and threats identified through the analysis of the external environments. Specifically, it helps identify what existing strengths and weaknesses might impact the organizations value creation capabilities. Strengths As mentioned, IKEA has been one of the leading brands in household furnitures in its global operations. One of its strength is its being a very profitable company, in both its domestic and international branches. In addition, IKEA is a global brand established upon a reputation of quality products and services with almost 10,000 product range and 244 stores in different regions. Furthermore, one of the strengths of IKEA is its strong ethical values integrated with its business strategy which include cost leadership and product differentiation. The strength of the company can also be attributed to their ability to distribute their product effectively in the global market. One of their strengths is their ability to diversify when the company has been able to launch their private label food items in 2005. The offerings of the company include Swedish dishes which include meatballs, smoked elk sausage, roll-mop herring, and crisp breads. Weaknesses Although IKEA encompass much strength, the company has also its weaknesses. One of the weaknesses of the companies is the notion that IKEA remain vulnerable to the plausibility that the creativity and product development may falter over time. In addition the company has also lacking the ability to look for a business portfolio for various regions, like in the case of IKEA so as to spread business risk. Opportunities With the management system and the marketing strategies implemented within IKEA as well as with the strengths that the company, it can be said that IKEA has bigger opportunities to still dominate the global market in terms of providing quality household furniture as well as food products and services to its residents, commercial and industrial clients or even have an opportunity to be the most competitive brands in the global market. With the continuous innovation of the company and the support that it shows to different needs of the region, the company can gain loyalty from their customers to make them more competitive in the marketplace. The continuous initiatives of the company in diversification of its revenue resources also open new opportunities to make the business become stronger to outgrow all its rival companies. Such opportunities will include the development of new products, leveraging the companys investment in the low cost leadership and differentiation, and other business opportunities in both non-core and core areas. In line with IKEA, the household furniture as well as food products and services have the opportunity to expand their market in the global level, and it can be said that IKEA is on its way ahead of its competitors in terms of international expanding. Threats One of the threats of that IKEA may face is the emergence of a new and stronger company which offered a more diversified household furniture as well as food products which is cheaper than the existing companies. If these companies will not be able to provide the latest trends in this kind of business industries, the company may experience some industrial threats. In order for the company to maximise its strengths and minimise or totally eliminate its weaknesses, the company must be able to use or impose a strategic management system that will help them enhance their business operations. Porters Five Forces Model It can be noted that an industry is a group of firms which market its products and services closely substituted from one another. According to Porter (1980), some firms tend to become more profitable and gain competitive advantage than their rivals companies. With this, a company like Ikea should always bear in mind that the industry will only survive in the global market by using a strategy that will sustain their competitive advantage and position. Through the use Porters Five Forces Model, the analysis of the industry aspects of the IKEA will be analysed. New Market Entrants The first element of Porters Five Forces Model includes threat of entrance of new industries. Apparently, the objective of IKEA is to build a position in the household furniture as well as food shops service industry and to be recognised as company which would always be competitive in the global market. IKEA is said to be a world-class companies in providing household furniture as well as food products and services in market environment. With this, it can be said that because of the existence of IKEA, having another household furniture as well as food shops is unnecessary unless, the new company which will emerge will have the appropriate and efficient marketing strategy to outgrow both leading companies. Hence, it can be said that the household furniture as well as food shop belongs to a higher entry obstruction because of the existence of competitive companies like the companies and their other rival industries. Supplier Power It can be noted that the conditions and the present system in the household furniture as well as food shop industries largely determines the extent in which effective competition can be achieved. The bargaining power of a supplier could be a threat for the profit of the company, and both IKEA is very much aware of it. In this manner, IKEA is trying to have a good contract with its supplier, herein; IKEA makes it sure that they are also benefited in the said contract while the suppliers enjoy the agreement with them. In this kind of business, there is a high level of competition in the household furniture as well as food brand supply market. Competitive Rivalry IKEA still enjoy their competitive position in the global market. In this analysis, it shows that the company still dominate the household furniture as well as food market by providing those quality and innovative services. This means that IKEA is still on top of the competition among other household furniture as well as food retail companies in world. The company enjoys its competitive position in the region and still trying to sustain its competitive advantage among its rivals. Buyer Power Porters also include in his model the concept of the bargaining power of Buyers. Hence, the management of IKEA makes sure of it that their clients and customers in all aspects will be satisfied for the quality service they provide. Specifically, the company has focused their marketing approach on the demands and needs of the buyer for a household furniture as well as food service source that satisfy them and heavily positioned their products in this segment. The company also uses their corporate responsibility as a good public image to make the company more appealing to their customers. The competitive aim of each company is to do significantly a better job of providing what buyers are looking for and, thereby enabling the firm to gain competitive advantage and out compete rivals within the marketplace (Thompson, Strickland Gamble, 2003). Threats of substitutes In terms of threats and substitutes, although the company is aware that there were threats for substitute products or retail household furniture as well as food shops because of its high demand in the global market, specifically now that companies offered household furniture as well as food alternative products and flavours which suit the needs of the household furniture as well as food market. The company has been able to continue to grow and expand their business in various parts of the world. It can be said that IKEA has been able to use various strategies which enable them to sustain their competitive position in the global market. Ikea Strategy IKEA follows the focused cost leadership strategy. Young buyers in search of stylish and fashionable furniture and household accessories at a low cost are IKEAs targeted market segment. For these customers, the firm offers home furnishings that combine good design, functionality and acceptable quality at low prices. According to the firm, low cost is always a priority. This applies to every phase of their activities. IKEA emphasises several activities to keep its costs low. For example, instead of relying primarily on third party manufacturers, the firms engineers design low-cost, modular furniture ready for assembly by customers. IKEA also positions its products in domestic settings. Typically, competitors furniture stores display multiple varieties of a single item in separate rooms, meaning that their customers examine living room sofas in one room, tables in another room, chairs in yet another location, and accessories somewhere else entirely. In contrast, IKEAs customers can view different furniture combinations (complete with sofas, chairs, tables, and so forth) in a single setting, which eliminates the need for sales associates or decorators to help the customer imagine how a furniture arrangement would look when placed in the customers home. This approach requires fewer sales personnel, allowing IKEA to keep its costs low. A third practice that helps keep IKEAs costs low is expect

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Fire in Hinduism, Christianity, and Judaism :: Papers

Fire in Hinduism, Christianity, and Judaism Fire has the capacity to burn everything, and that is why in Hinduism it is can be described by the god Agni. Agni seems to be the creator of everything: "It is Agni, who showers rain, has covered earth with the sky; and O Agni! It is you, who are the creator of everything". Then again Braham can be seen as being the fire in Hinduism, since he is the Supreme Lord. Fire symbolizes the brilliance of the lord; it is purifying; and it stands for effulgence and illumination. It is said that "Braham is Jyotirmaya (full of light)." There exists the Vedic fire ceremony performed by Hindus at all major events of life including birth and coming of age ceremonies, weddings, and funerals, as well as on all major religious holidays. Common to all branches of Hinduism, the fire ceremony is very important in the lives of many Hindus. The god Shiva is surrounded by a circle of firerepresenting samsara, the endless cycle of death and re-birth. The dance of fire is symbolic of the frenetic movement of the universe. In Christianity, fire is used to move from evil to good. It is one of the most expressive and most ancient of the liturgical symbols. The sun as a principle of heat and light for the earth is a symbol of the divinity that enlightens and warms humanity. The following is a prayer relating God with fire: "Lord God, Almighty Father, inextinguishable light, Who hast created all light, bless this light sanctified and blessed by thee, Who has enlightened the whole world; make us enlightened by the light and inflamed with the fire of Thy Brightness; and as Thou didst enlighten Moses when he went out of Egypt, so illuminate our hearts and senses that we may attain life and light everlasting through Christ out Lord. Amen." (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06079a.htm) God is always represented with fire, usually with a lit candle. Fire is mentioned in the New Testament, in Luke 3:16, "John answered all of

Monday, August 19, 2019

City Boy versus Country Girl :: Mama Day Gloria Naylor Essays

City Boy versus Country Girl Gloria Naylor’s novel, Mama Day, shows how two loving people can unite in marriage, while being from two separate worlds. The way that Naylor creates the anxiety between these two characters is by the differences in their backgrounds--including their families, traditions and their geographical origins. Cocoa and George are extremely different; however, this is what makes their marriage so strong. Raised by the two most respected women in the town, Cocoa grew up on a small southern island with a loving family, while George grew up in a boys’ home without a family in urban New York. These differences in background bring George and Cocoa together, while helping to instill traditions and values in George. In the end, George has changed his point of view of the island and the way Cocoa acts in her home so dramatically that he sacrifices his life for her. Mama Day illustrates differences that are all around us through one couple’s marriage and the two places they call home. Willow Springs, the island on which Cocoa spent her childhood, lies between Georgia and South Carolina. Set apart from the rest of the world because it belongs to neither state, Willow Springs has many traditions unlike the world around it. Candle Walk, for instance, the tradition that created Willow Springs, goes back to the legend of Sapphira Wade, Cocoa’s great-great-great-grandmother. Saphira Wade had walked to the ocean in hopes of returning to her mainland with only the light of a candle showing the way. Thus, each year since that time, the island celebrates the memory of Saphira Wade during Candle Walk, takes place at night and encourages every neighbor to give homemade gifts to others in the community. Coming from the city, George has personality issues because of his non-existent family background. As a young child, his prostitute mother abandoned him to be raised by the state in the Wallace P. Andrews Shelter for Boys. George explains to Cocoa how the shelter treated him as though there were nothing out of the ordinary about a home without love in it. â€Å"They may not have been loving people, [Mrs. Jackson] and Chip–or when you think about it, even lovable. But they were devoted to their job if not to us individually† (Naylor 23).

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Misleading Fitness and Health Commercials :: Fitness and Health Scams

Some people do not know all that much about exercise and dieting. They do not know healthy ways to eat, and they don’t realize that one can’t get the â€Å"Perfect Body† in just a few days. These people are possibly victims of Fitness Myths. â€Å"In 2002, the Federal Trade Commission released a report that shared a review of 300 weight-loss ads promoting 218 different products. They found the rampant use of false or misleading claims† (FTC, 2003) Misleading fitness products can be particularly damaging. If one is mislead into purchasing a product and the product doesn’t work as it was advertised, not only have you wasted your money, but also the product may have physically hurt your body. FTC chairman Timothy Muris talks about the advertising and promotion tactics of the fitness industry â€Å"ads that make claims and promises that are clearly implausible and patently false run in all forms of media, with the notable exception of network TV† (FTC, 2003). Misleading advertisements are common among all forms of media. Although TV commercials may be more powerful in their persuasion, an obvious reason for this is that TV advertisements show more misleading commercials. A technique frequently used in commercials to make them seem credible is that â€Å"many deceptive ads run in highly respected publications and they are perceived to be credible†(FTC, 2003). Therefore if the TV program you are watching, while the commercial is being played, seems credible, consumers tend to believe that the products advertised during the episode are also trustworthy. One such misleading advertisement was for a product called Skinny Pill for Kids. This diet pill was targeting kids ranging from age 6 to 12. The pill was supposed to help kids lose weight and provide essential daily vitamins, minerals and herbs. â€Å"The marketer of the supplement said her company had not done safety tests on children† (CNN, 2002). It turned out that the product being advertised as a â€Å"miracle† to help children loose weight contained herbs that are diuretics. â€Å"Uva ursi, juniper berry, and buchu leaf all cause the body to lose water. A doctors’ guide to drugs and alternative remedies, states the uva ursi should not be given to children under age 12† (CNN, 2002).

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Analytical Response Paper #1

Analytical response Paper #1 I have found that both â€Å"Kick Back and Endure Being Bored and Uncomfortable† by Clive Hamilton, and William Deresiewicz’s â€Å"The End of Solitude† can be efficiently summarized with the great social psychologist, Erich Fromm’s quote, â€Å"If I am what I have, then I lose what I have, who then am I? †. Hamilton’s article reflects his view illustrating that he views modern technology as a deterrent for people’s natural ability to not only accept, but to appreciate absolute gratification of solitude.It is this concept of people’s growing disvalue of solitude that both I, and Deresiewic concur with (demonstrated in his essay). I feel that the ability of people’s easy accessibility to social media is nothing more than a barricade to individuality, preventing people from realizing their true self; in doing so they fall victim to what I would like to call â€Å"True loneliness†. This co ncept of â€Å"True loneliness† I characterize by a constant bombardment of social interaction occurring solely through technological means.Deresiewic’s essay is a brilliantly compiled work of literary genius that ensnares the perception of today’s youth being consumed by social networking. He does this with references to the sociological importance of one’s self developed during the romantic movement; then goes on to compare them to the his own theory that the â€Å"self† has lost significance in this day and age due to social networking. Deresiewic refers to a teenager’s cell phone bill stating that the adolescent had sent over 3,000 text messages from his cell phone in the matter of one month; this means that he had sent a text message once every ten minutes.It is this dependence that has forced both myself, and Deresiewic to find our society’s addiction to technology to be utterly repulsive. When the culture we establish demands t hat every teenager must have a cellular phone, and must use texts to keep in contact with friends that live mere minutes away just supports how our dependency on technology has been stretch to an unhealthy level. My point is best solidified by analyzing Deresiewic’s quote â€Å"Not long ago, it was easy to feel lonely. Now, it is impossible to be alone. Not long ago people had the grace of being able to live in a state solitude; now it is near impossible to find even a single moment in their day when they are alone. In Clive Hamilton’s essay entitled â€Å"Kick Back and Endure Being Bored and Uncomfortable† Clive casts light upon the otherwise shadow bound, insidious effects technology has on the average American family. Clive uses examples of children getting their own personal televisions in their rooms or the family car, as a way to identify that parents now lack both the time, and the patience to deal with their children’s boredom.I concur with Clive ’s statement when he says â€Å"They put televisions sets in their bedroom, which surely should be regarded as a form of child abuse†, because I too feel that parents oversaturate their kids with influences of television to the extent that our generation has can consider the TV set one of their parental figures. As Clive Hamilton’s essay progresses he goes on to provide an example of a family sitting down at a diner for a meal but the children are too engrossed in their cellular phones to even communicate with the other members dining with them.While provided this example I am consumed by Hamilton’s tone of sheer disgust as he comments â€Å"why [do] they have children if they have nothing to say to them over dinner. † In conclusion to me reflecting on Hamilton’s essay, I would like to note that I found his essay to have a sense of vigor and passion but lacked the proper literary tools to fully capture my attention. Overall, Hamilton, Deresi ewic, and I share the same conclusions concerning the topic of interacting via technological means, in that it is more of a destructive asset of our culture rather than a positive addition to our society.Too much attention is given to our desire to never be alone with our own thoughts in this day and age. This in turn leads people to have no sense of self unless it is somehow justified through our social interactions. We, as people, have gone from the thought focused on in the romantic era, and best quoted by Clive Hamilton, â€Å"He may have put his neighbors off, but at least he was sure of himself.Those who would find solitude must not be afraid to stand alone†, to the notion that being alone means you suffer from some kind of social, or anxiety disorder; and it is this kind of thinking that fuels our addiction to social networking. Youths do not want to go a single day without updating their statuses on Facebook to alert their peers to exactly what they are doing. Adults provide young children with their first catalyst into technology by being too busy to spend time with their child and introducing them to television from the time they are in diapers.In conclusion, us, humanity, society, and even as individuals, have lost what it truly means to be just that, an individual, and I fear that if something is not done to relinquish the control electronics have on our daily lives we will end up as socially neurotic, constantly anxious, sociopaths that constantly hide behind a brightly light screen to voice their thoughts instead of using our ability to look at someone in the eyes and carry on a conversation.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Ideal Home Description Essay

The first steps onto the property lead to a lavish driveway. There is a huge automated gate in front for privacy. Running parallel to the cream colored concrete driveway are trees on both sides. The large booming trees shade the driveway when it is sunny out. Down the driveway put off to the side is a massive garage. The garage, like the home, is built with brick. Set off to the right, the garage can hold up to five cars. The doors of the garage are a maroon color that matches the window sills of the home. Moving back to the left, walking upon the home, there is a wide porch. It takes five steps to get to the top, and to see two pillars standing guard by the door. The pillars stand short and stocky, colored like ivory pearls. Pushing through the heavy red door with an odd shaped black iron door handle leads to the spacious foyer. Beside the left of the door inside the roomy foyer rests a hefty table to be used for mail and other things from the outside world that do not require immediate attention. To the right there are hooks to hang coats and keys. Also below the hooks is a rack for shoes that sits on a polished wood floor. Moving along through the foyer there is a large expansive staircase. The staircase slightly curves and leads into a hallway of rooms. There are three rooms on each side of the stairs. The first door on the right side of the stairs is brown. The room is painted a very bright green color with auburn carpet. Inside the room there are many toys. There are toys of all kinds; there are stuffed animals, dolls, cards, board games, and more. The door across from the toy room is a little brighter then the others. Walking in this door, there appears to be not much in it. The walls are the color of a soft blue sky with clouds and a nice light brown bamboo floor. It has large expanding windows for the sunlight to easily come in. There are many chairs to lounge in and a few spa chairs in the back corner. There is a closet on the right of the room that is filled with towels, lotions, creams, and etc. Leaving this room, there is one door left at the end of this side. Here is the largest room to explore yet. The walls are a calm and mature dim red like the color of blood. The floors are a dark polished bamboo. There are bright white carvings into the wall that make bookcases. Each wall is lined with them and is stocked with books. In the very back of the room there is a fireplace with a shaggy green rug in front of it. Two narrow long windows stand at the side of the fireplace. There are two brown armchairs spilt by a love couch in the middle of the same color. In the middle of the room, there are also a few low level bookcases filled with books. Leaving this room and entering the first room on the left side of the stairs, there is a full bathroom. The walls are a brilliant blue color with eggshell colored tiles. There is a closet to the left full with toiletries. The his and her sink is an intense red along with the toilet. The shower, which is also a tub, has a stainless steel door. The towel rack on the door holds blue towels that match the blue rug placed in front of the shower. Right between the door and the sink, a woven light brown hamper is placed to throw dirty clothes in. Out of the bathroom and moving along to the room across the hall is a door full of pictures. Inside the room there are vivid golden walls and bamboo flooring. Covering most of the floor is a gigantic purple rug. There is a desk in the top left corner of the room encased with papers and projects. A computer and mouse struggle to stay on top of all the work. Arranged in the right corner is a queen sized bed with a huge mahogany chest in front of it. The ceiling has a glow-in-the-dark universe full with stars and planets. There is one large dresser by the door stuffed with clothes. The closet on the other side is filled with shoes, coats, and dresses. The last room to explore upstairs is also quite massive, but not as giant as the room full of books. It has a queen sized bed in the middle where the floor is elevated. On one side there are two medium sized dressers lining the shady orange wall. On the other is an entertainment system full of the latest gadgets and a flat screen TV. There is a closet spewing clothes and shoes. The floor is tan colored carpet. Going back down the stairs and through the foyer is the kitchen. The kitchen has a large stainless steel refrigerator full of the healthiest and some of the most unhealthiest foods. Next to the refrigerator is a gas oven. There is an island in the middle with three bar stools. In the island there is also a stainless steel sink and cabinets underneath. The cabinets around the kitchen are mahogany colored to set off the pale white walls. They are filled with pots, pans, spices, and food. Also in the kitchen to match most of the house are more bamboo flooring. Through the kitchen to the right is the dining room. A sturdy dinning room table stands center with many chairs encasing it. The room has tan walls and polished dark flooring. There is an abstract arrangement of light fixtures hanging above the table for decoration. There is another bathroom behind the dining room that resembles the previous one mentioned. Back through the kitchen and to the left is the largest room in the house. It is the living room. Full of everything that is in a living room like a fireplace, TV, entertainment system with a stereo, and etc. The walls are a calm green color, and the floors are bamboo. Through the living room going back to the front of the house, there is the master bedroom. It contains a king-sized bed for everyone to crawl into. There are two large dressers, a walk-in closet inside a walk-in closet, and a bathroom that replicates the upstairs bathroom but twice the size. The main difference is the whirlpool hot tub in the far back. The other way through the living room, heading to the back of the house, leads to a patio. The patio holds sitting chairs and is a place to relax. It has a great view of the swimming pool and the enormous backyard. The yard contains a mini play-set with swings, a slide, and a jungle gym. A tree house was built in the far perimeter of the owned land property. There is a bevy of grass area for kids and pets to run around on. Also the tennis and basketball courts are on the far right side of the lawn. Next to the patio there is a spiral staircase that leads to the basement. The basement is a storage area filled with cold concrete flooring and unpainted drywall. It has one small room for guest with just a bed and a small dresser. Next to it is a small bathroom with just a standing shower, a toilet, and a sink which are all pearly white. Going back up the spiral staircase directs to the rear of the home. It illustrates the expansive lifestyle of the owners. Having six rooms upstairs used for multiple purposes, only two being bedrooms, and one a bathroom is a great deal. Along with the large living room, master bedroom, kitchen, and dining room, there are oodles of chores to be kept. Keeping maintenance in the abundant amount of rooms is hard work. Not to mention the total outside area that also needs to be well kept. This is an ideal home for families.